Lone war protester told it's time go

The Telegraph
May. 10, 2006

Brian Haw's one-man protest is almost as much a part of Parliament Square as the great, brooding statue of Sir Winston Churchill standing next to it.

For five years his rag-tag display of anti-war placards has stood there, expanding to occupy an entire side of the square facing Big Ben and the entrance to the House of Commons. "B Liar" declares one of his creations, a rebuke to the man Mr Haw regards as the warmonger-in-chief.

But now, after numerous abortive attempts to remove it, Mr Haw's encampment is facing destruction. A notice issued yesterday by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, ordered him to dismantle it "as soon as possible". He will be allowed just 10 feet of frontage in the future - enough for a poster and his camp bed.

"They want to destroy it all because it tells the truth," said Mr Haw.

As he speaks, a taxi pulls up and the driver congratulates him on his marathon protest. Many of the MPs across the road will not be so sorry to see the end of what they regard as a tiresome eyesore.

Mr Haw said the notice did not place a time limit on his demonstration. For Downing Street, that is probably just as well.

In an article in The Observer last month, the Prime Minister cited Mr Haw's demonstration as evidence that his Government was not authoritarian, despite its desire to fingerprint the entire adult population for ID cards and passing legislation allowing police to retain DNA samples taken from innocent people.

"Go and look at the placards of those camped outside Parliament," Mr Blair told his readers. He should have told them to hurry.

Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act drafted with Mr Haw in mind, no one is allowed to demonstrate in the square without "authorisation".

Mr Haw, an unemployed father of seven from Worcestershire, claimed the restrictions did not apply to him because his demonstration began before the Act became law last year. But on Monday the Court of Appeal rejected his argument and refused leave to appeal to the Lords.

Nevertheless, Mr Haw, who has been arrested on a number of occasions and who has seen his encampment ripped apart by police in the middle of the night, intends to do so.