Thursday 13th February 2025 - Defend the Right to Protest!

On Saturday 18th January several local PSC members and supporters went to the national rally in Whitehall. The coalition organizers had hoped to be able to hold a march from the BBC to Whitehall or vice versa but the Metropolitan Police only permitted a rally. At the end it was announced from the stage that, as an act of protest against the police ban, a delegation of organizers and rally speakers, including an 87-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor, MPs, and cultural figures would walk silently and peacefully towards the BBC. No attempt would be made to push through police lines. The delegation would simply leave flowers at the feet of the police and disperse peacefully. When they reached the police line they were told “please filter through” (this was videoed) and were invited to proceed to Trafalgar Square. They were halted by police close to Trafalgar Square and they asked whether they could go to the BBC. While waiting for that final decision the police violently and for no apparent reason arrested the Chief Steward of the rally, Chris Nineham, a long-standing figure in the ‘Stop The War Coalition’. The delegation laid flowers and dispersed. Altogether, 77 people were arrested that day, many for simply arriving in Whitehall before the start time. On Saturday 25th January a packed emergency meeting was held and agreed that the actions taken on January 18 th were an assault on freedom of assembly and democracy.