Party Vibe

STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 2006/36
14 September 2006
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Telephone 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) AFTER BLAIR: WILL HIS WARS GO ON?
2) PEACE CAMP GOES AHEAD DESPITE LABOUR BAN
3) TAKE THE PEACE TRAIN TO MANCHESTER
4) A VERY DIFFERENT CONFERENCE
5) NEW STOP THE WAR PAMPHLET

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1) AFTER BLAIR: WILL HIS WARS GO ON?
Tony Blair showed this week why from every corner of Britain tens of
thousands of people are planning to be in Manchester on 23 September for the
TIME TO GO demonstration. Our message will be clear: Whoever leads the Labour
party, the Bush/Blair wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have to end.

Tony Blair showed this week why this demonstration is so important. “We
should be proud of what we are doing there,” he said of his wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, while also confirming his support for Israel’s barbaric attacks
on Lebanon and Gaza.

Blair is “proud” of slaughtering over 100,000 civilians in Iraq and turning
the country into one of the most violent places on Earth. He is “proud” of
the carnage and destruction in Afghanistan, where 20 British soldiers have
been killed this month in what a British army officer, who quit the army in
protest, calls a “pointless war”. (SEE http://tinyurl.com/jp4da)

Blair is “proud to be there”, despite the latest opinion polls, which show
his support for George Bush’s wars has made him the most unpopular British
prime minister since polls began, with a worse rating than Margaret Thatcher
at her lowest ebb (SEE http://tinyurl.com/jwu55).

Everyone who has seethed with anger, as Blair has committed war crimes with
impunity over the past three years, will want to be in Manchester on the eve
of the Labour conference. There are coaches booked in most major towns and
cities. There is a special London to Manchester train. People are flying in
from Northern Ireland and Europe. People are even cycling and walking to the
demonstration. (SEE : http://tinyurl.com/jeqpv)

The signs are this will be the biggest demonstration Manchester has ever
seen. And it needs to be. The Labour Party may be about to ditch Blair as its
leader to save its own skin but none of his potential replacements, least of
all Gordon Brown, has given any indication that, once in power, they plan to
end the Blair wars. That’s why this is one of Stop the War’s most important
demonstrations since the beginning of the Iraq war.

The TIME TO GO demonstration is organised in conjunction with CND, BMI and
MAB. It is supported by six trade unions — CWU, PCS, NUJ, TGWU, RMT and
BECTU — and by the Islam Channel and Friends of Al Aqsa.

FULL DETAILS OF THE DEMONSTRATION ARE AVAILABLE HERE: http://tinyurl.com/k7jhz

FULL DETAILS OF TRANSPORT AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
http://tinyurl.com/jeqpv

FOR DETAILS OF TIME TO GO PUBLIC MEETINGS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN THE NEXT
WEEK, AT WHICH MANY PROMINENT FIGURES FROM THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT ARE
SPEAKING, GO TO: http://tinyurl.com/jfn99

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2) PEACE CAMP GOES AHEAD DESPITE LABOUR BAN
Manchester City Council, wanting to prevent any embarrassment for Tony Blair,
has voted to ban a Military Families Against the War peace camp during the
Labour conference, which will also coincide with the TIME TO GO
demonstration. (See Daily Mail front page: http://tinyurl.com/gomva)

This is an outrageous decision, particularly since in the last two months
over 30 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rose
Gentle, whose 19 year old son Gordon was killed in Iraq, says, “They don’t
want us voicing our opinions because Tony Blair will be there. But we’re
going ahead with our peace camp anyway.” (See BBC report:
http://tinyurl.com/z4wnq)

Rose will be joined by other military families who have lost loved ones or
have relatives serving in the Bush/Blair wars.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PEACE CAMP, GO TO http://www.mfaw.org.uk/.

SEND A PROTEST EMAIL AT THIS DISGRACEFUL BAN TO MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL:
http://tinyurl.com/zfuqe

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3) TAKE THE PEACE TRAIN TO MANCHESTER
The national and international media will be travelling on the special
charter train taking protestors from London to Manchester on 23 September.
Al-Jazeera television, watched by tens of millions of people in the Arab
world, is doing a special feature on the whole demonstration and will have a
camera crew and reporters travelling on the train.

There are still some tickets available but they are going fast. Many of the
political and campaigning organisations affiliated to Stop the War will be
represented on the train. A number of trade unions have made block bookings.
They will be joined by some of the most prominent voices in the anti-war
movement, travelling to Manchester to speak on the TIME TO GO rally.

TICKETS ARE £35 RETURN (Sorry, no concessions, as this only just covers the
cost of hiring the train)

THREE WAYS TO BOOK YOUR TICKET:
*Book online at: http://tinyurl.com/onofl
*Send a cheque made out to ‘Stop the War Coalition’ to Stop the War
Coalition, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP
*Phone 020 7278 6694 to make a credit/debit card payment

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4) A VERY DIFFERENT CONFERENCE
Stop the war is organising an alternative conference on the theme AFTER
BLAIR: TIME FOR CHANGE in Manchester on Sunday 24 September, the day after
the TIME TO GO demonstration. Speakers include Tariq Ali, George Galloway MP,
Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg, former UK ambassador Craig Murray and many
other prominent anti-war voices. Unlike the Labour conference, where all
signs of dissent or real debate are stifled, — as the ejection of Walter
Wolfgang at last years conference showed — the Stop the War TIME FOR CHANGE
conference will encourage free discussion and includes a range of workshop
sessions. Full details of the conference are here: http://tinyurl.com/hl66p

STAYING IN MANCHESTER FOR THE CONFERENCE?
Stop the War is considering organising a return coach from Manchester for
people from London staying for the weekend of 23/24 September to attend both
the demonstration and the alternative conference. The coach will leave
Manchester at 7pm. Please contact the Stop the War office immediately is you
would like to book a ticket for this coach: email office@stopwar.org.uk or
tel 020 7278 6694.

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5) NEW STOP THE WAR PAMPHLET
Stop the War has published a new pamphlet titled STOP THE BUSH/BLAIR WARS,
which describes the catastrophic impact of Bush and Blair’s warmongering for
Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East region and potentially for the whole
world. The pamphlet cost £1 and will be on sale at the TIME TO GO
demonstration on 23 September, or you can get your copy now by phoning 020
7278 or by sending a cheque made payable to “Stop the War Coalition” and sent
to Stop the War Coalition, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP