A Peace Camp has been set up in Trafalgar Sq., to remain until the Saturday
demo. EVERYONE WELCOME. With a large tent at the centre, surrounded by
individual smaller tents, there is a very positive atmosphere - hot food,
workshops, music, talks, jugglers etc.& all night toilets at hand, Bring a
tent and/or musical instrument if possible There is talk that Rory Bremner
will be visiting and Friday night will be a special night.
IF YOU DO GO UP EARLY you can probably still hitch a lift on the OCND coach
(Bakers coaches) coming back from the Embankment as near to the Embankment
tube as possible at 6.30pm. Otherwise don't let us be put to shame by the
commitment of the 5 Iranians walking to the London March from Birmingham.
Buy your ticket now from Uhuru, the Inner Bookshop or the Quaker Centre.
The camp has been called partly in response to the moves in the Serious
Organised Crimes Bill to outlaw protest. We hear from the Ramblers
Association & the Campaign for the Accountability of the American bases that
there are even wider implications of laws being rushed through;
"This is another bill in the anti-terrorism series, and has its second
reading in the Lords on Monday 14 March.
It allows the Home Secretary to designate sites where trespass will be a
criminal offence. In England and Wales this is any Crown land, land
belonging to the Queen or heir to the throne in their private capacity, and
any other land in the interests of national security. In Scotland it is
reduced to land designated in the interests of national security.
The designations can be for unlimited periods on unlimited areas, and there
are no checks on the Home Secretary. The government claims it is intended
to deal with break ins to Buck Palace and Windsor Castle, but it is very
far- reaching. It could apply to the London parks, the 105 square miles of
Dartmoor belonging to the Duchy, and many other places. The onus will be
on the trespasser to prove he was innocent - a reversal of a basic tenet of
our law. A guilty person can be imprisoned for up to a year and fined.
RA and OSS have called on Peers to reject the clauses, and will table
amendments to reduce their effect.
This latest piece of draconian legislation affects us all and the
implications are far flung. It seems the Bill is directed at protestors and
very little to do with terrorist activity. Would anyone with any contacts
in the Lords please urgently alert them and ask them to do their utmost to
defeat this nasty, mean and draconian Bill?
CAAB has alerted William Wallace in the Lords and asked Norman Baker (Lib
Dem) (with whom we work) who, if any, opposed this Bill in the House of
Commons."
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Friday evening (18th.March) at 7.30pm BRUCE KENT will be talking at the
St Michael at the Northgate Church hall on the hypocrisy of our development
of new nuclear weapons and undermining of the Non-Proliferation Treaty,
coming up for renewal in June this year. Bruce will be in Cornmarket from 2pm
to 4.30pm leafleting with Oxford people about this.
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Finally, a reminder that members of Military Families Against the War have
set up a peace camp in Trafalgar Square:
16-19 MARCH, LONDON: PEACE CAMP IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE. Organised by Military Families Against the War. 16 Mar: 5pm press call at 5pm, followed (7pm) by
an evening with Mark Steel. 17 Mar: Tony Benn, Shami Chakrabati (Director of
Liberty), Lindsey German (SWP/STWC), and Jeremy Corbyn MP discuss 'Bush wars
and terror laws' (7.30pm onwards). 18 Mar: Military Families Speak Out
followed by Hip Hop against war. For further info or to sponsor the camp
please ring Andrew Burgin 07939 242229 or Chris Nineham 07930 536519.