Organisers of a massive stop the war rally yesterday
vowed that it would go ahead despite a decision by
the culture secretary to ban the event from London's
Hyde Park.

A spokeswoman for the Stop The War Coalition
said it would vigorously contest the decision, taken
with the direct authority of Tessa Jowell, to outlaw
the event on health and safety grounds.

The manager of the royal parks, Steve Edwards,
wrote to the STWC on Monday to say that an
emergency liaison team had decided that Hyde
Park was not a suitable site for a rally at this time
of year because of the condition of the ground
and the number of people involved.

But a spokeswoman for the STWC, which expects
that about 500,000 people will attend the February
15 event, said it was a direct attack on the right to
demonstrate and a denial of freedom of speech.

"This is the most important issue facing people
in the world today. We are not going to accept this,"
the spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for Department of Culture, Media
and Sport confirmed that the decision to ban the
rally from the park had been approved by Ms
Jowell after the Royal Parks Authority checked
to make sure she was happy with it.

"The fact is no rallies of any size are allowed in the
royal parks at this time of year," the spokesman
said. "As anybody with a garden knows, the grass
is completely waterlogged and if you have 100,000
people milling about it will become a swamp. It is
not just about the cost of repair, but also the health
and safety of the people who are there, especially
as the rally is likely to finish after dark."

The London event is one of 33 planned in
cities across the world for the same day.