22 March, London: Biggest wartime demo ever

THE ANTI-war demonstration on 22 March attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters. It was the biggest wartime demonstration ever organised in Britain. The protest was dominated by the determination of the young school students and students who walked out on Day X (see pages 4, 5 and 12).

“This war is wrong” said John from Coventry. “It’s mainly for oil. That’s not a genuine reason at all. They’ve gone ahead without any backing from anyone else.”

Grace, Paloma and Tania, school students from London told us: “The only way to stop the war is to protest and make it as hard for Tony Blair as possible.”

“Most Muslims like me think Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator”, said Nasreen from London. “He’s committed crimes against people, just like Bush. But Bush just wants to control the oil.

“It’s all part of the USA’s designs on the Middle East. This war is another piece in the jigsaw of American domination of the region. And it’s not the first time the USA invaded a country on the pretext of freedom and democracy.”