UK UK Feature Archive
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York Vikings go berserk over Trident
19-03-2007 11:28
A twelve strong group from York, dressed as Vikings, have successfully blockaded both entrances to the Faslane nuclear submarine base. The coordinated action completely closed the base for half an hour this morning. Four men and eight women were arrested in the peaceful protest.
One of the protesters, Richard Lane, said "The Vikings slaughtered tens of thousands of people but they did so over half a millennium. Trident could do the same in a minute." Dave Taylor of York Green Party said "Whatever happened to the ethical foreign policy that New Labour once promised?" "There is nothing ethical about spending billions of pounds on weapons that the human race cannot afford to use," he added.
Resistance and Riot in Campsfield
17-03-2007 15:09
Early in the morning of 14 March, an Algerian detainee held in Campsfield immigration prison in Oxfordshire forcefully resisted an attempted 'removal' by the immigration authorities. Fellow detainees then tried to intervene in solidarity and a riot soon spread in the detention centre, with facilities smashed and set on fire. 2 detainees and 7 staff were taken into hospital, all suffering smoke inhalation [see reports and updates]. In addition to emergency services, Tornado units (riot squads) from the Prison Service were deployed to deal with the 'disturbances'. According to a written ministerial statement by Immigration minister Liam Byrne, 60 of the detainees at Campsfield House have been transferred to other parts of the Home Office detention estate, but other detainees have remained at the centre, which holds up to 200 detainees and was operating at near full capacity at the time of the riot.
Links: Campaign to Close Campsfield | National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns | UK NoBorders groups
Whatever They Vote, Trident is Still Wrong!
16-03-2007 20:01
March 14th saw a number of decentralised actions and protests across the country to denounce Britain's Trident as illegal and immoral, and call for the disarmament of the country's weapons of mass destruction, as the Commons set to vote on the government's plans to renew the ballistic missile submarine-based nuclear deterrent. Click the Full article link above to read about the protests and actions.
Links: Trident Vote Day | CND | Block the Builders | Greenpeace | Trident Ploughshares | Faslane 365
The Vortex Occupied Social Centre Evicted
08-03-2007 15:45
Early in the morning of March 6th, high court bailiffs and police moved in to evict the Vortex Occupied Social Centre. The old Jazz bar on Stoke Newington Church Street, North London, had been occupied since the beginning of the year and had been open for numerous and varied community events [ 1 | 2 | 3 ].
On Saturday 10th, a solidarity demonstration against the eviction took place in Stoke Newington [Pics]
'Defend the NHS' National Day of Action
06-03-2007 19:24
Saturday, 3rd March, saw a national day of action to defend the National Health Service (NHS), called by NHS Together, an alliance of health service unions and staff associations together with the TUC. Demonstrations and rallies took place across the country, in Birmingham, Cambridge, Hackney (London), Leeds, Preston, Sheffield and other places. The aim of the protests, according to the organisers, was "to send a powerful message in celebration and defence of the NHS" against more cuts and privatisation. Almost three quarters of NHS trusts in the UK are reported last year that financial deficits are forcing them to make massive cutbacks; wards are being closed down, hospitals shut and jobs cut. Billions are going into 'restructuring' the service along market lines, with millions going on management consultants and financial advisers and millions more, in massive PFI payments, to shareholders and bankers.
Reports and pics: Defend the NHS Day: Sheffield Demonstration [photos] | Demo against the privatization of the NHS in Preston | Hackney Save NHS Demo | Leeds General Infirmary For Sale!
Previous Indymedia Features: Is Britain ready to defend its NHS? | The NHS in Crisis | Sheffield Children's Hospital: Save Ward S2 | Local Trusts Take Scalpel To NHS | Indymedia UK's Health topic page
Links: NHS Together | Keep Our NHS Public
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Eviction of Danish Social Centre Fuels Anger Across Europe
01-03-2007 23:33
The occupied house in Copenhagen, Denmark named 'Ungdomshuset' has functioned as a very important political and social cultural centre since 1982. It had been involved in a long political and legal battle for its existance. But yesterday morning at around 7am Danish police made an end to this by entering the roof of the building using a helicopter and start an unannouced full scale eviction. Riot-police sealed off nearby streets quickly and attacked the building using teargas. As the whole area was closed off, so documenting the action and police-behaviour was difficult. Some witnesses say that teargas and police violence was plentiful, although the eviction happened swiftly and according to police in a "relatively calm manner".
At the moment everything is but calm. Over 1000 people are reported to be back onto the streets last night and (burning) barricades blocked off some major roads in the city. Some people have been admitted to hospital. Riots have continued throughout the day and night and solidarity actions spontaniosly broke out in cities across europe: Berlin (300+), Köln, Hamburg (700+), München, Karlsruhe, Göttingen, Frankfurt, Bremen (300+), Magdeburg, Hannover, Vienna, Heidelberg, Gothenburg, Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm (100+), Flensburg, Marburg, Potsdam and Leipzig. Over the next few days many more demonstrations and actions are planned and Danish activists have called for people to make Saturday 3rd March an international day of action. Danish police have started to draft in re-inforcements from all over the country and many more activists are set to arrive in the capital in the coming days. Total arrested: 600+
Timeline: Thu 1st March | Fri 2nd March | Sat 3rd March
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Video Gallery
Constant updates: From Modkraft.dk (Eng)
Articles: Ungdomshuset evicted - Protests everywhere! | Pics of the brutal eviction of Ungdomshuset, Denmark | Police evicts social centre 'Ungdomshuset' in Copenhagen | Call Ungdomshuset Solidarity Demo Friday London [Report] | Ruths facistpolice clears the Youthhouse in Copenhagen!! (Video) | Protest against police raids | Ungdomshuset solidarity in Warsaw | Mailstorm for Ungdomshuset in Denmark | Ungdomshuset - demolition work has started | We’re Heartbroken and Furious! A report from Copenhagen, and call-out for action | Sat 10th: Pics Solidarity Demo in London [Video] | Berlin: 3000 on Ungdomshuset-soli-demonstration. Riots.
Other coverage: Indymedia Denmark | Indymedia Germany | modkraft.dk
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Dozens Deported to DR Congo
25-02-2007 13:38
Over 40 DR Congolese nationals, including 19 children, were forcibly 'removed' on Monday, 26 February, 2007. The charter flight, operated by XL Airways, left Stanstead Airport at 9.39pm. The rejected asylum seekers had been snatched and detained by the immigration authorities over the last few days, despite various NGO's, including the UN 'peacekeeping mission', reporting that, once again, the human rights situation in DR Congo is deteriorating.
Protesters tried to stop the 'removals' by locking themselves to the gates of Tinsley House detention centre, Crawley, where the deportees had been incarcerated. Some 60 people also gathered at the Home Office in London, in a protest called by the Congo Support Project and supported by Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism!, LSE FRFI society, NCADC, Unity Centre Glasgow, Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and London NoBorders.
On Wednesday, 21 February, over a hundred asylum seekers and supporters, mostly of African origin, held a lively protest outside the Home Office Reporting Centre in Glasgow. On Friday, No Borders Brighton protested and did a banner-drop at the main office of XL in Crawley, West Sussex, to highlight their involvement and making profits from deportations. In Leeds, over 70 members of the DR Congolese community, including groups from Huddersfiled and Kirklees, gathered at the Home Office reporting centre on Kirkstall Road to call for a stop to the planned removals. A solidarity march, organised by the African Community Association in the North East (ACANE), took place in Middlesbrough on Sunday, 25th February.
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Tens of Thousands Say 'NO to Trident, NO to War'
22-02-2007 12:06
Called by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in conjunction with Stop the War Coalition and the British Muslim Initiative, tens of thousands marched in London on 24 February, 2007, to protest against the Trident and against the imperial wars in the Middle East, including Iraq and the looming one on Iran. People were there to express their opposition to militarism, the 'war on terror' and demand justice for Palestine. Scotland for Peace's "Bin the Bomb Roadshow" also ran between 16 and 24 February, culminating in a march and rally on 24 February in Glasgow.
There was a small autonomous block on the demo [photos], but was apparently the focus of most of the policing and 'intelligence gathering' (see this Met leaflet).
Reports: 1 | 2 Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 Audio: 1 | 2 | video
Links: Trident Vote Day | CND | Stop the War Coalition | Block the Builders | Greenpeace | Trident Ploughshares | Faslane 365 | Background: BASIC | Acronym | Indymedia UK's Faslane topic page
EDO CORP: 2006 Alternative Report
21-02-2007 17:45
On Thursday 22nd February the EDO Corporation released their report on the fourth quarter of 2006. The Corporation, of which the embattled Brighton based arms dealers EDO MBM are a wholly owned trading unit, has announced that it is operating below targets, (See EDO's Fourth Quarter Report)
Below is an 'Alternative Report' from the Smash EDO campaign. Brighton based EDO MBM has been the target of sustained protest and direct action since 2003. On Friday 16th Feb a group of protesters occupied EDO's car park and foyer blowing claxon horns and scattering photos of the carnage in Iraq. This was the second such action in the last month ( reports: (1) | (2) ). On Monday 19th Feb 8 students from Sussex University locked themselves to EDO's fence and gates delaying the opening of the factory and preventing deliveries ( see: Press Release | Photo Report ). On Wednesday 21st Feb protesters held a funeral procession and vigil for the victims of the US bombing of Somalia at the factory ( see: Press Release | Report ).
How do we know?
20-02-2007 23:17
Over 50 people came together at Nottingham University for an event called 'the Knowledge Lab'. The event was aimed at bridging the gap between activism and academia and to provide a collective space for anti-capitalist reflection. It was the 4th time the event was organised and focussed on 'Knowledge' this time. Workshops were based around questions such as 'how do we know'? what is knowledge'? 'where do we gain our knowledge from'? 'does someone hold control over our knowledge'? 'how does gender affect knowledge'? 'how does education effect knowledge'? 'how are our senses affected by advertising and the media'? and 'how can suppressed knowledge be released into the mainstream'? Other sessions included a presentation and discussion on an alternative education project called 'Travelling School of Life', an experiment in anarchism and concensus decision making called 'SOMA' and an Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry session aimed at looking at what knowledge is and what controls, thus affects it.
Audio: Organiser explains about the 4th Knowledge Lab | Chat with a Knowledge Lab regular about its history and aims | Audio of part of the Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry session on 'Knowledge' | Affective Knowledge & Alternative Media (part 1) + (part 2)
Links: Knowledge Lab website | Peace Conference & Knowledge Lab :: some photos | Travelling School of Life Workshop at Knowledge Lab 4 in Nottingham | Audio reports and background from the 4th Knowledge Lab | Affective Knowledge & Alternative Media, some audio
McLibel: Human Rights Victory Anniversary
20-02-2007 23:10
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg declared that the notorious and long running McLibel case was in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of expression, thereby voiding any solace that McNasty may have enjoyed from the trial. The Court ruled that UK laws had failed to protect the public’s right to criticise massive corporations whose business practices can affect people’s lives, health and the environment. Meanwhile after spending £10 million to suppress free speach, McDonalds find that the most widely distributed protest leaflet ever, continues to be distributed worldwide... Mainly by a group in Nottingham! To celebrate the McLibel Human Rights Victory Anniversary, activists in Nottingham took to the streets in a small demo on Thursday at a McDonalds restaurant.
Audio: Interview with an activist about McDonald's and all its works
Previous reports: Nottingham Another Anti-G8-McDonalds event (2004) | Nottingham McDonalds Celebrating the McLibel Two (2005) | Nottingham Day of Action against McDonald's (2005) | Nottingham's part of the Worldwide Day of Action Against McDonalds (2006)
Links: McSpotlight | Veggies
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Dozens of Iraqi Kurds deported.. again
12-02-2007 17:30
For the third time in less than two years, a 'charter flight' left the RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire today, carrying a number of Iraqi Kurds to Erbil, Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). The 38 'failed asylum seekers' had been arrested and detained from across the UK.
Some 60 protesters gathered at the gates of Brize Norton this morning, in a protest called by the Campaign to Close Campsfield. It followed other protests over the weekend in London, Leicester and Manchester [reports from Harmondsworth demo 1 | 2 | pics 1 | 2 | 3 | video]. But neither these protests nor the repeated warnings from national and international human rights organisations [UNHCR | Amnesty] managed to convince the Home Office of halting forced removals to unsafe Iraq.
Related: No Deportations to Unsafe Iraq | No Deportations to Iraq | New Labour's War on the Kurds
Weekend of Action Against Carmel Agrexco
11-02-2007 12:27
The weekend of 10-11 February, 2007, saw two actions against Carmel-Agrexco, the largest exporter of flowers from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The lead up to Valentine's Day is one of their busiest times as their Middlesex depot delivers a large amount of Israeli flowers to UK supermarkets.
On Saturday, 120 Activists from the Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign blocked the gates of the depot for most of the afternoon. Then, in the early hours of Sunday morning, 13 activists shut the depot down again for several hours by locking themselves to the factory gates.
Reports from Saturday's Picket: 1 | 2 | video | Reports from Sunday's Blockade: 1 |
Previous actions: 1 | 2 | 3
Links: Boycott Israeli Goods | ISM Palestine | Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Stop the Wall in Palestine | Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group
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Get Down to Your Local Indy
09-02-2007 11:00
Local Indymedia groups (IMCs) exist all over the UK. Some have existed longer than others and some are more active than others, but they all have one thing in common: they need your help. If you're interested in working on independent media on a local level, or if you have technical skills, why not become involved? Help organise film screenings, benefit events, or report on local issues, compile features and do admin work on the websites. There is a lot to be done!
Local IMC kollectives have regular meetings which are open to anyone interested. These include:
Bristol: Monday 19th Feb, 8pm at the Hillgrove Pub, Kingsdown, Bristol
Cambridge: Monday 19th Feb, 7:30pm at 3 Fletchers Terrace Cambridge (more on meetings)
Manchester: Wednesday 14th Feb, 7.30pm at Basement Social Centre, 24 Lever St, Manchester, M11DZ
Click at the 'Full article' link above to know more about the local kollectives and how to get involved.
The WSF and Opposition to the WEF
06-02-2007 20:49
From 20th till 25th of January 2007 the World Social Forum (WSF) took place in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the seventh Forum which coincides in opposition to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos Switzerland.
Up to a 100 000 participants were reported at the WSF though criticism of exclusivity because of high entrance fees was raised from the local population. (The impact of the WSF on the people of Kibera: "a Failure" | Kibera fails poor). This lead to the local population storming the entrance and the overpriced catering: What happened in Nairobi .
Sarah Choukah has written that the WSF "failed to address in an articulate way one of the main global issues: today’s ongoing wars in the Middle East and Central Asia".
On Monday evening, the Indymedia Radio station was robbed by armed gunmen taking as much equipment as they could carry (audio).
Newswire Reports: [ The Wider SF movement | What's hot and What's Not | WSF A Rolling Carnival of Resistance | WSF marches against EPA | March through Nairobi ]
Reports about the WSF on other Indymedia sites: [ Indymedia.org | Israel Indy | Germany IMC | Ecuador IMC | Argentina IMC | Athens IMC | Belgium | Norway IMC | IMC Philadelphia | Barcelona IMC | LA IMC | Houston IMC | Marseille IMC (1 | 2) ]
Meanwhile in the Northern Hemisphere, activists were marching and mobilising against the WEF in Davos, Switzerland. Further reports: Switzerland IMC (German | Italian), IMC Netherlands
Two Days of Action Target Climate Criminals
06-02-2007 03:37
Over the weekend of 3-4 Feb 2007, actions up and down the country and beyond targeted dangerous 'greenwash' being desperately pushed by corporations and politicians. The actions came in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Friday, which warned of world temperature rises of over 6C by the end of the century. The report indicated that a 4 degree rise would mean a 10% loss in global food production due to draught, flooding, water shortages. While the world slowly wakes up to the magnitude of climate chaos, Shell and Exxon Mobil last week announced record breaking profits. With the figures laid out so clearly, the nauseating hypocrisy spouted by corporations and politicians has spurred action from Paris to Aberdeen.
Links Press release for oil spill action | action report, photos & video | another video | Shell sponsorship background
Other actions Glasgow | Edinburgh | Plane Stupid | Greenpeace
Coming up Protest against ESSO, 9th Feb | Spring into Action
Climate Camp 2006 indymedia page | website | 2007 Camp 14-21st August | next organising meeting 17-18th Feb
MI6 Iran Disinfo: The Prelude to War?
05-02-2007 21:49
There have been many warnings [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ] about the possible use of US or Israeli nuclear weapons against Iran. Furthermore, Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research has warned that this is just one part of the US "military roadmap" for the Middle East [ text | video | audio ], while Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed wrote last summer that the war had already started.
Needless to say, a war on Iran would be illegal, and would only add to the long list of war crimes that Bush, Blair and their conspirators are guilty of. But then, what would legality matter if we became a planet of the nuclear dead?
On 9th Feburary 2007 Iranian refugees dropped a banner in Birmingham with the slogan "Support movement for democracy in Iran, No to criminal regime in Iran, No to imperialist war on Iran".
Read: Selected Articles on the Proposed US-Israeli Nuclear War on Iran | Articles on the looming war with Iran | Middle East: Cradle or Graveyard of Empire? | Indybay feature: The US gears up for war with Iran | Iran: A Chronology of Disinformation
Full article | 1 addition | 4 comments
Indymedia and British Intelligence Services
02-02-2007 01:21
Following the American pattern after 9/11, the UK government has used its own alleged terrorist attacks to push towards a police state, which is not exactly a new phenomenon, as Nafeez Ahmed, for example, explains. This has involved increasing the funds allocated to 'security services' and granting them extra-judicial powers; the systematic assault on civil liberties and human rights; media-spun fear based on dubious 'terror plots'; the clamp-down on activists and the relentless attempts to infiltrate their networks. Even Indymedia, it seems, has not been spared. At least two Indymedia activists have recently been approached, in one way or another, by British intelligence services, offering them better-paid jobs.
Read: Recruiting Spies at British Airports | Coincidence or Grooming? Oscar Beard's chance to join MI5 | Is It Really About Terrorism?
Support the Vortex Occupied Social Centre
28-01-2007 18:35
Updates 2nd Feb: Social Centre Eviction update | No Starbucks in Stokey
The Vortex Jazz Bar in Stoke Newington's Chuch Street, famous for its vibrant music scene and a venue popular in the local community, was occupied by local activists on the 6th January. In its new incarnation as a social centre, the building has once again been filled with the voices of the community. Already happening are busy café nights, cinema and jazz nights, exhibition space, a parent/baby group and regular benefits.
The development plan for the old Vortex, by notorious landlord Richard Midda, is to make way for a Starbucks with luxury apartments above. This planned development highlights once more the continued erosion of the 'the Street' as community space soon to be identifiable only from one corporate logo to the next. A court proceeding against the occupation took place on the 24th Jan to take repossession of the building, with an unlawful eviction attempt by Midda and private baliffs on the 26th Jan. This was repelled [Photos and Video] by activists with the help of local people. The occupation of the Vortex continues, but the threat of eviction is still imminent.
Links: London Social Centre | UK Social Centre Network | Wikipedia on Social Centres | Advisory Service for Squatters
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Radley Lakes Resistance
27-01-2007 12:06
Update (15/02/07): Tree felling and preparation work has started, and sporadic actions are taking places to try to block this work. More help is needed.
Update (06/02/07): The eviction took place on Tuesday 6th February. Bailiffs wearing balaclavas smashed their way in through a set of downstairs windows early in the morning, but it still took them several hours to clear the house after one of the squatters locked on. "We may have lost round one but we will re-group and consider our next course of action. We are not finished yet[...]" - quote attributed to one of the squatters by the Oxford Mail.
URGENT CALL to defend the occupation of Sandles, Thrupp Lake.
On Wednesday 24th January, energy company RWE Npower was granted an order to evict this lakeside property with immediate effect. Meanwhile, at the property extremely robust defences are being built with a view to delaying the destruction of this area of outstanding natural beauty. This is an URGENT CALL for people to join them in resisting the coming eviction. Please phone the site mobile 07772 055 384 straight away.
Npower, who run the notoriously polluting Didcot Power Station, want to fill the lakes with toxic fly ash, a by-product of coal-burning.
A massive campaign by local people has been ignored by both company and the authorities. Oxfordshire County Council has so far facilitated npower's dumping. The habitat is home to many protected species, including water voles and rare orchids. There have been reported sightings of otters. Further expertise is requested to gather further evidence of the ecology of the lakes. Boats are also very welcome at the site.
Links: Eviction expected | Videos: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] | Photos | Court Report | Occupation and background | Older Report | Campaign Website | Map