The Census
anon@indymedia.org (Boycotter) , 17-03-2011 - 10:23

Not specifically a Nottingham issue, but relevant to people all over the country, is the upcoming UK government census. Aside from all of the usual arguments against state intelligence gathering, this time the census is being administered by US arms dealers Lockheed-Martin. This is a repost of some information that might be useful to those considering non-participation.

with the controversy over lockheed martin's involvement with the uk 2011 census, many people are considering non-participation - here are some useful facts to bear in mind

number of people estimated to have avoided the 2001 census:  more than 3 million

number of people successfully prosecuted for refusal: less than 60

therefore odds of being prosecuted: 50,000 to 1 against

process to prosecute: authorities have to send extra letters, official legal warnings, extra visits. they have to talk to you in person and interview you "under caution" during which if you refuse, they finally have enough evidence to launch a prosecution.

it is refusing that is unlawful. if you happen to be busy, on your way out, just visiting, promise to do it later, etc etc then that is not unlawful.

stand up and be counted! don't let lockheed martin snoop on you.

Natwest Bank Damage in Hucknall Road, Nttm
tash@indymedia.org (Tash [Alan Lodge]) , 17-03-2011 - 01:24

Having seen this item on the newswire:

"Nat West Bank attacked"  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/1045

... just got back from photographing this damage at the Hucknell Road branch of the Natwest Bank.

(Not) Wanted Jon Collins
16-03-2011 - 18:24

On March 17th, Nottingham City Council met to agree a budget which slashed millions of pounds from vital services. Campaigners disrupted the meeting, forcing it to be halted for almost an hour. Later on they were also able to confront council leader Jon Collins.

Apart from making various excuses about why he was passing on central government cuts, Collins claimed that he would be attending the anti-cuts march in London on March 26th.

This poster (which can be adapted to a flyer or poster as required) should make it easier to recognise Collins should anybody want to have a friendly chat with him about the council's budget.

Nat West Bank attacked
anon@indymedia.org (Sharpening our teeth) , 16-03-2011 - 14:24

Last night the windows of Nat West Bank on Mansfield Road were smashed out, and anti-capitalist graffiti was left on the side of the building.

We did this because we refuse to submit to the will of capitalism.

Every single day that goes our love and rage grow.

Love for our friends and comrades around the world. Rage at the forces which try to cripple their sprit and

oppress all efforts to find freedom in their lives. Nat West bank is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland who

violently support the destruction of the earth and the prison system, they are merely one aspect of the system entrapping  everything it comes into contact with. And this action was just one small gesture against all its

claims.

Until capitalism, white supremacy, and patriachy are destroyed we will find ways in which to fight back. We 

remember those who have fought before us and we search for those who will fight with us.

Love and Solidarity to Simos Seisidis and all those who are caged by this society and its culture. 

Yesterday we sharpened our teeth, as we prepare to fight back.

Demos continue at Heckler&Koch weapons HQ in Nttm
tash@indymedia.org (Tash [Alan Lodge]) , 15-03-2011 - 13:23

4.00pm Monday 14th March

The Shut Down Heckler & Koch campaign has been picketing the factory in Lenton for over 4 years now. With more recent events in the Middle East, a new urgency is apparent to consider where such weapons are ending up, arming represive regimes.

The Shut Down Heckler & Koch campaign has been picketing the factory in Lenton for over 4 years now. With more recent events in the Middle East, a new urgency is apparent to consider where such weapons are ending up, arming represive regimes.

The campaign had been contacted by a bunch of media students, wanting to do a project on the motives of those campaigning there. They had arrived before most and had been told to shift by a police community support officer. No explanion being given. For years I have been photographing this and other camera folks have done the same without incident over this time.  I suggested that they should resume doing what they were doing.  No obstruction was being commited. A while latter, this PCSO returned and saying 'I thought I'd told you to shift!' I chimed in asking why and for what reason?  The officer made no reply, simply parked her bike in the factory grounds and appeared to make a radio call for assistance. 40mins later, a police car arriverd and officers spent the rest of the time, looking at us from their heated interior. I would have thought that if offences were being commited, then we/they should have been spoken too. The standard of warden and PCSO officers makes me dispair, honestly! 

****

Anyway ..... people had gathered at the gates to the UK headquarters of Heckler & Koch, based within the Easter Park Industrial Estate on Lenton Lane, Nottingham. [Unit 3 in fact]. 

One would have thought that a city infamous for its gun crime would be a poor location for a warehouse full of guns. Not according to H&K, who do great business equipping war-mongers on any side. 

Proud owners of H&K weaponry include the brutal militias of Darfur - the Janjaweed. Funnily enough, despite the outcry against the massacres in Darfur, they obviously weren't quite bad enough to stop selling weapons to the perpetrators. Even a recent arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against a senior Sudanese politician accused of selling H&K weapons to the Janjaweed hasn't seemed to stem the flow of H&K guns to a militia accused by everyone including the US of committing genocide. (H&K guns also fill the arsenals of the US Dept of Homeland Security, US Navy Seals & the FBI amongst others). 

H&K have a 'strategic partnership' with the world's largest mercenary company Blackwater. H&K supply the guns to the Iraqi and Afghan puppet governments, and Blackwater provide the training. 

There was a plan for H&K to produce special edition 'Blackwater' weapons - complete with the Blackwater logo on them. However, after Blackwater made the headlines for killing 17 innocent Iraqis (not the first time that Blackwater have killed innocent Iraqis, but the first time that it made the news in a major way), the plan was shelved. 

Interestingly, local media also came under pressure; Trent FM, who had shown some enthusiasm about reporting these demos, received a word in their ear from both H&K's press office as well as the police, warning hacks that it would be 'irresponsible' to publish the fact that H&K has a warehouse full of weapons in Nottingham, as it may prompt criminals to try and steal them. 

In response the campaigners pointed out to the radio station that H&K's address was published at Company House, as well as in several business directories. About the radio station being leaned on, the campaigners said that "If the security policy of H&K and Notts police relies on no-one finding out the company's location, then clearly it is they who are irresponsible, not our campaign and not the media. A large warehouse stocked with high-power assault rifles and submachine guns with inadequate security to prevent a robbery is clearly a significant danger to the public, and publicisng such a danger is very much in the public interest." 

The H&K warehouse, located at Easter Park, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, is next to the 'Trent Vineyard', an evangelist church that held the funeral of Danielle Beccan, a 14 year old girl who was killed in a drive-by shooting. At her funeral service the then mayor of Nottingham said, "Guns have no place at all in our community - not in Nottingham, not in my city nor any other city in Britain." 

One campaigner said: "The arms trade relies on secrecy. Most people abhor the idea of factories and warehouse making and selling weapons around the world, and arms companies know this. By lifting the lid on the business, anti-arms protesters can make a put the pressure on the government/corporate killing machine to stop killing for profit." [schNews] 

As you can see from the front board, Unit 3 is simply 'let'. One feels that they might just be a little embarrassed about their presence on the Easter Park Estate. Previous occupants had been the Royal Small Arms Factory. Even during wartime, they had a sign on the gate, saying who they were! Another example might be British Aerospace Works at Filton, Bristol. Again, they say who they are on the gate. This lot still remain shy of folks knowing of their activities. 

In my opinion, lights need to be shone into dark corners. 

*****

The campaign pickets H&K on the second Monday of every month from 4:00 to 5:30 at the gates of Easter Park, Lenton Lane, Nottingham NG7 2PX.

Middle East dictatorships armed by H&K [feature]

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/981

Campaigning against Heckler & Koch Weapons in Germany and the UK [feature] 

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/426678.html 

and ..... on German Indymedia at: 

http://linksunten.indymedia.org/en/node/4708 

Shut Down Heckler & Koch Campaign 

http://nottsantimilitarism.wordpress.com/heckler-koch

http://www.shutdownhk.org.uk

Poster / Flyer PDF of H&K leaflet 

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2009/01//418368.pdf 

Notts arms dealer in trafficking conspiracy [Feature]

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/992

____________________________________________

ALAN LODGE 

Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham.  UK

Email:                 tash@indymedia.org

Web:                   http://digitaljournalist.eu

Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]

____________________________________________

"It is not enough to curse the darkness.

                                   It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"

___________________________________________

<ends>

International Women’s Day 2011 in Notingham
anon@indymedia.org (Nottingham Indymedia + Wikipedia) , 14-03-2011 - 18:23

Tuesday March 8th 2011 was the centenary of International Women’s Day. A series of events were held to mark this anniversary including an anti-cuts protest, a public meeting on the impact of cuts on women and a women’s history walk.

On the newswire: Nottingham Women’s History Walk | Int’l Women’s Day: Public Meeting | Int’l Women’s Day: Protest | International Women’s Day Protest

Previous feature: Nottingham celebrates International Women’s Day (2010)

The first IWD was observed on 19 March 1911 in Germany following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it came to commemorate the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The idea of having an international women’s day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions.

In 1910 the first international women’s conference was held in Copenhagen (in the labour-movement building located at Jagtvej 69, which until recently housed Ungdomshuset) by the Second International and an ‘International Women’s Day’ was established, which was submitted by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified. The following year, 1911, IWD was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, on March 19. However, soon thereafter, on March 25, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed over 140 garment workers. A lack of safety measures was blamed for the high death toll. Furthermore, on the eve of World War I, women across Europe held peace rallies on 8 March 1913. In the West, International Women’s Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s, but dwindled. It was revived by the rise of feminism in the 1960s.

Demonstrations marking International Women’s Day in Russia proved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet International Women’s Day was declared as a non working day in the USSR “in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women’s day must be celebrated as are other holidays.”

The day is an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Croatia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia,Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

In some countries, such as Cameroon or Romania, the day is not a public holiday, but is widely observed nonetheless.

In 1975, which had been designated as International Women’s Year, the United Nations gave official sanction to and began sponsoring International Women’s Day.

The 2005 Congress (conference) of the British Trades Union Congress overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for IWD to be designated a public holiday in the United Kingdom.

Nottingham Women's History Walk
anon@indymedia.org (People's Histreh) , 13-03-2011 - 12:23

March 8th 2011 was the centenary of International Women's Day. In Nottingham a range of events were held to mark this anniversary, among them a women's history walk organised by the Nottingham Women's History Group.

1. Nottingham Castle (Gatehouse)

The walk began at the castle, with the story of Isabella, King Edward's wife, who plotted with Roger Mortimer to have the king removed from power. Mortimer would later be abducted by troops loyal to the king using a tunnel now known as "Mortimer's Hole." Despite her efforts to undermine the king, Isabella would later be buried in her wedding dress and Edward's heart.

Later in it's life (shortly before it was burned down by rioters in 1831) rooms in the castle and possibly sections of the gardens were let-out to rich people among them a number of well-to-do women who the women's history group are currently trying to find out more about.

2. Lace Centre

The Lace Centre on Castle Road was built in the 14th century and open as a visitor attraction about the lace industry from 1980-2009. This was an opportunity to discuss Nottingham's working women. Apparently Nottingham has historically had the greatest percentage of women in work in the county.

3. Friar Lane

Friar Lane is the base of the Nottingham Society of Artists established in 1887. Among its members was Dame Laura Knight who lived on Noel Street (her house now has a blue plaque, one of the few dedicated to a woman in the city). She was the first female artist to receive a damehood and the official artist at the Nuremberg Trials.

4. Civil War Plaque

Further up Friar Lane, towards the Roundhouse, is a plaque (one of several in the area) alerting people to the location where Charles I raised his standard and began the English Civil War. This was an opportunity to discuss Lucy Hutchinson, the wife of John Hutchinson who had been a prominent figure in the civil war and signed Charles' death warrant (for which he was later executed). Hutchinson was a translator and poet (possibly writing the first epic poem by a woman in English), but also wrote a biography of her husband, although she was unable to get it published during her lifetime.

5. St James's Street

Across the road on St James's Street is a house where Lord Byron stayed as a child. This is now marked by a plaque. Here the talk focussed on his daughter, Ada Lovelace who was kept away from her father, but would go on to work with Charles Babbage on his difference engine (widely credited with being the first computer). Today 24th March is celebrated as Ada Lovelace Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women in science and technology.

Looking back over Friar Lane, is the site of the Nottingham General Hospital. The rotunda, now the Roundhouse, was once the Jubilee Ward and would later become the lesbian club Eternity. The hospital was for many years an important working and teaching hospital which would train many nurses, including a number who had come as immigrants from the Caribbean. Perhaps ironically, among the hospital's funders was Players, the cigarette manufacturers.

6. Harts Restaurant/Hotel

Now a very expensive restaurant, this sits on the site of the General Hospital and there is a plaque commemorating its opening on 18th September 1782.

7. The Ropewalk

The Ropewalk was once a well-to-do area and was home to Henrietta Cary. She and her 2 sisters never married, but she was an active philanthropist in the social guild and providing convalescent homes.

8. Upper College Street

A brief stop here allowed people to look at the tunnel which was constructed to allow horse drawn carriages to get from Derby Road to the Park.

9. College Street Centre

Here there is a convent originally built in 1834, designed by the same architect who had worked on St Barnabas Cathedral. A school had been run at the convent for sometime and during the war, its cellars were used as a bomb shelter, with a bomb even falling in the garden (fortunately it failed to go off). The convent had been unusual, in that it was self-governing with elected sisters up until 1953 when dwindling numbers forced it to amalgamate. The building had been a care home until 1999 before being sold and is now a privately-owned residential care home.

Opposite the convent is the original People's College. Set up as a boarding school funded by public subscription. The college had begun teaching girls from 1850, but only provided them with an English education and training in "plain needlework," while boys learnt a broader curriculum including Latin.

A short distance from both buildings is St Barnabas Cathedral. Here the bones of Mary Potter have been interred. Potter (who now has a medical centre in Hyson Green and a tram named after her) was a nun. Born in London, she claimed God had spoken to her through the bible and had set-up the Little Company of Mary, originally operating out of an old silk factory in Lenton, to provide care and education to the poor. They had even briefly provided midwifery services, although this had been stopped by the Catholic Church, so they had instead taught lay people to do it. The group wore blue veils and had been known as the "Blue Nuns." Potter had established centres around the world and John Paul II had declared her "venerable."

10. Wellington Circus

The women's history group believe this to have been the original site (albeit briefly) of the Nottingham Girl's High School, a private school, part of the Girls' Day School Trust. Prominent alumni of the school include Helen Cresswell (writer), Stella Rimmington (ex-Director General MI5 and author) and Salma Dessau (a sergeant in the RAF during the Second World War).

The nearby Playhouse was also discussed. Initially located on Goldsmith Street, the current building was initially very unpopular because of its modernist architecture, but is now a listed building.

Women have a long history in performance in the city. Vesta Tilley was a famous impersonator in music hall and began her career in Nottingham. She challenged gender conceptions of the time, dressing up as various male characters and was particularly inspiration to women as she was able to earn £500 a week.

11. Clarendon Street

This is the location of the Friends Meeting House. Quakerism has a long history in Nottingham dating back to it's founder George Fox's visit in 1649 when he had disrupted a service at St Mary's Church. For this he was imprisoned, but a local woman, Mrs Reckless, who had been moved by Fox's explanation of his faith got him out of prison and had him held in custody in the sheriff's house. She would later convert to Quakerism.

Quakerism has traditionally been progressive around equality issues with women always having had as much right to speak at meetings as men. Many of the suffragettes in the US were Quakers as they were already experienced in talking in meetings. One well known female Quaker is Mary Howitt, immortalised in a bust at the castle with her husband William.

Just off Clarendon Street on Chaucer Street is the old Institute for the Blind. This had originally been started by Miss Chambers who taught blind women to read the bible in her home. As late as 1948, the building had been a daytime club for unemployed blind people.

Also on Chaucer Street is Nottingham Women's Centre, one of the few left in the country. This is believed to have been established in around 1886. research by a worker at the centre suggests that Chaucer Street was once the site of a refuge, providing "shelter, protection and reformation" to women who had previously lived lives of "sin and wickedness."

12. Medieval Wall

The final stop of the tour was at the Holiday Inn on the junction of Maid Marian Way and Parliament Street. This, to many people's surprise, has a section of the city's medieval wall on display. Unfortunately you have to look at it through a window as the proprietors won't allow people in to look at it.

Nttm City Council Budget Meeting : Demo Inside
tash@indymedia.org (Tash [Alan Lodge]) , 09-03-2011 - 22:40

Monday 7th March

People gathered at 1.00pm in the Market Square to protest at Nottingham City council about to meet to approve budget cuts. 

People gathered at 1.00pm in the Market Square to protest at Nottingham City council about to meet to approve budget cuts. 

Various groups that will be affected had gathered. Some councillors came out to listen to folks concerns and to state their own positions about it all. 

At 2.00pm The meeting commenced and after the initial business, Nottingham Council House was then occupied after a council meeting tried to eject members of the public there. People tried to attend a meeting discussing / to approve the budget cuts, but after some heckling and their attempts to ask questions, they were asked to leave.

Security then got a bit pysical with some. Later, they were then offered a private meeting on the condition they left the building immediately. They refused, and the Council House public galleries were then occupied for about an hour.

Police [and the wardens] were called, threatened arrest for breach of the peace ..... then escorting the protesters from the building.

Later, the Labour Leader cllr. John Collins came out and argued his position to those assembled, watched over by assorted uniformed officers.

Some hours later, the Council then met to do their business, excluding all member of the public from witnessing the proceedings.

UK Uncut

http://www.ukuncut.org.uk

Notts SOS

http://www.nottssos.org.uk

Rally & protests against City Council cuts

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/1016

Unison anti-cuts protest

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/978

Notts County Council Strike: 1 The March

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/987

Notts County Council Strike: 2 Rally & Speeches

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/988

____________________________________________

ALAN LODGE 

Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham.  UK

Email:                 tash@indymedia.org

Web:                   http://digitaljournalist.eu

Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]

____________________________________________

"It is not enough to curse the darkness.

                                   It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"

___________________________________________

<ends>

Nttm City Council Budget Meeting : Demo Outside
tash@indymedia.org (Tash [Alan Lodge]) , 09-03-2011 - 21:23

Monday 7th March

People gathered at 1.00pm in the Market Square to protest at Nottingham City council about to meet to approve budget cuts. 

Int'l Womens' Day: Public Meeting
anon@indymedia.org (Refusing2B) , 09-03-2011 - 20:23

Tuesday March 8th 2011 was the centenary of International Womens' Day. To mark this anniversary, Notts TUC organised a public meeting at the offices of Thompsons Solicitors, to discuss the impact of the cuts on services for women, particularly domestic violence services.

The event followed a demonstration in front of the Council House and this slightly delayed the start time as people made their way up to the office on City Gate from the Market Square.

The first speakers was Cheryl Pidgeon, regional secretary of Midlands TUC. Cheryl presented a wide ranging exploration of the connections between patriarchy and the economy, particularly in times of economic crisis. She described the current government as the "most anti-women in living memory," but the talk was not entirely negative. She argued that bad times are always also an opportunity and that in the anti-cuts movement, "Women will be leading from the front."

The second speaker was Melanie Jeffs from Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service, which represents many voluntary groups in the city. Melanie noted that voluntary groups were experiencing cuts of around £18m in Nottingham City alone. She was dubious about the Tories' "Big Society" talk, pointing out that volunteers already give 1m hours a year in Nottingham and may not be able to do much more. She pointed particularly to the closure of Noelle House, the only women only homelessness shelter in the city. This is to be shut, despite evidence that women only shelters are often much better for women on the streets.

Melanie suggested that equality impact assessments were a possible point of challenge, noting that last June's budget was not assessed for its impact on women. She also pointed to the sell-off of the forests as evidence that the government could be swayed.

Caroline from Unite then gave a brief talk about her involvement in domestic violence services in Walsall, which are now being seriously cut.

The final speaker was Chris Knight from Women's Aid Nottingham (who had earlier spoken in Market Square). Chris noted that 1 in 4 women suffer domestic abuse (which is not always actual violence), with 1 in 10 suffering such abuse at any time. In fact Nottingham has the highest reported rates of such abuse, although she suggested this might actually be a good thing as it indicated people were reporting it.

In other places domestic violences services have been seriously hit with Devon cutting all its funding and Hull heading in the same direction. In Nottingham, the picture is more complicated and Chris described a "sleight of hand" happening in the city. This is possible because funding comes from various bodies. The council is claiming that its budget (set the previous day) wasn't cutting anymore refuges. This is true, but ignores the fact that 3 have already gone this year, reducing spaces in the city from 48-31.

The Crime and Drugs Partnership (CDP) meanwhile has slashed 80% of its domestic violence budget. This it emerges is not a public body so does not have to publish its minutes. (Chris didn't mention this, but according to the CDP's website, its acting chair is currently Jon Collins, leader of Nottingham City Council.)

Chris echoed many of Melanie's sentiments about the Big Society, noting that while volunteers do much important work within Women's Aid, their is a need for specialist with continuous knowledge.

After the speakers, there was an opportunity to take advantage of the food laid on (presumably) by the Notts TUC.

Overall this was an interesting meeting, although it wasn't terribly well-attended. Many of the people there appeared to be staff at Thompsons and most of the remainder were drawn from the "usual faces." This is unfortunate, as it was a good meeting on an important issue.

Int'l Womens' Day: Protest
anon@indymedia.org (Refusing2B) , 09-03-2011 - 19:23

Tuesday March 8th 2011 was the centenary of International Womens' Day. In Nottingham, campaigners marked this by holding a demonstration in the Market Square to highlight the impact of the cuts on women.

The demonstration involved a ballot in which participants could utilise their suffrage to vote, chosing between bankers, tax avoiders and ordinary people. There were also speeches highlighting the damage the cuts are likely to do.

The organisers also distributed balloons to people attending the demo which was an interesting touch and helped to distinguish it from any other demonstration in the Market Square. These had been provided by Unison and were in the union's colours (violent, green and white), which conveniently were also the colours of the suffragettes.

The demonstration lasted for around an hour, at which point many of those who had come along went to the TUC organised meeting at the offices of Thompsons Solicitors.

Resistance to Nottingham City Cuts
anon@indymedia.org (Nottingham Indymedia) , 09-03-2011 - 19:23

On Monday March 7th, Nottingham City Council met to set its budget, slashing millions of pounds from vital services. Local anti-cuts campaigners rallied against this, holding protests on the previous Saturday and the day itself. They occupied the viewing galleries, holding up the meeting for an hour and later disrupted a BBC interview with council leader Jon Collins.

On the newswire: More photos from Council budget protest | Nottingham City Council ‘cuts budget’ day protests | Banner Drop – ‘Fight the Cuts’ | Nottingham City budget protest: Photos | Direct Action Against Nottingham City Cuts Budget | Council house occupied | Vodafone & Philip Green stores visited by anti-cut | Rally & protests against City Council cuts | Protest against city council cuts: March 5th | Unison anti-cuts public protest

Videos: Inside the Council House (YouTube) | Inside the Council House 2 (YouTube)

Previous feature: No Cuts in Nottingham!

Saturday 5th March

The Saturday before the budget was set, campaigners held a demonstration in the Market Square. Despite persistent rain, organisers claimed a turnout of around 150.

Demonstrators were addressed by speakers including campaigners, trade unionists, service users and community activists.

After the demo finished, protesters returned to Vodafone, which has been targeted on numerous occasions for its attempt to avoid billions in tax.

Monday 7th March

On the day of the budget a banner was dropped from the multi-storey car park on Maid Marian Way which read ‘Fight the Cuts: We Won’t Pay For Their Crisis’.

Campaigners rallied outside the Council House from 1pm, for the meeting to start at 2pm. A petition was presented to deputy leader Graham Chapman (once it was impressed upon him that not accepting the petition would look bad in front of the assembled press) and a number of councillors went around glad-handing the assembled protesters.

The meeting was disrupted for around an hour by hecklers, before the viewing galleries were closed. Those protesting eventually had to be removed by the police.

Musician Billy Bragg, who previously visited the occupation at the University of Nottingham, sent a message of support to protesters in their demand that the council set a needs based budget. Hesaid, "The big society that I want to live in should to be driven by compassion, not market forces."

A second demonstration from 5pm for those leaving work, coincided with the BBC’s East Midlands Today bulletin. When the BBC refused to interview anti-cuts campaigners they proceeded to disrupt an interview with council leader Jon Collins.

After once returning to the Council House, Jon Collins came out again and was harangued at length by protesters who blocked the doors, preventing him getting back in.

Inevitably, the council demonstrated its spinelessness and passed its cuts budget, but anti-cuts activists are clear that this is the beginning of the campaign, not the end.

More photos from Council budget protest
anon@indymedia.org (Nottingham Student) , 08-03-2011 - 12:23

Photos taken during Nottingham City Council's budget meeting on 7th March 2011.

There is a lot more to do now cuts budgets have been passed in both the City and County. Come to the next Notts SOS meeting at the YMCA/ICC on Mansfield Road, Monday 14th March at 7.30pm.

Nottingham City budget protest: Photos
anon@indymedia.org (Concerned of Notts) , 07-03-2011 - 22:23

On Monday March 7th, Nottingham City Council met to set it budget for 2011-12, slashing millions of pounds from vital services. Campaigners protested outside, occupied the viewing gallery and challenged council leader Jon Collins.

Read a full report of the days happenings.

Banner Drop - 'Fight the Cuts'
anon@indymedia.org (Cut the Rich not the Poor) , 07-03-2011 - 22:23

Banner dropped on Maid Marian Way to coincide with protests against Nottingham Council budget.

Today, Monday 7 March, Nottingham City Council set its budget for the coming year, implementing the nationwide regime of brutal cuts to public services that will hit the most vulnerable the hardest. On a day of protest outside and inside the Council House (http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1021), a banner was also dropped from the multi-storey car park on Maid Marian Way which read 'Fight the Cuts: We Won't Pay For Their Crisis'.

Direct Action Against Nottingham City Cuts Budget
anon@indymedia.org (Concerned of Notts) , 07-03-2011 - 20:24

On Monday March 7th, Nottingham City Council met to set it budget for 2011-12, slashing millions of pounds from vital services. Campaigners protested outside, occupied the viewing gallery and challenged council leader Jon Collins.

Protesters gathered in the Market Square from around 12.30pm and held a demonstration outside. Although probably slightly smaller than the demonstration in the same place the previous Saturday, the turnout was not awful for an lunchtime demo on a workday.

The plan had been to present a petition to the council calling on them not to implement cuts. However, when somebody went to reception to arrange for a councillor to take the petition, they were initially told nobody was available. This situation soon changed when it was explained that the press were outside waiting to record the handover and deputy leader Graham Chapman hurried down.

Protesters were then "honoured" by the presence of councillors Chapman, Hassan Ahmed, David Mellen and possibly a few others who went around glad-handing.

The meeting began at 2pm, as people went in and others drifted back to work after lunch, numbers did dwindle in the afternoon.

The meeting had been going on for about an hour when people began challenging the councillors, shouting from the galleries. The meeting was soon suspended. Campaigners were asked to leave, offered a meeting with the leader of the council provided they left immediately, an offer they refused.

Initially the matter was dealt with by council security, then some CPOs were sent in and eventually the police arrived. The galleries were cleared after about an hour and closed to the public so that the meeting could continue.

After the eviction, there was a constant guard on the door maintained by a combination of police and CPOs. After a number of people made enquiries about getting into the viewing galleries again, somebody decided to close the doors to the Council House.

A token presence remained outside the Council House, but protesters remained for a second push from 5pm, hoping to pick up anybody leaving work. Again numbers were disappointing and by about 6pm, people were beginning to drift off.

A number of rape alarms were thrown onto the balcony at the front of the Council House in the (probably vain) hope that they could be heard in the chamber.

The BBC arrived to do a report for the 6.30pm broadcast. When somebody from Notts SOS went to offer an interview the BBC refused and explained that they were only there to interview council leader Jon Collins.

Shortly thereafter, protesters realised that Collins was being interviewed on the other side of the square, just down from Speaker's Corner. People ran over and began shouting, almost immediately forcing the BBC to abandon its interview. Many of the campaigners remained to challenge Collins on his failure to stand up to the Tory-led government.

While many protesters were arguing with Collins, the BBC tried to do a piece-to-camera in front of the Council House, but, angered by the BBC's cowardly refusal to allow anti-cuts protesters to tell their side of the story, campaigners quickly disrupted this as well. This forced the BBC to retreat into the Council House, which precipitated the first of several attempts by campaigners to rush the doors.

After a while, Collins too retreated to the Council House. Campaigners continued shouting and chanting, making a particular effort when the BBC appeared on the balcony.

For some reason, at this point, Collins decided it would be a good idea to come out again. He walked over to where the interview had been and invited 2 homeless people into the Council House. Demonstrators spotted a rat, pointing out that Collins' supposed concern for these 2 gentlemen was a stark contrast to the many homeless people he was letting down  by slashing the Supporting People budget, taking millions from charities like Framework.

When he tried to get back into the Council House, campaigners blocked the doors, leading to an extended exchange with the council leader. During this he claimed that he was fighting the cuts (this was received as might be expected) and intended to go on the March 26 demonstration.

Eventually he left the campaigners and returned to the Council House. At this point the police started hassling a kid who had allegedly made an offhand remark about "bombing" Jon Collins' house. When other protesters pointed out that this was harassment and that the police had no right to ask for his details, the police decided to take him to their van for questioning.

Inevitably, this attracted all the protesters who gathered outside the van, arguing with the assembled police officers until the kid was released. At this point, the protest came to an end at approximately 7.15pm.

While not as big as it should have been this was one of the most inspiring demonstrations in Nottingham for a long time. The council will almost inevitably pass their cuts budget, destroying services with all that entails. Nevertheless, they cannot now claim ignorance about how angry people are about what they're doing. Hopefully this will be at the front of their minds as the election approaches in May and when they come around to thinking about next year's budget.

We are not going to go away. This is only the beginning.

(Photos to follow.)

Rally & protests against City Council cuts
tash@indymedia.org (Tash [Alan Lodge]) , 07-03-2011 - 00:26

Saturday 5th March

Gathering at 1.00pm, about 150 or so folks braved the rain at the anti-cuts rally in the Market Square.

Vodafone & Philip Green stores visited by anti-cut
tash@indymedia.org (Tash [Alan Lodge]) , 07-03-2011 - 00:26

Saturday 5th March

After the rally & protests against City Council cuts, held earlier in the Market Square, folks went on the now well troden route round to the Vodafone store in Clumber Street. 

Protest against city council cuts: March 5th
anon@indymedia.org (Concerned of Notts) , 05-03-2011 - 19:23

On Saturday March 5th, Notts SOS organised a protest in the Market Square. The demonstration was held 2 days before Nottingham City Council meets to set its budget for next, year, slashing millions of pounds of spending.

Organisers claimed protesters numbered around 150. While not tiny, the demonstration was a fraction of the size of recent demonstrations against cuts at the city council and the privatisation of the Royal Mail.

The inclement weather can't have helped attendance. While not heavy, the rain didn't let-up throughout.

One organisation whose banners had been prominent on the post and county council demonstrations, but who were notable by their absence was the Labour Party. While happy to criticise the Tory-run county council for cutting services, they are curiously quiet about the Labour-run city council's decision to do the same.

The demonstration was intriguingly juxtaposed alongside the Nottingham Wheel and a Help For Heroes event involving people in 1940's costume and a range of contemporary vehicles.

The rally lasted for a couple of hours and was addressed by campaigners, trade unionists, students, homeless people and even a councillor (one from the Green Party). Speakers discussed their anger about the cuts, the impact on ordinary people and the possibility of challenging the government's austerity drive.

After the demonstration, some campaigners went on to visit Vodafone, Boots and Natwest, continuing a long-running local UK Uncut campaign.

Protesters will return to the square on Monday 7th March to protest outside the council's budget meeting. There will be a demonstration from 1pm with a second wave, for people leaving work, from 5-7pm.

Get all Notts alt news feeds in one place!
notts[at]indymedia[dot]org (Notts IMC) , 05-03-2011 - 17:24

Nottingham Indymedia have been experimenting with a new Indymedia project: http://indy.im. The site is an independent microblogging service, similar to Twitter except that we control our own content! We've set up a group to collect local newsfeeds: https://indy.im/group/nottingham. Check it out and get in touch if you'd like to add your own feeds.

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