Bush wants to prevent protests in UK

Not content to just try and squelch protests by people opposed to his regime or his policies here at home, Bush is now trying to prevent any protests against him during his vist to London.

American officials want a virtual three-day shutdown of central London in a bid to foil disruption of the visit by anti-war protesters. They are demanding that police ban all marches and seal off the city centre.

But senior Yard officers say the powers requested by US security chiefs would be unprecedented on British soil. While the Met wants to prevent violence, it is sensitive to accusations of trying to curtail legitimate protest.

The stated justification for the demand is that terrorists could use the crowds as cover for launching an attack against Bush, but given his history of insisting that all protesters here in the States be kept in areas where he can neither see nor hear them shows that his inability to face criticism is, at the very least, a significant part of the reason. According to the article, White House officials have already conceded that it is a factor.

Secrecy surrounds his itinerary during the trip, which starts on 19 November. He will stay at Buckingham Palace and his staff want The Mall, Whitehall and part of the City closed. Besides provoking a civil liberties backlash, the Met fears such a move would cause traffic chaos and incur huge loss of business across the capital.

White House officials have already vetoed the traditional drive in an open carriage along the Mall. They fear it would make Mr Bush too vulnerable to attack or confrontations over British support for the US in Iraq.

Anti-war groups such as the Stop The War Coalition, and the Muslim Association of Britain, have made no secret of their wish to harass Mr Bush wherever he goes. But they insist they are only planning "non-violent direct action".

This kind of behaviour is just embarrassing, really. The British law-enforcement services have to deal with protecting not just members of the British government - whom a lot of people get upset at (as with any government, really), but they also have to help with protecting the Royal Family - who certainly would be a nice symbolic hit for any of a number of groups around the world. They've been dealing with terrorism related to the problems in Ireland for decades. But Bush doesn't think he'll be safe unless all protesting crowds are kept far away from him - and doesn't seem to care what problems it might cause for his hosts. Nice way to show confidence in our allies, eh?

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Posted by thorswitch at November 12, 2003 01:40 AM | TrackBack