This is the link for anyone who would like to know about their database record.
http://www.met.police.uk/information/request_forms.htm
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Monday, 2 November 2009
*Smears against Peter Tatchell
New censorship fabrications by supporters of Out Of Place
Peter Tatchell writes:
Despite having secured an apology from Raw Nerve Books over a false and libellous chapter in the book Out Of Place, the lies and smears against me are continuing and escalating. For defending myself against untrue allegations, I am now accused of “censorship.”
Out Of Place contains a chapter - Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the 'War on Terror' - by Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem. It was published by Raw Nerve Books in 2008.
These authors make highly defamatory, libellous and untrue allegations against me. This goes beyond reasonable criticism. It involves outright lies and fabrications. Criticism is fine. Untruths are not.
That is why the publishers made this apology to me:
http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/Peter_Tatchell.pdf
Dr Jin Haritaworn is based at the LSE’s Gender Institute; Tamsila Tauqir is from the lesbian Muslim Safra Project and was awarded an MBE last year; Esra Erdem is another acdemic, now in the US but formerly connected with Corpus Christi Oxford.
The authors’ friends and supporters are spreading further smears. They accuse me of “censoring” Out Of Place.
Among the academics making accusations of censorship are Dr Umut Erel, RCUK academic fellow at the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance at the Open University, and Dr Christian Klesse, lecturer in Cultural Studies at the Sociology Department of the Manchester Metropolitan University:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/ek241009.html
The real censorship is by my critics. Some of them are posting entirely false allegations, often on closed lists that do not allow me to post my side of the story.
Many of my detractors now claim that I forced the book to be withdrawn from sale and that I pressured the publishers to declare it “Out of Print.” Not so.
I have not suppressed the book, Out of Place, or forced it out of print.
The book was listed as “Out of Print” on the Raw Nerve Books website before I contacted the publishers and challenged the lies and falsehoods written about me.
The book was not withdrawn on my account. It had already ceased to be available before I approached the publishers.
I have no objection to Out Of Place being reprinted, providing it does not include the lies and fabrications about me. I made this clear to Raw Nerve Books in a letter dated 29 July 2009.
I did not use the libel laws. This is another lie.
When I presented the publishers with evidence that refuted the accusations against me in Out of Place, they very honourably agreed to publish an apology.
Academics are supposed to adhere to the highest standards of facts, truth and of evidence-based assertions, with proper footnoting and sourcing for what they write. The authors of the chapter that defames me did not do this. They made claims that are untrue and for which there is no evidence. They provided no footnotes or sources for their outrageous false allegations. They are guilty of poor research, shoddy scholarship and desertion of academic standards.
Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem suggest that I am anti-Muslim. This is pure fiction. I have campaigned against fundamentalist Muslims (in the same way that I have campaigned against fundamentalist Christians), not against Muslim people in general. I have always made this distinction very clear.
The authors explicitly claim or implicitly insinuate the following:
Tatchell has “claimed the role of liberator and expert about Muslim gays and lesbians.” Not true. I have never made such a claim or adopted such a role.
Tatchell is Islamophobic and is “part of the Islamophobia industry.”
Not true. I have defended many Muslim victims of injustice and condemned anti-Muslim prejudice. Indeed, in 1998 I drafted a law to protect Muslims (and others) against discrimination, harsssment and hate crimes. It was, sadly, rejected by the government.
Tatchell is racist and has engaged in “racial” politics. Not true. I have a 40-year record of anti-racist and anti-apartheid campaigning.
Tatchell has described “Muslims as Nazis” and made the equation “Muslim=Nazi” and “Muslim=Evil.” Not true. I have never attacked Muslims in general – only fundamentalists who oppose democracy, equality and human rights.
Tatchell has “collaborated with the extreme right” and “participated with several racist and fascist groups.” Not true. I have fought the far-right for four decades and been a victim of violent attacks by neo-Nazis because of my defence of black, Muslim, Jewish and LGBT people.
It is utterly shameful for any authors, let alone academics, to abandon honesty, truth and integrity, in order to misrepresent and lie about other people in order to wage petty, sectarian political wars.
We should fight the real oppressors and not pick fights with, and publish false allegations against, other progressive people.
Sectarian attacks undermine the struggle for human rights, social justice, peace and anti-imperialism.
For me, the sole issue is that this book printed lies. I have no objection to people criticising me, but making untrue allegations and smearing fellow comrades is shameful and has no place in progressive politics.
All my articles, speeches and news releases are archived on my website. You can view them here:
www.petertatchell.net
I invite anyone to find evidence that I am Islamophobic, racist or a supporter of imperialist wars or the injustices of the “war on terror.” Take a look at the totality of my campaigns since 1967. Even if you disagree with a particular campaign or article, please judge me on my overall record.
Free speech, which I defend, should not include the right to print lies that cause other people harm and which seek to pursue sectarian vendettas and to discredit political opponents. This is what the chapter in Out of Place did to me.
No one should be allowed to falsely insinuate that someone is a racist and that they collaborate with fascists. These claims in Out of Place are fiction. I have campaigned against these, and / or similar, injustices for over 40 years.
This book should not be allowed to get away with such lies about me - or anyone else.
Lies and libel that cause other people damage (as Out of Place has caused to me) are not legitimate free speech.
You would not like to be falsely accused of equating Muslim people with Nazis, consorting with fascists, colluding with the “war on terror” and promoting a racist and imperialist agenda - which is what this book accuses me of doing.
IslamaphobiaWatch, which some of my critics cite, is not a truthful, honest website. It is run by political sectarians who defame and discredit people they see as political enemies. It is full of outright lies against me and many others, including progressive, left-wing Muslims, anti-racists and supporters, like me, of the anti-war movement.
An attack on me by London's former Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is also cited by some of my detractors. Ken has since apologised for making false allegations of Islamophobia against me.
I count many leading Muslim and black activists among my friends and political comrades. They know my 42-year record of anti-racist, anti-war and anti-imperialist campaigning. They are aware that I have been a fierce defender of Muslim and black communities against state oppression, including trenchant opposition to the so-called "war on terror". They would not support me and work with me if I had done the things that the book Out Of Place falsely claims.
Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem suggest that I am anti-Muslim and implicated in colluding with the “war on terror.” This is not true.
I have been prominent in the campaigns to defend Muslims unjustly accused of terrorism, including Hicham Yezza:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/23/hicham-yezza
and Hyrbyair Marri and Faiz Baluch:
http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/09/pakistan-marri-british-london
I stood bail and provided evidence for Mr Baluch during his terrorism trial, which helped result in his acquittal (and Mr Marri's).
I have also helped secure asylum for dozens of Muslim refugees and for Muslim victims of miscarriages of justice, such as Mohammed S:
http://www.petertatchell.net/criminalinjustice/judgechallenge.htm
For nearly four decades I have worked with the leading black, Muslim, anti-racist, anti-imperialist and left-wing campaigners in the UK. If I was the racist and Islamophobe that Haritaworn, Tauqir and Erdem suggest, why do these organisations and activists work with me?
I was one of the original endorsers of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK in 1982 and a keynote speaker at its founding conference, and I have supported oppressed Muslims from Palestine, to Iraq, Chechnya and Kashmir.
If, after reading this reply, you feel that I have been unfairly maligned, I hope you might consider posting this response or your own comments to any e-lists that you have access to. I would be most grateful.
I hope this reassures you. Best wishes.
Solidarity!
Peter Tatchell, London
peter@petertatchell.net
Peter Tatchell writes:
Despite having secured an apology from Raw Nerve Books over a false and libellous chapter in the book Out Of Place, the lies and smears against me are continuing and escalating. For defending myself against untrue allegations, I am now accused of “censorship.”
Out Of Place contains a chapter - Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the 'War on Terror' - by Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem. It was published by Raw Nerve Books in 2008.
These authors make highly defamatory, libellous and untrue allegations against me. This goes beyond reasonable criticism. It involves outright lies and fabrications. Criticism is fine. Untruths are not.
That is why the publishers made this apology to me:
http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/Peter_Tatchell.pdf
Dr Jin Haritaworn is based at the LSE’s Gender Institute; Tamsila Tauqir is from the lesbian Muslim Safra Project and was awarded an MBE last year; Esra Erdem is another acdemic, now in the US but formerly connected with Corpus Christi Oxford.
The authors’ friends and supporters are spreading further smears. They accuse me of “censoring” Out Of Place.
Among the academics making accusations of censorship are Dr Umut Erel, RCUK academic fellow at the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance at the Open University, and Dr Christian Klesse, lecturer in Cultural Studies at the Sociology Department of the Manchester Metropolitan University:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/ek241009.html
The real censorship is by my critics. Some of them are posting entirely false allegations, often on closed lists that do not allow me to post my side of the story.
Many of my detractors now claim that I forced the book to be withdrawn from sale and that I pressured the publishers to declare it “Out of Print.” Not so.
I have not suppressed the book, Out of Place, or forced it out of print.
The book was listed as “Out of Print” on the Raw Nerve Books website before I contacted the publishers and challenged the lies and falsehoods written about me.
The book was not withdrawn on my account. It had already ceased to be available before I approached the publishers.
I have no objection to Out Of Place being reprinted, providing it does not include the lies and fabrications about me. I made this clear to Raw Nerve Books in a letter dated 29 July 2009.
I did not use the libel laws. This is another lie.
When I presented the publishers with evidence that refuted the accusations against me in Out of Place, they very honourably agreed to publish an apology.
Academics are supposed to adhere to the highest standards of facts, truth and of evidence-based assertions, with proper footnoting and sourcing for what they write. The authors of the chapter that defames me did not do this. They made claims that are untrue and for which there is no evidence. They provided no footnotes or sources for their outrageous false allegations. They are guilty of poor research, shoddy scholarship and desertion of academic standards.
Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem suggest that I am anti-Muslim. This is pure fiction. I have campaigned against fundamentalist Muslims (in the same way that I have campaigned against fundamentalist Christians), not against Muslim people in general. I have always made this distinction very clear.
The authors explicitly claim or implicitly insinuate the following:
Tatchell has “claimed the role of liberator and expert about Muslim gays and lesbians.” Not true. I have never made such a claim or adopted such a role.
Tatchell is Islamophobic and is “part of the Islamophobia industry.”
Not true. I have defended many Muslim victims of injustice and condemned anti-Muslim prejudice. Indeed, in 1998 I drafted a law to protect Muslims (and others) against discrimination, harsssment and hate crimes. It was, sadly, rejected by the government.
Tatchell is racist and has engaged in “racial” politics. Not true. I have a 40-year record of anti-racist and anti-apartheid campaigning.
Tatchell has described “Muslims as Nazis” and made the equation “Muslim=Nazi” and “Muslim=Evil.” Not true. I have never attacked Muslims in general – only fundamentalists who oppose democracy, equality and human rights.
Tatchell has “collaborated with the extreme right” and “participated with several racist and fascist groups.” Not true. I have fought the far-right for four decades and been a victim of violent attacks by neo-Nazis because of my defence of black, Muslim, Jewish and LGBT people.
It is utterly shameful for any authors, let alone academics, to abandon honesty, truth and integrity, in order to misrepresent and lie about other people in order to wage petty, sectarian political wars.
We should fight the real oppressors and not pick fights with, and publish false allegations against, other progressive people.
Sectarian attacks undermine the struggle for human rights, social justice, peace and anti-imperialism.
For me, the sole issue is that this book printed lies. I have no objection to people criticising me, but making untrue allegations and smearing fellow comrades is shameful and has no place in progressive politics.
All my articles, speeches and news releases are archived on my website. You can view them here:
www.petertatchell.net
I invite anyone to find evidence that I am Islamophobic, racist or a supporter of imperialist wars or the injustices of the “war on terror.” Take a look at the totality of my campaigns since 1967. Even if you disagree with a particular campaign or article, please judge me on my overall record.
Free speech, which I defend, should not include the right to print lies that cause other people harm and which seek to pursue sectarian vendettas and to discredit political opponents. This is what the chapter in Out of Place did to me.
No one should be allowed to falsely insinuate that someone is a racist and that they collaborate with fascists. These claims in Out of Place are fiction. I have campaigned against these, and / or similar, injustices for over 40 years.
This book should not be allowed to get away with such lies about me - or anyone else.
Lies and libel that cause other people damage (as Out of Place has caused to me) are not legitimate free speech.
You would not like to be falsely accused of equating Muslim people with Nazis, consorting with fascists, colluding with the “war on terror” and promoting a racist and imperialist agenda - which is what this book accuses me of doing.
IslamaphobiaWatch, which some of my critics cite, is not a truthful, honest website. It is run by political sectarians who defame and discredit people they see as political enemies. It is full of outright lies against me and many others, including progressive, left-wing Muslims, anti-racists and supporters, like me, of the anti-war movement.
An attack on me by London's former Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is also cited by some of my detractors. Ken has since apologised for making false allegations of Islamophobia against me.
I count many leading Muslim and black activists among my friends and political comrades. They know my 42-year record of anti-racist, anti-war and anti-imperialist campaigning. They are aware that I have been a fierce defender of Muslim and black communities against state oppression, including trenchant opposition to the so-called "war on terror". They would not support me and work with me if I had done the things that the book Out Of Place falsely claims.
Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem suggest that I am anti-Muslim and implicated in colluding with the “war on terror.” This is not true.
I have been prominent in the campaigns to defend Muslims unjustly accused of terrorism, including Hicham Yezza:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/23/hicham-yezza
and Hyrbyair Marri and Faiz Baluch:
http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/09/pakistan-marri-british-london
I stood bail and provided evidence for Mr Baluch during his terrorism trial, which helped result in his acquittal (and Mr Marri's).
I have also helped secure asylum for dozens of Muslim refugees and for Muslim victims of miscarriages of justice, such as Mohammed S:
http://www.petertatchell.net/criminalinjustice/judgechallenge.htm
For nearly four decades I have worked with the leading black, Muslim, anti-racist, anti-imperialist and left-wing campaigners in the UK. If I was the racist and Islamophobe that Haritaworn, Tauqir and Erdem suggest, why do these organisations and activists work with me?
I was one of the original endorsers of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK in 1982 and a keynote speaker at its founding conference, and I have supported oppressed Muslims from Palestine, to Iraq, Chechnya and Kashmir.
If, after reading this reply, you feel that I have been unfairly maligned, I hope you might consider posting this response or your own comments to any e-lists that you have access to. I would be most grateful.
I hope this reassures you. Best wishes.
Solidarity!
Peter Tatchell, London
peter@petertatchell.net
Saturday, 17 October 2009
*Lush supports hunt sabs
The cosmetics company Lush is launching a bubble bath it hopes will raise tens of thousands of pounds for anti-blood sports activists.
The Hunt Saboteurs Association will be the latest beneficiary of proceeds from Lush, the ethical producer of handmade soaps which has gained a reputation for backing radical protest groups.
The citronella and peppermint bubble bath, called The Fabulous Mr Fox, will arrive on the shelves in the coming weeks and will be on sale until Boxing Day, a traditional day for fox hunts. The company hopes the product will raise £50,000 for the activists, and said they money will be used to fund vehicles and video equipment.
Mark Constantine, the 59-year-old co-founder of Lush, based in Poole, Dorset, has previously donated large portions of his profits to human rights groups, the Green Party, animal welfare organisations and environmental protesters such as Plane Stupid, who promote non-violent civil disobedience to opposed airport expansion.
Proceeds from the Lush cosmetics empire, which is thought to be worth around £150m, have also been used to fund campaigns to support Sumatran orangutans and oppose the widening of the M1 motorway. Sea Shepherd, that operates vessels to scupper rival ships it finds whaling in the middle of the ocean, has received £22,000 from the sale of Lush products.
Lush, founded by Constantine in 1995, has become a multinational company, with branches in N. America, Japan and Australia. The company claims to give around 2% of profits to charity and is keen to promote itself as an ethical brand. Constantine said funding activists groups was "central to what we do".
The Hunt Saboteurs Association will be the latest beneficiary of proceeds from Lush, the ethical producer of handmade soaps which has gained a reputation for backing radical protest groups.
The citronella and peppermint bubble bath, called The Fabulous Mr Fox, will arrive on the shelves in the coming weeks and will be on sale until Boxing Day, a traditional day for fox hunts. The company hopes the product will raise £50,000 for the activists, and said they money will be used to fund vehicles and video equipment.
Mark Constantine, the 59-year-old co-founder of Lush, based in Poole, Dorset, has previously donated large portions of his profits to human rights groups, the Green Party, animal welfare organisations and environmental protesters such as Plane Stupid, who promote non-violent civil disobedience to opposed airport expansion.
Proceeds from the Lush cosmetics empire, which is thought to be worth around £150m, have also been used to fund campaigns to support Sumatran orangutans and oppose the widening of the M1 motorway. Sea Shepherd, that operates vessels to scupper rival ships it finds whaling in the middle of the ocean, has received £22,000 from the sale of Lush products.
Lush, founded by Constantine in 1995, has become a multinational company, with branches in N. America, Japan and Australia. The company claims to give around 2% of profits to charity and is keen to promote itself as an ethical brand. Constantine said funding activists groups was "central to what we do".
Thursday, 8 October 2009
*Errors by NHS staff led to 5,700 deaths in six months
More than 5,700 patients died or suffered serious harm as a result of staff errors in the NHS over a six-month period, figures showed today.
Figures from the National Patient Safety Agency showed that 459,500 patient safety incidents and near misses occurred in England between last October and March.
This is a 12% increase on the previous six months but the agency, which collects and monitors safety data in the NHS, said that better reporting was fuelling the rise.
Read more on this story in The Times
Millions of pensioners will go cold as energy prices soar
Five million people will avoid switching on their heating to keep warm this winter as they struggle to afford higher fuel bills, according to new research.
Polling of pensioners by the charity Age Concern found that 38 per cent were cutting back on gas and 41 per cent on electricity this year because of fears that they could not afford the prices. With 13 million pensioners in the UK, the charity's findings suggest that 5.2 million people over 60 will go cold at some point this winter.
Read more on this story in The Independent
Figures from the National Patient Safety Agency showed that 459,500 patient safety incidents and near misses occurred in England between last October and March.
This is a 12% increase on the previous six months but the agency, which collects and monitors safety data in the NHS, said that better reporting was fuelling the rise.
Read more on this story in The Times
Millions of pensioners will go cold as energy prices soar
Five million people will avoid switching on their heating to keep warm this winter as they struggle to afford higher fuel bills, according to new research.
Polling of pensioners by the charity Age Concern found that 38 per cent were cutting back on gas and 41 per cent on electricity this year because of fears that they could not afford the prices. With 13 million pensioners in the UK, the charity's findings suggest that 5.2 million people over 60 will go cold at some point this winter.
Read more on this story in The Independent
*LEADING GREEN LAUNCHES NEW EURO CAMPAIGN TO REPLACE ANIMAL TESTING
The South East’s Green Euro-MP launched a new campaign in the European Parliament today to urge EU lawmakers to replace the use of animals in testing and research with non-animal alternatives.
Caroline Lucas MEP, who was recently named the new President of the European Parliament’s influential cross-party Animal Welfare Intergroup, has joined with fellow MEPs to sign a Written Declaration calling for increased funding for the development of alternative methods to animal testing – and a 1% ‘research levy’ on products that contain ingredients tested on animals.
The Written Declaration (1), like an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons, will become the official position of the European Parliament if it can attract the support of at least half of all MEPs.
Dr Lucas MEP said: “Since 2007, I have been working with MEP colleagues and animal protection groups across Europe on a campaign urging the EU to replace cruel, unnecessary and misleading animal experiments. The existing law on the use of animals in experiments is over 20 years old, so action on this is long overdue.
“The European Commission has already stated that one of its ultimate aims is ‘to replace animal experiments with methods not entailing the use of an animal’ (2). It must now increase funding for the development and validation of alternative research methods – and make the administrative processes more efficient.
“We propose that the Commission now assesses options for increasing the funds available, including the introduction of a ‘research levy’ of 1% of the selling price of products that contain ingredients tested on animals.”
She continued: "More than 12 million animals are used in EU labs each year, yet experiments on animals can be unreliable as a guide to human biology and the range of viable alternatives, such as epidemiology, the use of cell cultures, human tissue and computer simulation, is increasing all the time.
"The Commission should increase funding, introduce quantitative targets for reducing the number of animals used in experiments, and bring in compulsory inspections of testing facilities in order to dramatically improve standards of animal protection.”
Caroline Lucas MEP, who was recently named the new President of the European Parliament’s influential cross-party Animal Welfare Intergroup, has joined with fellow MEPs to sign a Written Declaration calling for increased funding for the development of alternative methods to animal testing – and a 1% ‘research levy’ on products that contain ingredients tested on animals.
The Written Declaration (1), like an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons, will become the official position of the European Parliament if it can attract the support of at least half of all MEPs.
Dr Lucas MEP said: “Since 2007, I have been working with MEP colleagues and animal protection groups across Europe on a campaign urging the EU to replace cruel, unnecessary and misleading animal experiments. The existing law on the use of animals in experiments is over 20 years old, so action on this is long overdue.
“The European Commission has already stated that one of its ultimate aims is ‘to replace animal experiments with methods not entailing the use of an animal’ (2). It must now increase funding for the development and validation of alternative research methods – and make the administrative processes more efficient.
“We propose that the Commission now assesses options for increasing the funds available, including the introduction of a ‘research levy’ of 1% of the selling price of products that contain ingredients tested on animals.”
She continued: "More than 12 million animals are used in EU labs each year, yet experiments on animals can be unreliable as a guide to human biology and the range of viable alternatives, such as epidemiology, the use of cell cultures, human tissue and computer simulation, is increasing all the time.
"The Commission should increase funding, introduce quantitative targets for reducing the number of animals used in experiments, and bring in compulsory inspections of testing facilities in order to dramatically improve standards of animal protection.”
Thursday, 17 September 2009
*Urban Green Fair this Sunday 20th Sept Brockwell Park
The date is drawing near and the excitement is mounting. Yes the 2009 Urban Green Fair is set to go for next Sunday- 20th sept- from 11am to 7pm in Brockwell Park, Lambeth.
There is loads on offer:
Mark Thomas, Paul Mobbs on secretive police, Clarence Thompson MBE talking after the Sam the Wheels local heritage film project about Railton Rd, a topical panel on policing protests with the TSG, Jenny Jones, Climate Camp and Liberty.
Also providing a great wealth of fantastic workshops is the Food and Garden Zone, including the prestigious Brockwell Bake Competition, - get your home made bread entries in.
The kids zone is rammed with exciting and creative activities including free food for early risers.
Visit the Lambeth Green Party stall.
Health and Healing will be providing a huge range of alternative and holistic therapies as well as proving a space for user-led groups to discuss issues on mental health, women’s health and community resilience.
Powerful and practical talks at the Climate Change & Energy Transition Zone as well as innovative and practical solutions and demonstrations in the new Building Zone.
Climate camp will have a space with talks and a big push for the next coal power station action on 16/17 Oct in Nottingham.
Free Bike repair from Dr Bike and sustainable transport solutions and a great line up in the Solar Cinema including Age of Stupid, End of the Line, Sam the Wheels and the Agricultural Rebel.
The Urban Green fair will powered by the sun and bicycles and will not use any fossil fuel power.
Full schedule will soon be posted on the homepage but check out the website for further updates:
www.urbangreenfair.org
http://www.facebook.com/l/35577;
There is loads on offer:
Mark Thomas, Paul Mobbs on secretive police, Clarence Thompson MBE talking after the Sam the Wheels local heritage film project about Railton Rd, a topical panel on policing protests with the TSG, Jenny Jones, Climate Camp and Liberty.
Also providing a great wealth of fantastic workshops is the Food and Garden Zone, including the prestigious Brockwell Bake Competition, - get your home made bread entries in.
The kids zone is rammed with exciting and creative activities including free food for early risers.
Visit the Lambeth Green Party stall.
Health and Healing will be providing a huge range of alternative and holistic therapies as well as proving a space for user-led groups to discuss issues on mental health, women’s health and community resilience.
Powerful and practical talks at the Climate Change & Energy Transition Zone as well as innovative and practical solutions and demonstrations in the new Building Zone.
Climate camp will have a space with talks and a big push for the next coal power station action on 16/17 Oct in Nottingham.
Free Bike repair from Dr Bike and sustainable transport solutions and a great line up in the Solar Cinema including Age of Stupid, End of the Line, Sam the Wheels and the Agricultural Rebel.
The Urban Green fair will powered by the sun and bicycles and will not use any fossil fuel power.
Full schedule will soon be posted on the homepage but check out the website for further updates:
www.urbangreenfair.org
http://www.facebook.com/l/35577;
* MUSIC GIG – this Friday night.
MUSIC GIG – this Friday night.
Green Party supporter Relentless MC has a music gig coming up. He is a highly talented and entertaining performer and helped us during the election.
It would be great if we had a good turnout of green supporters.
Venue: Elixir Bar, 162 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BL (Close to Euston and
Mornington Crescent Tubes)
Date: Friday, September 18th.
Start 9pm.
He will be joined by guest DJ and GP member T.R.E. who wrote the ‘Green Bus’ rap which some of you will have heard during the election bus tour.
Hope to see many of you there.
More on: www.myspace.com/mcrelentlessuk
Green Party supporter Relentless MC has a music gig coming up. He is a highly talented and entertaining performer and helped us during the election.
It would be great if we had a good turnout of green supporters.
Venue: Elixir Bar, 162 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BL (Close to Euston and
Mornington Crescent Tubes)
Date: Friday, September 18th.
Start 9pm.
He will be joined by guest DJ and GP member T.R.E. who wrote the ‘Green Bus’ rap which some of you will have heard during the election bus tour.
Hope to see many of you there.
More on: www.myspace.com/mcrelentlessuk
*England canal system
From Karen Varga:
As someone who has lived on a narrow boat until very recently, it is a fascinating subject, can be a brilliant way of life, has a very rich heritage and the waterways can be beautiful, educational and interesting from an ecological point of view but the canal network is suffering from lack of maintenance due to cuts in funding by DEFRA, and British Waterways is potentially going to be part privatised. Living on a narrow boat as a way of life is something that is being eroded by the government too due to under funding, poor management and a system that favours the wealthy (moorings are now auctioned to the highest bidder and a lot of old moorings are being rebuilt with very strict rules about ages and conditions of the boats on the new moorings to favour new, expensive boats). If you don't have a mooring and don't continuously move around (difficult with children at school) you can have your boat seized and sold or crushed. In the economic climate with people losing their homes (as I did) or trying to find a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to the modern way of life it could be a great way of life (but quite hard work too) and a source of investment into the waterways - but as always it is sadly being mis-managed on various levels on a capitalist agenda. It is very sad for those who know and love the waterways and the way of life.
As someone who has lived on a narrow boat until very recently, it is a fascinating subject, can be a brilliant way of life, has a very rich heritage and the waterways can be beautiful, educational and interesting from an ecological point of view but the canal network is suffering from lack of maintenance due to cuts in funding by DEFRA, and British Waterways is potentially going to be part privatised. Living on a narrow boat as a way of life is something that is being eroded by the government too due to under funding, poor management and a system that favours the wealthy (moorings are now auctioned to the highest bidder and a lot of old moorings are being rebuilt with very strict rules about ages and conditions of the boats on the new moorings to favour new, expensive boats). If you don't have a mooring and don't continuously move around (difficult with children at school) you can have your boat seized and sold or crushed. In the economic climate with people losing their homes (as I did) or trying to find a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to the modern way of life it could be a great way of life (but quite hard work too) and a source of investment into the waterways - but as always it is sadly being mis-managed on various levels on a capitalist agenda. It is very sad for those who know and love the waterways and the way of life.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
*British Humanist Association member in deportation and death penalty threat
Hussain Muradi, a BHA member and activist of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain was detained on 10 September and is facing imminent deportation to Afghanistan where he will face the death penalty for 'apostasy'.
As part of his principled secular stance, Hussain has publicly renounced Islam, a renunciation punishable by death under Sharia law. Hussain believes that everyone has the simple right to leave a religion.
Hussain was detained after being summoned to the Gillingham police station in Kent on September 10. Discussing his situation with members of the Council of Ex-Muslims on his way to the police station, Hussain said: "If I went back to Afghanistan myself, I would call it a suicide; if I am sent back to Afghanistan, I would see it as an execution."
Despite having a pending fresh claim that was likely not have been reviewed until 2011 and despite the fact that the police informed CEMB members who accompanied him that he would be released shortly, Hussain was issued a Home Office refusal letter that very afternoon and told he would be deported to Afghanistan in a couple of days. The authorities initially tried to force him to sign his removal order and refused him any calls until he persisted.
ACT NOW! Send an email from BHA special campaigns page: http://tinyurl.com/oc3lk7
Speaking for the BHA Andrew Copson said today, "Freedom of speech and belief is a core British value. It is not shared by all countries but it certainly is shared by Hussain Muradi, who sings the praises of the free and open British society. He is a thoughtful, conscientious man who has acted on principle and spoken up for others; the Home Office could very well be sending him to his death. Whatever principles the Home Office has based this decision on, they cannot trump the principles of the freedom of speech and belief which Hussain Muradi has championed."
Hussain's deportation is imminent. You can act by calling or emailing the Minister of Immigration or Hussain's MP, whose details follow below.
Mr Phil Woolas, Minister of State (Borders and Immigration)
Telephone: 020 7035 4848
E-mail: woolasp@parliament.uk
2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF
Fax: 020 7035 4745
Commons and constituency details for Mr Phil Woolas:
House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 1149
House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 0992
Husain Muradi's MP Robert Marshall-Andrews, Medway Constituency
Telephone: 01634 814687
Email: marshallandrewsr@parliament.uk
Fax: 01634 831294
As part of his principled secular stance, Hussain has publicly renounced Islam, a renunciation punishable by death under Sharia law. Hussain believes that everyone has the simple right to leave a religion.
Hussain was detained after being summoned to the Gillingham police station in Kent on September 10. Discussing his situation with members of the Council of Ex-Muslims on his way to the police station, Hussain said: "If I went back to Afghanistan myself, I would call it a suicide; if I am sent back to Afghanistan, I would see it as an execution."
Despite having a pending fresh claim that was likely not have been reviewed until 2011 and despite the fact that the police informed CEMB members who accompanied him that he would be released shortly, Hussain was issued a Home Office refusal letter that very afternoon and told he would be deported to Afghanistan in a couple of days. The authorities initially tried to force him to sign his removal order and refused him any calls until he persisted.
ACT NOW! Send an email from BHA special campaigns page: http://tinyurl.com/oc3lk7
Speaking for the BHA Andrew Copson said today, "Freedom of speech and belief is a core British value. It is not shared by all countries but it certainly is shared by Hussain Muradi, who sings the praises of the free and open British society. He is a thoughtful, conscientious man who has acted on principle and spoken up for others; the Home Office could very well be sending him to his death. Whatever principles the Home Office has based this decision on, they cannot trump the principles of the freedom of speech and belief which Hussain Muradi has championed."
Hussain's deportation is imminent. You can act by calling or emailing the Minister of Immigration or Hussain's MP, whose details follow below.
Mr Phil Woolas, Minister of State (Borders and Immigration)
Telephone: 020 7035 4848
E-mail: woolasp@parliament.uk
2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF
Fax: 020 7035 4745
Commons and constituency details for Mr Phil Woolas:
House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 1149
House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 0992
Husain Muradi's MP Robert Marshall-Andrews, Medway Constituency
Telephone: 01634 814687
Email: marshallandrewsr@parliament.uk
Fax: 01634 831294
Friday, 11 September 2009
*Met Police still entering innocent people on DNA database
A year after the decision by the European Court of Human rights' that the holding of the DNA samples of innocent people needed to be curtailed, large numbers of innocent Londoners are still being entered onto the national DNA database. In 2006/07 the Met Police provided a quarter of all DNA samples added to the national database.
Green Party London Assembly Member,Jenny Jones, said:
"The European Court made the right decision, but the whole wrong headed system is carrying on as before whilst the Government carries out a consultation. It is clearly wrong that thousands of innocent Londoners are still having their DNA added to the database on the assumption that they may be guilty of a future crime."
"The Met take around 80,000 DNA samples every year, but much of this is a waste of effort and money. The DNA records of children arrested but not charged continue to be put on the database. The Met Police do not even know how many dead people are on the database. It is vital for public confidence that the Mayor asks the police to implement the changes that must flow from this decision as soon as possible."
Green Party London Assembly Member,Jenny Jones, said:
"The European Court made the right decision, but the whole wrong headed system is carrying on as before whilst the Government carries out a consultation. It is clearly wrong that thousands of innocent Londoners are still having their DNA added to the database on the assumption that they may be guilty of a future crime."
"The Met take around 80,000 DNA samples every year, but much of this is a waste of effort and money. The DNA records of children arrested but not charged continue to be put on the database. The Met Police do not even know how many dead people are on the database. It is vital for public confidence that the Mayor asks the police to implement the changes that must flow from this decision as soon as possible."
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
*Attempt to silence sheltered housing solicitor.
Yvonne Hossacks, is the solicitor who has been effectively acting on behalf of Sheltered Housing residents up and down the country. She now needs your help.
She is being taken to court by several different councils who are attempting to get her struck off as a result of the work that she has been doing on our behalf to save the wardens. The reasons for the tribunal are:-
1) Improperly encouraging clients to court politicians and media
2) Not acting in the clients best interests
3) Making too many time consuming and costly applications to the councils
All ridiculous, I hope you agree!
Tribunal will be taking place on the mornings of the 14th, 15th and 16th September. The address is 3rd Floor, Gate House, 1 Farringdon Street EC4M 7NS.
There will be a protest giving support to Yvonne each morning from of the tribunal from 9 - 9.30 to let the court know how much we appreciate what she is doing. If anyone can attend on any of these days it will help Yvonne to continue the legal campaign.
She is being taken to court by several different councils who are attempting to get her struck off as a result of the work that she has been doing on our behalf to save the wardens. The reasons for the tribunal are:-
1) Improperly encouraging clients to court politicians and media
2) Not acting in the clients best interests
3) Making too many time consuming and costly applications to the councils
All ridiculous, I hope you agree!
Tribunal will be taking place on the mornings of the 14th, 15th and 16th September. The address is 3rd Floor, Gate House, 1 Farringdon Street EC4M 7NS.
There will be a protest giving support to Yvonne each morning from of the tribunal from 9 - 9.30 to let the court know how much we appreciate what she is doing. If anyone can attend on any of these days it will help Yvonne to continue the legal campaign.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
*Arms fair "shames London"
Below is a statement against this obscene event from Jenny Jones, Green Party Member of the London Assembly and of the Metropolitan Police Authority. I remember when I was an Assembly Member asking the same question to the Mayor and was told "The police are there to keep you and your friends out"
As London prepares to host the DESi Arms Fair to-day, Jenny Jones has called on the organizers to pay for the cost of policing the event.
"I can't think of anything more wasteful than the London police using their precious time protecting a marketing place for guns and bombs. It is unacceptable to expect Londoners to foot the bill for an event that they don't want. I will be pressing the London Mayor at question time on Wednesday, to ask the organisers to cover the whole cost of policing the event. At a time when police have been working hard to tackle the problem of knife crime, it is appalling that they have to waste around four and half thousand police officer shifts protecting the international arms trade."
"I've been inside this event to take a look for myself and I think it is obscene. The Government should end all its subsidies for the arms industry. I hope this is the last arms fair ever held in London."
Policing the Arms Fair in 2007 took 4,475 police officer shifts and 294 police staff shifts to police the arms fair at a total cost to the MPS of £1.469m (£1.178m in opportunity costs, £153k in overtime and £138k in non-pay costs).
As London prepares to host the DESi Arms Fair to-day, Jenny Jones has called on the organizers to pay for the cost of policing the event.
"I can't think of anything more wasteful than the London police using their precious time protecting a marketing place for guns and bombs. It is unacceptable to expect Londoners to foot the bill for an event that they don't want. I will be pressing the London Mayor at question time on Wednesday, to ask the organisers to cover the whole cost of policing the event. At a time when police have been working hard to tackle the problem of knife crime, it is appalling that they have to waste around four and half thousand police officer shifts protecting the international arms trade."
"I've been inside this event to take a look for myself and I think it is obscene. The Government should end all its subsidies for the arms industry. I hope this is the last arms fair ever held in London."
Policing the Arms Fair in 2007 took 4,475 police officer shifts and 294 police staff shifts to police the arms fair at a total cost to the MPS of £1.469m (£1.178m in opportunity costs, £153k in overtime and £138k in non-pay costs).
Sunday, 16 August 2009
*The two-bed thermal envelope
In a Somerset village, a builder is creating zero-carbon homes for less than the cost of conventional ones. By Ashley Seager
The Observer, Sunday 16 August 2009
It's unlikely that you would turn up at a pretty, quiet Somerset village in search of any kind of revolution. In fact, you'd be hard pushed to spot anything revolutionary in the village of Chewton Mendip, save perhaps for a few solar panels on top of the local school.
Blink and you'd miss three terraced houses forming a corner of two streets in the village. They blend in perfectly with the other traditional stone houses. But behind the facades lie brand new homes built with ultra-modern materials and which already meet the government's strict zero-carbon rating that all new houses will have to meet from 2016.
And, crucially, they have been built to a comparable cost to conventional houses, blowing away in an instant the claims of the big housebuilders that meeting the 2016 target will entail huge cost and put up property prices.
It's generally true that in any industry, innovation comes from the small start-ups rather than the big incumbents, and local builder Arthur Bland, combining for the first time some advanced new floor, wall and roof technologies already available in Britain, is proving the point.
"These are the most thermally efficient houses built in the UK in 2008 and are twice as good as the PassivHaus [energy efficiency standard] in Germany," says Bland. "And if I had built them on a larger scale on a larger plot, they would have been cheaper to build than conventional houses; I am quite sure of that."
They say the three most important things in building an eco-house are insulation, insulation, insulation. And maybe airtightness too. And that is what Bland's house embodies: it is so efficient at retaining heat that it does not need any form of heating. In an English house? Surely some mistake?
Bland explains that the revolutionary insulated floor system, from a company called Ecoslab, combined with a polystyrene-and-concrete wall system from Logix and a roof system from Unilin, give the house a "thermal envelope" from which heat and air cannot escape. Daily living generates enough heat - from TVs, kettles, the warm backs of fridges and the people who live in it - that no further source is needed.
Airtightness might sound suffocating, but in fact the houses have a circulation system that changes the air five times an hour. And the clever bit is an exchanger that captures the warmth from stale air, which is extracted from the house by vents, and reuses it to heat water and the air in the rooms. That system is made by a Swedish company called Genvex and costs about £6,000 to install - but once you deduct the cost of a traditional heating and hot water systems, Bland says you are left with a negligible extra cost per house of £500. For the homeowner, the advantage of Genvex systems is that they last much longer than traditional boilers, which need replacing at least every 10 years.
The windows are all triple-glazed and wood-framed to keep heat in. They can, of course, be opened if the house gets too hot in the summer but the Genvex will also provide cool air to keep the places at a constant temperature.
The windows and walls are also very good at keeping sound out - a significant advantage for future homes being built on brownfield sites near other houses and roads. The absence of radiators leaves walls freer than they would have been and the airtightness, if nothing else, means there are no nasty draughts in the winter.
Bland's former wife Linda lives in the middle house with her two children and loves it. She moved in last December when it was completed and so tested it through the cold snow of the spring, when temperatures dropped to -9C.
"For a few days I had a small electric heater on in the living room just to raise the temperature a bit. But after half an hour the house was too hot and I had to turn it off," she says.
"It is a great house to live in and I have no complaints at all. The air does feel dry, though, and I have to water the plants more than I would have done. But that is the only thing I would say. I don't have to lug solid fuel around any more like I used to in other houses I have lived in so I love it."
The house has low-energy lightbulbs, not only because they consume less electricity but also, explains Bland, because the heat from conventional ones would make the house too hot.
He points out that the best thing to do when you have had a bath is to leave the hot water in it to cool, since the heat will be sucked through the bathroom's vents and recycled by the Genvex system into more hot water. "You can get obsessed by this heat business - but it is important," he says.
The three houses share a rainwater harvesting system via a big tank in the communal garden to the rear. The rainwater is used for dishwashers, washing machines and toilets. About 75% of the houses' annual water consumption is provided in this way.
The houses are not yet zero-carbon in the true sense of the phrase since the planning laws in the village's conservation area prohibit the use of renewable energies such as solar panels or wind turbines. As a result, each uses about £600 a year of electricity from conventional sources.
But Bland stresses that the houses meet all the Code Level 6 requirements of the government's code for sustainable homes - a set of rules which is gradually tightening the regulations for new buildings to reduce their carbon output - in terms of the construction.
The addition of, say, solar photovoltaic panels would easily make them zero-carbon or even carbon-negative in the sense that they generate more clean energy than the consume, exporting the surplus to the grid.
The building cost for the three houses was £300,000 for a total dwelling space of 280 square metres. That sort of figure - about £1,100 a square metre - should make the big housebuilders sit up and take notice, especially as Bland says the awkward plot shape and stone frontage added about 20% to his costs. In other words, slightly more standard houses would be cheaper than conventional dwellings even if the solar panels were added on. His system is also quicker than conventional housebuilding.
"There is no great mystery to building houses. If I had not faced the constraints I did on this project, I could easily come in cheaper than conventional houses," he says. "I have simply put some new kinds of products and processes together for the first time. But they can be used flexibly to create any kind of building."
But the big boys, of course, don't like change. Bland took his system to the Ministry of Defence, who had a long-running contract with a volume housebuilder for homes for service personnel. The big housebuilder is charging the MoD £2,000 per square metre for the homes - a high price - and was, not surprisingly, impervious to the MoD's request to copy Bland's model, which would have saved the public purse money both in construction and running costs.
Although producing concrete needs a lot of energy, the Bland houses use much less than traditional houses and require many fewer truck journeys, saving on emissions as well as noise and disturbance - because they use the excavated earth from the foundations as a base for the Ecoslab floor system instead of carting it away to landfill.
You no longer have to imagine the future of housebuilding. It is already here.
The Observer, Sunday 16 August 2009
It's unlikely that you would turn up at a pretty, quiet Somerset village in search of any kind of revolution. In fact, you'd be hard pushed to spot anything revolutionary in the village of Chewton Mendip, save perhaps for a few solar panels on top of the local school.
Blink and you'd miss three terraced houses forming a corner of two streets in the village. They blend in perfectly with the other traditional stone houses. But behind the facades lie brand new homes built with ultra-modern materials and which already meet the government's strict zero-carbon rating that all new houses will have to meet from 2016.
And, crucially, they have been built to a comparable cost to conventional houses, blowing away in an instant the claims of the big housebuilders that meeting the 2016 target will entail huge cost and put up property prices.
It's generally true that in any industry, innovation comes from the small start-ups rather than the big incumbents, and local builder Arthur Bland, combining for the first time some advanced new floor, wall and roof technologies already available in Britain, is proving the point.
"These are the most thermally efficient houses built in the UK in 2008 and are twice as good as the PassivHaus [energy efficiency standard] in Germany," says Bland. "And if I had built them on a larger scale on a larger plot, they would have been cheaper to build than conventional houses; I am quite sure of that."
They say the three most important things in building an eco-house are insulation, insulation, insulation. And maybe airtightness too. And that is what Bland's house embodies: it is so efficient at retaining heat that it does not need any form of heating. In an English house? Surely some mistake?
Bland explains that the revolutionary insulated floor system, from a company called Ecoslab, combined with a polystyrene-and-concrete wall system from Logix and a roof system from Unilin, give the house a "thermal envelope" from which heat and air cannot escape. Daily living generates enough heat - from TVs, kettles, the warm backs of fridges and the people who live in it - that no further source is needed.
Airtightness might sound suffocating, but in fact the houses have a circulation system that changes the air five times an hour. And the clever bit is an exchanger that captures the warmth from stale air, which is extracted from the house by vents, and reuses it to heat water and the air in the rooms. That system is made by a Swedish company called Genvex and costs about £6,000 to install - but once you deduct the cost of a traditional heating and hot water systems, Bland says you are left with a negligible extra cost per house of £500. For the homeowner, the advantage of Genvex systems is that they last much longer than traditional boilers, which need replacing at least every 10 years.
The windows are all triple-glazed and wood-framed to keep heat in. They can, of course, be opened if the house gets too hot in the summer but the Genvex will also provide cool air to keep the places at a constant temperature.
The windows and walls are also very good at keeping sound out - a significant advantage for future homes being built on brownfield sites near other houses and roads. The absence of radiators leaves walls freer than they would have been and the airtightness, if nothing else, means there are no nasty draughts in the winter.
Bland's former wife Linda lives in the middle house with her two children and loves it. She moved in last December when it was completed and so tested it through the cold snow of the spring, when temperatures dropped to -9C.
"For a few days I had a small electric heater on in the living room just to raise the temperature a bit. But after half an hour the house was too hot and I had to turn it off," she says.
"It is a great house to live in and I have no complaints at all. The air does feel dry, though, and I have to water the plants more than I would have done. But that is the only thing I would say. I don't have to lug solid fuel around any more like I used to in other houses I have lived in so I love it."
The house has low-energy lightbulbs, not only because they consume less electricity but also, explains Bland, because the heat from conventional ones would make the house too hot.
He points out that the best thing to do when you have had a bath is to leave the hot water in it to cool, since the heat will be sucked through the bathroom's vents and recycled by the Genvex system into more hot water. "You can get obsessed by this heat business - but it is important," he says.
The three houses share a rainwater harvesting system via a big tank in the communal garden to the rear. The rainwater is used for dishwashers, washing machines and toilets. About 75% of the houses' annual water consumption is provided in this way.
The houses are not yet zero-carbon in the true sense of the phrase since the planning laws in the village's conservation area prohibit the use of renewable energies such as solar panels or wind turbines. As a result, each uses about £600 a year of electricity from conventional sources.
But Bland stresses that the houses meet all the Code Level 6 requirements of the government's code for sustainable homes - a set of rules which is gradually tightening the regulations for new buildings to reduce their carbon output - in terms of the construction.
The addition of, say, solar photovoltaic panels would easily make them zero-carbon or even carbon-negative in the sense that they generate more clean energy than the consume, exporting the surplus to the grid.
The building cost for the three houses was £300,000 for a total dwelling space of 280 square metres. That sort of figure - about £1,100 a square metre - should make the big housebuilders sit up and take notice, especially as Bland says the awkward plot shape and stone frontage added about 20% to his costs. In other words, slightly more standard houses would be cheaper than conventional dwellings even if the solar panels were added on. His system is also quicker than conventional housebuilding.
"There is no great mystery to building houses. If I had not faced the constraints I did on this project, I could easily come in cheaper than conventional houses," he says. "I have simply put some new kinds of products and processes together for the first time. But they can be used flexibly to create any kind of building."
But the big boys, of course, don't like change. Bland took his system to the Ministry of Defence, who had a long-running contract with a volume housebuilder for homes for service personnel. The big housebuilder is charging the MoD £2,000 per square metre for the homes - a high price - and was, not surprisingly, impervious to the MoD's request to copy Bland's model, which would have saved the public purse money both in construction and running costs.
Although producing concrete needs a lot of energy, the Bland houses use much less than traditional houses and require many fewer truck journeys, saving on emissions as well as noise and disturbance - because they use the excavated earth from the foundations as a base for the Ecoslab floor system instead of carting it away to landfill.
You no longer have to imagine the future of housebuilding. It is already here.
Saturday, 15 August 2009
*Support the Chagos Islanders.
Please add your name. These islanders were forcibly removed from their island.Between 1965 and 1973 the former inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago in the centre of the Indian Ocean were expelled from their homeland to make way for a joint UK and US military base on the island Diego Garcia. They have ever since fought compensations and their right to return.
A reminder about the petition at Number 10: please will you sign this and ask your friends and contacts to do the same?
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Diego-Garcia/
When they reach 500 signatures, the government are obliged to reply. The deadline is 23rd September.
Here is a link to the artwork of Clement Siatous:
http://chagosarchipelago.blogspot.com/
A reminder about the petition at Number 10: please will you sign this and ask your friends and contacts to do the same?
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Diego-Garcia/
When they reach 500 signatures, the government are obliged to reply. The deadline is 23rd September.
Here is a link to the artwork of Clement Siatous:
http://chagosarchipelago.blogspot.com/
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