Protest against Hilary Benn

well done, absolute classic!

The photos above only tell half the story of what the good folk of Leeds have been up to in resistance against the UK Government's bogus anti-poverty agenda and the EU Development = neo-colonial = ministers meeting here this week.

Day of Dissent 1: Friday 14th October

Hilary Benn, the UK Secretary of State for International Development comes to Leeds University Students Union for what he thought would be a routine 'me = government minister, you = thick as shit students" question time debates. Alas for him, Hilary was politically ambushed. Around 150 students and academics piled into the Riley Smith Hall and politely waited for 'son of Tony' to arrive. Many will probably wish he never bothered as we were treated to a masterclass in New Labour Nursery spin. "Globalisation," he told us, "was the sum of human activity." It was "unstoppable" because it was what "we as people do". Corporations? Forced liberalisation? WTO? Washington Consensus? Gunboat diplomacy?These of course didn't get a mention. Only people's frank astonishment at being talked down to like 5 year olds kept us awake. After the 'front man for nothing' had sat down, visibly pleased with what he thought had been 20 minutes easy work in front of dumb-ass middle-class kids from Surrey, the fun began.

"Any questions," asked the chair. The hands shot up, some arms seemed to be coming out of their sockets; a look of cold discomfort suddenly swept Hilary Benn's face. The first one was about Colombia: "why the Department for International Development funding a Colombian police force scheme recently responsible for murdering student activists?". Benn's face dropped, again: "I have no idea about that. What's your name and I'll get back to you. Important fact: Hilary Benn is the head of the Department for International Development.

And so it went on. Question after question: "Why did the G8 lie about debt? Why are you still imposing conditions on poor countries? Why do you say you have given $50bn when it is only $15bn? Why do you claim that you have doubled aid and dropped debt and yet you count debt relief as part of your aid? Why won't you just tell us the truth about what was agreed instead of hiding behind spin."

Each time Benn told a lie, the audience heckled. Each question asked that made Benn look uncomfortable was clapped by those present. Of course, one kind of person had to ask the Minister a really easy question: "Can you give us your word you'll try to make the G8 honour those commitments". He was from Oxfam.

Clearly on the run and shaken, Benn said that "you are either behind what governments are trying to do or you are just cynics and pessimists who will never change anything", which was greeted with derision by one lecturer who reeled off a list of social movements who accept neither neoliberalism or nihilism.

Day of Dissent 2: Monday 24 October

TIDAL - the coalition of Leeds campaigning groups on development - organises a vigil to mark the first evening of the EU Development Ministers informal summit at the Queens Hotel in Leeds. Bizarrely, they invite Hilary Benn to attend the vigil and speak about how great the UK government is and how great the G8 was for Africa. The notion that a group of campaigning organisations should actually be against UK government policy and especially against a man who lied to his own constituents about how he would vote in the Commons over Iraq, was clearly lost on this occasion. Protesters came down - not to hijack the vigil but to unhijack it by softly lampooning Benn. As the Minister got up to speak, up popped Blair, Brown, Benn and Geldof to stand next to him, with t-shirts reading "Development: the new slavery". He pretended to find it funny but was fuming inside as everyone in the crowd just couldn't stop giggling, especially as over the far side of the vigil, some naughty boys and girls had erected a massive banner reading "EU Development Ministers? Colonial Masters!". As the 'G4' stood by Hilary Benn's side, a whimpering Ben Margolis from Oxfam - who had fawned over Hilary Benn just moments earlier - could be heard pleading with them to leave the stage. G4 stayed put, heroically. And, after being persistently heckled by one person, as Hilary Benn finished his speech, the crowd booed.

Disgustingly but admiringly Machiavellian, Oxfam's Ben Margolis then turned to the crowd and said "Obviously, everyone has diverse opinions here tonight but I think it is great that in this country we can speak to our development minister when many people in Africa have never had the chance to even see their ministers".

Nice one Ben - see you in the government in say, ooh, 5 years?

Day of sort-of-Dissent 3: Tuesday 25 October

Ok, this is where the story goes a little sour. So there were about 200 people at the vigil on Monday night and about 30 people at the 'mass demonstration against the EU development summit' on the theme of 'Make Neo-Colonialism History' the next day. We did hand out 300 leaflets to passers by and made sure that development ministers leaving the hotel saw our huge banners. Sadly, our protest was attended by just 2 police officers, and even they were on the other side of the road. The hippy-christian vigil had about 6!!!

Alll in all, though, Hilary Benn knows that the people of leeds don't believe a word he says and we will be continuing to publicly embarrass him over the next few months.

I do agree with most of what you said Luther and it's a good report of what happened. However, although I don't necessarily agree with what Ben Margolis said I know (from being a voluneer with Oxfam in thepast) that his work is aazing and whatever negative comments you can make about Oxfam they do incredible work. Leave the poor guy alone eh?

Charities - Teaching poor people to be grateful around the world