15 February 2003 revisited

Local peace campaigners are marking the tenth anniversary of Britain’s biggest ever political protest, the 15 February 2003 London anti-war march against the invasion of of Iraq, by a public meeting with the author of a newly released book, The march that shook Blair.

Ian Sinclair will discuss the widespread feeling that the protest was a failure and had no impact on the Government. His book is based on over 120 original interviews and he concludes that the march almost forced Blair to withdraw British troops from the 2003 invasion and constrained the British Government’s actions in Iraq. There has been a significant and long-lasting impact on the British political and social landscape, reducing both the general public’s trust in government and the threat posed by domestic terrorism.

The meeting is on Tuesday 19 February at 7.30pm in the Friends (Quaker) Meeting House, South Terrace, Hastings TN34 1SA. The venue is on the ground floor with easy access for all.  Entrance is free with a voluntary collection to support campaigning by Hastings Against War.  Copies of the book will be on sale at £10.00 each.

Hastings Against War are publicising the meeting in advance by an information stall in Hastings Town Centre on Saturday, 16 February from 12 to 2pm. Members of the public will be invited to write the notes they think Blair wrote to Bush on the documents that have been withheld from public disclosure through the Chilcote Enquiry. There will be a display of the current conditions for the thousands of internally displaced people in Afghanistan as witnessed first hand on a recent visit by Maya Anne Evans.

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