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Confront the Tory Con in Birmingham

Indymedia Birmingham | 20.09.2010 22:27 | Public sector cuts | Repression | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | Birmingham

On Sunday 3rd October the Tory Party Conference begins in Birmingham. The Right to Work Campaign which is supported by a variety of trade union groups has called a national mobilisation against the conference. An autonomous direct action bloc was soon announced by a group known as No CPC who have posted a comprehensive list of venue targets.

Various possibilities to disrupt fringe events have also been announced, Class War have called for people to cheer their team on at the Tory Party Conference 'pub quiz' taking place in the evening of the mobilisation, and CPC have now announced a Reclaim the Streets Party.

On Tuesday 24th August a delegation from the Right To Work campaign met with West Midlands police to discuss the route of the organised protest march outside the Tory party conference on Sunday 3rd October. West Midlands police stated that they were happy for RtW to march past the conference centre and confirmed that centenary square, the square directly in front of the conference centre, would not be a “sterile zone”. Not surprisingly, on 2nd September the police reneged on the proposed route citing 'security reasons'..

Links: No CPC | RtWC | Fliers & Posters | Transport to mobilisation | Twittter updates



With the tories expecting discontent at their spending cuts, it is to be expected that West Midlands police are going to play a political role in curtailing protest. No CPC announced that regardless of whether the Right to Work campaign's pleading with West Midlands police to reinstate the march route would be successful or not, there would be an unauthorised autonomous bloc march taking place on the day of the conference. No CPC stated:-

"To organise with police a march route is in itself a forfeiting of our rights, and our responsibilities. Do we really believe the state would allow us a march if they thought it might have any effect?".

Meanwhile Some are predicting further discontent and anger following the Tory Party Conference.

No CPC have provided literature to promote the direct action bloc mobilisation. For transport info see the Right to Work Campaign website.

Indymedia Birmingham


Comments

Hide the following 12 comments

Cake and eat it?

22.09.2010 12:48

Very statist. What happened to reclaiming our land ( see Marx history eh? ) and and fucking capitalism or is this being organised by the fatties such as in the NGO industry who were being paid off by Labour while the rest of us couldn't get work ( you weren't bothered then were you? ). Face it, we don't have a manujfacturing base so who the fuck are you 'servicing' of not the square mile centre of global capialismo?????Labour still pretendiong to be a fiend of the underclasses in the UK caste system. Still, I do hate the Tories, but don't think for one second that the Labour party aren't neo-fascists.

bob raven


@ Cake and eat it?

22.09.2010 14:54

Why don't you do something about it all then?

acid


Reclaim the streets

23.09.2010 10:30


Bring your soundsystems!

CPC Direct Action Bloc
mail e-mail: smashcpc@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://toffsout.wordpress.com


Save government jobs???

23.09.2010 11:52

Of course everyone has a right to work, but that dosen't mean that any one owes them a living. The reality is as manufacturing employment has moved to asian sweat shops the "government" (and those on its pay role) has expanded to fill the gap. I'm not going to pay for something I don't want, just to keep someone else in a job, would you?

real anarchist


Save public sector jobs

23.09.2010 12:17

I think you'll find that most people are in favour of having free schools for their children, free healthcare, a pension, and housing support, disability support, and income support for when they get sick or lose their job.

What people are not in favour of is corporations forcibly extracting money from tax payers. Another term for Bank Bailouts is Welfare for the Rich, as their share prices and profits have been subsidised by us. What has taken place is a scam, and we are victims.

The right wing media is busy framing the debate about the coming public sector cuts and he unions likely response to them. The Telegraph ran an article last week “The Myth of the underpaid Public Sector Worker“. The article argues that workers in the public sector earn more than their counterparts in the private sector when pensions are taken into account.

This isn’t actually true but I’m not arguing about that. That hoop has been setup for me by the Telegraph and I don’t feel inclined to jump through it. I’m going to assume they’re absolutely right. What I am arguing is that they’re absolutely wrong when they say that “The findings threaten to undermine calls by the Trades Union Congress at its conference in Manchester this week for “civil disobedience” and co-ordinated strike action in protest against the Government’s planned public sector spending cuts.”

The only way that there’s any sense in their argument is if we assume that we’re in a race to the bottom. That if someone earns more than us then we should be pleased to see their conditions attacked. We shouldn’t support them when they defend those conditions.

We’re told there’s a labour market, that we all compete in it. To a large degree that is true. And that’s where the Telegraph’s argument falls. Unless you employ people, that is to say unless you’re a buyer in the labour market rather than a seller the Telegraph is asking you to act against your interests.

Real neoliberalist


The best demo against the Tories- ever!

23.09.2010 13:55

The Grand Hotel, Brighton, 1984.

Second time lucky!

Spirit of Rote Zora


This is a left wing / right wing, not an anarchist struggle.

23.09.2010 17:16

Of course everyone wants some thing for free, but if some one is offering you something for free, you would be wise to be suspicious.

The central government is quite happy to maintain a redundant labour force to curtail wage inflation, so the unemployed are providing a valuable service to the ruling oligarchy.

The rulers are happy to provide free schooling because they get to set the curriculum, an influence the mind set of the next generation of their tax slaves.

Pensions directly support the financial service industry. Housing benefit supports the privet rental sector, which supports the financial service industry.

What ever you think is being provided out of benevolence is designed to give a "kick back" to the ruling classes, you just have to look at it from out side of the left wing / right wing paradigm, pretty hard to do if you've been educated in the state system.

What are described as 'public sector jobs' can be seen as "government sector jobs" because the workers are accountable to the government, not the public. And the government is accountable to it's underwriters, the financial institutions, not the public.

The financial services controls the government, and it's the government that controls the public/government sector jobs, which in turn control us through policing, schooling, etc. Society truly functions as one single top down hierarchy. It is so designed to be in everyones interest to support the level above them. Of cause the public don't like being robed, quite so directly as the "bail outs" because it confronts them with the reality of their own financial captivity.

While we are all fighting for the interests of our respective positions, we are avoiding the real issue.

If we get something for free, we lose the ability to make it for ourselves, and that includes the ability to make our own social provisions. We are losing contact with our most basic means of production and so, getting locked in to the system of exploitation, presided over by the rulers of the global financial services industry.

real anarchist


sectarian bs

23.09.2010 21:51

"Of course everyone wants some thing for free, but if some one is offering you something for free, you would be wise to be suspicious. "

It isn't 'free', we are paying for it one way or another. You seem to be throwing the baby out with the bath water. If we had a revolution and ousted those living off the rest of us, I think most people would agree that the NHS should continue to provide free-at-the-point-of-consumption healthcare, along the lines of 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'. If you are advocating that people don't show solidarity with each other and defend their conditions, then you can expect a return to a Victorian model of philanthropy which is exactly what the tories are advocating.

divide & rule


Nick Clegg’s constituency of Sheffield to make 8,500 redundant

27.09.2010 17:39

AS THE GMB CONFIRM THAT SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL HAS ISSUED OFFICIAL REDUNDANCY NOTICE TO 8,500 COUNCIL STAFF

These official notices for 8,500 staff at Sheffield, coming on top of the notices for 26,000 in Birmingham, nail the lie that this government’s policies will not cost jobs and will lead to reduced services for the public and inferior terms and conditions for staff says The GMB.

The GMB confirmed on Monday September 27th 2010 that it had received from Sheffield City Council the official HR1 forms (advance notification of redundancies) on Friday 24th September regarding 8,500 staff employed by the council covering changes to terms and conditions and job levels.

Paul Kenny, The GMB General Secretary speaking from the Labour Party conference in Manchester said, “These official notices for 8,500 staff at Sheffield, coming on top of the notices for 26,000 in Birmingham, nail the lie that this government’s policies will not cost jobs and will lead to reduced services for the public and inferior terms and conditions for staff. Service users and service providers in both Sheffield and Birmingham will fight to protect services and jobs in both major cities.

Just as Sheffield housing services is facing a very real crisis

The GMB which represents approximately half of all staff employed at Sheffield Homes is concerned that despite the Lib Dem controlled Council having increased rents within Sheffield Homes by 3.6% they are determined to press for savings of £108,000 senior management costs. This will be on top of the £940,000 budget cut overall.

The trade union Shop Stewards from GMB, UNITE and UNISON have written jointly to Councillor Bob McCann (Lib Dem Council Cabinet member for Housing) to request an emergency meeting. Councillor McCann has subsequently refused to meet them.

Peter Davies, GMB Organiser said, “GMB know that the Lib Dems are claiming that they have challenged the company to find these savings without affecting front line services but in an organisation that has shed 191 jobs in 2 years that is simply impossible. The company are currently looking to find 40+ redundancies because of pressures on their budget, anyone who thinks that will be a simple case of shedding jobs at the top or cutting back on costs is kidding themselves.

If there is any doubt amongst voters with regard to what would be in store should the Lib Dems hold the sway of power in the next government then, they should look no further than Sheffield. They are clinging on Sheffield so I hope Sheffield Homes tenants are looking closely at this because the future of our housing services is facing a very real crisis already.”

The blame for this reduction in services and in jobs lie firmly at the door of David Cameron and Nick Clegg.” So we are told by trade union bureaucrats such as Peter Davies, who have done fuck all as front line staff have been told to provoke conflict with the public, then we can deny them service.

Of course this comes from direct experience, underclassrising.net are not saying this is overall policy at Sheffield City Council it comes from direct experience.

Sheffield City Council under the former Labour Party administration of Blunkett Betts and co used the finance allocated for the repair of Sheffield City Council housing stock to fight the former Conservative government before they come to power in 1997 and in there 13 years they have attacked the very Working Class they proclaim to be fighting for and lets not forget the role of The Left Wing.

They told The Working Class VOTE LABOUR WITH NO ILLUSIONS, in the years of The Conservative government and Labour government, we have seen half of Sheffield Homes demolished, the service go from crises to crises, homeless increase in Sheffield and the front line workers asked to provoke conflict with the public, from The Libril Democrats to Sheffield Green Party, we have been told this is not fact.

As 8,500 staff at Sheffield face advance notification of redundancies, we need to understand that the former Labour/Conservative Governments have attacked the working class. The cry’s of the left wing and trade union bureaucrats such as Peter Davies are nothing new, you can not reform capitalism but only work towards the abolition of the problem that is capitalism underclassrising.net want anarchy not anarchism, neither do we desire reform but a full on fight back uniting all workers under attack, be them unemployed or working the only change we desire is revolution not reform, see you on the streets.

underclassrising.net


What a suprise...

27.09.2010 23:34

So Labour and the Lib-Dems fucked us over? When is it time to realise that politicians only look out for themselves? It's a shame that the only sizable protest seems to be at the CPC when it is the system which is the problem. I will be at the Birmingham event but staying as far away from the SWP as possible because they can promise no better!

Fucking predictable


@real anarchist

03.10.2010 03:49

"If we get something for free, we lose the ability to make it for ourselves, and that includes the ability to make our own social provisions."

With that attitude you should become a cheerleader for "the Big Society", are you a secret tory?

dunno


so...

03.10.2010 14:30

black bloc??? resist??? thought so as usual brits do NOTHING. Germany,Spain,Greece,Holland, France and many more are kicking off right now. and all we can muster is a few ppl with flags.

oi oi


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