by Sharp, Janis
Many songs were written about Gary, including one in the form of a letter to Alan Johnson by Dan Bull, a well-known musician and songwriter who has Asperger’s.
Young American Nathan Pitt, who has Asperger’s, went to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s state director Jim Molinari and begged him to allow Gary to remain in the UK. A video of this was posted on YouTube and everyone I spoke to about it said it had brought tears to their eyes.
A Swedish film on Gary was posted on YouTube and cited him as a hero.
I was starting to think that we might not need our hard-won judicial review of Home Secretary Alan Johnson’s decision. There was an election looming, and the key players in the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties had taken up Gary’s cause, so we were naturally desperate for them to win as they were our best hope.
The minority of real socialists left in the Labour Party – people like Tony Benn – supported Gary, but real socialists are now almost never given Cabinet positions in the New Labour government.
Zena and Nick Clegg asked me to write a piece for the Lib Dem book Why Vote Liberal Democrat?, which I did. However, I didn’t say who I would vote for, as actions speak louder than words and I needed action from principled politicians who would live up to their promises.
• • •
I was angry that prior to Labour being elected Jack Straw had said that the Queen’s prerogative was undemocratic and should never be used – yet once elected, the Queen’s prerogative was exactly what Labour used to bring in this horrendous extradition treaty.
Although it was the safest Labour seat ever, I decided to stand against Jack Straw in the general election, with no hope or wish to become an MP, but purely to highlight the betrayal of our civil liberties and to keep Gary’s case in the public eye at this crucial point in time.
Paul Stevenson, whom I encountered on Twitter but had never met, travelled 200 miles to help me get nominations as he had lived in the area and knew people there. Paul is an incredible man. He has Tourette’s and campaigns to dispel the ignorance that exists about this condition. He is also a prize-winning photographer for, among others, the National Trust. Paul’s wife is a schoolteacher and following unforeseen circumstances they adopted Paul’s two young grandchildren.
I travelled up to Blackburn on the train to present my nomination papers. The ultimate destination of the train we were travelling on was Glasgow Central station. I hadn’t been to Glasgow since my mum died in 1980 but it was as though a bolt of lightning hit me. A well of tears suddenly flooded from the depths of my soul when I saw the destination of the train. I suddenly remembered arriving in London with Gary when he was just six years old. I wanted to be able to somehow go back in time to change everything that had happened. I had a desperate urge to just grab Gary and take him back to Glasgow to safety.
Logically I know that Gary would be no safer in Glasgow than in London but our birth town instinctively felt like safety to me and a depth of emotion was unleashed that totally overwhelmed me.
Because of a volcanic dust cloud from Iceland all UK flights were cancelled, so the train was jam-packed, with no available seats. When the train was about to leave we sat in someone else’s reserved seats rather than standing but Virgin decided to delay the train departure by fifteen minutes, so the holder of the reserved tickets arrived late and apologetically claimed his seats back.
I thought we’d have to stand all the way to Blackburn, but the lady serving tea told us we could sit in the first-class dining carriage. It was a good journey for us after all and tea and sandwiches were served, which was totally unexpected and so appreciated.
We arrived in Blackburn and went straight to the Town Hall, handed in my papers and paid the £500 deposit. When we came out I talked to some people in Blackburn and asked what changes really mattered to them which they believed a good politician could help them to achieve. Among the things that bothered people most were potholes in the road, being free from the debt of student loans, and the lack of work and money. A woman who was a carer for a Down’s syndrome child put civil liberties high on the agenda. Her other priority was more help for people with mental health issues and their carers. When I asked a student about civil liberties she said that she wasn’t really political and never thought about that.
Many people I spoke to had no intention of voting as they no longer had faith in any politicians. However, undecided voters were waiting to listen to the first ever UK televised leaders’ debates before deciding who to vote for.
We then headed off for Radio Lancashire, where I’d been asked to do a short interview. The interviewer basically asked me only one question several times over and seemed to want me to say that I was standing merely to gain more publicity for Gary and that I wasn’t really interested in civil liberties. He was wrong: I’ve always cared deeply about civil liberties. I believe that we all have to stand up and speak out in order to stop our civil liberties being eroded faster than we could ever have thought possible. It reminded me of Orwell’s 1984 and how the majority of people are compliant until it’s too late.
After a hectic day we eventually headed back to the railway station to go home. We changed at Preston and found that our train was over an hour late. There were a lot of photographers and newsmen on the platform; one of them recognised me and we started chatting. It turned out that they were permanently travelling around with Gordon Brown during his election campaign.
As Brown had been rehearsing for the leader’s debate, to prevent the press from becoming bored the Labour Party had arranged for them to spend the day with Peter Mandelson, who had put on a dance show in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. The journalists said that Peter Mandelson was a pretty good dancer and that they were all kept well entertained and were even given ice cream.
The journalist we were chatting to was just as concerned as us about the erosion of civil liberties – we spent almost an hour talking and before we knew it the train had arrived. We got into Euston station well over an hour late but got back home just in time to see the televised leaders’ debate with David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown.
I constantly needed new ways to keep Gary’s case as high profile as possible and arranged to release ninety-nine balloons from Westminster Bridge on the river Thames, facing the Houses of Parliament, on May Day.
May Day has lots of connotations, both historically and politically. It is to mark Labour Day, which advocates eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest.
‘Mayday’ is also the word used as an emergency distress call: this was an emergency, Gary was in distress, and we were desperately calling for help. May also featured in my mum’s Christian name, Mary Mae, and coincidentally also in the surname of Theresa May, who within weeks was Home Secretary when a Conservative-led coalition became our new government.
The reason for us releasing ninety-nine balloons was based on the German band Nena’s song ‘99 Red Balloons’, which was a story about the military mistaking ninety-nine red balloons for an invasion by UFOs, triggering a nuclear response that resulted in the destruction of our world, leaving only an apocalyptic aftermath.
Ninety-nine balloons seemed appropriate because of Gary’s obsession with UFOs and his search for information on them via NASA and Pentagon computers that led to US misinterpretation and overreaction.
I persuaded Gary to come along that day. Lots of our friends from Twitter also joined us for the release of the balloons.
Young tourists walking past us on the bridge inhaled some of the helium to make their voices sound high like a child’s, which made everyone laugh.
Sally Williams of ITV’s London Tonight, who had highlighted Gary’s case for years, filmed the event. It was sunny but windy by the Thames and the balloons flew over Parliament and soared higher and higher in the sky.
We used environmentally friendly balloons and tiers that would not land in the sea or kill birds or animals as ordinary balloons can and often do.
The sun con
tinued to shine; it became warmer and we all walked on to Trafalgar Square. By chance, Lib Dem candidate Paul Burstow was there campaigning for election. Lots of people interviewed us and everyone was supportive of Gary but he wouldn’t speak. Our friend Oliviea stood in the sun on the steps of Trafalgar Square and campaigned loudly for Gary with a megaphone she had borrowed from the Lib Dems, which led to journalists from all over the world wanting interviews with Gary and me. Gary still wouldn’t speak.
In Trafalgar Square we met a young woman from Australia who had been told she was seriously ill, with a poor prognosis, so she had decided to travel around the world on her own, to the surprise of her husband and children. She wanted to know all about Gary and went to an Australian pub afterwards with Lucy and Free Gary supporters and they all had an amazing day. It was a stark reminder that we weren’t the only ones with a fight for life on our hands.
The balloon release was televised and as well as looking beautiful, it helped to keep Gary’s case to the fore during the election campaign. I carried on doing interviews. Russian, Australian and French TV stations covered Gary’s case and Dutch TV did a lengthy feature on it, as did The One Show on BBC1, with Karen and me participating.
• • •
The general election was held on 6 May and we travelled up to Blackburn as a matter of courtesy to hear the results.
Jack Straw won the election in Blackburn as everyone knew he would, but when we all stood on stage for it to be announced, I shouted out ‘Free Gary McKinnon!’ knowing that it would be transmitted on TV stations all around the world.
All the candidates then had to take it in turn to give a little speech. I spoke about how the 2003 extradition treaty was the biggest betrayal of British citizens by their own government, and the audience applauded loudly.
This May election was going to be by far the most important election ever for us: we needed a government that had the guts to say no to the US and refuse to extradite Gary.
CHAPTER 17
ALL CHANGE
On 7 May 2010 the Conservatives ‘won’ the election but failed to gain an overall majority. This made it a hung parliament. It was clear that a coalition would have to be formed but it wasn’t clear which political party the Lib Dems and the smaller parties would attach to. Over the next three days talks continued, until the Conservative–Lib Dem coalition government emerged.
On 11 May Gordon Brown left Downing Street with his wife Sarah and their two beautiful children, who had never really been seen in the limelight before. The family looked lovely together and people warmed to them as they made their dignified exit.
Journalists of all political persuasions felt that had Gordon Brown been filmed with his children during the election, he would have had attracted significantly more support from the masses.
We were overjoyed when David Cameron became Prime Minister, as we firmly believed that Gary was now safe and that forum would finally be introduced as promised, to protect others against extradition. David Cameron had raised Gary’s case during the election campaign:
I simply see no compassion in sending him away to serve a lengthy prison sentence, thousands of miles away from his home, his family and his friends.
If he has questions to answer, there is a clear argument to be made that he should answer them in a British court.
The Extradition Act was put in place to ensure terrorists didn’t escape justice. It was never intended to deal with a case like Gary’s.
It should still mean something to be a British citizen – with the full protection of the British Parliament, rather than a British government trying to send you off to a foreign court.
This case raises serious questions about the workings of the Extradition Act, which should be reviewed.
On 13 May I was told during an interview with Three Counties Radio that the BBC had rung Gary’s solicitor, Karen Todner, but that Karen’s husband, a barrister, had answered and had told them that the extradition treaty and Gary’s case had formed part of the coalition discussions. We were bowled over by this news.
When we heard that Dominic Grieve was being made Attorney General we were ecstatic. He had not only spoken up for Gary many times, including at the Conservative Party conference, he had also fought hard for forum to be introduced, to end the gross inequality of the 2003 extradition treaty:
The Gary McKinnon case throws into sharp relief the crude and clumsy extradition procedures Britain now has in place.
The Extradition Act was introduced after 9/11 so that we could fast-track terrorist suspects to face trial abroad. The intention was reasonable. But it was never intended to operate in cases like this, diluting the safeguards protecting such a vulnerable man – and a British citizen at that.
Ministers must make every effort to see justice done for Gary McKinnon.
David Cameron was the new Prime Minister. Theresa May was Home Secretary, the most powerful woman in British politics. And Nick Clegg was Deputy PM, and had said of Gary during the election campaign:
It is wrong. It is simply wrong for our government to have signed a treaty in secret which sells our rights down the river while protecting the rights of American citizens. It is certainly wrong to send a vulnerable young man to his fate in the United States when he could and should be tried here instead. It is simply a matter of doing the right thing.
Our happiness was boundless when Theresa May adjourned the upcoming judicial review and put a halt on extradition to allow her to personally consider all of Gary’s medical evidence, including the very newest medical evidence that no one had yet seen.
We were the happiest we had been for years and wept with joy as we felt our nightmare was finally, at long last, coming to an end.
More and more primetime interviews took place and were being repeated on the hour on News 24. Support for Gary was at an all-time high. The journalists and interviewers said they had never seen me look so happy, and I was.
• • •
On 22 May, Wilson and I were attending the wedding of our friends Pauline, who was Scottish, and Steve Ballam, from Enfield, who was the drummer in our band many years ago. They were both in the midst of adopting Christopher, their little autistic boy they had fostered since shortly after his birth.
Thanks to all the interviews I’d been doing, I’d had no time to buy anything to wear. On the morning of the wedding I went into Chez, a French clothes shop in Enfield Town, and bought a beautiful off-white three-quarter-length flowing silky open jacket that had delicate black and clear rhinestones and sequins sewn onto the sleeves and on part of the front.
We had five minutes to get to the wedding, which was being held just around the corner in Gentleman’s Row, in the historic heart of west Enfield. It has a river running through it that had families of ducks and swans swimming under the little bridges on this bright sunny day. The open space is surrounded by beautiful old buildings, one of which is the register office that Steve and Pauline were getting married in.
We got to the door of the hall where the marriage was to take place, just in time. When we walked in I saw a familiar-looking dark-haired young woman on the stage, ready to conduct the ceremony. I couldn’t believe it.
‘Look, Wilson! It’s Rebecca! How can Rebecca be marrying Pauline and Steve? She’s an actress.’
‘Are you sure it’s Rebecca?’
‘Yes, look! She hasn’t changed. It’s Rebecca from Lunar Girl.’
I walked over to Rebecca to say hello before the ceremony got underway.
‘Janis!’ she exclaimed.
‘Hi, Rebecca, I can’t believe seeing you here, and that you are marrying our friends! It’s surreal. How can you be conducting a wedding ceremony when you’re an actress?’
Rebecca laughed as she said, ‘I was between acting jobs and I saw an ad looking for people to train to marry people and I thought, that sounds interesting, and I was able to do it at the weekends, so it was perfect and helps pay the bills.’
I looked around as I could h
ear Wilson calling my name in a half-spoken, half-whispery voice. He was staring at me, pointing and signalling to tell me to look at my jacket and to take it off but although it was a beautiful day, I wasn’t too hot, so I couldn’t think why he was saying this, unless he really hated my jacket.
When I walked back to my seat Wilson whispered to me urgently, ‘There’s a huge skull on the back of your jacket.’
‘What do you mean a skull?’
‘A skull! … A huge black skull on the back of your jacket. Look!’
I took my jacket off and looked, and there it was: a huge skull made of sequins and rhinestones, with the words ‘Challenge Everything’ written below.
I started laughing and put it back on as it was too late to do anything about it. In spite of it being a skull, I still thought it was beautiful, although maybe not really what anyone would expect to see worn at a wedding. And the words ‘Challenge Everything’ kind of suited where my head was at the moment.
I looked up and saw Pauline staring at Rebecca with a puzzled expression.
Just before the ceremony Pauline and Rebecca had gone into the back of the register office to sign papers and Pauline had said, ‘I know you from somewhere, how do I know you?’
After much confusion they both pointed at each other and said in unison, ‘Janis and Wilson!’ and they both laughed.
Pauline had seen Rebecca in our Lunar Girl film and now, knowing who was going to marry her and Steve, she got a fit of the giggles. Pauline has the kind of laugh that infects everyone around. The wedding was beginning to seem more like Four Weddings and a Funeral but you know what, the atmosphere was just so good that I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
Christopher, the little autistic boy who Steve and Pauline were adopting, had been chosen to give his mummy away. However, after he did, Christopher decided that he wanted to stand and to be married along with them. He was upset when he was taken back to sit on his aunt’s knee, so he started calling out to them.