Skip to content or view screen version

London Mayor 2008

Brian Haw Campaign | 27.12.2007 13:18 | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Terror War | London | World

Brian Haw the peace campaigner is standing for London Mayor 2008



Peace campaigner Brian Haw has been continuously protesting in Parliament Square since 2nd June 2001. Initially he was campaigning against the economic sanctions on Iraq and the bombing of the country by the US and UK. After 11 September 2001, he widened his focus, directing his messages of peace against the 'war on terror', the terror that the US and UK have inflicted on Afghanistan and Iraq. He protests on behalf of those innocent people who suffer and die in other countries, as our governments seek to further their own economic, military, political and strategic interests around the world.

Brian Haw has received extensive international media coverage and has had visitors from numerous countries as a result including many heads of state. Many people from the UK and from abroad have made contributions to Brian's display with their own messages of peace. However, Ken Livingstone and Sir Ian Blair have staged a sustained campaign of persecution against Brian Haw and his fellow peace protestors which has included fencing the square and staging a raid with 23 police officers who removed and damaged the display. Both actions were declared illegal by the High Court but Ken Livingstone and Sir Ian Blair have continued their vendetta against Brian Haw. Don’t you agree this is a disgraceful waste of London’s money and Metropolitan Police resources?
UK Laws have also been changed specifically to try and stop Brian Haw’s peace protest. What a total waste of our government’s time and what a total waste of our taxes.

Brian Haw is now seeking election by running for London Mayor as an independent candidate in 2008. Join the campaign and help clean up politics and stop the genocide in Iraq, Afghanistan and wherever else they want to invade next. Brian Haw is the only Pro Peace candidate. Brian Haw was elected in a poll by Channel 4 viewers ‘The Most Inspiring Political Personality of the Year’ with 54% of the vote and now he has been nominated ‘Most Inspiring Political Figure of the Decade’.
If elected, Mayor Brian Haw has pledged to end the phoney war on terror and will seek the dismissal and prosecution of senior Met officers for the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes. Mayor Brian Haw will also use his position if elected to initiate a full inquiry into the events of the 7th of July 2005.

Today’s London under Labour control is an unpleasant place to live and work. There is more crime, more congestion and more pollution after 8 years of Ken Livingstone in charge. Under Ken our transport fares have doubled. Mayor Brian Haw pledges to cut congestion and pollution by cutting bus and tube fares as well as scrapping the Congestion Charge and making more efficient use of our existing roads by dismantling certain Bus Lanes. Brian also cannot see the purpose of elongated buses for which London’s roads are totally unsuitable. Unlike Ken, as mayor, Brian Haw will promote the use of clean fuels such as Bio-Diesel, LPG and Electric delivery vans. Mayor Brian Haw will put our police back on the streets thereby making our children feel safer walking to school. Our parking fines and congestion charges have been used by Ken Livingstone’s GLA to buy illegal hollow nosed bullets as were used to murder Jean Charles de Menezes and now American Tasers for our police and therefore help pay for the phoney war on terror. Brian Haw will put our police back catching real criminals such as drug dealers, rapists and muggers. Ken Livingstone has supported Gordon Brown in his war against our Muslim brothers and sisters, therefore the blood is on his hands as much as Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Brian Haw grew up in Barking, East London and if elected will make London a nice place to live, work and visit as it used to be. As a former small businessman Brian Haw believes that our high streets and local shops are an important part of our infrastructure. We therefore need common sense parking controls not a revenue raising tax machine. We need bicycle stands on every high street and a sensible visible police presence on every high street all day every day. As a lifelong Christian, Brian sincerely believes in equal human rights for all and animal rights. Brian has given up everything to promote his message of peace and London really will be a nicer place with Brian Haw as London Mayor.

Let’s kick these war criminals out of office and take our country back. Brian pledges if elected to use his position to campaign to bring our troops home. London Mayor Brian Haw will also expose the bungs and sleaze and corruption that has been a hallmark of the Labour government and Labour run Greater London Authority. The public are fed up with career politicians like Ken Livingstone. Brian Haw promises to bring common sense and honestly to UK politics. Give them a bloody nose and elect Brian Haw as London Mayor in 2008.

Truth, Liberty and Peace

To Join please Email:  MayorBrianHaw@yahoo.co.uk
To Donate:  http://www.parliament-square.org.uk

For further comment or to arrange interviews with Brian
Contact 07999 222 192

Brian Haw Campaign
- e-mail: MayorBrianHaw@yahoo.co.uk
- Homepage: http://www.parliament-square.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 17 comments

bollocks

27.12.2007 14:59

"a sensible visible police presence on every high street all day every day."

What utter bollocks!! We don't need police or political leaders like Brian Haw, he is just a self-obsessed wierdo no matter how good hearted he may be.

Don't vote at ALL never never never.

Anarchist from London

anarchist


well...

27.12.2007 18:56

Anarchist- you just keep on 'not voting'..... then it gives you loads and loads to moan about... tosser!
anarchist = apathetic = just what the politicians want.

If brian stands..... where will his vote come from and might it be the best chance some tory tosser like bosis gets to be elected?

bob


agreed

27.12.2007 19:27

respect to mr haw for commiting himself to his anti war work for the last however many years but gotta say, when i met him a couple of years ago i thought he was just a really patronising, egotistical arse and doubt hes running for mayor for any other reason than to simply inflate that ego further. voting is bollocks anyway, if it changed owt they'd make it illegal.

northern anarchist


government by & for the people,not apathy from stagnant 7 year polls

27.12.2007 20:13

from Proudhon to Chomsky anarchists have advocated self government, we have always been the most vocal against wars & criminal injustice for over 200 years. The Swiss canton system is an interesting example as is the function of major spanish cities. In Ukraine under the anarchist Makchnovistas during the russian revolution villages experiments with delegated & consenusual policing by people sometimes trained or not.
The first police force started as Bow street runners protecting the city of london stockmarket districts not as a peacekeeping force of the people. Roughly 90% of crime is mainly committed due to poverty, in a anarchist society there would still be need for people with the skills of policeman, though the job would be a lot easier.
Anyway Brian if you want to get the police to enforce laws that would be mean stopping illegal oil wars & the poisoning of our planet good luck,though what we need is consensual self government & delegation
Johnny,
industrial worker of world member

JJ


disappointing

27.12.2007 20:42

Personally, i quite like Brian Hawe...I think he's an interesting part of London, and a dedicated voice of protest, regardless of tactical issues or ideological allegiances...

However, the idea that he would stand for Mayor is, to me, pretty disappointing. This totally reinforces the idea that it is somehow the people at the top who have the power to change things for those at the bottom - that capitalism and authority can actually be part of the solution to the problems we face.

In this article, the repressive attitudes of the Metropolitan Police towards activists etc. are touched upon. However, the supression of dissent by force is an inevitable concequence of (if not, just another expression of) the imposition of one person or group's agenda upon the rest of the population, as is seen in our Liberal-Democratic system. The thought that someone who has faced, along with the rest of us, such repression would then want to command such repression is a somewhat macabre thought. Whether this is against people engaging in direct action, 'nuisance' youths or people selling a bit of gear to their mates - i dont want/trust Hawe to command the polticians bully boys any more than Livingstone. What we need is some real alternatives to stuctures of oppression and dominance, not just another candidate within those structures.

"Anarchist- you just keep on 'not voting'..... then it gives you loads and loads to moan about... tosser! "

The idea that you have to vote in order for you views to be legitimate is ridiculous. You (or I) dont know anything about what this person does to engage politically or shape their environment- in fact, the idea that someone who gives a thumbs up to one set of superiors once every four years is somehow more entitled to an opinion any more than someone who refuses to is shite.

Lets not worry about who we vote for, lets concentrate on finding real solutions to the problems we face living in London.

Sorry Brian, but you certainly wont be getting my vote - and I'm sorry to say I've kinda lost respect for you.










A


more to the point

27.12.2007 21:13

First of all I'm not convinced this will actually happen as just getting on the ballot paper will take organisation and support that I'm yet to be convinced is out there.

Secondly, before people get carried away with how popular Brian is please remember that he stood for Parliament in the 2005 general election - when the war was a hotter issue - and got 298 votes (which is 0.8%) Not exactly impressive. Brian doesn't understand elections and, I suspect, thinks he's more popular than he is.

There are other anti-war candidates (well at least one) who actually have a ready made base of active support and know what they're doing in this field, I'd suggest that instead of trying to win a few votes/activists away from these campaigns people should join one of them. In particular because they are at least accountable to their supporters and will tend to be politically reliable in a way that Haw isn't.

The problem is that if Brian stands and gets a dismal vote it allows the right to say "look, less than one percent of the population are opposed to the war, far less than voted for Labour." I don't think we should hand them that opportunity frankly.

Run down of the votes can be found here
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_of_London_and_Westminster_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29#Election_results

jim jay
- Homepage: http://jimjay.blogspot.com


yetanotheranarchist

27.12.2007 23:41

piss off Brian you self centred weirdo.

no one likes you - i don't care.

if anyone thinks this post is overly negative, the previous poster JJ has made all the valid points, as have the other two anarchists. I'm only adding my voice to the overwhelming chorus of 'wanker!'

cos you are brian, you wanker.

Sod off Brian!


Please...

28.12.2007 00:06

...tell me this is a bad joke.

Rich


Joke indeed

28.12.2007 01:24

Probably it's a joke. If you go to Brian's web page there is no announcement about him running for Mayor. If he was, wouldn't it say something there and not be a single posting on Indymedia? I would also assume it should have had some mention in the local London news, anyone?

Red Herring


Something fishy

28.12.2007 23:33

I dont trust this this.. the lead article reads as if someone is using Brian Haw's name to push their own agenda, got a fine for parking on a bus lane mate? Regardless the whole idea sounds a red herring & I have to agree with JJ's comments.

Shame to see the personal abuse directed here against Mr Haw and his amazing stand when he already gets enough trouble from the state let alone from those who should stand with him still I doubt he would give a toss for what some self styled anarcho undergrad thinks

bushwhacker


self-styled? you wot!

29.12.2007 10:45

I couldn't give a shit what Mayor Brian "lets get more cops on the street" Haw things anyway. He is a rude, self-loathing attention seeker an anyones whos met him will know what I mean. Who is he? Why is HE important? He's not.

Objectively defined Anarchist

anarchist


Daft idea

29.12.2007 11:48

Dont do it Brian,

congestion charging? Bendy buses? A copper on every corner? Please tell me this is a joke and stick with the issue that really matters STOP THE WAR stuff the mayor!

Markhouse


Candidate Sian

29.12.2007 12:08

If you must vote go for Sian Berry the Green Party candidate for a Mayor who is anti war BUT doesnt have an otherwise right wing populist agenda that could have been cribbed from Boris Johnson. Is Brian really an anti-war Tory? Surely not?

A Green vision for London has never been more important, with the city becoming more unequal and more unaffordable every year. The Greens are the only serious challenge to that and will be providing the real alternative to Ken Livingstone, and winning more Green assembly members, at next May's election.

Sian has campaigned in her local area of Camden for a greener development in the huge Kings Cross railway lands area, and one which provides high levels of social and affordable housing. She is a well known local activist in Camden and narrowly missed being elected to the council.

She is one of the founders of the successful campaign group the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s. Famous for their mock parking tickets for city four-wheel-drives, the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s started in London in 2003 and is now a national campaign demanding sensible measures to stop big 4x4 vehicles taking over our cities. The group recently celebrated persuading the current Mayor of London to propose a higher congestion charge for 4x4 vehicles and other gas-guzzlers. One of the first campaigns Siân was involved in after entering politics was to stop the invasion of Iraq, and she has been a vocal supporter of Brian Haw's six-year protest in Parliament Square.

If elected Mayor, Siân plans to make the square a zone of free protest, where demonstrations are positively encouraged and assisted by police. She has recently launched the Census Alert campaign to prevent American arms company Lockheed Martin from being contracted to run the 2011 UK Census.

Siân's vision for London is of a greener and more affordable city, and she believes that the two go hand-in-hand. Measures such as reduced transport fares and free insulation for all will save ordinary Londoners significant amounts of money as well as helping everyone to live greener lives.

Other measures, such as improvements in air quality and better walking and cycling routes, will improve the health and quality of life for everyone, at the same time as reducing the city's carbon emissions.

Siân says, "I know that life is a struggle for most of us in London. If it's not the chaos of our transport network, it's the high cost of living, the daily struggle to make a living wage, or crazy levels of rent and mortgages. Our vision is clear: we will bring in the right policies to help everyone achieve a better, more affordable, greener life in London."

A Real Alternative
- Homepage: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/individual/79


Lost the plot

29.12.2007 12:17

If this is for real- and i hope it isnt- then Brian Haw has lost the plot

Joseph K


yep, this is real

31.12.2007 00:23

first, i'm surprised at people who take the bait of the so-called anarchists' posts above - they're probably cops and certainly trolls, and personal abuse is best ignored or hidden

i asked brian about this story recently, and the situation is as follows:

he is under no self-delusion that he'll actually win as mayor, but various groups have agreed to throw their weight behind him and so there is a chance under the mayoral electoral system that he may get himself a place on the london assembly.

now personally i never vote, for some of the reasons rather ineloquently given in other 'comments', but i find the idea of brian causing trouble on the assembly quite enticing, and he'll give honest feedback of the smarmy politicking that goes on there, so i can't see the harm in his standing

on the other hand, he has been a thorn in the government's war machine for six years and my very personal belief is that he and others like maria, barbara, gary, aqil and the other parliament square stalwarts should carry on doing what they do so well. despite new laws, harrasment, intimidation, and violence, they all still remind the politicians each day they go to work just what their vote for war has resulted in. over so many years, that has been a magnificent achievement, and long may they continue.

rikki
mail e-mail: rikkiindymedia(AT)gmail(D0t)com
- Homepage: http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com


?

02.01.2008 17:48

Exactly how does Brian get a place on the assembly if he doesnt win? and what is all this traffic rubbish about?

Rach'


Biodiesel

06.01.2008 13:24

As well as the other fairly barking policies, why is Brian pushing biofuels, when we know that world's rainforests are being cut down to make way for palm oil plantations?

biodiesal kills

Derek Wall
- Homepage: http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/