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CND IN THE NEWS
13-19 November 2003
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1 Police allow marchers past Parliament
The Telegraph, 18 November 2003
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F11%2F18%2Fnbush218.xml
The Metropolitan Police last night bowed to pressure from organisers of
a protest march planned for Thursday, when President George W Bush is
in London, and agreed a route that will pass Parliament.
After lengthy talks at Scotland Yard, the organisers learned that they
will be allowed, as they have demanded, to march through Parliament Square
and up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square.
Police had said that they had to avoid Parliament under "sessional
orders", which prohibit demonstrations close to the Palace of Westminster
when it is in session, and because of fears of possible confrontation
and disorder in Whitehall around Downing Street. However, it has emerged
that Parliament will not be sitting on Thursday afternoon.
Scotland Yard has also been reassured by organisers from the Stop the
War Coalition - which, the Yard accepts, organised a huge, peaceful anti-war
march in February - that its stewards will keep the march moving past
the gates of Downing Street.
Police do not expect trouble from the tens of thousands of law-abiding
marchers. But Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter said: "There
may be a minority which will use it as an opportunity to cause trouble.
We would be naive not to prepare for that.
"But from the organisers' point of view, they will have stewards
in place and they will encourage people to move on and get to Trafalgar
Square."
According to the preliminary itinerary for Mr Bush's visit, the president
will be in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon for talks with Mr Blair
and representatives from a number of countries and charities on the problems
of HIV/Aids.
However, police have yet to receive Mr Bush's final itinerary and it is
unclear whether he will still be at Downing Street by the time the march
reaches Whitehall.
Security is at "unprecedented" levels for Mr Bush's state visit
- for most of which he and his wife Laura will be guests of the Queen
- because of concern about possible terrorist attacks. While in Britain,
it is understood that he will travel in a special armour-plated version
of the Cadillac DeVille. Even the underside is armour-plated, making it
virtually bombproof. The tyres can function if punctured and the driver
has night-vision technology available.
There will be a huge police presence in central London. Mr Trotter made
clear last night that the widely reported total of 14,000 police officers
referred not to individual officers but to "officer shifts"
- the total of shifts worked from Tuesday night to Friday by the police
on duty from the Met, the City of London and the British Transport Police.
There is little doubt, however, that many thousands of police will be
on the streets of central London, particularly for the march on Thursday.
The only major decision left last night was whether the march will cross
the Thames - on which police and organisers expect an agreement.
One option is for the march to come from Euston down through Holborn and
Kingsway to Aldwych, over Waterloo Bridge, along the South Bank, passing
in front of Waterloo Station, and back over Westminster Bridge. However,
if the numbers are so large that the crowd may become congested south
of the river, the march will turn right along the Embankment on the north
side, towards Parliament Square.
The Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who accompanied members of the Stop the War
Coalition, CND and the Muslim Association of Britain
for a final consultation with police, said: "We think this is a very
successful outcome for all. The march is going to be huge, very well-stewarded
and very well-ordered." Mr Corbyn said the decision meant ordinary
people would have the opportunity to voice their opposition to the occupation
of Iraq and Mr Bush's war policies
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2 'Unprecedented' security for Bush visit
The Guardian, Friday November 14, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1085473,00.html
Scotland Yard today said that it would mount an "unprecedented"
security operation when the US president, George Bush, visits Britain
next week.
The announcement came as Muslim groups, environmentalists and peace activists
announced plans for huge national protests.
About 5,000 Metropolitan police officers will be on duty to ensure that
Mr Bush's controversial state visit goes smoothly. Sir John Stevens, the
Metropolitan police commissioner, said today: "We have to accept
the circumstances around the event next week are unprecedented.
"The security is unprecedented because one, the level of terrorism
threat, and two, the nature of the president's visit."
Sir John said that the police had to strike a balance between granting
people the right to demonstrate and protecting the interests of the US
president.
There has been intense negotiation between officers and protesters over
the route of a planned mass march in the capital on Thursday.
The Stop the War Coalition has demanded that protesters are allowed to
make the traditional march past Parliament. Leaders of the anti-war group
met police today, but no specific route was agreed, and another meeting
is scheduled for Monday. Sir John described negotiations as "ongoing",
and conceded: "It is a difficult issue."
Protests will begin on Sunday, when Vietnam war veteran Ron Kovic introduces
a special screening of the Oliver Stone film Born on the Fourth of July
in central London.
A petition protesting against President Bush's British visit will be handed
in to 10 Downing Street on Monday.
On Tuesday - when Mr Bush and his wife arrive in London - a Stop Bush
rally will be held near Euston Station. It will be attended by veteran
campaigner Tony Benn, Harold Pinter, the former Labour MP George Galloway,
and Kate Hudson, chairwoman of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
On Wednesday, when the president is due to arrive at Buckingham Palace,
there will be an alternative state procession, complete with horse-drawn
open carriage, bike riders and a Big Red Peace Bus. An evening of "poetry,
protest and song" will also be held on Wednesday, with comedian Mark
Steel among those taking part. The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, will
hold a peace party at City Hall on Wednesday, which will be attended by
many groups opposed to the war in Iraq.
The biggest event of the week will be on Thursday, when up to 100,000
people are expected to march through central London to a rally in Trafalgar
Square. Muslims will urge other anti-war protesters to join them in a
fast. Protests will also be held outside the US embassy in central London,
including one on Friday highlighting the continued detention of prisoners
at Guantánamo Bay.
Environmental campaigners will also stage protests against Mr Bush, including
a march in London on Tuesday.
CND is calling on its members to take part in non-violent action across
the UK on Wednesday. Banners accusing President Bush of being a war criminal,
and a weapon of mass destruction, have been produced by CND
for next week's events.
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3 Hardcore protesters plot to halt traffic
Saturday November 15, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1085691,00.html
The centrepiece of next week's Stop the War march to coincide with George
Bush's state visit will be the symbolic toppling of a six metre high statue
of the 43rd president. But long before the papier-mache figure is pulled
from one of the plinths in Trafalgar Square a group of direct action protesters
will hope to have put their own indelible mark on the visit.
While the Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Council of Britain, and CND
are urging more than 100,000 people to take to the streets on Thursday
for what they hope will be the biggest anti-war demonstration since the
start of the invasion of Iraq, those involved in direct action are unlikely
to number more than a few hundred.
But despite the relatively small numbers involved, much of the £4m
security operation put in place by Scotland Yard will be taken up with
trying to counter the actions of these hardcore protesters in a giant
game of cat and mouse across central London. Set up under the umbrella
name "Resist Bush", the action is being spearheaded by several
groups including Justice Not Vengeance (JNV), Grass Roots Opposition to
War (Grow) and Voices in the Wilderness. Many of those involved have become
tired of the Stop the War demonstrations, which they say have become little
more than talking shops.
"The marches have been great at mobilising large numbers of people,
but at some point we need to go further to really get our point across,"
one 23-year-old activist told the Guardian. "I don't think Bush realises
just how angry people in this country are and how offensive his coming
here is. Well, we're going to let him know."
Those with their ears to the ground - including the police - are not expecting
any largescale assaults in the style of the G8 conference in Genoa in
2002, which resulted in clashes with Italian police when a protester was
killed. Instead the direct action is likely to take the form of what one
seasoned watcher termed "freelance" operations, involving small
groups breaking off from the main body and performing random acts.
"In my experience the most effective direct action is usually spontaneous,"
said another protester, a veteran of direct action at US airbases during
the Iraq war. "You need to see what the police are doing, where the
cordons are and then react to the situation. At the moment we don't even
know what Bush's itinerary is or where he is going to be."
Most of the actions are likely to involve attempting to block roads in
an effort to gridlock the centre of the capital. There has even been rumours
that protesters have been making their own "Road Closed" signs
in an attempt to add to the chaos. Another popular tactic is for groups
to perform symbolic "die-ins" which involve groups of protesters
lying down in the middle of the road. The protests are also likely to
involve large amounts of red dye sprinkled around central London to symbolise
the blood spilt in Iraq. Resist Bush has set up workshops for those who
want to be involved in direct action. Protesters are taught how to work
in small groups to take on particular targets. But much of the emphasis
has been on making sure those who plan to get involved understand their
legal rights and the possible consequences of being arrested.
"There are worse things in the world than being nicked, but it is
really important that people like teachers, who could face serious disciplinary
action, understand what they might be letting themselves in for,"
one of the activists said. "But compared to the suffering of the
people of Iraq it is a small price to pay."
• More than 100,000 people will take to the streets next week for
three days of protests, according to Stop the War
• Protests kick off on Tuesday night with a Burning Planet march
organised by Campaign Against Climate Change, but the first big flashpoint
is likely on Wednesday with mass protest and civil disobedience at a Resist
Bush "tea party" planned outside Buckingham Palace
• Between 60,000 and 100,000 are expected to join the Stop the War
Coalition demonstration and rally on Thursday afternoon. There could be
trouble if it is not allowed to march past parliament and up Whitehall
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4 Police called in to catch protest truants
The Guardian, Tuesday November 18, 2003
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,5500,1087725,00.html
Westminster council has employed five police officers to monitor schoolchildren
at Thursday's demonstration against President Bush.
Five education welfare officers will accompany the police at the march
and rally in an attempt to identify truanting children.
Last spring hundreds of schoolchildren in London and around the country
walked out of school in protest against the Iraq war in surprise demonstrations.
However Westminster council admitted that the 10 officers would have little
impact on their own when faced with a march of thousands and many pupils
not in school uniform. A spokesperson for their education department told
the Daily Telegraph: "The practicalities are that we would hope to
look at school uniforms and then tell the headteachers so that they can
take action.
The Department for Education and Skills has already warned that any pupil
missing school to attend a demonstration would be treated as truants and
headteachers have warned that they could face expulsion.
The Stop the War Coalition, which is organising Thursday's march and rally
said that they had purposefully timed it for the afternoon to avoid people
having to leave work or school. The rally starts at 4pm in Trafalgar Square.
Earlier this year police were forced to remove schoolchildren from sit-ins
at Parliament Square. Meanwhile students at London's universities are
preparing demonstrations timed to coincide with President Bush's visit
this week. They include teach-ins, banner drops and a student section
to Thursday's march. Today Goldsmiths College in New Cross, south-east
London, are holding a five-hour teach-in, titled "The crimes of George
W Bush". And the LSE anti-war group is staging a "Stop Bush"
street rally this afternoon at 5pm at their Aldwych campus. Peter Leary,
convenor of Student Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND),
said: "Students are angry that Bush has been invited to Britain.
We are against Bush's illegal war on Iraq and against the occupation.
We are protesting this week to send a message to young people in the United
States that British students want an end to Bush and Blair's pre-emptive
wars.
"War on Iraq cost Britain millions of pounds, when Tony Blair is
telling students there is no money for education. Students are calling
for grants not bombs."
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5 Comment
The Guardian, Tuesday November 18, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1087489,00.html
Jack Straw, I've come to the conclusion, is slow on the uptake. I arrived
here via his comments on the anti-Bush protests scheduled for Thursday.
First, he wondered whether the weather might limit attendance. Many people
found this insulting, suggesting that anti-war protesters were a bunch
of pussies whose ceaseless campaigning on behalf of the oppressed would
only stand up till a really strong wind came along.
He continued: "Whether [Bush] sees the protesters or not, he certainly
should not be kept away from them." Here, we witness his trademark
subtlety - if Bush isn't to be kept away from the protesters but there
is still a question mark over whether or not he'll see them, we can only
conclude that the protesters will be few, or very small... possibly, they're
children.
This kind of belittling insinuation was a popular way to deal with marchers
in the 80s, when decent people were decent, miners were greedy thugs and
CND were a bunch of whining lesbos. Since then, there's
been a sea change - figures of authority now like to divide protesters
into "legitimate" and "illegitimate".
From there, they heap praise upon the legitimate ones, extolling their
hallowed place in the democratic/civil rights/good egg tradition. The
illegitimate ones are the troublemakers who ruined it for everyone, and
can be trussed up and popped into the backs of vans much as they have
been since marching began, the key difference being that the police now
get to look like good guys while they do it. It's a neat paradigm shift,
actually, so neat that you hear it from every single politician with a
view on the matter, apart from Straw, who never got the memo and failed
to work it out for himself.
So, when in February the nation witnessed one of the largest anti-war
demos in British history, Tony Blair took the opportunity to praise them
for their "democracy". In Iraq, such a thing would have been
impossible, because they have no democracy. Oh, the fox! Do you see what
he did? He took the peaceniks' impassioned objections, and turned them
to his advantage. Except he didn't, really, since the endpoint of his
argument was that we were attacking a country in order to bestow upon
them the right to march in their hundreds of thousands, and then not be
taken any notice of.
Condoleezza Rice echoed this weird sentiment, talking about this week's
rallies. "Protests are a part of our democratic heritage and our
democratic privilege." Meanwhile, her government was lobbying ours
for diplomatic immunity for the members of its security service, lest
they shoot a protester by accident. Mindless anti-Americans might spot
an inconsistency in this line: if marchers have democratic privilege,
you'd think that would extend to not getting shot. In fact, her position
is watertight - there is a long heritage of democratic protesters, but
there's also a long heritage of shooting them while they do it.
The police are also on the side of the angels, certainly according to
a spokeswoman: "[People] have a legitimate right to be protesters
and we will uphold their democratic right to protest." Andy Trotter,
deputy assistant commissioner, clarified this. "It is our intention
to facilitate lawful protest," he said. The trouble is, it's up to
him what counts as "lawful" - a march past parliament, or down
Whitehall, those aren't lawful. A march down the Aldwych, on the other
hand, passing such symbolic buildings as Prêt à Manger, now
that's lawful.
You could call this a compromise; you could be grateful that he didn't
divert the whole thing to Stoke Newington, which is a bugger to get home
from. But marches are symbolic - they do not say, "Heed us, otherwise
we'll break things!" (those are riots); they exist to remind the
seat of power from whence that power derives. To deny them the right to
march past those seats of power would be like asking the Jarrow marchers
to skip parliament and nip round to the secretary for trade and industry's
house.
The real intention behind this endlessly namechecked democracy/protest
dyad is to tap the conviction of the protesters for some kind of warped
endorsement of the very system they are protesting against. If protest
is part of democracy, and democracy has given us this government, then
hey, guys, we're really all on the same side. But it's nonsense - nobody
goes on a march in celebration of being allowed to go on a march, courtesy
of democracy. People protest when they see policies introduced that defy
majority opinion; they protest when they see democracy failing.
So it's the basest kind of insult for Blair, Rice or anyone else to laud
a demo for its democracy, when the only answer to that is: "Hang
on, chief, if you knew what the word meant, we wouldn't be here! We'd
be at B&Q!" That, now I think about it, is rather a good chant.
zoe.williams2@ntlworld.com
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6 Howard wins praise in the opening war of words with Blair
The Independent, 13 November 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=463199
Tony Blair launched a strong attack on Michael Howard's record as a minister
as they clashed yesterday in the first Prime Minister's Questions since
Mr Howard became Tory leader. MPs judged their opening battle a "score
draw".
Labour sources admitted Mr Howard's strong performance showed he would
be a much more formidable Commons opponent than Iain Duncan Smith, but
said Mr Blair had "raised his game" yesterday to meet the new
challenge.
Mr Howard won cheers from Tory MPs usually denied his predecessor as he
challenged the Prime Minister over what he said was a 50 per cent rise
in the cost of running the Government since Labour took power. He said:
"Isn't that eloquent testimony to the ineffectiveness, ineptitude
and sheer incompetence of this Government, all at the expense of the hard-pressed
British taxpayer?"
Mr Blair hit back by reviewing the record of Mr Howard as a minister.
He said: "Let's compare who was inept, incompetent and wasted money.
Under the Conservatives, 15 per cent interest rates when you were an economics
minister. When you were employment minister, a million extra unemployed,
one million people in negative equity, £80bn of Government debt.
Under this Chancellor, the lowest interest rates, inflation and unemployment
for decades, 1.5 million more in work." The Prime Minister then continued
Labour's campaign to brand Mr Howard, a former Local Government minister,
as "Mr Poll Tax". He said: "Whatever this side has done,
none of us when in Government introduced anything as bad as the poll tax
... That's why we say, Same old people, same old policies, same old Tories'."
Mr Howard came to the Commons armed with a dossier compiled by Tory officials
called, Blair: his past. He decided not to quote from it unless Mr Blair
raised his record as a minister, but used it to hit back when he did.
The Tory leader said: "I've got a great big dossier on your past
and I haven't even had to sex it up. We can talk about your personal pledge
to leave the EU. We can talk about the time you criticised America's 'state-sponsored
terrorism'. I wonder if you will be raising that with President Bush next
week?
"Or we can talk about the time you praised the fortitude and resolve
of the Wapping strikers. I bet you don't remind Rupert Murdoch about that."
Mr Howard added: "I'm very happy to debate the past. But I rather
think the British people are more interested in today and tomorrow than
yesterday. We will take every opportunity to remind them of the failures
today of your discredited Government."
In his second series of questions, the Opposition leader tried to exploit
last week's public differences between Mr Blair and Gordon Brown. He asked:
"Isn't it an absolute disgrace that while the people of this country
feel so let down over schools, over hospitals and over crime, the Prime
Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer spend their time squabbling
over who should sit on the National Executive Committee of the Labour
Party?"
Mr Blair, returning to Mr Howard's record, said it was "extraordinary"
that he should suggest people were "suffering". "If they
are suffering under the Chancellor, what was it like when we had a million
people repossessed?"
DOSSIER ON BLAIR
"We'll negotiate a withdrawal from the EEC which has drained our
natural resources and destroyed jobs" in Sedgefield, 1983
Backed "removal of all nuclear weapons from British territory and
expressed solidarity with all campaigners for peace" Parliamentary
Labour CND advert signed by Mr Blair
He also criticised America's "evil campaign" against Nicaragua
and "President Reagan's state-sponsored terrorism" by signing
a Commons motion in 1988.
"We will abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a proper
democratically elected second chamber" - speech in 1993
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7 Suffolk's Gilbert White
The Independent, 15 November 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=463864
Francis William Simpson, naturalist and conservationist: born Asyut, Egypt
15 September 1912; Keeper of Natural History, Ipswich Museum 1930-77;
Botanical Recorder for Suffolk 1951-2003; MBE 1996; died Felixstowe, Suffolk
10 November 2003.
Francis Simpson was for more than 60 years the chronicler of the countryside
and wild flowers of his native county, Suffolk. He was the author of one
of the most highly regarded county floras, simply entitled Simpson's Flora
of Suffolk.
An observer of the minute particularities of his home turf, very much
in the tradition of Gilbert White of Selborne, Simpson saw his county
change from a rural idyll of hedges, meadows and tree-lined river valleys
to the predominately arable and developed landscape of today. His Flora
has an elegiac quality that may owe something to his admiration for the
writings of the Victorian naturalist Richard Jefferies.
Simpson was a conservationist long before the word was invented, and practised
a frugal "green" life style, usually travelling on a boneshaker
of a bicycle and living as far as possible in harmony with nature as he
saw it, scavenging firewood and other necessities on his journeys through
the Suffolk countryside.
Among his bêtes noires were air travel, rampant consumerism, chainsaws,
computers, the "unnecessary use of the internal combustion engine"
and, of course, television. He strongly disliked field sports, and dismantled
snares whenever he found them. Though he served under sufferance as a
private in the Army during the Second World War, he was a pacifist and
supported CND. He enjoyed meat too much to become a vegetarian,
but he regarded herbivory as an ideal. He had a decidedly sweet tooth,
an exceptional memory for plants and places, and was by turns opinionated,
stubborn, cantankerous and loveable.
Long before the end of his life he had become a treasured Suffolk institution.
He was honoured in 1996 by appointment as MBE for services to nature conservation,
and by a Rivis vice-presidency, the highest accolade bestowed by the Suffolk
Naturalist Society, of which he was an active member over 70 years.
Francis Simpson was born in 1912 in Egypt, where his father taught leatherwork
at a training school. The family returned to England soon afterwards and
settled near Ipswich, where the Simpsons had lived for generations, and
where Francis was to spend his whole life. He was educated privately and
at a local school, but decided not to go to university.
Instead he joined the small staff of Ipswich Museum, where, given his
already considerable expertise in wild plants and photography, he was
put in charge of natural- history exhibits, including the herbarium. There
he remained until retirement in 1977.
His first contribution to the Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists'
Trust on "Missing, Doubtful, New or Otherwise Interesting Flora"
in 1934 was followed by a stream of others, equally interesting and often
entertaining, written in a slightly florid, mannered style in imitation
of the journal's editor, the entomologist Claude Morley (who also wrote
poetry under the pseudonym Maude Clorley).
Simpson was, however, primarily an outdoors man. In childhood he used
to set out, accompanied by his mother and sister, on all-day rambles in
which the seemingly tireless Francis would scout ahead, investigating
chalk-pits or promising-looking copses for their flora. Never a great
respecter of private property, he later bemoaned the lack of hedges and
ditches along which he could creep without being seen. He was arrested
and kept under armed guard on several occasions while investigating botanical
habitats behind MOD fences. On at least one occasion his confiscated camera
was courteously returned to his door, complete with the film, carefully
developed and passed as harmless.
By the time Simpson's Flora of Suffolk was published in 1982, Simpson
knew his county and its plants as few have ever done before or since.
The work of half a century of patient recording, it drew on other surveys,
but was mainly Simpson's own work, a fact recognised by the Suffolk Naturalists'
Society who published the work and insisted it be called Simpson's Flora.
The Flora includes 285 of the author's splendid colour photographs of
flowers in their natural setting, included at Simpson's insistence, and
for which he re-mortgaged his house to cover the extra costs. Among the
records of plants, places and local lore are glimpses of his unusual dedication.
Worried that a colony of sea-holly growing close to a path would end up
in someone's garden, he "successfully guarded it by sitting near
the plants for several weekends". He added, "I can usually identify
vandals, even at a distance." He also feared that deadly nightshade
might be threatened by over-zealous safety officials, and so: "Where
possible, I visit the sites and remove the berries."
While recording flowers in 1938, Simpson discovered that a small meadow
famous for its purple, pink and white fritillary lilies was in the process
of being drained and ploughed. He dashed off a characteristic letter to
the East Anglian Daily Times, warning that
the countryside is rapidly becoming less floriferous in this mechanical
and destructive age, and naturalists must defend the heritage of beautiful
wild flowers, unless our future flora is to comprise only aliens and weeds.
An appeal raised £75, enough to purchase the small field for the
Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves. Mickfield Meadow was among
the first formal nature reserves, described today as a bewitching place,
an oasis of meadow flowers in the midst of a vast arable desert.
Towards the end of his life, Simpson bought a small area of coastal marsh
on the Ore noted for its colony of the sea pea and other rare plants,
and presented it to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Described as "a wonderfully
lonely spot with an aura of timelessness", it is known as Simpson's
Saltings.
He believed, with some passion, that the business of nature conservation
was to buy as many good sites as possible, and thereafter leave them alone.
Though a member of many conservation bodies, he regarded many of their
activities as a waste of time, if not actually harmful.
A confirmed bachelor, Francis Simpson lived in Ipswich, in a modest house
with a garden in which wild flowers, some of them transplanted from threatened
sites, were left to run riot. Gardening, which he regarded as cosseting,
was reserved for his collection of double begonias in the greenhouse.
Fortunately he remained remarkably fit almost to the end of his life.
As his friend Eric Parsons said of him, "Nothing but infirmity will
stand between Francis Simpson and the Suffolk countryside when a fine
day dawns. Be assured he will be out".
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8 American expatriates to lead the protests against Bush
The Independent, 15 November 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=463921
Americans marching beneath a banner proclaiming "Proud of My Country,
Shamed by My President" will lead a demonstration against George
Bush during his state visit next week. The Stop the War Coalition, which
is organising the rally, expects up to 100,000 people to take to the streets
of London and express their hostility to the American President.
Trade union members, Muslim groups, environmentalists and peace activists
will join forces for the march, with about a hundred US expats, who are
adamant the event should be perceived as an indictment of their President,
not a snub to their country. Luke Robinson, 29, a website developer from
the United States who has lived in Britain for four years, is among those
who will attend the protest. He will be joined by American academics and
City workers."Most of us love our country and won't take any anti-American
sentiment but we feel this guy is leading us down a bad path," he
said. "Allowing a fully fledged state visit is [sending] a bad message
that Britain is really backing Bush. The pictures from this visit will
definitely be used in his election campaign."
Demonstrators carrying placards reading "Bush - Blair Dumb and Dumber",
"Bush Eco-terrorist" and "George W.ar Criminal", as
well as blood-splattered anti-Bush banners, will gather in Trafalgar Square
where a mock statue of the US President will be symbolically toppled.
Coachloads of demonstrators who oppose the war in Iraq and Mr Bush's environmental
and economic policies are to be bused in from Wales, Scotland and the
West Country among other points. Michael Moore, the American film maker
and comedian who is known for his outspoken views on the US leader, is
donating $1,000 to transport demonstrators in from Manchester. Pupils
missing school, worshippers from mosques around Britain and a busload
of pensioners from an old people's home in Hounslow, west London, will
also join the march to express their anger at the visit. Alongside them
will be members of the far-left Socialist Workers' Party, the Labour Party
and Liberal Democrats, and peace demonstrators from CND
and other anti-war groups. A large contingent of Greens will make their
feelings known on President Bush's environmental policies. They plan to
express their opposition with a week of events including a street party
and an anti-Bush home-made T-shirt competition outside Buckingham Palace
on Wednesday evening.
"Bush would be better off staying at home to sign the Kyoto Protocol
on global warming than coming to Britain," said Spencer Fitzgibbon,
a former army officer and member of the Green Party executive. The exact
route of the march is still being negotiated with the Metropolitan Police,
who will have 5,000 officers on duty. The protesters want to parade past
the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street but police have suggested
a shorter route, which would keep them away from Whitehall.
There will be 500 stewards to try to ensure the march does not deteriorate
into the sort of violent attacks on American businesses, such as McDonald's
restaurants, that have marred anti-capitalism demonstrations in recent
years. The march organisers insist they have not had any trouble during
seven previous events and insist Thursday's protest will not be hijacked
by anarchist groups. Meetings with the police yesterday were said to have
been constructive. They will meet again on Monday to discuss the route.
A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said: "We are not anti
the American people - in fact many share our reservations about President
Bush. This is about the President. There are 500 local Stop the War groups
who are bringing people from around the country and the phones are ringing
non-stop. We are making 6,000 placards."
The march represents the main event in four days of anti-Bush events,
for which the President has drafted in an entourage of more than 500 people,
including up to 200 secret service and security personnel. On Tuesday
activists are organising a public rally in London with high-profile speakers
including the acclaimed playwright and actor Harold Pinter, and the Vietnam
veteran Ron Kovic, whose story inspired the Tom Cruise film Born on the
Fourth of July. The former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn and George
Galloway MP, who was recently thrown out of the Labour Party for his public
comments about the war, will also speak.
There will be a march to the American consulate in Edinburgh on Wednesday
and a petition from people throughout Britain will be presented to Downing
Street on Monday.
……………………………………………..
9 Police reverse ban on march to avert threat of violence
The Independent, 16 November 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=464180
Met to allow marchers into Whitehall after organisers warn that restricting
their route would provoke uncontrolled protests
The police are set to make a dramatic U-turn and allow more than 100,000
anti-Bush protesters to march past Downing Street and Parliament this
week, in a major concession to avoid violent clashes with hardline activists.
The Metropolitan police last week banned Thursday's Stop the War Coalition
(SWC) march from Whitehall, partly because of security fears that al-Qa'ida
terrorists could use the march as cover for an attack and partly because
of demands for tight security by the White House.
But as popular support for the march escalated last week, leading the
organisers to double the numbers expected, they warned police that the
ban could provoke uncontrolled protests and clashes with hardline activists.
The SWC, which includes the Muslim Association of Britain and CND,
believes the police will allow the march to pass down Whitehall. Last
week, President Bush told British journalists he supported the right of
Britons to protest.
"As long as we get a march route that takes us as close to the centre
of political power, people will feel they've been allowed to express how
they feel," said an SWC official. The coalition has guaranteed the
police its event will be peaceful. In an attempt to rebut claims by the
Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that the protests were just "fashionable
anti-Americanism", Thursday's march will be led by US anti-war protesters,
including Ron Kovic, the Vietnam veteran profiled in Oliver Stone's anti-war
movie, Born on the Fourth of July.
Mr Kovic said: "I and other Vietnam vets can't help but see a mirror
image of the Vietnam tragedy unfolding in Iraq. I think one of the most
patriotic and democratic things a citizen can do, right now, is march
against war and in favour of peace."
Organisers claim scores of coaches have now been booked for the march
from around the UK and estimate that hundreds of activists will also come
from Europe. Other events are planned for President Bush's visit to Tony
Blair's Sedgefield constituency on Friday and outside the US consulate
in Edinburgh.
However, anarchist groups, anti-globalisation protesters and radical environmentalists
are also planning to stage unofficial blockades and sit-down protests,
including attempts to break through the security cordon around Buckingham
Palace, where the Bushes will be staying, and the American embassy in
Grosvenor Square.
They will also target the London HQ of the oil giant ExxonMobil, which
has close ties to the Bush administration. Radical groups have organised
"non-violent direct action" and legal training this week, in
preparation for confrontations with the police.
The security operation is unprecedented. The Met will devote 5,000 officers
to the tour, and about 250 White House Secret Service agents and 150 other
US security officers are in the UK overseeing arrangements.
The Met has already clashed with the White House over requests to shut
down large areas of central London and the City during the visit.
Last week, the Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter said the
capital's streets would not be permanently closed. There was already a
"high level of alert" in London. "Who knows what terrorists
look like? There is always the possibility of someone concealing themselves
among the demonstrators."
……………………………………………..
10 President Bush arrives for historic state visit
November 18, 2003
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-9389-899228,00.html
President Bush and his wife Laura arriving at Heathrow this evening on
Air Force On
President Bush and his wife Laura arrived in London this evening for their
controversial and historic state visit as officials were playing down
expectations of any diplomatic breakthroughs.
Air Force One delivered Mr and Mrs Bush to the far side of London’s
major airport at 1922GMT, far from the public areas, where they were met
by the Prince of Wales.
After their red card reception, by a military guard of honour, the Bushes
were taken by the presidential helicopter, Marine One, to the secure grounds
of Buckingham Palace, where they will spend a private evening and a night
in the guest Belgian Suite.
The formal part of their visit will begin tomorrow with a ceremonial welcome
in the grounds of the Palace.
As the helicopter touched down behind the Palace a crowd of several hundred
gathered outside the front gates shouting "Bush Terrorist" and
"Bush Go Home".
Downing Street was tonight playing down the prospects of any big diplomatic
breakthroughs in the President’s talks with Mr Blair.
American officials travelling with Mr Bush on board Air Force One ruled
out any announcement during the visit on whether the US will scrap steel
tariffs.
The officials said that Mr Bush would tell Mr Blair that he was still
considering what to do. British officials were also not expecting any
big movement over the vexed issue of British prisoners held at Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba. Downing Street pointed to a poll in The Guardian newspaper
today showing that more of those questioned supported Mr Bush's visit,
which begins this evening. The results show that more people - 43 per
cent - say that they welcome Mr Bush's arrival than the 36 per cent who
say they would prefer he did not come.
The survey also showed that 62 per cent of voters believe that the US
is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world".
Mr Blair's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister believes
it's important that the voice of those people supporting the visit is
also heard along with that of the protesters and that of the Government."
Scotland Yard is planning an estimated £5 million security blitz
involving all its armed units and up to 14,000 police officers during
the three-day trip. The Metropolitan Police was so stretched today that
the Soham murder trial adjourned early because its police were being transferred
to protect the President. Judge Mr Justice Moses told the jury, who are
considering whether Ian Huntley murdered the ten-year-olds Holly Wells
and Jessica Chapman: "We cannot sit after 3pm. We are losing a police
escort and things to escort someone else." The court usually sits
until around 4.30pm.
Anti-war protesters were today finalising plans for a series of demonstrations.
The Stop The War Coalition, which is helping to organise a string of marches
and rallies, said that opposition to the visit was growing. Convenor Lindsey
German told PA News she believed more than 100,000 people would join the
biggest demonstration, in Central London on Thursday.
"Opposition is just snowballing. Our phones have not stopped ringing
with calls from people wanting to show their opposition to the visit."
The protests will begin this evening with a Stop Bush Rally in London
with speakers including Tony Benn, the playwright Harold Pinter, George
Galloway, the former Labour MP and Kate Hudson, the CND
chairwoman. Environmental protesters will stage a separate rally this
evening outside the US Embassy branding Mr Bush "public enemy No
1".
An "alternative" state procession will be held tomorrow complete
with a horse-drawn open carriage and a protester dressed in regal-style
robes. Demonstrators are also planning a protest when President Bush visits
the Sedgefield constituency of the Prime Minister on Friday. A papier-mache
statue of Mr Bush will be carried on Thursday’s march and then "toppled",
echoing the pulling down of a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad towards
the end of the bombing campaign.
Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor, gave a message of support to the protesters
but urged them to remain peaceful. "You have the moral high ground,"
he said in a statement. "You are protesting against an illegal war
and occupation - and the world will be watching you. "Your right
to peaceful protest will be upheld by the Greater London Authority and
the Metropolitan Police Service. "But you also have responsibilities
to the people of London and the wider world - there will be no place for
violence of any kind in London this week. Protests must be peaceful and
within the law."
……………………………………………..
11 Police retreat to let marchers go down Whitehall
The Times, November 18, 2003
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-9389-898849,00.html
AT LEAST 100,000 people will march down Whitehall on Thursday to protest
against President Bush’s three-day state visit to Britain, police
said yesterday. Scotland Yard agreed last night, after hours of negotiation
with the Stop the War Coalition, to allow protesters to march along the
traditional route close to Parliament.
Police believe that more than 100,000 people, including many foreign activists,
will take part in the main protest on Thursday. They will walk down Kingsway
to Aldwych, over Waterloo Bridge, along the South Bank and then back over
Westminster Bridge. From there they will march past Parliament, along
Whitehall and will congregate in Trafalgar Square.
Police had wanted marchers to go down Kingsway to Aldwych, along The Strand
and into Trafalgar Square. But the protesters said that the route was
too short and did not pass any landmarks. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour MP,
who took part in the negotiations with the police, said: “We think
this is a very successful outcome for all. The march is going to be huge,
very well stewarded and very well ordered.”
But police fear that the event will be taken over by troublemakers. Activists
gathered in East London last night for a training session on what to do
if they were arrested on Thursday. Some march organisers are said to have
privately passed to police details of those whom they think may try to
hijack the protest.
Several European anti-war groups say that they will travel to London for
the protests, including Non à la Guerre (No to War), of France,
and Ya Basta (Enough’s Enough), of Italy, and the Axis of Peace
Coalition of France, Germany and Russia.
“We hope and expect there will be at least 300 French men and women
on the streets of London next week,” a spokesman for Non à
la Guerre said.
Up to 300 people are expected to travel from Germany, Rainer Braun, of
the Axis of Peace coalition, said. Another French group, Agir Contre la
Guerre, is bringing 200 protesters to London by coach tomorrow, at a cost
of €40 (£28) a person.
Kate Hudson, chairwoman of CND, said: “Hundreds
of people from France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands have
said they want to come over to London.”
At least 200 Americans are travelling to London for the demonstration,
the Stop the War Coalition said. The group also has about 200 coaches
transporting people to London from around Britain. Protesters will gather
today at the ExxonMobil offices in London and attend an evening rally
in North London. Rallies around the capital tomorrow will include a Critical
Mass cycle protest, an alternative state procession and a school students
rally. Protesters have also threatened to storm Buckingham Palace, where
Mr Bush and his wife Laura will be staying.
After the main demonstration on Thursday, activists will protest at the
US Embassy. On Friday, they will return to the embassy, and there will
also be protests in Sedgefield, the Prime Minister’s constituency.
……………………………………………..
12 Take the long view
The Times, November 16, 2003
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-1501-895807,00.html
The best causes sometimes have the worst propaganda. This week demonstrators
are expected to protest against President George W Bush in London. Never
mind that thousands of Iraqi children were dying every year under a sanctions
regime exploited by Saddam Hussein until the Americans entered Baghdad.
Never mind that the Iraqi dictator was a mass murderer, using chemical
weapons against his own people. Never mind that some of the organisers
of the Stop the War Coalition supported the Soviet Union in its inglorious
heyday. And never mind that the United States is today, as in 1917 and
1941, the arsenal of democracy.
The demonstrators can be dismissed easily enough. Their response is as
predictable as it is depressing. Like their CND forebears,
they believe that in politics there can be no enemies on the left, only
the right. The wider public antipathy to Mr Bush is more troubling. Certainly
Donald Rumsfeld, his defence secretary, has been inclined to shoot from
the hip. Post-war liberal Britain appears peculiarly allergic to the American
right. Our own government’s mixed record in the run-up to the war
has also tarnished the reputation of its visitor — the prime minister’s
bravery in fighting his corner was sadly counterbalanced by the bureaucratic
skulduggery revealed by Lord Hutton’s inquiry. The result, as our
poll shows, is that the British are too ready to listen to the caricature:
that Mr Bush is a dangerous, dim-witted warmonger.
This is a president who has engaged with the world when many predicted
a new and dangerous American isolationism, particularly after September
11. He has recognised that terrorism is the prime threat facing the West
and he has pursued a resolute strategy of defeating it. Unlike his predecessor,
he has been prepared to risk the lives of American troops to drive that
strategy forward. He may be pursuing the interests of America, but he
is also acting in the interests of the free world. It has been said that
this visit is an embarrassment to Tony Blair; that Mr Bush would have
done him a favour by cancelling. That is nonsense. The prime minister
is to be applauded for recognising the need to keep America engaged. That
need has driven much of Britain’s foreign policy in recent times.
This week’s ceremonials are part of that important process.
It would naturally be better if the situation in Iraq were more stable.
But the attacks by a small number of determined Ba’athists and outsiders
should not overwhelm the fact that progress is being made in restoring
normality to the lives of Iraqis. Even so, the 400th American soldier
has died, the post-war process has been muddled and the political pressures
on the president are growing. His poll ratings at home have suffered despite
the strongest economic surge for 20 years. In a year’s time he will
seeking the support of the US electorate for a second term and that explains
the renewed urgency about restoring Iraq to its people. Paul Bremer, the
American administrator, met the country’s 24-member governing council
in Baghdad yesterday to discuss a plan under which independence will be
restored to the country as early as next June. If it works, the plan will
be good for all sides. For Mr Bush, it offers the possibility of bringing
the boys home soon — always a vote-winner. For the Iraqis, it offers
the chance of democratic self-rule. As long as the process is not seen
as a panic response to casualties, the omens are good.
It is easy to underestimate this president. Saddam did so, and so did
the Taliban. The Europeans loathe him. Mr Blair has not made that mistake.
He is aware that by supporting Mr Bush’s strategy to fight a long
and difficult war on terror, he is looking after the interests of Britain.
We, too, are in the front line. If Mr Bush is dismayed by some of the
hostility he sees, he should console himself by taking the long view.
Ronald Reagan, another right-wing Republican president, was also vilified
in Europe. Yet his confident assertion of American power ended the cold
war and brought real peace with the Soviet Union. Mr Bush’s critics
should be heard but not appeased. History will vindicate him.
……………………………………………..
13 Anarchists in Paris talk tactics for protest
The Times, November 15, 2003
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-9389-897859,00.html
THE smell of rebellion mingled with the pungent aroma of veggie burgers
as thousands of anarchists met in Paris yesterday to talk tactics before
President Bush’s three-day state visit to Britain.
As Special Branch and the secret service gear up for the security operation
in London, anarchists and other activists are hunkered down in tents pitched
on pavements in Paris. Tens of thousands will take to the streets of the
French capital today in protest at the war in Iraq, in what is widely
seen as a dress rehearsal for the anti-Bush demonstration in London on
Thursday.
Several hundred British protesters have travelled to France to muster
an army of European activists and to take notes on how the gendarmerie
polices the march.
“We’ve had a huge amount of interest,” Kate Hudson,
chairwoman of CND, said. “Hundreds of people from
France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands have said they want
to come over to London for the demo. We’ve been having meetings
to discuss tactics and ask people to come along.”
Coaches, many booked by the French anti-war group Agir Contre la Guerre,
are standing by to take protesters to London at a cost of €40 a person.
Most will leave France at 11.30pm on Wednesday. British police will be
watching ports and Eurostar to spot known troublemakers attempting to
enter the country.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of what is going
on in Paris. We are aware there will be people coming over from Europe
for the demonstration next Thursday.” More than 60,000 anti-globalisation
activists have gathered in Paris for the European Social Forum in the
Parisian “red belt”. Yesterday, as black-clad anarchists drifted
in and out of seminars, undercover French police shadowed them. We are
just watching. We are everywhere,” one detective said
……………………………………………..
14 Fortress London braced for anti-Bush demos
The Guardian, November 19, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1088021,00.html
The first demonstrations against George Bush's state visit to Britain
were already under way last night as Air Force One, the presidential jumbo
jet, landed at Heathrow. London got an early taste of the next two days'
demonstrations when up to 600 people marched noisily on the US embassy
in Grosvenor Square to protest at Mr Bush's refusal to sign up to the
Kyoto global warming treaty.
Michael Meacher, the former environment minister, told supporters of the
Campaign against Climate Change that Mr Bush was ignoring the biggest
single challenge facing humanity. "What we resent so strongly is
the selfishness of US foreign policy. Human sur vival depends on sharing
power. What you do will affect all of us."
Stephen Tyndall, director of Greenpeace, accused the president of "selfish,
lethal, immoral" policies and pandering to the oil industry.
As Scotland Yard moved to clarify the number of police officers involved
- saying 14,000 shifts would be worked by officers during the controversial
state visit, rather than that number of officers being on duty - responsibility
for the huge operation passed to the Metropolitan police's "Gold
Commander", Michael Messenger. According to the Met, Mr Messenger
is one of the world's most experienced officers in managing city-wide
public order and security operations.
Demonstrations against the visit have been planned for each day, but the
biggest will be tomorrow with a march and rally organised by the Stop
the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Great Britain and CND.
Organisers hope more than 100,000 protesters will march past Parliament
and up Whitehall for the rally in Trafalgar Square.
A police spokesman said 5,123 officers would be on duty tomorrow to deal
with any potential threats to security and help relieve traffic congestion.
A total of 4,307 officers will be on duty today to police an alternative
state procession organised by Stop the War that will include a horse-drawn
open carriage, Critical Mass bicycle riders and anti-war taxi drivers.
But the most likely flashpoint of the day will be the Resist Bush tea
party, a mass protest using direct ac tion and civil disobedience organised
by an umbrella group of peace and anti-globalisation organisations.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror attempted to expose lack of security, anouncing
that it had infiltrated Buckingham Palace two months ago by insinuating
one of its reporters as a footman in the heart of the royal household.
Reporter Ryan Perry said: "I could have easily poisoned the monarch."
The smallest police presence in the capital will come on Friday, requiring
only 1,700 officers, as the Bush bandwagon heads to the prime minister's
constituency of Sedgefield in County Durham. Mr Bush and his wife, Laura,
will then become the responsibility of Durham police, who have drafted
in officers from neighbouring forces for the £1m operation. The
mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said the cost of policing Mr Bush's
visit to the capital would add £2 to average council tax bills in
London.
"This Bush visit, with its £5m policing bill - unless the government
gives us the money to cover it - will translate into a charge on the council
tax which will be £2 for every band D household in London,"
he said. "I think most Londoners would be happy to give £4
for him not to come." Mr Livingstone also released the results of
a Mori poll which says that 59% of Londoners now think the military attack
on Iraq was not justified compared with 29% who think the war was justified.
But Mr Livingstone, who will attend a peace rally at City Hall today,
also appealed to anti- Bush protesters to remain peaceful. "You are
protesting against an illegal war and occupation - and the world will
be watching you," he said. "Your right to peaceful protest will
be upheld by the Greater London authority and the Metropolitan police.
But you also have responsibilities to the people of London and the wider
world - there will be no place for violence of any kind in London this
week."
The London Retail Consortium added weight to Mr Livingstone's claims that
the visit was doing more harm that good to the capital. "The restrictions
on movement in central London are now so extreme they could jeopardise
the ability of our staff, customers and other visitors to enjoy a normal
day of shopping, working and London life," it said.
……………………………………………..
15 Letters
The Guardian, November 19, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1088124,00.html
That your poll found that 66% of Labour voters say the US is a force for
good (Protests begin but majority backs Bush visit as support for war
surges, November 18) comes as no surprise. The Stop the Bush Visit campaign
has been hijacked by the far left and the reactionary British Association
of Muslims. There are two questions Thursday's protesters need to ask.
Will they also be holding placards condemning the suicide bombings in
Iraq and elsewhere? And why do they ignore the fact that most Iraqis wanted
the US-led invasion and now wish the troops to stay until security and
representative democratic government is established? If, heavens forbid,
there was a terrorist attack in London, we know who would be blamed by
this mass hysteria of anti-Americanism - Bush and Blair, not the perpetrators.
June Purvis
Portsmouth
What were you thinking of asking poll questions in terms of good and evil?
I strongly oppose US policy in Iraq and Palestine. Even so, I do not regard
the US as an "evil empire". Your question as to whether the
US was "a force for good, not evil, in the world" left me completely
puzzled. One reason the US president is so worrisome is precisely the
tendency to argue in such absolute religious terms as good and evil, thus
obscuring the role history, as shaped by humans, in current affairs. The
US is neither good nor evil: it is a country inhabited by fellow humans,
with whom we need to engage rationally for all our sakes.
Dr Ala Khazendar
Cambridge
Who's paying your headline writers? However you look at it, 43% in favour
is not a majority. Don't knows don't know and are no more secret supporters
than secret dissidents.
Irene Bruegel
London
Do 51% of Labour voters welcome Bush because those of us who think the
war in Iraq was illegal no longer see ourselves as Labour voters?
Ian Ferguson
Milton Keynes, Bucks
I share the same misgivings about the war as Zoe Williams and I have no
time for Bush. But I can't claim to be in a majority (The demo in democracy,
November 18). Just because the marchers are passionate and obviously caring
does not give them superiority in numbers or morality.
I marched in the huge CND demos in the 1980s (and with
the miners). Turnouts were huge, but nobody expected the government to
change tack. The crushing election defeats in 1983 and 1987 showed that,
though I still like to think we were right, most people disagreed with
us. The government has to take a decision on whether to accede to protest.
If it gets it wrong, it will pay the price at the next election. That's
democracy. Anything else would be victory for those who shout loudest.
Tony Fry
Southampton
Your leader (November 18) links Lindis Percy's protest on the gates of
Buckingham Palace to "counterproductive confrontations between demonstrators
and police". This non-violent, brave solo effort achieved coverage
across the media spectrum, without harming anyone. There's more to resistance
than marching.
Dominic Marsh
Leeds
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