UK Indymedia - UK Public sector cuts Newswire Archive

Video: University of Birmingham occupation

27-11-2011 23:04

A short video from the N23 occupation when student protesters squatted an empty gatehouse at the University of Birmingham.

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A Real Victorian Christmas Party and Picnic at Triton Square

26-11-2011 19:48

Friday 16th December – 2pm

Triton Square, London NW1

Join us at the home of poverty pimps Atos ‘Healthcare’ for a Christmas Party to celebrate the continuing struggle against disability deniers Atos.

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Protest Against Atos Outside the Paralympic Test Event!

26-11-2011 19:44

As part of December’s month of festive action against Atos and the benefit cuts (1), disabled people, benefit claimants and supporters will be demonstrating outside the Paralympic Goal Ball test event (2) being held at the Olympic Park in Stratford on Saturday 3rd December from 2pm.

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Govt Building Squatted in Cardiff

26-11-2011 19:14

Activists have squatted a derelict Inland Revenue Building in Cardiff city centre, the anti-cuts activists were joined by Food not Bombs handing out free soup and other supporters.

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Liverpool Occupied!

26-11-2011 16:14

Occupy camp established in Liverpool

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Pay Council Tax Hove MP tells Occupy...

26-11-2011 14:53

Hove & Portslade (East Sussex) MP. Mike Weatherley suggests Occupy 'tents' in London/ Brighton etc should pay council tax...

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Workfare to be challenged in the courts.

26-11-2011 13:49

Workfare is a programme whereby anyone who has been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) for 6 months can be sent to work for major multinational companies like Tesco, Poundland and Sainsbury’s for up to 5 weeks in order to keep their benefits. Now a legal challenge under human rights legislation is being brought against the scheme.Tessa Gregory of Public Interest Lawyers, who are representing Jonathan Shaw from Birmingham, said, “This Government scheme of forced labour unlawfully exploits individuals. The only beneficiaries are participating companies, who get their workers for free.”

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SchNEWS: Nov 30: We're All In It Together

25-11-2011 22:22

Well, it’s been a long time coming... Wednesday 30th November will see the first mass strike in the UK for four decades. 17 unions, including the biggest ones Unite, UCU, Unison, various teaching unions and PCS, have balloted to strike on pension reform which will see an estimated 3 million off work and, hopefully, cause massive disruption. Demonstrations and pickets are planned across the country – see complete list. Amongst the strikers are some unlikely suspects: 18,000 Border Agency workers are expected to strike leaving the government having to employ sinister private security firm Serco to take over for a day. Even the National Union of Probation Officers voted to join the strike four-to-one.

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Total Failure of Class Struggle Politics in the UK

25-11-2011 11:28

In Sept 2011 a thread was posted on Indymedia under the title "Total Failure of Class War Politics in Britain", and while that thread focussed on analysing the specific failure of the anarchist group "Class War", that thread is also a critique of class struggle activism generally. One thing Ian Bone was right about was the need to create a genuinely populist anarchist movement in the UK, but "populist" no longer means "workerist", and until British anarchists face up to that then they are doomed to fail forever in the UK.

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Northgate occupation ends, New Occupation Tomorrow

25-11-2011 02:38

The occupation of Northgate house ends but the occupation of a new location begins tomorrow

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Occupy - Just Do It

24-11-2011 18:07

Time 25 November · 09:30 - 12:30
Location north gate University of Birmingham.

Solidarity action in support of the Northgate occupation at the University of Birmingham

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Analysis of the white paper from the occupation

24-11-2011 16:22

The government’s white paper outlines the proposed changes to the structure of higher education. Currently there is a quota of 406,000 university places. Under the proposed changes, 85,000 of these places will be opened up to competition. Of these 85,000 20,000 places will be competed for by universities charging £7,500, 65,000 will be for students who achieved AAB or above at A-level. This will lead to a two-tiered system, with a small number of elite universities and a lower pool of universities offering poorly funded, badly taught programs. These will be mainly provided by for-profit companies who’ll be given access to government-backed loans.

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Rough night for Birmingham occupiers

24-11-2011 16:18

At 23:30 as the occupiers were settling down for the night, university security began harassing the students. Simon Furse a second year International relations student said “It was disgraceful, I have never seen like it university security are just hired thugs who seem to enjoy violence and causing distress with no regard to the law. I was at the window that we use as an entrance to the occupation. The security guard tried to drag someone out of the window. We peacefully resisted and got the person inside at which point the security guard kept the window open and punched me three times in the face. The security then adopted a policy of open harassment ringing the doorbell for long periods of time, knocking on all the windows, pointing lights and cameras into the toilet and shouting insults and abuse.”

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New Radical Newsletter launched in Cardiff

24-11-2011 14:43

Cardiff has a new radical/anarchist newsletter. Faultlines aims to publish on social justice issues such as housing and migration from a radical perspective, and in particular focusing on Cardiff and South Wales.

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Response to the University of Birmingham with regards to our Occupation: Reinven

24-11-2011 01:33

Earlier today we were told we are already facing disciplinary action and would have to pay the “substantial” cost of the university’s legal fees for an injunction they will take out against us if we do not leave by 9am tomorrow. The threat to the university and the system of public education is so grave that we are more afraid of the risks posed to society at large than our own immediate future. As such we have resolved to stay. We believe that students nationally must take action to defend education, despite the risks.

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Sparks demo leads to occupation of Grattes Brothers Head Office

23-11-2011 11:12

The Sparks weekly picket and demo became an occupation this morning as the group of 200 or so barricaded a door at the Grattes Brothers Head Office.

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University of Birmingham re-occupied - building squatted

23-11-2011 01:34

Student activists have just squatted an abandoned former gatehouse of the North Gate of the University of Birmingham as part of the national day of action called by NCAFC

https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2011/11/488808.html

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David Willetts Silenced by Cambridge Fees Protest

23-11-2011 00:02

This evening, on Tuesday November 22nd 2011 in a lecture hall on the Cambridge University Sidgewick campus, battle lines were well and truly drawn, as David Willetts, one of the architects of the demise of our Higher Education system dared to show his face in public at Cambridge University, that, by his own doing has been manoevered into raising it's tuition fees by up to £9,000 per academic year.

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Chris Grayling MP in Lpool today

22-11-2011 15:55

Protest against the Minister for DWP Cuts tonight

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Occupy the Machine – Stop the 1%, Literally

21-11-2011 23:44

We invite you to imagine, as many of you already probably have, if thousands of people occupied local refineries, roads, ports, oil and mining extraction sites, etc. – in other words, imagine if people occupied the locations where the 1% destroy the land and exploit humans, all for profit.