UK Public sector cuts Newswire Archive
Save Our NHS Day of Action: Saturday July 9th
31-05-2011 08:12
The campaign against the government's plans for the NHS is at a crossroads. Overwhelming opposition, from ordinary people, the BMA, the NHS Federation, the RCN, the unions and even the Liberal Democrat spring conference has forced them onto the back foot.Plain clothes FIT at #ukuncut protests. Cops use 'Breach of the Peace' strategy
30-05-2011 16:56
The police have a good track record in abusing breach of the peace powers. The situation in Scotland is very different, but in England and Wales the arrest is preventative, so doesn’t result in charges or convictions. But it does give police a handy tool to get people out of the way, and in the process, get their names and addresses.
Facebook Twitter on Trial 15 June Westminster Magistrates Court
30-05-2011 11:33
Return of the Big Society Hospital
29-05-2011 23:30
Cambridge Uncut comes out in defence of the NHS
29-05-2011 21:34
Cardiff Uncut occupy Top Shop, Queen street
29-05-2011 12:05
Saturday 28th May, Top Shop in central is occupied by Cardiff Uncut, and then shut down by Top Shop themselvesCambridge Atos Are Occupied Again.
26-05-2011 22:49
All part of David Cameron's beautiful vision for a fairer and more just 'Big Society', involving asset stripping everything in the public sector, including the Welfare State.
Nottingham Solidarity with Spanish Revolution
26-05-2011 21:55
Beginning on May 15th, a wave of protests has swept across Spain, with demonstrations in around 60 cities. The rallies have continued despite being officially banned under Spain’s electoral law. There have also been solidarity protests across the world, with several in the UK, including in Nottingham where a small protest was held in the Market Square on Saturday 21st. Supporters also maintained a small presence at this year’s Green Festival.
On the newswire: Nottingham Supports the Spanish revolution! | Brighton | Bristol | Edinburgh | London: 1, 2
The protesters in Spain have produced and distributed a manifesto:
We are ordinary people. We are like you: people, who get up every morning to study, work or find a job, people who have family and friends. People, who work hard every day to provide a better future for those around us.
Some of us consider ourselves progressive, others conservative. Some of us are believers, some not. Some of us have clearly defined ideologies, others are apolitical, but we are all concerned and angry about the political, economic, and social outlook which we see around us: corruption among politicians, businessmen, bankers, leaving us helpless, without a voice.
This situation has become normal, a daily suffering, without hope. But if we join forces, we can change it. It’s time to change things, time to build a better society together. Therefore, we strongly argue that:
- The priorities of any advanced society must be equality, progress, solidarity, freedom of culture, sustainability and development, welfare and people’s happiness.
- These are inalienable truths that we should abide by in our society: the right to housing, employment, culture, health, education, political participation, free personal development, and consumer rights for a healthy and happy life.
- The current status of our government and economic system does not take care of these rights, and in many ways is an obstacle to human progress.
- Democracy belongs to the people (demos = people, krátos = government) which means that government is made of every one of us. However, in Spain most of the political class does not even listen to us. Politicians should be bringing our voice to the institutions, facilitating the political participation of citizens through direct channels that provide the greatest benefit to the wider society, not to get rich and prosper at our expense, attending only to the dictatorship of major economic powers and holding them in power through a bipartidism headed by the immovable acronym PP & PSOE.
- Lust for power and its accumulation in only a few; create inequality, tension and injustice, which leads to violence, which we reject. The obsolete and unnatural economic model fuels the social machinery in a growing spiral that consumes itself by enriching a few and sends into poverty the rest. Until the collapse.
- The will and purpose of the current system is the accumulation of money, not regarding efficiency and the welfare of society. Wasting resources, destroying the planet, creating unemployment and unhappy consumers.
- Citizens are the gears of a machine designed to enrich a minority which does not regard our needs. We are anonymous, but without us none of this would exist, because we move the world.
- If as a society we learn to not trust our future to an abstract economy, which never returns benefits for the most, we can eliminate the abuse that we are all suffering.
- We need an ethical revolution. Instead of placing money above human beings, we shall put it back to our service. We are people, not products. I am not a product of what I buy, why I buy and who I buy from.
For all of the above, I am outraged.
I think I can change it.
I think I can help.
I know that together we can.I think I can help.
I know that together we can.
Poltical repression Italian style: students placed under house curfew
26-05-2011 10:44
Queer Resistance to transform bank into sexual health clinic to highlight cuts
26-05-2011 01:53
Report from the first “June 30 Strike” assembly
25-05-2011 20:55
Following on from the call for an open assembly to discuss, propose and organise for the first round of co-ordinated strike actions on June 30th, over 100 people turned up and squeezed into the Marchmont Centre in Bloomsbury on Monday 23rd May. Public sector workers, parents, carers, workers, unemployed, teachers, precarious workers were joined by spanish students who had been, since May 15th, holding self-organised assemblies as part of a new international movement that has seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets occupying main squares across Spain and beyond against crippling austerity and raising unemployment.
The purpose of the meeting was to focus on the June 30th public sectors strikes and how those of us “officially” on strike can connect with the rest of the population, to generalise the strike as a day of action for all those fighting against the cuts and the wider austerity measures. There was a implicit understanding that we should be calling for people not to go to work in solidarity ( taking day off work, calling in sick..etc ) to enable a bigger participation on the various pickets, actions and demonstrations.
Hundreds of thousands of workers could be involved in strike action, from as many as four or five different unions including NUT, PCS, UCU and ATL, possibly involving over 800,000 workers fighting against pension reforms, an integral part of the coalition governments austerity measures.
A brief overview was given by a teacher at an FE college about the effect the pension reforms will have ( pay more for less ), understandable a growing anger is being felt by many in the public sector who have worked all their lives in the hope that they can live in dignity when they retire. All this is being threatened, consequences of which would not be felt on younger generations until its too late.
School students from secondary to FE colleges were also spoken about and the need to encourage walk outs from schools in solidarity with their teachers, which could link into more vibrant localised demonstrations in the morning. Individuals from NCAFC and EAN which were instrumental in calling demonstrations during the student rebellion in November/December 2010 were keen to follow this up so that students continue to be a key feature of this movement.
This first assembly reached consensus on the following:
To mobilise and support early morning pickets of striking workers
To organise local initiatives to link up pickets with marches between different sites.
To promote diverse forms of actions to publicise and circulate the struggles
To take these decisions forward, those in the meeting who live or worked in the same boroughs will be put in contact with each other and were encouraged to meet up and work within local anti-cuts campaigns who have already started to publicise the 30th. Already there are meetings being organised ( email june30action@gmail.com if you would like to get in contact with others in your area ).
The items we couldn't reach consensus on were felt to be important to continue discussing including ideas to call to participate on the main trade union demo in Central London - tentatively being organised by the PCS. Several suggestions to organise various feeder marches and possibly a mass action later on in the day against a specific target were also discussed. There were also proposals to hold on public assemblies, in similar fashion to the recent events in Spain, that could further open up inclusivity and participation than perhaps less engaging forms of actions. These ideas could be included as suggestions for local initiatives. An idea of an all night camp was also talked about. There was no consensus on us organising public assemblies or a camp – and there were concerns that such ideas had failed in the past due to police repression - but it is an idea that will be revisited in future meetings. Economic blockades/disruption were also discussed and there was a general support for the idea throughout the meeting as a possible forms of actions, no doubt this too will be revisited at the next assemblies.
There were a wide ranging participation from radical left, anarchist, autonomist and socialist tendencies as well as people from no “political position” at the meeting but the meeting itself was one of the most respectful, dynamic and inspirational meetings for a long time. We hope to continue with this spirit in the lead up to June 30th with the sole intention to generalise the strikes in London and across the UK, radicalising many more people into taking action for their future.
Next Assembly - 7pm Monday June 6th ( Bloomsbury / University venue tbc )
The next assembly will be held at 7pm Monday June 6th ( University venue tbc ) in a bigger venue. We encourage everyone interested, engaged and up for it to come down and get involved. We especially like more workers who will potentially be on strike ( bearing in mind that at this stage strike ballots have yet to be taken ) to attend and help us organise towards June 30th.
Please contact us if we may be able to help with childcare, if there is enough interest we will try to arrange a creche.
General contact email is: june30action@gmail.com
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Cambridge Debating Union Besieged as Eric Pickles Visits.
25-05-2011 11:03
This is the same man who in 2009 went on the record as claiming expenses for his parent's home, which is just eight miles from his own (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Pickles)!
UG#551 - Understanding The Financial 'Crisis' (The Spectre Haunting Europe)
24-05-2011 14:21
#Spanishrevolution Has Reached Bristol
24-05-2011 12:55
Support for the Spanish protesters in Madrid reached Bristol today. Protesters gathered in the centre of Bristol with placards echoing the demands made in Madrid. They expressed their wish for real democracy and a change to the political and economic systems chanting slogans such as "They Don't Represent Us" and "Real Democracy Now
Support for the Spanish protesters in Madrid reached Bristol today, on May 22nd 2011. Protesters gathered in the centre of Bristol with placards echoing the demands made in Madrid. They expressed their wish for real democracy and a change to the political and economic systems chanting slogans such as "They Don't Represent Us" and "Real Democracy Now".
The protests in Madrid started on 15 May with a camp in the central "Puerta del Sol" square. The gathering of thousands is continuing following a vote to remain in the square for another week.
Full Story | Please Support the Spanish Revolution | They All Must Go (London Indymedia) | Protests Set to Continue Outside Spanish Embassy (London Indymedia) | Constructing, Living and Demanding Participatory Democracy in the #Spanishrevolution (P2P Foundation) | Spain's Tahir Square (Znet) | Arab Spring to Spanish Summer (Znet)
Draft Proposal to Replace the Manifesto 'Real Democracy Now'
24-05-2011 11:25
DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR A SERIOUS ALTERNATIVE TO DIRECT DEMOCRACYThis revolution is sponsored by you!
24-05-2011 10:21
National Meeting against cuts to Children's Services
23-05-2011 22:35
National Meeting against cuts to Children's ServicesSaturday 25th June 11:00 Sheffield
A meeting for grassroots groups to come together to discuss a national response to cuts to children's services. The meeting has been called by Save Westminster Children's Services and Sheffield Save Our Sure Start.
Protests set to continue outside Spanish embassy
23-05-2011 19:55
The protest and camp outside London's Spanish embasy that started almost a week ago grew in strenght during the weekend. On Friday night around 50 people set up camp, and on Saturday more people joined in to spend the night on the pavement opposite to the embassy. But it was during the day when the protest grew to several hundred, specially on Saturday when around 500 people joined in throughout the afternoon till well into the night.
Several working groups were formed and started to work on different aspects of the protest. These included logistics, communications & media, international, and art & action. The days were mostly spent in working groups meetings and plenary assemblies that discussed issues ranging from logistics and the future of the London protest, to people debating the characteristics and aims of this 'movement' both here in London and in Spain, as well as how it can be expanded beyond Spain. People from Italy and Portugal were present at the Sunday's assembly where they announced that people are starting to discuss plans for similar square occupations in their countries.
There was also time for spontaneous protest as people periodically gathered shouting "they (politicians) don't represent us!" whilst banging pots and pans. The bigger, loudest and more festive protest of the weekend was on Saturday night, with people improvising chants and slogans against politicians, representative democracy, bankers, political parties and demanding a system change.
On Sunday the plenary assembly decided to dismantle the camp until next weekend - starting on Friday 27th - but to continue the protest outside the embassy every day from 7 to 9pm, in solidarity with the camps in Madrid's Puerta del Sol [live webcam] and Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya that announced they would continue for at least another week. During the daily protests this week there are plans for working groups meetings, workshops and further assemblies that will decide on the shape of the protest for nesxt weekend as well as how to continue is 'movement' in London.
Here there are some photos from Sunday afternoon and evening ...
Related articles in London Indymedia:
More information about the protests in London:
More information about the square occupations in Spain:
- Puerta del Sol Occupation blog
- 24h live webcam from Puerta del Sol
- Plaça Catalunya Occupation blog
- Video Gallery from Barcelona's La Tele
- Live feeds from Spain an across Europe
