Kate Allen, the UK director of Amnesty International, joins “Red Ken” at the Idiotarian Banquet: Why We Have to March Against Dubya.

THOUSANDS of people will take to the streets in Britain next week to voice their anger, frustration and political opposition to President George W Bush’s policies.

Some will criticise these protestors, writing off their views as knee-jerk anti-Americanism. But the critics should think before condemning them.

Why? Because after almost three years of President Bush’s “war on terror” many would argue that the world is now a more dangerous and divided place than it was immediately after 9/11.

Countries don’t protect freedom by attacking hard-won civil liberties, locking up thousands of people without charge or trial, and rushing through ever-more draconian laws.

You don’t win the hearts and minds of the doubters and the disaffected by riding roughshod over human rights.

But you DO provide terrorists and extremists with the kind of propaganda they could only have dreamt of a few years ago.