UK Globalisation Feature Archive
Stop NATO Cymru Week of Action / Wythnos o Weithredu Stop NATO
31-07-2014 18:04
A week of action against the NATO summit. / Wythos o weithredu yn erbyn Uwchgynhadledd NATO.
This year NATO will have their next summit at Celtic Manor Resort, in Newport, south Wales. In early September 2014, “world leaders” – all directly responsible for untold death, illegal torture flights, and wars fought purely to protect Western business interests and resource supply routes – will gather on the edge of this historic Welsh city. Many people from Newport, Cardiff, Bristol and beyond, will oppose the summit and use a diversity of tactics against it. We, an anti-capitalist, anti-militarist network in South Wales, plan to facilitate mobilisations and provide space for workshops, skill-shares and social events. We are organising without leaders as we do not agree with bosses or bombs.
For timetable, see the full article.
On the newswire: No Borders/Stop NATO day of action | Round up of Week of Action events | Stop NATO action against securitisation & policing | AFIACH benefit compilation | NATO CopWatch | Day of Action Against Militarism | 16-17 Aug, National Convergence, Blackpool | Police Harassment in Merthyr
Other links: Stop Nato Cymru | Anarchist Action Network
Anti-capitalists gear up for G8 protests
08-05-2013 12:33
Anti-capitalists have been gearing up for the protests against the G8 Summit with Mayday actions across the country. The focus was on Primark and other businesses profiting from the global slave labour system which led to the death of 700 people in Bangladesh. There were angry protests in central London, Hackney, Lewisham, Birmingham, Brighton and Bristol, with the clear message going out that the disaster was not an accident but the inevitable consequence of the callous capitalist system. Stop G8 is holding another organising meeting in London on May 25 and May 26, before the big week of action in the capital from June 10 to June 14, featuring the #J11 Carnival Against Capitalism.
On the Newswire: Mayday protest in central London | Mayday protest in Glasgow | Mayday protests in Birmingham, Hackney and Lewisham | Mayday protest in Bristol | Mayday protest in Brighton | Squatted social centre in Lewes | Guillotine in Worthing | Oxford Stop G8 meeting | Call-out for J11 | Call-out for week of actionOther links: Stop G8 | Resist 2013 UK G8 Summit | Stop G8 on Twitter | They Owe Us
SchNEWS 743: Leicester Is More
14-10-2010 21:05
A thousand EDL supporters rampaged through the streets of Leicester on Saturday (9th), attacking locals, anti-fascists and police.
On the Newswire: 1
PFI Turns Into Ongoing PR Disaster for Barclays
12-08-2010 22:24
Having spent £25m on the branding rights to London's new cycle hire scheme, the bright sparks in the Barclays marketing department have started a dialogue with the public which could last for several years. The scheme is part of a private finance initiative providing thousands of rental bikes in return for painting London's roadways in the bank's corporate colours.
Only minutes after the bank unveiled the bikes-for-rent in partnership with the city's Conservative administration, situationist guerrilla teams struck in the night to add their own mobile advertising messages under the Barclays logo. One of the messages, "Funding depleted uranium birth defects in Iraq", was particularly timely. New studies suggest that the ongoing genetic damage caused by the U.S. attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004 may be worse than that caused by the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 65 years ago.
Barclays was also targeted in Cambridge on Friday 30th July 2010.
SchNEWS 730: The Hole Truth
11-07-2010 13:17
As SchNews reports from the new Rossport frontline
There is still plenty of ire left in Ireland as campaigners ready themselves for another summer of action against Shell and their plans to despoil the coast of County Mayo with a new gas pipeline (see SchNEWS 719). The project is already a decade late and three times over budget; pretty impressive for a small community fighting one of the biggest multinationals in the world.
Rossport on the newswire:
Rossport Solidarity | Shelltosea Summer Gathering | Bristol Solidarity Night | Norfolk Shell gas terminal blockaded! | Shell due to start work
SchNEWS: Calais - Out of Africa
03-06-2010 21:11
The Africa House squat in Calais is to be evicted next Wednesday (9th). After a herd of 20 CRS vans circled the squat scoping the site on Wednesday morning (2nd), they deposited an eviction notice with those present, informing the migrants they had a week to hit the streets. The building - home to Eritrean, Sudanese and Ethiopian migrants, many of whom had already seen previous squats and camps destroyed - has been marked for demolition.
SchNEWS : All That Romains
20-05-2010 21:09
Welcome to the age of austerity. Romania has erupted in protests as harsh measures continue to grow and waves of discontent flood Europe.
Romania's capital, Bucharest, stood still for a day on Wednesday (19th) as ferocious cuts cripple the Romanian populace. The city was at brought to a halt as an estimated 50,000 protesters marched through the streets in the largest of the demonstrations seen since the cuts were announced. Protesters poured in from all over the country to attend, despite police attempts to block the streets to uphold order.
SchNEWS: Squaring Up To 'Em
13-05-2010 19:48
This Saturday (15th) people will be protesting at various places around central London to give the new 'stable, national interest' coalition a warm welcome.
SchNEWS gives a round-up of all the events taking place over the weekend to get your action-hungry teeth stuck into.
SchNEWS: Crash of the Titans
02-05-2010 15:09
AS PROPOSED IMF SOLUTION SPARKS RESISTANCE...
Greece is further troubled as government officials get ready to announce IMF imposed wage cuts that will resonate across the country’s entire public sector. Emergency demonstrations were held across the country (Thursday 29th April) in protest against the cuts by grass-roots trade unions, leftist and anarchist organisations.
In SchNEWS: 720 | 711 | 662 | 659
Links: IMF on Greece | Greek Indymedia
SchNEWS 717: Counter Strike
10-04-2010 12:16
AS REPRESSION INC ARRIVES IN LONDON TO PEDDLE ITS WARES.....
Roll up, roll up, one and all for the ‘Counter Terror’ Expo 2010. Kicking off at London’s Kensington Olympia on April 14th, the two day event will showcase the surveillance and ‘security’ technologies of 250 companies hoping for a slice of the paranoia dollar. Also on the Big Brother bandwagon are NATO, the MoD and other representative associations from the police, military and private security industry. There are several good reasons to show up at 12pm, Wednesday 14th April (at Olympia Way W14) and counter the terror expo.
Action Reports: 1 | 2
Other Sites: Disarm DSEi | Corporate Watch | Counter Terror Expo homepage
SchNEWS: Tit Top
18-03-2010 21:12
Well blimey. Against all the odds it looks like Titnore Woods has been saved from the developers' evil clutches.
The decision made by Worthing Council's planning committee to reject the development plans for the new housing estate on the ancient woodland site on Monday (15th) had everyone shouting with joy and dancing in the public gallery. The crowd were so beside themselves they even gave the bloody councillors a standing ovation.
Links: Save Titnore Woods | Protect Our Woodland | Titnore Blog
Scotland in Resistance
21-11-2009 00:00
Protests against the NATO parliamentary assembly in Edinburgh culminated in its the disruption on Tuesday morning [ Summary report ]. Six Trident Ploughshares activists were arrested when blocking the entrance to the Edinburgh Conference Centre. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters, including some NATO delegates, marched to the Edinburgh conference centre under the banner of the Stop the War coalition [ report ], whilst antifascists resisted a SDL rally in Glasgow.
The NATO Welcoming Committee called for action at the opening of the NATO meeting on Friday, but first the group was kettled by police before the protesters individually and spontaneously rallied in front of the assembly's meeting place.
About a week beforehand the access to the G20 finance meeting in St Andrew's was blockaded by five students and later in the day more than a hundred protesters marched to the Fairmont Hotel against the G20's policies.
Meanwhile the direct actions against the opencast coal mining at Mainshill Solidarity Camp continue. [ Report | Weekend of Actions and Workshops | round-up ]
The City of Edinburgh Council has also seen a lot of different grassroots groups campaigning against their policies, such as the privatisation of health and support services [ latest update], a bin workers "work-to-rule strike and overtime ban" [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ], manual workers dispute, parents group resisting the closure of schools, fight against funding cuts for community projects and opposition to the regeneration of the lower part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site [ Save our Old Town ] and the initiative to Save Meadowbank .
Storm the Banks
06-03-2009 12:55
Climate Rush activists gathered outside RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), Thursday 5th March to protest the incredible multi million pound pay out to Fred (the shred) Goodwin, former RBS Chief Executive, and more importantly, the banks continuing role in funding the climate changing industries of coal, gas and oil. Posting the largest losses in British corporate history, RBS lost £24.1 billion in 2008 and has since had billions of pounds of taxpayers' money pumped into it. Already the largest bailout to date, the government has agreed to inject a further £13 billion on top of the £20 billion already given, and to make a further £6 billion available. While the tax payer now owns at least 70% of its shares, the bank continues to operate as a private company,
On the same day as the Climate Rush demo outside RBS, the Bank of England reduced the base interest rate to 0.5% and announced the printing of £100 billion pounds of new cash to inject into the stalled economy. Next month, the G20 leaders (G22 to be more precise) will arrive in London to discuss further ways to get the poor to bail out the rich. Various groups are mobilizing to protest against the summit which the police are co-promoting as part of a 'summer of rage'.
The G20 Meltdown group say they're going to reclaim the City, 'thrusting into the very belly of the beast', with a four pronged assault on the Bank of England at noon on 1st April. That afternoon, as part of a series of actions leading up to the COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen, the Camp for Climate Action aim to expose how the discredited market mechanisms are being sold as a solution to climate change and are planning a climate camp in the city close the the Carbon Trading Exchange.
Links : Climate Rush target RBS Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | LCAP occupies RBS | Quantitive Easing | Corporate Undead | Image From The Future | Bristol Dissent g20 Call Out | Climate Camp hits the city | Press Complaint over G20 article | RBS boss pension | Arrogance of Capitalism | Environmental silver lining? | Climate chaos meets economic chaos | Bash a Billionaire | Doubt of global financial crisis? | Origins of the Credit Crunch | Summer of rage? | Demand for energy falling | Climate Crimes Delayed | Dissident Island Economic Special | "Pro-Capitalist" Mobilisation Video
Aviation expansion grounded
04-03-2009 12:07
UPDATE: Lord Peter Mandelson, the unelected Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and key player in the Heathrow expansion plan, attacked with green custard.
Plane Stupid Scotland activists shut down Aberdeen airport by setting up a golf course on the taxiway and surrounding themselves with security fencing whilst another group occupied the roof of the terminal with a banner reading, “Nae Trump Games with Climate Change”. The 3am action prevented the scheduled reopening of the runway at 5am. After almost six hours the protesters voluntarily unlocked themselves when police claimed the taxiway was needed by an emergency helicopter. Eleven people, including local residents, were arrested.
Donald Trump backs Aberdeen airports expansion (where his super-rich pals will arrive to play golf on his controversial golf course). BAA obviously welcome Trump's involvement and need powerful friends right now. They are under presure from the Competition Commision and a down turn in the aviation industry is threatening expansion plans. Plans for a new runway at Stansted (blockaded by Plane Stupid last December) now looks likely to be postponed for at least two years and the airport will be put on the market without planning permission in place.
Despite government rhetoric about cutting CO2 emissions, there are expansion plans for 34 regional airports in the UK. Last month Plane Stupid activists interrupted a public meeting during a speech by Ed Miliband the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, unveiling a banner highlighting the hypocritical actions of the government in relation to aviation and climate change. Back in January Plane Stupid activists chained themselves to the entrance of Southampton airport and erected tents at the main entrance in a bid turn the regional airport into a climate refugee camp (they were in court yesterday and fined between £175 and £600 each).
Links: Greening of Mandelson | Aberdeen action 1 2 | Plane Stupid actions last month Southampton, Brighton | Stansted blockade 2008 | aviation and recession | airport expansion 1 2 | Stansted rumors | previous featureWhat Does The Economic Crisis Mean For The Climate Change Movement?
19-02-2009 00:51
We are in the middle of two crises, the climate crisis and the economic crisis. Although we we seem to treat them as separate, it can be argued that they are completely entangled. Tackling one without tackling the other is impossible and fruitless, but the connections are complex and shifting. To intervene effectively, we need to look carefully at how we think about time and change, and how we relate to markets and the state. But first, let's look at how the economic crisis arose and draw some link between this history and the problematics of climate politics.
Other aspects of economic crisis: Leeds | Liverpool | Public services cuts | Evictions | Factory OccupationsFrom weapons to wars to refugees
02-12-2008 16:34
On Saturday, a lively and well attended demonstration and die in in the centre of Nottingham brought two successful local campaigns together. Shut Down H&K, campaigners against Nottingham's arms dealers joined hands with No Borders Nottingham, who fight for migrant rights, to come 'full circle'. The demonstration emphasised the links between guns sold in the UK, armed conflicts abroad and the refugees that flee these wars to come to Britain looking for asylum.
The demonstrators gave out 2000 fliers to Christmas shoppers making them aware of the whereabouts of Heckler & Koch's premises in Lenton and the death and destruction their merchandise causes. Refugees and asylum seekers from many countries ravaged by the effects of small arms were there to support the demo. Protesters held a die in on the cold pavements, undeterred by the over the top police surveillance. Many members of the public were shocked to hear about the arms dealers in their neighbourhood.
Newswire: Full Circle Demo: From weapons to wars to refugees. Market Sq. Nottingham | Next Small Word Cinema @ Sumac 10th December | FULL CIRCLE - from weapons to wars to refugees | Demos continue at Heckler & Koch weapons HQ in Nottingham
Previous Features: The Arms Trade: From Nottingham to Georgia | Protests in Nottingham as Zimbabwe Goes to the Polls | Protesters Return to Nottingham Weapons Manufacturer | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail
Links: Notts Antimilitarism: Heckler & Koch | No Borders Nottingham
Credit Crunch Hits Nottingham
17-10-2008 17:11
It has emerged that Nottingham City Council had £42 million invested in the Icelandic banks which last week collapsed as a result of the "credit crunch," putting this money at risk. While Nottingham was not the only council to invested in these banks, Nottingham's investments are notable when the city's population is taken into account. One commentator estimated that "the possible loss in Nottingham could be £150.69 for every woman, man and child in the city." (By comparison, the per capita figure in Kent which had around £50 million invested, is £35.85.)
There are concerns that the city council may respond to the loss through job cuts, cutting services and/or increasing council tax. Nottingham and Mansfield Trades Council organised a demo in Market Square on Monday 13th October, demanding that Gordon Brown bail the council out, rather than leaving city residents to pay the cost of their rulers' poor investments.
Newswire: Lending to Icelandic Banks | £42 million missing in Iceland | Addressing the Financial Crisis is not a distraction from Peak Oil/Climate Change
Previous Features: Local Government Workers in Notts Join National Strike | Nottingham City Council: Mired in Corruption
Capitalism isn't in crisis; capitalism IS crisis!
12-10-2008 19:47
As financial markets continue to slump around the world, several hundred people gathered in the City of London on Friday 10th to voice their anger over the British governments plan to commit over 50 billion GBP of public funds to shore up 'confidence' in British markets.
Following a series of calls [1 | 2] that had been circulated in different websites and forums, angry students and activists meet in the late afternoon outside Bank tube station at the heart of the City of London. The demonstrators soon moved on to the prestige shopping centre (The Royal Exchange) which they attempted to storm, and then moved towards the Bank of England but were quickly repulsed by police. They then went on a tour of nearby streets, often pushing through police lines that seemed to be quite unprepared for the unfolding protest. Eventually there was a sit-down as the protesters reached Bishopsgate, and finally a short rally with speeches on the corner of London Wall and Bishopsgate, after which the demonstrators slowly dispersed. At the same time, a group of clowns also toured The City with placards such as "There's no business like no business".
Newswire Reports: City of London clashes, Pictures | Anti-Capitalist Demonstration at Bank | Stopping the city | Video
A similar demonstration has now been called in Edinburgh on the 24th of October.
Activists Take Over Incinerator Site
28-07-2008 17:21
Activists took over the site of the proposed new incinerator plant in Newhaven. They entered the premises under the cover of darkness last night in an organised attempt at non-violent direct action, after resistance through democratic means failed them. Several protestors formed a barricade by superglue-ing themselves to the road in an attempt to prevent vehicle access, whilst on the site itself, other members of the group 'locked-on' to machinery in order to halt further activity. They claim to be exercising their democratic right to protest non-violently in a last-ditch attempt to promote their concerns about the consequences of incinerators on public health and safety.
Worldwide Protests Against the G8 Summit 2008
11-07-2008 09:00
The G8 2008 took place in Hokkaido, Japan, from July 7th to July 9th. As in the past years, people from all over the world protested against this summit and the capitalist system it represents [Pics] both in Japan and in many places around the globe.
On Saturday the 5th of July, the International Day of Action Against the G8, there were protests worldwide against this year's G8 Summit. In Japan, around 5000 people took to the streets in Sapporo despite ongoing police repression [Photos | Videos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4] whilst hundreds of people had previously taken to the streets in Tokyo and Kyoto. International solidarity actions also took place in several cities, including Bilbao, Stuttgart [Video], Dordrecht, Nijmegen, Paris, Singapore, Berlin, Reykjavik and Lisbon.
Closer to home, a picket outside the Japanese embassy in London took place on Friday the 4th, and for Saturday the 5th, and despite previous harassment by the Metropolitan police, a London Fete Against the G8 was called by London No Borders and other groups to demonstrate in solidarity with the protests in Japan, for the Freedom of Movement, and against Fortress Europe. The Day of Action around the UK Borders Agency started with a Critical Mass bike ride from Brixton to Croydon, the nerve centre of the Home Office's UK Border Agency, where several protests unfolded [Report | Photos 1 | 2 | Video]
From Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th, further days of action and blockades continued around the Summit location next to the Lake Toya in Hokkaido [Videos 1 | 2 | 3] A final statement by international activists was issued on Wednesday 9th after hundreds of activists joined a march called by the Hokkaido's Ainu indigenous communities. This was the concluding event of ten days of anti-G8 protests in Japan. The Japanese 'No! G8 Legal Team' issued an international call for further solidarity actions during the week of blockades [Second Call]. In London, a daily NO!G8 cafe was organised at the Bowl Court Social Centre to coincide with the G8 mobilisations, showing daily footage from Japan, screening films, presentations and discussions.
Check the Ticker, the G8MediaNetworkTV and IMC-Japan [Timeline (Eng)] for updates of worldwide actions and protests.
Related Newswire Posts: End G8 Domination! | Challenge to the G8 Governments | G8 summit marked by impotence and division | James Hansen's Appeal to the G8 on Climate Change | No! G8 Japan Info Tour Comes to UK | An update on Japan G8 repression - 40 people arrested! | Repression and Revolt in the run up to G8 Japan | Interview with Japanese anti-G8 activist | Preparation for the Japanese anti-G8 movements in 2008 | Japanese Government to Keep ‘Hooligans’ Away from Summit
Related Sites: No G8! Japan | G8 Action Network | Gipfelsoli.org | Debito.org | WATCH (Watch Human Rights on Summit) |
Japanese G8 Info Tour Comes to UK
19-02-2008 18:37
The next G8 2008 summit will take place from the 7th to the 9th of July in Hokkaido, Japan. The heads of the world's more powerful states will gather at Toya Lake in the nothern Japanese island, to push further an agenda of world-wide neo-liberal reforms that result in spreading poverty, violence, hatred, segregation, as well as social and environmental destruction across the globe.
The Japanese based network of anti-authoritarians and anarchists No! G8 Action was formed in May 2007, right before the G8 summit 2007 in northern Germany. Japanese activists got involved in the protests with the intention to network with and learn from the experiences of the European anti-G8 movement. As a result they began to prepare their own projects "hoping to bring Japanese and East Asian impetus into the stage of the global anti-capitalist struggle."
Now, the 'No! G8 Action' network, in collaboration with the German Dissent! info group, and together with groups and activists across Europe, have organised an european wide tour that will stop in over 30 cities in 14 different countries, including the UK. From the 22nd to the 28th of February, Japanese activists will visit Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham and London [See tour dates and locations]
Related links: Call for Anti-G8 Action July 2008 | Statement of the Anti-G8 Summit Hokkaido | G8 2008: Latest Info-Tour and Planning Updates | Japanese Government to Keep 'Hooligans' Away from Summit | Anti-repression Protest at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo | A short history of the G8... | The G8: A Study in Power (or why people should protest)
See also: NO! G8 Action | Japan G8 Media Network | IMC-Japan | G8 Action Network (jp) | Hokkaido G8 Summit Citizen Forum (jp) | Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum
