UK UK Newswire Archive
1000 March in Haringey Against Austerity Cuts
20-01-2011 18:23
Haringey Alliance for Public Services, the National Union of Teachers and Unison came together on January 17th for an extremely lively march and lobby of Haringey counciil.
The demonstration was considerably larger than previous protests, with around 1,000 stopping the traffic on Wood Green High Road before hearing speakers denounce the Tory-led Government’s savage cuts to essential public services.
Speakers from HAPS also called on councillors and council leaders to resist centrally imposed cuts by any means necessary. Following the rally a deputation from HAPS attended the full council meeting and made a powerful presentation to the assembled council representatives and a packed public gallery, asking local councillors to either vote against the cuts and to refuse to impose an austerity budget, or to stand aside and allow others to take their place.
Next Haringey Alliance for Public Services meeting
Thursday 10 February 2011 7.15pm
HARINGEY: HAPS General Meeting
North London Community House, 22 Moorefield Rd. N17 6PY (Behind Bruce Grove Station)
Open to all Haringey residents and workers. Come along and add your opinions and ideas for the next stage of the campaign.
The Government is threatening Haringey with over £87m cuts in the next 3 years (£46m in the coming year alone) to our libraries, schools, health services, old peoples homes, youth centres, community centres and facilities, green spaces, public service jobs (1,000 under threat), voluntary projects, welfare benefits, housing rights and much much more... In addition £17m of money promised from central government has already been axed or frozen. If these cuts are allowed to go ahead they will be the worst in our borough's history. The Council are currently consulting to find out what local residents think about all this - so now is the time for everyone to speak out and to join the protests.
The Haringey Alliance for Public Services has already held rallies and a 250-strong demonstration to show that people do not have to accept these cuts. Together we can defend our vital public services from cuts, closures and privatisation threats! The full Council will be meeting on the 17th January to discuss what to do next. Councillors must demand adequate government funding, reject privatisation, oppose and refuse to implement cuts - or stand down in favour of others who will resist cuts.
CUTS: Unfair, unacceptable and unnecessary
Good public services, and a universal welfare system, are central to what's good about Haringey and our lives. We all need good health care, schools and nurseries, community centres, well-run parks and libraries, social services, affordable housing, safe and attractive neighbourhoods, decent jobs, and an adequate and reliable income for unwaged people. Previous generations fought hard to win such improvements.
Devastating - and unjustifiable
The Council estimates it will have to make up to £87m cuts over the next 3 years, and the NHS faces similar threats. If not countered, the cuts will be devastating for all our local communities, for those working in the local public sector and other jobs, for many vital public, voluntary and community projects, services and facilities - and for the most vulnerable, including those reliant on housing and incapacity benefits.
All in it together?
This is a wealthy country, but the Government has chosen to take away £billions of public funds from essential public services whilst propping up greedy and irresponsible banks with public money. According to the Sunday Times 'Rich List' the richest 1,000 people in the UK have a combined hoard of £330billion - just for themselves. Annual corporate tax evasion is estimated at over £100billion. Enough is enough. Our public services are entitled to adequate resources and improvements!
Doing nothing is not an option
The Government was forced to back down after 5,000 people marched to save the Whittington Hospital. Students have held a number of massive demonstrations and occupied many colleges to defend public access to further education. 1,000 local teenagers have formed a campaign to defend local youth centres. Local trades unionists are mobilising to defend local jobs under threat. Local alliances and campaigns are springing into action all over the country - other countries facing the same threats have already seen mass strikes and millions protesting on the streets. Doing nothing is not an option...
What can we do together?
Together we can reverse the cuts programme if we take action and say NO. We call on all Haringey's residents, community groups, workers and trades unions to link together and stand up for what's right. We call on Councillors to reject privatisation, oppose all cuts and refuse to implement them - or make way for others who will join the fightback.
The Haringey Alliance for Public Services (HAPS) is a network of community and residents groups, trades unions and political organisations, and many concerned individuals. It is open to all those living or working in Haringey. We support opposition to the running down, closure or privatisation of any local public services, and support campaigning for improvements. We promote communication and co-ordination, mutual aid and solidarity among all those affected. Why not get involved?
Preventative Arrest Used Against Anti-Racists in Leeds
20-01-2011 16:36
Reporting on the abuse of civil liberties by West Yorkshire Police.Palestine Today 01 20 2011
20-01-2011 16:12
Expect Resistance!!!!
20-01-2011 15:19
in Berlin-Friedrichshain/Germany - and this we take very seriously. The
threatening eviction is an attack against us all and we are not planning
on giving in so easily! For this reason we will take our anger to the
streets with a powerful demonstration on 29th January 2011.
promises made / promises broken
20-01-2011 15:16
when we were asked to vote,a majour part of promise made were ;COUNCIL'S TO BE MORE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PUBLIC; (THOSE WHOM VOTED,GAVE PARTY'S COUNCIL CONTROL :)Report of Smash EDO noise demo 19/01/11 - More petty arrests
20-01-2011 15:07
EDO is a Brighton based arms manufacturer owned by ITT. They produce bomb release equipment for the US, UK and Israeli armed forces.The Smash EDO campaign aims to close the factory down. Every Wednesday, since 2004, activists have gathered outside the factory gates to bang pots and pans
Report of Occupation of Waitrose in Solidarity with the Abu Rahma family
20-01-2011 14:41
Large photos of Jawaher and Bassem Abu Rahma were displayed and shoppers were told the story of the resistance of the village of Bil In, the expropriation of its land and the murder of those involved in the popular struggle.
Fliers were handed out calling on shoppers to boycott Israeli goods
The Bil In popular committee has called for renewed boycott action after the death of Jawaher Abu Rahma on 31st December 2010.
A day of global day of action has been called on February 10th against companies supplying tear gas to Israel - Jawaher was died after inhaling CS gas.
On Saturday 22nd there will be a demonstration in Churchill Square from 1pm in rage at the murder of Jawaher, and the increasing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Read the boycott call from Bil In at
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/different-look/Happy-New-Year-from-the-Israeli-Occupation-Forces-The-Story-of-the-Abu-Rahme-Family For more detail see
https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/471645.html
#NetworkX Call for TUC Demo + Class Struggle
20-01-2011 14:22
A call out for creative disobedience, an example of unmanageable protest for the March 26th TUC demo.
What will it take to stop the cuts?
The politicians, businesses and banks ARE in it together. The rest of us need to take action on 26th March in London, the financial and political capital. All affected by the cuts, whether unionised workers or not, will take the fight to those responsible.
Real change only comes about through countless individuals taking action, such as the inspiring occupation of Millbank tower.
Sit down // sit in // don’t go with the flow //enough of doing what we are told
When you act you will not be acting alone. Legal advice, food and shelter will be available.
FOR LOCAL GROUPS TO FILL IN
Contact details
Link to bust card
Target maps
...and see this fckbook group (logon required): http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183120008375162
Class struggle statement
This statement was adopted by the Network X gathering of 15/16th of January with 14 stand asides and concerns expressed.
Statement from the Class Struggle workshop of the Network X gathering
We are currently facing an assault which we need to resist urgently, before this moment is lost.
Capitalism in Crisis
We live in a time of crisis; economic, environmental and social. This is the normal functioning of capitalism: the shock and misery of crisis, and the shock and misery of “recovery”. The economy falters and the majority of us suffer the consequences, the economy is readjusted in the aftermath and it is the majority of us who suffer unemployment, cuts etc. to foot the costs. To fight austerity, we must fight capitalism itself.
The working class pays
Austerity is nothing more than an attack on the living standards of the working class. Class ultimately is not about having a manual job, education level of accent, it is a about our relationship with the economy. Either you live off your ability to work now (wages), your ability to work in the future (a student loan) or, unable to work, you are allowed to scrape by on the dole. Those with the wealth and power to be above these “choices” will be untouched by austerity. Instead, we will pay the price through layoffs, wage cuts, attacks on working conditions, cuts to benefits and services and student loan hikes.
Mass struggle is the solution
We can’t rely on anyone but ourselves to fight austerity. The major parties, Labour included, differ only on the specifics of how our living standards are to be attacked. Whilst understanding that workplace struggles will, in many cases, start off within the Trade Union framework, we need to understand that to be successful, in the current crisis, struggles will need to move outside of this framework. Vanguards fighting on our behalf, and substituting their party, clique or scene for the struggle of the working class must be rejected. Successfully resisting austerity will require:
- Mass direct action: Strikes, occupations and other tactics which will disrupt the economy.
- A mass movement: Students, workers and the unemployed share the same struggle and cannot fight alone.
- Fighting divides: Race, gender, union membership, workplace, nationality, migrant/“indigenous” worker, etc.
- A movement from below: Directly democratic control from the bottom-up; mass meetings and use of recallable delegates instead of stagnant committees.
See notes from gathering: http://networkxuk.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/network-x/
Network X call out for the 26th March TUC demo
20-01-2011 12:06
A call out for creative disobedience, an example of unmanageable protest for the March 26th TUC demo.Benefit for Unity & WestGAP Sat 22nd
20-01-2011 11:53
Shops in Herefordshire and Monmouthshire selling real fur
20-01-2011 11:51
International Week of Direct Action against SHELL begins!
20-01-2011 11:44
Good Morning, We have just heard that Shell oil have received permission to complete their raw gas pipeline in Co. Mayo Ireland.Shell given permission to complete Gas pipeline in Mayo
20-01-2011 11:37
This morning we heard that An Bord Pleanála (the Irish planning board) has granted Shell oil permission to finish their raw gas pipeline.Homophobic tory minister criticises islamophobia
20-01-2011 11:31
Baroness Warsi has criticised the social acceptability of Islamophobic prejudice. Perhaps in her new campaign against bigotry she should look towards her own faults, having campaigned for parliament in 2005 on a platform of opposition to equal ages of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex, and support for the homophobic Section 28 from the days when the tories were honest and open about their bigotry.Calais Migrant Solidarity Info Night, London, Monday 24 Jan
20-01-2011 09:54
Films and discussion about the current situation on the ground in Calais.Wikileaks Cables on Israel's Gaza Onslaught
20-01-2011 01:13
CounterPunch has accessed Wikileaks’ file of cables on Israel’s Gaza assault http://www.counterpunch.org/wikigazacables.html two years ago (Operation Cast Lead, December 27, 2008 through January 18, 2009). Though the cables often simply rehash Israeli press reporting, providing little new insight into Israel’s attack or the planning behind it, they show with pitiless clarity the U.S. government to be little more than a handmaiden and amanuensis of the Israeli military machine.
Anti-Benefit Cuts Leafleting Glasgow Monday 24th January 3pm-4pm
20-01-2011 00:57
ATOS Health CareCorunna House
29 Cadogan Street
Glasgow
G2 7AB