Wed 19th March

‘The fight against fracking is the most important battle the British people will ever fight! It is the 1st battle in the war against climate change’ 

Our Big Day! The Fracked Future Carnival. Climate Revolution and Friends of the Earth, Frack Off London, Ecocide, Fuel Poverty Action, Reclaim the Power, the rest were community groups (Frack free Somerset, Britain & Ireland Frack Free, Resident Action on Fylde Fracking, East Kent Against Fracking, Trillion Fund).

Scheduled for today so we can protest the conference of Conspirators, those business and government officials who are meeting to force fracking through against the public interest and before the public have been warned of the danger.

Officials who have their head in a box and are prepared to destroy the world for profit.

We know they have re-located their conference for fear of us and we know where it is.

We will stick to our original plan: meet at our Battersea studio, march over the bridge to the King’s Rd, join fellow protestors at Knightsbridge tube then move to the original location of the conference, a stone’s throw away at Jumeira Hotel. We will give our speeches outside and then go to the secret location.

Battersea. We were ready. I had given all our workmates the day off. Cindy the youngest member of Climate Revolution had done a great job mustering the troops and organizing our students to make plaquards. Others who joined us were in carnival mood, dressed as zombies and ghouls.

I hadn’t wanted a carnival. It’s a matter of life and death and I didn’t wear my warpaint. We want to attract “ordinary people” and by that we mean people who aren’t normally political. But our activist colleagues were right we needed the Carnival. We were only expecting up to 500 people and that’s how it turned out. It was a week day, also Budget Day. Did the conspirators plan that?- don’t underestimate their fear of the public. John Sauven, head of Greenpeace couldn’t come because he was dealing with press on the budget. And what about students? Simon, a student activist friend should have been organizing but he didn’t even show up: because he’s doing his exams. Come on !

We looked great. There was lots of press. I was asked to lead the procession. I bowed and put my hands together in prayer, as you would before a battle. Then off we were!

People in King’s Rd hailed us in support and Cindy shouted out, keeping us all together because of having to stop for traffic. I talked to some of my friends as we marched along. At the Jumeirah Hotel we met Rhythm of Resistance, a samba band and campaigner Nigel with his demo/disco bus. In front of the hotel was a little square where we gave our speeches and thanked the fighters in the anti-fracking camps. Vanessa Vine From Balcombe is an inspiring speaker and full of powerful information. She’s been fighting fracking for 3 years and is just back from America. The queen of it all was scientist Tisha who was responsible for much of the organization and acted as a master of ceremonies –the prettiest ghoule you ever saw but she stays anonymous so you can’t see a photo of her. Then some of us got on Nigel’s bus and went to the secret location near to Bunyon Fields near Old St.

When we got near I looked out the window and saw another demonstration walking down the main road and they looked really interesting, lots of them, then I read the plaquards and realized it was us, the others had come on the tube. (They had a good time explaining to people what we are about – life and death, yeah!) We met our mole who had been inside the conference so we are informed of the conspirator’s agenda. See their confidential presentation www.talkfracking.org.  The secret location was Armoury House on City Rd.

The samba band was really important – lots of drumming outside the gates. The press asked me, “How do you feel that the pro-frackers have come here to escape you, protected by the army?”

You sometimes worry that you’re so small against the enormous power of the conspiracy to destroy – press, politics, business, banks – and what perhaps only seems to be the acquiescence of the general public. It is heartening to read those articles of mutual support in the fight, from journalists of the standard press, especially the Guardian and those on the internet and of course the support of all the NGO’s and sometimes great groups of people. At our demo someone gave out flyers for the Green Party, a great group with whom I entirely agree. They start by condemning austerity. If all the world would put their financial programme into practise we could save the earth and economic collapse.

It’s so important to demonstrate for your beliefs.   We will win because we have to.