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Asylum Protesters Chase Anne Widecombe

NCADC | 27.08.2000 17:31

Asylum Protesters Chase Anne Widecombe

Shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombes, visit to the Edinburgh Festival, on Saturday 26th August, was hounded by angry protesters enraged by her attitude towards asylum seekers.

The protest happened at the Edinburgh Book Festival, where she had been invited to read from her novel 'The Clematis Tree.'

Protesters heckled Widdecombe throughout the reading from her novel, chanting: "Jail the racists not the refugees" and "Refugees are welcome, Widdecombe is not."

After the reading ended, protesters surrounded the Tory MP's group and she was forced to leave the marquee by a back entrance, surrounded by police officers and security staff.
They got Widdecombe into a taxi, which pulled away without incident but then got caught in a traffic jam.

Protesters quickly surrounded the vehicle and attacked it, some striking it with placards while others thumped windows and door panels.

Police officers struggled to clear a path for the taxi, but eventually did so and arrested some protesters.

A spokesperson for 'Refugees are Welcome Here' Bill Scott,said: "We thought it was really ironic that Amnesty International have a workshop here on imprisoned writers and if Ann Widdecombe had her way they would all be thrown into jail.
"Everybody has the right to free speech here but surely we should be defending other rights as well.
"We do not have links to the other groups who threw the custard pie* at her but we would like to get their recipe."

End

*Anne Widdecombe Pied by Asylum Seekers Support Group in Anti-Racist Protest

 http://www.ncadc.demon.co.uk/letters/news19/anne.html

NCADC
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