Lily Douglas, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
The Socialist Party participated in London Pride, on its 50th anniversary, to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ fight, and to call for trade union action. We say: “Fight together, strike together”.
Despite the mass commercialisation of Pride, there was a political mood that people were ready for change. Many people attending the parade stopped to talk to us about the rail strikes, to buy the Socialist, and even buy some of our posters.
A couple of people spontaneously stopped to help us get signatures for our petition and to hand out our leaflets, demonstrating the widespread support for action against the cost-of-living crisis. After two hours, our small team ran out of leaflets.
We also got the chance to speak to two British Airways workers; one had taken part in the 2014 and 2017 BA strikes. They spoke about the need for a general strike, and for the trade unions to coordinate together to bring society to a standstill.
People are coming to these conclusions through their own experiences, and the Socialist Party was there to provide a programme for how we are going to strike together, and our next steps afterwards.
