Condoleezza Rice and Jack Straw - The North West Tour Round Up

This round up of Condi's tour of Blackburn and Liverpool is an amalgamation of the last couple of day's posts.
[links to our posts are underlined, to save people who have been here before reading them again]

The contrast between the Condi's trip here, and Jack's earlier trip to Alabama couldn't have been greater. In Alabama Condi was greeted as an aspirant presidential candidate, with the ever faithful Jack Straw trotting along behind, much to the bemusement of the locals, most of whom didn't know who he was, and cared even less.

So, thought Jack, why not invite Condi to Liverpool for a bit of the same? After all, it is reputed Jack harbours leadership delusions ambitions himself.
Some have suggested that there is a more personal aspect to their relationship. That Jack hankers after Condi's tight fitting trouser suits, or her kinky 'address the troops' boots, but we couldn't possibly say...
It looks more like a Master / Gimp relationship to us!

So the invitation was duly extended to Condi, to come over here for a grand tour of the North West. Confident the people of Blackburn would be as pliable as ever, and the people of Liverpool would be so intent on the Capital of Culture 2008 project they would be happy for any publicity, plans were made.

But Jack forgot to consider how much he and his government are loathed and detested, which is nowhere near as much as the Bush administration that Condi represents is loathed and detested. But when you live on Planet Jack and have absolute faith in your own propaganda, it must be easy to miss these little details.
So the visit was announced, with the date a closely guarded secret, and the rumblings of protest started .

Jacks careful plans started falling apart before Condi arrived. The visit to a Blackburn Mosque was cancelled because Jack's good friend Ibrahim Master had given the invitation without consulting the local community, who were outraged.

A damage limitation exercise was launched, spinning that the invitation was withdrawn for security reasons, that the Mosque was to be invaded etc which the media lapped up. Pressure in Blackburn was also growing on the visit to Pleckgate school, with parents up in arms about Condi's visit and attempts to have that visit cancelled as well.

Meanwhile, here in Liverpool, there were also problems with the itinerary. Roger McGough pulled out of the show the Philharmonic were to put on for Condi. Cathy Tyson publicly rejected the £500 to perform and the slot was eventually filled by Jennifer John, on the condition she could sing Imagine to make her protest.
There was talk of trouble at LIPA, where protest from the students was threatened, and Stop the War were making plain their intention to dog Condi and Jack's footsteps wherever they went.

[There was one stroke of luck though.
The National and Local press failed to spot the irony of Condi flying in to Liverpool John Lennon airport, given that a couple of weeks ago Alistair Darling told us in a parliamentary answer that Liverpool John Lennon airport was used by CIA transport flights linked to the Extrordinary Rendition programme that Condi is tasked with defending, and Jack is tasked with ignoring.]

The damage limitation here was to spin the threat of trouble. The ridiculous claim was made that Liverpool workmen had been told to re-lay the pavement outside LIPA to prevent superhuman protesters throwing loose paving slabs at Jack and Condi, and the local press started making veiled hints about trouble being expected.

The bullshit that is this Paving slabs story is exposed by these photos, clearly showing the big pile of loose paving slabs right next to where the police put us when we went to welcome Condi to LIPA.

So, on Thursday night, Condi landed without incident, and was whisked off by Jack to a hotel on Hope St, to be met by a crowd of 50 or so protesters who made their presence felt - a pattern that was to continue through the visit. It was reported that her security detail were not happy, the threat of protest was being taken as a security threat, and the itinerary was looking shakier than ever.

The next day [Friday], it was off to BAE Systems in Samlesbury. This is probably the one stop she had that can be said to have gone well, despite a bit of confusion about the location - Jack was under the impression he was in Blackburn, and Condi thought she was at BAS Systems, but they got through this one alright. It is perhaps appropriate that this previously unannounced stop at the arms manufacturer was probably the highlight of Condi's trip!

Next stop was Pleckgate school in Blackburn, where things didn't go nearly as well. The 200 or so protesters were obviously too much for Condi and Jack, so they were smuggled in through a side door out of sight, but not out of earshot of the angry parents, pupils and protesters. Smuggled out again, Condi was whisked off to an empty Ewood Stadium, apparently to meet the American goalkeeper and get given a shirt. The surreal nature of this particular stop off was underlined by a reporter asking her if she had the answer to the question that had reputedly been perplexing her - did she now understand that lyric about 4000 holes in Blackburn...

Then it was off to Chatham house, for a set piece speech with the usual justifications and explanations about US foreign policy, only to admit thousands of tactical errors in Iraq during the Q&A that followed.
Little reported was the fact she was shafted by Lord Hurd, who also spoke, pulling her analysis to pieces. Anybody who watched it will have seen the uncomfortable looks on Jack and Condi's faces.
Jack, who had drifted off into a Condi's kinky 'Address the Troops' boots fantasy during Lord Hurd's speech looked like he had been slapped around the face when he snapped round to glare at Hurd outlining the [self evident] probems with a Foreign Policy that causes tens of thousands of civillian deaths.

But after the politics, an afternoon and evening of entertainment was planned. Back to Liverpool, for a tour round the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts [founded by Sir Paul McCartney] where the students were due to entertain them. As it is just around the corner for me, we went to add our voice to the welcoming committee [our photos].

This was a vocal protest by a couple of hundred of us waiting outside. Condi was whisked in so swiftly, that she was rushed straight past the founding Principal who was there to welcome her, to boos and protest by 20 or so students. Reputedly, there was also a silent protest by some other students who pointedly refused to applaud at the approprate time, but the principal was so enthusiastic about her vist, that he must have made up for this, and the banner that unfurled from one of the windows before she arrived...

Running the gauntlet of the protesters again, whe was bustled back into her car for the couple of hundred yards back to her hotel, while the protesters gathered for the main event.

Word had gone out that 5.30 was the time and the Catholic Cathedral at the other end of Hope St was the place.

Just prior to this was the only real confrontation of the day. A small group from the LIPA protest decided to see how close they could get to Condi's hotel, and the only people more suprised than them about the fact they manged to walk pretty much right up to it were the police, who apparently hadn't anticipated this. Rather panicked by a group of people in orange jump suits walking past them they used horses to drive the protesters back up the street.

But the crowd was gathering [our photos], and by 6pm there were a good few of thousand there. The photos probably tell more than my writing, so you might want to look at them and skip this next paragraph. Estimates of the number of protesters range from the police's 1500, to the organisers 4000, so somewhere in the middle is probably about right. It was a loud, vociferous 'peaceful' protest. The rhetoric was scathing, the chants personal and cutting, and did I mention loud? But peaceful and non violent with no confrontations with the police, who I thought handled things pretty well.
We gathered at the cathedral, and filled Hope St as we marched down towards the Phil, where Condi was shielded from view by cars as she arrived. But she heard us, loud and clear.
I've been told we could be heard inside the Phil. The volume was kept up for a couple of hours, and if the aim was to make our presence felt, to let Condi and Jack know how angry people are, then it worked.
Condi will not hear "we all live in a yellow submarine" as anything other than "we all live in a terrorist regime" for some time to come.

But the protests were not confined to outside, Jennifer John did more than sing Imagine, she broke into Give peace a Chance, and said she was dedicating it to the protesters outside. So respect where respect is due!
A group of about 20 or so protesters stayed to see Condi out of the Philharmonic Hall and over the road to bed.

Not that anybody reading Saturday mornings papers will know that. There is a superb write up in the local paper the Daily Post, but I can't find it online. But the National press didn't have any pictures of a couple of thousand people marching, and very little written reference to it. Not to mention the fact it was apparently the bigest policing operation Liverpool has ever seen. There were plenty of press milling around, the major TV companies, radio people.
But there wasn't any trouble.
I can't recall which crestfallen reporter on which TV station I saw telling us there had been no trouble, as if he had wasted his time going to cover it. It feels like the press were interested when there was talk of scousers rioting and throwing paving slabs, but when nothing of that kind happened, then there were other things to fill this mornings column inches.

There are many reasons why the protest Blackburn was more significant, but in terms of numbers, and the potential for 'iconic' photos, last nights action in Liverpool was notable and there is precious little evidence of it in the press.

Saturday started with this Today interview, it's ripe for a fisking, especially the segment on Rendition. The Jack and Condi odd couple double act was starting to look more than a little ridiculous, and the tried and tested lies lines are sounding even more strained and unbelievable.

We also hear, that a couple who live near to the hotel managed to get a quick chat with Condi over the Palestine issue as she was getting into her car early Saturday morning, and that Condi failed to reassure them... as far as we know this is the only unscripted encounter with a member of the public who had not been vetted.

The loving couple headed back to Blackburnistan for a visit to the Cathedral, and a meeting with local Muslim and Civic leaders followed by a press conference

Time to run the gauntlet of the protesters once more, but the grins were looking more rictus after they rushed passed the 500-1000 strong welcoming committee.

In this press conference, it was Jack's turn to throw down the gauntlet, as he had to speak up to be heard over the noise of the protesters outside. He told us he was unimpressed with the numbers, and tells us he could have done better. Then he took us on a trip to Planet Jack and explainied that there were actually more people on the streets in support of Condi and her visit than protesting against it. This is more than a little curious, as nobody else saw these people during the visit, other than the small group outside Blackburn Town Hall who were dwarfed by the number of protesters. It didn't stop Jack and Condi waving desperately to them as they went in to do the Press Conference though. I wonder if Condi can see them too, it's kind of like the Emperor's new clothes in reverse...

Condi delivered her usual lines - 'We don't torture nobody, rendition is really quite fun, Guantanamo is a great place to be, everything is going to be fine in Iraq, and she just loves all these protesters making her moist with democracy. And when Condi's moist, Jack is...

A long leisurely lunch, then back to Liverpool for a civic reception at the Maritime Museum. it appears Condi got off scot free at the museum, the layout means it is simple to keep her isolated from any protest, and I doubt she was going round the exhibits with us the great unwashed.

So what was Condi thinking when she left? With any luck, she will have been thinking thank f*** I'm outta there! Unable to leave her 'secure zone' at any time, unable to meet people that haven't been vetted, shuttled between Liverpool and Blackburn like a prize poodle, with only Jack for company [although Tessa Jowell did turn up to lower the tone at the Philharmonic on Friday night].
Protests outside everywhere she went, protests inside several of the events she attended. Most importantly, given that she is such a big player in the Bush regime, maybe she will take back the message that people that are supposed to be America's No1 ally are more than a little pissed off, that whatever relationship the UK government have with this Bush administration, the people here disagree. That the actions of her government impact on how she as a representative of that government is received on the home turf of one of her most vociferous supporters.

I should imagine she is also pretty pissed off that she shows Jack a lovely time in Alabama, and she has a nightmare in Blackburn and Liverpool.

But how has Jack come out of it? Well, it is hard to escape the conclusion he come out of it looking a complete prick. He entertains the most powerfull woman in the world, by taking her to a school, a college, an empty football stadium and an arms factory. His carefully planned itinerary falls apart, as events spiral beyond his control in his own back yard. His supposedly compliant constituents, and supportive muslim community leaders fail to deliver, and for a community like Blackburn, that is significant. His fawning sycophancy must have been driving her nuts after a few days and has made him a laughing stock. He has also exposed his guest to a constant barrage of protests, taunts and jeers.

Jack tried to show us he is a player, all he succeeded in doing is showing us and the world how unpopular he and Condi really are.

UPDATE: The final word should go to Goatchurch, who has been chasing Condi and Jack everywhere they went in Liverpool. Still doing the double act, they have flown off to the Green Zone in Iraq - from Blackburn to Baghdad...