However, others arrived in dribs and drabs till there was a crowd of 100 - 200. The local press photographers appeared and started organising a group shot. I was also wandering around with my camera, protesting, taking pictures and just chatting to people. I spoke to scientists, people supporting science, families, dog lovers, people wearing hats and also a number of people originally from the Netherlands, Poland, Australia and even America, who were either worried about their future residence in the UK (after 20 years living and working here). Other worries were whether we would be impoverished by the drain of researchers from the UK that has already begun, or simply laments on how a former open UK seems to be cutting itself off from the world. I was interested in Ibrahim Rahman setting up his smartphone for a Facebook live broadcast of the event.
Finally the speakers arrived, including Rally organiser Paul Browne, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner, Liberal Lucy Nethsingha, Conservative Lord Richard Balfe and the Green Party representative Jeremy Caddick.
The overall atmosphere was faint optimism that the tide was turning, certainly against a hard Brexit.
There is a full photo album here: https://goo.gl/photos/RpAsiKDyur9b6xx3A.
Getting home was not as easy as getting in, the Midsummer Fair was on and Victoria Avenue limited traffic wise, adversely affecting bus timetables. I finally caught the new N service to Longstanton, and got off at Cambridge North Station, where Jane rescued me.
Finally got around to ordering our postcards for Cambridge Open Studios, using MOO to order 50 cards with 5 different designs featuring my and Jane's work.
Looking at the polls summarised at http://whatukthinks.org/eu/opinion-polls/uk-poll-results/, the delict balance between remainers and leavers has switched , with the remainers at 50% v leavers at 48%. Not sure how significant this is statistically yet. Furthermore, nearly 50% think the negotiations are being handled badly or very badly, twice as many compare to those who think they are still going well.
This currently pales into significance compared to the uproar about fire safety in tower blocks, with all 34 cladding samples sent in from different sources screened so far failing fire tests. The Government plans to screen 600 blocks. More people are likely to be evacuated till their blocks are repaired. On top of this, the government is scrapping plans to relax safety standards in schools.
There was a reminder today via Quartz, that the US Senate Health Bill only mentions women in relation to abortion - and with a definite pro-life, anti-abortion bias - and will also reintroduce healthcare cost inequality again, where women pay 52% to 69% more compared to men. Quartz says "Specifically, it [the Bill] strips out hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, the insurance for the poor, which now covers over 50% of all births in many US states, and allows states to opt out of covering “essential” healthcare that includes maternity and newborn care."
President Trump has gone on the attack against Obama, as the CIA was apparently aware of the Russian hacking before the election and took (in his opinion ) limited or no action. Trump tweeted:
"Since the Obama Administration was told way before the 2016 Election that the Russians were meddling, why no action? Focus on them, not T!"
However, a much more serious misdemeanor by the President. Critics and golfers gasped in horror as video appeared online of a smiling President driving a golf buggy on the green! https://youtu.be/o6IrmHI5j94. A truly heinous crime in the eyes of the golfing fraternity. No doubt this is the cause of his most recent 3% drop in approval ratings in the Gallop poll/a 1% drop in the Rasmussen poll (delete whichever you regard as fake news).
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