I had a strange sense of deja vu on the 22^nd of March walking towards Hyde Park surrounded by anti-war banners. Hadn’t I done this a few weeks before? Of course I had, only then the bombs weren’t raining down on Baghdad.

The last march on February 15 gave rise to the sort of euphoria I’ve never experienced in Britain. Never before had I felt such closeness with a wide spectrum of people. Normally, I felt ostracized opposing the foreign policies of our government.  But on February 15 I had an entire cross section of Britain saying the same thing as me. That’s not something I’m used to.

We said ‘No!’ to Tony Blair. He said, ‘Talk to the hand ‘cause the face ain’t listening.’ We said, ‘This war’s illegal!’ He said, ‘Blame the French… nobody likes them anyway.’  We said, ‘You’ll kill innocent people.’ He said, ‘It’s the price of freedom.’

His infantile responses were understood to be just that by the very people who use them everyday - our children. They’re used to making up excuses to get around something they know they shouldn’t do.  They understand the tactics - if one line of argument fails, pursue another. When exactly did this war change from a mission of national security to an exercise in bringing democracy to Iraq? If mum asks, we’re bringing democracy.  If dad asks, we’re going after weapons of mass destruction.

The problem is people follow by example. If their country isn’t abiding by laws, why should they follow the rules either?  Tony Blair and George Bush have acted in a way that means they no longer recognise international law. ‘OK,’ said our school kids, ‘maybe we won’t recognise the Education Act!’  And then they walked out of their classes. Nice one, Tony. You’ve managed to mobilise the biggest youth rebellion since 1968.  And all the Pop Idols and Home and Aways can’t put them back together again.

But this isn’t just a revolution of 15-year-olds. Pensioners for Peace, Sex-Workers Against the War, Unions, rebel MP’s, writers, artists, filmmakers all stood up to be counted on Saturday. In his Oscars speech Michael Moore said, ‘We live in fictitious times…’ and that struck home. We are surrounded by images of a war that look like a video game. It’s a war that has made-up rules and a made-up moral conviction. The gall of Bush to think that he could bring democracy anywhere, when he rigged his own election!  I mean, ‘Hello, do you really think we don’t remember what happened?’

On March 22 when I went on the second biggest march in British history I came home to find the television news citing the dwindling support for the anti-war movement.   Along with a thousand others, I had sat down in Oxford Street stopping traffic for hours and nothing was mentioned by the media anywhere.

So why bother?   It’s not going to stop this war, is it?  Maybe not, but the people  being mobilised are here to stay.  They might not stop this war, but they’ll be around for a long time to come because, if Bush and Blair have their way, plenty more are brewing.