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Tony Blair Too Afraid to Come to Brum

protesters | 18.03.2006 23:17 | Education | Social Struggles | Birmingham

About 100 protesters gathered in front of Mathew Boulton College on 16 March, 2006, to give Tony Blair a warm welcome. The Prime Minister was meant to visit the recently built College in Birmingham for its official opening. The visit, however, was cancelled at the last minute and the PM did not show up, presumably to avoid the embarrassment he had experienced at Nottingham University earlier this year. Or perhaps he was too shy to appear in public after the embarrassing education vote earlier this week. Apart from the college's few security guards, there was very little police presence: only one van!









The protest was originally called by the Mathew Boulton 2, two students who were expelled from the college after producing and distributing a newsletter called The Guerilla. Other participants included Food Not Bombs, who did their usual food serving, as well as other grassroots campaigns and activists. Present also were the usual SWP and Respect comrades, trying to sell their papers and coach tickets for the 18 March anti-war demo.

Protesters wanted to make a public show of their discontent with the Blair government on various issues, from the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, draconian security measures, to the corporate take-over of social services. Mathew Boulton itself is a Private Finance Initiative project, which is effectively a back-door form of privatisation. Its corporate finance also reflects its corporate management culture and its denial of freedom of speech.

The Prime Minister was originally scheduled to arrive at 2pm. By 1:30, over a 100 people had gathered outside the gates, chanting anti-Blair slogans. Some 100 or so students were also standing by inside the college grounds, in what seemed like a promising support. At around 1:30, however, the students were asked by the security guards to go inside, which they all did at once, reflecting the widespread apathy and fear among students.

Just before 2pm, it was announced that the PM's arrival would be delayed by 2 hours, so protesters decided to disperse and reconvene at 4pm, so that the unwelcome guest didn't go away without the necessary welcome.

Around 4pm, less people turned up, as it was extremely cold and raining. Another half hour passed without any sign of Blair and his entourage, then it was announced that the visit had been cancelled altogether. So the few remaining protesters finished the day with a "victory march" round the building and that was it.

Sources inside the building later confirmed that Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had replaced the Prime Minister and came at 4pm, but no one saw him enter the building. "He probably sneaked through the back door to avoid us," a protester commented.

Some activists also did a banner-drop round the corner, covering an advertising billboard. The banner, in black and red, had the words: "TONY BLAIR WAR CRIMINAL".

images by feckin_images@tiscali.co.uk

protesters


Additions

nightmare of a privatised education system

23.04.2006 17:53

Thursday, December 08, 2005
SUSPENDED!
The Serapion brothers were recently suspended from college for distributing a newsletter.
They were trying to open the minds of those students that have been captured by the system, chained by the constraints of the mythical laws of the bourgeoisie.
In this modern age of democracy and free speech, where communism is a thing of the past and we have all become liberal and tolerant of other societies and cultures, why is it a college suspends two students for distributing a newsletter?
What is the real reason behind this course of action? The superiors of colleges and schools want to control the minds of their students. Critical thinking is a thing of the past, intellectual debate is reserved for Oxford and Cambridge, questioning the situation we find ourselves in is for the politicians to debate over. Students need to learn one thing and one thing only, obedience. Obedience to the state, to their teachers and in the future their bosses. And if anybody questions our policies, our methods, then we will suspend them. If anybody attempts to get people thinking, tries to stimulate the intellect, encourage critical thinking, then we will show them the door. The managers of colleges are there for a reason, to manage the students, to shape and mould them into the white collar slaves of the future, to direct the students thinking, to get them to comply and not to question. So when two free thinking individuals (Serapion brothers) write a few articles, trying to ruffle the feathers of the intellect, they need to be suspended. Stop the press! Don’t let the newsletter spread! Call security! We have people who are challenging our indoctrination. We have people who have figured out our plans. The Serapion brothers did not use any foul language, did not insight racism, did not propagate any political views, instead they simply encouraged people to use their synapses, to stimulate the parts of the brain that seem to be on holiday. They were suspended. No reason was given, they all ready know the reason. This is a totalitarian regime within the college, we have rules and if we don’t like the look of you, we will make a rule to kick you out. We are the offspring of the ‘Lunar society’, we call the shots so give us your ID cards and make your way off the college premises. But there is one thing the management does not know, the seeds have been planted, the minds stimulated, people are talking, people are thinking, soon their will be ten then twenty then hundreds who will begin to oppose the discrimination, the indoctrination, the masses will not remain silent. When you see these signs, prepare yourself for the advent of the Serapion brothers.

By Guevara Serapion

defend academic freedom
- Homepage: http://theguerilla.blogspot.com/2005/12/suspended.html


the "offensive" material that got the two students expelled

23.04.2006 18:09

THE GUERILLA

Edited by the serapion Brothers

NO.1

Underground newsletter of Matthew Boulton College

GOD CANT COME TO COLLEGE

It would seem that the management at Matthew Boulton College are refusing to allow any religious societies to be formed on its premises, be they Muslim, Christian or Jewish, despite the fact that most other higher education facilities have them. Their reasons range from their belief that religion and education should be separate to the idea that having these societies will cause tension. Again, other colleges and universities have them and don’t appear to have encountered any such problems. So what exactly is the real agenda behind this blatantly discriminative policy the college has in place and are they aware that they are in breach of the Human Rights Act of 1998 article 11, which states that everyone has ‘the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.’ Societies are formed for the sole purpose of catering for the needs of certain groups, be they the women of a women’s society, or the Muslims of an Islamic society. They never interfere with their members educational commitments and merely provide extra curricular activities more suited to their taste. The college doesn’t seem to have a problem with allowing a Film society so why would a religious one be any different. Whatever people’s opinions are about religion it doesn’t change the fact that Britain is a country that allows individuals to practice and express their beliefs, and by the looks of things this college expects people to just shut up and leave their religion and God at the College entrance, or just simply shut up and leave the College.
By Castro Serapion

UNDER MANNERS

In America during the 60’s it was the students who were the ones who opposed the government, who made sure their voices were heard and who refused to be forced into staying silent. These days if the government says its going to war, wants to detain suspects for 90 days or is planning to build more nuclear PowerStation’s, students are the ones that couldn’t care less and yet are the very group that these actions are going to affect the most. Whatever politicians do with this world now, we are the ones who are going to have to deal with it when there finished. So why is it we seem to care so little? One of the reasons is that ever since childhood educational facilities have attempted to

shape us into compliant citizens who will do anything that they tell us to do. The teacher becomes the first authority figure used to keep us under manners, conditioning us to accept future commands from our boss at work and readying us to except the control of the government. The most the population does when the government does something we all don’t like is moan. Where is the action. Where are the mass protests. We have all been turned into robots who are concerned only with what’s going to happen on the next episode of East Enders all the while things are happening behind closed doors that effect is in ways we are not even aware of. College is an extension of their plan as another facility that seeks to keep us under manners. You can see it daily from the way we are treated by the staff. What ever happened to being treated with respect and being seen as adults, which we all are. If we don’t come to realize that we are being conditioned in this way then we will never really be free. If we don’t take an interest in what’s happening in our country and around the world, then the future looks very bleak indeed.
By Castro Serapion


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WAKE UP AND SMELL THE BULL

What is the purpose of college? Is it to provide an education for the students or a service for customers. Colleges today have changed from the colleges of the past, whereas students in the past were proactive nowadays when talking to students you are met with a sense of apathy on all subjects, unless it be football or the next pop group. The media and entertainment culture has taken over our lives, along with being institutionalized through compulsory schooling, being hit with advertisement after advertisement and un-beneficial, irrelevant information. We have no views anymore, whether it be on the environment, politics, education or anything else which concerns our everyday lives. Our views are shaped by the media yet we delude ourselves that they are our own, we are told what to think, how long to think and in which way to think about it. The level of emotion we feel on a particular subject, is the amount of coverage it receives on the news. Innocent Iraqi civilians die everyday, yet no interviews with their families, no pictures of the children left behind, or other family members, we are just given numbers, statistics, filtered pictures, desensitizing us to the plight of others across the world. Yet if an American soldier dies we are shown his mourning mother, and attractive girl friend telling us how wonderful and caring her gun yielding minion of the American government boyfriend was. We have a sense of association to the soldier yet no feelings towards a child who happened to pick up an unexploded particle of a cluster bomb, dropped by the British government. The people suffering are far away, they look different, act different and hey they don’t even speak English why should we care, but if Phil and Grant return to Eastenders millions of us are glued to our screens. What does this say about us, where is our sense of justice, individuality and curiosity, do we not have a responsibility to ourselves and those around us to seek the truth and inform others of it. When will students break away from this lifestyle of apathy and not caring about that which will effect us tomorrow, how much longer will corporate bosses influence our education, and government policies? There are only one group of people that are benefiting from the current situation, I will let you in on a secret, its not us!

By Guevara Serapion


WELCOME TO CAMP BOULTON

When most people came to the open day of the college I bet they were treated with a warm welcome from a happy member of staff and felt respected as they appeared to be concerned with helping you in anyway they could. So what’s happened since then? Now when you come to college you’re treated with suspicion by rude security guards and are hard pressed to find any member of staff who is concerned about you whatsoever. What’s changed is the fact that they have already received your college fees, they don’t need to be nice to you anymore as your now just another suspect for them to keep their eye on in case you cause them any trouble. Now the college has become more like a concentration camp, with students forced to wear ID cards around their necks and told they have to ask to leave the class to go to the toilet. Is this really why you came? By Castro Serapion

WRITERS WANTED

If you are interested in writing for the Guerilla then please e-mail us at  theguerilla@hotmail.co.uk Make sure when you submit your articles that you don’t exceed 150 words and remember to use a pen name. You know it makes sense. This is your chance to inform the students of this college without the interference of the management, so get writing, keep it relative and we look forward to reading.
The Serapion Brothers

what if david brent ran a college?


Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. Afraid or ashamed ? — pedant
  2. Afraid — MD
  3. Too many other problems — Andy

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