Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, will speak alongside leading civil liberties campaigners at a public meeting this weekend which will bring together Green Party activists and campaigners from across Britain and Ireland.
The Green Islands Network [1] will join the London Federation of Green Parties for an afternoon conference, Surveillance and Security in Europe, in central London on Saturday [March 14].
Jean Lambert MEP will speak at both sessions of the conference. She will join Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, and Guy Herbert, director of NO2ID, for the opening discussion on surveillance in Europe.
Jean, a longstanding campaigner for civil liberties, said:
"The British Government has spent the past decade carrying out a wholesale assault on our rights and freedoms, from ID cards and the DNA database to detention without trial and infringements on free speech. We are often reminded that the terror threat we face is international – we must think beyond our borders when forming our approach and response to questions of security, and the impact on our liberties, too, and Europe has an important role to play in this.
As Greens, we have a strong and proud tradition of direct action and peaceful protest. This week commendable work by The Guardian newspaper revealed the extent of police surveillance not just of those who join marches and demos, but the journalists who act as the eyes and ears of the public[3]. It was another example of the attack on all our liberties, and it makes this conference even more timely and important. I am looking forward to exchanging experiences and perspectives with Green campaigners from across these islands."
Later in the afternoon, Jean will speak with Steven Agnew, Northern Ireland Green spokesperson on Animal Welfare and Young People, in a session called The Security State – Northern Ireland Today.
Jean said:
"It has been very distressing to see the return of bloodshed to Northern Ireland, and I would like to echo the call for unity made by Brian Wilson MLA on behalf of the Green Party of Northern Ireland. For decades, security has governed the daily lives of all citizens in the six counties; the terrible murders of the two soldiers in Co Antrim on Saturday, and the police officer in Co Armagh on Monday, remind us of that. The insight that Greens from Northern Ireland can bring to this issue will be invaluable as we consider how we should balance public safety in the face of any terrorist threat, with the rights and freedoms which we must all be allowed to enjoy."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Jean is a substitute member of the Civil Liberties committee in the European Parliament, and last month she took part in the landmark Convention on Modern Liberty in London.
[1] Green Islands is the network of Green Parties from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and surrounding islands.
[2] Tony Bunyan is an investigative journalist and writer. He has been the Director of Statewatch since 1990.
[3] Click here for the full story and details of the Guardian investigation into surveillance of the Climate Camp in Kent last August visit .