Report of the 14 March demonstration Parliament Square

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill (SOC&PB) threatens to remove the right to protest – first of all in Parliament Square. While the House of Lords debated it on Monday, 14 March, a spirited and noisy three-hour demonstration in the Square of over 200 people, called by the Community Picket made our voices heard to defend this fundamental freedom. We were young and old, of many races, around 20 nationalities, speaking out on the open mic, singing, chanting and drumming.

Brian Haw who has maintained a 24 hour-a-day anti-war presence outside Parliament and Maria Galestesie were key speakers. Other speakers included Tony Benn, Angelica Alvarez from the Venezuelan Bolivarian revolution, Hugo Charlton of the Green Party, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui from the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, a schoolgirl, a supportive bus driver who regularly drives past the Square, an Iranian refugee waging a 10 year fight for immigration status, a pensioner reminding us that Britain was not always so much a police state, people speaking about asylum benefits, the effects on women living under repressive psychiatric hospitals and prisons, and regulars from the Global Women’s Strike weekly Picket.

We heard a letter from Green MEP Caroline Lucas to the EU Justice Commissioner asking him to take action to stop this draconian and oppressive Bill from becoming law as it attacks the principles enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights and the EU’s own Charter of Fundamental Rights. Messages were read out from Corin and Vanessa Redgrave, Trisha
Goddard, Louise Christian, Rosie Kane MSP, EUROPARTI (A transnational European movement based in Strasbourg), Lembit Opik - Lib Dem MP, and from Baroness Anelay - Shadow Home Affairs Minister in the House of Lords. There
were a number of journalists and TV cameras and we later heard reports of our protest.

At 6pm the chant rang out with Big Ben: “Defend the Right to Protest in Parliament Square!” The House of Lords, which did the most to oppose the parallel terrorist legislation the week before, cannot have been left in any doubt about the strength of feeling on the criminalization of peaceful protest. A number of peers spoke strongly against the proposed legislation, one even making reference to the Global Women’s Strike briefing.

Action call: The government is threatening to push the SOC&PB Bill through even if an election is called and they run out of time for the usual legislative procedure. While there is a tradition of pre-election “wash-up” where near-complete Bills can go through on the nod, “washing up” such important and controversial legislation –- and at such an early stage of debate -- would be unprecedented. Please be sure to tell your MP of any party that we are watching for their response, and will not allow this vital freedom to be quietly washed down the drain. Your letter or call could make a real difference.

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