Saturday's Protest Proved David Cameron Won't Be Resigning Any Time Soon

If you're one of the people who wants to capitalise on Cameron's offshore tax affairs to get your way, take a moment to think about how you're going about it - because what he has admitted to so far probably won't be enough to get the moderate majority to march alongside you. So if you think Cameron will be going the way of Iceland's PM any time soon, don't hold your breath.
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I went to Downing Street on Saturday to take some pictures at the #ResignCameron protest, which some hoped would usher in the same turn of events we saw in Iceland earlier in the week. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson had become implicated in the Panama Papers and citizens turned out in their thousands to call for him to step down. Those behind the London demonstration were hoping something similar might happen.

But there was one demographic missing that set it apart from Iceland's mass protest - moderate voters.

Those marching down Whitehall weren't your average person calling for the PM to step aside over his offshore tax admissions, they were the usual old guard of Socialist Workers, Class War supporters and the same kind of people who turn out every time the Tories do anything even slightly disagreeable.

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A communist flag had been taped to a lamppost outside Downing Street

It's easy to hope that this march would push Cameron towards resigning if you're one of the people who's been calling for it for years - but it's highly likely the sea of Socialist Party-branded placards and chants of "fuck off back to Eton" would make any moderate voters think twice about getting involved.

That's not to say there weren't a few people there who were simply speak out against offshore tax affairs, but they were swiftly drowned out by the sort of people that make your average Joe on the street think "oh, not them again".

There was a clear message from the majority of protestors that said "offshore tax schemes have no place in British politics," but it was largely drowned out by the people who just want to get rid of him because he's a posho.

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And that's the kind of dilution of sentiment that shows David Cameron won't be resigning any time soon. When the people of Iceland came together to denounce their prime minister's tax affairs, there was one clear idea that united people from all walks of life - we don't want you to run our country because we think you've acted immorally. But the message coming from the streets of London was garbled and marred by pig-fucking jokes.

(Even though they were hilarious.)

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One demonstrator had the right idea

One group that the #ResignCameron crowd could learn from is the Junior Doctors. They put aside hate, preconceptions about Jeremy Hunt and political bias to focus on their clear directive.

But pounding the pavements with the masked Class War advocates showed exactly what their aggressive message says to more moderate citizens. Pedestrians were unsettled by the lack of tenderness and some were even worried about their children being on the same street as the protesters.

So if you're one of the people who wants to capitalise on Cameron's offshore tax affairs to get your way, take a moment to think about how you're going about it - because what he has admitted to so far probably won't be enough to get the moderate majority to march alongside you.

So if you think Cameron will be going the way of Iceland's PM any time soon, don't hold your breath.