200 Protest Outside British PM's Residence

[reprehensor]

About 200 protesters have demonstrated outside British Prime Minister Tony Blair's residence in London to demand an independent inquiry into why Britain went to war in Iraq.

Chanting anti-Blair slogans, the protesters Saturday also burned a copy of the Hutton Report - a judicial inquiry that criticized the British Broadcasting Corporation for a controversial news report about the decision to go to war.

Meanwhile, thousands of BBC employees have paid for an ad in one of London's largest newspapers in defense of former director general Greg Dyke, who quit after the release of the Hutton Report.

The full page ad in Saturday's Daily Telegraph said the BBC staff was dismayed at Mr. Dyke's resignation, but determined to maintain his vision for an independent news organization that serves the public above all else.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=CA52A98D-D982-41B7-B6EF4DE41FC15715

[NJCher]

1. I just love this

I would have loved to see the look on Tony Blair's face as those protestors stood outside his house. Maybe he thought the whitewash was going to end the pressure.

And I admire the BBC employees who kicked in on the purchase of the ad.


Cher

[IndianaGreen]

2. Same here!

Blair wants to turn the BBC into a vapid American clone.

[SodoffBush]

3. Some photos of that protest

A protester holds a placard picturing US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites), during a London protest against the US and British-led war in Iraq (news - web sites). Both leaders have been nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.(AFP/Adrian Dennis)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040201/photos_wl_uk_afp/040201032848_zcih3rod_photo2




BBC employees hold pictures of Director General Greg Dyke as they stage a walk out and protest outside the Television Centre headquarters in White City, London, January 29, 2004. REUTERS/Toby Melville




London protest : A protester stands outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London wearing a mask of British Prime Minister Toiny Blair. (AFP/Jim Watson)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040129/photos_us_rank_afp/040129005720_ekugihar_photo0

[Mari333]

4. No "free speech" zones yet eh?

The PM can actually see the disgruntled and angry people and not have them stuck thousands of yards away from the citizenry?
If I hear one more person holler to me "THE USA IS THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD EVERYONE WANTS TO COME HERE" I may scream.
I usually ask them if they have ever been anywhere ELSE in the world BUT the USA. They always say NO
Good on ya, Brits who still have the RIGHTS to protest without being pushed back a mile into some arena where the authourities club you into submission unlike here where little old ladies are clubbed and jailed for exerting their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
and be careful Brits, cause if your free press dies like ours did, you soon wont be able to protest legally like this.

[saigon68]

5. The Poodle and his Master

Outrageous

[Jacobin]

6. And Steve Bell's incomparable take on the Muzzling of the BBC