Monday, 11 June 2012 18:28

Written by Alastair Stephens

"No to missiles in London" was the message on Saturday as people marched through Greenwich, reports Alastair Stephens.

A hundred people joined the protest which marched from Oxleas Wood to Black Heath, both places where the Ministry of Defence is planning to station anti-aircraft missiles during the Olympic Games.

Oxleas Wood is a place of special scientific interest and campaigners have in the past had to see off attempts to build roads there

Marchers left Oxleas Wood to follow part of the route taken by the Peasants Revolt to Blackheath. The march was sponsored by Greenwich and Bexley Trades Council, Lewisham and Greenwich CND and Lewisham Stop the War.

Brain Whelan - of the Stop The Olympic Missiles campaign – is a resident of the block where the missiles in Bow are to be stationed. Addressing the rally at the end of the march, he told how he had heard about the missiles through a leaflet and that there had been no consultation.

In fact the MoD had declined to attend a public meeting, claiming they had not made any decisions yet and would consult once they had done so. He also said that as a result of his campaigning he was now being forced from his home.

The rally was also addressed by Dave Potson of the Trades Council, who pointed out that any aircraft that might get shot down if the missiles were used would fall on densely-populated London. He argued that we need to resist the militarisation of public life.

The rally ended with a call to support the protest called in East London on 30 June. http://stoptheolympicmissiles.org/2012/06/06/protest-no-missiles-in-our-community/