I attended the Stop the War Coalition Steering Committee on Saturday representing the Green Party. Everyone is mobilising toward the national withdrawal from Afghanistan march on Saturday week, Oct 24th and are looking for Green support in this. Towards this end they are asking local Stop the War groups to adopt Underground stations and give out leaflets about the demo over the next two weeks. It would be great if local Greens can help with this in their areas and approach local STWC groups or get leaflets from them. The National STWC is very short of funds at present and leaflets were being sold on Saturday. Also can we encourage local parties to adopt Underground stations etc. If local parties outside London could concentrate on transport hubs to distribute leaflets for the demo that would be great. They also want support from TU branches etc.
Manchester STWC reported that they were beating people off their stall there is so much support. Many buses are being chartered to come to the national demo. No details on who the speakers are yet but I am liaising with officers. They are also going to run a general election campaign, giving support to candidates who they feel are anti-war, although they admitted that this could be difficult in some constituencies.
Gordon Brown and Cameron will be reading out lists of casualties at the opening of parliament on Oct 14th, the war is growing more and more unpopular and devouring more resources. However, there are mounting concerns that the cuts in benefits and growing dole queues are leading to 'dole queue conscripts' particularly from working class areas and areas with high youth unemployment.
As regards London there are two areas of action at present.
. On Tuesday, Joe Glenton, the soldier being court martialled for
refusing to fight in Afhghanistan is appearing at a public meeting in Haringey together with George Galloway MP.
Manchester STWC reported that they were beating people off their stall there is so much support. Many buses are being chartered to come to the national demo. No details on who the speakers are yet but I am liaising with officers. They are also going to run a general election campaign, giving support to candidates who they feel are anti-war, although they admitted that this could be difficult in some constituencies.
Gordon Brown and Cameron will be reading out lists of casualties at the opening of parliament on Oct 14th, the war is growing more and more unpopular and devouring more resources. However, there are mounting concerns that the cuts in benefits and growing dole queues are leading to 'dole queue conscripts' particularly from working class areas and areas with high youth unemployment.
As regards London there are two areas of action at present.
. On Tuesday, Joe Glenton, the soldier being court martialled for
refusing to fight in Afhghanistan is appearing at a public meeting in Haringey together with George Galloway MP.
. In Hackney, there is a War Showroom, where teenagers are invited
in to play video games in order to encourage them to join up. STWC are trying to campaign against this and Hackney Greens are involved in supporting this.
The national 'Bring the Troops Home' march will be setting off from Hyde Park Corner on Saturday 24th October. It is imperative that we have a good Green Party turnout for this.
It is also possible that Blair the war criminal could be nominated as President of Europe within weeks and STWC are trying to get MEPs and others to speak out about this, plus a possible protest action in Brussels.
in to play video games in order to encourage them to join up. STWC are trying to campaign against this and Hackney Greens are involved in supporting this.
The national 'Bring the Troops Home' march will be setting off from Hyde Park Corner on Saturday 24th October. It is imperative that we have a good Green Party turnout for this.
It is also possible that Blair the war criminal could be nominated as President of Europe within weeks and STWC are trying to get MEPs and others to speak out about this, plus a possible protest action in Brussels.
It is absolutely vital that as many people as possible turn out to express their revulsion for this war, which continues to maim and kill thousands of Afghans and soldiers from many countries. There are increasing concerns that 'dole queue conscripts' will be used to fight this war because of mounting youth unemployment especially in working class areas of the north and Scotland. The talk today from the Tory conference is how to reduce benefits further, including cutting Incapacity Benefit from many of the most vulnerable in our society and bringing in private companies to make profits on the back of those being forced into low waged and unskilled jobs. Many people affected by this will be those with mental health and other long term conditions and the army waits for them with open arms. The twin attacks by Labour and the Tories on the benefits system and the unemployed will mean a recruiting jamboree for Brown's war, where the US is about to ask the UK to send many more troops to Afghanistan. The costs of the war also continue to mount and in an atmosphere of cuts mania, it must be asked how many public services, including hospitals and schools are going to cut to maintain this pathetic imperial charade in Afghanistan.
It may appear to some that by marching against the Iraq war nothing was altered, but consider how much worse the situation could have been if there had been no anti-war movement and it contributed substantially to the removal of Bush and a partial withdrawal from Iraq. Opposition to the war is at an all time high and people must demonstrate that on the streets of London on October 24th. This government and the Tories already have enough blood on their hands.
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