Budget 2009: Police shut down morning protest

I advertised this protest yesterday but police have decided to shut it down . Bloody appalling!!

See below press release

 POLICE SHUT DOWN 11.30AM PROTEST… DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE TREASURY 5PM-7PM!

The police have refused to authorise our planned demonstration on Whitehall at 11.30am and have made clear that, if it takes place, the organiser will be liable to arrest and imprisonment for up to a year.

 

To avoid any police action against protesters turning up, we have been forced to cancel this demonstration.

 

Our protest from 5pm-7pm outside the Treasury (1 Horse Guards Road , London SW1A 2HQ – click link for map) will still take place. Please spread the word and attend the protest to demand a People’s Bailout – and defy police moves against demonstrations.

 

We will also be going ahead with our 7.30pm Question Time event with John McDonnell MP, economist Graham Turner and others in Committee Room 10, House of Commons.

 

Make sure you come along and exercise your right to protest.

Best wishes,

Owen Jones

Campaign Convenor

And from John McDonnell

PRESS NOTICE… PRESS NOTICE…

For immediate release

POLICE SHUT DOWN PEACEFUL BUDGET DAY…

The Metropolitan Police have effectively shut down a peaceful protest planned for Budget Day.

The demonstration was organised by the Labour Representation Committee and was expected to be attended by a number of MPs.

The demonstration planned a simple peaceful lining of the route from Downing Street to Parliament by pensioners, students and trade unionists holding up placards asking ‘Where Is Our Bailout?’

Police have refused authorisation and threatened the organiser with arrest and imprisonment for up to a year if it takes place.

John McDonnell MP, Chair of the Labour Representation Committee, said: “This is another example of the police overstepping the mark and abusing their powers. It was never the intent of the legislation relating to demonstrations in vicinity of Parliament that the police would be allow to ban peaceful demonstrations in this way.

“This represents yet another curtailment of one of our essential centuries’ old civil liberties which is the protest within the vicinity of Parliament. People should have the right to take to the streets when their jobs, livelihoods, pensions, homes and public services are at risk.

“For us to be told that such protest is unauthorised is a complete disgrace.”

 

Visteon: the struggle goes on…

 

Thanks to Charlie Maxwell who has been commenting on this blog regarding updates from the Belfast Visteon factory occupation. Just like to say solidarity to you comrade and to all the workers involved good luck with the fight!

The Visteon workers in Enfield are still in struggle despite no longer being in occupation of their plant. The Visteon workers in Belfast burnt the court orders evicting them from their plant! All the Visteon workers need and desverve the support of every socialist and every trade unionist.

 

The Enfield plant is being picketed 24 hours each day. Individuals and groups are more than welcome at the picket at any time of the day or night.

Especially welcome are food items and logs to burn on the fire. Regular rallies each Saturday at the Enfield plant are planned as is the leafleting of Ford showrooms. On Wednesday 22 April at 7.30pm there will be the weekly support group meeting at Gate 5 of the Enfild plant.

 

A blog has been set up www.visteonoccupation.org.

 

The struggle continues.

Budget 2009: Their Crisis Not Ours….!

So Gordon Brown acknowledges that people feel ‘real pain’ due to the recession. Bit like someone kicking you in the shins and then exclaims  they feel your pain!

Oh, and to add further misery and further collective kicks in the shins for the working class, Alistair Darling, is expected to announce, pre-Budget, £15bn of spending cuts over the next few years.

Ordinary working class people are going to pay for the excesses of the bosses.

But never fear, Brown explains the method to his financial madness.

“In this new competitive world we have got to do everything in our power to enable businesses to be internationally competitive. No policy can remain exactly as it was five or 10 years ago. Where there are difficulties there are opportunities. We have got to invest out of this downturn.”

Competitive of course means cuts in living standards right across the world. Working class people to be set against each other whichever region of the world they live in. This is not what we want or what we need.

So get to this on Wednesday organised by activists in the Labour Representation Committee (LRC)  – a day of action regarding Budget Day – 22nd April.

11.30am: Line the route on Whitehall where the Chancellor will go from No. 11 Downing Street to address Parliament

5pm: Protest outside the Treasury

7.30pm: We will hold a Question Time event at a venue soon to be confirmed which will be chaired by John McDonnell MP and be addressed by a range of experts, activists and high-profile figures who will answer your questions as to how we got into this mess.

I can’t get to the morning but am hoping to attend the evening protests and Question Time…

See you there comrades!

Passionate Friend – The Teardrop Explodes

Time for a commercial break

I see the piss- poor Ashes to Ashes is back tonight. Why oh why oh why, I lament… Not a patch on its predecessor, Life on Mars. In a former life in a former job, a couple of us would discuss the music to both Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars (and there would be the inevitable debate 70s v 80s music).

 In an Ashes to Ashes episode, there was a track nobody could name, unfortunately I embarrassed myself by blurting out, ‘It was Careless Memories, early Duran Duran’.. Stunned silence which ended with a chorus, ‘Shoulda known you would know that…’ Alas, tis true….

Anyways, one episode had the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Reward by The Teardrop Explodes. I couldn’t be bothered with the plot but sang along merrily.

And this specific song from YouTube, Passionate Friend, reminds me of a very long coach journey circa late 1986 organised by B’ham CND to Faslane Naval base. I was listening to a lot of Teardrop Explodes and Julian Cope (I had a teenage crush on him…probably to do with the black leather jodhpurs he wore!). 

At that time, as well, I was strung out on various doses of medication and music gave me some respite from the demons and grind of life. 

Sorry I digress…. Where was I? Oh yes, 1986, B’ham CND and Faslane. An anarchist sat next to me, he started to spout Proudhon slagged off Marx and Trots. I argued back. He argued back. We swapped food, I gave him my sandwiches, he gave me his sweets and Vodka. I think I did the best out of the bargain.

At the end of the two day trip, early morning Sunday, B’ham City Centre he asked me out on a date.

My reply: ‘You’re an anarchist, I am a Trot… I don’t think it would be a good idea’…

The anarchist looked crestfallen and wandered away into the early morning grime of Digbeth Coach Station.

Brief Encounter it wasn’t. I also think I gave him a lecture on Kronstadt to send him on his way.

Gawd, I was an ortho-annoying purist Trot. I probably was ticking off a mental list in my head regarding ‘political positions and orientations’ not whether the person was …..erm…nice. Too subjective and bourgeois, comrade, what is their position on the Soviet Union, permanent revolution and the question of dialectics….far more important.

 Jeeze…….

Looking back at that story I despair at the 16 year old happy shiny excited revolutionary and try not to bang my head on the keyboard in the here and now out of frustration….

But hey, after that long sad convoluted story (hey, wake up at the back!) here’s the wonderful Julian Cope and Passionate Friend.

In The Loop

To walk the road of peace, sometimes we need to be ready to climb the mountain of conflict.

No, the above quote isn’t from the annals of premium Blair bullshittery but spoken by the fictional character Simon Foster in Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop.

Foster (Tom Hollander) is bumbling and blundering MP, who believes that ‘war is unforseeable’. Malcom Tucker (Peter Capaldi) responds in his usual unequivocal straight-to-the point sweary way.

You sound like a  Nazi Julie Andrews.

In The Loop has some wonderful class A one-liners spouted by the thinly veiled Alistair Campbell character, Malcolm  Tucker. And Capaldi portrays the pent up anger, facially…the throbbing vein and pop-eye look..ticking human time bomb about to go postal at any moment, control freakery scarily well…. and creative inventive swearing…

And some are rather prescient (ingenious time for the film to be released….). In one scene, Simon Foster is lying on his bed in an anonymous looking hotel room lamenting to his adviser, Toby, that he has nowhere to go and that he would like to watch a porn movie but as ‘I’ll have to record it in the Register of Members Interests!’…

Indeed.. I wonder if mister Jacqui Smith will watching this film twice….

Anyway, Foster and his hapless aid, Toby go off to Washington to meet counterparts and find themselves caught up in the various political factions (‘doves’ and ‘hawks’), accidently leaking information to the American media, while Toby indulges in what is later described as ‘anti-war shag’ with Liza, an intern. Liza has written a document which is contrued as anti-war (made cons than pros for war). All this happening while Simon Foster is trying hard to keep is mouth shut! There also a sub-plot revolving around one of Foster’s constituency members and his wall……. Oh, and something about a dodgy dossier….

The film exposes mishaps, rank stupidity, spin, lies, bumbling servile MPs led by a Director of Spin. Satire at its best and very very funny. And as they say life imitating art. NL wonkers too stupid and spineless , though cynically allow themselves  to kept on a short lease and told what to say. The writers of In The Loop get NL Speak down to a fine art.

The characters especially Simon Foster can’t say what is truly on his mind instead he comes out with pointless guff.

And now with hyper-spin spinning out of control for NL with its tawdry and sordid ideas for the use of blogging. Government sponsored trollery. Mind you plenty more material coming next year for the satirists with the expected return of the Tories…

“If anyone ever deserved a good slap, this woman certainly did…”

Instead of the sanitised version of injured innocence, what you’ll see is an aggressive-looking young woman – as yet unidentified – hat pulled down over her eyes, mouthing obscenities into the face of a police officer, who is trying to ignore her.
After several minutes of this he snaps and slaps her with the back of his hand with the words: “Go away.”
She doesn’t and she continues to hurl abuse. At which point he draws his baton and belts her on the legs.

If anyone ever deserved a good slap, this woman certainly did.
Instead of being suspended and investigated, I believe the officer involved should be commended for his forbearance.

So says misogynist Bill Carmichael of the Yorkshire Post, state thuggery and violence against women is totally acceptable  as this woman got what she deserved. Is his next column going to argue for the return of the ‘rule of thumb’ against lippy women who step out of line?

And it seems the spin machine of the right-wing press in conjunction with the cops (and you can rely on right-wing ideologues to defend the indefensible!) are muck raking and smearing this woman.

But hey, lets not distract ourselves with a spot of cop violence lets look at the woman… and her past! And whatta  shocker…she has a past!! Who doesn’t have a past, for cryin’ out loud!!!

Lets not contend ourselves by the boring details about this TSG cop not wearing his number lets distract ourselves with details of the the woman who had her hat pulled down over her eyes. Shocking! And could she have done that because…it was a sunny day… (Oh, how prosaic!).

She remonstrated with the cop, if you look at the video on youtube, the cops decided a couple of mins previously to grab a man for no reason that is what she and others were responding to. I witnessed them grab this man for no reason and that caused people to remonstrate…I saw the TSG cop grab another woman seconds before, he was intent on punching her as well! Carmichael would undoubtedly believe she deserved a beating too!!!

 Why did they grab this man? Instead of asking that question, this woman is portrayed as some anti-establishment layabout (see the Mail for their brand of ‘reportage’). She is the thug, she is the threat, an extremist, a terrorist. The cop was only doing what was expected, in the right-wing ideologue’s eyes.

But then with the ever widening of the definition of ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism’ under NL anyone who protests is one, speaks out is one, therefore we are all …terrorists.

Again, as the cops have experienced dire PR during the past couple of weeks the right-wing will strike back. Expect more smears and hype against anyone who has the audacity to speak out and/or complain about police violence.

(HatTip: Indymedia)

G20 death: No to police violence

I attended the small march today from Threadneedle Street to Wood Street police station in the City of London, it was to remember Ian Tomlinson but also to protest at the cops brutality in ‘policing’ the G20 protests.

We stood outside the police station and a couple of people spoke. One man had been at the Climate Camp on the 1st, which had been peaceful all day long and then the riot cops come along and attack people violently. People were chanting, ‘peace not riot’ and many were holding up their hands to the cops (protesters did the same at the Bank on the 2nd April) but that didn’t stop the brutal violence.

Questions that have been asked include:  

Who gave the orders to police about the tactics of the days?

How far does the chain of command go?

Why were cops not wearing visible numbers that identify them? It shows premeditation and that they were up for a ruck!!

Why were cops refusing to give their numbers when challenged by the protesters?

Who gave the go ahead to kettle protesters?

… And who the hell believes that the IPCC will conduct an ‘independent and rigorous’ investigation….?!?!?!

Other demands made today was the call for the disbandment of the TSG (the previous violent thuggery of the SPG was well documented and was disbanded in 1987, they were involved in the death of Blair Peach). Ban kettling and police accountability.

I walked back from the police station to the memorial for Ian Tomlinson as I wanted to leave some flowers as I didn’t last week.

Alice Mahon has resigned from the Labour Party…!!!!!!

Oh no….!!!!

 Alice Mahon has resigned from the Labour Party…

Former Halifax Labour MP Alice Mahon has resigned from the Party. Listen to an interview with Alice, explaining her decision to quit the Party after 50 years membership. In her resignation letter, Alice said, “This has been a difficult decision to take as I feel I was almost born into the Labour party. However, I can no longer be a member of a party that, at the leadership level, has betrayed many of the values and principles that inspired me, as a teenager, to join. . . My final reason for leaving the party is because it is no longer democratic”

 

Dr Who: twas crap..

Crikey….

I have only just watched the latest Dr Who (ok I know…am a week late… punched the wrong co-ordinates in the Tardis and ended up a week after the event). Actually, I wouldn’t mind erasing the experience from my mind and getting the 45mins (and some!) back in compensation. But those precious moments watching this dirge are lost forever.

I concur with Phil… twas indeed crap. What more can I say. And what was former ‘Enders character  Zoe Slater’s accent?  Wasn’t she the new Bionic Woman (nobody but nobody can beat 1970s icon Lindsay Wagner!)..?

Terrible, terrible, terrible…

Matchgirls Strike of 1888

Matchgirls Strike Committee and Annie Besant

As they say history repeats itself. And today my trade union history talk was on Annie Besant and the matchgirls strike. What was so spectacular about this strike was that it was led by women, around 200 working class young women marched to Annie Besant’s office. They had walked out  after Bryant and May had sacked 3 of the workers for daring to speak about the appalling working conditions and the fines they had to pay (examples include; having dirty feet, not asking permission to go to the toilet, leaving scraps of food by their workbench). Because of the 3 workers talking to Besant, Bryant and May demanded that the workers sign a declaration saying that the employers were equitable and fair!! Hence the walkout by the women.

The working conditions at Bryant and May to say were horrific would be an understatement. I remember learning about ‘Phossy jaw’ in my history class at school and the ensuing strike. What struck me then and still does now was the utter bravery of these young women, as a teenager back then I really admired those women and Annie Besant.

Phossy jaw was cancer of the jaw. It was due to the exposure to yellow phosphorus. There was no safeguards or protection. Women also ingested this poison as they ate at their work benches. It was such a vile occupational disease to suffer and to die from. These women earned a pittance for sweat labour to die in agony.

William Gladstone was a relative and Bryant and May. The statue of Gladstone in Bow was paid for by deducting wages of the workers. When the statue was unveiled, workers pelted it with rotten veg and fruit, some even dripped their own blood on it as they believed they had paid for this damn statue with their blood!

The reason why women were fined was because Bryant and May believed that this would inspire good morals and discipline. So paying these women a pittance, fining them, appalling pay and condition and exposure to a horrific poison was a way of character building…..!

And so these women marched to Annie Besant who had written the article, ‘White Slavery in London‘, documenting the shocking pay and conditions. They got tremendous support, the local trades council agreed to admit them, it meant the creation and recognition of unskiller workers’ unions, it also meant the rise of new unionism and overall it showed the raised consciousness of militant young working class women.

They were on strike for 3 weeks, Bryant and May eventually capitulated but yellow phosphorus was not outlawed until 1901!

Listening to the talk reminded me of occupational illnesses now, such as asbestosis due to exposure to asbestos. And the companies that developed asbestos knew that it caused cancer but like any capitalist company making a quick profit due to suffering and death…. hushed it up!

More people die of asbestos related illnesses than road accidents.

And this also reminded me of Workers’ Memorial Day, a day to remember the dead and fight for the living. That we still have to campaign and fight for health and safety, along with pay and conditions globally. The Matchgirls Strike was an important part of trade union history and we have to continue those struggles in the 21st century.

Workers’ Memorial Day is happening on the 28th April.