Protests mark 'day of shame'

Sit in: police were forced to remove protesters who were blocking traffic
13 April 2012

Hundreds of protesters, including many schoolchildren, have gathered in Parliament Square this morning to protest at the start of military action.

The youngsters chanted "Sit Down, Stop The War" and were later persuaded by the police to move off the road and onto a grass area next to a statue of Sir Winston Churchill.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Square holding aloft banners calling for the war to end.

A group of around 100 demonstrators also stopped traffic in Whitehall.
They gathered outside the entrance to Downing Street shortly after a Cabinet meeting had ended.

They disrupted traffic for about 10 minutes before being moved off the road by police.

The demonstration was noisy but peaceful.

Across the country workers, schoolchildren and students were set to stage a series of walkouts in protest at the "outrageous" military action in Iraq, anti-war campaigners predicted today.

The Stop The War Coalition (STWC) predicted that workplaces, schools and colleges across the country would be affected by the action at lunchtime and again this evening.

Lindsey German, the group's convenor, said there had already been sit-down protests during the morning rush-hour in some parts of the country, including Bradford, Leeds and Manchester.

Civil servants, including those working in the office of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, will be among those taking action during their lunch break.

The campaign group said at a London press briefing that it was a "day of shame" for Britain now that the war in Iraq had begun.

Chairman Andrew Murray said: "The war has started which is an outrage against world peace, against the population of Iraq and against law and democracy in Britain.

"This is going ahead without the support of British people. This is a day of shame for Britain. Our country has been dragged into a ridiculous war by a US administration which has shown contempt."

Mr Murray continued: "We call on the people of Britain to demonstrate against the war - to walk out from work or hold protest meetings.

"We call on school students to walk out and for teachers to join them and we want students to leave or occupy their colleges."

The coalition said it was expecting huge numbers of people to join a demonstration in London on Saturday which Mr Murray predicted would be the biggest show of opposition from the public while a war was in progress.

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