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Last year, Stop the War organised a protest by thousands when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Liverpool.
Yesterday, Mr Holt wrote to JMU urging them to cancel the lecture.
He wrote: “It was Lord Goldsmith’s advice to Tony Blair and the Cabinet in 2003 that an attack on Iraq was legal that allowed Blair to send the troops into action.
“The result of that war has seen the deaths of over 655,000 Iraqi civilians and a country and culture in ruins.
“Lord Goldsmith must be the only legal mind in the world to say the war was legal.
“The then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, resigned, saying he thought the war was illegal. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, said the war was illegal.
“We say Lord Goldsmith has blood on his hands and is indirectly responsible for the carnage in Iraq and is someone unsuitable to be invited to address a Roscoe Lecture. Are you sure you want someone who is a possible war criminal to address your lecture?”
But JMU last night said it was in the spirit of public debate and democracy to hold the lecture.
A spokeswoman said: “For over a decade, the Roscoe Lecture Series has enabled audiences to hear speakers from all walks of life and all political opinions. That’s what makes these lectures so important. LJMU is a university founded on the values of freedom of speech and encouraging intellectual debate.
“As an academic institution, it’s our duty to enable people to air lawfully-held views and engage in open and positive discussions.”
Former Roscoe Lecture speakers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Lech Walesa, former President of Poland; Greg Dyke, former Director General of the BBC; astronomer Sir Patrick Moore; and Gerard Houllier, former manager of Liverpool FC.
deborahjames@dailypost.co.uk
Source:
icLiverpool
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