Workers' Daily Internet Edition : Article Index :

No to Aggression, Intervention, War and State Terrorism!
The Working Class and People Must Fight for the Alternative!

London Political Forum:
Opposing the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act

West Midlands News In Brief:
Unpaid Giftware Workers Desperate
Receivers Called in on Engineering Company

EU-GCC Meeting Opens In Spain
For Your Information: Convention on the Future of Europe

For Your Information:
Kofi Annan Pays Official Visit to Britain

European Economy News In Brief:
UK Growth Comes to a Halt
New Figures Confirm Germany in Recession
Economic Slowdown Reaches France

Interview with Chinese Ambassador to US:
"A Major Step to Push Forward Sino-US Ties"

Demonstrate – Stop Bush and Blair’s War!

– Statement of RCPB(ML) on the occasion of the National Stop the War Demonstration, March 2, 2002 –

With the declaration of the "war against terrorism", George W Bush and Tony Blair, on behalf of Anglo-US imperialism, were declaring that reaction and terror was to be unleashed against the peoples. The consequences of this declaration are still unfolding. The war against Afghanistan cannot be said to have ended, and the danger of a new war of world proportions is growing daily.

US imperialism and the British government have over the past six months stepped up their efforts to make intervention a norm in international affairs. Arguments such as the necessity to deal with "failed states", that the world faces the threat of an "axis of evil", that countries are ruled by "dictators", that the world is "inter-dependent" and that "terrorism" is international, have all been used to try and negate the rights of peoples and nations to sort out their own affairs. Sometimes these arguments have been cloaked in "humanitarian" colours, sometimes they have been openly blackmailing, threatening and bullying. Sometimes open state terrorism has been unleashed, sometimes arguments have been advanced for regimes to have "civilised values" imposed upon them.

What Anglo-American imperialism has tried to negate is that intervention and interference by the big powers, up to and including barbarous warfare, has been and is the cause of the problems and devastation, the bloodshed and insecurity, the poverty and destitution, which the peoples of the world are struggling to overcome. US imperialism and the big powers are striving for domination and control of markets and resources, for their strategic and political advantage, for the imposition of values which favour their interests. For a just and peaceful solution to the world’s problems, it is essential that the people’s forces aim their struggles against such intervention and retrogression.

In the course of this state-declared "war against terrorism", every effort has been made to render the people passive, render their opposition impotent and that they should surrender the initiative. They are supposed not even to think about the alternative to this state of affairs, but to remain on the margins, and not challenge the crisis that is threatening to engulf the globe. They are encouraged to forget the affirmation of their rights, to forget the progressive and internationalist slogan that "an injury to one is an injury to all".

On the contrary, the working class and people must fight for the alternative in the course of stepping up the struggle against Anglo-US imperialism and the imposition of a "New World Order". The British working class and people must stand together with the peoples of the world in their fight for an alternative, for a way out of the crisis, for a different world.

No to Aggression, Intervention, War and State Terrorism!

Fight for the Alternative!

Defend the Rights of All!

A Different World Is Possible!

Defending the rights of all members of society was the main content of the discussion at the latest meeting of the London Political Forum on February 27. Held at Essex Hall in Central London the lively and well attended meeting focused on opposition to the recently enacted Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act. Fahim Ahmed (Socialist Labour Party Youth), Hugo Charlton, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (barrister/Green Party) and Corinna Lotz from the Charter for Basic Democratic Rights all shared their experiences of opposition to the government’s policy of criminalising dissent and attacking the right to conscience, and also of their vision of an alternative.

Many of the contributions to the discussion highlighted that the current political, economic and other arrangements were not working. The government were enacting repressive legislation to prevent opposition – especially in the light of September 11 and using the "War on Terrorism" as a pretext to justify this. One aspect of the longstanding opposition was that the concept of rights – based on 19th century liberal values that equated ownership of private property with individual, collective and social rights – needed a modern definition in keeping with the advances of society. The prevailing limited conception resulted in people’s rights being transformed into privileges that can be granted or withdrawn. With this narrow model such rights as to conscience, or to ones views, whether political or religious were being criminalised and political dissent becoming an excuse for repression – as seen in the ATCSA. With this in mind many affirmed that taking a political stand – on national or international issues – was legitimate and that the right to conscience should be defended.

Participants also shared their experiences of some of the intimidatory measures aimed at whole communities on a racist basis and which also targeted political people and protest. Highlighting the weaknesses of current political arrangements the way in which the ATCSA legislation had been brought into law – in itself a reflection of an anti-democratic and inadequate process – had shown that the issue of who decides merited discussion as well.

The meeting ended in a spirited atmosphere and those present agreed to continue the important discussion of rights at the next meeting of the Forum to be held Wednesday, 27 March, again at Essex Hall, beginning at 7.30pm.

Workers at a factory in Birmingham, which has laid off all its employees without pay, say their circumstances are "desperate".

On Tuesday, 180 staff at Archfold Ltd in Warstock were told they would lose their jobs within 24 hours. Some of the workers at the giftware company have not been paid for seven weeks. For the last fortnight, many of them have been protesting at the factory gates.

Former team leader, Craig Wilkinson, says the workers desperately need the wages that are owed to them as some people are living without basic amenities.

Mr Wilkinson told BBC Radio WM: "We just want someone out there to help us. They said we can get money from the DTI which can take six to eight weeks but six to eight weeks is no good for us, we need money now. I don't know how much longer we can go on like this. I spoke to two people yesterday who had no gas or electric in the house because they had no money and they are still waiting for the social to sort them out."

*******************

Receivers Called in on Engineering Company

Hundreds of jobs are due to go as yet another component firm goes bust.

Garton Engineering, which has factories in Walsall and Wednesbury, has called in the Financial Services Authority and has suspended trading.

The company, which employs nearly 500 workers, makes components for both the car and aerospace industry.

Continual losses, highlighted last month, inevitably meant that the firm would go to the wall. Once again it will be the workers and their families who suffer most.

The annual EU – Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) ministerial meeting opened in Granada, Spain, on Wednesday, February 27. The GCC countries which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are of particular interest to EU finance capital. The 1988 EU- GCC Co-operation Agreement under which the meeting is being held sets out the aims of EU capital in this region of the world. These include "facilitating trade relations and market access and strengthening stability" and a commitment for both sides to enter into negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and GCC. As a condition for these negotiations, the EU demanded that the GCC countries establish a Customs Union. This has been agreed and is scheduled to come into force by March 2005. Working groups have also been established in the fields of "industrial co-operation, energy and the environment".

The economic significance of this region for the EU monopolies can be gauged from the following facts. It is the EU’s sixth largest trading partner with the EU running a consistent export surplus in the trade balance. In 1999, EU export revenues from the GCC countries amounted to 25 billion euros, while its imports were 12.4 billion. The EU sells a wide range of products to this area, but key ones include power generation plants, heavy machinery and aircraft. Another significant fact is that the EU is the second largest foreign investor in the region after the US. The oil reserves of the GCC countries also figure high in the EU’s preoccupations. The EU’s official announcement of the ministerial meeting notes that the GCC countries own 55% of the world’s oil reserves and 35% of its gas reserves while providing about 28% of Europe’s oil imports.

The present meeting’s agenda includes "an assessment of the Co-operation Agreement, the situation in the Middle East and global issues including human rights, weapons of mass destruction and terrorism".

On Thursday, 105 European delegates opened a "Convention on the Future of Europe".

The convention's final document is subject to approval by European governments at a summit meeting scheduled for 2004 – the year of the EU’s planned enlargement to 25 members.

Valery Giscard d’Estaing, former president of France, who will also head a 12-member "presidium" that will set the agenda, will lead the convention. The delegates to the convention represent member governments – 40 of them are ministers in national governments – as well as the European Parliament, the European Commission and 13 countries that have applied to join the Union.

The 105-member Convention on the Future of Europe, grouping national and European parliamentarians, and representatives of member governments and the executive European Commission, are meeting for a year to draft what may become an EU constitution.

European Commission President Romano Prodi calls the method "new and revolutionary", since all previous treaty updates have been thrashed out by governments in private.

For the first time, the 13 candidates for EU membership will participate, although they were denied a seat on the 12-member presidium that will steer the Convention's business and may not block consensus among member states.

The Nice Treaty, which gave the big EU states greater power to block decisions, has yet to take effect after Irish voters rejected it in a referendum last year. A second vote seems likely later this year, but the outcome is uncertain.

Among the issues the Convention is due to debate are:

- how to make the EU more democratic and transparent;

- how to ease decision-making and improve policy delivery;

- how to divide competencies between European, national and regional authorities;

- what role national parliaments should play in EU affairs;

- how to make the EU's fledgling common foreign and defence policy more effective.

Without waiting for the Convention to start, Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder have proposed a shake-up of EU summits and ministerial councils.

In a joint letter to the Spanish presidency, they said the EU's four annual summits should focus on giving strategic direction rather than arbitrating where ministers fail to agree and wasting time haggling over the wording of communiqués.

"The European Council was instrumental in framing the EU's response to the events of 11 September. As the EU confronts increasingly complex global issues and as we embrace new member states, providing such leadership will become both more important but of course more challenging," they say.

"We therefore need to ensure that we maximise the efficient use of European Council time, keeping our agenda focussed on key priorities."

The two leaders want to avoid national leaders becoming "bogged down" with issues at summits. "We should not need to engage in detailed drafting sessions over conclusions language," say the two leaders.

Focus, votes and televised meetings

The German chancellor has signed up to proposals, aired by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, to use European Council's to "focus on strategic and overarching issues" such as considering the commission's annual programme and maintaining momentum behind the EU's economic reform agenda.

"Unanimity should only be applied in areas where this is provided for in the treaties. Decisions referred to the European Council under treaty bases subject to QMV should be decided by QMV. Failure to do so can impede progress in key areas," states the letter.

The two leaders also pave they way for many EU summits to be televised.

Whilst they insist that the "confidentiality of European Council discussions should be restored" they stress that there is a difference between councils that legislate and more "reflective" summits.

"Improved transparency in decision-making and democratic accountability are of course also important parts of the Laeken Declaration," says the letter.

"We believe that both objectives would be furthered by holding council meetings in public when the council is acting in its role as legislator. Council discussions on executive and Common Foreign and Security Policy matters should remain private."

Under the guise of making the EU "more democratically accountable", "better understood" and "more effective", Jack Straw, speaking at the Hague in Holland on Friday, February 22, underlined the problems with admitting up to 10 new countries into the EU – three times as many applicants as any previous enlargement – and said that the current institutional structure of the European Union will not function properly after such an expansion.

It is the Council of Ministers where reform should begin, the Foreign Secretary said. At the moment, ministers from each of the 15 member states sit in specialist councils (on agriculture, on foreign affairs, and so forth). These are chaired by the minister from the country holding the EU Presidency (currently Spain), which rotates every six months.

Under the Straw proposals, each EU council would elect a president to serve for two-and-a-half years, providing much more continuity than the six-month span. The presidents of each council would also sit on a new, powerful steering committee, which would have the job of co-ordinating the whole range of policy areas, which could in fact become something like a European government.

Another proposal is to extend the scope of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) within the Council. Jack Straw said that there are areas where QMV will never be the right method, but said "there are still areas where the need to secure unanimous approval for decisions is standing in the way of much-needed reform." In qualified majority votings the countries vote according to their size.

The Foreign Secretary also mentioned reform of the other two main EU institutions – the European Parliament and the European Commission – and improved communication between the bodies. Jack Straw said that he approved proposals to put a limit on the number of Commissioners once the number of EU members reaches 27, and said that this would make the institution more "efficient and effective". "We will have to come back to this issue in due course," he said.

Jack Straw welcomed the initiative by the Prodi Commission to improve the dialogue with the European Parliament. This is evident, said the Foreign Minister, in the number of Commissioners that have started to appear before Parliament when requested. "Maybe this could be formalised in a Treaty article," he said.

Jack Straw also noted that the profile of the European Parliament could be raised by building closer links with national parliaments, and praised the Netherlands for setting the standard here. He also stressed the importance of subsidiarity in the EU – "the idea is that action should be taken by the Community only if it can do a better job that the member states."

Finnish fears

The joint letter of Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder has reinforced the fears of smaller EU countries who fear that a strengthened council will consolidate the power of the big four. They also fear that the future of Europe debate and convention has been "stitched up" before it even begins.

"There are efforts to change the system in a direction where there would be a kind of directorate, and the Commission and small countries would be pushed out of the way," Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen complained this week.

Paavo Lipponen, accused Blair and Schroeder of seeking to push through "a model that has been drafted beforehand".

"There are signs that some kind of model that has been drafted beforehand – and not with any great openness – and it will be pushed through at the convention," he said.

"It is clear that there are intentions to convert the system into some kind of board made up of the big countries, and that the commission and small nations will be pushed aside. Inter-governmentalism is not in our interests. If the EU is pushed in the inter-governmental direction, it means that power will move away from the common table and go somewhere else."

Lipponen is concerned that Germany and Britain are pressing for reforms that will diminish the role of the European Commission and leave the EU controlled by a powerful minority.

"If the large countries want to break the rules, it is much easier for them to do so if there is no institution ready to intervene, as the commission has done", he said. "There are attempts to make the commission answerable to a bureaucracy that is not transparent – in which the rules of the game are not the same for all. [The Convention on the Future of Europe] is clearly being taken in this direction."

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on February 26 ended his official visit to Britain after a series of meetings in London to discuss the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The UN Secretary-General was on a seven-day trip to Britain and Germany, where he was meeting with senior government and other leaders, including Tony Blair, German President Johannes Rau and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was also due to speak with German business leaders about his Global Compact between the United Nations, business and civil society. Kofi Annan’s programme included meetings with the British Special Envoy on the Middle East, Lord Levy, and with Baroness Emma Nicholson, the World Health Organisation’s envoy for Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister had a half-hour meeting with Kofi Annan on Monday, February 25. Their discussions had focused on Afghanistan and Africa in particular.

The Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and the Chancellor Gordon Brown met with the UN Secretary-General the same day. They discussed the forthcoming Financing for Development Conference in Monterrey and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also gave a major address on Monday on how two major international conferences scheduled for this year – on financing for development and on sustainable development – can support the goals set at the UN's 2000 Millennium Summit. In his speech to the London School of Economics, Kofi Annan made the case that the International Conference on Financing for Development set for Mexico in late March and the World Summit on Sustainable Development to begin on August 26 in South Africa are integral parts of a coherent strategy to meet the goals set by world leaders in the UN Millennium Declaration. Adopted by the largest ever gathering of world leaders in 2000, that Declaration sets targets for addressing development problems and poverty, and includes a commitment by the international community to halve the proportion of people with income of less than $1 a day by the year 2015.

The Secretary-General departed from London on Wednesday to begin an official three-day visit to Germany, where he was scheduled to address the German Federal Parliament.

Britain's economy ground to a halt at the end of last year, according to the latest information.

Revised figures from the Office for National Statistics show that gross domestic product was unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2001, a downward revision from the previous estimate of 0.2 per cent growth.

Britain's GDP was just 1.7 per cent higher than in the same quarter of 2000, the worst rate of growth since the second quarter of 1999.

The ONS said that output in production industries fell by 2.1 per cent, with manufacturing declining by 1.7 per cent.

But indicating that the "two-speed economy" remains, the figures showed that output in the service industries rose by 0.7 per cent.

The statistics, which were worse than City analysts had expected, indicate that while the global economic slowdown has hit manufacturing worse, the domestic service sector is also being increasingly hit.

New Figures Confirm Germany in Recession

On Wednesday, February 27, Germany’s Federal Statistics Office released its latest batch of economic data showing that the German economy is in recession. According to the figures, German GDP shrank by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2001, following on from a 0.2% drop in the third quarter. Economic recession is generally defined as two successive quarters of contraction. Analysts note that these figures were worse than expected and that in December 2001, the German economy was in fact 0.1% smaller than in December 2000. This is the first annual drop in the size of the German economy since the first quarter of 1996.

The economic contraction has been matched by a growing budget deficit according to the Federal Statistics Office. This now stands at 2.7% of GDP, in excess of the predicted 2.6% and dangerously close to the 3% limit imposed by the EU on its member states. The significance of Germany’s weakening economic position for the whole eurozone has also been highlighted, with economists calling for measures to be taken to avoid EU wide recession.

So far the recession has taken its toll on jobs and investment. About 130,000 jobs have been lost in Germany in the last year, pushing the unemployment figure up to nearly 4 million and investment in new machinery has been cut back.

Economic Slowdown Reaches France

The French economy, once seen as the last defence against a Europe-wide recession, has slowed down sharply, according to new figures showing that the French gross domestic product in actual fact shrank during the last three months of 2001, bringing annual growth down to 2 per cent, reports the BBC.

While Germany, by far Europe's biggest economy, is effectively in recession, previously good growth in France was seen as a vital counterbalance. In the past couple of years, the French economy has grown at a pace just above the European average and more in line with the British economy.

The fourth-quarter performance was France's first quarterly GDP contraction since the fourth quarter of 1996.

The People’s Daily of Saturday, February 23, 2002, carried an article about an interview with Chinese Ambassador to the US Yang Jiechi on US President George W. Bush's visit to China and its significance to Sino-US relations. We are posting the following for the information of our readers.

Yang, who accompanied President Bush from the beginning to the end of the visit, said that the consensus on major issues reached at the meeting between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and President Bush will effect long-term positive influence on further improvement and development Sino-US relations.

Exactly 30 years after former US President Richard Nixon's visit to China, Bush arrived in Beijing and started his second China visit from February 21 to 22. Four months ago, Bush had a successful meeting with Jiang while attending the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) meetings in Shanghai.

According to Yang, in the meeting between Jiang and Bush this time, the two sides reviewed the development of Sino-US relations in the last 30 years and had in-depth discussions on bilateral relations and the current international situation. They have reached consensus on many important issues and achieved positive results in many areas.

Yang said the two sides share the view that, faced with the current complicated and constantly changing international situation, China and the United States, two countries with an important influence in the world, should reinforce dialogue and co-operation, appropriately handle differences and jointly promote the development of Sino-US constructive co-operation relations.

Yang described the meeting between President Jiang and President Bush this time as "continuation" of their Shanghai meeting.

He said during the meeting this time, achievements have been made in many areas.

The two sides agree to reinforce high-level strategic dialogues and contacts at different levels and between different departments, so as to increase mutual understanding and mutual trust. With pleasure, President Jiang accepted President Bush's invitation to visit the United States within this year. At the invitation of Vice President Cheney, Vice President Hu Jintao will visit the United States in the near future.

The two sides also agree to actively carry out exchanges and co-operation in economic and trade, energy, science and technology, environmental protection, AIDS prevention and treatment, law enforcement and other fields, and to hold strategic dialogues on regional economic and financial issues.

The two sides will convene three joint meetings within this year on economy, trade, and science and technology respectively.

The two heads of state had an in-depth discussion on the international anti-terror campaign, and agreed to step up consultations and co-operation in this regard on a two-way and mutually beneficial basis, and reinforce medium- and long-term mechanisms for anti-terror exchanges and co-operation between the two countries. They also exchanged views on a series of important international and regional issues, and decided to step up communication and co-ordination.

Yang said the above-mentioned consensus reached between the two heads of state has put new motive force into the improvement and development of Sino-US relations.

He said that China and the United States have different conditions, and the existence of some differences is normal. As President Jiang points out that in international relations, we should discard the old concepts that countries are in the state of confrontation if they do not form an alliance; instead we should establish a new view on security that bases security and co-operation on mutual trust and benefit. As long as both countries adhere to the spirit of mutual respect, equality, and seeking common ground while reserving differences, we could continuously reduce differences, have consensus on a broader range of issues and promote co-operation between the two countries.

The Taiwan question is always the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US relations, Yang said.

During their meeting, President Jiang explained the Chinese government's basic position of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" regarding the settlement of the Taiwan question. President Jiang stressed that adhering to the one-China policy and observing the three Sino-US joint communiqués is the basis for the development of Sino-US relations. President Bush stressed that the US side will adhere to the one-China policy and observe the three Sino-US joint communiqués.

"I think the US side should honour its commitments and support China's cause of peaceful reunification," Yang was quoted as saying.

He said that 30 years ago, President Nixon visited China, and leaders of China and the United States worked together to put an end to mutual estrangement and opened the gate for exchanges and co-operation between the two countries.

At present, Yang said, though profound changes have taken place in the international situation, China and the United States have broad and important common responsibilities and interests in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the world, promoting regional and global economic growth, cracking down on terrorism and preventing the environment. The importance of Sino-US relations has increased, rather than decreased.

As President Jiang points out that the lessons and experience of the development of the China-US relationship in the past 30 years indicate that the two sides should bear in mind the overall interests, take a long-term perspective and enhance mutual understanding and trust in developing the bilateral ties, Yang said. Both sides should recognise and respect the differences between them, seek to expand their common ground, and strictly abide by the principles in the three Sino-US joint communiqués.

At the starting point of the new century, he said, so long as the two sides take the history as a mirror and look into the future and adhere to the three Sino-US joint communiqués, they will make further progress in their ties in the future.

Demonstrate – Stop Bush and Blair’s War!
Stop the US torture of prisoner • Hands off Somalia and Iraq • Stop the bombing now Saturday March 2nd Assemble Hyde Park, London

1pm

Initial rally is Hyde Park, near Bayswater Road, then we shall march on to Trafalgar Square.

Nearby Travel Links:
Tube: Lancaster Gate Stn or Marble Arch Stn or Bayswater Stn

National Rail: Paddington Stn, Marylebone Stn or Victoria Stn

Coach: Victoria Coach Stn

Bus: 2,6,7,10,12,15,16,23,27,36,73,74,82,98,94,137,

Travel Enquiries:

Travelline (national) 0870 608 2 608

Transport for London: 020 7222 1234

National Railways: 08457 484950

Further info:

http://www.stopwar.org.uk

On 30 March, there will be another major national anti-war demonstration, organised by CND and supported by the Stop the War Coalition. Details will be available on www.cnduk.org or www.stopwar.org.uk

'Blair must stop backing Bush'
Stop the War Coalition

AP report confirms: Billions spent on bombs and missiles while millions go hungry

"According to an Associated Press report, the Pentagon has already spent $5.3 billion on its war in Afghanistan, and will spend another $1.1 billion replacing the 18,000 bombs and missiles used there," said a Stop the War Coalition spokesperson today. "During the same period, the US has spent only a small fraction of that sum - some $61 million, according to the AP - on humanitarian supplies.

"The cost of holding Al-Qaida and Taleban prisoners at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is already $19 million.

"These figures expose the hypocrisy, brutality and waste of Bush and Blair's war - and give yet more reasons for all those committed to peace, civil liberties and a just global future to make every effort to turn out on Saturday's Stop the War demonstration in central London.

"Saturday's protest against the open-ended and ongoing 'war on terrorism' will be large and diverse. It will send a powerful message to our politicians: 'Blair must stop backing Bush.'

"There's been a flurry of activity across the country in preparation for the demonstration. Millions of people in Britain are appalled by the continued bombing of Afghanistan, the brutal treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo, the threat to invade Iraq and Bush's 'axis of evil' speech.

"On Saturday, we will restate our intent to cancel the blank cheque our government has issued to the USA."

Speakers at Saturday's demonstration include MPs George Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn, human rights lawyer Louise Christian, who is representing British detainees in Guantanamo, Tony Benn, Carole Naughton, chair of CND, Jim Mortimer, former general secretary of the Labour Party, writer and broadcaster Tariq Ali, Salma Yacoub of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition, along with trade union leaders, student and anti-racist activists, and representatives of Kurdish and Palestinian organisations.

The Stop the War Coalition reports that coaches bringing protesters to London for the demonstration have been booked from Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Bradford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Portsmouth, Blackburn, Plymouth, Southampton, Gloucester, Milton Keynes, York and elsewhere.

The demonstration is organised by the Stop the War Coalition and supported by CND.