Anita Roddick to Lead
“Virtual March on London”

Impressed with the success of last week’s “Virtual March on Washington,” Anita Roddick, OBE has launched a similar campaign to flood Parliament and Number 10 Downing Street on 10 March with phone calls, faxes and emails on from citizens calling for a peaceful solution to the standoff with Iraq.

An estimated million people participated in the United States’ first-ever “virtual” march on 26 Feb. Switchboards around the Washington D.C. area were lit up for 12 hours straight; the White House’s phone system was reportedly jammed and inoperative for part of the day. That action was coordinated by Win Without War and MoveOn.org.

Hoping to duplicate that resounding success, Roddick has called for a “Virtual March on London,” in which Britons call, fax, or email their MPs and Tony Blair to register their opposition to war in Iraq. The theme of the campaign is “Jam Number 10 on the 10th,” the object being to create such a critical mass of calls that the communications systems of 10 Downing and Parliament are at least temporarily overwhelmed.

“Millions of us marched in London on 15 Feb, but still it seems that the Powers That Be in one of the world’s great democracies are not listening to their constituents,” Roddick said. “What do we have to do to get Tony Blair’s attention? This is a modest proposal to make a peaceful, but powerful statement that is impossible to ignore.”

On her website (anitaroddick.com), Roddick provides instructions for how to get involved, from how to look up your MP to sample scripts to use when calling, faxing, or emailing Parliament or Blair. Roddick also suggests contacting Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who has been an outspoken supporter of Blair’s plans for war.

“I invite that majority of Britain which opposes this war to join me on March 10 to raise our voices as one, once again,” Roddick said. “We can still hold out hope that at some point, even politicians can grow ears and consciences.”