Top Tory attacks parliament protest
Tuesday, 19 August 2008 12:00 AM
The anti-war protest outside Parliament is a "vulgar and pointless
display" which should be permanently moved, according to senior Tory
figure.
Alan Duncan, shadow business secretary, made the comments after a female
demonstrator was found guilty of harassing him telling him he was a
"murderer, terrorist, child murderer, bomber, disgusting, horrible and
totally corrupt" over a loudspeaker.
He claims her conviction puts pressure on Commons leader Harriet Harman,
Commons leader, to decide whether to move the protests permanently.
"It is nothing to do with freedom of speech or the right to protest," he
said.
"It no longer has any justifiable democratic purpose. It is time to stop
it."
The call for action comes as Westminster debates reforming the current
ban on protests without a license - originally established by the
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 - as part of the
government's constitutional reform bill.
Brian Haw, the protestor who has spent several years camped outside
parliament in protest against British foreign policy, was unaffected by
the ban because his demonstration preceded the law.
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