How went the Great British National Strike, a day of countrywide anti-government protests, which GB News confidently predicted would see “more than 500,000 people across the country walking out in protest at the state of the UK”?
Protest organiser Richard Donaldson told the channel he was “not prepared to wait four years” for Keir Starmer to be ousted from power, calling for an immediate general election. As it turned out, Starmer can probably call off the removal van for a while yet. Because – possibly as Donaldson called the “national strike” for a Saturday, a day most people are off work anyway – the event proved the dampest of damp squibs.
In most cities and towns, fewer than 100 people protested, often outnumbered by anti-fascist demos: in Bristol, for example (population: 483,000), Avon and Somerset Police said that “an estimated 50 people took part in a protest, with an estimated 100 people taking part in a counter
demonstration”. Another 100 people (described by organisers as “big crowds”) turned up outside Downing Street to chant “Keir Starmer is a wanker”.
In Manchester, meanwhile (population: 551,938), organisers claimed around 200 attendees, although photos would suggest this includes a protest by Chagossians protesting against the government’s deal to hand over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, which was happening at the same time.
Supporters of the Great British National Strike were unimpressed, taking to social media to moan: “No timetable, no speakers, no stage/platform, no PA system. Shambolic. Organisers were early with their excuses for failure, but admitted they’d spent two months arranging this butterfly’s fart of a protest.”
