Smash EDO: Thank you, Maydayers!

A Smashing update about what to do next.

Smash EDO's Mayday! Mayday! event was the biggest yet for the campaign with around 2000 people attending. Thanks for showing up and making the day great! It could not have been done without you. There is a report of the day on

http://www.smashedo.org.uk/news.htm where you can also find some links to other news coverage.

Now that Mayday is over it is important that the momentum continues. Get stuck in!

Coming up:

The first trial arising out of last year's Carnival Against the Arms Trade starts on Monday the 18th of May and is scheduled to last for eight days. Please come and show support at Brighton Magistrate's Court. from 10am.

The weekly noise demos are continuing as usual every Wednesday between 4-6 outside EDO on Home Farm Road (just behind Moulsecoomb station). The noise demos really are the backbone of the campaign and could do with some more regular support so drop by if you can!

Update:

Good news! During a hearing last Friday one of the EDO decommissioners, Robert Alford, was granted bail which means that he will be out of prison soon. Elijah Smith remains on remand and has been transferred back to Lewes prison from Bristol. Please send letters of support to

Elijah Smith VP7551, HMP Lewes, 1 Brighton Road, Lewes, Sussex BN7 1EA

For further info about the decommissioning see

http://decommisioners.wordpress.com/

Smash EDO
e-mail: smashedo@riseup.net
Homepage: http://www.smashedo.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

We should have had more people

15.05.2009 07:52

I know we need to see the positive but 2000 people was simply too low. When we saw the publicity that was in advance of this event I expected 30,000 on the streets also we failed totaly to engage with local people, they still do not understand what we are doing or why we are doing it. The Argus has portrayed us as jobless trouble causing anarchists and that's what locals think as well.

Before SmashEDO 2010 we need to re-think the event, the planning and the organisation. This year we achieved little and that needs to be faced.

Smasher

2010 smash EDO event WILL be bigger!

15.05.2009 08:16

The Smash EDO 2010 event will be bigger, join the 10,000 for smash EDO 2010 campaign! How do you join this campaign you already are part of it! Just spread the word on every internet forum, to every activist group, to everyone you know! Tell as many people as you can to get down to Brighton for the Mayday 2010 Smash EDO event. We can all play a part to make the 2010 event the biggest ever demonstration Brighton has ever seen.

10,000 for Smash EDO 2010 campaign

Ohyea

15.05.2009 09:56

well what if small is beautiful then 10,000 is not so beautiful eh - beat that logic.
lets aim at many many groups of 5, self autonomous small groups are beautiful not noisy 10000 raucaous lemmings - allow diversity not sameness for 2010. You dont have to agree with me - i used to care but things have changed.
kisses

birthday boy

demographic more important than numbers

15.05.2009 10:57

i was one of the 'outsiders' who came dow to Brighton for the Mayday street party, and I think the campaign did a fantastic job promoting the event to anti-war activists like me.

Organising on that level 2,000 people was a massive achievement, and as far as it's ever going to go.

What the next step has to be is organizing the 150,000 residents of Brighton itself!

(A)nti-Militarist

Little this year has been achieved??

15.05.2009 11:16

Thats not true. All you have to do is look at the Decommissioners. I do think however that Mayday achieved little, but so do all mass mobilisations. Thats not really the point of them, theyre there to inspire and maintain the movement rather than to actually shut EDO down, and to have fun, and I can say it definitely achieved what was desired there. The only way to shut EDO is through grassroots direct action against the factory itself.

Anti-Militarist Smasher

engaged with the locals

15.05.2009 12:12

Although a lot of the local's in the area didn't know what the demonstration was about initially, when there was time to stop and briefly explain it people seemed largely supportive.
All the people i spoke to seemed to support the cause, some (espcially younger people) joined in with the march for a time.
Later on in the march there were often shouted warnings from passers by along the lines of "look out the police are coming from over there" and cheers from on lookers when people broke through or ran round police lines.

There are those (especially argus employees) who are very negative about what smash EDO do, but I don't think they are the majority of people in brighton, atleast not the majority who were actually there on the day - altho obviously some of those were tourists-.

The question is how to engage with them and really get them involved in the campaign.(or at the very least the next big demo).

ether

Agree with Ether

15.05.2009 14:34

A guy in a business suit told us to "watch out, the police are waiting round that corner for you!"

Happy Friday

not enough?

17.05.2009 18:01

There are always people who say, there weren't enough people', 'it didnt achieve enough', as if we could change the world with one demo!

Mayday was fantastic, a display of solidarity and strength, and 2000 committed courageous people can achieve a hell of a lot more than 10000 who want to walk from A to B then go home on the SWP bus.

Mayday was well organised, with excellent logistics and was built from a campaign that has real staying power. EDO's days are numbered. If I was them I'd give up now and run away.

day tripper