12 December 2010

"We come from the slums"

[most links removed]
P R O T E S T

MONDAY

STUDENTS OCCUPY SENATE HOUSE
A group of students occupied the University of Bristol's admin building, Senate House to protest the education cuts, fees and changes to the University's structure, budget and services. The occupiers say that they will end the occupation when they feel their demands have been sufficiently met. They also wish to turn the occupation into a space for all of Bristol's communities to meet and work together.
Blog: bristoluniresistance.org.uk,
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/Bristol-against-education-cuts/166916926663073
Email: aec.bris@gmail.com
Or come and visit: University of Bristol Senate House, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TH

OPEN ACCESS NOW!
The students occupying Senate House at the University of Bristol are effectively locked-in. Put pressure on the Vice Chancellor and demand open access for all. Send emails or phone the Vice Chancellor’s Office: (0117) 928 7499 or email, via his PA, Jami.West@bristol.ac.uk to demand open access. Please cc registrar Derek Pretty, Derek.Pretty@bristol.ac.uk. Also please sign the petition.

FOSTER PROTEST
Students, university staff and their families were up early to stage a demo at the Bath office of the city's MP Don Foster first thing Monday morning. The demonstrators then marched to Kingsmead Square.

TUESDAY

BATH SIT-INS
Students at both Bath and Bath Spa University began sit-in protests against the ConDems plans to raise tuition fees.

WEDNESDAY

EXETER UNIVERSITY
A group of 130 people, comprising Exeter College students, Exeter University staff and students and members of the public occupied a lecture theatre at Exeter University. The occupation took place after a march, which saw university and college students rally in Bedford Square, Exeter.

SCHOOLS OUT!
The first school occupation took place at Camden School for Girls. Around 50 A-level pupils occupied the sixth form hall and then gave an impromptu press conference in a nearby park when staff banned the press from the school.

THURSDAY

DAYX3
The protests in London were front page news across the world.

"WE'RE FROM THE SLUMS OF LONDON"
The unofficial manifesto for Thursday's protests appeared in a report that evening by Newsnight's Paul Mason. "We're from the slums of London ..." a gang of youths told Paul. While the student sit-ins echo '68 and riots in the capital look like the Poll Tax protests of 1990, these guys take us back to the Gordon Riots of the 18th Century. A heady mixture ... There's more on Paul's 'Idle Scrawl' blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1BsTl4QRjI&feature=youtu.be

STUDENT REP INJURED
Paddy Besiris, Chair of University of the West of England Student Union at the St Matthias campus was admitted to hospital with a head injury inflicted by excessive force from the Metropolitan Police on Thursday.

ARRESTED?
The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts is interested to hear from people who were arrested on Thursday to collect experiences and coordinate. Please get in touch via againstfeesandcuts@gmail.com

CIRENCESTER
Students from Cirencester College took part in a protest march against tuition fees hikes.

EMA
Trade unions are holding a nationwide day of lunchtime protests at colleges on 13 December over plans to axe the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for college students in England.They are calling on all members to support these peaceful lunchtime protests at their local college.

MORE SCHOOLKIDS DOING IT
On Tuesday 30 November 2010, over 100 schoolkids shouted slogans against the cuts while marching through Dorchester town centre. This was part of an ongoing campaign by school students from the Thomas Hardye. School. Please keep these regional reports rolling in. They show the strength, depth and reach of this movement.

CRY BABY
Students who attended the Friday 3 December demo at Clifton's yellow Tory MP Stephen Williams' surgery at Bristol's Council House reported to this week's meeting of the Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance that he was close to tears as he addressed protestors and tried to explain his inexplicable pro-fees stance. What impressive leadership qualities he has.

SCAREDY CAT
Williams, the cowardly yellow Tory, also backed out of a debate about his toff boss Cameron's 'Big Society' last week, claiming he was staying away on police advice. Why didn't he just tell the cops to grow up and stop scaremongering? Nobody has threatened the MP and nobody is likely to.

COPPERS' RESOURCES UNDER PRESSURE
Avon and Somerset Police have admitted that the student protests are affecting their ability to police the region. Superintendent Ian Wylie said of the protests, "Clearly we are having to divert from other activities". He has refused to disclose the cost of policing the protests, saying he will not discuss "operational policing funding". Let's keep the pressure on comrades ...

JOURNO COPS
The media have started their daft 'blame-it on-the-anarchists' schtick. "London on alert as anarchists threaten to hijack student fees protest," announced London's Evening Standard on Wednesday. The story was by notorious journo-cop Justin Davenport who's been peddling this kind of nonsense for years.

Look out over the coming days and weeks for other journo-cops peddling anarcho-myths in the national press. Namely Martin Bright, Julian Kossof, Keith Dovkants, Mark Macaskill, Gervase Webb, Ken Hyder, David Leppard, Lucy Panton and the king of the journo-cops former Observer writer, David Rose, who ran a number of stories in the lead-up to the Iraq war linking Iraq to Al-Qaeda.

THE PR BATTLEGROUND
Top cop, Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, says it is crucial that police do not appear to be "an arm of the state" who are being used to allow the government to "impose cuts". He believes the cops' reputation could be seriously damaged "if it is allowed to be played as the cops acting as an arm of the state, delivering the elected government's will, rather than protecting the rights of the citizen". Now we know then.

CALL FOR PROTEST
A protest has been called in Bristol for Saturday 18 December. Meet at College Green at 1.00pm. #ukuncut also continue their protests against high street stores avoiding tax on the same day. Saturday goes under the name 'Pay Day'.

E V E N T S

NHS 'GET-TOGETHER'
The 38 Degrees website is organising a 'get-together' in Bristol at The Canteen on 12th December from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. The get-together is a great chance to sit down with other 38 Degrees members in your area to talk together about the government's plans for the NHS and what you can do to stop them.

B R I S T O L

LOCAL AUTHORITY CUTS
Publication of Bristol City Council’s detailed budget proposals for 2011-12 has been postponed until after Christmas. The proposals were due to be published at a council cabinet meeting on December 16. The delay is because a larger proportion of their £70m savings must now be found next year. Insiders say cuts in 2011 - 2012 will be over 25 per cent higher than originally stated at around £28m rather than £22m.

BENDY BUS STILL CANCELLED!
Contrary to reports in the Bristol Evening Post, Bristol's £48 million "bendy bus" route from the Long Ashton Park and Ride site at Ashton Vale to the city centre remains “under review” and listed as “unaffordable” by the government. The transport link was closely associated with the city's failed World Cup bid and Bristol City FC's 'on-hold' stadium project. The non-appearance of both of these makes the project even less likely, not more.

CADBURY
Bristol's new 'people's museum' the M-Shed has received a £20,000 donation from Cadbury, the chocolate firm, to pay for a display at the attraction. The news breaks just weeks before their Somerdale factory at Keynsham is closed permanently and production moved to Poland.

TAX AVOIDANCE
US company Kraft, new owners of the Cadbury chocolate business, are relocating some staff to Zurich in Switzerland to save millions in a tax scam.

GET ON YER BIKE!
Bristol's yellow Tories have decided the recession is good for us. Having spent £11.4m on creating a 'Cycling City' with little discernible effect, the project's yellow Tory cheerleader, Councillor Jon Rogers says, "more and more people will need to cycle because of the current economic downturn. It's likely that people will need to leave their cars at home and get out on their bikes."

HOMELESS
There is no refuge for women rough sleepers in Bristol despite there being - at least - twelve women sleeping out in the city. A refuge would cost around £30,000 to get off the ground.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
Youth unemployment in Bristol has doubled since 2007 and is costing the city £1.1 million a week, according to a report by the Prince's Trust and RBS.

VOLUNTARY SECTOR
Also at this week's meeting of the Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance were a number of workers from Bristol's voluntary sector. They had come straight from a meeting at the Council House where cuts of between 25 - 40 per cent were discussed. “People will die,” said one worker.

EDUCATION
Elmfield School for the deaf and those who have hearing difficulties will close. Bristol City Council have made the decision after an 'independent review' recommended closure. Instead the council wants to open "specialist resource bases" in the north and south of Bristol and have a base in a mainstream school.

HEALTH
Bristol's two hospital trusts are working on an agreement which will eventually result in their merger. University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHBristol); which runs Bristol Royal Infirmary, St Michael's, the children's hospital and six other sites; and North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), which runs Frenchay and Southmead, are already looking at where acute health services should be run in the city as well as centralising payroll and other "back office" systems.

SIGN 'O THE TIMES
The country's biggest pawnbroker is opening a new shop in Broadmead. Albemarle & Bond are opening in the Horsefair this weekend.

HIGHER ED
Research carried out by the University and College Union (UCU) says that students at the University of Bristol would have to pay £6,581 fees annually. Students at the University of the West of England would be harder hit, however, having to stump up £6,609 every year.

B A T H

HOMELESS
The number of people accepted as homeless in the Bath area has more than doubled.

WALCOT YARD
Architectural salvage specialist MASCo who were planning to develop the historic Walcot Yard in Walcot Street, Bath have pulled the plug on the project. "Commercial values have been falling, and in any venture you have to weigh up the costs and benefits. When we came to make the final decision things had changed," they said.

N O R T H S O M E R S E T

NORTH SOMERSET
North Somerset Council will set its budget for 2011 - 2012 at a meeting of the full council on February 22, 2011. The draft budget will be scrutinised by councillors during December and January.

SHOPS CLOSING
Two big-name high street stores are to close in Weston Super Mare. Next will leave its town centre location in the spring while Burton menswear is being merged with a Dorothy Perkins store and will leave its current location in the run-up to Christmas.

LIBRARIES
North Somerset Council will shut Weston Super Mare's library and register office and relocate them to the Town Hall as part of their £9.7 million office modernisation programme.

PARKING CHARGES
Parking charges will be increased across in North Somerset to raise cash for the cash-strapped council. The cost of parking at Weston’s Carlton Street, Melrose and Grove Park car parks will rise by 20 pence per hour.

RACISM
Racism is increasing in Weston and Worle as the recession bites. Support Against Racist Incidents (Sari) says it is dealing with more racist incidents than ever before in the district.

CHILDREN'S CENTRES
Schools and voluntary organisations will have to provide more funding for North Somerset children’s centres. The local authority is looking to move their automatic responsibility for funding the centres onto third parties to save money.

S O U T H G L O U C E S T E R S H I R E

HEALTH
A GP consortium in South Gloucestershire will be taking the lead in the Government's plans to overhaul the way health services are commissioned. Health secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that 52 GP consortia across England, including the South Gloucestershire Consortium, will be among the first to take on the responsibility of commissioning services in their areas.

CARE
The row over the privatisation of residential homes for the elderly in south Gloucestershire rumbles on.

S O M E R S E T

RECYCLING CHARGES ON THE WAY
Following protests in Crewkerne last week, alternatives to shutting down Somerset's recycling centres are being considered by the county council. Topping the list of ideas is charging for general use of the centres.

ARTS
Arts groups in Somerset have more than 2,000 signatures on a petition calling for Somerset County Council to reconsider withdrawing funds from projects that support children and vulnerable people. The petition is online at www.gopetition.com/petition/40729.html.

G L O U C E S T E R S H I R E

HOT AIR
Local students have slammed Cheltenham MP, yellow Tory Martin Horwood for not bothering to attend the vote on tuition fees this week. The MP flew out to Cancun in Mexico to talk about climate change instead.

TOILETS
Community groups in Hucclecote, Gloucestershire are being forced to take on the running of their public toilets after the council shut them down, along with others in Gloucestershire, earlier this year.

FIFA
The Football Association's acting chairman, Cheltenham-based Gloucestershire FA chairman Roger Burden, will not be seeking the English FA post permanently. “I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust,” he says. Pity he and council's such as Bristol's didn't take this view a lot earlier and save a considerable amount of public money.

STROUD
Around 50 students, including Stroud High School and Marling School pupils, met with Stroud MP Neil Carmichael this week. However, Carmichael will still vote for the increase in fees. Carmichael set up the meeting after a protest last week at his office where his aides had to lock themselves in to prevent protestors storming the office.

EDUCATION
Ministers will approve a cost-cutting merger of the Royal Forest of Dean College and Gloucestershire College in the next few days.

PAY CUTS
Gloucester City Council have scrapped plans to cut council workers' hours in favour of pay cuts. The council is not pursuing a proposal for a 35-hour week because it could affect hundreds of workers' pensions. Instead, a pay cut of around five per cent, which would protect around 25 jobs, is proposed.

FINANCIAL SERVICES JOB LOSSES
Thirty eight more jobs will go at Cheltenham-based Chelsea Building Society following a merger with Yorkshire Building Society.

C S R

HOUSING BENEFIT
The ConDems housing benefit reforms will be delayed by six months so that poor families have more time to move house. Up to 82,000 households may be affected by the reforms, which were pencilled in for April 2011. they could now be put back until January 2012.

HEALTH
Patient care will be compromised by health bosses dealing with the major reform of the NHS, GPs were told by Professor Chris Ham when he addressed more than 100 family doctors in Cheltenham this week. GPs are preparing to take over the buying of health services following the abolition of primary care trusts in 2013.

E C O N O M Y

DAIRY
Farmers have dismissed the alleged end of the milk pricing "war" as a public relations stunt by big supermarkets.

THE DECLINE OF THE WEST
"On current trends, Europe and America face high unemployment for a decade and worsening youth unemployment to come," says former PM Gordon Brown.

PUBS
Pub property values have halved since 2007. Pub property specialists Fleurets say pub owners are selling up because they can no longer turn a profit.

Punch Taverns is thinking of handing back the keys to 6,000 of its 6,800-strong pub estate to cut its £3bn debt.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/07/pub-prop...halve

B U S I N E S S

BUSINESS LEADERS LOVE THE CUTS
The Western Morning News Business Barometer has found that the cuts announced by the ConDems have been welcomed by business leaders. The average approval rating was around 80 per cent on almost all the questions raised in relation to the spending cuts.

DEFENCE
Defence company BAE Systems is set to deliver a pre-Christmas jobs blow by announcing cuts of up to 1,350 posts.

S T U F F

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