Don't worry too much guys, freedom of assembly has not been permanently banned. It's just for today, to stop those pesky antiwar protestors pestering George Bush as he visits London:
"London police have announced a ban on anti-war campaigners hoping to protest against President George Bush's visit to Downing Street this Sunday."
Still, however, the subversion of democracy and our traditional rights becomes so blindingly obvious that it's strange how so many people seem to be missing it. As the legendary playwright, and ardent antiwar dissident, Harold Pinter puts it (and by the way, google his acceptance speech of the Nobel Prize for Literature: pure class):
"In what is supposed to be a free country the Stop the War Coalition has every right to express its views peacefully and openly. This ban is outrageous and makes the term 'democracy' laughable."
He's right. Free, nonviolent protest just ... banned? Like that?! What the hell happened? Did I miss a meeting?! Is it OK, in a supposedly democratic state, to deny people the expression of their opinion?
Did a totalitarian dictator take over or something?
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