Campaigns & events

Our OPEN STATEMENT TO THE MEDIA was published in the Mirror at the end of April 2003

The following people signed it:

Tony Benn, Lord Richard Rogers, Dame Beryl Bainbridge, Bruce Kent CND, actors Corin Redgrave, Emma Thompson, Greg Wise, Ian Kershaw, Julie Christie, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Miriam Karlin, Phyllida Law, Roger Lloyd Pack and Susannah York; writers and poets Adrian Mitchell, Andrew Jefford, Benjamin Zephaniah, Brett Khar, China Mieville, Dr Donald Kenrick, Gillian Slovo, Joseph Schwartz, Maggie Gee, Michael Rosen, Roszika Parke, Susie Orbach and Exiled Writers Ink; playwrights Harold Pinter and Trevor Griffiths; entertainers Fran Healey of Travis, Leon Rosselson, Jeremy Hardy and Mark Steel; MPs Alan Simpson, George Galloway, Ian Gibson, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Lynn Jones and Nigel Jones; MEP Jean Lambert; Jenny Jones Green Group, London Assembly, Dr David Lloyd shadow health minister for Wales, Helen Mary Jones AM, Denis Canavan and Dorothy Grace Elder former members of Scottish Parliament; Christine Shawcroft and Mark Seddon Labour Party NEC; trade union general secretaries Andy Gilchrist FBU, Bill Speirs STUC, Billy Hayes UCW, Bob Crow RMT, Jeremy Dear NUJ, John Edmonds GMB, Mark Serwotka PCS, Mick Rix ASLEF, Paul Mackney NATFHE, Tony Dubbins GPMU, Aidan White International Federation of Journalists; Barry Camfield TGWU ags, Gary Jones GMB, Gerard Coyne TGWU, John Fray NUJ dgs, Joe Morgan GMB, Kevin Curran GMB gen sec elect, Kevin Rowan TUC, Linda Smith FBU, Paul Kenny GMB, Paul McCarthy GMB, Pete Gillard Amicus MSF, Steve Pickering GMB, 16 members STUC general council, FBU exec, SERTUC, PCS ONS branch, PCS DETR, Unison branches Brent, Camden, Greenwich, Islington, London Fire & Emergency; Westminster NUT, Leeds NUT, GMB Holborn, trades councils Brent, Ealing, Slough, Waltham Forest, Watford; Derek Clarke president Tameside NUT, Rahul Patel, Fiona Monkman and Geoff Martin London region Unison (personal capacity), Jean Geldart Tower Hamlets Unison, Malcolm Campbell Croydon Unison Simon Deville Unison vol orgs, Tom Silverlock Unison UCL, John Rogers Lambeth Unison, Jon Woods Portsmouth City Unison; Paul Henderson Leicester & District trades council, Paul Dovey North West London CWU, Judy Griffiths Coventry CWU, Alan Eldrod London City West CWU, Lawrence Huston NI Engineering CWU, Tom Hickey NATFHE University of Brighton, Adrian Colley Brighton NUJ, Tim Malone, BECTU BBC Newsline, Louise Malone NUJ Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, Mike Studely Merseyside NUJ, Mark Lindsey Sheffield NUJ; Bill Rorksley Sheffield Trades Council; immigration and asylum seeker groups Fazil Kawani Asylum Rights Campaign, Don Flynn and Tauhid Pasha Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Mark Brown Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, Barbed Wire Britain, Nottingham Refugee Campaign Group, Manchester Commitee to Defend Asylum Seekers, Brent CDAS, Bristol CDAS, North East Coalition for Asylum Rights, Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers, workers at: Oxford Asylum Welcome, Bexley Council for Racial Equality, Bexley Somali Community Association, Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and Student Action for Refugees; Southall Black Sisters, Elane Heffernan Newham Refugee Forum, Steve Cohen; Asad Rehman and Lindsey German Stop the War Coalition; religious figures rev Arlington Trotman Churches Commission for Racial Justice, rev David J Lowen, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui Muslim Parliament, Father Patrick Walsh, Canon Adrian Slade, members of Society of Friends, members of North London Progressive Jewish Community, Muslim Association of Britain (Manchester); academics Bob Askew, Bob Precher, Carlos Flores, Christopher Tofallis, Glen Rangwala, Gwendolyn Leick, Lionel Caplan, Lynne Segal, Janet Bryan, Jean Scott-Ban, John Molyneux, John Toye, M Compton, Nigel Harris, Pat Caplan, Rachel Sieder, Raf Salkie, Ruth Levitas, S Harris, Tirril Harris, Tom Hicken, Tony Kushner; journalists/writers Amanda Sebestyen, Amin Muglhad, Amena Saleem, Chris Harman, Hilary Wainwright, Jenny Monahan, Martin Bright, Maureen Paton, Mike Marqusee, Nigel Fountain, Paul Foot, Peter Tatchell, Rachel Garden, Rashid Messoudi, Seamus Milne, Sheila Rowbotham, Tariq Ali, Tim Gopsill, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Victoria Brittain; Yvonne Ridley, Julian Petley and Barry White Campaign for Press & Broadcasting Freedom; broadcasters Ali Raiss-Tousi, Lara Parson, Maureen Kendal, Natasha Maw; film makers Don Letts, Ken Loach, Sandhya Suri, Nica Rose Hamblin, Zoe Young; community organisations Peace in Kurdistan, Kurdistan National Congress, Jewish Socialist Group, Campaign Again Criminalising Communities, Maidstone Peace & Reconciliation Group, Iranian Democracy Solidarity Campaign, Indonesian Human Rights Campaign; lawyers Chris Randal, Frances Webber, Gareth Pierce, Henry Blaxland, Jennifer Goodwin, Jim Nichol, Liz Davies, Louise Christian, Mark Henderson, Mark Ness, Sarah Woodhouse, Susan Rowlands and Wendy Petiffer; and many hundreds of other people.

Download a PDF of the statement here