On 15th March 2003 a march took place in London to persuade the Government not to go to war in Iraq. 750,000 people attended according to the BBC. (This was the lowest of the estimates, with most putting the total at or over one million)
The country went to war on 20th March 2003.
On 4th March 2017 people marched against ongoing cuts and privatisation in the NHS. 250,000 people marched according to organisers.
On the following Wednesday the Chancellor announced no additional money to the NHS.
On 25th March 2017 “tens of thousands” of people marched against Brexit. The government triggered article 50 on the following Wednesday.
Can it be concluded that if you bring less than 750,000 people you are wasting your time?
This certainly seems to be true if the march is peaceful. In which case the likelihood of any serious news coverage is low.
While this blog in NO WAY advocates violence, it should be noted that the Poll Tax protests are known, not as the Poll Tax March, but as the Poll Tax Riots and the policy was revoked.
What is the purpose of a march? If it is to change policy rather than have a nice walk around the Capital for a couple of hours, then it should be concluded that a peaceful, uneventful march has a very poor track record of getting the job done.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result.
Therefore the challenge is to explore non-violent acts of protest, such as collecting salt or carrying a mattress, to replace the middle class day out.