9:55am Friday 28th November 2003
HOUNSLOW residents voiced their objections to Britain's on-going occupation in Iraq with a series of protests around the borough and a large turnout at the national Stop Bush Demonstration in central London last week.
Members and supporters of the Hounslow Stop the War Coalition (HSWC) were amongst 300,000 people believed to have participated in last Thursday's biggest ever weekday march in Britain.
The action followed a Hounslow Stop the War Coalition peaceful protest outside Hatton Cross tube station, Heathrow Airport, on Tuesday evening (November 18) as George Bush's plane touched down, and a march organised the following day from Hounslow High Street to Hounslow East tube station.
HSWC Convenor Mr Jeremy Taylor said: "We are protesting against the whole war and continuing occupation of Iraq which is fully supported by Tony Blair."
He added: "We organised the Hatton Cross protest at the last minute because we only found out George Bush's arrival time late in the day.
"It was a symbolic message that we were there waiting for him."
Around 50 HSWC members convened in Hounslow High Street the following day, Wednesday November 19, for a march which lasted half an hour before they moved on to join a protest at Buckingham Palace.
The central London Stop Bush' demonstration on Thursday (November 20) at 2pm saw a large number of HSWC members take time off work to participate. The Hounslow Stop the War Coalition was formed in September 2002 and now has more than 150 members.
It operates a stall in Hounslow High Street every Saturday and organises street meetings as a platform for people to air their views, with guest speakers such as George Galloway, who spoke there earlier this year. There are local meetings and video showings as well as a "die-in" street theatre, in which they recreate a visual symbolisation of the people who have been killed by war.
For information on HSWC contact Jeremy Taylor on 07742050411.
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