FIVE YEAR PLANS....

Tonight I realised with some astonishment that it is FIVE years, not the four I had somehow morphed it into, since George Bush came to the UK on a State Visit that had hundreds of thousands of us on the streets of London protesting.
It was one of those many days in 2003 in which one felt deeply ashamed at what the Government and in particular our then Prime Minister Tony Blair had done in our name in Iraq - but such events bring the consolation of solidarity with others and many of the people I met on that cold November day in 2003 have since become good friends.
We all marched behind the Labour Against The War banner and I remember someone burning a US flag as we marched down Whitehall and into Trafalgar Square. I also remember talking to someone who was a civil servant and hiding his face from the TV cameras.
At the time, I was working for the Government 's press office in Manchester and not supposed to be politically active. So I made up some excuse as to why I would not be in work that day. But as I recall it people in the office just exchanged wry smiles ( well, the ones who knew me well). And now the Bush era is almost at an end .
In 24 hours' time America chooses a new President. Chances are it will be Obama. At least I hope so. Because whatever the shortcomings of the Democrats in the US, it will be the end of the George W years - and that has to be for the good. One can only hope that a change in the White House will bring some resolution to the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan - where five years down the line the killing goes on.