Peace and Progress Party launched
Actress Vanessa Redgrave and the father of a Guantanamo Bay detainee launched a new political party in London yesterday.
The Peace and Progress Party said it would field candidates at the general election with the brief to fight for human rights.
It will fight for a handful of seats on the ticket of releasing terrorist suspects held without trial at Belmarsh prison in south London.
Over 300 people attended the inaugural conference in a hotel near Russell Square, central London, on Saturday.
Sitting on the steering committee of the fledgling party was Oscar winner Ms Redgrave, her actor brother Corin, and Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam.
Mr Begg said: “There is no other party which is talking about human rights, no other party which is talking about these important issues.
“There is so much going on in the world which shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
Moazzam has been held without trial for three years at Guantanamo Bay.
Ms Redgrave said she hoped the party would provide “a massive boost” to human rights groups in the UK.
“People think that human rights concern very few people but it is part of all human life,” she added.
“It is to do with security, education, immigration, asylum, all sorts of issues.”
Peace and Progress calls for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, an firm affirmation of the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions, the cancellation of third world debt, the abolition of weapons of mass destruction and the repeal of anti-asylum legislation including the terrorism 2000 bill and the asylum, immigration and counter-terrorism bill.
Attending the event were international human rights lawyers, journalist Mark Seddon and Adam Price, MP for Plaid Cymru, the man leading the camping to impeach the Prime Minister for gross misconduct over the Iraq war.
