It is no more true to pretend that Saturday's TUC anti-cuts march changes everything than to pretend it changes nothing.Buy nike running shoes online The march through London was a very successful and impressive protest. A quarter of a million is a big turnout by any standards. There is also considerable polling evidence that it spoke, in general terms, for an increasingly large section of public opinion. To exaggerate the strength of the protest would be foolish – the public sector dominated TUC has not overnight become the voice of middle Britain. But it is even more foolish to dismiss the march as an event of no consequence. Opposition to the government's spending cuts and tax increases is rising, and is of growing importance in British politics. This cannot but have an increasing impact, whatever the denials. The real questions, however, are whether the government can keep the growth of opposition within bounds over the next two years and whether Labour can persuade those who are tempted to align themselves with it that the party has a credible alternative. Saturday's march does not answer either question.
The violence of a few hundred rioters on Saturday should be seen in this wider context. That's not to say the violence does not matter. The violence is wrong. It does no good. It should certainly not be romanticised. But it should not become an excuse for framing Saturday's march as a law and order issue rather than an issue of politics and economics. The overwhelming majority of marchers, Ed Miliband and the TUC included, had nothing whatever to do with smashing windows, throwing things at the police or behaving badly. They were there to make afashion 2011 nike running shoes peaceful protest. Most of them only learned about the rioting when they got home. The march was well stewarded and well policed. Unfortunately, there will always be a fringe who prefer to riot. It was ever thus. They irresistibly attract the attention of the police and the television cameras. They should probably have been factored into the planning better; on another occasion, some shops might be more sensible to close in advance. But the public are not stupid. They know the rioters are a minority. They can tell the difference between the grown-ups and the trouble-makers.
In the end, it is this wider public that matters most of all. The TUC campaign was, or should be, a campaign to win their support. At the moment, according to last weekend's Guardian-ICM poll, those who think the cuts go too far – the marchers' cause – have only 35% support, while 57% think the cuts strike the right balance or don't go far enough. Other polls, including yesterday's YouGov-Sunday Times survey, have findings that can be read more favourably to the TUC cause, though based on different questions. But these differences should not obscure the fact that public opinion on the deficit, the cuts, the alternatives and the blame has not yet reached a settled place. The public now sees the coalition and its economic policies negatively. But it still has more trust in the coalition than Labour on the deficit.buy Reebok EasyTone
As the financial year begins, the public faces cuts and higher taxes on a scale not yet directly experienced. Opinion is likely to move around, probably initially against the government. But the anti-coalition anger of 2011 may be no more durable than the pro-coalition honeymoon of 2010. Labour cannot assume that it will be the lasting beneficiary until it is able to spell out a believable alternative that speaks to the undecided at the moment when it matters. But the government cannot simply pretend that there is nothing happening out in the country. It will have to respond. The TUC march was a success. Ed Miliband was right to address it. But the campaign remains rooted in the agenda of the public sector unions. The Labour leader faces a much bigger task now. He needs to reach out to those who think of themselves as much as taxpayers as consumers or producers of public services. A longer march now beckons.
Daily gunfire spurred by Laurent Gbagbo’s efforts to stay in power after losing a presidential election in November
Buy nike running shoes online has pushed thousands of residents out of neighborhoods surrounding the city’s central districts, while the closing of banks and businesses have led to widespread unemployment.
“The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fueled by fears of all-out war,” a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told reporters Friday in Geneva, estimating that 700,000 to one million people had already left their homes.
“Bus terminals are overcrowded with passengers desperate to get seats on vehicles heading to northern, central and eastern parts of the country where there has been no fighting so far,” an agency spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, said.
In Abidjan, Mr. Gbagbo’s security forces have waged an armed campaign against neighborhoods loyal to the man recognized by international bodies as the winner of the presidential election, Alassane Ouattara, killing at least 25 people with mortar shells at a market last week, the United Nations said.
This month, unarmed demonstrators against his rule were mowed down with machine-gun fire. Guerilla fighters have waged attacks against Mr. Gbagbo’s forces in Abidjan, while civilians, caught in the cross-fire, are now deserting neighborhoods wholesale. fashion 2011 nike running shoes
The United Nations and African political bodies have been unable to stop the attacks on civilians, despite the presence of a large United Nations peacekeeping force in Abidjan and repeated visits to the city by political leaders from across the continent seeking to mediate a settlement.
At the United Nations, France and Nigeria are calling for additional sanctions on Mr. Gbagbo and his inner circle — to add to those imposed late last year by the European Union and the United States — as well as a ban on heavy weapons use in Abidjan.
The United Nations estimates that nearly 500 people have been killed since the election; Mr. Ouattara puts the figure at nearly double that. The mortar attack last week may amount to “crimes against humanity,” the United Nations said, but a spokesman for Mr. Gbagbo later riposted with a blast against “Western media” for spreading “false information,” warning that international journalists there would be considered a “media extension of prevailing terrorism.” buy Reebok EasyTone online
Fighting in the western part of Ivory Coast has also displaced tens of thousands of residents, according to the United Nations and aid agencies, as fighters loyal to Mr. Ouattara skirmish with militias and troops tied to Mr. Gbagbo.
Towns near the Liberian border have been deserted by people fleeing to the neighboring country, the United Nations said, and there has been looting, rape and killing of civilians in the region.