Lancaster city council is a place full of sweetness, light and love without boundaries. Clearly. Otherwise how do we explain that Labour and Lib-Dem councillors have just backed a Tory to lead the council and have divied up all the council positions three ways. The seventeen independents, twelve Greens and four honourable Labour councillors refused to take part in the love in. Good show.
Meanwhile in Russia the police have assisted an organised attack on gay rights activists and then arrested some of them to add insult to injury (literally). An international delegation including Richard Fairbrass (from Right Said Fred), Peter Tatchell and German Green MP Volker Beck were physically attacked when attempting to hand in a petition, on the fortieth anniversary of the legalisation of homosexuality in Russia, asking permission for a Moscow Gay Pride demonstration. More here and here.
And I'm sure we'll all be delighted to hear that the BNP are now backing Margaret Hodge stating on their website "Labour MP Margaret Hodge deserves a word of compliment from the BNP for her efforts to raise the thorny issue of social housing for native Britons, an issue that has been in our manifesto for years... Britain is full and there is no more room for any economic migrants, whatever language they speak, what religion they practice and what they look like."
I'm sure their words of comfort come as a great source of solace to Madge, I really do.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
What's going on
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Annie Leonard and co. (
Adrienne Mayor (
Ed Howker and Shiv Malik
Floella Benjamin (
Mark Watson (
Tim Jackson (
David Wilson (
Clive Lord (
Nickie Roberts
1 comment:
If you'd like to send a message of support for those still held in jail in Moscow you could adapt this letter:
"Dear Mr. Luzhkov,
I am deeply concerned by reports that a number of participants in Sunday's peaceful "Gay Pride" were arrested, and that some are still being detained.
As the right to peaceful protest is enshrined in Article 20 of the United nations "Universal Declaration on Human Rights", I appeal to you:
[1] to ensure that the peaceful demonstrators are released immediately;
[2] to identify and prosecute the thugs who attacked the peaceful demonstrators;
[3] to issue a personal guarantee that peaceful protests will henceforth be permitted in Moscow."
And send it to Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor of Moscow: mayor@mos.ru
Nikolai Alekseev, one of the main organisers, has written:
"We ask the western democraties to put a maximum pressure on the Russian Authorities to release us immediately"
"The protocol written by the police is completely falsified and all the Western MEPs and MPS who were with us could confirm it"
"We are accused of having blocked the streets and insulted the police which is a complete lie. We were on the pavement and we never insulted the police. This has never been our methods"
"All this is nothing else that the good old method of KGB. We can see that agents of FSB are at the police station (ex KGB). The same people who were this morning at the hotel trying to prevent us to leave."
"We praise the German Chancellor Merkel who is currently heading the European Union Presidency to raise the question to President Putin"
"We also praise the other leaders of the G8 and the EU to speak publicly on this issue"
"We are very thankfull to Volker Beck, Sophie In't Veld, Vladimir Luxuria and Marco Cappato who came for us in Moscow and of course all the other"
"They can show to the world that Gay and Lesbian rights do not exist in Russia. They can show to the world that freedom of expression not only about politics"
"Please remember the words of Sophie In't Veld at yesterday press conference. There is no such thing as human rights light in which you can just avoid LGBT issues"
"There is no place in Europe for people who do not respect the rights of their citizen. Euroepan demcraties should ban Mayor Luzhkov and his people to enter their countries as they did to officials in Belarus"
"We ask for your help and support. Probably now, more than ever"
Post a Comment