In spite of the hardships endured, public support for the protest never flagged. Having made their point, protest leaders called off blockades in much of Britain on Thursday, so that emergency supplies could get through. In Belgium, too, after the government partially caved in to their demands, the protesters relented and let oil supplies go through. While the Brits and the Belgians have a bit of a breather, new protests are erupting in Germany, where thousands of truckers and farmers stopped traffic in Hanover, and protesters parked their vehicles in the center of Magdeburg and paralyzed that northern city. Polly Toynbee and her ilk disdain the automobile as the symbol of capitalist greed and individualism run amok.
New Labour has yet to find an eloquent language or attractive policies to tackle it.
Now it must. This is why Polly Toynbee and her friends are doomed, and why the revolution unfolding across Europe has taken her and New Labor completely by surprise. It is also why we will win. From one end of Europe to the other, a different version of the same question will be asked.