By Tony Grew - 20th June 2011
The organisers of a static protest in Parliament Square are seeking ideas on how to create "lasting tributes to the tireless work of Brian Haw".
Haw died on Saturday at the age of 62 in Germany, where he was receiving treatment for cancer.
He was familiar figure to those who work in Westminster, having staged a continuous demonstration against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.
The GLA and Westminster City Council made repeated attempts to evict him and his fellow protesters from the square.
The protest attracts criticism for being an eyesore as well as a noisy disruption to those working near by – including MPs and peers.
But others defended Haw, arguing that Parliament square is precisely the place where demonstrations should be allowed to take place.
The Parliament square peace campaign said it is "considering ideas for a fitting tribute to Brian".
In a statement on the website brianhaw.tv the group said: "We would like as many people as possible to be involved in creating lasting tributes to the tireless work of Brian Haw.
"The nature of any tribute could take many forms."
The group also claimed Haw was "relentlessly persecuted by the authorities which eventually took its toll on his health".
"Parliament, the police, and courts etc, should forever be ashamed of their disgraceful behaviour towards Brian," the group said.
"We know that it was Brian's greatest wish that everyone should take responsiblity to do what they can to stop the government murdering innocent civilians in ongoing illegal wars of aggression.
"It is clear that if everyone showed the same courage as Brian, in challenging this government, that many lives would be saved, now."
Article Comments
Although I have never met him in person I always considered him to be one of my heros in line with Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and other great personalitities who tried to change the world by peaceful means. I like the idea of a memorial sculpture in Parliament square!
The world has lost a very special man, but hopefully his voice will begin to sound even louder now through the efforts of many others.
Angelika Monteux
20th Jun 2011 at 4:50 pm
I would love to see a statue of the man, his hat, placard and his tent in Parliament Square.
When tourists ask why - we will tell them.
Brian - thank you for you inspsiration.
Josh
20th Jun 2011 at 3:41 pm
I think the police should stop filming people paying their last respects to Brian Haw, this is very disrespectful.
Otherwise the best tribute to pay this great man is if all the people paying their last respects film the disrespectful ghouls who are filming them as they lay their tributes, and air the film on a big screen in London, Brian would have loved that!
Zoompad
20th Jun 2011 at 2:30 pm
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