Protests are winning

'Western leaders face a choice. Either they must barricade their meetings behind even more rolls of barbed wire, or they must find a way to deal with some of the concerns of this increasingly vociferous movement.' This was the response of bosses' paper the Financial Times in an editorial three weeks after the Genoa demonstrations. It reflects the fear of much ruling class opinion that the globalisation project is now seriously damaged by the scale and depth of anti-capitalist protests.

Genoa marked a significant step forward for the anti-capitalist movement. The size and scale of the demonstrations were the biggest so far, and the presence of large numbers of workers shows that the movement is now reaching into significant sections of the organised working class. The drastic curtailment of the coming World Bank/IMF summit in Washington in late September proves that the movement which started with Seattle in 1999 is having a real impact as it spreads internationally.

Our rulers know that in Genoa the protesters won and they lost. Or at least some of our rulers know that. Tony Blair seems oblivious to the fact. He compounded his support for the Genoese police by stating his intention to make anti-capitalist protesters his new foe, to be defeated as he did the supporters of Clause Four in the Labour Party. He followed up the Genoa summit with a tour of Latin America where, like some evangelical Christian preacher, he extolled the virtues of the global free market to a continent ravaged by its effects.

Back in Britain Blair is no less enthusiastic as he gears up for confrontations with workers in the Post Office, hospitals and schools, and on the tube where he is determined to push ahead with the hated PPP.

Yet there are two significant factors emerging which could scupper Blair's best laid plans. First is the recession which has hit the world's largest and most powerful economy, the US, and is set to worsen. If this happens it will almost certainly hit other parts of the world's economies. Every day brings news of job cuts, and a consumer boom which is unsustainable and out of control.

There is growing evidence that workers are not prepared to bear the brunt of any recession. This has been seen in the new mood of militancy that was felt in the run-up to the general election, most significantly among post workers, and which has continued since. Labour's conference looks set to see more arguments than at any time since Blair became leader-- over pensions, housing sell-offs, student fees, the state of public services, and the continued vast inequality between rich and poor. A government which failed to address any of these problems during the past few years is now facing a recession where its only answer will be to make us all pay more.

The demonstration at Labour's conference on 30 September, and the London counter-conference organised by Globalise Resistance the day before, will bring together a wide range of protesters. There are also planned protests over Star Wars and housing sell-offs, and more anti-capitalist demonstrations--all this before parliament has reconvened and Blair has unveiled his next round of attacks.

We have plenty of opportunities to take the message from the streets of Genoa back to the workplaces and communities of Britain. And it must be simple and clear--the Blair government has no mandate to carry out its attacks and pro-business policies, and people are in a fighting mood. The Genoa protests put the world's leaders on the defensive--now is the time to ram home the advantage.