Protests in vain or 'down with this sort of thing'.

Today I heard a rumour that there was a fuel protest planned for the A55; I don't know if anything happened, but I would guess not. This type of protest is surely destined for another inglorious failure. I set about thinking about the most pointless protests of recent years (this does not imply my own feelings, just the outcome of the protest itself).

Here are my top three most pointless protests. At number three is the recent TUC march in London. Millions descended upon the capital with a genuine belief in their cause, however they were thwarted by anarchist extremists and a disingenuous Labour leader.

At number two is the fuel price protest of a decade ago; at the time petrol was around 80p a litre, need I say any more?

Top of the most pointless protests by some way was the Countryside Alliance march in London back in 2002. The complex title of the march, Liberty and Livelihood, probably indicated that it was destined for failure before a single green welly hit the streets of the capital. Initially the march was to protest against the government's plan to outlaw the killing of foxes for fun. However, by the time the march took place everyone from the so-called 'countryside' had joined in; comically, many of the marchers were actually against hunting foxes. Others wanted to save post offices, or more buses, more facilities, fewer facilities, and a myriad of related competing issues. It goes without saying that all of this came to nothing, apart from a legacy of ugly signs that still litter the 'countryside'.

Classic Father Ted:  Down with this sort of thing.