Civil liberties

This occasional column is a continuation of the one I wrote for Nonviolent Action and it's timely to revisit an issue that arose at NvA.

I'm still smarting from the spiking of one of my columns because (as I recall) “it would cause offence to our American staff”. During the build-up to the invasion of Iraq I submitted a poem in place of prose. I hoped A hymn of hate to America might provoke a response. It did.

The poem was…

The crisis over the Muhammad cartoons is not, despite appearances, primarily about free speech, or the prohibition on depicting the Prophet. The damage to community relations is enormous, but there is a real opportunity before us to try to strengthen connections between Muslims and non-Muslims.

How do we know that the non-Muslim European uproar is not really about free speech? Look at the differing reactions to the two big decisions of Flemming Rose, culture editor of the Danish…

The latest round of cases against people accused of defying London's “no-protest zone” began towards the end of January: eleven individuals were scheduled to appear in four separate trials. All had been charged originally under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) for being part of an “unauthorised demonstration”.

Under the new Act, anyone wishing to demonstrate within 1km of parliament must apply to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner at least six days in advance or,…

It is a sad indictment of our so-called liberal democracy, and the ultimate irony of Tony Blair's constitutional reform agenda, that it is the unelected House of Lords who must stand up time and again protect our civil liberties, and the very foundations of British society. On the first day of the Report Stage, that's precisely what they did (again) with a triple salvo of amendments to the government's identity cards bill.

After months of campaigning and lobbying on this issue,…

The attempt by the Metropolitan Police to criminalise central London's monthly Critical Mass bike ride (see PN2467) faces legal action supported by Friends of the Earth's Rights & Justice Centre.

On 16 January, papers were filed in the High Court seeking a judicial review of the police's sudden attempt, last September, to make the 11-year-old tradition of a collective bike ride around central London subject to the Public Order Act. The rides had hitherto been tolerated…

One of the most disturbing features of the recent commemoration for the people who were killed in the London bombings on 7 July was that the event was specifically a religious service.

It's bad enough that public events of that sort are so frequently sectarian in this way, hence excluding so many people - including many of those affected, whom the event is allegedly for. But in this case, it was even more inappropriate: here was an example of mass murder, with the perpetrators…

Following last issue's frontpage article on the threats made against London Critical Massers, we are pleased to report that the ride on 28 October saw a massive turnout, with at least 1,000 cyclists and other unpowered wheelsters showing up. Colourful, vibrant and powerful the Mass was untouchable by the police and - in fact - the forces of law and order never even tried to interfere with what was the biggest ride seen in the capital for many years. Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace…

After more than a decade of informal, monthly, collective assertions of the delight of cycling around a city in the company of lots of other cyclists, the Critical Mass bike rides in central London have suddenly been targeted by the police.

Critical Mass rides, which take place in many parts of the world, are a traditional way to show that if bikes outnumber cars for a change, rather than vice versa - hence the name Critical Mass - then the safety and pleasure of public spaces can…

From late October to late November a bunch of activists from Norfolk, Suffolk and London are organising a month of actions and events in and around Charles Clarke's home town - Norwich.

Charles Clarke, Home Secretary, is the MP for Norwich South. He is responsible for both law and order, and for protecting our civil liberties, as enshrined in the Human Rights Act 1998. So what is the cheery man up to then?

Well he is taking liberties - detention without trial, the removal of…

As our space to protest becomes increasingly curtailed by new legislation from a government obsessed with order and terror, more than 200 people from a diverse range of groups and campaigns met in London on 23 October to assert our right to protest.

The Freedom to Protest conference kicked off with contributions from school students, the Smash EDO anti-arms campaign, parliament square protesters, police monitors, and sacked Gate Gourmet workers, all demonstrating their persistence…

Our rights and civil liberties face renewed attack.

Once again, the government has rolled out a set of proposals in a new Bill - and this time they've determined that the best way to prevent radicalisation is, as Liberty commented, to - effectively - reintroduce internment and to make "loose talk" a criminal offence.

New powers which would enable detention without charge for up to three months and a new and particularly vague offence of "glorifying terrorism" are on the…

Founded in 2004 in response to the Government's intended introduction of compulsory registration, fingerprinting and lifelong tracking of all UK residents by means of a centralised biometric database, NO2ID brings together individuals and organisations from all sections of the community and seeks to ensure that an informed case against state identity control is put forward in the media, in the corridors of power and at grassroots level.

NO2ID is supported by a growing number of…

Having worked as Editorial Assistant at Peace News for a year now, I've witnessed the hard work and dedication that goes into every issue. I've also observed the quiet way in which one or two ideas for stories will transform into a whole paper full of news. With Ippy taking a well deserved break this month, I fretted over where I would find stories to fill the pages of PN. Like others, I had underestimated the peace movement. Every week, groups of concerned citizens are taking…

Robin Cook's death has brought forth many tales, and the peace movement has some to tell about him too. For instance, he first entered parliament at the time the Campaign Against Arms Trade was founded in 1974, and showed that he was clearly starting out with a properly disrespectful attitude to the place. When the then CAAT staffer tried to contact likely MPs to generate some interest in the new campaign, the first response was Robin Cook's - maybe the CAAT archives still have the…

"When I pass protesters every day at Downing Street, and believe me, you name it, they protest against it, I may not like what they call me, but I thank God they can. That's called freedom." (Tony Blair, 7 April 2002.)

Eleven people charged with taking part in "unauthorised" demonstrations in the new anti-protest zone around Parliament (which came into effect on 1 August) intend to challenge the zone's legality when their case(s) come to trial later this year. Meanwhile, the courts…