The voyage was sold out twoandahalf years ago The Met will devote 5,000 officers to the tour, and about 250 White House Secret Service agents and 150 other US security officers are in the UK overseeing arrangements. The Met has already clashed with the White House over requests to shut down large areas of central London and the City during the visit. Last week, the Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter said the capital's streets would not be permanently closed There was already a "high level of alert" in London. I think one of the most patriotic and democratic things a citizen can do, right now, is march against war and in favour of peace."Organisers claim scores of coaches have now been booked for the march from around the UK and estimate that hundreds of activists will also come from Europe. In an attempt to rebut claims by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that the protests were just "fashionable anti-Americanism", Thursday's march will be led by US anti-war protesters, including Ron Kovic, the Vietnam veteran profiled in Oliver Stone's anti-war movie, Born on the Fourth of July.Mr Kovic said: "I and other Vietnam vets can't help but see a mirror image of the Vietnam tragedy unfolding in Iraq. The coalition has guaranteed the police its event will be peaceful. The SWC, which includes the Muslim Association of Britain and CND, believes the police will allow the march to pass down Whitehall. Last week, President Bush told British journalists he supported the right of Britons to protest."As long as we get a march route that takes us as close to the centre of political power, people will feel they've been allowed to express how they feel," said an SWC official. But as popular support for the march escalated last week, leading the organisers to double the numbers expected, they warned police that the ban could provoke uncontrolled protests and clashes with hardline activists. The police are set to make a dramatic U-turn and allow more than 100,000 anti-Bush protesters to march past Downing Street and Parliament this week, in a major concession to avoid violent clashes with hardline activists. The Metropolitan police last week banned Thursday's Stop the War Coalition (SWC) march from Whitehall, partly because of security fears that al-Qa'ida terrorists could use the march as cover for an attack and partly because of demands for tight security by the White House.
Europe can't be run as if it were a single state with a religious consensus There is no ethical consensus in Europe.". If she fails to make it down the Solent on time, confidence in Cunard will be severely shaken once more.. Labour MEPs say that they are facing defeat this week in a move which could be the first step towards a EU-wide ban on medical research involving human embryos. Objectors claim that the technique is both unnecessary and unethical.The European Parliament, which meets in Strasbourg tomorrow, will be given a report from its industry committee, which favours embryonic stem cell research, provided that it is strictly regulated.The case for it has been pushed mainly by MEPs from the UK, which is now a world leader in this form of research.But opponents, led by Peter Liese, a German Christian Democrat MEP and a pro-life Roman Catholic, will put down an amendment that will in effect prevent the EU funding research projects involving human embryos.Labour MEP David Bowe said: "It is wrong for the European Parliament to be used to impose one ethical view on the whole of Europe. It was due to sail to Southampton some time before Christmas.The effects of the disaster on Cunard's business could be damaging. The cancellation of QM2's maiden voyage would mean returning cash to passengers who have paid between £999 and £26,000 for the privilege of six days on board. The voyage was sold out two-and-a-half years ago.The last time the shipping line staged so grand an event, in December 1994, was for the re-launch of the QE2. But because the re-fit was so delayed, hundreds of passengers who had booked the trip of a lifetime were told to go home, rather than taking a Christmas cruise to America.Cunard has since been trying to rebuild its reputation. The line has not just staked half-a-billion pounds on the new vessel; it is betting its future on a single, vast ship.The first Atlantic liner to be built in three decades was intended to capture the hearts and credit cards of the Americans, who constitute by far the most important cruise market.The programme for QM2's schedule was already looking ambitious before yesterday's tragedy. During that time, Alstom nearly collapsed because of a cash shortage before the French government saved it with a controversial bail-out.Work on the QM2, which stretches the length of four football fields and stands as high as a 23-storey building, was complete, and the ship was just back from its second sea trial. The president of Alstom, Patrick Kron, said he "was devastated by this tragic incident".Construction on the 150,000-ton vessel had been very quick, the Cunard spokesman said, having begun only in January last year. |
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