On
the day the government published its anti-terrorism bill, a broad cross-party
coalition met 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 held its first meeting on Wednesday 12 October, at Central Hall
Westminster with one of the broadest platforms ever brought together around
a single issue. Around one thousand people attended the meeting.
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.’
Dr.
Mohammed Abdul Bari, MCB, addressing the meeting
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 at here.
Speakers included:
• 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
• Dr Mohammed Adbul Bari, 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
• Madeleine Bunting, journalist
• Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition
• Yvonne Ridley, journalist
Email ben.mcknight@london.gov.uk
or emma.lewis@london.gov.uk.
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