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Cuts Cafe - first impressions and pics

While Rome Burns | 09.10.2012 10:52 | Free Spaces | Public sector cuts | Social Struggles

On the same day that George Osbourne announced even an even greater round of welfare cuts to add to those already previously announced...

Welcome to Cuts Cafe banner
Welcome to Cuts Cafe banner

Front view Cuts Cafe
Front view Cuts Cafe


The Cuts Cafe opened in Southwark in central London yesterday evening. It is intended as a meeting place for people opposed to the government's austerity programme in the run-up to the TUC demonstration on the 20th October.

The building, which looks a lot like the bank it used to be, has been squatted by activists to provide a venue for workshops and meetings, talks and discussions to take place - to be a point where people can engage with each other about how the cuts programme is affecting them and how we can collectively resist it.

On its first evening's opening it was obviously still a work in progress, and seemed a little underpopulated considering everything that needs doing, but hopefully as more people turn up and contribute and get involved it will evolve and start to come together.

Part of the plan for the space is that it is only going to exist for the two weeks leading up to the demo. This is quite a smart way of doing things - allowing everyone to focus and to maintain their energy, knowing that's it's only ever for a short period of time. It avoids everyone getting tired and burnt-out and the whole thing dribbling off to a messy end.

It seems like people have put a lot of effort into being very open - their statement about the cafe is really good - very inclusive and non-threatening. Hopefully they can get the main doors open soon and given its location it could be a really brilliant space with huge numbers of people coming in to have a look around. If it seems a bit like a dank squat where you have to knock three times on a barred window to gain entry, the inclusiveness of their aspirations could suffer.

There is already of fairly full programme of events scheduled to run in the space. But hopefully this isn't all that's going to happen - there need to be more open discussions planning for the 20th and for the wider movement beyond that day, not just lots of anarchist-bookfair-style talks by different campaign groups (we'll get all those again in a couple of weeks anyway...)

Get down there and help out! Help make it into what it has the potential to be. This could be an important focal point for building the links and connections necessary for a real grassroots movement against the cuts.

1 Stamford Street, SE1 9NT
07842 631370
cutscafe.wordpress.com
 cutscafe@riseup.net

[see whileromeburnsjournal blog for more pics and links...]

While Rome Burns
- Homepage: http://whileromeburnsjournal.wordpress.com/

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE RADICAL GHETTO

09.10.2012 22:02

The image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns comes dangerously close to saying it all. If, by way of illustration, an activist was to spend 20 hours of their time getting together furniture and supplies (as requested on the C.C. blog) for Cuts Cafe, in the same time I could (and have) easily slapped-up 500 Anti-Cuts / Oct 20 stickers.

If, by way of illustration, each sticker is up for 10 days (before the demo or before being peeled-off by council cleaners), and, because I stick them up in prominent places on busy shopping streets, even if we only say each sticker's seen by 50 people a day, that'd still add-up to communicating with a quarter of a million people.

Obviously the figures are..... figurative, but think carefully (but quickly) about which form of activism's likely to have the most impact on the show of solidarity we hope to see on Oct 20th

Batman


Oct 27

09.10.2012 22:05

"(we'll get all those again in a couple of weeks anyway..."?

Meaning you won;t be bothering to oppose the EDL on Oct 27 either?

E17


Another show?

10.10.2012 10:16

Another "show of solidarity" is precisely what we do not want. Same old same old march from a to b, then listen to the specialists of OUR stuggle drone on about how one glorious day we'll all be back under the boss while they'll look on from the sidelines like in the good old days. Ain't going to happen anyhow - but who could possibly want it anyway?!( just goes to show how deluded they are.)

x


correction

10.10.2012 14:46

web address should have read: cutscafelondon.wordpress.com

while rome burns
- Homepage: whileromeburnsjournal.wordpress.com