I went to the j of e march until after the speeches were made. Here are my observations:

- The march attracted about 150 - 200 people, I sensed the organisers were disappointed about the number of people who turned up.
- It was mainly good natured. There was lots of hissing and booing outside Downing Street. The police weren't overly concerned with this or the march in general.
- The slogans mainly concentrated on the issues like the Barnett formula, an English parliament. Or general vague assessments like "justice for England", "equal rights for England" etc.
- There were numerous groups of people there. After chatting with many and making observations. I would classify them as follows:
a) Some kind of libertarian anti-Europeans. I was handed a leaflet at one stage from someone arguing about low taxation, Europe's influence etc. So clearly they were using the march as a means of distributing other political info. These might have been from the Freedom Association.
b) The Civic Nationalists ( campaigning for an English parliament, dealing with the West Lothian question, England given the same choices as Scotland etc)
c) Those directly affected by the constitutional settlement. There were students complying about student fees, and at least one cancer patient.
d) An "English left". These see England as being better off out of an "imperialist union". I sensed there weren't many of them.
e) No overtly racist or far right groups. The only thing that concerned me was a bloke wearing an "Anglo-Saxon kith and kin" t-shirt. I asked him about it, and whether he was some kind of racist. He said he was pissed off with "celticness". That's all he said to me. There were one or two anti-Scottish comments on this march but were few in my opinion.
- The speeches to their credit stressed how it was for all the people of England, not for a race or ethnic group
- There were very few there who could not be classed as "white". I saw two people in and around the campaign who were from ethnic minorities. One was draped in the George Cross.
- Many people I asked had not heard of the Freedom Association or related organisations.
- Speaking to some members of The Campaign for an English Parliament, they said they were happy to be a part of the movement for the moment, but are watching it and see how it develops and what, if any, political direction it takes.
- Traditional party allegiance varied. There were some who used to be labour party members (like myself), though more would describe themselves as conservatives than anything else.
- Some people spoke of their frustration as having been tarred as being racist for going on the march.
- The response by the general public was generally positive, if a little bemused. Some horns were blared in support; other people were curious and asked what it was about. I saw one person in a coach gesticulate at us.
- At one stage I was walking with a member of the C.E.P who was in his 70's who had served in the navy. As the above mentioned "Anglo-Saxon kith and kin t-shirt" made an anti-Scottish remark, my companion turned to me and said the "the last thing we need is people being anti anything. It doesn't do us any favours and I saw far too much of that kind of thing in Palestine". Possibly the best comment I heard all day.
- I didn't hear a single rendition of Roots, thank god.
- On the whole I thought it positive and non-threatening and I'm glad the issues like the west Lothian question have been raised in England. Other may take a different view and have other observations. It will be interesting to see how this organisation develops.