Troops out demo

Meant to blog abou this earlier but spent most of yesterday at the Green Left meeting in London.

I marched on Saturday with a sizeable contingent of Greens and carried the Green Left banner for part of the march. There was a Green Party stall at both ends of the march and thanks are due to Andy Hewett, the Campaigns Coordinator, for a good hard hitting leaflet on the war and the Green Party's policies. At the start of the march I saw the press conference where the military families spoke and a statement from Coroporal Joe Glenton was read out as we were told that he would be arrested if he spoke at the demo - he is already facing court martial for refusing to go back to Afghanistan. There were many groups and organisations represented on the march and along the route we received hoots of support from passing motorists and a number of people on the pavement applauded us.

At Trafalgar Square, the Green Party's speaker, International Coordinator Farid Bakht, was introduced as the representative of a party which has "always supported Stop the War Coalition". Other speakers included Tariq Ali, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Tony Benn and representatives of various student and Muslim organisations. For me the most powerful speakers were the military families. They included Joe Glenton who said: "I am marching to send a message to Gordon Brown. Instead of sending more troops, he must bring them all home. He cannot sit on his hands and wait while more and more of my comrades are killed." Also Peter Brierley, whose son died in Iraq and who refused to shake the hand of Tony Blair at the recent Iraq war service in St Paul's Cathedral. He made the sombre point that each time he attended an anti-war demo he met more relatives who had lost loved ones in the various wars.

There was also the grandmother of a soldier from Scotland, whose son died in Afghanistan in August. She made the powerful point that he had always attended CND marches with her and had only joined the army because of the lack of any other career prospects where he was living. This is another of the real hidden messages of this war - that those living in areas of high unemployment and with the welfare system being systematically dismantled by New Labour are being forced into the army and on to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. When they return they are psychologically and physically maimed and statistics show that large numbers self harm or often end up homeless and in great social need.

George Galloway compared the courage and integrity of the military families with the self serving approach of those such as General Dannatt, who had lobbied the politicians for more troops to be sent to the front and more resources to be expended. Galloway said: "Who represents the face of noble and honest Britain. Who is more courageous? The families who stand beside us here or General Sir Richard Dannatt and his ilk? While Dannatt goest to the House of Lords for his efforts, Corporal Joe Glenton goes to the glass house." He is absolutely right and the developments around this war show how out of touch the politicians are with the people who elect them.

Tariq Ali addressed the crowd and asked them if they wanted Tony Blair as President of Europe? A loud 'No' was the response. Truly, if EU leaders choose a war criminal and liar such as Blair as President of the EU in just a week's time, then the body politic not just here but throughout the EU is very sick indeed.

The wars, the list of killed and wounded, and the massive spending on arms continue. We must continue to support those who speak for truth and justice and against the merchants of death. The military families and the anti-war movement is the decent face of Britain. Tony Blair, the Tories who support the war, and the generals are the face of shame and hypocrisy. Joe Glenton and all those soldiers who speak out against the war deserve all of our support and admiration. Blair and his gang in the New Labour government deserve our undying contempt and opposition.