"We are critical not only of the UK organising process but of the ESF as an objective, & the hypocrisy of government money used to fund such gatherings. If the ESF ‘process’ is going to free itself from its contradictions, if it is to become more than a showpiece for academics & political elite to talk down from platforms, & political parties & organisations to recruit new members while stifling any dissent they themselves have not authorised, it must be taken beyond its current parameters with honesty & a reflective anger. We reject the notion of the “left-wing of capital” being capable or inclined to take that step, to promote radical political or social change. We are aware, though, that within the ESF framework there are those who recognize these contradictions & seek to express a more progressive agenda, to move beyond the initial spectacle of ‘counter-conference’ which, despite the rhetoric, reinforces existing global power relations & provides a suitable distraction into which all the energy, enthusiasm & potential of a radical movement can be safely contained & effectively neutralized, & where the major players, having taken charge of this essentially commercial event, seek to use it as a tool to influence government policy & business decisions on a European level".

"We reject claims made by Weyman Bennett that he was punched in the face during the intervention. The allegations are completely untrue & without foundation. We categorically state that no violence was used towards anyone during the intervention. We further state that the only person being aggressive was Weyman Bennett himself as he attempted to manhandle, push & drag people from the stage. The claim that he was punched in the face has no basis in fact & is unsupported, uncorroborated & unsubstantiated by any other evidence. We feel it is necessary to say this simply because it has been used again & again by people (& their institutions) who were not present, to demonise those who took part in the action. This tactic of dividing people & criminalizing their activities is a familiar one. Both Ken Livingstone & Lee Jasper have used it to demonise anti-capitalist protestors on Mayday demonstrations in London over the past 3 years giving their unconditional support to the police to arrest & repress anyone who wished to take part in these demonstrations".

"We agree that violence has no place at the ESF & we condemn the violence. We condemn the violence of the police attacking ESF & Beyond ESF participants. This was the only violence that occurred during the ESF. Left parties & organizations have a tradition in this country of tacitly supporting (by never condemning) such violence as shown during London ESF".

"Let us not forget the energy & anger & momentum of this ‘movement’ came from the streets of Genoa, Prague, Nice, Evian, Gothenburg, where state forces were happy to teargas us, happy to break our bones as we slept in school buildings, happy to shoot us in the back as we ran away, happy to murder us in cold blood, the very same forces we now go to for funding to hold these Forums, the same forces that “welcome the anti-capitalists” (Jacques Chirac Paris ESF). The same forces we allow to arrest & beat fellow ESF participants before our very eyes as we make political speeches from the stage under the watchful eye of government employees. The ‘movement of movements’ unravels itself & reveals an empty space".

"If the failure of government leaders to stem the tide of mass anti-globalisation protest on the streets of Europe on a practical level, then it must be contained by other means. The ESF can be seen as one of those means. In these terms it retains no political legitimacy. Indeed the ‘English exception’ becomes the blueprint".

"We continue to take a critical stance against the ESF/WSF not because of the way it is developing but because its central premise was always flawed at its inception, incapable, or unwilling, of generating outwards beyond the contradictions that hold it together.".

www.wombles.org.uk/auto/reflections.php