Police try to block anti-war demo

Socialist Worker Online, June 12, 2007

Gordon Brown will be crowned Labour leader and our next prime minister within an exclusion zone built to keep out any dissenting voices.

Lindsey German, convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, explained to Socialist Worker, “Manchester police are saying that we cannot march past Labour’s conference venue, Bridgewater Hall, on 24 June despite the fact that last September 50,000 of us did march past Labour’s conference hall which was on the other side of the street!

“This is a political decision – they don’t want a protest outside Brown’s coronation and they don’t want any mention of the war. If this ban is enforced we will march up to the security fence to challenge this decision.”

Anti-war protesters have shadowed Brown at each of the leadership hustings he has addressed.

Stop the War is calling on people to get to Manchester on 24 June to swell their protest and defy the creation of an exclusion zone round Labour’s conference.