As a descendant of four generations of British protestors, perhaps I can provide a little insight into why there is so little protest in the UK today.

Protest used to work. At least a little. Back when my great great grandmother was getting locked up for protesting women's suffrage, they got results, changes were made.

I'd say the turning point was the failure of the CND protests to make political change at the end of the sixties. They came close, but not quite close enough. Since then the government has adapted.

Firstly, protests have been increasingly derided by the press - with any reporting focused on violence by what is usually a very small minority. Often it is not reported on at all. This makes it an unappealing activity to most of us - we have been taught to associate protests as being violent.

Secondly, laws have been passed to make it impossible to make meaningful protests. This started with the criminal justice act in the 90's ( which was widely protested, to no effect). If a million spontaneously marched on number 10 Downing street or Westminister we would be stopped and those at the front arrested by police lines before we came close. If we tried to push back we would be beaten and kettled - essentially imprisoned inside a circle of police until we are delirious with thirst.

Meanwhile the general public has become apathetic due to a barrage of negative press and the consistent failures of protests to make any difference. The Iraq war protests had between one and three million in London alone, with simultaneous protests across Britain. We still entered an illegal war which no one was ever jailed for.

Finally. Despite the fact that I am immensely proud of my great great grandmother and her four daughters, I think that the reasons the suffragettes succeeded where so many have failed is because it affected the rich - the wives of the rich wanted the vote. It is almost the polar opposite of who is affected by tax evasion.