A quick report on a minor bit of activism. We had been notified of the Spiked “Trigger 50” protest in favour of proceeding immediately with formal Brexit negotiations. Not content with simply offering up artwork for someone else’s protest I went along to ensure the presence of the “Liberty for All” message (really, in context, “Brexit for All”). Tagging along to a protest is always a case of achieving the possible and seems to be a good way of meeting new activists.

My investment in this activism was not more than 2 hours total effort (including travelling) and £30 (on the same basis). I was on site at the protest for under 15 minutes. The focus was therefore on getting an appealing message into the hands of potential activists.

Just 1 to 4 people held up the sign for any amount of time, but despite zipping around giving out the sign I was stopped for questions by two people, and 3 or 4 people asked for a copy. So people are very engaged in this issue and want to know who is working on it. In addition the sign was certainly photographed a similar number of times, and professionally video recorded while being waved.  I was gratified that the signs were getting held in hand or put in a pocket for digestion later. Hopefully recipients will look us up and digest our Brexit coverage in full. Each pocketed sign is a potential new connection between a passionate group of intellectuals and a group that is – demonstrably – able to get out in public to send a message.

Spiked offer up opinion-shifting journalism – as Libertarian Home does – but do not seem to organise real life meetings. They do however take a campaigning approach very effectively, make media appearances, and get people talking. We have a lot to learn by keeping an eye on them.