TAUNTON
DEANE STOP THE WAR COALITION - PRESS RELEASE
Monday 3rd March 2003
Acting Co-ordinator : Cllr. Alan Debenham
49 Clifford Avenue
Taunton TA2 6DL
Tel. 01823 321304
or 07753 447 669
EXCITING BUILD-UP FOR SOMERSET’S ANTI-WAR DEMO DAY
All Somerset’s Stop-the-War groups and anti-war supporters are being called to Taunton next Saturday for a countywide mass demonstration against Britain’s participation in any pre-emptive, non-UN sponsored attack upon Iraq. The mass march and rally assembles at the townside of the railway station at 11 am. and will march through the town centre to the front of County Hall for a rally with speeches and music.
This county protest is being organised by the Taunton Deane Stop-the-War Coalition ( info Alan Debenham 01823 321304 or [email protected]) and by sheer weight of numbers is hoping to be a politically powerful follow-up to the enormous demonstration of millions of people in London on Feb. 15th It could well be the time for the county’s biggest ever mass demonstration.
It will be colourful, musical and noisy, with banners of all kinds and a local jazz band heading the festive throng, plus a local DJ providing some music at the County Hall rally. Demonstrators are advised to bring as many inventive DIY art and music adornments with them as possible, plus balloons etc.
The demonstration coordinator, Taunton Deane Councillor Alan Debenham commented: “If we cannot stop the Bush-Blair premeditated war against Iraq by our massive street-level protests, then it doesn’t augur well for democracy, and the next stage of our protests can only be civil disobedience. A pre-emptive war on Iraq without the proper authority of the UN behind it will lead to the possible indictment of Bush and Blair as international war criminals.”
“Certainly, it will not be in the name of the vast majority of the British and Somerset public and it will lead to more violence and terrorism, whatever happens to Saddam and the millions of innocent Iraqis either killed or made homeless. Surely, for the world’s future we should be talking about world disarmament, especially ridding it of WMDs and abolishing war as a means of conflict resolution.”