Blunkett legislates to silence lone protester at Westminster
Francis Elliott and Michael Fitzwilliams | 24.10.2004 15:48 | Indymedia | Repression | Cambridge | London
His home is a roll of green plastic sheeting, his possessions no more than necessary to make coffee, keep warm and roll the occasional cigarette.
Approaching his fourth winter on Parliament Green, few passers-by even notice Brian Haw and his collection of anti-war poster. But Blunkett wants to legislate to silence him.
Approaching his fourth winter on Parliament Green, few passers-by even notice Brian Haw and his collection of anti-war poster. But Blunkett wants to legislate to silence him.
His home is a roll of green plastic sheeting, his possessions no more than necessary to make coffee, keep warm and roll the occasional cigarette.
Approaching his fourth winter on Parliament Green, few passers-by even notice Brian Haw and his collection of anti-war posters.
For ministers, however, the 55-year-old peace protester is about to become Britain's most wanted man, the first target of new legislation to crack down on organised crime.
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will announce next week he is to outlaw "permanent encampments" outside Parliament as well as the use of megaphones. The measure will be included in legislation establishing the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the FBI-style body that ministers say is needed to fight gangsters.
Ministers have been forced to pass a specific law against Mr Haw's activities as a desperate last resort.
Westminster Council was first to try to evict him, but its injunction was thrown out by a judge who ruled that the peace protester was not an obstruction.
The Speaker, driven to distraction by Mr Haw's amplified harangues, inspired an effort to search Parliament's own "sessional orders" to see whether they provided legal authority to evict him.
However, in May the Commons Procedure Committee was forced to admit that Mr Haw's rights to protest could not be over-ridden by medieval statutes guaranteeing MPs safe passage in the streets of Westminster.
Sir George Young, the Tory MP for Hampshire North West, has led the charge against Mr Haw, accusing ministers of an "inexcusable paralysis" for failing to get rid of him earlier.
In a Commons debate in May he said that terrorists could hide behind the peace protester's banners and "pick us off as we arrive at or leave the House". No other democracy would allow "this shanty town" in the middle of the its capital, he said.
Mr Blunkett agrees. He has decided to take the matter on with an amendment to the Serious Organised Crime Bill to be unveiled in the Queen's Speech next month.
"David's just decided that enough is enough and that something has got to be done," said one senior government source last night.
Mr Haw was defiant when told the news of his imminent criminalisation yesterday. "It's my right to be here. It is my life to be here ... all the lords and ladies opposite bleating away as if I had found a loophole in the law that entitles me to be here. Yes. It is called the Human Rights Act."
Mr Haw, born in Woodford in Essex, lives off what sympathisers provide him with and appears to have weathered the months of basic survival fairly well.
The response to his megaphone sloganising is mixed, he says. "I've had Americans crying as they stand here reading the posters, and then there are the bad Americans. They're the ones who walk by with their fingers in the air."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=575478
Approaching his fourth winter on Parliament Green, few passers-by even notice Brian Haw and his collection of anti-war posters.
For ministers, however, the 55-year-old peace protester is about to become Britain's most wanted man, the first target of new legislation to crack down on organised crime.
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will announce next week he is to outlaw "permanent encampments" outside Parliament as well as the use of megaphones. The measure will be included in legislation establishing the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the FBI-style body that ministers say is needed to fight gangsters.
Ministers have been forced to pass a specific law against Mr Haw's activities as a desperate last resort.
Westminster Council was first to try to evict him, but its injunction was thrown out by a judge who ruled that the peace protester was not an obstruction.
The Speaker, driven to distraction by Mr Haw's amplified harangues, inspired an effort to search Parliament's own "sessional orders" to see whether they provided legal authority to evict him.
However, in May the Commons Procedure Committee was forced to admit that Mr Haw's rights to protest could not be over-ridden by medieval statutes guaranteeing MPs safe passage in the streets of Westminster.
Sir George Young, the Tory MP for Hampshire North West, has led the charge against Mr Haw, accusing ministers of an "inexcusable paralysis" for failing to get rid of him earlier.
In a Commons debate in May he said that terrorists could hide behind the peace protester's banners and "pick us off as we arrive at or leave the House". No other democracy would allow "this shanty town" in the middle of the its capital, he said.
Mr Blunkett agrees. He has decided to take the matter on with an amendment to the Serious Organised Crime Bill to be unveiled in the Queen's Speech next month.
"David's just decided that enough is enough and that something has got to be done," said one senior government source last night.
Mr Haw was defiant when told the news of his imminent criminalisation yesterday. "It's my right to be here. It is my life to be here ... all the lords and ladies opposite bleating away as if I had found a loophole in the law that entitles me to be here. Yes. It is called the Human Rights Act."
Mr Haw, born in Woodford in Essex, lives off what sympathisers provide him with and appears to have weathered the months of basic survival fairly well.
The response to his megaphone sloganising is mixed, he says. "I've had Americans crying as they stand here reading the posters, and then there are the bad Americans. They're the ones who walk by with their fingers in the air."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=575478
Francis Elliott and Michael Fitzwilliams
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Brian Haw
24.10.2004 17:53
"Mr Blunkett, there are none so blind as those who will not see".
Maybe that's why "David's just decided that enough is enough and that something has got to be done."
Seriously, Brian Haw has done a fantastic job of keeping the issue in front of Westminster. It's a shame the PLP are such a spineless bunch that they've never had the guts to vote against Blair.
Don't want to lose a hundred grand of expenses every year I suppose.
mini mouse
Stay there Brian.
25.10.2004 09:16
King Amdo
Harange your MP (and Blunkett)
25.10.2004 12:16
So let's harange our MP's and Blunkett with an Email/letter blitz.
Along with more 'direct' actions of course-peace demos etc outside their constituency
offices for example...
pirate
Get High, Then Watch "Spooks"
25.10.2004 16:09
Sir George Young, the Tory MP for Hampshire North West, has led the charge against Mr Haw, accusing ministers of an "inexcusable paralysis" for failing to get rid of him earlier.
In a Commons debate in May he said that terrorists could hide behind the peace protester's banners and "pick us off as we arrive at or leave the House"
_________
ffsake Sir George, if you watch "Spooks" while iff your face no wonder you get paranoid. You imagine that your workplace has such poor security that someone could set up a sniper position in (the large, open space of) Parliament Square.
Come around to my workplace - a hospital with such a limited security budget that they can't always stop theives going through our ambulances while we are taking patients in to the building.
bobby