MP Vaz a Target for Anti-War Protesters

On Saturday (February 6), concerned citizens from across Leicester descended upon Keith Vaz’s newly opened satellite office on Belgrave Road to hold their latest anti-war demonstration.

The protest is was organised by a newly formed group called Leicester Against War. A group that was formed in response to the vote in Parliament in December where all of Leicester and Leicestershire MPs, with the exception of Jon Ashworth, voted to support the bombing of Syria.

Since then, weekly protests have been held by Leicester’s clock tower (between 5.30 and 6.30pm) to call attention to the warmongering antics of Leicestershire’s parliamentary representatives.

One protest organiser explained that Vaz’s office was chosen for their latest protest because of his longstanding commitment to war.

“It is not just his support for the war on Syria that we are upset about. Ever since Vaz was first elected to Parliament in 1987 it seems he has barely missed an opportunity to promote war over peace. Yet when I talk to people about this, very few people seem to be aware of his problematic track record. This, afterall, is the same politican who unveilled the statue of Gandhi on Belgrave Road not so many years ago.”

Former local councillor for TUSC affiliate Leicestershire Independent Councillors Against Cuts, Wayne Naylor, has also supported the ongoing protests and added:

“Vaz’s record on war is truly attrocious. In 1991 Vaz first supported the Gulf War, then changed his mind to oppose it, and within a few days of the war starting he had rejoined the warmongers. Since then his dedication to aiding wars seems only to have grown with his appetite for power.

“Vaz backed the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, provided uncritical support for the US Government’s war on Afghanistan in 2001, and then ignored millions of people marching in the streets to back the War on Iraq.

“In 2011 Vaz sidled up to the Tories to support the bombing of Libya, and in 2014 voted yet again for another bombing campaign in Iraq. Just before Christmas last year he opposed the Labour Party policy decision agreed at their conference by backing the bombing of Syria.

“Especially considering the election of longstanding anti-war activist Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the Labour Party, one wonders whether Vaz is the best person to represent the Labour Party here in Leicester East.”