UK Promoted Newswire Archive
Closing Shell petrol station in Old Street
28-01-2011 18:22
27/01/2011 - Protesters closed the Shell petrol station in Old Street.
27/01/2011 - Protesters closed the Shell petrol station in Old Street.
This Week in Palestine week 4 2011
28-01-2011 17:27
london old street shell garage blockade last night
28-01-2011 15:15
Student Debt: the solution is non-payment
28-01-2011 14:10
As the government seeks to shackle the new generation of students with new levels of debt slavery, this personal account shows what happens if you Just Say No.Mozaz's Funeral Details.
28-01-2011 10:19
Mozaz's funeral will take place on Thursday 3rd February 2011Cops clampdown before demo on Sat 29th?
28-01-2011 09:56
The cops appear to be clamping down in advance of the demonstrations in London and Manchester on Saturday.london old street shell garage blockade last night
28-01-2011 01:38
after the remains of the irish government gave approval last week for the shell high-pressure gas pipeline and refinery in county mayo, activists have been staging blockades, actions and protests against shell in solidarity with the residents and activists of rossport. in london, tonight's garage blockade was also called as a memorial to long-time climate activist val jones, who lost a long struggle against a debilitating disease just one year ago.
last week, the irish government gave final approval for the shell high pressure raw gas pipeline which is being built in a beautiful area of county mayo in north-west ireland. shell is intending to use the pipeline to pump ashore unrefined gas to an onshore refinery.
the "corrib" gas field was initially discovered in 1996, and after exploratory drilling, the project began in earnest in 2003 when shell purchased an area of forest land from the irish forestry agency, and they began building the refinery in 2005.
1200 local residents are directly affected by the site and the pipeline and the overwhelming majority are against the project in its current form and do not believe that alternatives have been properly considered.
over the years, there has been a strong resistance movement against the current project, and after an injunction was instituted in 2005 to prevent residents from obstructing the construction of the pipeline, 5 men from rossport were imprisoned for ignoring the injuction and trying to protect their own land.
shell continued to build the pipeline and also to flout health and safety guidelines and building consents. while local drinking water regularly showed aluminium levels that were way outside safety limits, shell actually had to dismantle 3km of pipeline after ministry officials discovered serious breaches.
the 'rossport 5' were relased after a three month long campaign of civil disobedience, direct actions, and worldwide protests and solidarity actions, but the gardai (irish police force) grew more violent in their treatment of protestors.
in november 2006, many locals were injured in police baton charges to break a blockade. the gardai boasted of their 'no arrest' tactics, and continued their campaign of intimidation, injuring locals in baton charges, and attacking protestors who were trying to stop the illegal construction of shell portacabins on their own land.
as the pipeline was laid in broadhaven bay, protestors regularly took to the water, and many were arrested in various actions at sea.
the operation was held up for a year after pipe-laying equipment became damaged, and the resistance has continued strongly since then, despite many arrests. the project is now due to open in 2012 or 2013, several years behind schedule. as well as legal oppression, there was a parallel campaign of unlawful intimidation, with the gardai taking knives to protestors' inflatable boats, and masked men attacking campaigners and even hospitalising one local activist in the middle of the night.
the campaign focusses on the fact that the pipeline is an experimental project, untried elswhere in the world, with raw unprocessed gas carried at extremely high pressure, first under the sea-bed, and then in a pipeline across a peat bog known for its instability. the gas will include a corrosive mixture of chemicals, but will not contain the tell-tale gas odour which is added at the refinery. the pipeline cuts across an area of amazing scenic beauty and which is a world-recognised area of specific scientific interest. waste water from the refinery will flow into carrowmore lake, a source of water supplying 10,000 people. water samples have already shown massively increased and illegal levels of aluminium.
after last week's announcement by the government, which incidentally now comprises only three cabinet ministers, as the rest have resigned over the economic turmoil, local resistance groups have called for a week of solidarity protests against shell, and in london this evening, the old street shell garage was closed down by activists from 'london rising tide' and samba-activists 'rhythms of resistance'.
tonight's blockade was also a memorial to shell activist and long-time 'rhythms of resistance' member, val jones, who lost a long and hard-fought struggle against motor neurone disease just one year ago. among her many talents, val was an accomplished banner-maker, and her huge "danger - keep out - shell hell in operation" banner has featured prominently in many actions, including tonight's.
the old street garage is a very busy one, normally with several vehicles filling up or queueing throughout a typical weekday evening. the activists took over its forecourt at about 7.30 this evening, unfurling val's huge banner, as well as a "shell devastates communities" banner brought over by rossport activists, and a simple "closed" banner across the main entrance. meanwhile the samba band attracted attention and lifted spirits, while hundreds of leaflets were handed out to passers-by.
the leaflets highlighted other issues as well as rossport: the devastating tar sands developments in alberta, canada; the continuing environmental destruction of the niger delta, along with corruption, human rights abuses, and of course the murder of activist ken saro-wiwa; and finally the connection to runaway climate change.
garage staff called police, who turned up with four cars and a van after about 25 minutes. after taking stock of the protest, they invoked 'obstruction of the highway' and threatened arrest if activists continued to block the access to the garage.
ironically, just as activists moved away from the entrance, a delivery tanker turned up and staff put out bollards while the delivery was made, rather taking the wind out of the police operation. indeed, activists helped get the message of the bollards across by once again holding the 'closed' banner across the entrance, this time apparently not causing an obstruction. police used a modern polaroid type camera to photograph the protestors before withdrawing, leaving just one car to keep an eye on things.
by chance, comedy activist mark thomas then walked past, on his way from a fund-raising gig. he was delighted to have stumbled on the protest and wished them well. he was particularly amused by the timely arrival of the tanker and disappeared off into the night with a happy smirk on his face.
as the garage reopened, the two police who had been left on guard once again insisted that the entrance be cleared, and after some slow-motion compliance, the protestors reached a decision to finish the action and leave together.
if you want to know more about rossport, see www.shelltosea.com
for tar sands info, see www.no-tar-sands.org
for info on the niger delta, see remembersarowiwa.com
london rising tide can be found at londonrisingtide.org.uk
and rhythms of resistance have a website at www.rhythmsofresistance.co.uk
Sheffield Coordination event
27-01-2011 21:51
Autonomous resistance groups coordination event, SheffieldPalestine Today 01 27 2011
27-01-2011 16:33
Sit-in underway at Palestinian embassy in London
27-01-2011 16:07
NEWS breaking of sit-in at Palestinian Embassy in London, Thursday afternoon.Senior woman anti-nuke campaigner jailed for 45 days in Scotland
27-01-2011 10:11
Georgina Smith was sentenced yesterday (Wednesday 26 January 2011) to 45 days' imprisonment by Fort William Sheriff Court to for refusing to comply with a compensation order for damage for painting the sandstone wall of the Edinburgh High Court in Scotland in 2006, during the year-long Faslane 365 campaign. Georgina and Helen John had already served sentences in Cornton Vale prison in relation to this action, but had refused to pay the compensation order.
Check back here for details of where to send letters and cards of solidarity. In the meantime, messages of support can be sent to media [at] tridentploughshares.org . These will be forwarded to Georgina.
Edinburgh Shell garage shut in solidarity with Rossport Solidarity Camp
27-01-2011 04:01
Last night people shut down the Shell petrol station on Comiston Road, Edinburgh. This action was taken in solidarity with the people of Rossport, Mayo, Ireland, who have been struggling against Shells gas plans in their community for over a decade. The action was also taken in soldidarity with the people of the Niger Delta who are suffering under Shells brutal corporate imperialism.Palestine Today 01 26 2011
26-01-2011 17:17
'Free at Last!': Denise McNeil Released on Bail
26-01-2011 11:16
immigration court in Hatton Cross. Her supporters in the courtroom clapped
as the judge announced his decision.
Nottingham Indymedia statement on recent events
25-01-2011 19:23
Nottingham Indymedia has always strived to provide anonymous publishing. In the corporate dominated world of the internet, collecting information on site users is the norm. We think that Indymedia should allow users to decide how much information they reveal about themselves rather than storing data on site users. Due to the controversy generated by the publication of details about monitoring IP addresses and posts from Gateway 303, we think it is necessary to produce this statement of our view of events.
Monitoring IP addresses, Gateway 303 and the fork in the UK network
Our collective was formed in 2005, after the UK Indymedia site migrated to the Mir content management system in 2003. We had no part in setting up Mir or making technical decisions about the way it operated. Whilst a number of our collective had administrative access to Mir we never used its anti-abuse measures and we were not informed about their existence when we joined the UK network.
In 2009, one of our collective came across articles and comments flagged as having come from Gateway 303 and asked Mir techs about what was going on. Those asked were open about the filters that were in place to identify such posts and hoped that the suspected police posting would be exposed some time in the future. This wish was raised formally at the UK Network meeting in Bristol in 2010. It was the subject of considerable controversy with strong views both for and against publishing.
Nottingham Indymedia have always taken the position that there are two separate issues at stake: whether or not to publish the information and whether use of the anti-abuse measures is appropriate. On the first we were quite clear: We took the position that Indymedia admins had a responsibility to share the information they had collected with the wider activist community. To fail to disclose the strategies of systematic disruption, smearing and incitement that had been connected to one particular government gateway would have been to fail the very people who rely on Indymedia. We supported the proposal to publish the information.
The issue of monitoring IPs is separate. We are not convinced that enabling admins to monitor or flag IP addresses are appropriate things for an IMC to do, given the potential security risks. We think that the only appropriate way to remove disruptive, smearing and inciteful posts is through assessing each post on its own merits. Using human, rather than machine intelligence is the only sensible way to moderate an Indymedia site. We think that drawing on the knowledge of the activist networks that we are connected with is the best way to prevent the kind of state manipulation that the Gateway 303 posts represent. Nottingham Indymedia does not monitor IP addresses but we do check every post that is made to our site and confer with connected activists when we are in doubt.
The controversy over the Gateway 303 feature is an example of an increasingly frequent situation that has arisen within the UK Network over the past few years: a lack of consensus that has resulted in inaction. In order to give people with different positions the autonomy to continue with their own projects, a decision was made at a UK Network meeting at the end of last year, to dissolve the UK Network. We think this was the right decision and we hope to see good things emerging from independent projects that emerge. Nottingham Indymedia will continue to work with other local IMCs and independent media projects when it is appropriate. We think that Indymedia in the UK is as relevant as ever and we're looking forward to coming insurrections!
Palestine Today 01 25 2011
25-01-2011 16:24
Barclays Shut All Day, After Lively Protest.
24-01-2011 22:57
About 80 people, many wearing guy fawkes masks and others dressed as clowns, joined the rolling demonstration to highlight the banks’ involvement in the arms trade.
They gathered in Castle Park before marching down Union Street and into Broadmead, at first followed by two patrolling police officers.
Full article | 2 additions | 13 comments
'Peter Black' undercover 1993 to 1997
24-01-2011 22:21
According to this article 'Peter Black' was deployed against environmental activists from 1993 to 1997, including at the M11 link road protests.Blockade of Scotland Yard against police abuse
24-01-2011 21:22
Dozens of women, protesting against the sexual abuse of women by undercover police officers, successfully blockaded Scotland Yard this morning!
Officers and staff arriving for work at New Scotland Yard, the UK police headquarters in London, were forced to queue around the block this morning, as the front entrance was blockaded by 40 activists. Women held up large images of the three male undercover police officers who have been in the news recently, as well as 12 images of question marks, representing the other shady undercover officers referred to by ‘Mark Stone’ in his interview to the Daily Mail.
State sanctioned sexual abuse has been going on for long enough. It is time to draw and line in the sand.
One activist said; "It's time for the abuse of women by undercover police officers to stop. If a person is pretending to be somebody else, if they are spying on you, then you absolutely cannot give your informed consent.
"Women are not able to make an informed decision about who they are having a relationship with if they are being duped by police officers. We want a judge-led inquiry. We don't trust the police to police themselves. They have showed time after time they believe they are above the law."
They demanded that the police make public the names and identities of all other undercover offices who have worked or are working to infiltrate movements for progressive social change, so women can know whether they have also been abused by the state, and can decide whether to join other women in considering legal action against the police.
It is crystal clear that the authorities knew about the long term sexual relationships conducted by these undercover policemen. Mark Stone was not a one off. This is state sanctioned sexual abuse.
This has to been seen in the context of a much broader problem of political policing in the UK. The police use all sorts of tactics to interfere in politics and protest, from the use of terrorism laws against environmental activists to police brutality against students. This affects all sorts of movements and all sorts of people.
The protest was lead by women but men were welcome to come to show support. The event was self organised by a group of women who feel strongly that we need to show solidarity with each other in the face of police abuse. Anyone who is concerned that they might have been personally affected, and who would like support and access to legal advice, please feel free to contact 2getherwearestronger@gmail.com in the strictest confidence. We are not legal experts and we do not claim to represent any particular group, we simply hope that we can hold out a hand to anyone who wants support.
Palestine Today 01 24 2011
24-01-2011 15:20