UK Indymedia - UK Newswire Archive

Never Trust A Man......

19-07-2011 17:26

Yes!! Bring It On!!

Solidarity with Charlie Gilmour

19-07-2011 14:48

Predictably there has been a lot of interest and comment on the sentencing of Charlie Gilmour to sixteen months for two counts of violent disorder. It has been both suggested this was lenient because he’ll only do eight months or less on a tag, and that it was a harsher sentence because of his parent’s notoriety.

Neither of these sentiments are accurate. It is a harsh, unjustified sentence – certainly far longer than those involved in drunken violence on a Saturday night receive. And those who think it’s not long should fuck off and spend a week in prison before making such facile statements.

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Palestine Today 07 19 2011

19-07-2011 14:18

Welcome to Palestine Today a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org for Tuesday July 19th, 2011.

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iresign.org.uk now available!

19-07-2011 13:55

With the recent spate of resignations from senior Metropolitan police figures and News International employees, we decided to make it easier for others to jump before they are pushed. Introducing iresign.org.uk - the automatic resignation letter generator!

This is a tool designed for those in the line of fire due to the erupting phone hacking scandal and questions over the ethics of tabloid journalism. Although based primarily on the statements made in recent days by various News International employees, it could just as easily be used by senior police chiefs who ducked the initial inquiries or politicians who may have got just a little too cosy with Rupie M and his pals by just changing a few key words here and there. Remember, this has been provided to make it just that little bit easier to do the right thing.

If you are unhappy with your letter the first time around don't panic, simply hit the refresh button in your browser and a new one will be automatically generated for you. Once you are satisfied that your letter captures the stance you would like to take on the issue, add your name to the bottom and send it off to your friends in the press. It isn't advised to send it to any News International publications at this stage as they seem to be keeping very quiet on the issue at the moment and so your statement might not reach as wide an audience as it deserves.

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The (Non)Resistance of Clifton Mansions

19-07-2011 12:55

The attempted resistance at Clifton Mansions, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton is a sorry tale of what London has become, and a missed opportunity for radicalising a new generation of resisters. Brixton, once the home to black power, a strong community spirit, DIY punk culture, squatting and the Brixton Riots in the 1980's, has become a sad shadow of its former self.

The attempted resistance at Clifton Mansions, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton is a sorry tale of what London has become, and a missed opportunity for radicalising a new generation of resisters. Brixton, once the home to black power, a strong community spirit, DIY punk culture, squatting and the Brixton Riots in the 1980's, has become a sad shadow of its former self; it now hosts Brixton Village with its gourmet boutique restaurants, coke-crazed munters flailing on the pavements and the professional upper-class jabbering over a glass of Chardonnay ("Oooh darling, its sooo wonderful"). Its a classic example of gentrification (or "regeneration") wiping away the old community ties, its history and all that gave Brixton its reputation for standing up to police and government oppression, replaced by a sort of pseudo-community that proudly wears the badge of Brixton, but is as flakey as fuck.

Prequel
So open the scene for the eviction of Clifton Mansions. The evening starts off slowly, and as a few of us hand out some leaflets for the eviction party and the morning's resistance, the crowd walks by sullenly, ignoring our solicitations and looking sourly at us, or rushing past to the gym, the Sainsbury's or any number of Brixton's hip venues. Even from this moment, the idea that the community would support the resistance and make a stand for a by-gone Brixton against the murderous Met - Smiley Culture, Ian Tomlinson - was as remote as if we were canvassing against the invasion of Iran. Having given out very few leaflets we wandered back to the Mansions to see if things had started up, but to no avail. The courtyard was beginning to be filled up with those coming down to the eviction party (famously advertised on Fakebook with 1,200 attending); however, they were met with a cold reception by the Residents, who were still busy moving their furniture and stuff out even though it was already 9pm. There were no sound-systems, there were no events - say a film room -, so people sat around, drinking, chatting and making do. Every now and again, there was a burst of ominous thuds, the sound of misled party-goers trying to kick-in doors, because they thought it was an empty building they could trash.

Sequel
Later, we wandered about the building and stood in the snaking queue up the stairwell that led up to the roof, three floors up. And we stood and stood, people pushed past, people came down, the queue moved slowly upwards, until finally we made it up to the hatch and a rickety ladder. There an "organiser" called people up and down, otherwise there would have been true chaos and god-knows how many injuries - hats off to those that self-organised the hatch that night. So at last we reached the wild expanse of the roof, where bodies silhouetted the skyline and a straight 3-storey drop on all sides, including down to the courtyard below. This situation demonstrates the power of anarchism in people (and a lot of luck) - even though the drop was unguarded and precarious, everyone had enough sense not to fall off the roof that night without the need for any overzealous Health and Safety measures. However the scene was not as anarchistic as one would have hoped; there was a serious lack of mutual respect, as punters carelessly or maliciously threw cans and bottles into the crowd below. At times it seemed like a war-zone below as the crowd rushed for cover in the doorways, smashed glass scattered and people covering their heads or eyes ran to get help.

The End is Nigh
At last a sound-system was established in one of the bottom flats, and the D 'n B spewed into the courtyard and a dance-floor started up. Wandering down and mingling for a while, we spotted groups of men moving in and out of the building, sometimes masked up, and later we heard about how people were being pickpocketed on the stairwells, and how a group of these crims had broken into a room, beating up and robbing everyone in there; a man with a bloodied face wandered round the party looking for his attackers. People just partied on and one felt very little solidarity in the place, just a sort of hedonistic intentional ignorance. Some activists there looked around at the crowd, shook their heads and muttered: "This is a lost cause." And they were right; we made off a couple of hours later as the sky lightened up. Well done to those that stayed, and turned up the next morning, to meet the brute force of the murderous Met; any resistance is always better than none. Even though the resistance was symbol, rather than effective, the media screamed about "violence" and the picture of the man "jumping" into the police lines, was actually a man who tripped off scaffolding as police pulled it away from under him; he is currently being held, facing charges of "assaulting a police officer".

Lessons Learnt
So Clifton Mansions, a squat since the 1990's was closed down in a matter of hours; the resistance was symbolic, the Brixton community did not rise en-masse to say "No!" to police brutality, the corrupt Lambeth council or gentrification; what could have been an opportunity for creative direct action was lost. So what went wrong?

1] The Fakebook Crowd: the FB crowd has been slagged off everywhere for the bad atmosphere, and in many ways, quite rightly. The Fakebook invite itself seems a little mystery in the affair: was it sent out by "disruptive" influences looking to either break apart any effective direct action, or to lure kids into the fray so the police and media could later take paint them as a violent and unruly generation needing stern repression (which they did anyway, even though there was little resistance)? However the crowd was also a good mix of South London crew, regular kids and many locals, residents, ex-residents and the like. What was lacking was direction, activities, some ground rules (like "don't kick any doors in"), a sense of solidarity and organising groups who could make sure people didn't take the piss. Such things might have been sneered at first by a cynical generation, but in the end, it creates a much more productive atmosphere, fun mixed with a sense of purpose. We were there to resist, and while a good South London mash-up is fun, all you really have in the morning is a hangover.

2] Clifton Mansion's residents: Understandably residents were stressed with having to move out of their homes with 2 weeks notice before the eviction party began. However, there was never any sign of any organising for the party or the resistance; while the residents had links with the Brixton community, I did not see any propaganda out and about, or people being properly informed. The eviction party seemed to be a "nuisance" to them, when it could have been an opportunity to educate people about the history of Clifton Mansions, the criminalisation of squatting, or getting people to build barricades and other direct action infrastructure for the next day. Residents seemed to escape to their rooms and there was no engaging or organising the bored party-goers to do something constructive. There was no crash space for activists that had come from all over London to help out. There were no security arrangements to create a safe space for guests and residents alike. A message to all those at the brunt of future mass-evictions: please get organised early, engage with the activist community and plan ahead to be effective.

With better co-operation, a clearer purpose, more unity and a sense of the ridiculous, we might collectively have creatively resisted for a whole day, maybe two. There was ample opportunity for building structures, casting nets, dropping banners, getting a message across. With time, the community might have stepped up and said "No!" to the sight of the fascists-in-blue beating harmless kids. Together we may have secured a reprieve for the building, time to consider its future, in full, as the community. At the same time, there is certainly a fishy stink to the affair: the Fakebook invite, the super-prepared police (notice the piggy-climbers and full TSG in eviction photos), the media harping on about the "violence" at the eviction (what a heap of shite). If people had really resisted, there is no doubt that the Tory-machine would have gone into over-drive to use it as a justification for the criminalisation of squatting. Maybe the damp squib was the best outcome. Nevertheless, the corrupt Lambeth council now has full occupation, the police got their overtime pay (but didn't get to beat any "hippies" up), Camelot will look after the building with its own expensive private squatters ("licensees"), and before long Brixton will become the new Kensington, and everything will be alright.......

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Israeli navy intercepts and boards Gaza-bound French boat Dignite

19-07-2011 11:17

- The Israeli navy has intercepted and boarded the French-flagged boat Dignite Al-Karame as it neared Gaza, an IDF statement said.

Source: Ma'an News, Bethlehem (Occupied Palestinian Territories)

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Portrayal of an alternative way of living: Erraid documented

19-07-2011 09:18

The isle of Erraid is a small island nested into the side of the Hebridean island from the isle of Mull, Scotland. Which the Findhorn Foundation has held a community on the isle of Erraid for over 25 years.

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Village waits to hear on Tesco plans

19-07-2011 08:55

The community of Keyworth in Nottinghamshire are resisting plans by Tesco to build a supermarket in the centre of their village. After the local council refused planning permission Tesco appealed and we currently await the Inspectors decision following the subsequent public enquiry. Locals put a good case at the enquiry and Tesco were found to have submitted false evidence. However the village’s fate is still in the hands of remote, unaccountable officials.

For the last three years residents of Keyworth have volunteered a huge amount of their free time to develop a Village plan to set out what the people of Keyworth wanted for their community in the future. Following many open meetings, wide consultations and a postal survey of every household the Plan was developed, and one of the findings was that residents overwhelmingly did not want another large supermarket in the village.

Six months later, in March 2010, out of the blue came an announcement by Tesco that they planned to build a supermarket right in the middle of the community on land which had been earmarked for sheltered housing for the elderly.

Immediately the people of Keyworth sprang into action setting up a No Tesco campaign, picketing the Tesco exhibition of the proposal, lobbying local politicians, gathering evidence against the plans, and posters and stickers started to appear all around the village.

In November last year Rushcliffe borough Council rejected Tesco’s planning application on four grounds: impact on local businesses, character of the area, highway problems, amenity of nearby residents (note that the simple fact that the community does not want it does not carry any weight).

As expected Tesco have appealed against this decision, which lead to a public enquiry which was held over 5, 6 7th July 2011. In advance of this Tesco had modified its plans slightly. Its artist’s impression now shows a building which is less like the original glass plate warehouse (an old and cynical tactic). It also proposes a one way chicane in Selby Lane to address the congestion problems the supermarket would cause!

Witnesses from Rushcliffe Borough and Notts County councils gave evidence against Tesco as did several residents from Keyworth and experts acting for the local shops. On the final day of the enquiry the Inspector visited the site where he had to dodge pedestrians, wheelchairs, tractors, buggies, bikes and joggers as well as the usual run of buses, lorries and a Streetwise truck to approach the site along the road Tesco’s claim is OK for access.

The Inspector’s decision is expected by the end of July.

No matter what the outcome in planning terms the campaign has some real community benefits. At one level it has contributed to a stronger community by forming friendships and relationships within the village. At a deeper level it has served as a very real example to the people of Keyworth that our ‘democracy’ is illusory. People are saying this is not right, in a true democracy the people of the community should decide such matters.

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No to the trashing of our countryside, No to a Nuclear Future, No to Government lies

19-07-2011 08:55

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Oh, what a lovely war! Murdoch’s other legacy

19-07-2011 08:23

They've hacked into the voicemail of a murdered teenager and the relatives of dead UK soldiers. They've paid police officers for information. The charge sheet against News International is a long and serious one.

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Whistle blower found dead

19-07-2011 02:20

A whistleblower in the phone-hacking scandal, former News of the World reporter Sean Hoare, was found dead at his home Monday but there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances, police said.

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thesun.co.uk hacked by LulzSec!

18-07-2011 23:55

The website of Everyones least favourite daily tabloid, The Sun, has been hacked by LulzSec and redirected to their twitter account giving updates as it unfolds. As this article is being written, the news international website has also gone down.

In a display of well timed hilarity, all attempts to access either thesun.co.uk or news-int.com are at the time of writing being redirected to the LulzSec twitter account at https://twitter.com/#!/LulzSec/ where reports of progress on other Murdoch owned targets are coming in. Lulzsec has just completed a marathon session of attacking corrupt and unethical targets and have recently announced a renewed joint campaign with other AnonOps hacktivists to strike online at the heart of major corporations and government agencies that put their own interests above those of the people they claim to represent. We can only imagine then why news International is the latest target...

More information will be posted as it becomes available

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Never Mind Glastonbury...Here's To Peace News Camp

18-07-2011 22:50

Peace News Camp the place to be this Summer!!

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Good News! CPS Drop 109 Fortnum & Mason protest cases

18-07-2011 21:39

Today the CPS have announced that they will be dropping 109 cases of the 145 arrested at Fortnum & Masons during anti-cuts demonstrations on March 26th. There remains 30 people who the CPS still plan on prosecuting, 13 of which have a trial set for November.

But questions remain as to why the decision was taken to arrest 145 people staging a sit-down protest against tax dodgers and why they continue to prosecute 30 individuals with the same charges as the 109 dropped today.

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concern around Tatchell opening Pride

18-07-2011 18:55

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French boat on its way to Gaza: the Dignité has sailed

18-07-2011 18:25

French boat Dignité of the Freedom Flotilla II leaves Greece

The French boat “Dignité/Karama” (Dignity) left the Greek island Kastellorizo around 8:30PM local time on Saturday July 16, 2011, heading south. The ten passengers onboard view themselves as representatives of the whole Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human. The rest of the Flotilla’s ships have been detained in different Greek ports, through bureaucratic obstruction, sabotage, sudden restrictions and withdrawals of flags.

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