Naming the dead

A protester waves a peace flag from the top of
Calton Hill. Photograph: Gabrielle Procter
Last night I followed Stop the War Coalition march up to Calton Hill for a "naming of the dead" ceremony.

On the way I met Linda O'Mahaney, a teacher from Glasgow, who was having trouble joining the march due to a heavy police presence guarding the route.

"All we're trying to do is go up to Calton Hill to recite the names of people who have died in an illegal war. These people are being forgotten, the Iraqi dead aren't even being counted. There are a number of people whose children have died up there and we wanted to go with them. It seems to me it is absolutely incredible that in a city like Edinburgh you can't even join a march up a road. We're going to try to catch them up though."

We did manage to catch them up, and the grey view across the Port of Leith provided a suitably sombre backdrop for the ceremony. Rose Gentle, the Glasgow mother whose son was killed Iraq, followed by other leading figures in the anti-war movement, stood up to read the names of the British soldiers, as well as Iraqi civilians and children who have died in Iraq since March 2003 to a subdued crowd. Only Billy Bragg and Linda Henry from the Legalise cannabis alliance raised any kind of a cheer.