ESF registration in chaos

IMCista | 14.10.2004 11:55 | London

At around 12:40 there are unconfirmed reports of one arrest outside Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, where today's official ESF registration is taking place.

Reports indicate that the building has been closed as it was overwhelmed with people. The ESF staff are asking everyone to leave the area. The building will be closed until management sort the problem out.

Police have been in attendance. There was one report of an arrest and one man wrestled to the ground after police found it difficult to get into the building.

Estimates of the number of people at Conway Hall range from 1000 - 5000.

For those who don't want to register, the autonomous spaces do not require registration.

http://www.altspaces.net/ Go to the Camden Centre, Bidborough St, near Kings Cross for the EFCR/Indymedia event, or to the Tottenham Campus of Middlesex University, White Hart lane (near White Hart Lane station).

IMCista

Comments

Hide the following 20 comments

Uncomfirmed reports?

14.10.2004 12:55

Can't you do a little better than 'unconfirmed reports' before publishing such advice.

problems with independent journalist accreditation

14.10.2004 13:08

There are also problems with accreditation of independent journalists. Several indymedia reporters have been turned away despite of registering before because of incomplete lists.

Not surprised.

14.10.2004 13:24

That's SWP (non)organization for you.

Stick with the anarcho-horizontalists- they really know how to do things right-and after
all the social forums are supposed to be open to all and not just those with £30/£20 to
spare or into heirarchical control freak political systems.

what happened

14.10.2004 13:39

the managagement of Conway Hall closed the building, and nobody was allowed in. The police tried to get on the front and threw over the stall of Socialist Worker, then a scuffle broke out and one person got arrested?lead away with his hands behind the back, another one thrown to the ground and kicked by the police. pictures to follow later.

Sorry about 'Unconfirmed Reports' comment

14.10.2004 14:19

I see, re-reading, it was only the arrest that was an 'unconfirmed report'. It is easy to confuse me.

You have to get up v. early in the morning to crack one over IMCistas.

Will make a small contribution to your funds at ther end of the month for my little sin.

Dont Give Them Credit

14.10.2004 14:33

Please dont credit the SWP with directly causing the ruck outside Conway Hall. They only bussed in numbers to meetings to out vote and piss off the remainder, and get their speakers and seminars chosen. They'll be selling papers not setting up registration desks.

Retraction and Speculation

14.10.2004 15:04

Rapidly breaking news necessitates retracting my last comment.

It could be concluded from a reading of ab's report that the SWP - who as predicted have set up shop to sell their paper instead of helping with registration - directly caused the ruck outside the ESF registration centre at Conway Hall by blocking the doors and stopping punters getting to the inadequate registraion facilities.

Of course, this is unconfirmed.

All is forgiven if SWP floored a few coppers and got banged up. They become ESF heros. Pics eagerly anticipated.

Conway closed?

14.10.2004 15:13

Just phoned Conway Hall and they refused to tell me anything but "phone the ESF on 0207 833 8440". This number has been engaged (surprise surprise) for days and was engaged today. I then called Alexandra Palace and they said that I could pick up wristband and railcard there from 8am. Sounds like someone's organisation wasn't inclusive or transparent enough eheh.

Krop

Any more?

14.10.2004 15:19

Whats the latest on this please?

Saffy

Hippy's are very organised

14.10.2004 17:43

At least I am... i think!

Yeh, anymore news?

Claire
Homepage: http://www.hipforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=160

Save your money, this is FREE

14.10.2004 18:28

resistration? really social eh?

try this instead it'll be much more fun, educational and effective and you wont get hassled into buying the latest reformist papers and hassled to join the SWP/Respect Unilateral con

http://www.wombles.org.uk/auto/

Beyond ESF will be held at Middlesex University, Tottenham Campus, White Hart Lane (close to White Hart Lane train station - 2 stops from Seven Sisters station, and on the W3 bus route from Alexandra Palace).

(A)

.

14.10.2004 19:21

SWP non-organisation???

I'd love to see the anarchists trying to organise an event this big!

As for Tory Boy's comments about "socialist planning" (not that the ESF is 'socialist'), today's chaos doesn't prove anything other than that people who haven't organised something this big before don't get it right first time.

Oh yeah and one more (random) thing. Go to South Korea if you want to see how ridiculously DISORANISED CAPITALISM can be.

I dont have any politics

14.10.2004 19:53

I dont have any politics except for slagging the SWP,

Thats all I do now, and all I'll ever do.

Thank goodness I dont actuallt have to do anything to fight capitalism, as long as I can blame the SWP

Continued post 93

Everyone on this thread

Hippy's may be organised but they can't use apostrophe's

14.10.2004 20:23

I have duly reported you to Lynne Truss, and I have requested the FBI to seize your patchouli oil. Sorry about going off topic.

Sim1

Ha!

14.10.2004 22:16

To the idiot who said he/she'd like to see the anarchists organise something this big.....I think you'll find what is happening up the road on Tottenham Campus, will have more bods showing up than your pathetic attempt at a recruiting parade! Twat!

Digsy

Anarchists events ARE well-organised

14.10.2004 22:52

The venue at Middlesex University's Tottenham site, hosting Beyond ESF workshops was very well run. There were good rooms for meetings, a marquee serving excellent free food (donations given) and resonable facilities. They had advice tables and enough hard-working facilitators and stewards to have it all going smoothly.

The two workshops I saw were very interesting too, one on problems travellers face and one on free transport.

Badriya
mail e-mail: badriya@dsl.pipex.com

:

15.10.2004 00:08

So the anarchist fringe event is going to attract tens of thousands of people???

Somehow I think not.

Don't get me wrong I totally support what the anarchists are doing and will be dividing my time equally between the "official" ESF and the Beyond ESF stuff. BUT be realistic - it's not going to attract nearly as many people so why pretend it will?

And let's stop all this bollox about "our event's better than yours". Fucking GROW UP.

(Writing as an individual on behalf of myself)

Troll comments hidden

15.10.2004 11:25

Daily troll-o-gram from sad old BNP boy.

IMC volunteer

Eye-Witness

18.10.2004 12:04

Unlike every single contribution on here I was actually there when the cops went ape.

Here is what actually happened.

Eveything was fine. People were lining up and getting processed. The hall was getting more and more full. The organisers started to regulate the number of people being let into the Hall. Nothing controversial. Entirely sensible. Nobody minded. No problem.

Then the cops arrived.

They approached the Socialist Party (SP) stall (in plain clothes) and asked it be removed. The SP sort of stood their ground but slowly started to comply. A bit piss poor but I guess not too suprising when you have half a dozen ape size cops standing over you threatening arrest.

Martin Smith from the SWP went across to argue with the cops that the SP should be allowed to stay and that they were not causing any problem. The SP removed their stall and then the cops went for the SWP stall. The SWP stood their ground and refused to removed their stall. The cops went bezerk, smashed all the tables and belted about a dozen people over the head. Reinforcemetns came from everywhere and soon there were about 50 pigs sorrounded by about 500 chanting people. Martin Smith was dragged off to a pig mobile and taken away.

Two quick points.

1. The SP melted away into notHing as soon as the rumble started. So much for solidarity.

2. The cops caused the problem. There was no problem before they arrived and none after they left. The registration process was basically smooth and efficient. I was there from dawn until after dark.

As for the usual fairy tales about SWP doing this or that please

Jake20

inside hall

13.11.2004 18:39

Was locked inside hall during the ruckus,

Seemed that the management had gone off on one cos there were so many people in the building. They seemed to have locked the doors and declared no one was entering the building till they’d had a meeting, one minute suggesting they’d stop all registrations for the day then saying they’d come out with a decision in an hour ?!?

In the meantime, while bitching about how little coverage their own events had got in the esf program, Conway hall demanded that all esf posters be taken down and all volunteers turn their purple tshirts inside out so esf logo didn’t detract from their own program of shiatsu and muesli crunching workshops ?!?

Hugely embarrassing to experience, but out front most people seemed relaxed despite having to stand out in the shitty weather with all their luggage having trekked across London and god knows where else.

Didn’t see what happened in the square, heard one of the Conway management had to be taken away by police for going a bit mental, which wouldn’t have surprised me having heard them carping on about hoards of dangerous anarchists about to descend on them.

Even being there, I wouldn’t claim to have got the right end of the stick on all this. However, I do think it was a bit daft trying to process however many thousand people in some piddly assed community hall run by a bunch of grey haired old farts playing ‘my revolutionary Russian’s better than yours’ (first impressions, Conway Hall !)

Police were usual bunch of jumped up nobheads too!

rhedize
mail e-mail: joshstyx@yahoo.com