Andrew Murray, Chair of Stop the War Coalition
Press Release: 11th December 2015
At its annual fundraiser dinner, Stop the War Chair Andrew Murray will say:
“Stop the War has faced a hurricane of malicious attacks in recent weeks, largely as a proxy means of trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.
These attacks serve only to distract from the government’s crumbling case for war in Syria – and the fact that our movement has been proved right in its campaigns against the disastrous conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
The hundreds of thousands of dead in Iraq, the collapse of society in one country after another, the refugees drowning in the Mediterranean as they flee Libya, the hundreds of dead and maimed British soldiers are on the conscience of the war-addict politicians, not Stop the War.
Stop the War has nothing to apologise for and much to be proud of:
We are proud of our role in fighting for peace and social justice alongside the Muslim communities of Britain. We are proud that we brought tens of thousands of young people into political activity for the first time. We are proud to have worked with the courageous and unprecedented Military Families Against War movement.
Most of all we are proud that we gave a voice for millions of British citizens who knew better than the political elite – who knew that the Afghan war was a mistake, who believed they were being lied to about Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” and who now know that the bombing in Syria will do nothing but add to the cycle of violence that has scarred British policy this century.
It is a pleasure to welcome Jeremy Corbyn, who has been part of the backbone of Stop the War from the start. He is among friends here tonight. And we know that the quarter of a million people who voted for him to become Leader of the Labour Party did so because of his stand against war, not in spite of it.
That is reflected in the fact that most Labour MPs, most shadow cabinet members and most Labour Party members have supported his principled stand against attacking Syria. This unity between a mass campaigning movement and the leadership of the Labour Party clearly makes some uncomfortable. Their New Year’s resolution needs to be to get used to it.”
Read John Harris’ interview with Andrew Murray in the Guardian…
Source: Stop the War Coalition
