Ban on protests outside Lib-Dem party conference in Liverpool
Sep 17 2010 by Marc Waddington, Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Echo arena and BT convention centre 300
TRADE unions have been banned from protesting outside the Liberal Democrat conference which gets under way in the city this weekend.
Union leaders attacked the ban as an “outrageous” restriction on freedoms enjoyed since the signing of the Magna Carta.
The Lib-Dems deny the ban is at their request, claiming the decision was the police’s on “safety grounds”.
The police claim that the area around the Arena is “not suitable for protest of any size”, although demonstrations were allowed outside the venue during last year’s TUC conference and the National Rail Conference.
Merseyside trade union campaigner Alec McFadden said there could be no excuses for denying the public the right to express their anger at coalition cuts.
He said: “It’s an outrage, a disgrace. Since the Magna Carta, every person in this country is entitled to petition and argue with ministers.”
A TUC spokesman added: “Our regional secretary had a number of meetings with police and other people inspecting the site, and there was no reason to question we wouldn’t be able to protest outside the Arena.
“But recently we had a meeting with the police, who are piggy in the middle in this, who told us they had been advised by the landowner [ACC Liverpool] that the client [the Lib-Dems] has refused us access to carry out our protest on their land.”
