On the day the government publishes its anti-terrorism bill, a broad
cross-party coalition will be meeting to challenge a number of the government’s
proposals. The coalition says that the concessions announced by the government
do not go far enough so that in its present form the legislation will not
command the cross party and cross community consensus which is essential for
it to be successful.
The coalition brings together the Mayor of London, the Scottish National Party,
the Liberal Democrats, Labour MPs, the Green Party, major trade unions, Liberty,
lawyers, the main Muslim organisations, Sikhs, Christians, the peace movement
and many others.
The coalition will hold its first meeting on Wednesday 12 October, at Central
Hall Westminster with one of the broadest platforms ever brought together
around a single issue.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, said: `I welcome Charles Clarke’s
movement on the new offence of glorification of terrorism. But it still does
not pass the Nelson Mandela test. Most of us understand terrorism to be indiscriminate
acts of extreme violence against innocent civilians. Yet that is not even
mentioned in the definition of terrorism used for this Bill. As a result,
if the new offence had been law at the time, Nelson Mandela and the resistance
to Adolf Hitler in Europe would have been labelled `terrorists’ and
those supporting them could have been prosecuted under the terms of this Bill.
'This new offence will do nothing to protect us from terrorists and it risks
losing the community support which is vital for an effective fight against
real terrorists.’
Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said: 'The shockingly
broad speech offence threatens freedom of conscience and has turned the charge
of glorification into a negligence test. Of equal concern is the 90-day proposal
which is no doubt the first bid in an auction to determine the amount of time
a defendant can be held when the true debate is whether it should be extended
at all.’
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary-General, Muslim Council of
Britain, said: 'We all need to be vigilant in ensuring that the government's
proposed measures do not jettison fundamental freedoms at the cost of providing
little or no guarantee of extra security.'
Frank Dobson MP said: 'If the recent revelations of special
branch spying on the Anti-Apartheid Movement Executive are anything to go
by I, along with Neil Kinnock, David Steel, Peter Hain and Lord Bob Hughes,
would have been liable to arrest under the new law for supporting terrorists.'
More information can be found here.
Statement and signatories here.
Public meeting – uniting communities defeating terrorism
Date: Wednesday 12 October 2005
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Venue: Central Westminster Hall, Storey's Gate, London SW1H 9NH
Entry: FREE – NO TICKET REQUIRED - EVERYONE WELCOME
Media are welcome to attend:
Email ben.mcknight@london.gov.uk
AND emma.lewis@london.gov.uk.
Speakers will include:
· Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
· Mark Oaten MP, Liberal Democrat, Shadow Home Secretary
· Alex Salmond MP, Leader, Scottish Nationalist Party
· Shami Chakrabarti, Director, Liberty
· Frank Dobson MP, Holborn and St Pancras
· Sadiq Khan MP, Tooting
· Sir Iqbal Sacranie - Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain
· Rt Rev Colin Bennetts, Bishop of Coventry
· Dan Judelson, European Jews for a Just Peace
· Amrik Singh, Sikh Federation UK
· Jenny Jones, London Assembly Member
· John Cooper, Bar Council
· Dr Azzam Tamimi, Muslim Association of Britain
· Billy Hayes, General Secretary CWU
· Barry Camfield, Assistant General Secretary, TGWU
· Tony Benn
· Kate Hudson, Chair CND
· Salma Yaqoob, Respect party
· Madeleine Bunting, journalist
· Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition
· Yvonne Ridley, journalist
GENERAL PUBLIC/NON-MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Call the Public Liaison Unit at the Greater
London Authority on 020 7983 4100
DUTY PRESS OFFICER: For out-of-hours media enquiries, please call 020 7983
4000