by John Kennedy

The right to protest is inherent, ingrained within our culture in fact in my short 43 years on this planet I’ve been on a few protests myself ranging from industrial disputes like Wapping (my father was a Fleet street printer) to the recent taxi trade demonstration in Trafalgar Square. But what does a good old march do for you and me, how does it make you feel inside. Well the truth is you don’t feel isolated and it is a chance to express a view and opinion with other likeminded people who believe in a common cause.

But let’s take a step back in time and  imagine how the Tolpuddle martyrs must have felt back in the 19th Century living on poverty pay, struggling  to bring up families whilst oppressed by the wealthy landowners who rigged a system to protect their way of life. Yet these brave men had the courage and conviction to stand up and form a union to lay not seeds in a field but the seeds of trade unionism. Life here in the UK was grim and the penal system brutal  for the Tolpuddle martyrs were found guilty of “unlawful combination” and sentenced to seven years transportation. Yes the journey to Australia must have been horrendous but a people had been awoken and the politicians realised that life was about to change and we began to see the birth of a movement that would ultimately lead to the formation of the Labour Party.

People had began to protest and with that politicians began to listen, probably more concerned at what they may lose but none the less they listened for the then Home Secretary, Lord John Russell conditionally pardoned the men. We should not forget though that many from the upper and more wealthy classes had a conscience rather like Thomas Wakley who petitioned parliament on sixteen occasions for without the support of individuals like him the whole direction and history of this country could well have taken a turn for the worse.

Protesting is in my opinion the sign of a healthy democracy, the fact that you or I can assemble peacefully with likeminded people and chant, shout and highlight to the world your collective plight means we live in a free society that fears nothing of its people. From protests we have seen trade unions and political parties born not just out of the plight of others but because a few had a feeling that something was wrong, for injustice will always rear its ugly head in many shapes and forms throughout this globe.

From oppression of workers to the destruction of the planet and the starvation of a people in Africa, protesting about a matter that moves you off the sofa and onto the street is not only good for the democracy we live in but it ensures that the memory of people like the Tolpuddle martyrs and subsequent transportation in shackles and chains was not in vain. For they were released and finally returned home all because of people like you and me who managed to get off our backsides and protest !

photo credit: London Daily News 2009