Campaigns

We, the undersigned representatives of organisations working in the children and parenting fields, teachers and members of the wider children’s workforce, health professionals, campaigners, academics, politicians and individuals believe:

An overwhelming majority of Labour members, supporters and left-leaning voters oppose the government’s plans for detention of terrorist suspects for up to 42 days, according to a survey conducted by  Compass.

The survey of 800 people found that:

• 39.89% of respondents favour retention of the current 28 day limit, however a further 45.29% support a return to the pre-2005 limit of 14 days. Only 9.15% support the government’s position for a maximum period of 42 days detention.
• Furthermore 60.22% of respondents do not believe that the additional safeguards of requiring agreement of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and Home Secretary – with the need for a report to Parliament and vote make extending the detention period any more acceptable.
• 76.28% would support the use of intercept evidence in court and 69.38% would support post-charge questioning of terrorist suspects.
• 51.56% of those who responded say they think the Counter-Terrorism Bill will increase the chances of a further terrorist attack on the UK. A mere 9.28% said they thought the legislation would make such an attack less likely.

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Product placement in films, TV programmes and books; spin-offs; text messages; internet pop-ups and advertgames; competitions and special offers… Marketers are coming up with ever more ingenious methods to infuse children’s lives with advertising messages. The child oriented market in the UK has grown to £30billion and has laid roots in every aspect of children’s lives from how they learn to what they eat and how they play.

The Government is proposing to replace the UK’s fleet of Trident nuclear submarines and extend the life of existing missiles in plans that carry an estimated cost of £20bn. But they have given MP’s, scientists and campaigners just three months to weigh up the proposals, due to come before Parliament in mid-March.

Jon Trickett MP, Chair of the Compass Parliamentary Group, has worked to construct an umbrella group of organisations who believe that the case for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent has not been sufficiently made, and that the timeframe for parliamentary approval of the decision is premature and insufficient.

The initiative - RETHINK TRIDENT – is supported by the following organisations: United Nations Association of Great Britain, One World Trust, Friends of the Earth, Scientists for Global Responsibility, War on Want, National Union of Students, British American Security Information Council (BASIC), SERA, MEDACT, People and Planet, Greenpeace, Oxford Research Group, CND, UNISON and CWU.

RETHINK TRIDENT released a statement endorsed by a Committee of 100 including faith leaders; academics; prominent politicians from all parties; leading authors and poets; musicians; and celebrities.