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Fifteen minutes
To Preston, where the peasants are revolting, to protest outside the meeting in which the first two fracking licences for Lancashire were to be considered.
Just as I was feeling grumbly about my cold feet and the drizzle, after my gruelling fifteen-minute train journey, along comes a coachload of people from Edinburgh to humble me. I also met people from Pontypridd, Brighton, Wrexham, Sheffield, and several local people whose houses have been damaged by the test drilling that has already taken place.
Someone had arranged for us to have tea and coffee upstairs in the pub. Never has a cup of instant coffee been more gratefully received. We went back outside in time to catch a procession of tractors, from Farmers Against Fracking, who drove at a very slow speed through the centre of Preston. Afterwards, we all repaired back to the pub for a sociable pint or six. It's that side of demos that I like best, almost more than the political outcomes.
I was interviewed by a Norwegian newspaper, although unlike the girl from Sheffield I spent some time talking to, I didn't make the cut into the final article -- click on the image if you fancy practising your Norwegian. A TV crew from Channel 5 came over, saying that my cat had attracted their attention, and threw me a couple of soft questions. I've no idea if I made the news bulletin, but no-one actually watches Channel 5 anyway.
The bailiffs said they were coming round on Friday. Talk about taking away your advantage of surprise. To my relief, Morgane left the house early. Shortly afterwards, the doorbell rang. I stayed in bed for a good hour or so, wondering if they'd be coming round the back to check for open windows or unlocked doors. It was actually Wilma, on her way to work, returning my phone which I'd left at hers the day before.
Her computer wouldn't boot up, but I got it sorted. It took me over three hours, during which she got through a couple of bottles of wine and I got through several pints. She is keen to remind me all the time that she's an alcoholic, but I sometimes wonder whether that's an elective affinity than an actual condition.
Like me, she's a heavy, habitual drinker. Unlike me, she's a depressive, a textbook example of maternal deprivation and paternal violence. There's something appealing about her honesty though, and I nodded and hmmed through her oscillation between not wanting a man one minute and wanting to be "treated like a princess" the next. We ended up in bed once, a bizarre near-sex experience, with her alternatively pushing me off and then violently pressing me against her again.
Morgane has applied to go on Come Dine With Me. She's got through the initial sift and the TV company are coming round on Wednesday to have a look at the house. She sent me a text message the other day apologising for not mentioning it, and hoping it was OK with me. I replied enthusiastically, saying I thought it's a great idea.
I got home from the fracking demo, elated, and told Trina about the Come Dine With Me idea. She was relentlessly pessimistic about it. Morgane came in, struggling her bike through the front door, mud spattered on her legs, not reaching the hem of the latest of her gorgeous charity shop dresses. She is a great dresser. Morgane and me talked Trina's gloom down. I told Morgane that there was enough minestrone for her if she was hungry. Please come and sit here with me and counteract the miserable mood my patron is creating.
7 comments
Maybe you could ask Morgane to make an appearance on “Come dine with me: PLEASE.”
Good for you going on the demo, even if the pub was the best bit. The pub is always the best bit.
Ha ha… :) To my relief she accepted the minestrone and Trina went off to bed. She’s been working very hard lately and not getting enough sleep. I was tempted to add “The way you feel now is how you used to make me feel when you snored,” but thought it best not to pour oil onto the fire.
And along with the social side, the energising feeling it gives me to get more involved in practical action against fracking. It’s inspiring to be amongst other people who feel more or less the same. I’ve seen the depth and range of opposition to it, and it’s immediately, locally relevant to us here. It’s not just a rent-a-mob on tour.
Ohh…I like a bit of internal struggle for a woman. She knows she shouldn’t but she can’t seem to resist. That’s the best.
I can’t help feeling that no matter what the masses want, corporations are going to go ahead and have their way in the end. I’ll be interested to know if your protest amounted to something more than just fodder for the evening news.
Well, there are many instances in which such a pessimistic view of social action hasn’t turned out.
Three examples from the past twelve months: We managed to defeat a move by big pharma firm Syngenta, and others, to get the EU-wide ban on narcotini..whatsits – those pesticides that kill bees, lifted.
We’ve got an immediate result on the fracking (although only a small battle in the overall war) in that Cuadrilla have had to go back and re-submit their application.
The Government’s programme to sell our health data to private firms has been shelved for sixth months – and opposition will be redoubled it they try to reintroduce the plan.
If you just sit back and throw your hands up in the air you’ll end up with a country run by Nestlé and Monsanto.
Like you, i enjoy a bit of protest - and believe that grassroots efforts can make a difference. Seems you had a good turnout and crossed the tipping point!
Oh, what glorious fun it would be if Morgane is selected for the show - and a film crew is there when the bailiffs arrive! THAT’S some “Must See TV” right there!
“Hey Morgane, what coincidence! I’m going to be on a TV programme too, it’s called ‘ Can’t pay, we’ll take it away’ on Channel 5 but luckily, nobody watches Ch5.
Says Looby.
Hello DF and Lana
Yes… it wouldn’t bother me how hopeless someone thought the cause – if it’s worth doing something about then one should do it.
I’ll have a word with the bailiffs, see if they can co-ordinate things. You must get appearance money, so Ch5 can pay it straight to them. Problem solved :)
(Lana – have we met before?)
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