The Make Poverty History March, in Retrospect By Bill Linton

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Well, the G8 season seems to have kicked off to a good start this year with Live 8 concerts internationally. Predictably, the Hyde Park concert gained almost wall to wall coverage on television and in the news, although media interest in the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh was somewhat less enthusiastic. It is a moot point however, as to which venue was more successful. The BBC estimated the numbers at Hyde Park at around 200,000, whereas they initially numbered those marching in Edinburgh at 250,000, later adjusted to 225,000. ITV incidentally, stated there to have been 120,000.

It must be conceded, however, that far greater accuracy can be attained in a headcount in a confined area than in a marching line over 5 miles in length, combined with a milling mass in Edinburgh's Meadows. But, before you accuse me of train-spotting, consider the difference between the attraction for those who chose to go to Hyde Park with its stunning array of performers and those who marched in Edinburgh. Now consider the possible differences in motive and intent. My point is that while Hyde Park was a monumental success, let us not underplay the importance of last Saturday in Edinburgh as the media has undoubtedly done, and let us not have our attention diverted from the matter in hand.

Had 10% of those attending the Hyde Park concert travelled to Edinburgh there would have been another 20,000 marchers. As much as we are grateful for their participation, this is not, and never will be about glitzy musical performances which, in my view, detracted from Saturday's march. This is not a matter of stardom. If these performers want to show their support then marches and concerts should be arranged on different days. Get them marching on the streets with the rest of us.

Just think how much Madonna alone could have swelled the ranks with her regiment of bodyguards who, as an added bonus, could have leapt to the assistance of the police to maintain public order had the need arisen. What were the Make Poverty History and G8 protests about, because this isn't entirely clear to me. For example, do you want aid for the world's poorest, or do you want trade?

This isn't simply a rhetorical question, and there are far too many aspects to be explored here, but with so many organisations with differing agendas jockeying for position, the famous and the glamorous adding more than a smack of consumerism and 21st century advertising and PR techniques leaving more than a whiff of something else, banners from Ban the Bomb, Hands Off Iran and Syria, Make G8 History, Trade Not Aid, Aid For Africa, Water Not Oil and, of course, Make Poverty History collectively leave us with a somewhat incomprehensibly confusing montage.

The whole movement is in danger of becoming a fine example of post-modernism - meaningless.

Continued ....next page,

Going Down - Make Poverty History Demonstration in Edinburgh 2nd July 2005 by Rich Mills
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