Suppression of dissent

Suppression of dissent
On my occasional passes through Parliament Square in recent years I’ve seen the protest camp of the lone saddo fixated on our disgraceful invasion of Iraq. I mean, one agrees; but camping in Parliament Square? Get a life.

Or so I thought until I discovered the provisions of this year’s Serious Organised Crime and Police Act specially designed to outlaw the lone protester. This deserves a parliamentary inquiry. Where did our elected representatives find the nerve to outlaw protests within 1km of Parliament? (Did I overstate that? We may protest in any way the police don’t mind.) If our MPs have the balls to pass legislation like this, we have serious work for them to do.

Before we get on to that, a word about the lone protester. His name is Brian Haw. He’s so upset about our murderous behaviour in Iraq that he’s been camped outside the Palace of Westminster since June 2001. He’s a hero, and you can learn more at his website.

Today is International Human Rights Day and Brian has been nominated for an award for his work. Yesterday two constables with an overdeveloped sense of irony woke him up and arrested him for sleeping within shouting distance of the Prime Minister’s bedroom. (See report in The Independent.) This is the same prime minister who gave us

I rejoice that we live in a country where peaceful protest is a natural part of our democratic process.

Go down to Parliament Square and join his protest for a while. Bring him coffee from Caffè Nero — a large lattè with ten sugars. Man the stand for a few hours so he can get some sleep. Wear thick socks and shoes; the cold seeps into your feet.

Daniel Ellsberg, in an interview on openDemocracy, claims that the US Administration’s preparations for attacking Iran are at about the same stage as those for Iraq were when the Downing St memo was written. He views the recently-announced American policy of allowing themselves first use of nuclear weapons to be preparing for the use of tactical nukes in Iran. He doubts there is any serious chance of the US leaving Iraq — they’d sooner give up New Jersey — but claims Europe might be able to prevent an attack in Iran by persuading the US it would lose all its European military bases overnight. This goes beyond denying their use for an attack: invade Iran and the bases close the next day.

Question to ponder at home — how can we make this happen?