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The Bath Bomb
Make it your new year's revolution
Issue #6
free/donation
January '08

TescNO

Residents in Bathwick Hill have been fighting Tesco for 2 years, to stop them getting their way with a Tesco Express store that will pretty much wipe out the great independent shop, Bathwick Stores (with much loved Ken at the helm) as well as Threshers and others. Not to mention worries such as added congestion and traffic safety. Tesco was knocked back twice by BANES and wasn't wanted by the majority of the residents, but they got a suitcase of money, hired a fancy lawyer and went crying to central government who overturned the decision. We didn't like to think there was campaigning going on against a big corporation with well known abuses of workers/farmers/animals/the environment (see Tescopoly.org) without us being involved, especially when it seemed those fighting were at the point of morphing into Tesco customers before our very eyes. Lack of success = dejection = no hope = the issue dies and convenience wins. So we called the public meeting on January 7th.

It was heartening to see a community fighting such a goliath and yet, it seems such groups won't win unless they see the need to fight from all angles, accepting help from other groups who may have different concerns, skills and ways of doing things.

As one of the conditions of getting their planning application approved, Tesco was supposed to improve the safety of the road, but the money given wouldn't even stretch to provide a zebra crossing. It became apparent that this was because the council didn't request enough money, I wonder who'll pick up the rest of the tab? Such things are being done in other towns all over the country and the world. It's easy to see why losing despite huge amounts of effort could make people lose hope, but we mustn't. Instead, let's throw ourselves into shop local campaigns, Tesco boycotts, keeping this issue in the spotlight and spending time joining together and creating a real force to be reckoned with.

Hot off the press: Tesco's have just been granted their liquor license, and are due to open on 15th February, and another one is coming in on the former petrol station on Upper Bristol Road - it doesn't rain, it pours.

Squats: Life, Death, Rebirth

If you choose to read the Chron, you may have noticed that a new squat recently sprung up near town centre. For several months, the Letinov Steam Circus Collective squatted the long closed Stothert and Pitt warehouses on Lower Bristol Road, turning them into a beautifully decorated, well used venue for artists, musicians and activists to do their thing. The squat is now gone, another casualty of the lords and ladies who run Bath council and their 'no tolerance to squatters' policy. But it is just the most recent in a long line of well used squats in Bath, the last two being a disused pub on the outskirts of the city and an abandoned church in Twerton.

So why are the council so down on people who turn disused buildings into valued and well used community resources? The same as all politicians and capitalists, the council are terrified by the idea of people breaking their dependency on the system of rent, landlords and profits and forming their own alternatives. Where would the thieves, sorry...landlords be if we withheld the rent they squeeze from us weekly? Where would the council be if we kept our council tax and spent it improving our communities ourselves? And what of the supermarkets if we co-operatively grew, made and shared our food? Squatting is dangerous for the authorities, it shows a way of living outside their bureaucratic, profit-driven society - a life based on co-operation, fun, solidarity and work for need and pleasure not profit. But fear not, where the last squat lies empty, plans are already being made for more to take its place. BANES may have no tolerance for squatters, but we have no tolerance for them. Keep your eyes peeled, this is just the beginning!

If It Moves, We'll Demo It: B.A.N. '07

Our agent in the field, Matt Banning MD, takes us on a self-indulgent round-up of the last year:

Well, it's been a hectic 12 months, here at BAN Towers. In winter, we slogged it out against the fur trade. Spring saw us dip into the Save Churchill House campaign, break up a racist rally in Bath, picket fast food stores, support the anti-pipeline tree camp in Brecon, and the start of our anti-foie gras escapades - not to mention the media spectacle of the Bath Climate Camp.

Summer began with summit-hopping to sunny Germany to help shut down the G8, radical art workshops at Departure Lounge, hanging out at the Earth First! Gathering, anti-BNP work in Corsham, successes with the foie gras campaign [Le Petit Cochon, Bistro No 5, The Fine Cheese Company and the Cavendish], and then the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow.

Moving on to autumn, there was the SPEAK protest against the Oxford vivisection lab, we opposed the arms fair in London, helped Christian Aid marchers Cut the Carbon, camped out at No Borders near Gatwick, demo'd The Royal Bank of Scotland, hunt sabbed, blocked the BNP in Oxford [again], and hung out at the Anarchist Bookfair in London, Animal Rights '07 in Kent, and danced the night away at the Westside Climate Camp benefit gig at the Porter Butt. And then, to round off the year, December saw us 'reclaiming the planet', climate marching in London, and picking on yet another foie gras outlet. Cripes DM!

Last year also saw the launch of this here Bath Bomb, the re-launch of Bubbling Under, the close of Bristle mag, continued monthly FreeShop, tin rattling in town centre and at the doors of Leftism, and running various activist workshops - on IT skills, legal issues and subvertising.

And looking forward, 2008 is sure to be just as busy!

Get The Duck Out Of Here

Saturday 15th December saw the Viva! national day of action against foie gras. Here in Bath, Epicerie Gourmande in the Guildhall market was targeted because of their sale of the so-called 'delicacy.' With a good turnout of 16 activists, 500 signatures were gathered for a petition to ban the sale of foie gras in Bath council properties. York city council has passed a motion condemning its sale and launched a campaign to get it banned across the UK. Also on that day, Viva! activists leafleted in the town centre, and a third demo took place outside the Hole in the Wall restaurant on George Street.

Foie gras is produced by cramming a metal tube down the throats of ducks and geese. They are force-fed until their livers become painfully enlarged to 6-10 times its normal size. This process can cause organ rupture, throat wounds and suffocation from inhalation of regurgitated feed. The mortality rate is up to twenty times higher than on other duck factory farms, according to the European Union's Scientific Report on the subject. The goal of foie gras production is to increase the fat content of the liver so dramatically that it is considered a disease, "hepatic lipidosis." Production is so unnecessarily cruel that it is banned in the UK, but due to trade laws it can still be imported.

Many national retailers, such as Waitrose, Sainsbury's, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols, along with many local businesses, have chosen to stop selling the vile stuff. Hopefully Epicerie Gourmande will be the next to boycott this disgusting practice.

Third Rate Western

Whilst train services get cut and carriages get more and more crammed, First Great Western are adopting the usual solution of whacking up fares, by an extra 10%. Rather than copy the European model of public transport, where trains are clean, affordable, reliable and spacious, and with better provisions for customers with disabilities, train bosses are content to rip us all off and then threaten us with fines. No surprise, but does anyone remember the term 'customer service'? as a result, Bath/Frome based group More Train Less Strain [their catchiness on a par with our own headlines…] are holding a public meeting to discuss action on Tuesday the 15th of this month, 6.30 to 7.30pm, at the Central United Reformed Church Hall, on Grove Street, and all are welcome.

But Worst Late Western don't just hate their customers, but their workers too: sue to a 'breakdown in relations,' using scab labour in the form of poorly-trained managers to drive and guard trains, 600 rail union members are currently deciding whether or not to take action. Strike - Just Do It.

Annual Climate March Gets Radical

On December 8th in London, the National Climate Change March took place, coinciding with UN Climate Talks in Bali and as part of a Global Day of Action along with 50 other participating countries. A Bath contingent also went down. We weren't granted the desired weather conditions for a 5 hour open air stroll, but our spirit remained intact and it seemed our resilience on this issue was strengthened; that goes for all 10,000 of us. The crowd gathered in groups along Millbank under the various NGO/political party banners, ranging from the obvious Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace to an abundance of Green Party supporters and a surprisingly large swarm of Vegan Advocates. Needless to say we all stuck out the perpetual rain to Mayfair's American Embassy.

Visibly, it was impressive: onlookers saw santas by the dozen, a few penguins dotted about, many face-paint streaked marchers and a token polar bear to name just a few. George Bush's delightful face littered the crowd on placards headed 'WANTED', and the Climate Camp's slogan 'No Third Runway' was impossible to miss.

We were very well behaved on the whole, some might say fluffy: singing political songs to well-know cheery Christmas tunes; though some did stray off track. Namely 'People and Planet' who targeted Natwest with chants and leaflets. In short it was fun for all ages.

The speeches were noticeably more radical, more anti-capitalist, than previously made at such demonstrations. Caroline Lucas finished with a strong pro-vegan message, Chris Huhne claimed that the Lib Dems could completely revolutionise politics and George Monbiot emphasised the paradoxical impossibility of the term 'Green Capitalism'. He then demanded we 'chain ourselves to bulldozers' in a movement towards common-place direct action as an essential to combating Climate Change.

Despite the lack of warmth, the speeches were no less inspiring and our message was not at all watered down: Stop Climate Chaos - adopt a strong climate bill and change your lifestyle!

Dinner and a Movie

This month's 'Bubbling Under' screening will show 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' journalism from an Irish news crew caught in the middle of peoples' president Hugo Chavez' rise, and the various US-sponsored coups aimed to bring him down. Free entry, 1pm start, Sunday the 20th January, at the Porter Cellar Bar. No popcorn, but good veggie breakfast optional.

Activists Stop Racist Dawn Raids

Not heard of dawn raids? Not surprising as they are one of our government's dirtiest and darkest secrets. When a family has been refused asylum, they will be the victim of a dawn raid, in which teams of thugs smash into the family's home and forcibly remove them. The raids are carried out at dawn to heighten the chances of catching the whole family unawares, before they go to work or school. The practice has been linked to severe trauma in families affected, especially the children. On the 18th of Dec, activists across the country took direct action against this disgusting practice, blockading several immigration centres, from which the dawn raid vans depart. Raids were prevented in Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Glasgow and Bristol, and the entrance to the Home Office was blockaded in London. In Bristol, 20 activists locked on to gates and vehicles and overheard cops and dawn raiders moaning about not being able to evict a family because of the blockade, and similar reports of success are coming in from all over the country. It is about time more of us took action against the brutal, degrading and violent practice of dawn raids and forced deportation. Even in a country to which people have fled to avoid violence and torture, they are the victims of bullying from a government that cares more about maintaining racist immigration policies than the trauma and harm it causes daily to innocent families in need of our help and protection.

Events

Monday nights Bath Hunt Sabs Meeting, 8pm, The Bell
12th January Bath FreeShop, 12-3pm, outside Holland & Barrett
13th January Film ‘Loose Change,’ 2pm, Little Theatre
15th January Rail Fares meeting, 6.30-7.30, United Reformed Church, Grove St
18th January Leftism, 9-1am, The Crown
19th January Foie Gras demo, 12.20-3pm, outside the Guildhall
20th January Bubbling Under, 1-4pm, Porter Cellar Bar
26th/27th January open planning meeting for Camp for Climate Action, starts 11am Common Place, 23-25 Warf Street, Leeds
1st February Affordable Housing demo, 11.30 - 2.30pm outside Government Office of the Southwest building, 2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol
2nd February Climate Camp meeting, 2pm, Riverside Community Centre
6th February Bath Animal Action meeting, 7.30-8.30, Bell
7th February BAN meeting, 7.30-9pm, downstairs Hobgoblin

Q: Who Are Bath Activist Network?
A: A local umbrella group campaigning on issues as diverse as development, environmentalism, anti-war, animal rights, workers' rights and more. Helping to produce The Bath Bomb, we are open to anyone, and our members range from trade unionists to anarchists, liberals to greens, and people who just want to change Bath for the better. For details on meetings, demos, or just to get in touch, ring us on 07949 611912, email  bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk, or see our website: www.myspace.com/bathactivistnetwork

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