Salma Yacoub (Birmingham Stop the War Coalition).

This morning we woke up to the unpalatable news of John Major’s affair with Edwina Currie fourteen years ago. More sickening than that though has been the more recent ongoing affair between Bush and Blair. It’s no accident that while the world has been remembering and mourning the attacks of September 11th this month, Bush and Blair have launched their war drive against Iraq. Indeed, this pair has been busy cashing in on this tragedy for a year. This time last year they were preparing to bomb Afghanistan. We said that then that Justice not Vengeance should be the response. Killing more innocent people was not the answer. A year on I stand here and we are at the eve of yet another terrible war, this time time against Iraq. In Afghanistan they destroyed and already devastated country. In Iraq they have been destroying a developed country systematically over the last 12 years through the vicious sanctions and now they want to cause further misery and bloodshed to the people of Iraq by bombing them. Through their tactics of promoting the villain of the moment last year Osama bin laden and now Saddam Hussein, our leadership has deliberately clouded and fudged the real underlying issues such as the scramble for oil. It’s no mere accident that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world. I think its time that the thief of Washington and his mates learnt to buy their commodities just like everyone else. At this critical and depressing time, we, the ordinary citizens have a profound responsibility to act. Many of our politicians who should be our true representatives have responded shamefully with silence on issues such as Palestine, Kashmir and Chechyna. Our arrogant leadership seeks to spread confusion among the people and right now we need to hold on to and provide the clarity that is required in this situation. That’s why this demonstration is so important. We have all come out today to say No more, we don’t want this war!’. The hour is late and we have a huge challenge, there are real lives and futures at stake, both abroad and here, what is needed is a determined, conscious mass resistance like today. I support the call of Tony Benn that we should all stop working, even for a few minutes, to show our opposition to the war. A temporary disruption in this country can help to remove a permanent disruption of another country. The good news is that people are waking up. Never before have we had a position where an anti-war movement was this strong, even before a war was started. Tony Blair, in his offensive drive, has been put on the defensive. For whilst he was busy talking to Bush and his mates, the people of this country have been talking to each other and we have made our stance clear. On a personal note I want to say how inspiring it is to be here. I cannot deny that post September 11th there has been a backlash against Muslims. Many have us have felt demonised and isolated. Yet here we are together, side by side, all of us united in our demand for peace and justice. Finally, Blair’s simplistic propaganda exemplified by his dossier this week would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so serious. The spinning and lies remind me of the story of the Emperors New Clothes. What Blair doesn’t realise is that the people of this country actually aren’t stupid and we have cottoned on to his lies. My message to Tony Blair is; You’ve been exposed now and we don’t like what we see.