Townsfolk join major anti-war protest (From Stroud News and Journal)

Townsfolk join major anti-war protest

A COACH load of anti-war protesters from Stroud and the surrounding areas arrived in London to take part in a national demonstration against the bombing of Afghanistan on Saturday.

Some 50 campaigners joined the march from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square to voice their objections to the ongoing conflict.

Official figures put the number of marchers somewhere in the region of 20,000 though most demonstrators believed there were many more.

The News & Journal caught up with the protesters who included many familiar faces from Stroud's campaigning community.

The town's mayor, Cllr John Marjoram, led the Stroud contingent along with Stroud Peace Group's Annabel Caddle, Alan Thornhill and Horsley's veteran anti-nuclear campaigner Roger Franklin.

"I don't think that anger and dropping bombs is the right way to fight terrorism," said Mark Epton, a spokesman for Stroud Greenpeace.

"This isn't the way to do it."

He said the terrorism could be better tackled by making sure people had food, work and prospects in life.

"Then terrorism would not flourish," he said.

"The solution is for America and Britain to seriously look at their foreign policy.

"They need to secure a just peace in Israel and Palestine, stop the arms trade and ensure fairer trade."

"The political parties really don't seem to have the will to do that so it's up to us in this protest to show people there's a different way of thinking."

"There's going to be another march on November 18," he said.

"It will be even bigger and any right-thinking person in Stroud should come along for freedom, justice and democracy."

Dutch campaigner Ewout Granberg, who has lived in Stroud for the past five years said: "I came because of an inner anger and I wanted to do something against this violence.

"I heard about this protest and wanted to be a part of it - it gives a message to the government that there are a lot of people who share a common thought - that this is the wrong way of dealing with the situation."

For full story see this week's News & Journal.