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March 30, 2006
Pressure grows on the Straw-Rice visit to NW England
"The most unwelcome visit to Liverpool since Oswald Mosley came here in the 1930s." Liverpool Echo
Blackburn: Muslims 'withdraw Rice invitation'
An invitation to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit a mosque in Jack Straw's home constituency has been withdrawn, it was claimed.
Mosque leaders in Blackburn decided on the U-turn following pressure from the local community, according to campaign group Stop the War Coalition.
The planned visit on Saturday was designed to repay a trip that the Foreign Secretary made to the Alabama hometown of Ms Rice last year.
Ms Rice will tour Blackburn and Liverpool as part of a two-day regional tour, which is due to start on Friday.
However, the Masjid Al Hidayah mosque in Millham Street is said to have cancelled the invitation because of community feelings about US and British policy on Iraq.
Liverpool: Straw in appeal to anti-war protesters
...It comes after news of Ms Rice's impending arrival prompted the Stop the War Coalition to organise protests outside The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), when she visits on Friday.
Already poet Roger McGough has pulled out of his booking to compere the Celebration of Liverpool concert at the Phil, and Mona Lisa actress Cathy Tyson turned down an offer to step into the role.
Visit CondiWatch for up to the minute information on the planned protests.
Update: MEP tells Rice: Stay at home
Posted by andrew on March 30, 2006 9:37 AM in the category Straw Man
Comments
This is unrelated to the article, but important, and the more people who know about this, the better (not that it's actually going to change anything, because few people really give a damn in this country): ID cards and what it means for you:
http://www.no2id.net/
(Scroll down to read the article)
Like a newly bought pet, the government is putting us on a leash, and tying a tag around our neck, one that we can't remove.
From a link at the bottom of the article:
"Overseas ID cards are not comparable
Many western countries that have ID cards do not have a shared register. Mostly ID cards have been limited in use, with strong legal privacy protections. In Germany centralisation is forbidden for historical reasons, and when cards are replaced, the records are not linked. Belgium has made use of modern encryption methods and local storage to protect privacy and prevent data-sharing, an approach opposite to the Home Office's.
"The UK scheme is closest to those of some Middle Eastern countries and of the People's Republic of China—though the latter has largely given up on biometrics."
Posted by: Richard II ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 30, 2006 8:10 PM
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