Governments' shameful ban on march

Police stopping a march on the centre of government - Rangoon? Beijing? No - London. Gordon Brown talks of human rights so how on earth can this be going on?

The Stop the War Coalition (of which the Green party is a part) organised the "Troops Out" march on October 8th from Trafalgar square to Parliament - it has been banned by the Met police. But the march will go ahead anyway. Usually STWC conducts totally legal demonstrations and has not previously lent its support to illegal direct action but on this occasion they were in negotiation with the police for some weeks beforehand and appeared to have the police go ahead. Indeed have been allowed in the past and this time there were even discussions between the organisers and the police re plans to neutralise any anarchist elements, such as samba group Rhythms of Resistance.

"This is rather a ham-fisted attempt to prevent us from demonstrating. What they (the government and police) do is up to them. We will just ignore them and we have the moral and logical high-ground. I will be marching on Monday 8 October."
Mark Thomas

As SchNEWS write: "To achieve this the cops dusted off the the 1839 Sessional Orders legislation, which allows the granting of orders to allow the free passage of MPs and peers into Parliament. The Act "ORDERED, That the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis do take care that the passages through the streets leading to this House be kept free and open and that no obstruction be permitted to hinder the passage of Members to and from this House". When this act was passed the greatest threat to the state was Chartism, a riotous movement demanding democratic freedom. What next? Public gatherings broken up under the 'Corn Laws'? The return of the ducking stool? The Sessional orders do not actually confer any extra powers on the police, being merely a formal expression of parliament's wishes. Those wishes being of course being that the people should in no way attempt to interfere with the business of their masters. But it is anticipated that police will make arrests under the usual Do What You're Told Act if any attempt is made to breach the cordon around parliament."

Human rights group Liberty says our march is legal and we will be exercising our democratic right to protest peacefully on the day Gordon Brown makes his long awaited speech on Iraq to the House of Commons. I have a meeting in London on that day so there maybe a chance I will be able to join the march - I will certainly be with them in spirit - this is an outrageous move by the Government.

"In the run up to this much anticipated general election, the leaders of each major political party have claimed to champion our civil liberties. No doubt they will now unite to ensure that this peaceful demonstration takes place."
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty

"The authority for this march derives from our ancient right to free speech and assembly enshrined in our history. It is only fair to tell you that the march will go ahead, in any case, and I will be among those marching."
Tony Benn, in letter to the Home Secretary

"A protest demanding all the troops out now is of national significance. To try and stop that protest is a major interference with free speech. The march should go ahead whether it is formally permitted or not."
Walter Wolfgang, Labour Party NEC

"The government want to bury the issue of their disastrous war. They will not succeed. We will be marching in our thousands on Monday."
Lindsey German, Convenor Stop the War Coalition

"In a democracy we expect peaceful protest to be permitted. We are not yet in the kind of tyranny that the Burmese people have to suffer, I hope the authorities will reconsider."
Bob Wareing MP

"Gordon Brown cannot praise protesters in Burma and then ban a protest in London. I will be protesting on Monday, regardless of whether Police permission is granted."
Ben Griffin (ex SAS trooper)

"If people aren't allowed to have their say on all our streets, what kind of Parliament are we meant to be defending?"
Michael Kustow, theatre director

"It's becoming remarkably hard to escape the feeling we're ruled by people who are basically paranoid authoritarian incompetents."
Iain Banks, author

"It is depressing that our democratic rights are being whittled away bit by bit. We will look back and wonder how this happened. They wouldn't get away with this in one go. First an arrest for reading names, then a ban on marches. What will be next?"
Benjamin Zephaniah, poet

"The stop the war demonstration on 15 February 2003 was arguably the most politically influential march in Britain since the 1970s, so it's no surprise that politicians are immobilising anti-war demonstrations now. At a time when the political debate at Westminster occupies ever narrower ground, it's vital that voices from outside are heard."
David Edgar, playwright

Monday 8th October, 1 pm, Trafalgar Square, march to Parliament Square. For more see: www.stopwar.org.uk

Meanwhile see SchNEWS also for the end of the Faslane365 demo - the Faslane naval base holds nuclear-armed Trident submarines, and since 1982 there has also been a Faslane peace camp. This Monday was the Big Blockade send-off for the year-long Faslane365 action where over 100 separate actions during the year by anti-war groups coming from all around the country and beyond. Greens in Gloucestershire have supported this event along with many Green party members from across the country - indeed Caroline Lucas MEP was arrested for her peaceful demonstration. I never made it all the way up to Scotland but thanks to everyone who took part!