Bristol City council attempts to ban anti-cuts demo on 19th Feb

Undemocratic and arbitrary rules saying that demonstrations and marches need 6-weeks notice are being waved at the BADACA, but this cannot stop the anti-cuts movement and the march will go ahead as planned - do the Liberal Democrats realise they are trying to use legislation the like of which is not even in force now in Tunisia?


From the Bristol & District Anti-Cuts Alliance:


Bristol City Council has banned a rally that Bristol & District Anti-Cuts Alliance intends to hold on Saturday 19 February.
Our plan is to follow the traditional route of assembling at Castle Park and marching to a rally on College Green in front of the Council House.
When we applied for permission to use Castle Park and College Green they refused, saying we were out of the six weeks notice the require for an "event". This did not stop them last time and, in discussions we had with the LibDem Leader of the Council, Barbara Janke, she agreed that this notice period should not apply to political rallies which have to respond to events.
The date of our next march is the Saturday before the Council sets its cuts budget on Tuesday 22 February. It seems that the LibDems are getting a bit nervous and abandoning any commitment they might once have had to civil liberties and the freedom of assembly after all, the only places you can assemble in central Bristol are owned by the Council.
We will not abandon our right to protest at times which are appropriate. We have complained directly to Cllr Janke. The march and rally will go ahead; the question for the Council is whether they want it organised or not and we call on all trade union branches, community organisations and BADACA supporters to contact their councillors to get this decision overturned. We do not want chaos. We want a very large, orderly march and rally which reflects the opposition of the people of Bristol to the destruction of their public services.
In contrast, the police seem quite relaxed about it all and have not stated any objection.
There will also be a lobby of the Council's budget meeting on the afternoon of 22 February which as many people as possible should attend.