Protest
Waleed Aly today described how uncomfortable he was as noisy immigration protesters boarded his train. They did not react with him at all, but in writing about it he described protest as one of “the very ideas that underwrite democracy’.
Bullying
A lot like gang bullying, it often produces exactly the opposite effect to what was wanted. Protest is a blunt tool mostly ignored by politicians as it has no great impact on them or their careers. It creates a “them and us” situation in which the politicians dig in to justify their current position and it makes them look silly so they resent the protesters.
Votergrams
Votergrams from the individual “protester” are far more effective. They go to each and every MP explaining what that protester wants and more importantly explaining why. If solutions are complex as is often the case, the Votergrams will provide community-acceptable solutions .
Persuasion
Polite persistent political persuasion in the privacy of parliament is generally far more effective than protest, but then protest comes free in a society when we get what we pay for..