What do movements of protest and movements of change need in order to succeed? Far be it from me (and similar disclaimers) to pretend to offer a comprehensive answer. But they need some anger, and they need numbers, and they need good arguments, and they need hope. Yes, hope. And then some: they need inspiring watchwords, and perhaps a bit of rhetoric to throw into the mix, and a song or two. Even losing, a song or two. Remember the war against Franco? ‘Though he may have won all the battles / We had all the good songs‘
Ah, but that Owen Jones – he does have a way with the handily chosen quote. Owen:
“We can’t afford to cock this up this time round,” as a young man put it to me in Nottingham.