May 2006 Archives

Brian Haw's court appearance today at Bow Street magistrates' Court seems to have been adjourned until Jully 11th according to reports by theBBC. etc.

He is facing charges relating to his alleged breach of the arbitrary Conditions under the controversial Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Section 132, imposed on his long running peace protest in Parliament Square, which involve a dramatic reduction in the number of banners and posters etc. which he can now dsplay.

A couple of the confiscated posters were genuine original works of art by the increasingly famous artist Banksy, who has influenced TV advertising campaigns with his street art style.

The Police operation to removve these posters and banners last Tuesday morning was completely excessive. The Metropolitan Police wasted the time of 78 police officers and a scandalous £27,754 of public money. They also mislead the Metropolitan Police Authority and the public, last Thursday, by claiming that the cost was £7,200, which would have been bad enough.

Boris Johnson, the Conservative MP for Henley and media personality has written about Brian Haw, Maya Evans, the Sunday tea party protests and the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Designated Area:

Restrictions on Free Speech

May 25, 2006

Blair's crackdown on freedom is an inspiration to tyrants

[...]

I can't say I deeply regret the containment in Parliament Square of Brian Haw, the father of seven, anti-war loony who used to bellow at me on my bicycle. Call me finickety, but I thought his posters and general gubbins were a disgrace and spoiled the look of the place; and yet he also, like Eric, represented something dementedly British, and we should remember the impact he must have had on the world's television audiences as they watched the prime ministerial cavalcade sweep past.

There he was, one of the most powerful men in the world, joint toppler of Saddam, barrelling past in his tint-windowed armour-plated Blairmobile; and yet every time Blair or any of us passed by, the British state was so weirdly generous that it allowed this Haw fellow to yodel his imprecations from his ragged throne; and now his freedoms have been lessened.

In the global village, people will notice, and in a small way it will make a difference. Across the world, Britain still stands for a certain idea of liberty, a particular concept of the relationship between the citizen and the state. The tragedy is not so much that this reputation is being lost, but that we are collaborating in its destruction.

[...]

How can we urge governments to allow free speech when we round up a 25-year-old chef, Maya Evans, and prevent her from reading out the names of the Iraq war dead at the Cenotaph?

It doesn't make it much easier for British organisations to defend liberty abroad when anti-war protesters are arrested for merely eating toast and tea in Parliament Square, or when old socialists are scragged by the police and hauled from the room for heckling Jack Straw.

[...]

This plague of Labour legislation may not much affect the criminals and illegal asylum-seekers of Britain. But the laws give the likes of Mugabe the pleasure of saying, tu quoque: you are up to it as well.

Britain has something far more precious and more important to give the world than the £4.6 billion of overseas aid, and that is the idea of freedom. It is not shortages that cause famine, but tyranny. No tyrant can survive for too long in the face of a free press and a free civil society. The sad thing is that we are losing our moral authority to export our greatest asset.

According to David Mery, who attended this morning's meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority, in order to ask his Question, as a member ot the public, about being falsely arrested and having his home searched, DNA and fingerprints and computer equipment taken etc. in the wake of last July's terrorist attacks, an interesting nuggets of information was revealed about the scale and cost of the Metropolitan Police operation to remove Brian Haw's banners and posters from Parliament Square on Tuesday 23rd May 2006.

"it took 78 officers – more than has been reported so far by the press – six hours at a cost of £7,500 to seize Brian Haw's placards;"

Presumably this emerged in response to a question by Jenny Jones, the Green Party Greater London Assembly member of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

It is inconceivable that there could not have been some real criminals that most of those 78 Police Officers, could and should have been dealing with instead.

UPDATE: according to the Daily Mail. the monetary figure is "only" £7,200

It emerged today that 78 officers had been involved and the operation had cost £7,200 - £3,000 on overtime and another £4,200 on transport, catering and the erection of road signs.

[...]

Commander Chris Allison, who was in charge of the operation, said not all of the 78 officers had been deployed - 24 were kept in reserve, while some of the others were evidence-gathering teams who were filming proceedings.

Only eight officers had approached Mr Haw in the first instance, he said.

Mr Haw is due to appear at Bow Street Magistrates' Court on May 30 to answer charges of breaching his conditions to demonstrate in the square.

UPDADTE 2:

The Sunday Telegraph has a story which claims that Sir Ian Blair misled the Metropolitan Police Authority meeting about this cost, which is apparently, a staggering £27,754 !

Sir Ian told the Metropolitan Police Authority on Thursday that the cost of removing a peace camp from Parliament Square, which involved 78 officers, was £7,200.

The following day, the issue was discussed by the Met's management board. Within hours, details of the meeting were passed to a journalist, who contacted Scotland Yard for a comment. That afternoon, Sir Ian admitted that he had misled the authority, as the true cost of dismantling the anti-war protester Brian Haw's placards, including officers' pay, was £27,754

What on earth did they waste all this public money for ?

Londoners should demand an explanation from the Metropolitan Police Service, via a complaint to their local member of the Metropolitan Police Authority about this misleading reporting, and the utter waste of public money.

Will Tony Blair avoid all these protestors via the tunnels under Whitehall and the back entrances to Portcullis House and the tunnel from there into the Houses of Parliament for Prime Minister's Questions at noon on Wednesday ??

PRESS RELEASE WEDNESDAY 24 MAY 2006

BRIAN HAW SUPPORTERS GATHER TO GREET TONY BLAIR

Wednesday 24 May, 11am, Parliament Square, London

In protest against the police action of Tuesday 23 May, supporters of Brian Haw will be gathering in Parliament Square this morning. The gathering will coincide with the arrival of Tony Blair to Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

Last Wednesday, a bell that Mr Haw had been ringing was removed from his possession for a short period of time which coincided with the Prime Minister being driven into Parliament. Despite Mr Haw being told that this was to "prevent the bell being used as a potential missile", it was clear that police were acting to prevent the Prime Minister hearing Mr Haw use the bell. [A]

At 3am yesterday morning the police mounted a massive night-time operation to dismantle Mr Haw's display. They left him with only what would fit into a 3 metre space. Most of his personal possessions were also removed. Three of Mr Haw's supporters were arrested in the process. [B]

The police stated that they were acting to reduce Mr Haw's display in order that it comply with conditions set out under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 under which Mr Haw has been given permission to continue demonstrating.

However, Mr Haw has been summonsed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court on Tuesday 30 May for failing to comply with the conditions and had hoped that the police would respect his display and refrain from taking matters further until the matter had been heard in court. Mr Haw considers that the conditions are totally unreasonable and his legal team have been considering seeking a judicial review of the conditions.

Mr Haw's placards and banners amounted to both a body of material showing the injustice suffered by people, mainly in Iraq, as a result of this Government's foreign policy and also a huge show of support for Mr Haw's stand for peace and justice by people from all corners of the world.

In support of Mr Haw, Jenny Jones, of the London Assembly Green Party Group, said, “In my view, Brian is doing us all an amazing service. He is the visible presence of widespread opposition to the aggression on Iraq and a constant reminder to both the Blairs (PM and Met Commissioner) that this government is out of touch with the people it wants to govern. If Brian is moved, it means a loss of civil liberties that will diminish the whole of society. I have asked the Metropolitan Police Commissioner how much last night's police operation cost and whether this is was the best use of police resources given all the real problems we face with crime and terrorism.”

CONTACT & INFORMATION
Parliament Square Peace Campaign: 07791 486484 or www.parliament-square.org.uk

A. See the entries for 17 May on
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/05/340346.html

B. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1781182,00.html

Parliament Square Peace Campaign
for supporters of Brian Haw and the right to protest
www.parliament-square.org.uk

How many policemen does it take to trmovr most of Brian haw's banners and posters from Parliament Square ?

According to this reporter, whose fuller story may will appear in the Evening Standard:

Brian's posters and banners and placards were moved at 2.30am. The police swooped in the middle of the night to avoid confrontation and conflict with protestors.

I believe he is only allowed a single poster and placard from now until the appeal. Police are still there this morning and have cordoned off the road.

There are about 25 officers.

Seems excessive amount to move on one man, but that's the Met for you

BBC report

But so far, it is only placards that have been moved, not Mr Haw himself.

It is understood that any decision on eviction may be decided at Bow Street Magistrates' Court next Tuesday when he will face allegations that he has breached protest conditions.

PRESS RELEASE Saturday 13 May 2006

BRIAN HAW SUPPORTERS TO GATHER IN SOLIDARITY WITHIN PROTEST EXCLUSION ZONE

SUNDAY 14 MAY, 12 noon, PARLIAMENT SQUARE

Supporters of Brian Haw, the Parliament Square peace protestor, will gather this Sunday in Parliament Square to show solidarity with him and to celebrate
his achievement of speaking out against the government's foreign policy on Iraq for nearly 5 years. [A]

Earlier this week the Home Office won its appeal against a High Court judgement last year that Section 132 of Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA), which bans unauthorised protest in a large area around Parliament, could not be applied retrospectively and therefore did not apply to Brian. [B] This has now been overturned at the Court of Appeal ruling on 8 May 06 and the law does now apply to Brian. [C]

However, Mr Haw still remains with his display in Parliament Square. After the judgement on Monday, Mr Haw was given permission by the police to continue his protest and they issued him with a list of conditions with which he must comply. The very comprehensive conditions include a limit of 3 metres on the size of Mr Haw's display and that no article can conceal or contain other items, and must be arranged in such a way that it is possible to tell at a glance that there are no suspicious items. As Mr Haw has not as yet complied with these conditions he has been reported to the Crown Prosecution Service and they will decide what action to take.

Maya Evans (26) - who recently became the first person to be convicted under SOCPA - will be attending the event. She said, "We expect a large number of people to gather on Sunday which will reflect just how much support Brian has. He has continued to stand day and night for what he believes in and for what many, many people believe in. Brian may be alone on this pavement most of the time, but he is not alone in spirit."

INFORMATION AND CONTACTS
Contact 07791 486484 for more information.
www.parliament-square.org.uk

NOTES:
A. Brian Haw started his continuous vigil opposite Parliament on 2nd June 2001 to protest against the economic sanctions that were having such a disastrous effect of people's lives in Iraq. He has continued to protest against invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. His display shows the injustice and horrors that have been suffered as a result of our government's foreign policy. Brian's message has gone out globally and people visit him from all over the world. Many have left messages of peace that now form part of his display.

B. For more on the High Court ruling, 29 July 2005:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4725907.stm

C. For more on the Court of Appeal judgement, 8 May 2006:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,,1770145,00.html

D. Under the new Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (April 2005) anyone wishing to demonstrate within 1km of Parliament

Technically the Designated Area currently in force is somewhat smaller than this maximum extent:

• "No point in the area so specified may be more than one kilometre in a straight line from the point nearest to it in Parliament Square."

but it is still totally illogical e.g. it covers the London Eye ferris Wheel on the other side of the River Thames from Parliament Square, but it does not cover St. James' Park, literally within a stone's throw of 10 Downing Street.

See Is the SOCPA Designated Area actually bigger than we have assumed ?

must apply to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner at least 6 days in advance or, if not "reasonably practicable", 24 hours in advance. Permission must be granted but the Commissioner can impose draconian conditions on the protest including: when and where it can take place; how long it can last; how many people can attend; how much noise can be made; and the number and size of banners and placards used. In addition, any senior police officer can change the conditions with no notice.

E. See 'MPs condemn arrest of woman who spoke out' (Daily Mail, 9 December 05) and 'Acts of defiance against war turned ordinary people into criminals' (Independent, 8 December 05).

Parliament Square Peace Campaign
for supporters of Brian Haw and the right to protest
www.parliament-square.org.uk

Unity has published, an interesting analysis : Putting the dice in the box for another throw… which dissects the Labour Government and Metropolitan Police bureaucracy's Appeal against the long term peace protestor in parliament Square, Brian Haw and his previous exmption from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Designated Area law.

Is the full text of the Appeal Court Judgement available anywhere online ?

According to the Associated Press, and this via The Guardian:

Will Brian Haw be evicted from his peace camp in Parliament Square, or will he eventually be forced to apply for prior written permission and be subject to arbitrary restrictions on his protest ?

Why is the Government persecuting inividuals in this way , simply for peacefully expressing their opionons and beliefs and peacefully assembling in a traditional place of public protest ?

It does not matter wether you agree or disagree with Brian Haw's views on the Iraq war etc., everybody is having their freedom to protest or demonstrate peacefully crushed by the Labour government and the Home Office and Metropolitan Police bureaucracies,

It is an affront to our democracy, and is something which will be cheered by our enemies.

It is expected that the Appeal lodged by the Home Office and the metropolitan Police (why not just the Home Office ?) against the Judicial Review which currently allows long term peace protestor Brian Haw will reach a jufgement today.

Brian Haw's demonstration is currentlly the only one which is exempt from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 section 132 Designated Area, as it was judged to have started before the SOCPA legislation was brought into force.

We await news of the results of this Appeal.at the High Court currently being heard , in the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand..

UPDATE: Associated Press are reporting that the Government has won its appeal against Brian Haw 8-(

More details below:
.