Bush Protest: 'Alliance of Values' must not be betrayed

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 20th Nov 2003

Responding to President Bush's keynote speech yesterday, London's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Sarah Ludford, who joins protesters marching in London today said:

"President Bush is right to say that the American and British peoples have an 'alliance of values' but it is precisely because these values are being betrayed by the 'alliance of Bush & Blair' that protest is generated.

"If there is a true alliance or respect for the values of freedom, how come the US is detaining Blair's fellow Britons without charge or fair trial in Guantanamo Bay?

"Where is the evidence of devotion to multilateralism and the rule of law in the contemptuous treatment of the UN when Bush & Blair rushed to war in Iraq?

"Why is there so little action to build security through toughness not only on terrorism but on the causes of terrorism like poverty and environmental degradation?

"How much faith can we have in President Bush's promise to Blair to bring peace via the Middle East roadmap as re-election pressure mounts back home?

"His warm words leave many British - and American - people cold because theory and practice diverge. This protest is very personal: it's not anti-American but anti-'Bush & Blair'.

Sarah Ludford MEP will be joining protestors marching through London today. She will meet with fellow Liberal Democrats before the march at 1.45pm at the Gandhi statue in Tavistock Square WC1.

Related Link:

Speech to the European Parliament by Sarah Ludford on Bush Protest.