7,000 march on the Tory Conference
underclassrising.net | 03.10.2010 18:40 | Policing | Public sector cuts | Birmingham
We marched to make it clear the to ConDem government that the fight to stop their cuts starts here. As one GMB speaker put it, 'if they want a war, we'll give them a war'.
http://www.righttowork.org.uk/
West Midlands Police are pleased to confirm that a planned protest in Birmingham city centre has this afternoon passed off peacefully.
The 'Right to Work' march through the city centre's entertainment district was planned to coincide with the start of the Conservative Party Conference at the nearby International Convention Centre.
Between 5000 and 7000 protesters are thought to have attended the event, which travelled along the Broad Street area, leading to a road closure between Five Ways and Paradise Circus and other local streets.
Superintendent Dave Sturman, the commander for the policing operation of the Conservative Party Conference, said this afternoon: "We are very pleased with the way the march has gone this afternoon.
"The protesters were peaceful and the operation went largely to plan.
"At this stage there have been no arrests and we have received no reports of any criminal offences, such as damage, as a result of the event.
"We understand that this protest may have caused some disruption to people in the city, and we thank them for their patience during the course of this afternoon's event."
The march lasted for two hours, travelling along a planned route which passed through Lionel Street, Summer Row, Holiday Street, Gas Street and Broad Street.
http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/l...al.asp?id=3721
All the hype from some anarchist and once as with new labour the left and anarchist just let the working class get fucked over..
Old Class warriors are stirring from their armchairs checking for the nearest Wetherspoons. For once there will be an alternative to the Trot march. How succesfull it is will determine how the opposition to the Tories develops. But at the very least comrades you need to be there.Any successful political movement needs momentum – to get that vitality of momentum we need to put our collective shoulders to the wheel.
http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2010/10...mingham-sunday
It was the rain, one anarchist said that his armchair would get damp and how could he sit there all week in pontification of the revolution on a damp armchair?
Another said this colour red of directions runs in the rain, fuck that of round to me mothers for Sunday Lunch..
underclassrising.net
Additions
My Pointless day out..
03.10.2010 20:05
it was ok, but nothing to write home about.. decided to join the black bloc as that's where I feel my politics are headed, I would say there were about 50-60 in the black bloc, I tagged along with the sheffield anarchists as the bloc split at the start of the march with rumours that the police would try to seperate us from the march right at the start..
no chance for any civil disobedience anywhere though, the whole area around the conference centre was barricaded with 8 or 9 foot high solid steel fences and loads of police..
I did see one arrest (or at least someone got bundled into a riot van) - not someone in the kettle - so I guess from that news report they were released without charge and/or not actually arrested..
the black bloc slipped the first attempt to kettle on broad street but not the second (apart from me and a couple of other people)..
The black bloc got kettled by five ways roundabout, I slipped through the police lines as they closed in and wandered around trying to stay with the kettle to varying degrees of success to bear witness should anything happen..
Quite a few from the main march hung around until they were forced down the tunnel under five ways, and then prevented from going back by the police.. knowing the area, I slipped around the police line and went under five ways using the pedestrian routes and joined up with the kettle on five ways roundabout (I was always outside it), along with half a dozen other people and some independant camera people & observers..
They released people from the kettle (with a search and photos taken) on the Hagley Road, just off five ways, strangely into another kettle (but one with actual space in it) - I was inside the secondary kettle - and we were herded to the coach park before being let go.
There was some heavy handedness from the police in the searches, at least a couple of people were thrown to the floor but it wasn't anything major and nothing kicked off.
Overall.. wet, a bit dull and pointless but hopefully a good starting point to build resistance against the cuts. Don't know if any of the anarchist actions planned for the evening happened, I was too cold and wet and coming down with a cold so decided to go home rather than try to hook up with anyone to see what was going on.
Tom
Crap route too, round the back streets to a bloody car park!
03.10.2010 20:07
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-11461705
I reckon maybe 7 or 8 thousand, would have been more I reckon, but the weather put a dampener on it. Crap route too, round the back streets to a bloody car park! Good spirits though, I felt quite emotional at one point! Marched alongside the black bloc (accidentally mind) at one point, then moved away as it was obvious they were gonna get kettled. Which they did a bit later, how predictable was that? What a waste of time, although I guess it gave some kids a frisson of excitement. Why advertise yourselves though if you want to cause mischief?
Went to a pub for a pint then tried to go to the rally in the Walkabout bar, but the police had cordoned the road and weren't letting anyone through with a banner (I had an IWW flag on a stick). I gave them the stick and put the flag in my pocket, they still wouldn't let me through, saying I had to leave the flag with them. They wouldn't tell me why except that they "had orders". Stupid wankers, that really annoyed me. What a pointless fucking order, what am I gonna do with a little flag ffs! Seems also the Walkabout bar had some pressure from the police not to let kids in their either, under threat of having their license revoked.
Chris
a fun day out, next one 20th october in london
03.10.2010 20:22
i just spent 3 hours on the coach back to east london, with some oap from the swp trying to get me to sign up! it was hell!
the march was ace, i've never seen such a large black bloc in all my ten years of doing black block stuff. wait to you see the photos, the anarchist movement is one the up in the UK, and we to keep discontent on the boil. must of been about 200 of us, all actually wearing black and no-one getting it wrong!
a chance to meet new/old faces and lots of anarchos from the north.
the cops did try to set up a kettle, but only under 30 got caught, but luckily for the old bill we're well behaved and didn't give them the trouble they wanted.
we seemed to be well organised to avoid the kettle, but maybe we can begin organising tactics to send the police a message of "we ain't scared, fuck off!" running instead of leaving our mates and scattering, as it doesn't send a good message to the younger anarchists.
When the police began there kettle there was little support from other groups apart from the dreadul sing-along coming from SWP loons.
Other groups including the very excitable, yet cowardly named "REVOLUTION" just kept walking and didn't stop to help the anarchist bloc.
Revolution, if your reading this why not next time make your flag poles out of slightly heavier wood, get blacked-up and get stuck in next time helping your anarchist comrades!
there's going to be another march in london on 20th october, lets rally another auto-bloc, as its deffinatly a good time to build the anarchist movement in the UK, maybe this time with a few banner drops and a soundsystem, and a convergence space for activists from out of london...
i'm guessing smash-edo will be fun.
joe blogs
some reflections on black bloc today
03.10.2010 22:57
Many individual anarchists did what they could, but as group we failed miserably. We allowed ourselves and others walk into a kettle and then watched powerlessly as our friends got searched, harassed, photographed. Those loud and proud anarchist voices that urged everyone on before, were nowhere to be found.
I think that we all could have benfited with some sort of meeting beforehand,just to discuss tactics,possibilies, aims, general plan.Instead what ensued was those behind followed those who shouted loudest. As "autonomous" people/ sheep we allowed ourselves be deliberately (imho) manipulated by our so-called comrades and self-appointed leaders into a situation where many anarchists got inevitably kettled, searched,humiliated...
Shame!
blocer
chill out
04.10.2010 09:04
we showed the pigs we'l move if we want and we block a massive brum road for hours after the pigs had hoped for it to be clear. we as anarchos are always gettting kettled and it mainly helps to secure 'recruits' for the cause as them having their 'rights' violated by the state often shows them who the real enemy is and that the struggle must go on ........
next stop leicester on the 9th,
smash edo 13th
london 20th
see you all there, eh?
slightly p'd off
@ slightly pissed off
04.10.2010 11:31
I know that the swpers didnt just stop, anarchists (not just you) asked/told them to stop. Particularly the guy with the child in the pushchair. He did a great job communicating with those marchers coming from behind the need for solidarity. The fact that so many did stop and refused to move is a definite positive.
However obviously when we get kettled, we are no good to anybody and it is totally disheartening if you get stuck inside it. This was supposed to be an autonomous direct action bloc, perhaps we would have been better off if we had of stayed on the main route,gone to the coach park, walked out the other side, and then gone to do some direct action/ autonomous protesting.
I suppose i'm just disappointed that the bloc was split in a way that could have been avoided, and that the majority of the anarchists who didnt get kettled, seemed to disappear.
Solidarity is strength!
blocer
Comments
Hide the following 25 comments
Pointless article
03.10.2010 19:52
We will disagree with some of what underclassrising is about but i see nothing that is sectarian about this, just repose of the main news and some humor that hit the nail on the head..
Ann Archy.
?????
03.10.2010 19:52
roddes
Re joe blogs
03.10.2010 20:40
Like The SWP it is the same for The Anarchist you are deluded, the working class need not people like you on our side for you are the enigma of The Working Class..
So The Anarchist are now becoming organised (good to here if it was true) how is 40 to 60 a mass movement and just where was The Anarchist under 13 years of New Labour, where was the new vanguard of The Working Class?
In your fucking armchairs as per-norm and one dreads to think, the effort if took for some of you to get out of them armchairs, but of course there was a pub for you all to sit down and pontificate about the liberation of The Working Class
Of course everyone wants some thing for free, but if some one is offering you something for free, you would be wise to be suspicious.
The central government is quite happy to maintain a redundant labour force to curtail wage inflation, so the unemployed are providing a valuable service to the ruling oligarchy.
The rulers are happy to provide free schooling because they get to set the curriculum, an influence the mind set of the next generation of their tax slaves.
Pensions directly support the financial service industry. Housing benefit supports the privet rental sector, which supports the financial service industry.
What ever you think is being provided out of benevolence is designed to give a "kick back" to the ruling classes, you just have to look at it from out side of the left wing / right wing paradigm, pretty hard to do if you've been educated in the state system.
What are described as 'public sector jobs' can be seen as "government sector jobs" because the workers are accountable to the government, not the public. And the government is accountable to it's underwriters, the financial institutions, not the public.
The financial services controls the government, and it's the government that controls the public/government sector jobs, which in turn control us through policing, schooling, etc. Society truly functions as one single top down hierarchy. It is so designed to be in everyones interest to support the level above them. Of cause the public don't like being robed, quite so directly as the "bail outs" because it confronts them with the reality of their own financial captivity.
While we are all fighting for the interests of our respective positions, we are avoiding the real issue.
If we get something for free, we lose the ability to make it for ourselves, and that includes the ability to make our own social provisions. We are losing contact with our most basic means of production and so, getting locked in to the system of exploitation, presided over by the rulers of the global financial services industry.
real anarchist
Five to six thousand demonstrators joined the "Right to Work"
03.10.2010 20:46
The organisers (SWP) claimed 7000, the police said 3000. The last similar protest, organised by RTW/SWP under the slogan "Rage Against Labour" (later modified to "Rage Against New Labour") in Brighton on 27 September last year, drew about 4000.
There was a contingent from Birmingham Unison, a contingent of Midlands CWU members, and there were a lot of trade-union branch banners, not necessarily with big contingents behind them.
The main chants were "they say cutback, we say fightback" and "Cameron out". SWP placards said: "TUC: call a general strike".
Joe Morgan, the Birmingham and West Midlands regional secretary of the GMB union, is reported as being on the demonstration and saying: "This is just the start of the cuts and the fight against them.
"In Birmingham we've had 26,000 redundancy notices in the council. The council is riding on the back of the coalition government.
"We had a mass meeting last Thursday and said there's only one way to fight—and that is to strike. I think industrial action is inevitable. I was at the TUC when Brendan Barber said we need united action, I hope he means it this time."
Speaking at the start of the march, both Paul Mackney (speaking from the "Coalition of Resistance") and a speaker from "Right to Work" called for collaboration between COR and RTW. RTW is now backing the COR conference.
Dave
any ideas on black bloc numbers?
03.10.2010 20:59
anon
@Tom
03.10.2010 21:16
Don't slag others off when all you do, when out of your comfort zone, is 'wander around', 'bearing witness'......... 'bearing witness'? more like quaker than anarchist (and I have a lot of respect for quakers). It really pisses me off when all you lot do is act as armachair warriors, slagging off people who bother to turn out, and then when given the chance for a bit of autonomous action 'bear witness'..... I admire your principles, loath your hatred of people who prefer to protest peacefully, and hate the 2 facedness of what you do in reality.
Bandy
"people power"
03.10.2010 21:27
Ensuring an unpleasant Midlands welcome for delegates on the opening day of the conference, people from all walks of life braved soaking rain to declare their opposition to sweeping cuts in welfare and public sector spending.
Amid a heavy police presence, activists held a rally before the march with folk songs from local musicians Banner Theatre and speeches from leading figures in the trade union and anti-cuts networks.
Tory delegates and business leaders were due to discuss "people power" and "the big society" on the opening day of conference.
But the platitudes tied in poorly with the content of conference talks, which saw health and safety review chief Lord Young recommend a "rethink" of rules in local councils.
Proposed changes could see workers faced with more dangerous conditions on top of job cuts from a projected loss of 30 per cent of public sector funding.
But Right to Work chairman Paul Brandon set the tone for the afternoon declaring: "The resistance is starting now."
The rally and march, organised by the Right to Work campaign, was aiming to bring together different organisations, including the People's Charter campaign, to launch a series of actions to successfully oppose Con-Dem policies.
Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, who have both campaigned constantly against the cuts agenda, brought solidarity from the Labour Representation Committee.
Mr McDonnell warned the Conservative Party that if the coalition government came for working people and their jobs and services "then we will come for you."
Keep the NHS public campaign group spokeswoman Dr Jackie Davis said the austerity and outsourcing measures spelled disaster for public sector workers, potentially making NHS employees "an endangered species."
GMB regional secretary Joe Morgan urged workers to recognise that "the only real power we have in this society is our industrial muscle."
"Contrary to the right-wing media lies, nobody wants to go on strike but, comrades, sometimes you have no choice," he said.
Activist network group Coalition of Resistance spokesman Paul Mackney congratulated the Right to Work campaign for organising the demonstration.
"I am here," said Mr Mackney, "to announce the beginning of the end of the Con-Dem government."
"We brought down the Heath government with trade union action in the workplace. This time, with an alliance of union action and community campaigns we will defend our public services and drive then from office."
CWU president Jane Loftus, whose union is affiliated to the Right to Work campaign, called for mass support for the campaign to keep the post public.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who has spent recent weeks doing the media circuit to try and justify savage attacks against people dependent on welfare provision, told his delegates that "good savings" could and would be made in welfare in order "to balance the budget."
But closing the rally, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka countered the PM, declaring co-ordinated strike action to be "inevitable" if these cuts were not shelved.
"We should say loud and clear, 'not one public sector job should be lost or one penny of public spending cut to pay for this crisis," he added.
johnm@peoples-press.com
Hanna.
Love the article and the comments
03.10.2010 21:41
And now the hard left are slagging off the anarchists (and vice versa) on Indymedia.
Some criticise those in power - currently the LibCons - for using a 'divide & conqueror' tactic. But it's not them that's dividing us. Oh no, we're doing that all by ourselves.
Love the way that people slag each other off for being 'armchair' - presumably all those that are accusing people of being armchair are not sitting in a comfortable room with an internet ready PC (as I confess I am).
Way to go people. David and Nick must be laughing themselves to sleep.
Call me Dave
@joe bloggs
04.10.2010 02:04
Because an extra 30 kids would have done nothing against the police dogs, vans and thousands of police? Because black blocs are so effective in England?
Come back to reality mate. We take direct action as part of a mass movement with practical aims, not for fucking jollies. Small groups of anarchists who wanna ruck with the police are welcome to do it, but don't treat it like it was some grand act with real potential or accuse anyone of being cowards because they thought it was the wrong tactic. Also, I notice you aimed your criticism at us and not the other 6000 or so people on the demo- maybe try talking with the whole movement instead of writing them off?
trot
Well done, but pace yourselves.
04.10.2010 02:07
Steady on there chap. For all you know, some of these commentators may not be anarchists, they may well be right wing getting a laugh out of you.
Indymedia is a fantastic resource but its anonymous commenting setup makes it truly ideal for disruption and farming of division.
If you are an anarchist or a campaigner then you do not need to concern yourself with those who's comments are divisive and obstreperous (that means unruly).
Stick to what you know and if anybody says different, they weren't there, they don't care or they wouldn't dare!
Indymedia's comment sections are a feeding ground for those who love to see you fail.
Well done to everybody who turned out today. It was wet, cold and not very nice. The shit hasn't hit the fan yet but when it does (and it will) today will have be an important momentum builder for a much larger campaign.
Just don't make the mistake of walking away. Today is just the preface.
T
has anyone got any photos?
04.10.2010 12:08
cameraless
relentless optimism
04.10.2010 17:28
underclassrising.net
Good resistance in the kettle
04.10.2010 18:12
This kettle was small and heavily outnumbered by police, yet many resisted police attempts to film, ID and search. It's not a lot, but it's a start....
See reports at www.fitwatch.org.uk
fitwatcher
e-mail: info@fitwatch.org.uk
Homepage: http://www.fitwatch.org.uk
photos
04.10.2010 20:11
jo blogs
photos here
04.10.2010 20:35
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=right+to+work+march+birmingham
researcher
Plain clothes cops.
05.10.2010 02:04
D
Cops in bloc
05.10.2010 09:26
They stuck right out...
Bloccer
@bloccer
05.10.2010 20:29
A bit wet behind the ears maybe and new to the bloc yes, possibly a bit stupid for wearing a jacket with a name on it big yes. But undercover plod never in a million years.
barking up the wrong tree
Bit early for panto season, surely?
06.10.2010 10:24
Let's face facts here: if they *hadn't* been kettled the poor loves' feelings of disappointment would have been little short of crushing.
As it is, they turned up in their fancy dress, got hemmed in by the plod and everyone went home happy, with the "Bloc"ers' little fantasies of posing a threat to the state merrily intact.
Harmless enough, and entirely irrelevant to anything. let's just, for god's sake, not confuse it with anything actually resembling a strategic response to how we confront Osborne and the other cockends.
Widow Twanky
so widow twanky
06.10.2010 11:19
(try not to say the usual shite, workplace/community organising, building viable alternatives, working class solidarity blah di blah di blah coz we know that already).
Concrete plan please widow twat face...
interested
"Twat face"?!? Oh, my. How unpleasant.
06.10.2010 11:56
I'm deeply sorry. I was unaware that I was precluded from expressing my derision at the foolish posturing of a handful of lairy students unless and until I was able to come up with a definitive and workable plan on how to destroy capitalism.
It's nearly dinner time now, mind. Could I get back to you with something around 4.30?
Widow Twanky
dearest widow twat face
06.10.2010 12:36
a handful implies less than six, that was clearly not the case in relation to the black bloc on sunday.
also i was on the demo, in the black bloc, i am a worker, i am not a student. i know quite a few of the anarchists who were there, none of them are students either.
Nobody said you were"precluded from expressing your derision", however criticism without offering an alternative is a waste of everybodys time, some people might call it "sectarian", i call it counter-revolutionary. But besides sounding like a twat with a massive superiority complex, you also sounded as if you know some alternative and more usefull ways of expressing our anger at the torys/current political system/capitalism and organising against it.
4:30 is fine for you to get back to us. I'm sure we'll be astounded at your wisdom and kicking ourselves that we hadnt thought of it before.
xox
interested
anything useful to say twonky
06.10.2010 19:35
Black bloc is a tactic, and by no means the only tactic anarchists should use, but it is a valid and useful way of raising our visibility and expressing our dissent.
Anarchists like widow twanky should stop coming onto indymedia sniping and bitching, putting people down in order to make themselves feel less impotent.
Save your unconstructive criticisms for places like libcom!
interested
Learning curb
06.10.2010 22:10
We avoided their first attempt to kettle us just by running, but it didn't last long. A lack of impulsive group decision led to us running from the second kettle attempt too slowly, giving the police time to get numbers over and kettle us withing a bout 60ft of the march when we split off.
It sounds disheartening, and it was, but I think this should be a really massive kick up the arse for us. I mean, we were well on the way to a 200 strong black block and we caused the police some inconvenience at best. One chant from the day tells us exactly what we need to do:
"1, 2 ,3, 4 escalate the class war, 5, 6, 7, 8, ORGANISE AND SMASH THE STATE"
We need to get more organised, we need to think of new tactics, we need to push harder and hard, make the police know they can't opress us. But we can't do this without communication. On Sunday we weren't a black block, we were a group of anarchists dressed in black. We were small affinity groups rather than one group. We need to build on this, solidarity is strength, so we need to work on that the best we can.
In future, we could benefit a lot from finding a place for a large meeting in the city of action the night before. Then we can meet each other, scout out the area, make plans and organise. I believe this could make the difference between a group of anarchists dressed in black, and a true black block, taking direct action against capitalism and the state. But lets see what happens,, maybe Brighton will be better.
See you on the 13th for Hammertime,
Peace and solidarty x
NoGodsNoMasters
Rough numbers from count
06.10.2010 22:29
The "black block" in the march was at least 120, but I would say more around 160/170.
I don't see why people are fighting so much over it. It did achieve nothing. But that's not a reason to slate it. If we fight this much amongst ourselves, we stand no chance in the greater struggle. There's little positive to say about Sunday, but that doesn't mean we should focus on the negative. Just leave Sunday behind, take only lessons from it and get organising together to actually achieve something.
Peace and Solidarity x
NoGodsNoMasters