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Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 3/31/2009 7:11 PM UTC

  G20 activists: Why we are protesting
  

  TUC general secretary

  We thought it was very important to put pressure on the leaders coming to the country. It's a broad-based coalition ... I think we'll see tens of thousands coming, and we've got delegations coming on coaches from across the country. It would be a real shame if what are likely to be small groups ... distract attention from our broad-based event.

  Marina Pepper

  Organiser of G20 Meltdown

  It's going to be the most overwhelming experience for everyone who is there. It's a carnival: turn the world upside down, drama, is it protest or is it performance? The police say it will be violent but that is not our plan. They say Molotov cocktails, I say tea. They say bricks in the air, I say eat cake. It will be a big party. How empowering is it that finally the English get off their sofas, take to the streets and say enough is enough ... we're taking the power back.

  Adam Askew

  Oxfam

  Demonstration by the public to set the political agenda is fundamental. We need to show civil society cares ... and, with this demonstration, we've seen a coming together of so many different groups. They want wholesale change. We haven't heard even a muttering about violence. This is going to be a family-friendly event.

  Amy Hall

  Student at Cardiff University

  We need to do something about the way wealth and resources are distributed. The world faces one of its biggest challenges in climate change. We should be working to revitalise our economies in a manner that creates more sustainable jobs.

  Fran Legg

  Co-founder, Stop the War Coalition

  I was one of a group who occupied a lecture theatre at Queen Mary College, London, over Gaza. We're not just protesting about Gaza, but Iraq and Afghanistan. People are very angry that governments are spending so much on wars and not solving anything.

  Jean Lambert

  Green MEP

  I am marching to demand an end to irresponsible banking and the pillaging of environmental resources for short-term gain. Enough is enough. Greed has led us towards economic and environmental collapse. We need world leaders to take drastic action on the issues that really matter poverty, inequality and climate change before it's too late.

  Matt Whitticase

  Free Tibet

  We want no part of any violence. We want to hold President Hu Jintao to account, not just for last year's atrocities, but for the fact that there are thousands more troops in Tibet and more than 100 people detained last year have disappeared.

  Stella Smith

  Teacher

  I am coming from Brighton to express my utter contempt for world leaders, bankers, MPs and everyone else who has got us into these linked climate, financial and poverty messes.

  The Rt Rev Richard Chartres

  Bishop of London

  It is crucial that the world's poorest communities are not forgotten. This is our opportunity to make the case for a global society that is committed to tackling poverty, injustice and climate change with the aim of creating a brighter future for the many and not just the few.

  James Leadbitter

  Climate Camp

  Being part of a broad social movement seeking justice is the most exciting thing I could be doing. It's the financial system driven by economic growth which has caused the ecological crisis.

  Anonymous

  Activist in Rising Tide, a radical environment network

  They [young people] are forced into a position where they must take action because governments are inadequate. There will be people who turn up who want violence. There will probably be confrontations. The new commander of the Met [Sir Paul Stephenson] wants to make his mark. We can expect him to take a hard line.

  Anonymous anarchist

  Anybody planning action sure as hell won't be talking about it. We're hoping that people really stand up against the government. If standing up involves a few smashed shops, well, that's the only thing they [the government] understand.

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