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SWP SCUM HELP COPS NICK WOMBLES...

Rascalling Pixie | 30.09.2001 22:39

SWP scum...

Evil SWP and their front group Globalise Resistance (GR) today helped police officers in Brighton arrest four WOMBLE activists at the Labour party conference.

Tempers flared as the cops (who had been previously asked by SWP/GR to arrest the WOMBLES should they turn-up!!!) aided by SWP/GR stewards surronded around ten WOMBLES as they were "womblin up" with-in the main march at Sundays demonstartions.

GR, showing their true colours by opposing any form of direct action, and wanting to monopolise the movement into placard waving, mega-phone ranting marching clones, had been in close contact with the cops weeks before the demonstrations, telling them that anyone wearing masks was nothing to do with them and should be arrested.

"Whilst this behaviour is disgusting, we ought not to be surprised as this is what the Trots do. They are scum" said one activist who witnessed the arrests.

Rascalling Pixie
e-mail: upsetter@hushmail.com

Comments

Hide the following 24 comments

SWP

01.10.2001 00:16

This disgusting piece of nonsense is not worth any response apart from to say that my friend - a member of the SWP - is still in a cell in Brighton for the 'crime' of putting a Palestinian scarf over his mouth.

What planet does the unamed writer inhabit? - not that of the vast majority on the fantastic march through the rain. The police would have loved to provoke a riot; that's why the dragged a few innocent people out, but the demo didn't rise to their nasty bait.

Andy C

Andy
mail e-mail: andy@a-coles.demon.co.uk

upsetter probably a cop himself

01.10.2001 08:52

The dudes who bash the swp on this site seem to be taking
a leaf out of fbi type counterinsurgency rumour techniques. The DEmo in brighton was great and upsetter is a liar if nota cop himself

dan the man
mail e-mail: danthyeman@hotmail.com

Reality?

01.10.2001 09:58

This is nonsense. I don't know where the rumour started that the organisers of yesterday's protest in Brighton asked the poliice to remove the Wombles (or indeed anyone) from the march/protest, but it is simply NOT true.

As one of the 5 chief stewards on the march, and a member of the SWP, I can categorically say that this rumour is nonsense. As is the idea that my organisation, or GR and the other organisers of uesterdays protest would hand the activists to the police.

Along with other GR activists, and other members of the SWP I was involved in assisting those arrested after Genoa. Several of us cancelled holidays to stay in that city to help get people released.

The same is true of Prague, where I personally was invovled with the legal defence and assistance of people arrested there.

THose arrested included people from all sorts of traditions, Wombles, anarchists, envioromental activists and whatever. There is a basic idea of solidarity that is crucial at these times. That we must stand together against our common enemies, that we should aid and assist all those arrested and attacked by the police irrespective of their political affiliations.

I do not agree with the tactics of the Wombles. I don't agree with the politics of the anarchist movement. But I would never, never give these people away to our class enemy - the police.

I bet this rumour was started by people who are more interested in attacking the SWP and GR than building a united, diverse movement against war and capitalism. Rumours like this are shameful, and distract from the real debates and arguments that activists should be concentrating on, as we face a massive war in the middle east.

Martin Empson

Martin E
mail e-mail: swpmre@yahoo.com

the truth should come out

01.10.2001 10:05

It seems that what ever happened was in full public view.
The cops say that they arrested people (7 ?) who "they" thought would break the law, I assume this refers to the wombles.

If the SWP are now policing demonstrations and deciding who should be nicked by the real dirty babylon, then they are basically part of the establishment,which appears to be what they want. A new LIB DEM mainstream political party which will, sell out to corporate funding and become just another party of the errrr left or right, whats the difference ?
The Euro Greens have sold out and are now run by an opportunist by the name of Danny Bum Bandit watch out for toxic renewables.

LB .. in UK

Luther Blissett

it was 5

01.10.2001 10:05

5 of us were arrested and taken to the "station", 3 of us are now out on bail, for conspiracy to commit violent disorder, i am unaware of the other two as they were in a different cell. the police told us how the wombles hijack other people's demonstrations, a bit like the way the SWP hijack other people's movements.

jimmer

SWP stewards and COPS

01.10.2001 10:57

Didn't see any collaboration between swp and cops during the arrests, but then I arrived as they were already happening.

BUT THE MAIN STORY IS THAT THE POLICE SENT IN WELL OVER 30 RIOT POLICE INTO THE PARK AT THE START OF THE MARCH TO ARREST PEOPLE AS THE BBC REPORTS A POLICE SPOKESMAN SAYING:

"there had been seven arrests, six of which had been intelligence-led to prevent crimes by suspected troublemakers".

THE POLICE JUST STEAMED INTO THE CROWD TO MAKE ARRESTS AS PEOPLE PREPARED TO MARCH. SURELY THIS IS THE RAISING OF THE TENSION THAT MANY HAVE SUSPECTED WILL UNFOLD AFTER THE ATTACKS IN AMERICA. I DID SEE DEBATE BETWEEN PEOPLE AND STEWARDS AFTER THE ARRESTS AS POLOICE WERE DRAGGING PEOPLE AWAY WITH THE STEWARDS CALLING ON PEOPLE TO GET BACK TO THE MAIN GROUP OF PEOPLE MARCHING OUT OF THE PARK.

THE OTHER ALARMING FEATURE OF THE DEMO WAS THE HUGE NUMBER OF POLICE CAMERAS - I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS OUT ON THE STREETS - THEY WERE THERE TO FILM ANYONE WHO MAY BE OPPOSING THE US/UK WAR MACHINE.

ANObserver

Stewards

01.10.2001 12:34

I feel it is important to just add one more witness account to this.

I saw a number of stewards telling people to get in the march as the cops took demonstrators away.

I won't speculate on the SWP/Cop alliance as I have no knowledge of that.

What is more frustrating is the complete lack of mobilisation of members of the SWP/GR when faced with immediate threats.

Whoever the stewards were and which ever organisation they are from (but mostly GR/SWP) it is despicable and an act of utter cowardice to refuse to prevent the police as they blatantly breach civil liberties.

They spout on about solidarity but any incidence that requires action NOW will be met with complete inactivity from the SWP.

A similar lack of desire to act occurred at the GR conference on Saturday. Whilst listening to a discussion on asylum seekers and 'no border' issues, Louise Christiansen(sp?) a lawyer dealing with refugees, who was one of the speakers, received a message. A Bolivian activist was being detained at Heathrow airport and was going to be denied entry to the UK. he was coming to speak at the GR conference.

The immediate response from me and the person I was with was to get some people to Heathrow and cause a fuss about it. As I looked around the crowd there was a complete lack of interest in the crowd. They were all just waiting for the meeting to proceed.

When we talked to organisers we were advised not to do anything but let "important people" handle it. We decided that if that was the way they wanted it we'd leave it to them.

GR/SWP have an amazing capacity to mobilise complete apathy and inefficiency. They only mobilise people around pointless marches, and long drawn out lectures but despise real action.

Brighton was one more case of being more concerned with making sure the organised march went off alright and ignoring real immediate problems.

Mr Me
mail e-mail: b@man.com

Democracy?

01.10.2001 12:42

I was one of the wombles unfairly arrested by the police with the help of the SWP on Sunday the 30th September at the Brighton demo. I was arrested on suspicion of conspiraqcy to commit violent disorder. This is an excuse the police came up with because they had no grounds to arrest myself and my fellow demonstrators on except that we were dressed in white. Does that sound like an offence to you or freedom to wear what you want in a democratic society? Myself an my companions were arrested unfairly and treated with little respect once locked in a cell at Brighton police Station. We were held for seven hours before we were interviewed and released on bail, to return on November 3rd. FUCK THE POLICE AND THE FACIST STATE!!!

Greg!neurotic

at least they've dropped the pretence

01.10.2001 12:42

One good thing about recent postings on the GR conference and Brighton is that at least SWP members have stopped denying the massive crossover between the SWP and GR...

alex callinicos

WASTED

01.10.2001 12:48

I am even more pissed off with the police than when i first went to yesterdays protest. We went with the intention of getting a message over to the government in a hopefully peaceful protest. We had a banner and were ready to march when squads of riot police surrounded us and picked out us WOMBLES who were supposedley going to incur violence in the crowd. We were victimised by the police just for being prepared aginst their facist attacks on innocent people during such demonstrations in the past.
GRRR!

Nick
mail e-mail: biggerpunker@hotmail.com

So what were all the eye-witnesses doing

01.10.2001 13:10

I was on the demonstration yesterday. It looked like a hard demonstration to steward against the enormous police intimidation, and I'm not going to claim that everything the stewards did was perfect.

But, the idea that the stewards (GR/SWP/or whoever)collaborated with the police to have wombles arrested is paranoid shite, our opponants must love this argument, whether or not they invented the rumour in the first place.

My question is - all you brave eye-witnesses that are accusing the stewards of cowardice - what were you doing? Why didn't YOU dive in and try and pull them from the police, you were standing there watching after-all? Do you have to wait for your leaders to act? Runnng away to look for your friends would obviously be a tactic that would take too much time. There were only five or six arrests, so I don't think ANYONE came to the aid of the wombles. I'm not claiming that I would have done anything, but it seems a bit pathetic to accuse other people after you have just stood there.

I have a big problem with what happened, in particular that the coppers felt confident enough to arrest the wombles at that point. But it is unity that will make us stronger, not groundless rumour-mongering and mud-slinging.

Indymedia is starting to look like a joke because there are so many of these damaging, paranoid rants. We need to grow up and get serious about our movement.

martin

Stewards let demonstrators be assaulted

01.10.2001 13:30

I saw the five arrests at the beginning of the march on Sunday in Brighton. I have heard people say that the stewards cooperated with the police but I didn't see this and have no evidence that they helped the police arrest anyone.

But that's hardly the point, is it? These stewards were there, supposedly, to defend the march but did nothing - physically, verbally, with legal defence or otherwise - to defend the people (two or three of them teenagers) from assault and arrest on conspiracy charges for doing nothing but waiting to go on a march. Other people tried to restrain the police but the stewards just let it happen. So much for the SWP's 'centralised organisation' being a great strength.

I also heard Chris Nineham of the SWP/GR/SA/stewards/whatever give the last speech of the day where the buses were leaving. He said the march had been a great success and didn't even mention the arrests.

First they came for the wombles...

yeah right

At least we can discuss them here though!

01.10.2001 13:31

Chat room needed?

alex

Help

01.10.2001 13:42

A number of people did help.

Firstly, those closest to the wombles helped some people get out of the overalls and get away before being nicked. There was also a lot of to and froing with the police as they tried to pick people out.

At least one womble (and probably other people) attempted to make sure that every one taken by the police had the bust card in their possession.

Numerous others argued, screamed and generally confronted the police and attempted in various ways to get people off. We also made sure we knew where they were taken.

The wombles and the entire anarchist/activist community (in my experience), both here and internationally show more solidarity and a stronger commitment to each other than I ever saw in my dark days (ie when I briefly flirted with the SWP).

Mr Me
mail e-mail: b@man.com

no comment

01.10.2001 14:09

no comment

no comment

SWP SCUM HELP COPS NICK WOMBLES

01.10.2001 14:30

Crap. I was there, feet from the Wombles who were arrested and the police acted entirely on their own. The stewards were not involved. An SWP member who tried to intervene and tried to stop the arrests was himself batoned by a police officer. Whatever your political agenda is, fine, but don't try and split the mobement by agitating against the SWP: if it hadnt been for themn there would have been no march at all.

Sandriana
mail e-mail: sandrianasquid@yahoo.com

lobby the TUC

01.10.2001 15:35

Against these FBI style character assassinations against our SWP comrades, let's lobby the TUC for a one-day general strike!

Leo Pigheadsky
mail e-mail: icepick@leninism.org

no one knows

01.10.2001 16:39

the fact is that no one knows fr sure about SWP/pig collaboration. I was one of the people wearing protective clothing who was arrested, held and bailed (see above), and i don't think anyone can seriously claim that the SWP physically assisted those arrests. There is an accusation, however, that some of the organisers of the march asked the police to remove any potential 'trouble makers' (meaning, apparently in this case, people who won't get hurt quite so much if you smash them on the head repeatedly with a big stick). I am personally sceptical about this myself, and i was told that this information originally came from a copper, which only increases my wariness of taking it seriously. Anyway, as someone pointed out, the bigger point is that the police feel like they can just take people and lock them away for seven hours, simply because of what they are wearing. So far the Wombles and other protest groups are not included on the government's list of banned 'terrorist' organisations, but the police are starting to act like they are. the state is scared shitless of people with sofa foam taped to themselves. beautiful, really, when you think about it....and a little bit scary.

ranter

Trot trial on its way...

01.10.2001 17:17

OK, I can catagorically state that one of the leaders of Gobshite Revisited told the WOMBLES two weeks ago that they, and any other anarcho/anti-authoritarians were not welcome on the march and asked them to "do whatever it is you're going to do on the Monday." This was a face-to-face conversation at a recent demo. This is not a lie or any misleading propaganda.
I'm tempted to name the person in question, but as a result of my better nature, will allow them to remain anonymous.....this time around.
The people present were also told that GR/SWP have a "diologue" with the cops.
Our investigation is on-going, and a trial pending...watch this space.
Love and Rage!

Rascalling Pixie
mail e-mail: upsetter@hushmail.com

Not that I believe anything in the papers

02.10.2001 03:19

From:

http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/parliament.cfm?id=112417

"About 2,500 protesters took to the streets of Brighton for a four-hour demonstration which involved only eight arrests.

They were heavily shepherded by 800 police and did not proceed around the security barrier .

A police spokeswoman said that six protesters had been arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit violent disorder, along with one arrest for refusal to remove a balaclava and one for breach of the peace .

"Given that there were thousand of protesters there, eight arrests is a very low total," she said. "There were three women dancing topless, but we let them carry on.

"We only arrest for indecent exposure if there was a public complaint and we didn’t receive any complaints."

The protest was organised by Globalise Resistance, Britain’s biggest anti-capitalist organisation and a driving force behind the protests at the G8 summit in Genoa in July. They had been liaising with Sussex Police to ensure their march was not infiltrated by hardline anarchists.

- PS agree that indymedia should do something about all these newswire posts slagging people off - what about a web forum to allow people to discuss the war and bitch about each other without clogging the newswire with all this arguement (don't get me wrong debate is great, but it has its place).

green@ndlovely
Homepage: http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/parliament.cfm?id=112417

Out of the womble's mouth

02.10.2001 13:29

Sorry for the big quote, but here is an account from one of the wombles who was arrested (it's just a couple of comments back):

"There is an accusation, however, that some of the organisers of the march asked the police to remove any potential 'trouble makers' (meaning, apparently in this case, people who won't get hurt quite so much if you smash them on the head repeatedly with a big stick). I am personally sceptical about this myself, and i was told that this information originally came from a copper, which only increases my wariness of taking it seriously."

Now I would be willing to bet that this particular womble has some serious political differences with the SWP/GR, but has the sense to recognise shit when it smells of shit.

Too many other people on this site seem ready to gleefully swallow any shit about the SWP. They should read up on the use of rumuors in counter-insurgency. The state IS afraid of our movement, and they WILL try to split us, anyone who didn't know better and was to get their info from IndyMedia would think they are being successful.

Martin

Mutual strength

03.10.2001 10:43

The trip's really about cops doing what they did, whether it was with anyones assistance or not.

Using riot police at the start of a march sounds well out of order - everyone needs to be aware demos may be treated a bit differently after september 11th.

Whether it's a cop rumour plant or not they'll be happy to see people at each others throats instead of trying to work out how to work together next time the cops steam in again...