> STOP THE WAR COALITION
> TEL 020 7278 6694
> WEB www.stopwar.org.uk
>
> LETTER TO THE STEERING COMMITTEE AND ALL LOCAL AFFILIATES
> From Andrew Murray (National Chair) and Lindsey German (National Convenor)
>
> Dear Brother/Sister,
>
> Last week's demonstration for troops out of Iraq and against Trident was
> outstanding. The attendance was (despite ludicrous police estimates which
> we have raised sharply in subsequent discussions with the Met) the highest
> on one of our marches for some time, and in excess of our anticipation.
> Many thanks to all those who worked so hard to make the demonstration so
> successful.
>
> There are now three issues which the officers of StWC would like to bring
> to your attention.


> 3. Samba Bands
>
>
> The only problem we encountered on the otherwise magnificent demonstration
> on February 24 was the considerable disruption caused by the activities of
> samba bands, some of which came to a halt in mid-march and refused all
> requests from the stewards to either resume moving or at least shift to
> one side to allow the demonstration to proceed.
>
> This caused considerable delay and frustration to many thousands of
> marchers, some of whom travel many hours to join the demonstration,
> stopping them reaching Trafalgar Square to hear the speeches and leaving
> them standing in the road for long periods of time. We have received a
> very large number of complaints in the office concerning this behaviour,
> which incidentally assists the police in underestimating the number of
> people taking part in the rallies.
>
> Like everyone else who opposes the war, the samba bands are very welcome
> on Stop the War Coalition demonstrations. Indeed, music of all kinds
> contributes to the occasion. However, all marchers should be obliged to
> respect the interests and convenience of others. This is a matter of
> consideration as much as discipline. This could be achieved by samba bands
> either proceeding in the same way as everybody else, or by agreeing to
> join the back of the march.
>
> It is not acceptable, however, for anyone to unilaterally decide to bring
> the march to a halt without any regard to the interests of others or the
> instructions of the stewards. We would hope to resolve this matter by
> agreement, but the Officers would like to assure all those who support our
> demonstrations that in future there will be sufficient stewarding of any
> samba bands to ensure that the march can proceed without delay.