The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #87086 Message #1624676
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
10-Dec-05 - 07:41 PM
Thread Name: The right to sing?
Subject: RE: The right to sing?
Of course, in the light of this court case this week, if you try singing the wrong kind of song anywhere within a kilometre of the Mother of Parliaments in London, it appears that your right to sing goes out the window together with your right to speak - MPs condemn arrest of woman who spoke out:
"Maya Anne Evans, a 25-year-old cook, became the first person to be prosecuted under the law which bans unauthorised demonstrations within one kilometre of Westminster after reciting the names of British soldiers killed in Iraq outside the gates of Downing Street."
It'll be interesting to see how they'll deal with people singing appropriate Christmas Carols touching on issues of war and peace in the Forbidden Zone, as happened last Christmas. (20 DECEMBER 2004, LONDON: ANTI-WAR CAROL SINGING. 3-7pm. Parliament, Downing St, Trafalgar Sq. Traditional carols adapted to highlight the brutality and hypocrisy of the illegal war in Iraq. All are welcome, of any faith or none, to join us in singing these topical carols. Organised by Advocating Sanity.) Of course that was before our freedom loving leaders made it illegal - but I'd be surprised if something like that doesn't happen anyway.
Actually I imagine what they might well do would be to make use of the new Licensing Law against making music using in a place that isn't covered by a licence, rather than the anti-demonstration powers. But that'd just get them headlines about how the government was cracking down on Carol Singers, and that might be even more embarassing.