We managed to get hold of some tickets for the big screens in Hyde Park (thanks Jane and Tim), so went along.

I can’t say that much of the music interested me, but there were a few notable exceptions. Annie Lennox did a good arrangement of Sweet Dreams, Robbie did a great turn, and the Floyd were excellent (I saw them at Wembley in 1987, sans Waters, but I never thought I’d get the chance to see all four of them on the same stage at the same time).

I saw a great banner: “Pink Floyd Reunited - Pigs Have Flown!”.

Overall I thought that the atmosphere was a bit muted - it certainly didn’t have the buzz that the TV coverage was implying, but then they probably had a plentiful supply of drink and drugs inside the celebrity enclosure, whilst we were restricted to sneaking in vodka disguised as mineral water!

I can’t say that it felt like many people were there to make any kind of political statement - which is not surprising I guess, given the lottery-like nature of the ticket distribution, and the general level of political consciousness in this country.

It seems to me that it has served its purpose as a way of raising awareness, but it feels more like a media frenzy to me than a genuine groundswell of popular opinion.

Still, there’s no way that the G8 leaders can claim that they haven’t heard. The question is - what happens if they ignore the message?

It would be nice to think that if the summit doesn’t deliver, all those people who are now claiming to be right behind the cause will remember June 2nd 2005 in two or three years time when their national elections come round, and will act accordingly.

Call me a cynic, but I ain’t holding my breath…