Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to make clear why our Troops Out
demonstration at Parliament on Monday 8 October will take place,
despite the ban by the government and police. It is essential
that the voice of the antiwar majority in this country is present
at Parliament when Gordon Brown makes his long awaited statement
on Iraq.
letter protesting against the ban, to join the demonstration on
October 8 and to do everything possible to publicise the protest.
(Sign here: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/)
Stop the War has designated tomorrow, Wednesday 3 October, as a
day of action to build support for the demonstration and to
create a mass sign-in campaign, using a special NOT ONE MORE
DEATH postcard, designed by eminent artist David Gentleman. The
postcard calls for troops out now and for the British government
to break with US war policies. (See postcard here:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/)
It is our basic right to demonstrate. As Tony Benn says, "The
authority for this march derives from our ancient right to free
speech and assembly enshrined in our history, of which we often
boast." This is why Tony will be joined on our march by Labour
Party NEC member Walter Wolfgang, musician Brian Eno and many
more soon to be announced.
Comedian and broadcaster Mark Thomas, announcing his
participation, said, "This is a ham-fisted attempt to prevent us
from demonstrating. We will ignore the ban. We have the moral and
logical high-ground. I will be marching on Monday 8 October."
Stop the War has been inundated by phone calls and emails from
across the country, expressing outrage at this attack on our
right to protest peacefully, many saying they will be travelling
to London to join the demonstration, both to insist that all
British troops are withdrawn from Iraq and to defend our civil
liberties.
The situation in Iraq is worsening by the day, with hundreds
being killed each week and the virtual collapse of most public
services. The cause of this horrific suffering is George Bush's
occupation and British troops are only in Iraq to give him
political cover. Every day the troops remain prolongs the death
and destruction for the Iraqi people.
Our demonstration will call for the immediate withdrawal of
British troops from Iraq. We will also call for all troops to be
withdrawn from Afghanistan, for an end to the British
government's subservience to US foreign policy and for Gordon
Brown to oppose George Bush's current threats to attack Iran.
We urge everyone who has opposed our government's war policies
and who has been appalled by the repeated attacks on our basic
rights to join our demonstration.
DEMONSTRATE: PARLIAMENT MONDAY 8 OCTOBER
NOT ONE MORE DEATH - BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW
ASSEMBLE FOR RALLY 1.0 PM TRAFALGAR SQUARE
Speakers include:
TONY BENN
MARK STEEL, comedian and writer
BEN GRIFFIN, ex-soldier who served in Iraq
BOB WAREING MP
GEMMA TUMELTY, president, National Union of Students
LINDSEY GERMAN, national convenor, Stop the War
BILLY HAYES general secretary, Communication Workers Union
More details and updates: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/
****************************************
2) TONY BENN'S LETTER TO THE HOME SECRETARY
To: The Right Hon Jacqui Smith MP
Home Secretary
House of Commons
London
SW1A OAA
Monday October 1st 2007
Dear Home Secretary,
I am writing to you as President of the STOP THE WAR COALITION,
to give you advance notice that there will be a demonstration in
Trafalgar Square the day Parliament meets calling for the
immediate withdrawal of all British troops from Iraq and
Afghanistan at which I shall be speaking along with others.
Afterwards many of those present - including myself - will be
marching along Whitehall to the House of Commons to meet MPs and
urge them to support this call for a withdrawal, as I shall be
doing in approaching Malcolm Rifkind my own local MP. We shall be
doing this in an orderly manner and I am making available to
those who wish to have one, a postcard over my printed signature
as a Privy Councillor, asking the police, and others to assist
them. I enclose a copy of this postcard.
The authority for this march derives from our ancient right to
free speech and assembly enshrined in our history, of which we
often boast and which we vigorously defended in two world wars.
I am copying this letter, and its enclosure, to Jack Straw, the
Commissioner of the Metropolis, and as a courtesy, to the Prime
Minister's
office.
I hope that you will be able to re-assure me that those who
demonstrate and march down Whitehall will enjoy your full support
and the support of the police. But it is only fair to tell you
that the march will go ahead, in any case, and I will be among
those marching.
Yours in peace
TONY BENN
****************************************
3) GORDON BROWN OPEN LETTER PUBLISHED 3 OCTOBER
Stop the War's open letter to Gordon Brown calling for the
withdrawal of all British troops from Iraq will be published in
The Guardian on Wednesday 3 October in a full page advert funded
by supporters of Stop the War (See http://tinyurl.com/3xafku).
Comments
Hide the following 8 comments
This is much more
03.10.2007 17:41
People
STW pulling their finger out
05.10.2007 18:35
Myshkin
stw
06.10.2007 09:42
fiik
This is more ........
08.10.2007 08:28
We are funding the weaponry being used daily against innocents, though our taxes, our mortgages, our every expenditure that gives profit where there ought to be an equal exchange, and we are doing it because we like our comfort and privilege.....
We are the German people in 1936, who watched the millions being carried off to the slaughter. And did nothing.
That's what this is all abour. That and the lives of others.
corneilius
e-mail: infocorneilius@yahoo.ie
Homepage: http://www.corneilius.net
Nice days work, all 'round.
08.10.2007 17:19
Tony Benn was clear, as was the lovely Brian Haw, simple and straight from the heart and he allowed his anger to fire him up - I wish that more of the anger we feel was expressed in these marches..... but, english politeness, hey ho.......
We went down to Parliament Sq., it took about an hour, and I spent a while with my home made megaphone (a rolled up placard!) shouting "STOP KILLING CHILDREN" and "MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT MURDERING CHILDREN!" for a while... I really though that more people would join in, but it seems we were singing from different prayerbooks..............what a pity...
Imagine how those 'representatives' in Parliament would have felt if 40,000 or even 1,000 voices with rolled up placard megaphones were shouting "MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT MURDERING CHILDREN!" in their windows.... cos that's what they are doing.... of the 1.2 million excess deaths in Iraq, 30% are children under the age of 15...... murdered by US/UK troops, by 'contractors' and US/UK Trained Police/Militia............as well as a few of theor own folks too.....all sanctioned by the UK Parliament from the beginning..... what a bunch of decrepit, corrupt, vile and useless *&^%ERS they are, for the most part!
corneilius
e-mail: infocorneilius@yahoo.ie
Homepage: http://www.corneilius.net
police brutality at antiwar demo a typical response to peaceful protest
08.10.2007 17:32
cress lucid
e-mail: neworlds@rock.com
Sham
09.10.2007 06:37
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/383206.html
Cassandra
permission was granted
09.10.2007 10:12
tin foiled one