No abstract

the leaders of the early English colonies in North America -all gained their first experience in Ireland, and England learnt to establish herself beyond the Irish Sea before she leaped the Atlantic.'' The first British colony in America, at Roanoke, was established by Sir Richard Grenville, in 1585, under a charter held by Raleigh, his half-brother. The remaining colonists had to be rescued and taken back to England the next year after failing to support themselves. One of them, surveyor Thomas Hariot, wrote afterwards: 'Some of our companie towards the ende of the yeare, shewed themselves too fierce, in slaying some of the people, on some towns, upon causes that on our part might easily enough have been borne with all. '~ 2 There are many interconnections between the British colony of Ireland and the British colonies in the Americas. The plantation of southern Ireland with English and Scottish Protestants preceded the establishment of Virginia, and this experience strongly influenced the development of the British colonies, distinguishing them from French imperialism in the region. The plantation of northern Ireland came soon after, leading the English commander in Ulster to remark that as great care was needed there as 'if these new colonies were to be led to inhabit among the barbarous Indians'.'The same propaganda was used to entice colonists to both Ireland and America, and, indeed, 'Many of the same men, often the seagoing at Glasgow University Library on June 24, 2015 rac.sagepub.com Downloaded from * Of this enterprise, Fall comments. 'Petty and brutal as was this &dquo;combined operation&dquo;, it possesses interest because it brought together, when they were umor and obscure, two great men who were later to co-operate on a tar greater scale.'&dquo; Is this really the pomt'?

No abstract

In January 2017, Britain's leading liberal newspaper criticised a new, heavyhanded, system of press regulation, brought in under the Crime and Courts Act (2013). The Guardian argued: ' A press that is free to investigate and criticise is essential for good governance.' 1 Similarly, US Supreme Court Judge Lewis F. Powell Jr. once argued that, as no individual can obtain for themselves the information needed for the intelligent discharge of their political responsibilities, the press performs a crucial function in 'effecting the societal purpose of the First Amendment' of the US Constitution. The media does this by enabling the public to exert 'meaningful control over the political process ' . 2 This reflects both the self-image of the mainstream media and the image that it projects. How to cite this book chapter:

Under the guise of protecting the public, New Labour has brought in a raft of new laws which have been used to restrict the right to protest. These laws, and the legislation that they extend, must be struck from the statute book -and until they are abolished, they should be defied.One notable example is Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which revives police stop and search powers -supposedly to prevent terrorism. In the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, protesters at the US B-52 bomber base at Fairford, Gloucestershire, were stopped and searched half a dozen times a day under Section 44. One of them was 11-year-old Isabelle Ellis Cockcroft.At the 2005 Labour Party Conference in Brighton, over 600 people were stopped and searched under Section 44. John Catt, a war veteran then aged 80, was stopped for wearing a T-shirt that said: 'Bush Blair Sharon to be tried for war crimes torture human rights abuse'. The police issued him with a Section 44 notice saying he had been stopped for 'carrying plackard [sic] and T-shirt with anti-Blair info'.At the same Labour Party Conference, Walter Wolfgang, then 82, was roughly ejected from the conference for shouting 'nonsense' at the foreign secretary, Jack Straw. When he tried to re-enter the building (he was a fully accredited delegate), Mr Wolfgang was stopped under Section 44, but was not searched for any 'terrorist' items (the ostensible purpose of the section), demonstrating that the Terrorism Act was being used for repressive rather than protective purposes.Walter Wolfgang later returned to the conference hall to a hero's welcome, and has since been elected to the Labour Party National Executive Committee. The government has not had it all its own way.Another dramatic reverse involved the 'Fairford Coach Case'. On 22 March 2003, three coaches carrying 120 anti-war protesters from London to the US airbase at Fairford were stopped by the police, searched and then forced to return to London under police escort. (The police said they feared a breach of the peace would occur otherwise.) On 13 December 2006, the Law Lords ruled that the police had violated the protesters' rights to freedom of expression and lawful assembly.In my own case, I am appealing to the European Court of Human Rights against my conviction under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which restricts protest around Parliament. In April 2006 I was found guilty of the crime of organising a remembrance ceremony without police permission for Iraqi civilians and British soldiers who have died as a result of the invasion of Iraq.