For the third time in as many weeks, thousands of people marched through the streets of Leeds against the ongoing siege and bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli state.
Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party
Those joining the demonstration were motivated by a mix of anger at the devastation being wrought on the people of Gaza, and sadness at the huge loss of life taking place.
I spoke on behalf of the Socialist Party at the demonstration, with the biggest responses coming when I asked for the second week in a row whether any of the many local MPs had defied Starmer’s ban on attending demonstrations (Leeds East MP Richard Burgon finally attended a demo, speaking at the London demo this weekend, being the only one).
The boos and calls of shame at those spineless mainstream politicians (with a Labour councillor later booed at the demo as well), was mirrored by loud cheers when I raised the need for a challenge to those councillors and MPs who have not only failed to take a stand on this issue, but also failed in many cases to support all workers taking strike action over the cost of living in the last year.
Dozens of copies of the Socialist were bought and money was donated to help produce more placards and other campaign materials, but the best reflection of the interest in the ideas the Socialist Party was putting forward on the demonstration was when two people walked up to our stall near the end of the demonstration and asked “How do we join the Socialist Party?”