Anti-war campaigner Brian Haw has lost his last appeal to keep his peace camp on the grass in Parliament Square, after the mayor of London was granted a possession order by the high court on 17 March.
The central green is controlled by the greater london authority (GLA), while the pavement surrounding the grass belongs to Westminster city council (WCC). Separate eviction proceedings brought by the WCC in relation to the pavement are due to come to trial before 9 May.
The 62-…
On 14 April, the high court ruled that police acted illegally when they cordoned (“kettled”) Climate Camp protesters in Bishopsgate, London, at the G20 protest on 1 April 2009. The case was brought by two people who were among 5,000 kettled by police for five hours.
The judgment does not rule the tactic of kettling illegal, but places limits on its use, concluding that: “The police may only take such preventive action as a last resort catering for situations about to descend into…
It was back in November sometime when I discovered a phone message from someone at Charing Cross police events department asking me to return their call. Reluctant to spend money on a phone call which I didn’t really want to have, I called the number.
I found myself talking to a rather confused police officer who said they wanted to complete information for their files regarding an unauthorised demonstration I had co-organized back in October, and also the use of a megaphone in the…
Aborigine Tent Embassy, Canberra, 39 years White House Peace Camp, 30 years Faslane Peace Camp, 28 years l Falun Gong protest, Chinese Embassy, London, 8 years Brian Haw Peace Camp, Parliament Square, 10 years
These are just a few examples of an established tradition of symbolic round-the-clock vigils outside government establishments worldwide. In a true democracy, people wouldn't need to resort to such extremes to have their voices heard, but the existence of these vigils is often regarded…
I’m currently in training for the London Marathon (more details here), a slightly mad endeavour which means putting myself through increasing long runs in and around Oxford. I tend to find I do a lot of musing as I run, and it crossed my mind the other week that my experience actually might be be of use in the event of getting caught in a kettle. Since there’s a rather big protest coming up this weekend with kettling…
US Arms Manufacturer Lockheed Martin has the contracy for the 2011 UK Census in March this year.
The US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin makes Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs and fighter jets and is involved in data processing for the CIA and FBI. It has provided private contract interrogators for the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Lockheed Martin has the UK Government contract to process the data for the 2011 census in March. (Observer, 20 February 2011)
…(Updated as at 18-03-2011)
US Arms Manufacturer Lockheed Martin has the contract for the 2011 UK Census in March this year.
The arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin US makes Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs and fighter jets and is involved in data processing for the CIA and FBI. It has provided private contract interrogators for the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Lockheed Martin has the UK Government contract to collect the process the data for the 2011…
Careful investigation by environmental activists has uncovered the identities of three long-term police infiltrators, one of whom advocated violence. Police constable (PC) Mark Kennedy, known in Nottingham activist circles as “Mark Stone” was publicly exposed on the Indymedia activists’ news website in late October, a fact recorded in PN 2528. (The first report in a British print publication.) Kennedy had been undercover in the environmentalist movement from 2004. In late 2009 he resigned…
London CND continue to resist police attempts to halt their monthly vigil outside parliament. We reported last issue (PN 2526) that the Metropolitan police had given up their efforts to halt the anti-Trident vigil in Parliament Square, after the police phoned London CND worker (and PN news editor) David Polden, authorising future vigils.
Just after going to press, the same officer phoned to tell David the vigil had been disallowed because it wasn’t safe. It could only be held in nearby…
The vigil, authorised by the police under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA), started in May, when the anti-war Democracy Village was already camped in the square. The village was evicted by the greater London authority (GLA) on 20 July, and a high fence erected around the square apart from an enclave for Brian Haw’s round-the-clock anti-war vigil.
Though we had applied for authorisation for the Tuesday vigils up to December 2010, the police phoned Jim Brann…
On 8 July, home secretary Teresa May announced the suspension of “stop and search” powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Section 44 allows police to stop and search anyone in a designated area without needing reasonable suspicion of their being engaged in illegal, let alone terrorist, activity.
According to ministry of justice statistics, in 2008 less than 0.1% of those stopped under the section were even arrested for terrorism offences; and black and…
London mayor Boris Johnson displayed his dedication to free speech on 3 June, by asking the high court to order the immediate eviction of Democracy Village, established on Parliament Square on 1 May. He also asked for the clearance of at least one tent from Brian Haw’s peace campaign, established over nine years ago, from the grassy area of the square, managed by the Greater London Authority.
The campaigners put forward arguments based on the free speech and assembly provisions…
On 10 June, a jury at Isleworth Crown Court took only 30 minutes to find Harvie Brown not guilty of violent disorder at the G20 protests in Threadneedle Street on 1 April 2009.
Witnesses had given evidence that Harvie spent much of the protest in tears in reaction to the violence that he and other protestors were subjected to by police when they imposed a “kettle” (a containment cordon) across the street.
Harvie had appeared on TV news and been widely labelled in the media as a…
The formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government as the result of the UK general election signals changes on several fronts, but no change on the war and peace agenda.
Afghanistan was barely mentioned by the major political parties during the election campaign because, despite overwhelming public opposition to current policies, the war is a consensus position. While Trident replacement was mentioned in the election campaign, it was as a financial and not…
On the day the last PN went to press, 19 April, British comedian and activist Mark Thomas was awarded £1,200 compensation for an unlawful police search. He was stopped and searched for 12 minutes at an anti-arms trade demonstration on 11 September 2007, because of his “over-confident attitude”. Mark said: “£100 a minute is slightly more than my usual rate.”
