UK Newswire Archive
The origins of the Occupy movement
09-12-2011 19:41
If the catastrophe that is coming is to be avoided and humanity is to have another chance, it will be because the others, from below and to the left, have not only resisted, but are already sketching the outline of something else.8 Dec. Census Refuser court hearing and Solidarity Demo: Report
09-12-2011 19:20
Lord Mayor and David Cameron block Tobin Tax
09-12-2011 18:55
When you consider that the City and the Conservative party are at least partially responsible for the failed policies that caused the economic crisis, their complacency over the Eurozone crisis is alarming. David Cameron and the Lord Mayor now have questions to answer.
David Cameron and Lord Mayor derail 'Robin Hood' Tax
Occupy London are interested to learn that the Prime Minster David Cameron has refused to sign a new EU treaty, claiming he 'did it for Britain.' However it seems fairer to say that Cameron's obstruction of the treaty was down to just one key detail - it did not contain 'safeguards' for the City of London. In fact, Mr Cameron blocked the treaty because of the proposed European financial transaction tax under a pre-arranged guarantee for London's Square Mile. While it seems that we may not be 'all in this together', David Cameron and the Lord Mayor certainly are.
Germany proposed the financial transaction tax, which the UK Government blocked, as part of new rules being drawn up to begin a bail-out of Italy and Spain. Co-incidentally, the Lord Mayor of London David Wootton announced last week that he'd visited Sweden to discuss joint action to derail the so-called 'Tobin Tax' - around the time the country was due to begin holding the rotating presidency of the EU. In what appears to be a lobbying expedition the Lord Mayor added that he would be visiting Cyprus later in the year to discuss the issue, shortly before the island is passed the presidency by Sweden.
Given that the government has made repeated attempts to blame the UK's current financial crisis on the Eurozone, it seems contradictory to veto a tax proposed as a measure to save it. When you consider that the City of London Corporation and the Conservative party are at least partially responsible for the failed policies that caused the economic crisis in the first place, the reasons for their current complacency seem more worrying.
Occupy London feel that David Cameron and the Lord Mayor now have some questions to answer.
Why are they jointly opposed to the European financial transaction tax? Is this just co-incidence or is there a clear conduit of influence from the corporation into government? What exactly did the Lord Mayor say in conversation with the Swedish Premier about the financial transaction tax? And will the Prime Minster explain to the British people the exact nature of the advocacy he and George Osbourne have carried out on behalf of the corporation since the coalition government was formed? And finally, should the Eurozone collapse will the Prime Minister take full responsibility for the consequences of the government's intransigence and ensure that the City of London Corporation foot the bill for this mistake and not the British people.
Unfortunately, unless this thousand year-old Oligarchy is reformed and prevented from making government policy over-and-above the will of the British people, our democracy will remain broken. A sethering of the political links between the city and government are needed more than ever, lest the people of this country end up suffering once more for the recklessness of a government that simply doesn't care and a city motivated only by greed, power and nepotism.
Bryn Phillips
The Unilever Strike and the Case for Classwide Solidarity
09-12-2011 17:41
Full article | 1 addition | 4 comments
My evening with the London Met Police Commissioner
09-12-2011 15:51
My first experience of "Total Policing" was being herded like cattle in a rolling kettle through the streets of London. When the opportunity presented itself last Wednesday to ask questions to the man who brought it to London, new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, I couldn't resist.
A Rolling Festive Phone-in to Atos 'Healthcare'
09-12-2011 15:22
What kind of nonsense is going on at Occupy London?
09-12-2011 15:15
Yes, what kind of nonsense is going on at Occupy London? Meeting with UBS and The FSA? Hanging out with The Guardian?Filmshow: The God Delusion, The Cowley Club, Brighton (UK), 14/12/11, 7pm
09-12-2011 14:10
Since the last national census showed Brighton to be, in the words of the clubs nearest evangelical church, the 'most godless city in Britain', we have had a rash of Christian groups missioning here - even coming en mass from London on day trips etc. One group has taken to doing so next to the club and this filmshow is partly in response.UK Uncut Christmas Special
09-12-2011 12:21
Cash tills were ringing, snow falling down.
Big business is merry, and with good reason-
For it’s the busiest shopping day of the season.
But not every CEO should sleep snug in their bed,
As dreams of big profits dance through their head,
Because any tax dodgers with hope of good cheer:
UK Uncut know you’ve been naughty this year.
Birmingham students occupy corridor outside VC office in response to injunction
09-12-2011 12:10
The following is a statement of response to Occupy Birmingham’s press release
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2011/12/489974.html in support for protesting Birmingham University Students.
#mockupy Fauxcotti
09-12-2011 07:17
Police rushed in to evict the real occupiers from the fake camp, pulled the permit for the set, which had been built in Foley Park, and broke down the camp, in scenes eerily reminiscent of the original eviction. No arrests have been reported so far.
Occupy SF Bradley Manning Plaza camp attacked by cops
09-12-2011 07:15
The SFPD is concerned about public health and safety. That’s why they have to hit the public with clubs. The OccupySF encampment was raided and completely destroyed by SFPD late last night and Justin Herman Plaza, now being called Bradley Manning Plaza was left empty except for a city sign which read “park closed for renovations” and the occasional pile of horse crap left by one of our proud mounted public servants. 85 arrests were made and all the tents and equipment were confiscated. They were cited with “illegal camping.”Greece: The Illegitimacy of Demands
08-12-2011 23:20
With demands over the wage and welfare in austerity Greece deemed illegitimate because unaffordable, what shape can struggle take? Demetra Kotouza sees the all out attack on living standards as producing a de facto opposition that can't be cohered by ideologies of classEmbassy Boss Ambushed Over Mass Deportation Of Nigerians
08-12-2011 23:14
First report into undercover policing: "whitewash"
08-12-2011 22:55
The first of twelve official reports resulting from the public outing of undercover police officer Mark Kennedy and the subsequent collapse of the trials of 26 climate change activists has been published. The report claims that there was no “dishonest withholding of information” and no “systemic” failings, a conclusion the CPS have been happy to repeat. Critics of the report have dismissed it as a “whitewash.”
On the newswire: Further police evidence shocks ‘to come to light’ | Police under fire .. collapse of eco-protest trial | Rose Report on the Ratcliffe Trial | CPS report on Ratcliffe Power Station Case | Report into Mark Kennedy’s secret tapes published
Previous features: Undercover police officer back in the spotlight
In January, the trial against six activists accused of planning to invade Ratcliffe Power Station in 2009 collapsed as the involvement of Mark Kennedy/Stone became public. In July, a further twenty activists convicted of the same offence during a trial late last year, had their convictions quashed on appeal.
In June 2011, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Keir Starmer, was forced to establish an independent inquiry after allegations that the CPS had supressed evidence. The CPS' preferred option of an internal inquiry no longer being tenable. In July, Starmer, asked the retired Court of Appeal Judge and Chief Surveillance Commissioner, Sir Christopher Rose, to conduct the inquiry.
The CPS have seized on Rose’s conclusion that they "did not deliberately withhold information,” and that “the failings were individual, not systemic." On Tuesday, when the report was released, Starmer went on a tour of the TV studios parroting this line, insisting that Rose’s finding that there was no "systemic" problem meant that a more extensive investigation was unnecessary. Senior prosecutor Ian Cunningham appears to have been selected as the fall guy and is reportedly facing disciplinary action and perhaps even dismissal following the publication of the report.
Many people are unconvinced by the narrative being pushed by the CPS. Ben Stewart one of the defendants whose convictions was quashed earlier this year dismissed the inquiry as the “whitest of whitewashes”. Michael Schwarz, a solicitor at Bindmans, who represented several of the defendants in the trial, told reporters that the findings represented an "almost pathological failure" to address systemic problems." He described it as "unacceptable that the CPS should produce the Rose report to hide behind. Rose’s report simply fails because it was programmed to fail."
Schwarz believes that the problem could be far wider than Rose’s report alleges. There were already two known incidents when undercover officers Jim Boyling and Bob Lambert were allegedly tried under false names. Schwarz has now revealed that Jim Boyling also offered to give evidence under his false name in another case from the 1990s, ironically one in which Starmer was the barrister for the defence.
Additionally, he told reporters: "We know – and put before the Court of Appeal – at least two other unrelated cases where concerns were expressed by the Crown Court about Notts CPS’ compliance with its legal obligations of disclosure." The Rose report was not asked to and does not deal with these other concerns and, therefore, Schwarz argues, "It cannot purport to be a proper inquiry into the health even of that regional CPS office. In fact, there is a significant amount of evidence pointing towards there being systemic problems within the CPS."
Even on the report’s own terms, Rose has to concede that it ontains serious weaknesses: "Contemporaneous documentation, by the police and the CPS, is lacking in a number of instances." He also notes that none of the people from whom "derived information, orally or in writing… has been subjected to cross-examination as would have occurred in a trial.” Rose concedes that there is a "possibility that they may wish to serve their own by being less than candid" (i.e. lie). He seems to believe he has accounted for this possibility. People will come to their own conclusions as to whether this is accurate or not.
The numerous problems with the report and its many gaps will only be grist for the mill for those calling for a genuinely independent, open judge-led inquiry into all aspects of undercover policing.
Campaign to save Edinburgh’s Leith Waterworld gains momentum
08-12-2011 22:55
With just 30 days to go before the planned closure of the capital’s popular Leith Waterworld pool, the residents’ campaign to save it is rapidly gaining momentum.
Glasgow Anarchist Fair Sat 10th Dec. 10.30am – 11pm
08-12-2011 21:09
There will be hot food available between 12.30 and 13.30 and between 18.00 and 19.00.We can always do with more volunteers to help on the day, with setting up and clearing up, stewarding and to help with the Kids Space.
Occupy Birmingham University Press Release
08-12-2011 21:05
Hot on the heels of this story, Occupy Birmingham have released the following statement in support of protesting Birmingham Uni students to the national media.Full article | 2 additions | 1 comment
Photos from Court: Census refuser cases, Liverpool
08-12-2011 21:00
