EFAU 68 - May 2000Back to list of articles in this issue

April Pool Parade

Shoppers in Manchester were taken by surprise on Saturday 1st April when several hundred wannabe terrorists, disguised in police uniforms and riot gear, attempted to intimidate and coerce a group of fluffy protestors into, well, not protesting.

The April Fool Parade was organised to make the point that the Terrorism Bill is so extreme and ridiculous that it is a joke - only not a particularly amusing one. About 400 people gathered armed with some decidedly suspicious leaflets, a hugely subversive ’Stop the Terrorism Bill, Terror Bill = Terror State’ banner, pig masks, cameras, musical instruments, and pantomime police helmets.

Just to help make the point, a large number of humourless jokers - sorry, law enforcement officers also turned up, along with intelligence gatherers (sic) and the usual hardware, including helicopter.

The plan was to parade around the city for an hour or so, stopping off at the Freemason's and then the Town Hall for a chat over tea and buncakes about government legislation and the doings of the hidden state. Nothing too antagonistic, just a few pranks and a bit of mockery.

However, police jokers penned in the crowd, cordoned off the shopping area, set up road blocks, and traffic ground to a halt on Cross Street and the surrounding area... for hours!

A pedal powered sound system turned up and the t-party began to warm up. Each time a route to leave the street looked clear a bunch of jokers formed a blockading line, and others began to pen in the crowd from all sides.

Tactics of coercion and intimidation started to be deployed. Three people were nicked, with no pretence even of observing arresting procedure.

Sensing that the angry young men were running short of patience, the parade of fool's finally and light heartedly moved along, then spotted a gap in the official lines and everybody dispersed simultaneously to the peace gardens. The crowd then headed for an old haunt, Oxford Road, but the police were now ahead of the game, and soon the Parade was penned in once more. So they partied for another hour or so, and finally left, safe and unharmed, dignity intact, no major battle kicking off, with 5-6,000 leaflets on the Terrorism Bill passed out to an unaware public, and a day to remember.

More info about the Terrorism Bill 01273 298 192