You can now see us at anytime, day or night, on the Parliament Square Webcam on the BBC website.
Click here to see the latest image from the webcam!
Here is an example, were in one of the tents on the right of the picture.
We’ll be wearing white T-shirts most of the time, but if it’s cold they’ll be covered by jumpers. If you definitely see us, please right-click on the picture, save it and email it to us, thanks!
There are mice at Parliament Square. I noticed them a few months ago when I was hanging out with Brian one evening. They are small and very fast and although they are used to humans and race around your feet, they’re quite twitchy.
When we had brought our food rations back to the tent, we decided to keep the tins and cartons in the entrance, and the other foods, like the bread, rice, pasta, fruit & veg etc. in the inner tent where we sleep so the mice wouldn’t get at them.
That night I heard plenty of mouse noises, scurrying and squeeks, and felt quite chuffed that they knew there was food in the tent with us but they couldn’t have it! I even saw a couple of mice climbing up the inner tent we were in, trying to find a way to the food.
At about 6.30am I woke up, opened my eyes and saw a mouse run over Ben’s clothes! They were in the tent!
I didn’t panic, I wasn’t that bothered because they hide as soon as you move, so they’re more scared of us. I woke Ben up and told him we had mice in the tent, it took a few minutes to register with him as he slowly came round from his sleep! Ben saw the hole they had knawed to get into the tent and pointed it out.
We eventually got out of our tent and took a look at our food, they had nibbled through the ASDA bag and plastic bags of both our loaves of bread, and helped them selves to some peanuts by knawing through the bag. They had also left droppings.
We’ve decided to tear off the bread that has been nibbled and eat the rest since these slices of bread are our breakfast and lunch for the next few days. I also taped up the hole, and found 3 other holes which I taped up too! We’ve also put the food which was in our tent into plastic boxes with lids which we borrowed, and we’re keeping them out of our inner tent from now on!
We rocked up to Parliament Square on Sunday night at about 9pm and started setting up our tent after saying hello to Brian Haw, Barbara and Maria. Then we saw in the start of our campaign which began at midnight. Here’s a video of it all:
Starting Our Campaign from Asylum Stories on Vimeo.
Well, our protest begins at midnight tonight - very exciting!
Ben & I have been planning and preparing the protest with the help from some friends over this last week, getting the right equipment for camping on Parliament Square and making banners and placards. Take a look at some of our preparations!
Protest Preparations from Asylum Stories on Vimeo.
Being web savvy (I’m a Web Developer, usually!) I’ve set-up a Facebook Group for our campaign.
Click here to go to our Parliament Protest Facebook Group.
If you’re on Facebook, please join our group in support! If you’re not on Facebook, please signup then join our group!
Once you’ve joined our Facebook group, you’ll be able to join our discussions, upload photos and videos you might take while visiting us, leave us comments and post links so get stuck in!
Dear Tony Lloyd,
As one of your constituents, I would like to arrange a meeting with you about the plight of refused Asylum Seekers both in Manchester, and the UK.
I am going to be living outside the Houses Of Parliament for 2 weeks from 29th September 2008 to the 12th October 2008 as a protest against the destitution of refused Asylum Seekers. I will be doing this with a friend (also called Ben) and we will be living as destitute Asylum Seekers, sleeping in tents at Parliament Square and eating the contents of a Red Cross food parcel each week.
To read more about our protest and campaign, please see our website: http://asylumstories.co.uk/protest/
I would like to meet you in your office at the Houses Of Parliament during the 2 week period I am living outside. I would also like to bring an asylum seeker with me to explain their situation.
I saw that on 22nd July 2008 you asked a question about the Independent Asylum Commission to the Secretary Of State, so it is clear that you care about this issue.
Please let me know when we can meet as soon as you can since the protest is rapidly approaching!
Yours sincerely,
Ben Gibbs
This letter was sent through WriteToThem.com
One of the most important parts of our protest is that we live as much as possible as destitute Asylum Seekers over the 2 weeks we are at Parliament Square. As well as only eating the contents of a Red Cross food parcel, we will also be “sleeping rough”.
Many refused Asylum Seekers end up destitute, sleeping under bridges or in phone boxes etc. Ben and I have decided that in solidarity with their plight, we will sleep outside, not at a friends house or my wife’s parents flat.
I called the Special Events Team at Charing Cross Police Station a few days ago to let them know what we are planning and to see what we might need to do to get any permission we might need. The officer I spoke to was very understanding about our protest and not in any way antagonistic. He simply told me what we ought to expect if we were to sleep in tents at Parliament Square.
He pointed out that there were byelaws from Westminster Council and the Greater London Authority banning the erection of tents at Parliament Square. This is the Westminster Council Byelaw is here and the Greater London Authority Byelaw is here.
Because of these byelaws, the police officer said that our tents could be searched at any time and removed if found without its owner. If Westminster Council decided to prosecute us, then of course we could be arrested.
Brian Haw and his supporters currently sleep in tents on the pavement on the East side of Parliament Square which is managed by Westminster Council. Many attempts have been made to legally force them off the Square, but none have succeeded. So we will join Brian’s protest. He has already said that we can join him and that he supports our protest aims.
Brian has lived at Parliament Square since 2001 and passionately protests against the British War machine, particularly our acts of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brian has expressed deep concern for people fleeing threatening situations and coming to Britain and is appalled, like many people, at how the Asylum system in Britain treats such Asylum Seekers. Our shared concern and anger at how our country treats foreign people, both in their own nation and in our nation, means that our protests are very closely linked.
Ben and I know of a number of people who have said that they would like to come and join our protest for a night or two during our 2 weeks. We can only point out the above information and that it is at your own risk, though any support is muchly appreciated!
This great short film from grainmedia highlights the misunderstandings around Asylum issues in Britain and presents the facts in an engaging and informative way.
If you want to understand more about why Ben and I are doing this protest, I highly recommend you watch it!
I talked to The Reverend Dr Nicholas Sagovsky the other day about our protest. He is the Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and recently underwent the Endurance Challenge and blogged about his experience. He was very supportive of our protest and will be visiting us when we are at Parliament Square.
Word has been creeping out about our protest and we have recieved a number of emails in support from organisations involved in helping Asylum Seekers. Thanks!
Alan Thornton form Church Action On Poverty has been very helpful by suggesting peopl eto contact and talk to, so big thanks to him too.
Welcome to our Blog!
Ben and I will be updating the blog with news on how plans are going for the protest and while we are living at Parliament Square we will update the blog daily (hopefully!)
So stay tuned! Bookmark this page or subscribe to our Blog Feed.
