Make a stand for Liberty
Cake
& Liberty
Make a Stand for liberty
Wear something colourful
Bake or buy some cakes, head into your local town or village
and offer a cake to anyone you meet, with a greeting and a smile
Lockdown restrictions are tearing us apart
Enough is Enough
Never Again
Saturdays, 11am to noon, in your hometown
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Why Make a Stand?
In March 2020, facing a virus about which we knew nothing that was killing our oldest and most vulnerable fellow humans, we in the UK were asked to agree to three weeks of temporary emergency measures – a suspension of all freedom of movement and association under a never-before seen National Lockdown.
We have learned that the greatest danger is to the very old and those with certain underlying health conditions, and that the majority of transmissions have occurred in care homes and hospitals.
Now, one year on, we have far greater knowledge of how Coronavirus affects humans, and we have a range of drug and treatment options. We have vaccines – and have vaccinated 20 million UK adults to date – with those at highest risk in Groups 1-4 protected, having been offered their jab by mid-February, and the immunity of those who chose to take it is building by the day.
So why are we still living in lockdown?
Why are our children not in school? Why are our young people working on laptops from their bedrooms, why are small businesses that people have invested their lives and savings in not allowed to trade? Why can’t we socialise, why can’t live music happen, why can’t people date and fall in love and get married? Why can’t hospitality open, why aren’t we treating cancer patients and performing eye surgeries and hip replacements? Why can’t grandparents hug – or even see – their grandchildren? Why is it still ILLEGAL for us to have friends and family in our own houses?
Enough.
Every additional day of these disproportionate and now unjustified Covid restrictions sees unforgivable increases in collateral damage.
If we care about our right to freedom, we have to make a stand. And it has to be a public one – just quietly breaking the rules isn’t enough. While there is no mainstream public protest, it can be interpreted that we all condone these measures, and having accepted them without protest once, we are setting a very dangerous precedent for the future.
Lockdown and the shutting down of our schools and economy must NEVER happen again.
We need to get back to living, and reclaim our liberty.
What's it About?
Cake and Liberty IS:
- Single Issue – to end restrictions
- Peaceful
- Good-natured
- Family-friendly
Cake and Liberty is NOT:
- Political
- Aggressive
This is ONLY about getting our liberty back.
The liberty to meet who we like, when & where we like, and in whatever numbers we like.
The liberty to go to school, to go to work, to run a business and make a living.
The liberty to go out for a meal, go for a dance, go to a play, a match, to go to live music.
The liberty to fall in love, to get married, to celebrate with friends, to be there to support family when things are hard.
These are not outrageous demands, and if you are reading this thinking ‘oh but is it safe?’, just stop for a minute and think about what a year of being relentlessly frightened has done to you.
Our horizons have been shrunk to a terrifying degree, and we are in danger of forgetting what normal looks like.
Our time on this wonderful planet is fleeting, and it has never been without risk. We need to reclaim our right to assess our own individual risk according to our circumstances, and act accordingly.
We need to make sure that whatever we face in the future, we never inflict this level of restriction on our fellow humans EVER again.
And we need to do this before the power to do so slips through our fingers and is lost.
Join in
There are many ways you can join in, with different levels of courage required.
Here, in increasing order of bravery, are some things you could do:
- Wear a brightly-coloured scarf or coat and just happen to be walking around the centre of your town or village between 11am and noon on Saturday. Smile at anyone wearing bright colours, you never know, they might be protesting quietly too.
- Take your own cake and eat it in silent solidarity
- Get properly dressed up in your colourful glad rags – it’s been SO LONG since we brushed up to go out
- Bring the kids – let them dress up in party frocks and fancy dress costumes if they like
- Take a basket of your own cakes to offer to people – strangers – gasp! Given how traumatised we all are after a year of being scared witless, you might want to wrap the cakes in individual cellophane bags. Or not. Up to you
- Make cupcakes or muffins with the kids to bring and hand out
- Decorate your own Cakes and Liberty pillowcase banner with your own message and bring it along to wave.
- Umbrellas are a much under-appreciated protest tool. Write out your message on fabric and then iron it on to your umbrella – see the gallery for examples.
- Check current regulations where you are – you may be required to keep moving if ‘the purpose of exercise’ is what allows you to leave your house (no I can’t believe I just typed those words either)
- Smile at everyone, say hello, enjoy being alive and remember what normal is.
When and Where?
Saturday 1st May Cake and Liberty will be in Edinburgh – we’ll be handing out cakes and smiles at the May Day Gathering outside Holyrood between 12 and 2pm – it would be lovely to see you there!
When?
- Starting on Saturday 20th March 2021, one hour duration from 11am to noon
- And every Saturday thereafter, until restrictions are lifted and our civil liberties restored
Where?
- Outside, wherever you choose
- Stay local so you don’t breach any travel restrictions
- Choose somewhere you are likely to see lots of passers by
- Avoid narrow pavements where social distancing would be difficult
- Depending on the restrictions in your area, you may need to combine the protest with your permitted daily exercise, so an open space that you can stroll around in easy circles is a good idea
- It could be your town square, the children’s play park, or a central green space
Next Cake & Liberty (number 20!) will be in Glasgow on 4th September and back in St Andrews on 11th September
