All that can should hit the streets on 8th

[Disco_Destroyer]

STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 1020
02 October 2007
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
T: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) WE WILL DEFY GOVERNMENT BAN ON ANTI-WAR MARCH
JOIN THE DEMONSTRATION. SPREAD THE WORD
2) TONY BENN'S LETTER TO THE HOME SECRETARY
3) GORDON BROWN OPEN LETTER PUBLISHED 3 OCTOBER

****************************************
1) WE WILL DEFY GOVERNMENT BAN ON ANTI-WAR MARCH
JOIN THE DEMONSTRATION. SPREAD THE WORD
Stop the War President Tony Benn has delivered a letter to the
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.

That is why we are asking every anti war activist to sign the
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British troops are withdrawn from Iraq and to defend our civil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 ).

****************************************

[spiv]

As a person who has lived on this planet for in excess of 50 years (I know, I know, all the usual leg pulls and jibes.... ) and as a law abiding person who has no criminal record whatsoever, not even a speeding or parking ticket, I can tell you that I would have no qualms whatsoever in joining this march, be it be legal or illegal. It is time that ordinary citizens looked to our Government and said "enough is enough of your stupid repressive laws, I will make my statement to you, I will defy you as you have driven me to that"

Good luck with the peace march.

If I lived closer I would be there, but I will be there in spirit. And Gordon Brown, shame on you for not immediately bringing our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Shame on you for not telling Bush his wars for oil are illegal.

And shame on you for not rounding up the war criminals who ordered our troops to go to these countries, in particular oil rich Iraq. The first arrest should be of Blair, of course, and then they should all be sent to the Hague for trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humainity.

[Disco_Destroyer]

STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 1022
06 October 2007
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
T: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) THE BAN WILL NOT STOP US ON 8 OCTOBER
2) BRIAN ENO'S GUARDIAN ARTICLE

******************************
1) THE BAN WILL NOT STOP US ON 8 OCTOBER
"The ban will not stop us on 8 October." These are the words of
musician Brian Eno in his Guardian article (see below). Brian is
joined by many in the world of the arts who are supporting our
anti-war cause, the latest being David Soul -- formerly star of
Starsky and Hutch and now highly respected actor. "Enough!" David
says. "Bring our soldiers home! I'll be there on Monday."

MPs too have been sending messages of support. Labour MP John
McDonnell writes to say, "The attempt to ban this demonstration
is an unacceptable assault on our civil liberties and I will be
joining the march to exercise my right to protest at the
continuing presence of British troops in Iraq."

We urge everyone who can, to join us on Monday 8 October for this
crucial demonstration to ensure that the anti-war message, which
the government is trying to silence by banning our march, is
heard loud and clear, when Gordon Brown makes his statement to
Parliament on Iraq.

WE WILL MARCH MONDAY 8 OCTOBER
ALL TROOPS OUT NOW: NOT ONE MORE DEATH
ASSEMBLE 1PM TRAFALGAR SQUARE FOR RALLY
(Speakers include Tony Benn, Brian Eno, Mark Thomas, Walter
Wolfgang, George Galloway and Ben Griffin (ex SAS trooper)
MARCH TO PARLIAMENT
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

******************************
2) BRIAN ENO'S GUARDIAN ARTICLE
This government wants to show itself as clean and new, and
doesn't want attention drawn to the mess it has left on the
carpet…It would take courage for Gordon Brown to say: "This war
was a catastrophe." It would take even greater courage to admit
that the seeds of the catastrophe were in its conception: it
wasn't a good idea badly done (the neocons' last refuge - "Blame
it all on Rumsfeld"), but a bad idea badly done. And it would
take perhaps superhuman courage to say: "And now we should
withdraw and pay reparations to this poor country."

I don't see it happening. But the demonstration will, legal or
not: on Monday Tony Benn will lead us as we exercise our right to
remind our representatives that, even if Iraq has slipped off
their agenda, it's still on ours. Please join us.
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, GO TO:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2184924,00.html

[Disco_Destroyer]

For this week's SchNEWS in full technicolour:
www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news605.htm

======================================================================

WAKE UP!! IT'S YER LOONIES ON THE GRASS...

SchNEWS Issue 605 - Friday, 5th October 2007
======================================================================

PARLIA-MENT-AL

...A-TO-B PEACE MARCH BANNED AS UK JUNTA CRACKS DOWN IN SHOW OF SOLIDARITY
WITH BURMESE GOVERNMENT

"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

Police forbid a march on the centre of government - Rangoon? Nope, London.
While Gordon Brown reminds the world of our commitment to human rights and
expresses his disgust at the treatment meted out to Burmese protestors, its
a different story when it come to the overwrought mother of parliaments.

The previously studiously uncontroversial Stop the War Coalition has run up
against the big protest clampdown. Their planned "Troops Out" march on
October 8th from Trafalgar square to Parliament has been banned by the Met
police. But they're planning to march anyway.

Usually STWC conducts totally legal demonstrations and has not previously
lent its support to illegal direct action. On this occasion they were in
negotiation with the police for some weeks beforehand and by cunningly
apparently getting round the Public Order and SOCPA legislation by fully
complying with it, the march appeared to have the police go ahead. Their
marches, which tend to be of the 'go from a set A to B, hear Tony Benn'
affairs, have been sanctioned and facilitated before by the police - in a
marked contrast to heavy handed treatment of unauthorised events such as
Sack Parliament (see SchNEWS 564). Pundits used to the Met's usual attitude
to protests were left slack-jawed at the minimal policing in evidence on the
massive march in Feb 2003. In fact discussions between the organisers and
the police included plans to neutralise anarchist elements, such as samba
group Rhythms of Resistance.

However, last Friday in a room at New Scotland Yard, in a meeting with
events co-ordinator Inspector Stuart Cornish - claiming to be acting on a
"steer from upstairs", he informed them that the march would not be allowed
within one mile of parliament. In return the organisers were offered a
static demo - and to their credit they walked out of the meeting.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

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.

TROOPS OUT - March In Defiance Of The Ban

Monday 8th October, 1 pm, Trafalgar Square, march to Parliament Square.
Venerable greybeards Tony Benn and Walter Wolfgang will be leading the
united defiance of celebrities and public alike.

* For more see www.stopwar.org.uk

======================================================================

[Disco_Destroyer]

All those that attended deserve a pat on the back
Also a decent headline at MSN

Thousands in anti-war march


Thousands of people took part in an anti-war march to Parliament on Monday after police made a last minute decision to lift a threatened ban on the protest.
The Stop The War Coalition said the demonstration struck a significant blow for "liberty and democracy" and claimed that the attempt to stop it going ahead had swelled the number of supporters.
Police said 2,000 people joined the march, but organisers said the figure was at least double that number, with students, trade unionists and peace activists taking part.
The march disrupted traffic outside Parliament just as the Prime Minister was due to arrive in the Commons to tell MPs about the latest phase of British troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Gordon Brown was seen being driven along adjoining roads to Whitehall to avoid being caught up in the demonstration.
Scores of police officers escorted the banner-waving, chanting protesters from Trafalgar Square to Parliament, past Downing Street.
Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition, said the group had been told time and again by police in recent days that they could not go ahead with the march, and she claimed the authorities and MPs had underestimated the determination of the anti-war movement.
She said her message to the Government was: "You will never draw a line under this war until you bring all our troops home. "And we don't want the troops brought home just so they can be sent to Afghanistan or the Iranian border. We want a permanent break with George Bush's murderous, imperialistic policies."
Ms German also claimed that Britain is now seeing restrictions on civil liberties as a direct result of the war in Iraq.
Andrew Murray, chairman of the coalition, announced to the crowd that the police relented just 30 minutes before the rally was due to start, adding: "This is a tribute to this movement and to everyone who has campaigned to assert our right to hold this Government to account for the criminal policies it is following around the world."
http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=6344230

[PaulStott]

A rare display of backbone from the STWC - although it did not last all day:

http://www.londonclasswar.org/newswire/index.php?itemid=89