Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Andrew Smith MP invited to Public Debate on Iraq War Yet Again

Paul | 30.08.2003 12:57 | London | Oxford

The Rt Hon Andrew Smith MP and cabinet member has yet again been invited to a public debate on the Iraqi war which he supported. This is at least the third formal request.The following letter was sent to him yesterday. He was also asked personally yesterday but did not say 'yes' or 'no'. He tends to avoid these words generally.

Below is a copy of the letter sent to Andrew Smith with signitures of members of 15 different organisations showing the broad depth of feeling and desire for this debate. Surely he owes it to the people of Oxford. It has been stressed that the debate would be run properly and not be an opportunity to shout at him. I think this is clear by the letter below and know George Monbiot and the possible chairpersons would not be involved in a slanging match. If he really believes in transparency and his responsibility to his constituents he will explain to them why he supported a war in which about 8,000 have died and even to the strongest supporters is being shown to be unjustified and illegal.

Write to the papers, email and speak on Radio Oxford etc giving your opinion on his refusal.


Rt Hon Andrew Smith MP,

You have now received at least two requests to participate in a public debate in Oxford concerning the war on Iraq.

We wish to reiterate the request that you attend a large public debate with George Monbiot (East Oxford resident) on the legality, morality and need for a war on Iraq.

These matters are still of great concern to the public and thus need to be aired in a large public meeting rather than small exclusive meetings. As you are a cabinet minister you are in a better position to offer answers and clear up misunderstandings.

You have acknowledged that you have received more post on this issue than any previous issue. The government in its replies to letters redirected by you has also acknowledged receipt of so many thousands of letters that the Department of Defence has taken months to reply to these letters. You and they must realize that so many letters indicate a serious concern about our involvement in the war.

A lot of the lobbying of your meetings is a result of your reluctance to attend a public debate in which you will have a platform to explain the government policy on Iraq and answer questions. We would like to organise a fair and open debate with an acceptable chairperson such as Reg Little, Bill Heine or Jeremy Paxman.

As was suggested in a previous letter, we would be happy for you to have 50% of the ticket allocation to distribute as you see fit.

We suggest that the debate should take place at the Town Hall on a Thursday from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. A collection can be made to cover any costs for the venue and the surplus will go to a charity offering medical help to Iraqi children.

We would be grateful if you could contact us to confirm that you wish to attend this debate and to discuss the details.

Yours Sincerely,

Paul

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech