Get ready for Cromwell Day

Cromwell day will take place in exactly 9 weeks from today, on the 20th of April.

The website 'You've been Cromwelled' has the details, but here's the story:

What is Cromwell Day?
Cromwell Day is going to be a day of national protest against the thieves in Parliament. Not only are we going to be protesting against their abuse of the expenses system, we are also going to be protesting against their morally corrupt ways.We will be marching on the Houses of Parliament, and are also calling for a Day of National Civil Disobedience so that people who cannot make it to London can protest locally.
Civil Disobedience is a form of peaceful protest. For more details of what we are asking people to do please read further down.

When is Cromwell Day?
Cromwell Day is going to be on the 20th April 2010. Why the 20th April? In 1653 on that exact date Oliver Cromwell made a speech where he dismissed Parliament, so it is a historic day and is very appropriate for what we want to achieve.

Where is Cromwell Day?
Primarily the Cromwell Day protest will be in London, however not everyone can be there so we are aslo calling for a Day of National Civil Disobedience in support of our cause.

What can I do to help?
Come down to London on the 20th April and be part of what could be potentially be a very great, historic event. Other than that, we are asking for donations (not only financial), so we can move the Camapign forward as well as promote it. We are looking for volunteers to help us out on the day, but we are also looking for campaigners, any donations of spare time etc. For more information please see the Support us page. If you can't make it to London then take part in the planned Civil Disobedience.

What do you mean by Civil Disobedience?
From Wikipedia:
Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power. It is one of the primary methods of nonviolent resistance. In its most nonviolent form (in India, known as ahimsa or satyagraha) it could be said that it is compassion in the form of respectful disagreement.
 
So you want me to break the law?
To a degree yes. However we're not asking you to go on a murderous rampage, all we are asking is that for one day only you do not pay tax of any kind. Remember it is your taxes that fund the troughs the pigs of Parliament feed from. See the list below to see what we mean by Civil Disobedience:

• Don't go to work.
  When you work you get paid, when you get paid you pay taxes. Those taxes are abused by MP's. Take the day off but do not book it as holiday as your holiday pay is also taxed. Take unpaid leave. If you are an essential worker eg. Doctor, Nurse, Fireman, Police etc we are asking you to go to work but work for free like a day of volunteering. We appreciate times are hard but we think this is for the greater good. 

• Don't do any shopping.
  When you buy goods you are paying VAT. Vat is tax, tax funds the troughs of Parliament. Also if there are no customers, then the workers at the shop have the opportunity to march with us. If you really need to go to the shops for essential goods refuse to pay the VAT on the items. Explain to the shopkeeper that as a form of protest you do not want to fund the pigs in Parliament any longer. We are going to be writing to retail companies asking them to allow customers to buy goods without VAT. We will publish a list of companies that support our cause.

But that will damage the already unstable economy!
Yes it will have an affect on the economy but on a far lesser scale than the damage caused by the MP's and government backed banks. MP's and the government have used our money to bail out the banks from impending doom, a scenario that would not have existed if the government controlled the banks correctly. Don't forget, your money is being used to reward greed in the banks, and the banks that are part-owned by the tax payer are still charging extortionate bank fees. Again supported by government and the courts.

What about the Public Order Act?
For those of you who do not know what the Public Order Act is here is a brief summary, and you can find more information here.

• Section 11 - Advance Notice of Public Processions
  requires at least 6 clear days' written notice to be given to the police before most public processions, including details of the intended time and route, and giving the name and address of at least person proposing to organise it; creates offences for the organisers of a procession if they do not give sufficient notice, or if the procession diverges from the notified time or route
• Section 12 - Imposing Conditions on Public Processions
  provides police the power to impose conditions on processions "to prevent serious public disorder, serious criminal damage or serious disruption to the life of the community"
• Section 13 - Prohibiting Public Processions
  Chief Officer Police has the power to ban public processions up to three months by applying to local authority for a banning order which needs subsequent confirmation from the Home Secretary.
• Section 14 - Imposing Conditions on Public Assemblies
  provides police the power to impose conditions on assemblies "to prevent serious public disorder, serious criminal damage or serious disruption to the life of the community", but the conditions are limited to the specifying of:
  
  
  
  • the number of people who may take part
  • the location of the assembly, and
  • its maximum duration.
  
  
  

Of course we will be making this application, however we do not envisage getting the permission granted to hold this protest. That said as we are calling for a day of National Civil Disobedience the march will be taking place regardless. The march is a peaceful one and is only targeting Members of Parliament and no members of the local community. If permission to protest is denied please still attend, if we are brave our voices will be heard! Don't be mistaken, the Establishment will try everything in their power to prevent this protest from happening, not because the protest is wrong but because they are protecting themselves.

What do you hope to achieve with this campaign?
The primary objective of this campaign is to make our politicians aware that we are tired of being taken advantage of and that we know the General Election is close and how they react to this campaign will determine how we vote.

What do I wear on Cromwell Day?
If you are coming to London to help protest then we are asking that you come dressed all in black and wear a pig mask of some description. Why all in black? It is symbolic of mourning and we are mourning the death of our Parliament. The pig masks are self-explanatory.


9 weeks is plenty of notice to get yourself organised.

CF will be there. Will you?

_