Defiance against Government’s Attempts to Criminalise Dissent

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No More Deaths March:
Defiance against Government’s Attempts to Criminalise Dissent

Double Standards on the Right to Protest

Faslane 365 Big Blockade

As thousands prepare to March on Parliament on next Monday, October 8, 2007, in a call to bring all troops out of Iraq, the police on behalf of the government say that all protests are prohibited within one mile of parliament. Despite this prohibition, the Stop the War march will go ahead in defiance of the ban.

In an attempt to crush dissent the government and police are dusting off laws to prevent the march: laws such as the 1839 Sessional Orders legislation, by which Sessional Orders are passed at the beginning of every parliamentary session to ensure free passage for MPs to go to and from parliament. Under the 2005 SOCPA legislation (Serious Organised Crime and Police Act), any march/demonstration must be allowed to take place so long as six days’ notice are given. Something more restrictive was needed, so the 1839 legislation, passed many years before we had universal suffrage, is now being used in an attempt to ban the October 8 Troops Out March. Since the march to Parliament is intended to be a militant manifestation of the feeling of the majority of the British public about the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and MPs themselves will be on the march, this cannot be interpreted as obstructing the passage of Members of Parliament.

The march now will also have the character of being in defence of civil liberties. "If they are planning an Iranian attack they will have a public even more upset and disgruntled than before. This is what this tightening up is about …..Civil liberties never seem very important until you need them. At times like this we need to be re-enforcing them," said Brian Eno. While Brown’s guise of "liberator" and "democratiser" is espoused in his statement "human rights are universal", the people’s freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are being attacked in an attempt to stifle any opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These same tactics were used by BAA in an attempt to stifle the people’s environmental concerns, when they tried to take out an injunction to stop protesters assembling at Heathrow airport. Wherever the people have concerns and fight for their interests, the government, monopolies, police and media attempt to criminalise their activities and drown out the calls of the British people.

Whatever the tactics used by the government the people are determined to go on with the march. As Mark Thomas stated, "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."

So it can be said that the government’s attempts to sabotage the demonstration will not have the desired effect. The people will not have their calls ignored nor criminalised, and will march on, whatever the authorities decide to do. WDIE condemns the government’s criminalisation of dissent, and fully supports the people’s movement against war and calls on everyone to turn up and join the No More Deaths demonstration!

Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, the government attempted to ban any protest within the vicinity of Parliament, particularly against the war in Iraq. Whatever legislation they appear to have dredged up now to prevent the people expressing their will on October 8, the attempt to stifle and criminalise dissent and political protest is evident for all to see. During the year-long protest at the British weapons of mass destruction at Faslane, there were 961 arrests and 51 prosecutions.

Yet it comes to the protests which the government insists on calling "pro-democracy" in Myanmar, Gordon Brown appears on the scene as the greatest champion of the right to protest. In a statement, he said, "I condemn the violence that has been used against the unarmed Burmese protestors who have been exercising with great bravery their right to peaceful protest. I had hoped that the Burmese regime would heed the calls for restraint from the international community. But once again they have responded with oppression and force. This must cease."

This is an exhibition of self-serving double standards by the Prime Minister, and WDIE thoroughly condemns Gordon Brown’s hypocrisy regarding the right to protest without being met by oppression and force.

Faslane 365 was a one-year continuous blockade of the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane, 30 miles west of Glasgow, from October 1, 2006, and ending with a Big Blockade on October 1, 2007. The Big Blockade celebrated the diversity and impact of this continuous one-year demonstration of resistance against Britain’s own weapons of mass destruction. Groups and individuals, who in various ingenious ways have disrupted the nuclear "business as usual" at Faslane, came together for a culminating carnival of resistance. They were bolstered by a further 500 supporters. The Big Blockade also looked forward to renewed resistance and a shared vision of a nuclear free world.

Faslane 365 has involved a wide range of local, national and even international groups from all sections of civil society coming to Faslane committed to stay and make their visions for a just and peaceful future visible for at least two days. After endless days of rain and many a night in the Clydebank police station cells, the anti-nuclear protesters at the Faslane naval base staged their last blockade yesterday, bolstered by 500 supporters.

During the culminating blockade, protesters glued themselves to the tarmac outside the base and chained themselves together and to the base's fence in a demonstration which ensured that the last day of the Faslane 365 hammered home their message. Despite the justness of the protests, police made about 171 arrests.

This final day of Faslane 365 reflected the people’s determination to keep up the resistance until Trident is gone. So although it was called a closing ceremony, there was a determination to keep coming back again and again. This is especially so, since there are plans for an expansion of Faslane to incorporate two new aircraft carriers costing £3.8bn, despite the opposition of the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond.

The Rinky Dink mobile sound-system was there, and among the performances were those from Leon Rosselson, Roy Bailey, and Seize the Day. There was also a choir, who gave a final performance of the oratorio "Trident, a British War Crime".

Coachloads of people had started arriving shortly before 7am and blocked the entrance to the main gate by lying on the ground with their arms linked by tubes. The demonstrators also blocked the A814 road to Garelochhead, by lying on it.

The protest has been co-ordinated from Faslane peace camp, which has been a permanent fixture on the main road near the base for nearly 25 years. Supporters have included the writer A L Kennedy, the poet Adrian Mitchell and the folksinger Roy Bailey.

Alex Salmond issued a statement saying he shared Faslane 365's "objective of removing nuclear weapons from Scotland's soil". In keeping with his Scottish National Party's manifesto, there will be a summit later this month to discuss how to remove nuclear weapons from Scotland. MSPs and MEPs also joined the Big Blockade.

Scottish National Party MSP Sandra White said: "I congratulate all those who have taken part in the Faslane 365 campaign this past year. This is the most important event in the Scottish calendar this year because we can no longer afford both morally and financially to have these weapons of mass destruction on our shores."

The Scottish Green Party co-leader, Robin Harper, who joined the protest, said: "The use, the threat of use, and the planned replacement of Trident are all illegal. We should take a lead in fighting the wars of this century – the war against poverty, injustice and environmental destruction – not spend £25bn on weapons of mass destruction aimed at civilians."

(sources: Faslane 365, The Independent, BBC News)