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Further Evidence that We're in Deep Trouble

05/11/04
Further Evidence That We’re in Deep Trouble
And now – back to the good ole’ UK. Where the news is in some ways even more alarming than the arrival of a newly sanctified George Bush. To whit: Fumblefingers Blunkett rushing through legislation that will remove Brian Haw from his three-year, 24 hour a day anti-war protest on Parliament Square.

A little background reading:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3979477.stm

http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/standard031104.htm

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. Those dear darling MPs are having their work disturbed by a man with a megaphone.

So what do they do about it?

They hurriedly slip a new measure into legislation that establishes the Serious Organised Crime Agency, that’s what. Said measure outlaws "permanent encampments" outside Parliament, as well as the use of megaphones. The Serious Organised Crime Agency will be an FBI-style body that ministers say is needed to fight gangsters.

Gangsters, of course, are well known for standing outside parliament, shouting through megaphones.

Meanwhile, Tory MP Sir George Young announced grandly in a Commons debate in May that terrorists could hide behind the peace protester's banners and ‘pick us off as we arrive at or leave the House’.

Beg pardon? Are we talking about terrorists or gangsters here? And what self-respecting terrorist is going to rely on a cardboard banner for cover? Always assuming Brian Haw or the nearby police didn’t notice them running across the square to take up their positions?

A similar idiocy: Labour MP Frank Field is on record as saying (re. Mr Haw and other Parliament Square demonstrators): ‘It is one thing to have one-off demonstrations, but I cannot see what they are achieving. They have got to start seriously engaging with their own MPs and they will not do that just by shouting at us through a megaphone.’

Oh yeah. That’s what democracy is all about. Engaging with your MP. Trouble is, I’ve lived in rock-solid Tory constituencies all my life. Which means that every time I write to my MP I get a form letter back and no help whatsoever. Believe me, I’ve tried to ‘engage with my MP’. Step forward, Oliver Heald and Alan Haselhurst.

OK. Maybe he’s a bit noisy. I’m sure there’s some perfectly serviceable legislation already in place that would force him to turn down the megaphone if it exceeds a certain decibel level. But they’re not interested in quieting him down – they want him removed. And the reason for that is that as long as he’s there they’ll have to check in with their consciences on the way to the office. Brian Haw is an eccentric and permanent reminder that a very high percentage of UK citizens are deeply unhappy about the Iraq war.

And we have a right to say so. We elect a new government every four or five years, but that does not give them the right to make decisions without challenge. They’re public servants – and they’re answerable to the British people. Including Brian Haw – a man who feels so strongly about this one subject that he’s prepared to give up three years of his life to reminding them that the invasion of Iraq was not in their mandate at the last General Election.

All governments and politicians are corrupted by power. That’s precisely why freedom of speech should be enshrined in our constitution (if we had one to enshrine it). So he's noisy. Good.

So he's disruptive. Even better.

So he makes them feel uncomfortable. Damn right.

Any protest outside parliament should be taken very seriously indeed on the inside. It means something’s not right with the way our country’s governed. And if they’re not prepared to live with that, they shouldn’t go in to work.

Come to think of it, Brian Haw should probably get a medal. For services to democracy...