On January 15th & 16th some anti-cuts activists from Bristol headed up to Manchester for the first Network-X gathering. The aim was "to establish a network that will allow libertarians to co-ordinate and support each others struggles" as part of the wider anti-cuts movement.

The decision was taken to form regional networks of anti-authoritarian groups fighting the cuts. As Bristol Anarchist Federation's Anti-cuts Action Campaign has already been working on this for a while we hope to further this network. At present we have built links and are in contact with groups and individuals in Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Stroud, Taunton, Hereford, Wiltshire, Cardiff, Newport and slightly further away in north Wales and Northern Ireland.

We don't look to replace groups like Bristol Anti-Cuts Alliance and our affiliation form is winging its way to their secretary as I type. Our simple aim is to network with groups and individuals in the west to share ideas and mobilise for actions.

We support alliances such as BADACA and believe there are some great individuals working in them, their strong union links and ability to organise large scale mobilisations are vital to the anti-cuts movement. However they are all to often stifled with bureaucracy and party politics making them unable to mobilise at short notice and some within groups such as these abuse the platform to push their party line and show little interest in actually taking action.

Full Story | Bristol Against The Arms Trade Demo Shuts Down Barclays | The Cutz: So Long and Thanks for all the Cutz | Cut the War Not the Poor | Bristol Black Communities Mobilise Against the Cuts


The Facebook revolution has made it almost too easy to call demos, although it is great to level the playing field in this way, people are calling events and then not providing and propaganda/placards/banners etc needed, and as a result (like the recent Bristol EMA demo) protests are failing. Conversely where materials are provided and a demo properly organised the group calling the demo can take the opportunity to push their particular brand of politics and puts newspaper sales before fighting the cuts. We are also concerned about certain political parties who are moving to build power by hijacking organisations such as the NSSN and NCAFC.



We reject sectarianism and all party politics. Any demos we call are non-sectarian and we challenge those who muddy the anti-cuts message by taking the opportunity to sign up new members to the "party" and sell newspapers. All our propaganda is targeted and non-sectarian.

We reject capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; institutions and governments that promote destructive austerity measures;

We reject all forms and systems of domination and discrimination including, but not limited to, patriarchy, racism and religious fundamentalism.

We condone and encourage a confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying alone can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker.

We encourage direct action and civil disobedience, support social movement struggles, advocate forms of resistance which maximize respect for life and oppressed peoples’ rights, as well as the construction of local alternatives to global capitalism.

Dates for your diary:

Jan 22nd - Called by Bristol against the arms trade - Saturday 22nd @ 1pm, Castle Park. Target the banks who invest in the arms trade. While we face austerity measures they make billions from investing in weapons.

Jan 23rd - Activist sports club, organised by Bristol Anarchist Federation: 2pm this Sunday at the riverside park behind staples. A great opportunity to meet other activists outside of stressful demos and boring meetings.

Jan 23rd - Co-mutiny 2011 organising meeting, 4pm @ The Smiling Chair 40 Stokes croft. A great opportunity to build an autonomous activist network and promote the anti-cuts campaign.

Jan 25th - Resources Scrutiny Commission Budget meeting, 5.30pm @ The Council House. Meet on College Green and Make some noise.

Jan 29th - Anonymous Promotion presents Cut Cameron festival:
Raising money for Anti Cuts Action Bristol & Bath and student legal support. All day punk festival at The Winchester Arms in Taunton on January 29th. So if you can't make London then be there instead and support the cause.

Jan 30th - Taunton ukuncut action:
Anti Cuts Action Bristol and getting together with our friends Anonymous and Taunton UNCut and are calling for a rolling picket of tax dodging corporations Sunday at 30th 1pm at the War Memorial.

Jan 30th - Bristol UKuncut - Anti Cuts Action Bristol have called all previous UKuncut demos but with us sodding off to Taunton we hope others will call a Bristol Demo it its non-sectarian style. Contact us and we can provide you with pdfs of the posters and flyers we have made for UKuncut demos. It is essential to have propaganda on hand so passers by know what you are protesting about.

Jan 31st - Anti Cuts Action Bristol public meeting - The Factory, 3 Cave street off Portland Square, St Pauls, 7.30pm. There will be a feedback presentation about the Network-X gathering and a discussion on where the autonomous anti- cuts movement can go next. Also to propose the idea of hosting the next network-x gathering in Bristol. If you want to get involved with whats happening in the anti-cuts movement, get involved with organisng the next network-x gathering and find out about groups mobilising against the cuts in the region then come along!

February 5th - Anti Cuts Action are calling our for Bristol residents to attend the Big anti-cuts march in Bath. More info to follow.

Feb 7th - Save Legal Aid Demo - 12pm Queens square outside legal aid commission!

Feb 7th - Anticuts film/pannel discusion at the cube - 7pm. Pannel discussion involving IWW, BADACA, Anarchist Federation, Student Representatives and probably other we don't know about. Should be good!

Resources:

FIGHTING THE CUTS - Pamphlet by Bristol Anarchist Federation about staying safe and knowing your rights on demos - Click Here

DEMO TIPS – This pdf is basically a crash course in staying safe on demos, give it to anyone on a demo, the information could prove vital for some people. Click Here

STUDENT LEAFLET – A little dated but still contains useful information. We often meet students who only want to fight education cuts and dont care about the other austerity measures so we made this. Click here

TAX DODGER LEAFLET – We have been heavily involved in the actions called by UKuncut. We have produced a leaflet of facts about tax dodgers to give out to the public. Click here