The past week has seen another financial institution fall by the wayside. This time Scotland’s biggest building society, the Dunfermline. The extent of the crisis beyond the financial sector is also clear. We are dealing with a crisis of global capitalism, not mere finance capital.

It was in reaction to these tumultuous times, and the upcoming meeting of the G20, that the Saturday March 28 demonstration was called in London, under the banner of Put People First – an alliance of NGOs, charities and trade unions.

Protesters on the 28th. Bank of England in the background

Amongst the protesters there could be found good contingents of various left groups, greens and pacifists. However, mostly the left seemed to be concentrating on running stalls, not only at the beginning and end of the march, but along the route too. The Green Party was particularly numerous and well organised. It was also keen to pose left with placards such as “Workers for the world unite!” But there were others too. NGOs and charities had impressive turnouts. Mostly they consisted of young, well-meaning people. Another positive feature was the mobilisations carried out by various trade unions. And not only from Britain. The European TUC was there, along with brothers and sisters from Belgium, Italy and France.

Platform speeches in Hyde Park were disappointing, but predictable. The majority invested their hopes in the G20 and what it could deliver. There were pleas for the presidents and prime ministers to put aside their differences in order to reach a ‘solution’ to the economic crisis. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said that G20 leaders “must sign up to boost the world economy and govern it better, and show us they are trying to build a better world”.

Of course, the election of Barack Obama has compounded such illusions. Co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Kumi Naidoo, claimed that not all G20 leaders were the same – “We all supported Obama in our hearts”, apparently. In fact, only one speaker, Philippine trade campaigner Mary Lou Malig, called for protesters to look for solutions beyond the G20. Otherwise, speakers held onto the naive assumption that there is enough goodwill among ‘world leaders’ for them to agree to implement measures to help the poor and save the environment, if only progressive people kept up the pressure.

Prior to the demonstration police had announced “almost unprecedented levels of activity”. There were certainly scare stories … but there was also encouragement from the media, such as the BBC. Actor Tony Robinson was given airtime to urge people to get down to the demonstration. Police estimates gave the figure as upwards of 35,000 – for once a figure pretty much in line with the likes of Socialist Worker and the Morning Star.

The Royal Bank of Scotland gets it after police 'kettled' protesters outside

Both police and media were striving to create a clear division between, on the one hand, ‘sensible’ and ‘peaceful’ types, interested in lobbying bodies like the G20 to request change, and, on the other, ‘dangerous’ and ‘violent’ radicals intent on causing trouble. As it turned out, the April 1 protests in the City were in general peaceful, though decidedly boisterous. A handful of protesters broke into a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland and a man died after a police push. The police used three-sided kettling tactics, hemming people in. There were around 60 arrests, but nowhere near as many as might have been expected, given the police hype.

Numbers were far smaller than some organisers had predicted. Nonetheless, getting some 5,000 out mid-week is a modest achievement and certainly gained considerable publicity from the media. But the fact that there was a  separate protest in Grosvenor Square and a climate camp in the City testifies to the disunity of the anti-G20 movement.

The alternative G20 summit due to take place at the University of East London was cancelled by management – the scheduled speakers addressed an impromptu meeting of a couple of hundred people in the UEL courtyard after being barred entrance to the hall. Alternative G20 convenor professor Chris Knight was suspended from his university post for allegedly “inciting criminal action” in a press interview.

Defensive slogans are not enough; workers must be organised

While we welcome the fact that thousands of people are prepared to demonstrate, communists must do their utmost to overcome illusions in the potential for capitalism’s top representatives to deliver much at all. The current crisis is not the product of a few greedy bankers, against which bourgeois states should be seen as allies. Crisis is endemic to capitalism, a product of its relentless drive toward the maximisation of profit. We cannot look to bourgeois leaders to ‘solve’ it.

A cursory glance at the make-up and aims of the G20 should be enough to dispel any illusions. The international ruling class is clearly divided in its approach, most notably between the finance powers (UK-USA), and the rest. The economic crisis is only likely to see such inter-imperialist rivalries intensify as the major powers clamour to lessen its specific national impact. However, even if the G20 was to reach a consensus on which direction to take in handling the crisis, the outcome would not be one that bodes favourably for the working class.

The role of these leaders is to manage capitalism. In any of their efforts to stabilise the global system they will inevitably consider the potential threat posed by the only class with the capacity to overthrow capitalism: the working class.