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  • Lone protestors to hold 2,000 demonstrations in one day to ridicule Parliament Square protest ban 

  • 20 Apr 2007
  • The biggest number of peaceful demonstrators since spontaneous protest was banned around Parliament Square will gather there at 10:15am on Saturday 21 April. Inspired by comedian Mark Thomas and supported by the human rights group Liberty, scores of people will hold more than 2,000 lone demonstrations for the “Big One” event and ridicule laws requiring peaceful demonstrators to seek advanced permission to protest near Westminster and Whitehall.

  • Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said:

    “It’s time our politicians realised that dissent is not disloyalty but the oxygen of democracy. The right to peaceful protest must be restored in the symbolic centre of Britain’s democracy around Parliament Square.”

    The Serious Organised and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) created a designated area around Westminster where spontaneous protest is outlawed. Throughout 2006 police received approximately 2,000 applications for permission to protest in that area. The lone protestors on Saturday will hold 2,000 demonstrations in one day in a symbolic protest against this curb on free speech.

    WHAT: “THE BIG ONE” - 2,000 lone peaceful demonstrations around Parliament Square to ridicule the Government ban on spontaneous protest

    WHEN: PHOTO CALL: Protestors to gather in Parliament Square at 10:15am on Saturday 21 April 2007

    WHERE: Parliament Square

    WHO: Comedian Mark Thomas, Liberty, and scores of peaceful protestors

    Contact: Jen Corlew on 020 7378 3656 or 0797 383 1128

    Notes to Editors:

    1. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) prohibits any demonstrations of one person or more within one square kilometre of the Houses of Parliament unless prior permission has been sought in writing from the police. Generally at least six days notice should be given, although a minimum of at least 24 hours notice will suffice where this isn't practicable. Under SOCPA, an individual may be charged with organising a demonstration, participating in a demonstration, or demonstrating as an individual without permission.

    2. Brian Haw has been charged with breaching SOCPA. Haw has held an anti-war demonstration in Parliament Square since June 2001.

    3. Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer has introduced a Private Members Bill which seeks to overturn the measures in SOCPA 2005 banning spontaneous protest in the designated area around Westminster. The Bill will soon enter the Committee Stage in the House of Lords.