 | | Pam Heywood |
Manchester City Council initially said that the peace camp wouldn’t be allowed to go ahead in its original spot, Albert Square, but protestors have managed to find a new spot, appropriately enough, in the Peace Gardens. Here, Pam gives her reasons why she’s been moved to make such a stance… "So here I am; a 44 year old hairdresser, mother of two sons and grandmother of one granddaughter, preparing to go on a 72 hour peace camp. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never even been in a tent, let alone in the middle of a city with people I hardly know - what am I doing?  | | Pam's son and comrades before leaving for Iraq |
"Well, some of it is for personal reasons. My eldest son is in the infantry in the British Army and is due to go to Iraq again in a few weeks. When he goes, it will only be a year since he came back. "But it’s more than that. I believe the war in Iraq is an illegal war, based on lies and misinformation. I support our troops wholeheartedly as they do a wonderful job in difficult circumstances, but they should not be there. | "Our main hope is that make the Labour politicians think for themselves, rather than as a herd." | | Pam explains Military Families Against The War's motivation |
"More soldiers die every month and although there is an argument to say that death is a known risk when they join the army, they expect to risk their lives in defence of our country, not as a political pawn of Tony Blair and George Bush. If the occupation of Iraq was a just one, then NATO would have been involved. "Military Families Against The War have arranged a peace camp in Manchester to promote the view that the troops should be withdrawn before we lose more of them, that the occupation of Iraq is not right and that all the lives lost there are the responsibility of the man who pushed for the war in the first place and who lied to get his own way.  | | Pam's placard |
"I feel so strongly about this that this year, I have been on my first demonstration march, have been to parliament to lobby my MP, and now I am preparing to spend three days in a tent to try and make people think about the realities for all of us, especially the families of our servicemen who spend six months of sleepless nights dreading the news, dreading a phone-call from the regiment, all because Tony Blair is a megalomaniac, who wants to be George Bush's best friend and is happy to see more soldiers die rather than admit he was wrong. "Manchester is the site for the peace camp because the Labour Party conference is there from Sunday 24 September and our main hope is that make the Labour politicians think for themselves, rather than as a herd." | 
