100 signatures reached
To: Diane Abbott and the Labour Party
Protect Freedom of Speech in UK
Say NO to "Buffer Zones" which will erode freedom of speech in our nation. Don't rob us of our civil liberties.
Why is this important?
Diane Abbott, Labour candidate, is calling for "buffer zones”; preventing campaigners from picketing at picket lines, thus threatening the right to protest of:
· union workers
· animal rights protestors
· racial equality campaigners
· LGBT advocates
· business boycott organisers
Although the Early Day Motion entitled 'Protecting Abortion Services', has the appearance of a noble cause, there are already sufficient Laws doing the job. Instead, this will open the doors to other businesses and employers wanting to protect their interests by having buffer zones.
Ann Furedi, the CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, championing these buffer zones, has herself remarked: “Could invoking a state restriction on this kind of protest set an unwelcome precedent, maybe leading to a clampdown on other protests? It’s possible, of course, there is a risk that this [BPAS‘back off’] campaign could be used by some as a further step on the slippery slope towards greater policing of public space.”
As Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote in The Friends of Voltaire: “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.
· union workers
· animal rights protestors
· racial equality campaigners
· LGBT advocates
· business boycott organisers
Although the Early Day Motion entitled 'Protecting Abortion Services', has the appearance of a noble cause, there are already sufficient Laws doing the job. Instead, this will open the doors to other businesses and employers wanting to protect their interests by having buffer zones.
Ann Furedi, the CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, championing these buffer zones, has herself remarked: “Could invoking a state restriction on this kind of protest set an unwelcome precedent, maybe leading to a clampdown on other protests? It’s possible, of course, there is a risk that this [BPAS‘back off’] campaign could be used by some as a further step on the slippery slope towards greater policing of public space.”
As Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote in The Friends of Voltaire: “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.
