Saturday’s protests and incidents of violence
As previously noted, I have no problem per se with political violence.
Its use and justification must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, with reference to myriad factors such as likelihood to succeed, ability to justify harm to victims, long-term advantages gained, greater evils averted, and so on.
But certainly not all instances of political violence fit this model. When the so-called “Black Bloc” of anarchist militants attacked stores on Oxford Street yesterday they were not part of a (para)military organised hierarchy with a leadership exercising strategic-tactical judgement – still less the militant wing of the 250,000 peaceful marchers congregating in Hyde Park.
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TUC march: I don’t predict a riot
Not only are my days as a street fighting man well behind me, but daddy is taking girls aged 10 and 8 on the TUC anti-cuts march tomorrow. The last thing I want is for the headbangers to kick anything off.
Yet today’s papers are full of dire predictions that a ‘violent minority’ are hell-bent on ‘hijacking a peaceful protest’. In particular, the Guardian is hyping up an article by some ex-copper on the website of a rightwing think tank, which contends that the Old Bill have ‘strong intelligence’ that ‘extremist groups are planning illegal acts of violence’ tomorrow.
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How disabled people can virtually join the march tomorrow
contribution by Tim Hardy
“Disabled people are going to march to tell the government we demand ‘Rights not Charity’ and to show we are not easy victims of their cuts even though they may think we are,” Eleanor Lisney of Disabled People Against Cuts says.
While the TUC have been working hard to make access easier but for those who cannot physically make the day. But we have an alternative to that too.
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A week excuse
Contribution by Danny Chivers
You really couldn’t make it up. March 21st – 27th has been designated as a “Week of Action” on climate change in the UK. The eco-warriors behind this rebellious project? Why, it’s those well-known champions of environmental justice: Tesco, EDF Energy, and the Royal Bank of Scotland. I honestly don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Tesco, whose entire business model is based on the mass transportation of goods halfway across the globe, and on driving a race-to-the-bottom in environmental and labour standards in farming worldwide. EDF, who operate two of the five biggest coal fired power stations in the UK. And RBS – RBS! – who are the UK’s leading investor in fossil fuel projects.
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Progressive London: lots of agreement and speeches, but where’s the strategy?
I enjoyed yesterday’s Progressive London; I was able to make some points in a session, meet interesting people I’ve talked to on this blog or on Twitter, hear a few interesting speeches.
Call me a “strategy hawk” if you will, but am I the only one tired of events where most speeches just preach to the converted? This, I felt, was the main problem with Progressive London.
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Suggestions for #NetrootsUK organisers
contribution by Maeve McKeown
The Netroots conference on Saturday was a great opportunity for activists to share ideas and tips and to network in person.
After discussing the day with other attendees, I would like to share five suggestions:
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Netroots UK has sold out; this is what you can expect
We have now sold out all the available tickets to Netroots UK and are massively over-subscribed. Thank you to everyone who’s bought tickets and to the TUC for having the foresight to organise and host it.
Netroots UK, on Saturday 8th January, will be the biggest event of its kind in perhaps a long time. We hope it will become an important annual fixture in the political calendar and eventually be replicated in key cities across the country.
This is what you can expect…
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Olympics, World Cup: please God, no
I remember going on a business trip to Glasgow which happened to coincide with the seventh world congress of flower arrangers. Perhaps because I did not appreciate the popularity of this pastime, I didn’t think to check for any clash of dates on that particular score.
So it was that 32,000 attendees – predominantly ladies of a certain age – and poor old me descended on No Mean City at the same time. It was hard to get a decent hotel room, and the resultant shortage of taxis made me late for more than one appointment.
In a country where infrastructure is as woefully inadequate as it is in Britain, major events inevitably put a strain on the inhabitants of the places in which they take place.
The violence at student protests misrepresented the vast majority of us
contribution by George W Potter
Having read Mr Barker account of what happened at Millbank I felt quite pissed off.
His account is unrepresentative of the majority of the protesters.
I went to the protest as a Lib Dem and marched with other Lib Dems to demonstrate our personal opposition to fee rises and to show that the majority of the party does not celebrate what our leadership is doing.
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The Occupation of Milbank: what the press missed
contribution by Arthur Baker
Marching along Milbank the word went round: “that’s Tory HQ!” soon, hundereds of protesters rushed towards the building.
It was completely undefended, and it took the protesters all of about 15 seconds to break through into the lobby. A minute later, a few police tried to block the doors to stop anyone getting in or out but to little avail. They were hugely outnumbered, and their raised batons did little to stop protesters.
Some once inside simply walked upstairs, went through a fire exit and onto the roof, others entered offices and smashed windows from inside, whilst others sprayed graffiti, smashed up the lobby, and generally caused trouble.
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How Hackney cuts
Have started to spend time with people in poorer boroughs who are likely to be affected by public sector cuts. Will post interview extracts while several of us work on longer pieces with video, and go back to people to see how they’re getting on:
I talk to Anthony Rhoden at a Saturday afternoon Hackney Unites clinic for people who need free workplace and employment advice. Two Russell Jones & Walker solicitors are there as advisors, as well a TUC and local union rep.
A longtime (now unemployed) chef and restaurant worker, Rhoden says that he is a Unite organiser for bar and restaurant employees -’there’s a lot of problems in the catering industry – there were lots of problems even before the recession. It happened to me all the time – wouldn’t get paid, or wouldn’t get all my pay. People don’t know they have rights. You get bullied all the time.’
In a recession, though, people count themselves lucky to have a job, even if they’re abused in it. That’ll be nowhere more the case than in Hackney. Hackney’s unemployment figures are already the worst in London, with a June 2010 TUC analysis putting the ratio of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance to available jobs at 24:1. continue reading… »
Why not legalise gay marriage, Ed?
At several points in his interview with Sunny, published yesterday, Ed Miliband comes across either as lacking the courage of his leftwing convictions, or as lacking those convictions altogether.
And then there is this:
Would you allow gays to be legally married, rather than just be registered as a civil partnership?
He hesitates. “I will listen to what people have to say on going further than that if there is a demand. No one has yet put that to me in the leadership election.” He said his feeling was that not enough people were asking for the policy.
How liberals forced the Libel debate
contribution by Victor Noir
It looked like a crude right-wing fantasy: frontbenchers from the three big UK parties kowtowing to a gathering of highbrow Metropolitan media liberals, with Pimm’s flowing at the bar, in the middle of an election campaign.
Whatever the fantasies about supposed left-wing domination of the national media, radical campaigners know that politicians won’t go within a mile of anything that looks like confirming them.
That was until two recent events: the report on libel law from Index and English PEN, and the success of science writer Simon Singh in defending the outrageous action brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA).
These joint campaigns convinced Justice Secretary Jack Straw, a former far from liberal Home Secretary, who now set up a working group and promised legislation.
And last week, when Index, PEN and Sense about Science invited him and the Tory and LibDem frontbenchers to an election hustings meeting on libel reform they all had to accept.
In the event Jack Straw cried off, pleading pressure of business, but he sent junior minister Michael Wills, and the others sent their top men, Dominic Grieve and Evan Harris respectively.
Making the pitch
In truth, for all their friendly noises — and their tributes to Simon Singh, who stood in the crowd with a sceptical gaze – the others promised nothing new. All parties were already committed to a “single publication” rule that would prevent actions against websites over articles that would be out of time if in print.
They had already agreed on the need to limit the lawyers’ outrageous 100 per cent “success fees”, but that’s not new and there was no firm suggestion on what the limit should be.
But there was nothing on legal aid, nothing on reversing the burden of truth and nothing on the High Court’s willingness to take cases from wealthy overseas claimants over foreign publications with negligible audiences in the UK.
An informal poll was taken, with votes for the party representatives from those present and those watching online. Following the fashion of the moment, the LibDems’ Evan Harris swept ahead with a stonking 95 per cent.
There was, however, one unseen gain: that media policy has been brought into the open. This has not been the case since Labour in the 1970s and 1980s used to include all the radical media ideas of the time — none of which were ever carried out.
Since then the combination of popular revulsion at the tabloid press and the politicians’ fear of it have kept media campaigners at arms’ length. Ministers would pay court at corporate events but always shun the critics.
Now all three major parties have libel reform in their manifestos and the politicians are prepared to go public. Like so much else, it is down to the internet.
The internet is bringing more people into the political discourse; it was the forum for Simon Singh’s campaign. It is cool to talk about, and that makes media a cool topic too.
Now will these politicians listen and join in discussions on protecting the BBC and public service media, and on dispossessing the old media corporations and taxing the new ones to pay for them?
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Index on Censorship carries more coverage from the Libel debate
Debating humanitarian interventions
I am debating Linda Polman, author of War Games: The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times at the Frontline club in London on Tuesday 11 May if anyone has energy left-over for political discussion after the election.
I have not read Linda’s book yet, but there is an interview with her here in the Observer conducted by Andrew Anthony.
I am no great fan of Anthony’s work and the political points come over as rather stale and outdated – as if someone has not really thought about the issue much since his days spent picking coffee in Nicaragua with the Sandinistas – but Polman’s prievious work is provocative and interesting.
She famously reported on how eighty Zambian UN Blue Helmets were forced to watch helplessly as thousands of Hutu refugess were murdered by government troops in Rwanda – a report which did much to shake the guilt-ridden complacent indulgency that much of the international community had previously displayed towards its President Paul Kagame.
Lest we forget, one of Tony Blair’s current consultancy positions is working to improve Kagame’s public image.
We’re planning a Flashmob for Cameron
Dear Dave,
We know this is tough for you. Tony had it so easy. All he had to do was repeal Section 28, allow gay adoption and appoint the first openly gay cabinet ministers and everyone thought New Labour was god’s gift to gay rights.
You’ve not only had to overcome your party’s dodgy record, you’ve also struggled personally with the prejudices that made you vote in a pretty anti-gay way before you became leader. So big up for everything you’ve done so far to overcome homophobia in yourself and in your party.
But Chris Grayling and Berkshire B&B-gate really does make us doubt your homophile credentials. His comments were more stupid than offensive – surely he can tell the difference between inviting someone into your home and providing a commercial service?
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Protesters take to the street to save Whittington hospital
contribution by Sarah Morrison
“Save Whittington A&E, Save Whittington Maternity,” demanded demonstrators the Saturday just gone.
Thousands marched from Highbury Corner to Whittington Hospital in North London on Saturday to protest against the possible closure of A&E departments across North Central London and rally against what they see as a systematic downgrading of public health services in the capital city.
Whittington Hospital serves 250,000 people in the boroughs of Islington and Haringey. It faces being downsized to a “local” hospital under plans put forward by the North Central London NHS – the anger amongst the crowd became clear.
“Everyone in this community relies on this hospital, millions have been spent on doing it up and we now have a top-notch, first-rate local hospital, and we are going to keep it this way,” said MP for Islington North, Jeremy Corbyn.
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Will the BBC come clean over G20 cover-up?
In April this year the G20 protests were marked by the death of Ian Tomlinson and some notoriously bad coverage in the national media. But while even papers like the London Evening Standard have tried to make amends, the BBC steadfastly seems to believe its shambolic coverage was entirely fair.
After a misleading feature on kettling for the BBC website, Guy Aitchison from Our Kingdom and Stuart White from Next Left decided to jointly complain to the BBC in an open letter in May.
They made points covering these areas:
- Partial and incomplete reporting of events amounting to misinformation
- Grossly inaccurate statements about police tactics
- Poor follow up to the story of heavy-handed policing
- Lack of investigative impetus
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The real point of Climate Camp
The Climate Camp is back, and thoroughly established on Blackheath, scene of a number of very drunken evenings of burly cheer back when I was a Kent schoolboy rugby player.
They’re slowly getting their message across in spite of all the distractions. They’re a broad, consensus-based coalition which carries no universal ideological burden. The only point of cohesion is that they are all dedicated to true debate, to collective action and to direct, rather than “representative”, political systems for self-determination.
They are able to be all of these things because they live in a society where the cost of entry into the communications market is so low that normal people can play too. And they’re winning the spin war, so far. Being factual, organised and in the right really helps with that. Mr. Cameron, take note.
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Can the Met police change its stripes?
contribution by Helen
Last August, thousands of people camped out at Kingsnorth power station to protest against the continued use of coal power in the UK. There were eye-witness reports and video evidence that police abused stop and search powers, removed their badge numbers, employed sleep deprivation tactics, harassed journalists, arrested any protesters who tried to demand their legal rights, and engaged in unprovoked violence against peaceful protesters and their private property.
But the police were not meaningfully challenged by anyone with the authority to do so. In fact, it wasn’t until after events were repeated at the G20 protests in April 2009 that official questions were asked about the policing of dissent in the UK.
Early this year, cyber-liberties activist Cory Doctorow covered all this in the Guardian about Kingsnorth camp.
Ironically, the article was delayed due to an administrative error, resulting in its publication shortly after the G20 protests. It was already true, even before the same mistakes were made all over again: and in April, it could just as easily have been talking about the events earlier that month.
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The witchhunt
Lousy news from the trade union front, people:
The New Labour-loving horrors who run the public sector union Unison have stepped up their campaign to purge their Labour affiliated union of all grassroots socialists and leftwing activists.
We on the left are not pleased.
The union has just banned four of its best grassroots activists – Glenn Kelly (Bromley Unison branch secretary), Suzanne Muna (Unison’s Tenant Services Authority branch secretary), Onay Kasab (Greenwich Unison branch secretary) and Brian Debus (Hackney Unison chair) – from union office for three (Kelly and Kasab), four (Muna) and five (Debus) years.
Their crime? – well, that depends on who you ask, and how highly that person thinks of Labour.
I’m one of the many who believe that Kelly, Kasab, Muna and Debus are being strongarmed out of Unison because they are Socialist party members. They are passionate critics of New Labour, passionately opposed to this government’s privatising of public services, and – and this is doubtless the kicker, as far as Unison’s New Labour lubbers are concerned – galvanising grassroots enthusiasm for Unison to break its formal funding ties with Labour. continue reading… »
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed.
» Why UKuncut need to distance themselves from violent protest
» Where is all this household debt going to come from?
» The government wants to control what you see online
» Is it legal for us to supply arms to Libyan rebels?
» Government prepares to compromise over watered-down banking reforms
» Cuts to back-office jobs will still affect frontline police officers
» Incompetence will destroy this government, not the cuts
» The fall-out from Saturday illustrates the limits of left pluralism
» It’s Osborne who is maxing out the nation’s credit card
» Sayeeda Warsi plays the race card to campaign against electoral reform
» The EMA is to be replaced by Victorian style charity
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