The Lord Mayor's Parade, Saturday 31 May 2003, was themed Celebrating Europe, and a group of us went along to perform an "Unfair tug-of-war". Dave Pearce brought his real tug-of-war rope, but this proved too much for us so we used a more modest one!Attached to the rope were "cash bags" repre-senting funds for development, education and health; also placards with the TJM scales and "Celebrating Europe's Trade Justice?" The tug-of-war was between poor countries and suited rich countries. A smartly dressed WTO facilitator presided, offering help to the rich!
More activists joined us during the procession and, despite competing for public attention with steel and marching bands, we handed out TJM action cards. Once beyond the Mayor, we left the procession and collected signatures for the Greater Manchester TJM petition. Although the crowds noticed our presence, we would have had a bigger impact if our group were larger. That evening at the Town Hall reception, I took the opportunity to network among an influential guest list, including with the Mayor herself.
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