UK Promoted Newswire Archive
Palestine Today 02 28 2011
28-02-2011 15:15
Natwest Bank shut by anti-cuts protesters
28-02-2011 03:37
Saturday 26th February
Notts UK Uncut occupied Natwest Bank, ultimately forcing it to close early. The theme was "The Big Society Reading Room" .... setting up a temporary library in the bank.
Notts UK Uncut occupied Natwest Bank, ultimately forcing it to close early. The theme was "The Big Society Reading Room" .... setting up a temporary library in the bank.
The Natwest just off Market Square was targetted as part of a national day of action against Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) who own it.
Campaigners are angry that the firm has been allowed to pay investment bankers massive bonuses, despite the fact that it was bailed out by the British taxpayer to the tune of billions of pounds in 2008.
Protesters entered the bank around 11.30am and were able to remain in for more than 2 hours. For most of this time the bank was still in operation. This created a bizarre atmosphere, with customers queuing to be served on one side of the store while campaigners were sat with banners on the other, often chanting and reading stories.
After an hour or so, a couple of Community Protection Officers arrived, surveyed the situation, took some notes, and generally hung about. After a further interval, a couple of armed officers arrived complete with side arms!! [presumably leaving the H&K assault rifles in the car outside]. After a few exchanges, realised that the protest was of good order and didn't seem to need such policing. After a bit of a chat with the management, they to hung about a bit also.
Eventually, the management clearly decided they'd had enough and the bank was shut early, with a note stuck to the door explaining only that this was due to "unforseen circumstances." From Natwest, protesters moved onto Vodafone and Boots [again], targetted because of their efforts to avoid paying tax.
Notts UK Uncut Nat West ‘bail in’
http://falseeconomy.org.uk/campaigns/event/notts-uk-uncut-nat-west-bail-in
UK Uncut
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk
Notts SOS
http://www.nottssos.org.uk
____________________________________________
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>
Vodafone visited [yet again] by anti-cuts protest
28-02-2011 03:37
Saturday 26th February
After the successful occupation of Natwest Bank by people as part of Notts UK Uncut campaign, ultimately forcing it to close early, people moved on to the Vodafone store in Clumber Street, Nottingham.
After the successful occupation of Natwest Bank by people as part of Notts UK Uncut campaign, ultimately forcing it to close early, people moved on to the Vodafone store in Clumber Street, Nottingham.
This was the latest in a series of many such visits, by people wanting to point out that the cuts to public services, stand in starck contrast to the tax evasions of some large corporations.
Staff have become wise to the methods of protestors, and on arriving a few seconds before the demonstators, I saw a 'spotter' stationed near the doorway, and alerting staff to close the shutters, on sighting the first signs of the group. However, a couple of smartly dress protesters fooled these arrangements, getting in before the shutters closed. They then exibited signs and slogans in their window, much to the amazement of passers-by.
Vodafone "not paying their taxes" Demo
http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/649
Anti Cuts, Corporate Tax & Student Fees Demo video
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/videos/832
UK Uncut
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk
Notts SOS
http://www.nottssos.org.uk
____________________________________________
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>
Watch this film: The Debt Crisis as Just Another Story - Challenging the Need for Cuts
27-02-2011 11:22
Lancaster RBS bail in!
26-02-2011 18:39
On Saturday February 26th the Lancaster branch of RBS was turned into a library, as activists from the local anti cuts group reclaimed the building for the morning and put it to to good use for a change!Notts County Council workers strike against cuts
26-02-2011 18:23
On Thursday 24th February, Unison members at Nottinghamshire County Council were out on strike against £150 million budget cuts. The strike was timed to coincide with the council meeting where the budget was to be set. The union also organised a march across Trent Bridge and a rally in front of County Hall.
Nottinghamshire is the first council in the UK to experience strike action in response to the cuts, but with jobs and services being slashed across the country many more unions are likely to join them. Workers at Barnet council have already voted to strike against privatisation plans dubbed, “easyCouncil,” while Unison members at Birmingham reportedly voted unanimously for a strike ballot at meetings held in early-February.
On the newswire: Notts County Council Strike: 2 Rally & Speeches | Notts County Council Strike: 1 The March | Notts County Council strike: rally | Notts County Council strike: March | Notts County Council workers on strike | Notts County Council workers to strike
Previous features: Notts County Council announce £72m cuts | Protests against county council cuts
Pickets
There were pickets at many of the council’s bases, located across the county, including at County Hall, the authority’s main headquarters. Picketers at been in place at County Hall since before the building was opened at 5.30am and by 8am were covering all the entrances to the building.
Few people were deterred by the pickets, but it was noted by several people that it was very quiet for a Thursday. Whether this is because of the strike or if people have taken leave or arranged to work at home so as to avoid the strike isn’t clear.
One person who did refuse to go in was a Labour councillor who explained he had never crossed a picket line in his life and wasn’t about to start now.
Most people going into work didn’t make much effort to engage with picketers, usually going out of their way to avoid eye contact. One council worker, however, tried to explain that while he was a Unison member, he was also a LibDem (evidently he wasn’t embarrassed by this) and supported what the government was trying to do to fix the “mess” created by Labour.
Strikers on the vehicle exit apparently encountered a greater number of people and were able to stop at least on postal delivery coming in.
Reports from elsewhere in the County tell a varying picture, with only 1 picket at the Employee Services Centre in Rushcliffe Business Park and as many as sixty at Lawn View House in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
The council’s own “disruption” page listed 2 customer service points, 6 day services and 11 libraries as being closed, at least for some of the day.
From 11am, strikers began congregating on Victoria Embankment for a march to County Hall and a rally. Once that was completed a presence was maintained on the main vehicle entrance in the hope of ensuring any deliveries did not cross the picket line.
It is too early to confidently evaluate the impact of the strike action. While it may not have been as big as could be hoped for it is worth noting that after months of ignoring the union, the council organised a meeting to discuss their concerns as soon as the result of the ballot was announced.
The ballot was for open-ended action and meetings are planned over the next couple of weeks to see where the dispute can move forward from here.
March
Unison had originally wanted to march from Bridge Field in West Bridgford, but Tory-run Rushcliffe Borough Council refused permission for the union to use the land, claiming that do otherwise might be seen as “supporting a political initiative”. Unison condemned the decision, but relocated the start point to Victoria Embankment.
Unison had organised coaches from around the county and union members were joined by campaigners from Notts SOS, members of the CWU and FBU, the Labour Party (keen to get a dig at the Tory county council) and others. Based on discussions with people there and union officials there were probably around 650 people in attendance. Not a awful turnout, but certainly disappointing.
The march was to make its way across Trent Bridge to County Hall, but protesters were only allowed to use one lane of the bridge, in an area marked off by cones, with three van-loads of police to make sure people didn’t accidentally wander into oncoming traffic. The effect of this was to trap people between the fence overlooking the river and a line of coppers as if they were in the world’s thinnest kettle.
From Trent Bridge, demonstrators followed Loughborough Road, again only allowed on one lane of the road and then into County Hall via the car entrance for a rally.
Rally
This is the fourth such lobby of County Hall since the Tories took control of the council, but the first to be preceded by a march.
There were a range of speakers, but there was a clear orientation towards trade unionists. Among them Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield, Jean Thorpe from Nottingham City Unison and somebody from the FBU. Other speakers included the head of the Labour Group on the council Alan Rhodes and at least one service user.
Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately), the PA wasn’t very good so I couldn’t actually hear much of what was being said. At one point, the speakers system packed up completely (blamed, jokingly on council leader Kay Cutts) and speakers had to make do with a megaphone.
The crowd was initially quote noisy and chanted enthusiastically. Unfortunately, as inevitably happens, people drifted off. The event was just about to be drawn to a conclusion when it was discovered that the BBC would be going out live at 1.30pm, so the chanting was started up again and kept up fairly impressively throughout the broadcast.
It was notable that while the previous such rally in October had filled the area in front of County Hall, this one didn’t do so. Whether this was because it is currently half term or for some other reason isn’t clear.
While not as large as might have been hoped, the turnout was still impressive and the rally was a central part of the action on the day. With further strike action likely this probably won’t be the last time workers rally outside County Hall.
Natwest Bank shut by protesters
26-02-2011 18:23
Saturday 26th February was a busy day for anti-cuts campaigning in Nottingham city centre. Activists from Notts SOS were out collecting signatures for a petition against cuts by the city council and building for the rally next weekend. Meanwhile Notts UK Uncut occupied Natwest Bank, ultimately forcing it to close early.
The Natwest just off Market Square was targetted as part of a national day of action against Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) who own it. Campaigners are angry that the firm has been allowed to pay investment bankers massive bonuses, despite the fact that it was bailed out by the British taxpayer to the tune of billions of pounds in 2008.
Protesters entered the bank around 11.30am and were able to remain in for more than 2 hours. For most of this time the bank was still in operation. This created a bizarre atmosphere, with customers queuing to be served on one side of the store while campaigners were sat with banners on the other, often chanting.
Eventually, the management clearly decided they'd had enough and the bank was shut early, with a note stuck to the door explaining only that this was due to "unforseen circumstances." From Natwest, protesters moved onto Boots, targetted because of its efforts to avoid paying tax.
Pics: Brixton Natwest UK Uncut occupation
26-02-2011 18:22
Brixton Natwest was today turned into a housing project to highlight the cuts being made to Housing Benefits.
The branch was occupied until closing time by 20-25 local people armed with sleeping bags, placards, and a big orange tent! Homelessness is set to rise under this government: in December a coalition of 17 charities warned that the proposed welfare cuts could result in 8000 more people without homes, more recently it has been reported that homeless charities will lose 30% of their funding with around 8800 hostels due to close in England alone.
Make the Banks Pay! #UKuncut Lloyds TSB Occupied
26-02-2011 13:22
There are massive cuts to the school building programme so we've set up a UKuncut classroom in a bank - Lloyds TSB on Oxford Street!
Derivatives. Fractional reserves. Toxic assets. Sub-prime mortgages. Banking is complicated. Even the bankers who crashed the global economy into the ground didn't really understand it. And with massive Tory cuts coming to school building programmes, it's going to be harder than ever to learn.
Banks don't have to be this way. As UK Uncut activists all across the country are setting up essential public services in banks, we arrived to find the Natwest branch on Regent Street already closed. Posters were plastered across the doors of Natwest, before a quick run round the corner and down Oxford Street saw everyone bail into Loyds TSB, occupying it for a teach in.
Along the way we noticed Vodafone was already shut on Oxford street, whilst Boots had guards and police on the door - "Not today!" someone shouted, but may be soon...
http://ukuncut.org.uk/actions/list
Pics: Camden #UKuncut Natwest Creche Action
26-02-2011 11:22
This morning around 50 people, parents and children have transformed Natwest in Camden into a creche, in a protest against cuts which will hit children and women. It's our society that's too big to fail, not the banking system.
One mother said "People are realising the massive impact these cuts are about to have on our lives and our children's future - we've got to work together to defend our future, there are alternatives, we need to fight for them".
250 Sure Start children's centres are to close within the year and 2000 others will have reduced service and less funding. Rape crisis centres are being cut, domestic violence support services are being cut.
Women are going to bear the brunt of the cuts. Women make up the majority of public sector workers, the jobs that are being cut. Women rely most heavily on public services and many of the benefits that are being cut such as the Sure Start Maternity Grant, Child Benefit and the childcare aspect of Working Tax Credits. Where cuts mean that the disabled, elderly and infant people in our society are left to go it alone, women will step in to bridge the gap.
The action is part of around 8 actions in London today and almost 50 around the uk.
Flyer text handed out:
We have turned Natwest into a crèche today to highlight one of the many ways
that the cuts will disproportionately affect women. We will not stand for these
unnecessary cuts, which will push progress on women’s equality back a
generation.The government should be making RBS/Natwest and the other banks
pay for the crisis they caused.
Women are going to bear the brunt of these cuts. Women make up 65% of the
public sector work force - the jobs that are being cut. Cuts to spending are set to hit
the services and benefits women and families rely on. Women access services such
as the NHS more frequently and more intensively than men, because of pregnancy,
longer life expectancy and lower earnings. Moreover, women still do the bulk of
caring for children and elderly parents, so will be most affected by reductions in
childcare and social care that help them meet these responsibilities. Expecting
women to bridge the looming care gap also jeopardises women’s presence in the
work place.
250 Sure Start children’s centres are set to close within the year and 2,000 others
will have reduced service and less funding. This will devastate thousands of families
across the UK. 100% funding has been cut to Liverpool Rape Crisis centre. Devon
county council announced plans to reduce funding for domestic violence support
services by 100% which after campaigning was reduced to 42%. Nottingham City
intends to cut their Supporting People budget by 50%, that’s money used to get
refugees and women fleeing domestic violence into housing.
“If the government is cutting the benefits that allow mothers to work, the state
support that allows them to survive without work, access child support, and protect
themselves in divorces and with employers, then remaining domestic violence
services have an impossible job. You can't work with women to protect them from
domestic violence when the state is ensuring that, outside that relationship, there
are few ways for them to survive.”
– Lisa Ansell, The Guardian
The government’s cuts are not ‘fair’, we’re not ‘all in this together’, and there are
alternatives. Make the banks pay for the crisis they caused. It’s our society that's
too big to fail, not the broken banking system.
Join the protest, spread the word, stop the cuts. www.ukuncut.org.uk
Full article | 1 addition | 3 comments
Catholic Workers Blockade London Court as Julian Assange Extradition Verdict
26-02-2011 10:19
Feb. 24th. -Associated Press Photo (Matt Dunham) - "Catholic Workers Ciaron O'Reilly, left, and Roland Gianstefani, right, are removed by police and security officers after sitting in the road after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange departed after his extradition hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011."
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/3/20110224/img/pwl-britain-wikileaks-assan-bc9e8992db12.html Notts County Council Strike: 2 Rally & Speeches
26-02-2011 03:36
Thursday February 24th
Nottinghamshire County Council met to set its budget. Unison members at the council were on strike, to coincide with this the union organised a march meeting on the Victoria Embankment ar 11.00am and marching across Trent Bridge and a rally in front of County Hall in West Bridgford.
Nottinghamshire County Council met to set its budget. Unison members at the council were on strike, to coincide with this the union organised a march meeting on the Victoria Embankment ar 11.00am and marching across Trent Bridge and a rally in front of County Hall in West Bridgford.
Unison had originally wanted to march from Bridge Field in West Bridgford, but Tory-run Rushcliffe Borough Council refused permission for the union to use the land, claiming that do otherwise might be seen as "supporting a political initiative". Unison condemned the decision, hence relocating the start point to Victoria Embankment.
Unison says:
Nottinghamshire County Council councillors met on 24 Feb to set a budget. Vital public services are at risk, and 1,000 staff face being compulsory sacked in the next few months.
Notts County Council does not need to make these cutsLike other councils, they should be lobbying central government for adequate funding to protect local jobs, services and the Notts economy.
The council says it will spend £60million on making 3,500 staff redundant over 3 years. Putting people on the dole will mean services are permanently cut, will take millions out of reduced or deleted — and our local economy.
It will also mean more is spent on benefits — keeping people in jobs costs less than keeping them on the dole. And jobs keep services running.
UNISON has identified £27 million the council could use to protect services and jobs.
Back UNISON in our call for:
* NO compulsory redundancies
* YES to lobbying the Government for funding
* PLANNED service changes, not savage cuts, as a better way to protect services, jobs, & communities.
Notts Unison
http://www.nottsunison.org.uk
Liam Conway of Notts NUT addresses rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgKFzCKP808
NottsSOS
http://www.nottssos.org.uk
____________________________________________
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>
Royal Holloway Occupied (Uni of London)
26-02-2011 03:35
Royal Holloway have OCCUPIED the Arts Building (University of London)
Education is in a period of crisis. The cuts to the teaching budget, the prioritisation of STEM subjects, and the increase in tuition fees have devalued our degrees, changed students into consumers of university prestige and post-degree job potential rather than pursuers of education for its own sake, and reduced the valuable resources and contact hours that are essential to diverse and encompassing courses.
We have already conveyed these concerns to the university management, and invited them to take part in a public meeting before the end of the last term, which they failed to organise, or enquire about.
As members of the University Management team are attending the Universities UK conference on Thursday 24th February, we press those representing RHUL to deliver a clear message to other vice-chancellors and management. This is a vital opportunity to make the case against an increase in tuition fees and spending cuts.As Principal Paul Layzell himself said “we can only speak with our actions”. Therefore we have decided to hold a sit-in. We wish to emphasise the importance of these demands, and reclaim the university space. We shall encourage an open-door policy, will not hinder any students or workers from their day-to-day activities, and shall put on a variety of academic and cultural events as chosen by those participating in the sit-in as a practical demonstration of what the university could achieve without the limitations of spending cuts, raised tuition fees, and a ‘marketised’ structure of learning.
We enclose our demands.
1. The management should open the university accounts and books, and make them publicly available for anyone to see. In the letter ‘A statement by Royal Holloway, University of London on the proposed changes to Higher Education Funding’ dated 24th November 2010, the management stated that “Whilst the college makes a modest annual surplus, this is used to invest in infrastructure such as the current projects to extend teaching space in the School of Management and to replace the Drama Studio” – we want access to the accounts and to be informed on the decision making process that led to these investments, and a projection of any future use of any annual surplus.
2. There should be collective decision making over key decisions, involving all members of the university – lecturers, administrative and support staff, workers, and students.
3. These decisions should be taken in open meetings, which consult the collective university body and operate democratically.
4. The management should release a public statement on the future of Royal Holloway in which they declare the future of funding, and discuss all reports and potential actions.
5. In the aforementioned letter, the management stated it was investigating the “better use of facilities by conferences and events outside term time, fund raising from former students and other donors, offering some of our programmes overseas, distance learning options and a modest growth in international students” – we want to know the developments made in these investigations, and how they would impact on funding at Royal Holloway.
6. We want to know what assessments the college have made regarding the impact of cuts and raised tuition fees on women, ethnic minorities, disabled students, international students and widening participation schemes, given that the management have already stated that “funding cuts threaten widening participation programmes and investment in the student experience”, in the abovementioned letter.
7. The management also claimed in this letter that “We believe in the public value of higher education” and that the “College and its trade body, Universities UK has and continues to lobby Government over the proposed changes to Higher Education funding. We welcome the College’s approach and wish to know the details of the college’s actions in lobbying the Government, and how they have linked with other universities, unions and pressure groups in campaigning against the cuts and the raise in tuition fees.
8. The management should be heavily lobbying and pressuring government not to hand down spending cuts: stressing that they will not make these cuts, redundancies and fee increases & prioritise spending on jobs and education.
9. Given that Principal Paul Layzell stated “we’ve been very clear here, you have a right to protest and no one’s going to stop you doing it”, and the conduct during the sit-in led Steven Bland, Head of Facilities Management, to convey to the Student’s Union that, paraphrasing, ‘he was happy with the way things had gone. He commented that the students were peaceful and polite and together with security have come to the decision that students can come and go as they please’, we push for no action to be taken against participators in the sit-in, whether lecturers, administrative and support staff, workers, or students. We also call on the management to speak out against those universities seeking to take legal action on other participants in sit-ins across the country, for example, at Birmingham University. We pledge to maintain the same level of courtesy, welfare preparation, and lack of disruption as during the last sit-in.
The Royal Holloway Anti-Cuts Alliance
New Student Occupation - Bedford Square
26-02-2011 03:35
A group of student Anti Cuts activists have occupied Royal Holloway's premises on Bedford Square in central London.
They have reclaimed the space to use as a centrally located hub for all student anti cuts groups to organize and hold events! If you’re in the vicinity pop in and show your support!!
http://rhacc.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/royal-holloway-students-occupy-in-central-london/
11 bedford square, corner of montague place and gower street.
In related news ucl pi reports on the UCL line regarding the other occupation that started yesterday at the end of the dayx4 protests - see below. The UCL refectory occupation held a general meeting last night to discuss demands. The next general meeting is 11am Saturday - stay up to date here: http://twitter.com/ucloccupation + http://www.ucloccupation.com/
-------
http://www.pimedia.org.uk/news/college-comment-on-re-occupation.html
"The College is already underway in putting a stop to the occupation that began in the Old Refectory last night.
The court order obtained by the College in December 2010 to evict occupiers of the Jeremy Bentham Room did not cover the whole building. A UCL spokesperson told Pi: ‘UCL will need another court order to secure this eviction, and we are currently discussing with our lawyers how best to go about this…we intend to secure the court order as soon as possible...to enable normal working to resume.’"
Notts County Council Strike: 1 The March
26-02-2011 01:23
Thursday February 24th
Nottinghamshire County Council met to set its budget. Unison members at the council were on strike, to coincide with this the union organised a march meeting on the Victoria Embankment ar 11.00am and marching across Trent Bridge and a rally in front of County Hall in West Bridgford.
Nottinghamshire County Council met to set its budget. Unison members at the council were on strike, to coincide with this the union organised a march meeting on the Victoria Embankment ar 11.00am and marching across Trent Bridge and a rally in front of County Hall in West Bridgford.
Unison had originally wanted to march from Bridge Field in West Bridgford, but Tory-run Rushcliffe Borough Council refused permission for the union to use the land, claiming that do otherwise might be seen as "supporting a political initiative". Unison condemned the decision, hence relocating the start point to Victoria Embankment.
Unison says:
Nottinghamshire County Council councillors met on 24 Feb to set a budget. Vital public services are at risk, and 1,000 staff face being compulsory sacked in the next few months.
Notts County Council does not need to make these cutsLike other councils, they should be lobbying central government for adequate funding to protect local jobs, services and the Notts economy.
The council says it will spend £60million on making 3,500 staff redundant over 3 years. Putting people on the dole will mean services are permanently cut, will take millions out of reduced or deleted — and our local economy.
It will also mean more is spent on benefits — keeping people in jobs costs less than keeping them on the dole. And jobs keep services running.
UNISON has identified £27 million the council could use to protect services and jobs.
Back UNISON in our call for:
* NO compulsory redundancies
* YES to lobbying the Government for funding
* PLANNED service changes, not savage cuts, as a better way to protect services, jobs, & communities.
Notts Unison
http://www.nottsunison.org.uk
Liam Conway of Notts NUT addresses rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgKFzCKP808
NottsSOS
http://www.nottssos.org.uk
____________________________________________
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>
This Week in Palestine week 8 2011
25-02-2011 18:07
Stopping Shells Survey Work
25-02-2011 18:04
yesterday's student demo turns to walkabout
25-02-2011 17:22
university vice-chancellors held a meeting yesterday at woburn house in london. students planned a protest outside the meeting against cuts to the EMA grants, rises in tuition fees, and the coalition's idealogical attack on education.
a planned university occupation failed after an apparent factional dispute, but the protest then transformed into a more general anti-cuts demonstration with visits to known corporate tax dodgers, some disruption around central london, and finally a solidarity visit to a libyan protest outside the american embassy.
the new politically-aware generation connected the dots beautifully with a series of spontaneous decisions and the impromptu marches passed off peacefully with little police interference, and in fact, text-book 'facilitation'.
clicking on pics brings up bigger version. all pics "some rights reserved" - free for non-commercial grassroots use (credited 'rikki indymedia'). no commercial usage without permission.
at about 2pm yesterday afternoon, a small crowd of around 100 students with a few lecturers and other activists gathered near woburn house in tavistock square to protest the tuition fee rises and EMA cuts, while university vice-chancellors held a meeting there.
at about 2.15, numbers were swelled by about a hundred more students from the LSE who arrived with a bicycle sound system and took over the road. there were about a dozen police at the protest, and they gave up some half-hearted efforts to move people, and instead helped find motorists an alternative route.
the students then held a short impromptu march round the square, with some mild scuffles with police on the main road as a few students ran forward to try and enter the building. police then started to put up some metal barriers to close off the road in front of the building, but students interpreted this as the precursor to the kettle, and soon ran over and stopped it, as well as sitting on piles of barriers to prevent any further movement.
again, the dozen police stood down, and although there is little doubt there must have been reserves nearby, none appeared.
with no sign of vice-chancellors or any other movement in the building, the students decided to go on a walkabout, first heading up upper woburn place, where they held up traffic for a few minutes, and then on to the busy euston road junction in front of the station, where they sat down for about ten minutes, bringing the traffic to a standstill at around 3pm.
earlier, notes were passed round telling people to follow the 'red umbrellas', and as the crowd walked west along euston road, the umbrellas were raised. a plan was afoot, and a university occupation seemed to be the aim. the umbrellas took us down goodge street and then turned left towards the university of london union building - clearly this was the target.
however, at the doors there was a strange stand-off, with none other than clare solomon, the socialist president of the ULU, standing shoulder to shoulder with the university security guards, clearly ready for the incursion and determined to fight it off. there were angry exchanges between activists from both sides of the occupation divide, but many of the crowd seemed unaware of the division, and inertia took them further down the road.
if you have time, there is a possibly pertinent and interesting opinion piece here (http://london.indymedia.org/articles/6060) which sheds an anarchist perspective on some of the socialist would-be leaders of the students' struggles, however, despite her socialist leanings, there is some favourable support for her tenure among many activists, and her speeches to date have often spoken of direct action, so it's difficult to know what exactly the division was about at ULU yesterday.
down the road, there was a small fracas with police attempting an arrest. students showed powerful solidarity and performed a classic de-arrest, during which the target made a swift escape, and one policeman lost his helmet, while several others lost their tempers. however, the skirmish was soon over, and surprisingly, still no re-inforcements arrived, leaving the same dozen officers to follow the crowd as they once again set off on a walkabout at around 3.15.
reaching tottenham court road, there was another short roadblock, before someone spotted a barclays branch, and called out to occupy it. police raced against protestors along the road, but at least a dozen activists managed to enter the branch before police gained control of the door. the branch was then closed for several minutes, eggs were thrown at the glass front, and a banner unfurled on a balcony, but those inside decided to leave together after a short while.
again, there was no visible sign of police re-inforcements other than the appearance of a squad car and a van at the bottom of tottenham court road redirecting traffic to close the road off.
chanting exuberantly, and with the bicycle sound system pumping out beats, the protest then took to oxford street. the first stop there was a vodafone shop, which immediately closed its doors while police formed a line in front.
advance warnings were clearly in operation, as the boots chemist branch further along already had its shutters down, trapping bemused customers inside. topshop at oxford circus had lines of security and police letting customers out but no would-be customers in.
the customary blockade of oxford circus lasted about ten to fifteen minutes at around 4pm, and again, there was no interference from the police. in fact, it was by now quite a good-natured interaction, and i also saw two officers warning off a couple of gentlemen who appeared to be attempting to pick bags amongst the students. other police chatted with motorists, calming them and no doubt telling them the protest would be moving along soon. one group sat right in the middle of the junction while others stood around, and some danced joyously to the sound system in the surprisingly warm sunshine.
after more discussion, and some googling to find out its location, the call went up to head for the libyan embassy. this is near the american embassy in grosvenor square, but as the students approached, it became clear that there were a group of a couple of hundred libyans already protesting outside the american embassy, so the students joined them.
LSE students made an announcement about the way the LSE has become a university for hire, and about their recent dicovery that the libyan dictator gaddafi had made a 'donation' to the university of one and a half million pounds. they described how within hours of this discovery they had organised an overnight occupation, and then negotiated with university financiers that in return for ending the occupation, a promise be made whereby all the money would be ring-fenced and used to provide bursaries and grants to future libyan students.
this announcement was met with much cheering and applause, and followed by more open mic speeches from the libyan protestors in front of the american embassy.
i left them there at around 5.30, but i believe a smaller number then marched on to UCL and began an occupation there. (more on this, and some other pics from the day at http://london.indymedia.org/articles/7577).
back at woburn house, police were still on guard at the doors.
after the extreme policing of student protests at the end of last year, it is difficult to second guess the police approach from event to event, but today's passed off well, with a hands-off approach avoiding violence, allowing freedom of movement and speech, and in return finding a positive, exuberant, spontaneous and powerful protest not forced into defence or retaliation.
Dayx4 Student Protests in London - UCL Occupied
25-02-2011 09:22
Hundreds took part in the latest Dayx4 student protests, with feeder marches from several different universities, meeting to protest outside the Universities UK Vice Chancellors meeting. From there, refusing to be stopped by police, they took Euston Road and marched down Oxford Street protesting against UKUncut targets. Deciding against occupying ULU, they demonstrated in solidarity with the people of Libya in Grosvenor Square, before protesting at a meeting at UCL where BP reps were speaking. After holding a meeting at UCL, they decided to stay and are now in occupation at the Old Refectory in the Wilson building. They have called a general meeting at 6pm Friday inviting all campaigning against the cuts to link up.
See: UCLOccupation [Twitter] | LSE Occupation | Royal Holloway Occupation [2] | Previous Student Coverage
More pics from MaeveMckeown Jono_Warren julesmattsson GuyAitchison
See also utube videos: Blocking Oxford Circus | Students Kettle Police | Libya Solidarity Demo
There were also student protests across the country. Other occupations currently include Aberystwyth, Glasgow, and Manchester.
