[lbo-talk] In London

[James Heartfield]

The marches were large, but not massive. Most schools were struck out, especially in London. There were pickets on a lot of public buildings. Prime Minister Cameron and his minster tried to strike a Thatcherite pose, but not with much conviction. Everyone I have talked to thinks that the government’s raiding the public sector pension fund to meet the budget shortfall is like thieving, and there is not a strong hostility to the public sector built up in the way that there was in the 1980s. It was a good day for the trade unions, but perhaps not quite as good as it could have been. The trajectory of student marches, riots, #Occupy Stock Exchange, all points to a leftish mood, but as yet it does not have very strong roots.