Stop the War Coalition
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The Stop the War Coalition (or StWC; informally just Stop the War) is a UK anti-war group, set up following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks in the USA, on 21 September 2001 at a public meeting of over 2,000 people in London. It campaigns under the slogans: Stop the war, No to a racist backlash and Defend civil liberties, as well as 'Not in my name,' which has almost become the motto of the anti-war movement. It opposed the American-led action against the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as the invasion of Iraq.
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In association with Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain, it has organised many marches and protest events since its creation, the largest being against the imminent invasion of Iraq on 15 February 2003. This was the largest demonstration ever seen in Britain with between 750,000 and 2,000,000 people. Speakers included Ken Livingstone, Tony Benn, and Charles Kennedy.
After the war began it held another demonstration on the 22 March. While the turnout for this march did not match the demonstration of 15 February - between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people turned up - it was noted that this was the largest anti-war demonstration held during wartime and this with but a week's notice.
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Its latest round of protests was during November 2003 climaxing in a march on the 20th protesting against the aggressive foreign policy of George W. Bush and the continued detention of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, which protesters claim is an illegal infringement of human rights and the Geneva conventions. A march past parliament was organised climaxing in a rally in Trafalgar Square. A papier maché statue of George Bush was toppled in an action reminisent of the much televised pulling down of a the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad by American soldiers. Speakers included maverick MP George Galloway(then member of Labour Party now expelled and joined Respect), SNP leader Alex Salmond and Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic.
The coalition estimates that 300,000 people were present at the demonstration, but this figure is disputed by the police estimate that puts it as low as 100,000 people.
On March 19 2005, STWC organised a large demonstration in Westminster with supporters marching from Hyde Park to Parliament Square via the US embassy. The supporters were calling for the invading troops to move out of Iraq, for the US to not attack Iran and Syria, for the UK government to halt reductions in the civil liberties of UK citizens including the right to protest and a free trial (which they allege would result from the recent Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 and Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill), and for a reduction in racism in the UK.
The date was chosen as the it was the international day of anti-war demonstrations, as called by the Assembly of the Social Movements at the 2004 European Social Forum. Estimates of the number of marchers vary from 45,000 by the police to over 100,000 by StWC to 200,000 by some observers. The protest was significant as it is the first time that a march has passed the US embassy in London since the protest at the Vietnam war.
Almost all the major British trade unions are affiliated to the Coalition and they are also mostly affiliated to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament group.
Major Members
- Andrew Murray, StWC chair, full-time ASLEF official, leading Communist Party of Britain member
- Lindsey German, StWC convenor, leading SWP member, RESPECT candidate in the elections for London Mayor
- John Rees (UK politician), leading SWP member, RESPECT star candidate in the European elections
- Tony Benn left-wing Labour party member
- Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party MP, CND member
- George Galloway, MP, expelled Labour party member, West Midlands RESPECT candidate in the European elections
- Tariq Ali, anti-imperialist (trotskyist) writer
- Salma Yaqoob, RESPECT founding member
External links
- Stopwar.org.uk (http://www.stopwar.org.uk)
- BBC News: February 2003 Protests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2765041.stm)
- BBC News: Protests at the outbreak of war (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2874627.stm)
- BBC News: Anti-Bush protests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3223780.stm)
Articles on alleged domination of STWC by the Socialist Workers Party:
- Mark Thomas, "Crap Comrades" (http://www.mtcp.co.uk/article.php?id=40), New Statesman
- SchNEWS, "Monopolise Resistance - The SWP try to hijack anti-war protests" (http://www.schnews.org.uk/sotw/monopolise-resistance.htm/)