I failed quite early on in my attempt to write something every day this week the arms fair is on, but I think I have a reason.
We headed down to join the day of action against the arms fair yesterday.
People had been gathering at Old Palace Yard in the morning to protest outside parliament before lobbying MPs. We joined the protest early afternoon just before there were announcements about what other actions were going on and people went off in their separate directions.
We joined a group that went to protest outside the offices of ADS the trade body representing defence, aerospace and arms companies. Missed out on a chance to get into the offices, but made some noise, sang some songs to let those inside know we were there. The offices are just off Embankment so there weren't too many people passing by, but those that did were not aware that ADS was based in their neighbourhood and interested in our protest.
Later in the day I joined the die-in outside BAE. There was a shout of 'can the police officers turn off their radios as a mark of respect' that got a ripple of laughter before silence fell. Never having taken part in one before it felt like a good way to reflect on why we were there.
On these occasions I never seem to fail to show just how disorganised I can be. Didn't charge the camera batteries so no photos. Didn't confirm where to get updates on the day so wasted some time travelling around without checking what was happening. Next time I should definitely know better.
