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imc mcr, 28-03-2005 14:20
Spring is in the air and with it the talk (yawn) is of elections. But all is not lost for the season also sees the return of the time honoured pastime of defacing election billboard posters. The Conservative Party, in particular, has been on the end of some widespread street level heckling,
Far from thinking of locking up refugees and throwing away the key, grassroots organisations are putting together a European wide day of solidarity with migrants and refugees on April 2nd, in recognition of the appalling and tragic circumstances that so many refugees have to endure. A significant turnout is expected in Manchester, where three separate marches are planned from the north, south and centre of the city.
Anti-racist Spray Paint | Tories Subvertised in Longsight | Nottingham | Bristol | South Wales | 'Funny Billboards' | Tory election ads - are they racist? | yes it is... | Tory Poster - How You Can Complain | SchNews - Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum | Demonstration Against Deportations - Manchester
Read more | 3 comments >>imc mcr, 23-03-2005 16:16
Following the screening of the BBC programme ‘Asylum Undercover’ which exposed the abuse of immigration detainees, around 50 demonstrators including refugees from many different countries, gathered at Dallas Court Reporting Centre in Salford to demand justice for asylum seekers and an end to arbitrary detention and deportation.
The Home Offices answer to the abuse seen on the BBC programme is to call yet another public inquiry concerning GSL (Group 4) which has taken over the contract from Wackenhut. This is the third enquiry into this company. The last inquiry into allegations of abuse at Yarls Wood concluded that most of the incidents exposed by an undercover journalist did happen, and yet GSL retained all its contracts to run Removal Centres. A contract to build and manage an accommodation centre for refugees was awarded to them only thirty days after the publication of the results of the inquiry.
Dallas Court is effectively a ‘point of disappearance’ for some, into detention and eventual deportation to potentially unsafe countries. Each time an refugee reports to Dallas Court, they fear being snatched, detained and deported.
Full report | Press Release for Dallas Court Demo | Anti-Detention Center Filmscreening and Talk
Read more >>Prentice, 14-02-2005 01:14
Residents of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire have opened a temporary "Pitt Street Social Centre", offering tea, cake, videos, workshops, a Free Shop, and a chance for residents to discuss how to stop council sell-offs and the "gentrification" of the former mill-town.
When the Pitt St building became the most recent of public buildings to be put on the market, frustrated locals asked Calderdale Council for time to put forward an alternative plan to keep it as a community resource. However, in their rush to make a quick buck, the Council steam-rollered opposition, and went ahead with the sale.
"Where has the money gone and who are the new owners? We’ve been asking questions but no-one seems willing to tell us anything. How dare our representatives continue to completely ignore our needs and views? It’s just more council corruption." said Katrina, a local involved in the occupation.
This is the second occupation of a public building that has been sold off by the council, in the last year. For five days in April 2004, hundreds of local people were involved in the occupation of the old Hebden Bridge Tourist Information Centre, turning it into the People’s Information Centre. And residents are well aware that other buildings are in line for possible sell-off, including the library and the council offices.
Read more >>imc mcr, 01-02-2005 18:18
“The only way we’ll be able to stop this vile scheme is if ordinary people have the courage to stand up to the government." Manchester defy-ID representative
"We will be unable to access even basic services.., to drive ...[or] travel abroad unless we consent to this monitoring of our day-to-day lives.” Manchester resident
Saturday (29th January) was a day called for action against the government's proposal to introduce identity cards and a National Identity Register in the UK. In Manchester residents opposed to the scheme visited the offices of PA Consulting Group and Siemens Business Services, two of a number of companies that stand to make considerable profits from the proposed scheme.
Meanwhile, out on the streets of Manchester to pass on information on the proposed measure and its implications were the The Ministry of Truth (honest gov). Street protests also took place in Liverpool , organised by a local defy-ID group.
'ID cards will not be used to build up a profile on innocent people', according to former Home secretary David Blunkett, yet scrutiny of the Bill reveals that a wide-ranging amount of data on people will be stored via the National Identity Register. The card will also be buttressed by a vast array of new state powers and criminal penalties including, for example, 'refusal to obey an order to register' which could be greeted with a fine of £2500.
Manchester - Protest Against ID Cards | The Ministry of Truth | ID Cards - Who Profits? | Identity Cards Bill - a brief guide | Liverpool Defy-ID Group Take Action | Defy-ID
Read more | 3 comments >>imcr mcr, 08-12-2004 03:31
Ten people were arrested in Manchester city centre at the weekly picket outside Marks and Spencers'. On the 27th November police informed protesters that the picket would be illegal under the Public Order Act anywhere other than the Peace Gardens.
Defying the order, picketers began a moving protest outside the shop and were arrested alongside others who had ceased to actively protest, but were known to be 'part of the group'. Police have imposed bail conditions on some of those arrested on Saturday, although none of them have been charged with any offence.
10 Arrested at 'Banned' Picket | Appeal to defend the right to protest | Ban on the Right to Protest
Read more | 2 comments >>imc mcr, 06-12-2004 18:06
Saturday the 27th November was buy nothing day, and to celebrate, a bunch of people from the Manchester based "do summat collective" got together to encourage people to think about consumerism. They made and distributes a zine and also gave tips on how to get stuff for free in manchester. A free shop was set up - with food and plenty of cakes, as well as free clothes and toys
The folks involved said they were surprised at how well it went. Families, old couples, kids and youths all came and had some cake, or took some clothes and a flyer or zine.... and within just one and a half hours everything, including the actual clothes rail, had gone.
There was some more fun and frolicks as people played anti-consumer games in a number of shops - from hide and seek in selfridges - to stuck in the mud in diesel.... Reclaiming consumer space and having some fun.
Report|BuyNothing Christmas|Trade Free Zone Declared In Cambridge!
Read more | 3 comments >>imc mcr, 23-11-2004 18:48
An investigative journalist and NUJ member, Mansoor Hassan fled Pakistan two years ago. There as joint editor of an Urdu language magazine Crime, he exposed corruption and criminal activities amongst the business community and within the political establishment itself.
After implicating a senior politician in an honour killing Mansoor was shot at and his house was burned down. He exposed a company owned by the Minister of Agriculture that sold adulterated pesticides and substandard cottonseed to farmers, which led to his being beaten up and his family threatened by the secret services and the police. A known criminal shot at Mansoor after he wrote an article about him.
But the UK government, while accepting that Mansoor had been subjected threatened, attacked and shot at, described these experiences merely as “anxiety” and claimed that he would be “perfectly safe somewhere else in Pakistan” and that he was “not at any on-going risk”.
In Manchester Mansoor has worked as a volunteer with the British Red Cross and a refugee orientation programme.
Reports: Mansoor Hassan and Family Defence Campaign | Stop the deportation of Mansoor Hassan and family
Read more >>, 21-11-2004 15:50
Indymedia Film Night Sunday 13th Nov
The Dancehouse, Oxford Rd
free / donation - 7 pm door
A letter to the Prime Minister : Jo Wilding's Diary from Iraq
Jo Wilding's remarkable journey from forming a children's circus in Iraq to travelling into Falluja, when even Al Jazeera had left, to stand alongside civilians trapped and targeted by US Forces.
more info - http://www.alettertotheprimeminister.co.uk/
Id Cards Special - What would they mean?
Films, animations and information about ID. from Defy Id.
more info http://www.defy-id.org.uk/
Manchester resources: Networking Newsletter local Contacts. --//-- Networking Newletter Local Events --//-- Events and more on the Do Summat Forum -
Read more >>imc mcr, 27-10-2004 17:30
A valuable piece of urban woodland, a former millpond in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire is under threat from development, ironically as a site for 10 alleged 'eco homes'. On the 19th October security guards and a chainsaw crew descended on the site, owned by a called Green Tops Ltd, in an assault which has been dubbed by locals 'Chainsaw Tuesday'.
Many trees on the site are covered by a tree preservation order. This did not prevent a chainsaw massacre taking place when the developer arrived with tree surgeons and security to take out as many trees as possible to clear the site for development. No planning application has yet been submitted.
Read more | 1 comment >>MCR_IMC, 03-08-2004 21:40
Demonstrations took place across the country at Removal Centres and main-stream prisons to commemorate the needless deaths, show solidarity with those detained and demand an end to the deadly policy of indefinite detention of men, women and children. A protest took place at HMP Forest Bank in Salford, which is operated by UKDS (the same private profit making company that operates Harmondsworth Removal Centre).
This was in response to the death of a Ukrainian refugee at Harmondsworth Removal Centre who was found hanged on Monday 19th July. There followed a significant disturbance at Harmondsworth which closed the centre. Detainees were transferred to other Removal Centres and to main-stream prisons. Days later on Friday 23rd July, a Vietnamese man who had been moved from Harmondsworth to Dungavel Removal Centre hung himself - he was taken to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, where he later died.
Read more >>imc mcr, 18-07-2004 20:48
Early last week activists occupied the Australian Consular Offices in Manchester in a protest against old growth logging in Australia. After seeing the destruction caused by logging in areas such as Victoria and Tasmania activists in the UK decided to target the Australian consulate.
Australia is home to some amazing areas of “old growth” rainforest, which have remained relatively unaltered by humans for thousands of years. Now, it is being felled at an alarming rate, even in supposedly “protected” areas.
In Tasmania, 90% of native forest felled is converted into woodchip for the Asian paper industry. Thus, priceless ancient forest is trashed and sold for $15 (less than £6) per tonne to make cardboard. There are huge campaigns against this logging in Australia, involving direct action blockades, tree-sits, marches and rallies, lobbying, and more.
Read more >>imc mcr, 12-07-2004 02:02
A regular Saturday picket of Marks & Spencer in Manchester was attacked last weekend (3rd July) by an organised group of thugs. They assaulted some of the picketers, grabbing leaflets out of their hands, attempted to turn over the campaign stall and destroyed some placards. The attack lasted for over quarter of an hour before police eventually arrived on the scene.
The picket has been a regular presence outside M & S in protest at the relationship between the company and the Israeli state. According to the Jerusalem Report (5 June 2000) Marks & Spencer support Israel to the tune of approximately $233 million in trade every year. The picketers are calling for a boycott of M&S whilst the 'special relationship' continues and Israel maintains its military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
The picket has not been without incident. Only a week earlier two men were detained by police officers outside the store for possessing imitation firearms, in reality toy guns which were being used as props for mock military checkpoints. In March two people were prosecuted for 'affixing placards to council property' and 'depositing a paste table on the highway without lawful authority or excuse’ outside the store. Marks & Spencer are now reported to be planning on bringing anti-social behaviour orders against the picketers.
Read more | 9 comments >>imc mcr, 03-06-2004 01:04
"Not many people stopped at the stall whilst we were there."
A group of activists found out that a supplier of Huntington Life Sciences, Fisher Scientific, were to be holding a exhibition/stall in the Foyer of the Environmental Science Building at Lancaster University so went to give them some company.
Fisher Scientific supplies lab equipment to Huntington Life Sciences in Cambridgeshire. It has been requested that the company sever its links with HLS but they have so far refused. A group of people took some leaflets and a banner and set up next to their stall, much to the dismay of the staff at the stall.
Full story | HLS Injunction to go to Full Trial | SHAC World Day for Lab Animals | Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
Read more >>imc mcr, 27-05-2004 17:14
Plans to build car parks on Whitworth Park and Platt Fields Park, both in the Rusholme area of South Manchester have been scrapped after provoking fury among local residents. The plans, which included 416 parking spaces on Platt Fields, 191 on Whitworth Park, 2metre high fencing, CCTV and 6 metre high lighting columns, had been proposed by the NHS. The car parks were to be 'temporary' - for two years - and used for it's staff at the new super-hospital on Oxford Road. Hundreds of local residents quickly became involved in the campaign against the car parks.
As one regular park user said, "I'm very concerned about increases in traffic congestion and air pollution in this area, should the plans go ahead. People round here don't have gardens, and these parks are our only green spaces. We have little enough as it is - we can't let them take more of it for a car park."
Platt Fields Park:Celebration Picnic | Campaign saves Platt Fields from development | Manchester Parks Under Threat: Residents Fight Back! | Latest from the Council on Platt Fields er.. Car Park
Read more >>, 13-05-2004 09:25
Manchester seems determined to shoot itself in the Northern quarter. The potential gagging of city centre venue Night and Day is another example of the city's cultural suicide.
How a long established city centre venue can come under threat from one noisy resident beggars belief, but read on to find out the full story of Night and Day
Meanwhile on the other side of town Free party possee collective take on a new lease of life with a massive party in the Lloyds metal warehouse just over the border in Salford. This tactical move put the party on the turf of Police whose priorities are not yet as set on ensuring cultural monoculture.
Read more >>imc mcr, 28-04-2004 15:32
"The blacked out limo was delayed from leaving the car-park for ages, forced to go at a snails pace by hastily erected barricades, and sit down protests in front of the car. Every time the police threw the first line aside, more just joined the back of the crowd." A.
"We were stopped at a traffic light in the mini bus we'd used. Who should pull up next to us by pure coincidence? A car covered in rubbish and eggs with the scumbags inside! Griffin had his window down and when he saw us the look on his face will never leave me..." L
The angry shouts of the groups outside the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham could be heard as Mr Le Pen and BNP leader Nick Griffin held a news conference inside. When Mr Le Pen attempted to leave the hotel, his car was surrounded by angry protestors and pelted with eggs. Police formed a barricade around the vehicle until it was able to drive away.
Two men who appeared to be BNP supporters were taken away by police outside the hotel before Le Pen and associates left the building. Witnesses saw a large machete-type weapon in the boot of their car that was also taken by police.
Reports, pictures and comment [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] | Battle To Stop British Fascists Hots Up
Read more >>imc mcr, 20-04-2004 10:38
Local residents who took over a former Council building in West Yorkshire for five days over Easter have declared the occupation a resounding success. The residents occupied the former Tourist Information Centre in the Pennine town of Hebden Bridge.
The building has been handed to a developer to convert into apartment flats and a restaurant, rumoured to be part of the Harry Ramsden chain. The occupiers said they wanted to highlight the threat the former textile community is under from unsustainable development and soaring house prices. They opened a Free Shop, called "Freesources", offering tea, food, clothes, books and toys for free, stating "we believe that without profit, there is plenty for all." They also gave out "tourist information" such as "don't fly anywhere – it's destroying the planet! Take the train instead."
The locals opened the building to the public on the morning of Thursday April 8. Jim Brown, the centre's new owner, well-known in Hebden for turning a series of buildings into upmarket apartments, attempted to have them removed by the police. However the police acknowledged that the locals were legally "squatting" the building, and Brown's representatives left amicably after boarding up a window. "This conveniently supplied us with a dark room to show films during the daytime!" said an occupier.
Read more >>imc mcr, 31-03-2004 19:14
The two Manchester protesters who covered a British Petroleum stand in fake blood during the 2002 CBI conference in Manchester's G-MEX appeared at the crown court last week charged with criminal damage. Their action addressed BP's greenwash as the company sought profit from catastrophe in the impending Iraq war and the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipelines project. The jury found them not guilty of 4 counts of damaging clothing but could not reach a unanimous verdict on the damage to the stand. Eventually the pair were found guilty of the charge.
The G-MEX incident proved humiliating for security organisers, coming two days after protesters successfully stormed the building. CBI chief Digby Jones told the press that he would ensure the pair received maximum punishment. The conference had been besieged by protests over corporate globalisation, equal pay for women, fire service pay and the Iraq war.
Read more >>imc mcr, 25-03-2004 20:08
Harvey Nichols owns 5 shops in the UK and animal rights groups protested outside them for months as they sold clothes made of rabbit, fox and raccoon fur. A few days before a national day of action, the company officially withdrew all its fur and announced that it would not be selling it again.
Manchester's Campaign Against the Fur Trade group have been involved in a national campaign that has relentlessly targetted this company. Every Saturday, protestors peacefully stood outside, handing out leaflets and talking to shoppers, encouraging them to complain to the management about the fur inside the shop.
Report | Manchester Animal Protection | Campaign Against the Fur Trade | Worcester: PIA Shoes Ditch the Fur
Read more >>imc uk, 25-03-2004 19:46
The labour party spring conference in Manchester was the occasion for some notably creative political dissent. On the eve of conference some dissidents from the UHC Collective appeared outside the conference centre in a manner that echoed Mao's persecution and humiliation of dissidents during China's cultural revolution. 10,000 copies of a spoof newspaper - The Manchester Evening Newt - were printed and distributed, and a labour party hoarding was also subvertised
.Some decidedly random characters embarked on a 'March for Capitalism' until they were eventually jumped by GMP. The more traditional fare of march and rally attracted around 1,500 protesters, who also got to witness the symbolic toppling of a statue of Tony Blair.
For the duration of the conference the area surrounding the GMEX conference centre was completely shut down. There was a massive police and security presence 24 hours a day from Thursday night onwards, including 2-4 police carrying pistols and sub-machine guns.
Read more >>
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