London blogger Malcolm Clark shares his take on the G20 summit.
Malcolm spent time in the U.S. volunteering for the Obama campaign and writing about the elections from a British perspective. He is also the director of Make My Vote Count, a U.K. voter reform advocacy group.
You can read more about his campaign adventures at SixFifty: Lessons from America.
I took part in the Put People First march last Saturday. That was the big trade union and NGO (nonprofit) march through central London in advance of the G20 pushing job creation, different ways of tackling the financial crisis apart from bailouts, and putting climate change higher up the agenda.Sphere: Related Content
Tens of thousands of people; carnival-atmosphere; lots of banners, placards, creative costumers, and marching bands. Some positive London-based media coverage in the run-up to the event. But by Sunday, the focus was back on the G20 leaders and the summit logistics.
I have had plenty of friends and even some colleagues out there these past two days. Certainly Wednesday's "climate camp" seems to have been a colourful, peaceful and productive way of demonstrating. Not sure of the rest.
One friend in the thick of it sent me a text this morning--responding to my wish that the protests have some impact--saying, "Not sure anyone had thought of impacts... or much of anything."
Traditional media inevitably focused on the sporadic (and very minimal) outbursts of violence and property destruction. I've seen far worse though, both here in London one MayDay and, particularly, in my summit-hopping days at the G8 in Genoa.
I did happily leave my office yesterday evening. Not for protesting, but for Obama welcoming duties.
I joined the fantastic "Brits for Barack" group and members of Democrats Abroad lining parts of the Mall and Parliament area awaiting Obama’s arrival for dinner with Gordon Brown. I took my place outside the famous gates to Downing Street and had an enjoyable few hours. We spotted Michelle, but the Man Himself entered underground and never came out to give us a wave.
Yet, as Steve, the Brits for Barack organiser, put it: “It was a great atmosphere. I’m sure the President and other world leaders will have seen the supportive banners and posters adorning the area we were in – with slogans like "Hope Restored – Thank You America," etc. Members of Brits for Barack gave interviews to a variety of world media, including ABC News, New York Daily News, Time Out, France 2, Nippon TV, and German television.
And yes, there was me getting in on the act, too. I was dressed for the part: wearing my Inauguration beanie with a selection of buttons (including a ViaDelia special); holding a "Vote Today" doorhanger left over from my election day efforts in Cincinnati; and, of course, waving an American flag that I had been handed on the Mall during the Inauguration.
In fact the whole thing was like reliving the great campaign rally days (minus the huge crowds), especially as I was in "blogger" mod and interviewed various of the Obama-philes. The crowning glory...two North Carolinans who had flown across to London especially to sell Obama memorabilia. Awesome! But because there were no big public Obama events, business was hard-going for them. Over the weekend I’ll write it all up and post pics on sixfiftyblog.com.
The atmosphere in London is not what I had envisaged some months back when the G20 and Obama's visit were first announced. Where were the adoring crowds? The Obama-mania? The big public speech (our own Berlin moment), or at least a "rope-line" meet-n-greet?
Yes, the political and economic climate is quite different than last November, especially here in the UK where the effects of the global downturn have been felt later than across the Atlantic. Yes, there are protests and security concerns to contend with. But I really feel that Obama --and his advisors--have missed a trick. There are still plenty of people who are fervent fans, or just want a glimpse of the President in person. There would have been a large response for some public event or speech especially, I believe, within London’s large black and ethnic minority community.
Wednesday morning, I went to the launch of the Hansard Society’s "Audit of Political Engagement 2008." Click here for more details about the report, including links to a summary and a pdf copy for download.
The Hansard Society publishes this report annually, and this time they specifically looked into whether there was an "Obama Effect" in the U.K. – in terms of interest in, knowledge of, and belief in the efficacy of politics and political activity.
In the population as a whole, there was no real change in any of these indices, but amongst minority ethnic communities there were significant increases in engagement levels and the feeling that politics mattered and could bring change. So there was an observable Obama effect. However, we shouldn’t get too carried away--this is from a small base; and is still on levels below the population as a whole.
To me, what the audit showed was that we have failed--“we” as in all of us involved in U.K. politics in all its form. For we have failed to capitalise on the amazing spectacle and symbolism of Obama’s campaign and victory and turn that into reasons why British people should care about British electoral politics and get involved with Politics with a big P. I’m not sure whether the events of the past week--whether the protests or what went on inside the G20 summit--will have rectified that.
The challenge is to find some way of doing so.
