What do we want, convenient protest camps now!

I am encouraged by the appearance of several very convenient environmental protest camps this year - one near Heathrow in the second week of August, and one near Gatwick in early September. Protest camps have usually been in the middle of bloody nowhere half way up Snowdonia, or an hour's walk away from the nearest bus stop in the Peak District in Derbyshire. When I visited the Nine Ladies protest camp against quarrying in Matlock, Derbyshire, one resident told me there were very few alcohol-related incidents on site due to the 'very long walk to the nearest off licence.'

Now the Climate Change camp, somewhere near Heathrow, is easily accesible on the tube (us North London people don't even have to change). We can go and hang out and do our protesty thing, and then come back for a shower at the end of the day. The No Borders camp against the construction of a new immigration prison ('removal centre') near Gatwick is also nice and easy for us Londoners to get too - the Gatwick Express may be a bit more pricey but you can get the cheapo train from Victoria, and then be back in time for tea.

Why should anti-capitalist protest be such a struggle. What do we want, convenient protest camps now!


The image is from a flyer for the very convenient Climate Change camp near Heathrow.