Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.
support today
Activism

Mark Millar: 'Protesting online is nothing that the government fear'

Comics legend Mark Millar says protest should always be in person and not virtual

Mark Millar is unusual for a Brexiteer.

A staunch socialist, the Scottish comic book legend most identifies with Jeremy Corbyn in supporting the left-wing and an EU exit.

Millar’s own protest vote for Brexit in 2016 was not a symbol of dissatisfaction with immigration – as has been the subject of debate in some EU elections clashes and campaigns – but was instead done for “democracy and renationalising the railways”.

It is with a certain annoyance that he feels like this protest has been hijacked in recent times.

Anybody who remembers before 1988 knows it was always the position of the left, of people like Tony Benn.

“For me, it is quite irritating that the right have hijacked Brexit,” he says. “But anybody who remembers before 1988 knows it was always the position of the left, of people like Tony Benn. It’s kind of been hijacked by the right and that’s annoying and also at the same time it has become about immigration which is nothing to do with what left-wing people voted for Brexit for. It was to do with democracy and renationalisation as opposed to immigration, which is something we actually need.”

Despite that experience, he will be heading to the polling station on Thursday still certain that it is the best place to settle pitched political battles.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Social media has increasingly become the forum for hot takes, acting as a sounding board to show your disgust or support for parties and politicians and find like-minded keyboard activists – or debate those who don’t share a viewpoint, often with vitriol.

But that has not swayed Millar, who prefers to log off to make his political point.

Having previously mobilised against the second Gulf War, he is split on how much pounding the pavements accomplishes. Millar is sure that both marching and voting carry more weight than an angst-filled tweet.

“One thing that has really struck me recently is how protesting online is a complete waste of time,” he says. “Imagine this, if the government saw a million people walking down the street they’d be quite frightened but if you see something get a million likes then you’re not going to call out the army! I think we’ve been diverted over the last 10 years to social media, to something that is essentially meaningless.

“I like that people have become politicised but I just think that they’ve gone in the wrong direction to do it. It’s nothing that the government fear – I think that protest should always be in person and not virtual.”

Image: Adam Gasson/SFX Magazine via Getty Images

Read the full article in this week's Big Issue.
Find your vendor
The accessible homes crisis
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
How Arsenal is empowering young disabled people through football: 'It's one of the best things you can do'
Jack at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. Image: Arsenal in the Community
Football

How Arsenal is empowering young disabled people through football: 'It's one of the best things you can do'

I spent a year undercover as a far-right activist. Here's seven things I learned
UK riots: A police riot van burns at a far-right riot in Southport
Far right

I spent a year undercover as a far-right activist. Here's seven things I learned

When the world seems polarised, volunteering has a way of unifying people and rebuilding hope
Volunteering

When the world seems polarised, volunteering has a way of unifying people and rebuilding hope

Renowned photographer Misan Harriman on Black Lives Matter, Gaza and finding hope in protest
Protest

Renowned photographer Misan Harriman on Black Lives Matter, Gaza and finding hope in protest

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know