TUC message in Nice: iasn't it time they told Tony Blair? ner in case of any trouble. and trains.
Every European country At one point it is you can think of is represented. Huge contingents from Italy - I reckon more march. than 10,000 - and from Spain and Portugal, around 5,000 each.
A number of Eastern seen for decades. European countries -Poland, Slovenia, Hungary have contingents that are at least 500 strong. And then there are the French - probably about half of this mammoth demonstration.
By now we have reached the assembly point. The CGT contingent takes more than the shower. one and a half hours to pass us, then smaller but still sizeable contingents from the CFDT and FO. Brits Oh, did I forget to say anything about the British? Well I did find the TUC contingent - which must have had all of 50 people in it - though there were probably around 500 of us altogether, in different parts of this huge march.
We finally leave the assembly point just after 5pm -more than 4 hours after the march cet out - and there are still people behind us.
We join the ATTAC contin- sleep here.
gent, which is several thousand strong, noisy and jubilant. By the time we have been marching for less than 20 minutes the pavements are filling up with demonstrators returning to coaches announced that 130,000 people have joined the This may be overoptimistic - these estimates usually are - but it is the marchers to put up a marbiggest demonstration I have ouce. Walk back to the hotel and And this is a genuinely collapse - its been a long continent-wide mobilisation.
day and there is another one I wish we could import some ahead. ot this militancy to billain as we chant "Our world is not Thursday 7 Return to the hotel December exhausted and fall asleep while my room mate is in Up at 6.30. Supposed to be Out for dinner and then off at the railway station at 7.30 to march to the conferto a rallv at the convergence Centre. Several thousand ence centre. Of course it takes longer than that to get people packed into tnis room. Sadly Jose Bove, star organised. of the Millau demonstration Leave at 7.30, past rows in the summer didn't make of police who are massing by it. Hear that a train with 800 now. Buses have already Italians has been stopped at been diverted, so we have to the border and not allowed walk some way to the nearBest stop. But we have perListen to Christophe formed a social service -Aguiton from ATTAC, Susan buses are free in Nice today George and various others. as the municipality is trying Meet various people | know to persuade people not to - from Britain, but also from use their cars because of us.
France, Holland, Italy and The demonstration has Belgium. Cheers go up when already left. About 8.30 we are told that the care- catch up with the first contaker has agreed people can tingent near the conference centre.
We booked into a hotel The idea was to surround because it was not clear up the centre - to make clear until now that there would our opposition to wnal Is be anywhere for people to going on. This is why we are sleep. The right wing mayor taking different side roads.
was extremely uncooperative But the police have closed - wouldn't even allow the off such a big area that we
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