March for the Alternative

I headed into London today to see the huge amount of folk marching against the government's cuts. I was tempted to join in, but I have a fear of crowds and of being hemmed in, especially by the police. I had a friend on a student protest who was kettled and it wasn't pleasant. However, no kettling was reported for this march.

There were lots of families marching and an air of peace, despite the four helicopters buzzing over Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street and Piccadilly watching the minority of anarchists causing trouble. Of course, that's where the media is focusing its attention. As Charlie Brooker tweeted earlier:

"According to my shit maths, if 200 people cause trouble at a protest with 500,000 attendees, the media will focus on 0.04% of the story."

I don't think there's a definite number for who attended the march (too many people to count!) The media are estimating 250,000 and the marchers say 450,000.

I didn't cross to the north of the river, where the march was, so I had a cup of tea on the South Bank and watched from afar. There, my eye was drawn to the Hayward Gallery and the British Art Show. Some of the art left me a little bewildered, but I was very taken with the work of Charles Avery, Wolfgang Tillmans and Alasdair Gray. The man on the bench startled us be being 100 per cent human. He sat so still at first that we thought he must be a mannequin, but as soon as the flame on the bench went out, he hopped off to have a cup of tea (well, I don't know if he had tea in mind, but I think that's what I would like had it have been me sitting on a hard, metal bench with many people looking at naked me watching the flame burn).