Every week Parliament sees a lobby from various interest groups who come to London to make their voices heard and let the MP’s know what they think the Government should do. Many of them bring banners and march on the streets outside. Just last week pensioners from Portsmouth joined a mass rally at the Methodist Hall in Westminster and I met a delegation in the House of Commons where we had a full and frank discussion.This is one of the freedoms that we enjoy as part of a democratic society.

Unfortunately it is not the same all over the world. In Burma thousands of monks filled the streets in peaceful protest opposing a regime where child soldiers, torture and detention are all commonplace. Who can forget the blood soaked images on our televisions of the brutal put down of their protest. Police and military charged in with baton and gunfire and admitted to killing 10 and arresting 2,000. (Although of course independent groups such as Amnesty suggest both figures are far higher)And we were only able to see these images because of the bravery of men and women who smuggled out video coverage.

The leader of the National League of Democracy in Burma is Aung San Suu  Kyi who is just completing her 12th year under house arrest.To mark this milestone Amnesty have named the day in her honour and have called on the UN to implement an arms embargo on Burma.This is an opportunity for the UN to really show what it is made of – this embargo must become a reality. We need to show a united front and make sure countries like China join in this too. Democracy is not just for us here in the UK, the right to peaceful protest is a human right for all.