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5 May: "evil SERCo" AGM (and SOCPA)

JK | 26.04.2006 22:25 | Anti-militarism | Gender | Social Struggles

Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp(aign) invite anti-WMD types, people working on detention centre issues, and anyone with a grudge against PFI in general, to join us for a good, colourful/noisy moan outside (and inside for those with shares) the Serco AGM.

Outside last year's AGM
Outside last year's AGM

New SOCPA signs at AWEs
New SOCPA signs at AWEs


Serco are one of three companies with a contract to run Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishments (ie they try to turn a profit from WMD). As an anti-nuke campaign, that's our primary interest in them.

However, they are basically all-round evil bastards, who make their money from all kinds of "defence" contracts in Britain and - more and more - worldwide. Plus (it gets worse) they are also a significant beneficiary of the government's various PFI wheezes - schools, hospitals, detention centres, rail, etc.

For the past three of four years Aldermaston Women have been nominal shareholders and used the opportunity afforded by the AGM to ask some annoying questions and disrupt the meeting inside. There has also been various kinds of random protests outside the venue.

After a couple of years of being completely at our mercy at their previous "security-lite" venue, they shifted to the QEII conference centre at Westminster, which is where this year's AGM is also being held.

While we invite more people (all genders) to join us, we feel obliged to point out that this venue is within the SOCPA zone round parliament and, as such, this event may be considered some kind of "unlawful" demonstration. We have no intention of asking permission (we've spent 20 years occupying land around a nuclear weapons factory and, as a bunch of stroppy women, its rather unlikely that we'd start asking now for the right to do our thing ... )

Anyway, if you are happy to run the SOCPA gauntlet, you'd be welcome to join us. Meet at the cafe in the Methodist Central Hall at 10am (map:  http://tinyurl.com/nmolo).

For more blah on Serco, check out  http://www.aldermaston.net/campaigns/serco_2004.php

Additionally, on the SOCPA issue, Aldermaston came under SOCPA via the Terrorsin ACt 2006 on 13 April, plus the MoD are trying to bring in new military byelaws which prohibit just about everything else ... from talking on mobile phones (strange but true!), to giving out leaflets and ... of course, they include camping (even "camping in trees" is mentioned specifically!)).
See -  http://www.aldermaston.net/news/article.php?id=48

And, if you'd like to support the arguments against the byelaws (which are going through a "consultation" process at the mo) see  http://www.aldermaston.net/news/article.php?id=49

Finally, we just made an RSS feed for our news, so if you want to get regular updates on the camp, Block the Builders actions, UK WMD stuff, etc, visit  http://www.aldermaston.net/news/

JK
- e-mail: info@aldermaston.net
- Homepage: http://www.aldermaston.net