19 June 2011

Brian Haw dies



For the best part of six years Brian Haw was a part of my daily life. Twice a day I would pass his protest – until I left work at the end of last year.., It was an eyesore that attracted plenty of idiots, but as far as I was concerned Haw was exercising a right to peaceful protest. I therefore had no problem with him doing what he was doing.

The Guardian and other papers are reporting that Brian Haw, has died after "a long hard fight" against lung cancer. The 62-year-old died in his sleep on Saturday in Germany, where he had been receiving treatment.

Haw began his protest opposite the Houses of Parliament on 2 June 2001.
The camp was initially a response to economic sanctions and British and US bombing raids on Iraq, but it grew in scope after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq that followed.

I didn’t agree with a lot that the protest was about but I admire Haw’s tenacity. Now that he has died I daresay that the protest will be gone soon. Somehow Parliament Square will not be the same.

4 comments:

Kay Dennison said...

What a loss! I really respect his tenacity!

jams o donnell said...

I agree. He didn't give up and that is to be admired

kellie said...

An interesting post on the kind of treatment he'd been receiving here.

jams o donnell said...

Bloody hell Kellie. Bloody charlatans trading on false hoped. Bastards the lot of them