Sheffield protest group ALT SHEFF is to organise an emergency protest against bombing in Libya outside the Town Hall today while MPs are going to vote on Britain’s involvement in Libya this afternoon.
Allied forces have carried out a second night of air strikes in Libya and it’s believed a cruise missile has destroyed a building in Colonel Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli.
Stop the War Coalition condemns this attack as they believe that it’ll result in enslaving the people of Libya under the domination of the West.
They believes that there should be no external military intervention in Lybia and that support for the Arab revolutions will be strangled, not supported by western military action.
The protest is to start from 5 pm to 6 pm outside the Sheffield Town Hall. Stop the War urges the anti-war movement to campaign throughout the country to reverse British participation in it.
Interview with John Rees on YouTube – Why a UN no-fly zone over Libya and not Bahrain? Or Yemen? Or Saudi Arabia?
Between four and five thousand people staged a protest on Saturday around Sheffield City Hall, where the Lib Dems were holding their three-day spring conference.
A 24-year-old man was arrested after jumping over the steel fence with a firework in his hand, and he was quickly caught by nine policemen.
The man was later given an £80 fixed penalty notice, according to South Yorkshire police. The police refused to identify him.
Paul Brandin, Chair of the Right to Work campaign, also tried to break through the fences, but the police spotted him and pushed him off.
He said: “We are here to give the message to the Lib Dems that what they are doing to the country is a disgrace.”
The protesters marched from Devonshire Green at 1200 GMT where they held a three-hour rally and arrived at City Hall 30 minutes later.
Coalition support
One of the Lib Dem delegates Patrick Steeler, from London, told the crowd at Devonshire Green: “Firstly, (I am here) to ensure that nobody gets hurt. Secondly to say that I too am uneasy about the cuts, but I have a way to straighten it up from the inside, and thirdly that I support the coalition.”
He was immediately driven back by the angry crowd, but he insisted that he had the right to speak. Mr Steeler also went into the crowd around City Hall yesterday, where there were about 300 people protesting.
A bigger protest
Right to Work, Sheffield Anti-Cuts Alliance and other groups are organising a bigger protest on 26 March in London. Half a million people are expected to attend, according tothe Socialist Workers’ Party.
Paul Whitecoat, a Socialist Party member, praised the protests currently happening in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, expressing his hopes that Britain would join the trend.
A carnival demonstration
Several musical protesters brought drums and bagpipes to the demonstration. Their performance began at Devonshire Green and continued during their march to the town hall; with many young people joining them for a dance along the way.
The Sheffield Star commented on Twitter that there was “a carnival atmosphere” outside the town hall, despite the presence of one thousand police officers, who were on hand to prevent any violence.
A group of young farmers outside Tesco protest at the unfair price paid by supermarket
Dairy farmers protest outside Tesco claiming that this supermarket giant is driving down the price for their milk unfairly.
Farmers For Action have blockaded 3 distribution centers in Livingston, Chesterfield and Southhampton for 2 hours this morning. David Handley, the president of Farmers For Action (FFA), claims that the point of the protests is not to push customers to pay a higher price for their milk, however, enough money in the supply chain should allow the retailer to pay producers a resonable price.
The dairy industry has been under increasing pressure for the last few years, but only in the last 12 months it has a severe decline. That is why Mr Handley feels it is necessary to take action now. Farmers fear that the decline in price will result in more job losses.
Mr Handley says that there would be more demonstrations in the New Year.
