Fisher_Gate
Active Member
A Stop the War Coalition meeting went ahead in Blackburn last Friday night (10 March) despite underhand attempts initiated by foreign secretary and local MP, Jack Straw, to try to ban it. The meeting was hastily set up to organise a public protest against the invitation by Straw to Condaleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, to his home constituency of Blackburn. On the platform were anti-war MP George Galloway, Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan who was sacked by Straw for opposing British support for torture, and Stop the War Coalition's Lindsey German.
On Thursday night (9 March) the meeting organiser, Preston Councillor and Stop the War activist, Michael Lavalette, received a phone call to say that there was an electrical fault in the school/community hall that had been booked for the meeting, and on safety grounds the meeting would be unable to go ahead. He visited the hall that evening with fellow StWC members and discovered it fully operational. Staff confirmed that there was no electrical fault and that they had been instructed to say there was by the School's governors, who coincidentally were meeting that night. Lavalette and his fellow StWC campaigners lobbied the governors who claimed that they had been informed at 12 noon that day by Blackburn Council, the building owners, that the meeting should be stopped. On contacting Blackburn Council next morning, Lavalette was told that the Council had not tried to stop the meeting, that it was only the governors, a fact denied by them.
By 10am and 11am Lavalette had been on both Radio Lancashire and Rock FM (the local independent radio station) who were both carrying the banning of the meeting as their main story. By 12 noon, the chief executive of Blackburn Borough Council had contacted Lavalette to say that there had been a misunderstanding and that the meeting could go ahead in a different venue - Blackburn Central Library, some 1-2 miles from the original venue. The venue was shifted at only 7 hours notice.
In the event the meeting room provided at the Library was far too small for the hundreds wanting to attend, who had to crowd into the streets outside. Council staff (who were 100% cooperative with StWC) provided a nearby larger venue in the St George's Hall and the meeting eventually went ahead about 45 minutes late.
It is believed that both the school governors and Blackburn Borough Council are extremely influenced by Jack Straw and that he was the source of the instruction to stop the meeting; though there is no unassailable proof of this, it has not been denied.
In addressing the meeting, Craig Murray, who had stood against Jack Straw in the 2005 general election, explained how Blackburn Borough Council was one of New Labour's rotten boroughs. Even though it is the law under the Representation of the People Act, the Council had refused to provide him with a list of public meeting venues for election campaign meetings. He also explained how Straw had tried to suppress his forthcoming book "Murder in Samarkand" - available for order on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...71516/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/202-0843310-3894234)
So outrageous was the suppression of free speech and the right to protest under New Labour that Murray was prepared to go to prison to defend it. Both Murray and other speakers called for New Labour to be swept from office in Blackburn - Galloway called for 'New Labour's stables to be cleansed'.
Other speakers, including Galloway, received an enthusiastic reception as they spoke against the war in Iraq, about the threat posed by a war in Iran, and against Islamaphobia. I counted around 220 people at the meeting, virtually all local, with a wide range of ages, gender and ethnicity. All were united in opposing the visit by US Secretary of State and it was agreed to organise the biggest possible protest for her arrival.
The exact date of Rice's visit is not yet known, but you can register at www.condiwatch.co.uk to be sent an e-mail or text as soon as the details are known. The weekends of 25 March and 1 April are considered to be the most likely possibilities. The warmongers will also visit Liverpool and a protest meeting has also taken place there, though I don't have any details of it.
On Thursday night (9 March) the meeting organiser, Preston Councillor and Stop the War activist, Michael Lavalette, received a phone call to say that there was an electrical fault in the school/community hall that had been booked for the meeting, and on safety grounds the meeting would be unable to go ahead. He visited the hall that evening with fellow StWC members and discovered it fully operational. Staff confirmed that there was no electrical fault and that they had been instructed to say there was by the School's governors, who coincidentally were meeting that night. Lavalette and his fellow StWC campaigners lobbied the governors who claimed that they had been informed at 12 noon that day by Blackburn Council, the building owners, that the meeting should be stopped. On contacting Blackburn Council next morning, Lavalette was told that the Council had not tried to stop the meeting, that it was only the governors, a fact denied by them.
By 10am and 11am Lavalette had been on both Radio Lancashire and Rock FM (the local independent radio station) who were both carrying the banning of the meeting as their main story. By 12 noon, the chief executive of Blackburn Borough Council had contacted Lavalette to say that there had been a misunderstanding and that the meeting could go ahead in a different venue - Blackburn Central Library, some 1-2 miles from the original venue. The venue was shifted at only 7 hours notice.
In the event the meeting room provided at the Library was far too small for the hundreds wanting to attend, who had to crowd into the streets outside. Council staff (who were 100% cooperative with StWC) provided a nearby larger venue in the St George's Hall and the meeting eventually went ahead about 45 minutes late.
It is believed that both the school governors and Blackburn Borough Council are extremely influenced by Jack Straw and that he was the source of the instruction to stop the meeting; though there is no unassailable proof of this, it has not been denied.
In addressing the meeting, Craig Murray, who had stood against Jack Straw in the 2005 general election, explained how Blackburn Borough Council was one of New Labour's rotten boroughs. Even though it is the law under the Representation of the People Act, the Council had refused to provide him with a list of public meeting venues for election campaign meetings. He also explained how Straw had tried to suppress his forthcoming book "Murder in Samarkand" - available for order on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...71516/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/202-0843310-3894234)
So outrageous was the suppression of free speech and the right to protest under New Labour that Murray was prepared to go to prison to defend it. Both Murray and other speakers called for New Labour to be swept from office in Blackburn - Galloway called for 'New Labour's stables to be cleansed'.
Other speakers, including Galloway, received an enthusiastic reception as they spoke against the war in Iraq, about the threat posed by a war in Iran, and against Islamaphobia. I counted around 220 people at the meeting, virtually all local, with a wide range of ages, gender and ethnicity. All were united in opposing the visit by US Secretary of State and it was agreed to organise the biggest possible protest for her arrival.
The exact date of Rice's visit is not yet known, but you can register at www.condiwatch.co.uk to be sent an e-mail or text as soon as the details are known. The weekends of 25 March and 1 April are considered to be the most likely possibilities. The warmongers will also visit Liverpool and a protest meeting has also taken place there, though I don't have any details of it.
this is not cross-thread abuse. 
