Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Birmingham Says No to Racist Scumbag Cllr. John Lines' Mayoral Appointment

#racistscumbagjohnlines #G4S @brumlordmayor @BhamCityCouncil @G4S | 28.04.2012 17:51 | Anti-racism | Migration | Birmingham

The Second City Doesn't Deserve a Violent Racist as it's First Citizen


About a dozen members of West Midlands No Borders were met with enthusiasm and interest today, as they staged an info picket outside of the Birmingham City Council house. Their presence confronted the racist violence of soon-to-be-Mayor, Councillor John Lines, and the benefactors of Lines’ privatisation of Asylum Seeker housing, global security company G4S.

Large banners spanning the entrance of the Council House that read: “No To Racist Scumbag Mayor Lines” and “G4S will screw you 2” were the backdrop as passers-by stopped, despite the cold rain, to express their support.

“I wish I had a picture of this” said one passerby, “he really is a racist!”

Demo Against the Mayoral Appointment of Racist Scumbag Cllr. John Lines
Demo Against the Mayoral Appointment of Racist Scumbag Cllr. John Lines

No To Racist Scumbag Mayor John Lines
No To Racist Scumbag Mayor John Lines



G4S Will Screw You Too
G4S Will Screw You Too


No Borders activists handed out 400 fliers over lunchtime as people expressed disgust about everything from Lines' violent, self-serving approach to community and council over the last 30 years, to G4S’s devastating human rights record, including the poor treatment of prisoners at HMP Birmingham Prison in Winson Green, recounted by one supporter. And those who've worked for G4S know that this company (which earns big money from the misery of people who cannot fight back) does not share its huge profits. G4S pays poor wages, and cuts jobs, wherever possible.

As the First Citizen of Birmingham, the Lord Mayor is supposed to represent not only the City but also the people of Birmingham. Yet Lines is entirely unfit to perform such a function. He has repeatedly revealed himself to be a foul-mouthed bullying racist, whose attitudes and behaviour are entirely out of step with the values of a cosmopolitan 21st century city like Birmingham. Lines has been twice convicted for acts of violence. Celebrating in a pub after winning an election he was irate when staff wouldn't serve him after hours and waited for the barman to came out, punching him in the face three times. Prior to that, he was convicted for beating his neighbour's son-in-law with a plank of wood and throttling him.

G4S, who is already involved in most aspects of vulnerable people’s lives, from managing workfare to detaining and deporting migrants, recently took over the contract to house new migrants awaiting decisions on their status. This lucrative contract had been held by Birmingham City Council, until Cllr Lines decided to privatise it, falsely blaming migrants for the housing crisis, and calling asylum seekers “scumbags” who are “not [his] people”.

His scapegoating of migrants shows not only a disregard for the struggles many newcomers to Birmingham face, but also a complete ignorance of policies and strict regulations put on migrants applying for refugee status. The reality is that not all who are seeking asylum have access to any public support. Those who do meet the narrow criteria have no choice about their housing; generally being moved around the country into places in such poor condition that they are otherwise vacant. Though Lines blames them for not working, the Home Office prohibits those seeking asylum from holding jobs. This creates an insecure, desolate life that no one would envy. The luckiest will receive up to £7 a day on a smart-card that only works in major retailers to buy food and clothing (not even bus fares) and is heavily monitored.

G4S is also likely to bid on the privatised policing contract in the West Midlands which, if awarded will mean that the largest global security corporation, one who has been responsible for many deaths in custody and who provides prisons and security for violent corporations and regimes world-wide is in control of housing, policing, prisons and deportations in the West Midlands. Their track record includes many violent assaults in immigration custody, leaving at least two people in wheelchairs, and the death of Jimmy Mubenga who was killed while being deported in the custody of G4S.

"Migrants coming to Birmingham to escape persecution, possibly perpetrated by the actions of firms such as G4S, are not criminals, their homes are not prisons. They are the people of Birmingham. Our people." says Marilyn Ervin, who was part of today's action. "They do not deserve to live under a continued threat of violence and abuse, either from their landlords/jailors, or from the Lord Mayor. G4S have repeatedly proven themselves unfit to take responsibility for people’s welfare, and John Lines has repeatedly proven himself to be a lying, scapegoating racist"

The citizens of Birmingham need to make it plain that we too, are not “his people”; that we have no wish to be represented either nationally or 
internationally by a violent, self-serving ignoramus as mayor, and no wish to be controlled by a violent, profiteering multinational corporation that will screw us all.

For more information or to get inolved please contact: West Midlands No Borders

#racistscumbagjohnlines #G4S @brumlordmayor @BhamCityCouncil @G4S
- e-mail: westmidlandsnoborders@riseup.net

Comments

Display the following 9 comments

  1. Talk to John — He's a scumbag dontcha know
  2. racist? — D
  3. Epic Fail — Reality Check
  4. Brilliant — (A)
  5. Racist! — a.
  6. Fact Check — One of the Nutters
  7. Cllr. John Lines' best bits — he's a scumbag dontcha know
  8. get a grip — ouch the truth
  9. Thug Councillor — Matt Smith
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech