Hope you don't mind:

1. Cafe
-Do all staff get paid the same hourly rate?
-Do all staff get equal decision making power?
-Are there any owners or shareholders making a profit?
-Is there provision for skint folks to pay less for food?

2. Venue
-Who decides which events you agree to host?
-Who decides which events get cheaper hire rates?
-What are the cheaper hire rates?
(the standard rates seem to be out of reach of most grassroots campaigns groups)

Finally, I couldn't see answers to any of the above on your website, so would you consider publicising the answers there if they aren't already?

Just trying to get a sense of whether you put your radical politics into practice, ie how much is image and how much is substance. If you're going to be asking the movement to fund your costs, that seems reasonable.

..to be answered before anyone thinks about supporting or recommending this space. If Tony Benn is the main voice of support then avoid this place like the plague and you all know why!!

Pledge £100 or more

free dinner for two at Firebox and a signed copy of 'Springtime: The New Student Rebellions' by Firebox project manager and Newsnight celeb Clare Solomon ....

pretty much says it all........

All the Counterfire lot who were chucked out of the SWP. The world thrills once more to the radical ideas of Tony Been, Tariq Ali, Green Party people, Owen Jones etc.

..arses like yourself. Capitalists, Champagne socialists and other wankers playing at politics with assumptions of their own importance and celebrity..


You all deserve each other..


Have a look at the website For fucks sake!

Firebox is run by Counterfire who are basically an SWP splinter group, distinguished mainly by being a tad more internet-savvy than most of the older and more died-in-the-wool soapbox lefties, and by having superficially superior graphic design in their newspapers etc. Bearing in mind alot of the people who supported the big student demos weren't students, a typical scenario would be that 1,000s of young people went on the big student demos a few years back, got handed a free copy of a well-designed and colourful Counterfire news-sheet, opened it up and were instantly (in some cases permanently) turned-off by the adverts for books about Lenin and Gramsci, which unfortunately Counterfire just could not help putting all over their sodding publications

Now the student protests and OLSX have (very sadly) fizzled out, Counterfire seem to be pouring resources into this sparsely attended back-street cafe, in preference to the critically urgent business of covering the city with posters and stickers encouraging opposition to privatisation of basic services etc. Obvious ideological differences notwithstanding (ie - they're not Anarchists) these people do mean "well" and they're ALOT better organised than most Anarchist groups (which IS, despite Anarchist denials, a very important issue), but if you've got money to give away, donate to Keep Our NHS Public instead

 http://www.keepournhspublic.com/donate.php

You could start by reading this:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative

"If I put a load of my own money into a business with the risk of losing it all I wouldn't give equal management to my employees Why should I? They have nothing to lose, I've got £50,000 to lose."

First of all you're assuming that one person is fronting most or all of the money, rather than a collective finding ways to share the risk together. Second, even if that were the case you're assuming there aren't ways to build up trust and comittment to overcome the unequal funding.

"Also, I'd pay myself more than the employees..... otherwise what is the point of setting up the business. I might as well just get a job like they do as I will be better off - same pay but no risks."

No, if you "just got a job" you'd have no control over your job, pay or working conditions. If you get together with mates and run somewhere together as equals, you may still struggle to stay afloat, but you'll never have to grovel to some boss, or accept unreasonable behaviour from customers.

"Also. stop telling people what they can and can't do. Its a cafe. Its a business. Go there and buy a coffee or not."

I didn't. I asked some polite questions of someone that was asking me for a donation. What's got up your nose so badly today? :)

Seems like you're stuck in the dog-eat-dog mindset; with a bit more imagination you'd realise things work out better for everyone when we work together as a pack!

No answer from the Firebox crew yet, but I guess it hasn't been very long..

To answer your questions:

1) Cafe
-Do all staff get paid the same hourly rate?
Yes, all staff (including the project manager) receive the London Living Wage.

-Do all staff get equal decision making power?
The cafe is a political project run by a group called Counterfire. This group has elected a body to oversee the cafe, which is subject to recall and questioning at any member's and supporter's meeting. Of course, being a political cafe, we are run with democracy and openness in mind - so staff are welcome to present suggestions and propose changes at these meetings. Indeed, our staff have been instrumental in helping fine-tune the daily running of the cafe by implementing their own systems, and suggesting and faciltating new events.

-Are there any owners or shareholders making a profit?
The cafe is run not-for-profit; anything we make over and above our running costs will go to expanding the series of political events we run, or expanding the functionality of the cafe - like the proposed video editing suite for residents and campaigners we are planning to build.

-Is there provision for skint folks to pay less for food?
Our prices are generally regarded as affordable - Time Out said we had food at 'feed the masses prices'. However, we realise there are many people interested in progressive causes that live on or below the poverty line. In this case, of course we would make some arrangements, but this would be on a case-by-case basis. We do need to cover our costs, so we don't have a blanket policy regarding this question!

2) Venue
-Who decides which events you agree to host?
Our general policies (agreed on when we set up the cafe) was that anyone who does not actively work against our basic principles of social justice is free to hire the space. I.e., we would not hire the space to the Conservative Party, or groups further to the right. In terms of events that we put on in collaboration with other groups - i.e. groups that do not pay to use the space, but work directly with Firebox - this is decided by the cafe's elected organising group.

-Who decides which events get cheaper hire rates?
Again, this would be the elected organising group. There is an element of common sense involved here - any local, small or impoverished group that approached us would be likely to get lower rates, but an organisation like Unite, or the Green Party, would not as they clearly have funds available to cover the standard rates.

-What are the cheaper hire rates?(the standard rates seem to be out of reach of most grassroots campaigns groups)
The cheaper hire rates are dependent on the financial situation of the group that apply. As a movement-based project, we rely on honesty. If an organisation comes to us and says they cannot afford the space, we will do everything we can to offer them something at a fee they can afford. So there is no fixed cheaper hire rate - it's down to what people can afford and what we can offer. The standard rates are at the level they are because many large organisations can afford them - and these higher rates go to subsidise smaller groups.

It is worth saying, though, that our room hire rates are low compared to the surrounding area (Camden Town Hall, Marchmont Community Centre, SOAS/ULU and so on).

We are always happy to answer questions and would consider posting an FAQ on the site incorporating some of these questions if there was demand for it. Like I said above, I'd also like to put some of these questions into the FAQ here on Kickstarter if you're okay with that.

I appreciate you taking the time to get in touch though - like you said, if we're asking the movement to fund us we should be accountable to the movement!

"Obvious ideological differences notwithstanding (ie - they're not Anarchists) these people do mean "well" and they're ALOT better organised than most Anarchist groups (which IS, despite Anarchist denials, a very important issue), but if you've got money to give away, donate to Keep Our NHS Public instead"

Can you spot why this statement just does not work "they're ALOT better organised than most Anarchist groups"?

As in, they have a heirarchy which barks out orders for them to follow. Orders that are completely ineffective but still, they get followed anyway.

We on the other hand work on our own initiatives, and that is why you see us in Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, Greece, Germany, France, Spain, England, Wales, Italy, Scotland, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Russia and anywhere else you care to look.

This cafe is of no interest to us at all, and we should not be raising money for these champagne guzzling, cocaine sniffing middle class plastic Socialista.

If you want to do something useful, mask up and join the fight.

It's a cafe with nice people who are trying their best.

Everyone just calm down.

Champagne socialists and SWP scum.

Well worth avoiding.

Counterfire are an ultra-hierarchical - specifically Leninist - organisation, as specifically prohibited by IMC guidelines

Quote - "The newswire is... not a notice-board for political parties or any other hierarchically structured organizations" -

 https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/static/editorial.html

... are only applied when it comes to spiking posts by groups who actually stand a chance of achieving anything...

So, posts by hierarchical authoritarian groups like the CPGB-ML and Counterfire are considered to be OK, but groups who actually stand a chance of achieving anything - like the Green Party - are instantly spiked

Total failure of radical counter-culture in a nutshell

Special offers for Camden workers during March…
…take a short 3 minute march round the corner from Camden Town Hall to your new local cafe, Firebox,. and take advantage of these special offers for Camden workers*
10% off all food and drink – 15% if you’re on strike!
Come by and try our warming soup or stew for lunch

FFS I think their own adverts... say enough..

Yep a cafe for all nationalists in wonderful thornton heath south londons murder capitol enjoy the delights of multiculturism come in enjoy an adolf veggie burger an anti zionist hot dog all from the comfort of our bullet & and bomb proof bunker special rates for oaps on saturdays and a free pot of tea and a nice slice of cake.

"take a short 3 minute march round the corner from Camden Town Hall to your new local cafe, Firebox,. and take advantage of these special offers for Camden workers*
10% off all food and drink – 15% if you’re on strike!"

Make sure you march on the correct route to get there though otherwise we hold no responsibility for your actions or any legal issues that may arise. Solidarity is a philosophy, not a practice, we read all about it at the University. Also, if you Work in Westminster or Islington or the surrounding areas the committee has unfortunately decided you are not eligible for the Worker Feeding Discount Scheme. However, Workers from Westminster or Islington may be eligible for the Worker Feeding Discount Scheme if they are on strike and a 5% discount will be administered to your final bill. Comrades, if we are to achieve the socialist utopia you must buy our fair trade coffee.

..seems to be a fair amount of hostility here!

I hope the answers to the questions that the comrade above asked are sufficient to answer some of your concerns.

I'm quite surprised at the amount of anger/hostility towards the project, though. We have really good relationships with the local residents, campaign groups and unions. And many people have used the space, including IOPS and members of Occupy. We are genuinely commited to welcoming and working with everyone on the left, so I hope some of you sceptics will pop in to see the place for yourself :)

I care to look in LONDON and I can't see a single well-organised or remotely effective Anarchist group or Anarchist campaign anywhere in our capital city

Sorry :)