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January London Calling

Class War | 24.01.2005 17:59 | Social Struggles | London | World

January's London Calling gives you all the latest class struggle news from the capital.
News includes the latest on the Harry Stanley campaign, the hospitalised cops League table, Cry Baby Blunkett, an article on gentrification from the Hackney Independent and a great British tradition - fascism and the royal family!

LONDON CALLING
THE BULLETIN OF LONDON CLASS WAR
JANUARY 2005
www.londonclasswar.org
 classwaruk@hotmail.com
PO Box 467, London E8 3QX

KILLER COPS ON LOOSE IN LONDON

TWO FILTH FROM SO19, the special firearms unit, who murdered Harry Stanley were let back on the street even though they could still face charges for unlawfully killing him after an inquest jury rejected their claims that their lives were in danger.
It also emerged that Sharman, one of the officers, continued to give shooting lessons to “hundreds” of officers after Stanley’s death – while he was suspended from active firearms duty. Mr Stanley, a father of three, was shot in the head after police thought he was carrying a gun, but was in fact holding a table leg in a carrier bag. Harry Stanley’s widow said this was a kick in the teeth. In November’s London Calling we reported the SO19 strike after the two officers were suspended. Now it seems the two officers who will return to work as cuntastables are to be let loose again. The filth can’t afford a strike and will anyway bend the rules as they see fit especially after two officers – who are both facing potential murder charges – have been judged worthy of having their suspensions lifted and returned to policing. Looking back on the case, and recalling that the jury disbelieved them on something as serious as shooting a member of the public, it looks as thought the Met will never suspend any officers. Once again the laws do not apply to the filth as they see fit to do whatever the hell they want. The Justice for Harry Stanley Campaign are still fighting on, after six long years, to see the officers brought to justice – and you can show your support. Get in touch with them at PO Box 29644, London E2 8TS.

BATTERED BOBBIES

WE HEAR THAT attacks on the police in Hackney have risen more than 150% in the last three years! If that doesn’t banish the January blues, we don’t know what will! Although this leaves Hackney still ninth in the London league table, we have high hopes that next year will see the borough in the top five, and maybe challenging for a place in Europe.
Chief Inspector Neil Seabridge said, predictably, that he thought it was disgusting and nasty that people would want to smack his poor, armoured coppers. As Mandy Rice-Davies said, he would, wouldn’t he?
The lickspittle Liberal Democrats have lined up firmly behind the filth, an anonymous spokesman insisting that a zero tolerance approach toward those who battered bobbies just doing their jobs. Just the sort of middle class wank we expect from them, running dogs of the police as they are.
Sadly, Hackney (126 assaults) lags quite a way behind league leaders Westminster (287 assaults): but then Westminster have a larger number of police to assault. A dark horse which may upset our hopes for the next few years is Lambeth, which has seen a massive 375% rise in cops being smacked in the last thirty-six months.


FARMER'S MARKET SURVEY:
A MARKET FOR HACKNEY'S NEW YUPPIES
BROADWAY MARKET HAS changed a lot in the last year. Suddenly there are new pubs, galleries, estate agents and boutiques as well as expensive new flats springing up around it. Broadway Market now has a weekly Farmers Market selling organic food, jewellery and £3 loaves of bread.
To find out more about what people think of the Farmer Market, Hackney Independent interviewed 50 shoppers at the market and 100 households on Whiston and Goldsmiths estates.
We found that most estate residents were glad to see some activity in the market, but clearly recognise that it is not aimed at them. Many would like to see the market selling things they need like toiletries and kids' clothes at prices they can afford.
Meanwhile, those who are using the market have no idea that the area is becoming divided - between a working class majority who are having to put up with bad housing and run down services, and a new breed of rich, self-interested young professionals.
This is not merely an accident of the property market. The gentrification of the area is something that is urged on by Hackney Council's regeneration plans. As they privatise public services, shut down community services, run down estates and close schools they want to bring in a new class of people with money to 'improve the area'. The middle-class Labour council sees these new-comers as 'their kind of people', while they look down on those who live on estates.
The view from Whiston & Goldsmiths Estates:
83% say market not aimed at us
93% say market is too expensive
79% say market should be made to sell goods at affordable prices

The view from Farmers Market shoppers:
£1000+ - Average weekly wage
£31.50 - Average weekly spend at the farmers market
9 months - average time they have lived in Hackney

Whiston & Goldsmiths residents say:
"It's for the yuppies! We used to have loads of cheap stalls years ago"
"It doesn't have the products we need"
"I don't know anyone who's used it"
"It does make a difference because we haven't had anything around here for a long time, but it's too expensive"
"It's too overpriced for this area. It's for people in the posh flats. They're driving us out"

Farmers Market shoppers say:
"The property is cheap and I like that the area is changing"
"There is a nice vibe about the market. It brings in nice people."
"It's a vibrant, great area"
"The area's rough but the market is good"
"It's up and coming and exciting"
"The shops in the market are fab."

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE HACKNEY INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER.
VISIT THEIR SITE: www.hackneyindependent.org/

MAX CALLER HONOURED
HACKNEY’S FORMER CHIEF Executive Max Caller was recently made a Commander of the Order of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for services to local government. What a fucking joke!
After just four years at Hackney Council (and it seems like much longer!) he’s managed to preside over a catalogue of stupidity, incompetence and downright attacks on the borough’s unfortunate residents.
Whilst the council brag about his work with Mayor Jules Pipe, claiming that everything’s nice and rosy because of Max, the reality is very different.
Some years ago, we had more libraries in the borough. We had more leisure facilities. We had nurseries. And now?
“In many areas the Council is now delivering a higher quality of services to residents,” the council’s propaganda sheet claims. As though a balanced budget, built on cuts to services needed by the poorest were some sort of step forwards. Of course, had there been any sort of financial responsibility at the top then the fucking fiasco of the Clissold Leisure Centre (see previous issues of London Calling) would not have happened.
It seems that Mr Caller has retired early, due to ongoing health problems. We at London Class War wish him a short and painful retirement. If this is how he leaves the borough before the job’s finished, thank fuck he he’s gone now.

ITS GOOD TO TALK!
BARNSLEY BNP ORGANISER Paul Harris who is involved in a campaign to stop a local community centre opening,you can phone Paul on his home phone number 01226 725221.
He won't answer if you dial 141 so call the cunt from a phone box and tell him what you think!







NOT ALL IS PUKKA FOR JAMIE
JAMIE OLIVER, THAT cheesy smirking git we all have grown to despise, has hit the tabloids once again and it wasn’t good news for James’ yuppie restaurant FIFTEEN in trendy Hoxton, where yuppies, trendies and pseudo-artists try to make their name by sniffing arses all day in cappuccino bars, Tracy Emin, £3 a pint, sushi bars say no more.
After being slated as a total con by numerous good food guides including Hardens who ranked Fifteen the worst restaurant in London, we got a Class War chum to book a reservation with the work’s phone and time. After getting through to the restaurant she was put straight on to a recording of Jamie himself - see the crap we put ourselves through? Jamie was droning on about himself and the virtues of his restaurant. She was told that if she pressed the number one on the phone she’d be put straight through to reservations. No sooner had she done that Jamie’s voice came on again “nice one guys, as you may know, Fifteen is a social venture that trains professional chefs to mentor and train unemployed youngsters... blah, blah…..”
After she got threw to a real person she was told that the number she dialled was a special rate number and that she was charged over the odds for the pleasure of hearing Jamie’s voice, she asked if there was an alternative number she could phone to get a reservation and was told NO.
So not only will you be ripped off inside Fifteen for the likes of bangers and mash at £8 you will be ripped off before even entering the restaurant.

STUPID BOY!
PRINCE HARRY’S RECENT swastika-wearing stupidity came as a surprise to us. We knew the foul Windsor klan were on the loony end of the right: but we thought that even someone as intellectually challenged as Prince Harry would realise that wearing a Wehrmacht uniform and a swastika armband was a bad idea.
Clearly we were wrong!
Even for seasoned royal watchers, the incident is an amazing one. Most ordinary people would recognise that dressing up as some sort of, well, Nazi, is neither big nor clever. And that’s without having bodyguards or highly-paid advisors to prevent anything happening to them! Perhaps some cruel aide thought they’d have a laugh and drop Harry in the shit – not that that would be tricky.
Note that Harry’s mate who flogged the pictures to the Sun thought that the best ones he’d got were of Prince William in a lion costume. Hmmm… Nothing at all wrong, then, in the opinion of the ruling class scum at this dubious party, in dressing up as some sort of fucking fascist. It’s likely Prince Charles’ anger will be reserved for his foul son getting caught: most likely a more heinous crime in his eyes than wearing a Hitlerite uniform.
Fergie’s bizarre intervention into the controversy left us gobsmacked! Didn’t she die or something some years ago? For her to come out and act as Harry’s apologist shows she’s still a shameless royal lickspittle. Perhaps one day they’ll let her back into Buckingham Palace.
Prince Harry’s let the cat out of the bag, though. We expect that it will prove somewhat harder to leave this behind him than he suspects. It’s clear where Harry’s sympathies lie: and it’s also clear that neither Charles nor William – nor Harry – must ever be King.

CRY BABY CRY!
ONE OF THE problems of a monthly newsletter is having something unforeseen happen just after you go to press.
Sadly at the end of last year we were caught out by David Blunkett’s resignation… or was it Charles Clarke who resigned? Rarely in the field of Parliamentary politics can one figure have been replaced by another figure so similar as to be fucking indistinguishable! They both bearded wankers with a penchant for fucking other people over – all that’s changed is the insignificant detail of their names.
Blunkett was in favour of ID cards – Clarke’s in favour of ID cards. Clarke’s keeping the Government’s repressive legislation on track – Blunkett put it there in the first place. We’ve got to hand it to Blair: it looks like he’s played a joke on everyone by replacing Tweedledum with his identical twin, Tweedledee.
Having said that, the most amusing thing about the replacement of like with like was the arsy way that Blunkett blamed his downfall on some sort of millionaires’ conspiracy against him! He made out he was some poor little working class boy against whom all the nasty rich people ganged up. Like fuck! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned: and when Blunkett found that out to his cost, he couldn’t handle it.

LEST WE FORGET.
ROGER SYLVESTER, HARRY STANLEY, BRIAN DOUGLAS, CHRISTOPHER ALDER, WAYNE DOUGLAS, SHIJI LAPITE, RICHARD O`BRIEN, JOY GARDNER, JAMES ASHLEY, ROCKY BENNET, ALTON MANNING, ASETA SIMMS, GLEN HOWARD… Killed by CS gas, long handed batons, restraining belts and guns by the Police & Prison Officers, 90% were not British,70% were black, 100% were working class, let’s not forget them and their families’ struggle for justice in the year to come.

CLASS WAR ISSUE 87 OUT NOW!
ONLY £1 FROM YOUR USUAL SUPPLIER!

NOT IN OUR GRAVEYARD!
Many people in Hackney hate the police. This is hard to forget, when you consider the amount of abuse the bullies in blue hand out to the borough’s residents. Talk to the average person on our estates, and you’ll find the majority of people will have a story or two to tell about their views of the local filth. We could probably fill London Calling with what they say.

There’s some good news, though! In Stoke Newington last month, locals smashed up the 1909 memorial to PC William Tyler, in Abney Park Cemetery. If you ask me it was a bloody good idea! I don’t like walking the dog round the graveyard and seeing a pig’s grave there. Traditionally Abney Park was an alternative graveyard where working class people could be buried. Now it’s a nature reserve. Whose great idea was it to bury Tyler there? Surely it’s daft to bury a cop in a cemetery full of working class graves. Though they say that the filth are part of the community, we disagree. They weren’t part of the community even in 1909 when PC Tyler met his death.

Interestingly, Tyler was killed in the Tottenham Outrage of 1909 by armed robbers alleged to be anarchists. He was shot in the face after confronting the robbers and demanding they surrender. Another dead cop ‘hero’… Tottenham must have the highest number of filth deaths in the country!

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Chiverton, Hackney’s pitiful answer to Inspector Morse, voiced his disgust at the attack on the memorial and swore it would be repaired. We at London Calling would like to ask whose money will be spent on this Hackney Outrage, the renovation. Why not simply dig him up, take the big obnoxious headstone with a foul police tit on it, and dump it in another graveyard where the majority of locals don’t despise the filth. If they can find one. HEY! That’s an idea – to dig him up, that is!

DIARY DATES
Friday 11 – Sunday 13 February: Newcastle Anarchist Film Festival. Visit www.projectile.org.uk for information. They’ve a range of events, with speakers including someone from CW!
Saturday 19 February: Class War! Mass civil disobedience is planned by the toffs of the Countryside Alliance. Let’s get out there and smash their demonstrations, their illegal hunts and stop their nonsense once and for all!
Sunday March 5: Miners Return to Work Anniversary Rally & Social @ The Fox, Stainforth, Doncaster. Organised by Hatfield Main Branch NUM The Mining Communities Advice Centre in conjunction with Class War.
Saturday June 11: Norwich’s Anarchist Bookfair. A top day out for all – check out twotins.tripod.com for latest details.

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Class War
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