UK Promoted Newswire Archive
protests 26 march
29-03-2011 00:24
couple of pitures from the centre during the protests 26-th of March 2011
couple of pitures from the centre during the protests 26-th of March 2011
more pictures from 26, centre of town
29-03-2011 00:24
more pitures from the centre during the protests 26-th of March 2011
more pitures from the centre during the protests 26-th of March 2011
138 UK Uncut chargees, 11 others so far
29-03-2011 00:24
Bit of an update on charges etc from the March 26th...
- Police have charged 149 people, 138 of those were charged with aggravated trespass as part of the UK Uncut occupation of Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly and bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on various dates, beginning on 9 May. The remaining seven were bailed pending inquiries.
- 11 people were charged for various offences, including; possession of an offensive weapon, violent disorder, assault on police, criminal damage and drunk and disorderly behaviour.
- There were 84 reported injuries during the protests, including at least 31 police, with 11 officers requiring hospital treatment.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12876705
European Court of Human Rights absolves Italy of Carlo Giuliani’s death
28-03-2011 22:18
Letter to UK Uncutters from the 'violent minority'
28-03-2011 20:22
We're writing this to you to try and prevent the anti-cuts struggle being split up and weakened by the media.
We are anarchists (well, anarcho-syndicalists, technically) - a word that is much misunderstood and misrepresented. We are also students, workers and shop stewards. We co-organised a 'Radical Workers Bloc' on the South London feeder march. The aim was to provide a highly visible radical presence within the workers movement of which we are a part, advocating strikes, occupations and civil disobedience.
Saturday's demonstration was far bigger than anyone expected, and saw thousands go beyond a simple A-B stroll to take direct action. The UK Uncut actions on Oxford Street and in occupying Fortnum and Masons provoked harsh treatment from police, including mass arrests.
When we reached Trafalgar Square, we headed for Oxford Street for the 2pm actions to put some of these words into action (anarchist and UK Uncutter were not mutually exclusive on the day!). When we arrived, we met up with other anarchists who had had the same idea. Wary of being kettled, we chose to stay mobile, causing disruption on Oxford St and the surrounding area, including to UK Uncut targets which were closed and guarded by riot police. Subsequently, several banks, the Ritz and other buildings were damaged or hit by paint bombs. There were some minor scuffles with police. There is a valid debate to be had over tactics - which ones further the anti-cuts movement or are counter-productive - and many of us would favour mass direct action over property destruction. Let's have that debate within the anti-cuts struggle, and not let the media divide us.
But think about it from the store owners' point of view: a broken window may cost £1,000. A lost Saturday's trade through a peaceful occupation would cost many times more. Perhaps this helps explain the harsh police response to the UK Uncut occupation: it hits them where it hurts, in the pocket. Traditionally, workers have used the weapon of the strike to achieve this. But what about workers with no unions, or unions unwilling to strike? What about students, the unemployed? UK Uncut actions have been very successful at involving such people in economically disruptive action - and this seems to be on the right track in terms of forcing the government to back down on its cuts agenda. More and bigger actions in this vein will be needed to stop the cuts (in France, they call these 'economic blockades'). Like those in UK Uncut, we recognise that just marching from A to B or waiting for the government to be fair is not enough. The government, rich and tax avoiders will continue to seek to make the poorest in society pay for the defecit unless we make doing so the more expensive option. As UK Uncut announced on the demonstration 29th January "If the economy disrupts our lives, then we must disrupt the economy".
The press coverage since Saturday has gone into a well-rehearsed frenzy of 'good protestor/bad protestor'. Some UK Uncutters have expressed outrage at being lumped in with the 'bad protestors', (correctly) stressing the peaceful nature of the F&M occupation. We think the whole idea of dividing 'good' and 'bad' protest serves only to legitimise police violence and repression. As we saw on Saturday, repression is not provoked by violent actions, but by effective actions - there is a long history of peaceful pickets and occupations being violently broken up by police, from the Chartists to the Miners Strike. Indeed, UK Uncut have frequently been at the blunt end of this in recent memory yourselves, with police responding to non-violent occupations with pepper spray and violent arrests.
In this light, we would say keep up the good work. Let the mass arrests strengthen your resolve not deter you. And let's not fall into the divide-and-rule tactics that are the oldest trick in the rich's book. If we can help or offer any practical solidarity to the arrestees, please get in touch. We've previously hosted legal advice and training sessions with Fitwatch and the Legal Defence and Monitoring Group - we'd be happy to do this again. Or if the arrests are causing problems with employers, we'll help arrestees organise against victimisation. On Saturday most of the arrestees were UK Uncut activists. Next time it could be us. We - those of us fighting the cuts - are all in this together.
Signed, Brighton Solidarity Federation
www.brightonsolfed.org.uk
Plus individuals from: Northampton, North London, Manchester, Thames Valley and South London Locals (our federal democratic structure means statements can only be issued in the name of a group if the group has had the opportunity to discuss it, and time is against us!)
Video shows how police tricked Fortnum & Mason occupiers into mass false arrest
28-03-2011 19:43
Video shot by Green and Black Cross and released by UK Uncut via The Guardian shows how a Met Chief Inspector lied to occupiers promising they would be let free if they left the building. They were then arrested en masse, many held for 24 hours, and 138 charged with aggravated trespass. The Met's case now appears in tatters.TSG tactics revealed
28-03-2011 18:23
A video posted on the guardian website by a journalist embedded with a TSG team during the m26 demos. Reveals police tactics and the "lines in the sand" that they were authorised to go over the top for. Also reveals the levels of personal choice that the TSG units have when faced with public order situations. Interesting from a tactical point of view for future actions.
Video: Journalist embedded with riot cops
28-03-2011 16:57
Interesting video behind police lines, they do bullshit a fair bit, 'just keeping the fornum and mason area 'sterile' ', doesn't mention that they ended up arresting over 100 peaceful people.Video: the Resistance WILL be televised!
28-03-2011 16:22
A roundup of the events of March 26th in London, as people gathered in their thousands to march through central London to demand an alternative to the destruction of peoples livelihoods by the privilged elite. Many marched for an alternative to capitalism itself. Breakaway groups took a more direct approach, occupying buildings and trashing the symbols of capitalist excess that got the nation into this mess in the first place.
The banks and global corporations were heavily targeted and the police found themselves completely outnumbered and powerless to resist the will of the people as their anger spilled out onto the streets.
Music in this video is by Alt Track (who were with the people on the barricades to the bitter end): http://www.myspace.com/alttrack (warning: link to corporate site)
Palestine Today 03 28 2011
28-03-2011 14:49
CW M26 Bradley Manning Solidarity, "Senior Stewards", Cattle Drive, Blac Block
28-03-2011 09:45
Our M26 "No Cuts Day" started pretty well. We have a lot of "Free Bradley Manning" visuals left over from the U..S embassy gig last week & have them stored (if ya need to borrow them?) at our Bradley Manning shrine/ art installation at Giuseppe Conlon House (GCH). It displays and desciribes Brad's present prison conditions and daily routine, always could be improved if there's anyone out there is artistically inclined?M26 pics and report continued (2of2) - into night
28-03-2011 00:22
continuation of pics and report on london's 'day of rage'. first part can be found here
clicking on pics brings up larger version. all pics copyright, but free for non-commercial, radical use etc. - if in doubt, contact author
part one here ............
police numbers built up, and 'fortnum and masons' was officially closed for business. as the remaining occupiers slowly emerged over a long period of time, they were taken into the side street, handcuffed, arrested, searched, processed, and eventually put onto coaches to various police stations where they were held well into the next day.
a couple of units of riot cops passed through the piccadilly crowds, and scuffles broke out as people taunted them and surrounded them. also, another black bloc group managed to attack several banks, as well as the ritz hotel. as the huge front pane of a santander branch caved in under a battering with a metal railing, the crowd cheered, and the press got their money shots before the riot police moved in.
more police were blocking the end of the road at piccadilly circus, but large numbers of protestors escaped up a side road to regent street. more riot police flooded into the area in front of the store from the south, and set up a reverse kettle, clearing the area in front of 'fortnum and mason' and moving the crowds away in two directions, also kettling some in the process.
in piccadilly circus, riot police protected the barclays and boots branches, but people were drifting down to trafalgar square where fires glowed, a sound system played, and rhythms of resistance provided samba entertainment.
the party in the square carried on for a couple of hours without incident, while small groups continued actions around the west end, setting street fires alight, and targetting casinos and other symbols of decadence.
meanwhile back at piccadilly, the last of the occupiers were still being processed in the street at 8pm, and police were inspecting the damage to the various banks outlets and the ritz hotel.
up at hyde park, the overnight occupation amd peace camp had established itself. unfortunately, tahrir square it wasn't, and there were fewer than a hundred people, a couple of dozen tents and a large marquee, scattered around camp fires in the park. but everyone there seemed to be having fun. there was also another small party and sound system at the south gates to the park. but the hilton park lane, and buckingham palace (both sites planned for after-parties), seemed to have only invited the cops, who didn't seem to be in party mood. parliament square was also quiet, and lorries were collecting the large sand-bags used as ballast for the security fences along whitehall in front of government buildings.
although there was little sign of the planned homeless sleep-in at trafalgar square, the party was still going strong. police numbers appeared to be building up though, and a little before ten o clock, dozens of riot vans charged down to the square as revellers had a little attempt at setting fire to the olympic countdown clock.
suddenly, more than a hundred fully-kitted riot police flooded into the area, and beat back protestors while snatching some. more police moved in from the south, and also along the upper area in front of the national gallery from the west. some people ran to the north-east corner of the square and were helped to escape the impending kettle by people hauling them up over the walls, but probably around a couple of hundred were trapped by a massive police operation. those inside the kettle put on a short but impressive firework display.
the cordon spread outwards too, with familiar lines forming at junctions in a tried and tested formula. worryingly, more and more units of riot police ran into the cordons fully kitted out for trouble, even though police already outnumbered those kettled.
one police support unit, the men in black, went running round to duncannon street. by the time i caught up, there was a small cordon keeping people back from a man who lay unconscious on his back on the ground. as memories of ian tomlinson came to me, i asked around for witnesses and found a group of boys who said that the man had been hitting some plastic dustbins with a stick, and that the cops had chased round the corner, attacked him from behind, and knocked him to the ground where he lay motionless. there was a legal observer there, so i connected him with the witnesses.
meanwhile, towards the strand, another scuffle was breaking out, and a small group of PSUs were surrounded by a crowd as they tried to make an arrest. panicking, they struck out at people with batons before roughly hauling their catch away to the 'safety' of the group near the fallen man.
dozens more police were filling the area from the east along the strand, and hundreds of people were running for charing cross station to make their escape. i was briefly kettled but managed to blag my way out before the cordon tightened, and then lines and lines of police closed the strand completely.
some people spoke to trapped friends on mobiles, and i heard reports of beatings in the square, riot police rampaging through the station, and many sickening reports of ambulances and injuries.
mainstream reports confirmed at least 80 injured and more than 200 arrests.
M26 pics and report (1 of 2) - daytime
28-03-2011 00:22
while hundreds of thousands of people formed the official 'march for the alternative' from embankment, thousands more took part in organised and disorganised actions around the capital, including a spectacular occupation of fortnum and mason's - the piccadilly department store for the richest elite.
clicking on pics brings up larger version. all pics copyright, but free for non-commercial, radical use etc. - if in doubt, contact author
as tens and hundreds of thousands of protestors flooded the embankment, the official TUC march set off at 11.39, passing downing street just before midday, and heading to a rally of endless speeches including ed milliband who favours pretty much the same cuts, just spread out a bit. maybe that's the alternative the TUC have in mind.
spotting huge numbers coming across waterloo bridge and bringing traffic to a halt as they headed east along the strand, i had a fantasy moment that they were all heading towards the belly of the beast, to demolish the city and bring down capitalism. unfortunately, the police, overwhelmed, were sending them in the wrong direction in order to feed them into the back of the march at blackfriars bridge and perhaps tire them out in case they had any subversive ideas.
heading off to search for something more interesting, i didn't have to go far. trafalgar square was awash with people clearly disinterested in the official event. a small group were on spontaneous fitwatch duty, obstructing the cameras of an evidence gathering team, and a huge banner calling for regime change was draped over the wall in front of the national gallery. rhythms of resistance samba band were playing to a large crowd, before deciding where to head for the 2.11 event call.
ad hoc organising committees had spread the idea that whatever occupations, direct actions, and road blocks that were planned, they should all try to occur at 2.11pm.
i headed up to oxford street, the area marked out by pressure group ukuncut for many events to highlight corporate tax avoidance. the ukuncut campaign inspires local groups to target shops and organisations from a list of major tax dodgers, demonstrating a clear and real alternative to the austerity cuts - simply making the corporations and banks pay their dues as we are 'all in it together'.
top shop was already a small military zone, with dozens of fully-kitted riot police guarding it while flares and smoke were set off off outside the closed shop, and eggs, paint bombs and other occasional missiles made contact with its glass frontage.
one of the shops targetted was british home stores, part of phillip green's empire. he avoids paying huge amounts of uk tax by putting businesses in his wife's name while she nominally resides in the monaco tax haven. while more than a dozen people staged a sit-in within the store, dozens took up position outside and staged arts events, making the link between the money lost to mr green's swindle and the money cut from arts budgets.
veteran actor timothy west, staged a short play with his son sam, in which he played the evil capitalist, arrogantly defending his position and refusing to pay his fair dues.
meanwhile, protestors were roughly ejected from the store by police and security, while security guards tried to prevent cameras from documenting the process.
a small group of black bloc passed by, and cocked up a little by throwing eggs and paint bombs at the police and at the front of the shop, not realising that in doing so they were also showering the protestors with their unwelcome gifts. some riot squad units came chasing them down oxford street providing a surreal spectacle for many ordinary shoppers and tourists who seemed blissfully unaware of the uk 'day of rage'.
adding to the surreal goings-on were a small group of elves hopping around, and some clown army types who posed near riot cops, not to mention the huge trojan horse which arrived at oxford circus. the horse, fashioned from sack-coloured fabric on a vast wooden frame, had begun its journey in kennington and then broke free from the TUC march, cantering up regent street before taking up position right in the middle of the oxford street junction.
while the samba band played outside the closed 'top shop' store, not far away, small groups of black bloc smashed windows of particularly decadent bond street stores and clashed with riot police in mayfair.
i decided to take a quick peek at the 'official' events in hyde park, but as speakers droned on from the main stage, it looked like the crowd was quickly dispersing and leaving in droves, some making their way into oxford street, while others filled pubs and food outlets, and stretched the transport infrastructure to the limit.
back at oxford circus, i counted a couple of dozen vans of fully kitted riot police sitting in the back streets, and as news went out of a possible impending kettle, the samba band moved off down regent street a little after 4pm, while a large crowd of ukuncut supporters headed off to their 'secret target' which turned out to be the elite piccadilly 'fortnum and masons' department store.
'fortnum and masons' is owned by 'whittington investments' which has a 54% stake in 'associated british foods', producers of ryvita, kingsmill, and who are also owners of primark. 'associated british foods' are believed to have dodged more than £40 million in tax. the piccadilly store is a favourite of the royals and the super-rich and they sell luxury picnic hampers for the princely sum of £25,000 - which is more than the yearly salary of an NHS nurse, but clearly just a picnic in the park for some.
at the piccadilly store, more than a hundred people managed to enter, and took up positions on the very posh stairs and balconies and among the very expensive foods and fineries. as police struggled to close the doors, other protestors climbed on to the overhead canopy and put up banners, chalked slogans on the wall, and danced and cavorted.
there were some scuffles as riot police tried to secure the area in front of the shop, but it was generally peaceful and even good-natured, and some who left the occupation early were allowed to go, while dozens stayed inside, singing protest songs and staging games.
the people on the roof climbed down after about 40 minutes. they were helped by the crowd, and escaped without arrest, although most were unmasked and easily identifiable, so may be the target of police intelligence later. i considered hiding faces in my pics, but there were just so many cameras there as well as police surveillance, that i am certain the police will not be helped by my shots one bit.
while all this was going on, piccadilly was still full of marchers struggling towards hyde park before it was due to finish. as they passed, the general atmosphere was one of support and excitement.
article continues part two here
#26march Trafalgar Sq in the evening Pics & Report
27-03-2011 23:22
After a full day of determined activity, protest and action around central London hundreds of protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square from around 5pm. For the first few hours the square turned into a huge party with people mainly dancing to several mobile sound systems, a samba band as well as enjoying live performances over an open mic. But later in the evening, at around 8pm, huge numbers of riot police moved into the square charging into the crowd. At first protestors responded the attack by trying to defend the space, but finally the hundreds of riot cops moving in managed to re-take the square and to kettle around 200 people that got stuck between the thick police lines forming quickly all over the place.
When we arrived in the area we found a square truly resembling the worst images of what a police state may look like. The lines of riot police were everywhere and new ones were being formed all the time, thus preventing anyone to approach the centre of the square and making any contact impossible with those trapped inside the kettle.
The violent police operation didn't manage to stop crowds of people from gathering outside the police cordons, and from stopping traffic mainly in the south side of the square in the junction with the Strand. Police repeatedly charged these groups of protestors but people keept coming back towards the square. Eventually police moved extra riot police lines pushing people away from the area and cutting all access to the square. We left just a few minutes before lines of riot police lines pushed people away from the south side of the Strand around Charing Cross station and closing all posiible exits from the area. The kettle inside the square lasted for a few extra hours, with the last protestors not left out until after 2am, many of which were arrested.
Here there are some pics. Even though the image quality is far from ideal due to the poor light conditions, at least they may help to visualise what the Trafalgar Square area looked like at the end of a determined day of protest and resistance to the Government imposed 'austerity measures'.
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Photos from March26March
27-03-2011 22:22
People Power Pics
500,000 + people protest against the ConDemNation.
March 26th: The Big One
27-03-2011 22:22
In the run-up to March 26th, I developed two criteria by which to measure success: (1) it had to be big, i.e. the biggest thing since the February 15th anti-war march; and (2) it had to be a clear statement that the anti-cuts movement would not allow the TUC to strangle its militancy. On both counts I think it can broadly be considered successful.
Calculating the size of marches is notoriously difficult with police and organiser estimates typically varying by anything up to 100%. This time, organisers have put the attendance at anything between 250-500,000. Certainly, it was nowhere near the size of the February 15th anti-war march. That completely dominated vast areas of central London. Despite having two starting points and beginning early, it still remained almost static throughout. By contrast, the anti-cuts march flowed relatively quickly and many people I spoke to managed to complete the whole length (although I didn't bother).
I joined the education/book bloc feeder, catching it up part way along its route to the official start point. This numbered, perhaps a few thousand, growing as it made its way through London. In fact, it was bigger than some full-blown demos I've been on. Made up predominantly of students, quite a few of them masked up, I was surprised by the low-key police response, although we were followed much of the way in by a police helicopter.
The march itself was impressive in its scale. The unions were out in force, with an array of banners from branches across the country. Just the ones I saw included: GMB, RMT, Unison, Unite, PCS, NAPO, Musicians Union, BETCU, NUJ, TSSA, ASLEF, NUT, NASUWT, FBU, UCU and CWU. There were also a number of political parties out with the Green Party, Labour and even a small group of LibDems keen to explain that "we don't agree with Nick." And of course, there were the usual array of lefty sects, providing an exciting day out for even the most experienced lefty trainspotter: SWP, Socialist Party, RCPBML, CPGB, AWL, AGS, CPB, the Sparts and many others.
There were also a wide range of local anti-cuts groups, campaigning organisations and even a few seemingly ordinary people. The crowd was also peppered with a number of bands and soundsystems as an alternative to the otherwise repetitive chanting. Among these, that which seemed to be accompanying the Federation of Entertainment Unions (NUJ, BETCU, Equity, Musicians Union) were, perhaps unsurprisingly the best, playing a funky jazz sound.
The march followed a route familiar from a number of previous marches. Forming up on Embankment, protesters made their way down past Parliament up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square then on up to Picadilly Circus before making their way down Picadilly into Hyde Park for the rally. Here they were to be addressed by the great and the good, including prominent cuts supporter and Labour leader Ed Milliband. The rally seemed to be compèred by Tony Robinson, who may or may not have had a cunning plan for how to beat the cuts.
Despite an impressive festival-style audio set-up, it was actually very difficult to hear what was being said from the stage, not that I was all that interested in being told why I was there by an assortment of trade union bureaucrats and Z-List celebrities. Instead after a brief break, I headed down to Oxford Street to see how the UK Uncut actions were going.
By the time I arrived, it was around 3pm and police were already securing anything up to half of the shops. Many, but not all of them, had helmeted up. There was a rumour that somebody was on the roof of HSBC, but exactly where this was supposed to be, or whether it was true I never did find out. Things briefly got more exciting as the Black Bloc arrived, perhaps 5-600-strong followed several van-loads of Met Police.
A large group had accumulated at Oxford Circus for the much-hyped UK Uncut surprise occupation. Keen to avoid walking into a kettle I skirted the edge of this crowd trying to work out what was going on. The police seemed to be guarding the Apple Store, lining up in-front of it in riot gear, although I'm not entirely sure if this was ever a target.
After a while, a group of protesters broke of from the crowd and headed down Regent Street towards Picadilly Circus. From this point, I lost any sense of the big picture. There seemed to be several groups of people roaming around central London. As others have noted, these groups seemed to be very aware of police tactics and responded collectively and effectively. Nearly everybody was masked up and the vast majority in black. It was notable that they were overwhelmingly young.
There were a number of fires lit around Picadilly Circus with at least 2 fire engines being brought in to deal with them. Police vans whizzed around sirens going, the Met clearly struggling to stay on top of a situation they self evidently had no control over. Wandering down Picadilly later there were broken windows and graffiti at The Ritz and broken windows at Boots, Starbucks and even IranAir.
At Trafalgar Square, things were less confrontational (at least while I was there) with perhaps a couple of thousand gathered around Nelson's Column with fires and a soundsystem. Among the stranger sights here was somebody dressed as a Dalek dancing to the music.
The occupation at Hyde Park was not huge with perhaps 100-150 people by around 8pm, although people were still arriving and putting up tents at that time. Again occupiers were amusing themselves with fires and music. Here there was no obvious police presence whatsoever, although they may have put in an appearance after I left.
Overall, as I suggested above, a success. But we should not and cannot rest on our laurels. Now the TUC have marched their soldiers up to the top of the hill, the question arises, "What next?" TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has suggested that this is the end of the "phoney war" with the government, but the TUC actively collaborated with the police to try and avoid disorder at the demonstration, going far beyond the usual agreements which precede other large demonstrations in London. So they cannot be relied on to do what is required.
There is also a bigger issue here. Even with all its paid officers, an army of trained volunteers, an extensive publicity machine, vast financial reserves and membership numbering in the millions, the entire trade union movement going full-out for 6 months was only able to muster perhaps half a million. This in comparison to the almost entirely amateur anti-war movement (a handful of full-time Trots hardly count), which has access to nothing like the same level of resources, and on February 15th managed to turn out anything between 1-2 million.
While I don't want to dismiss the TUC's achievement out of hand - 500,000 is a lot of people - I think this should give pause to those advocating an entirely industrial response to the cuts, I'm looking at you the one-day general strike brigade. It isn't immediately clear we can guarantee widespread support for such an action, even if it was anything other than a exercise to let-off steam. So far Greece has had 8 general strikes in response to austerity measures with little obvious success.
Equally, the anarchist response is clearly insufficient. As inspiring as the Black Bloc and other actions were, it is all too easy for state capitalism to weather occasional, one-off set-piece confrontations. What is needed is to take that militancy back into our communities. Exactly what forms that will take will inevitably depend on the particular circumstances of any given area. Twenty years ago the Poll Tax was beaten because it was impossible to impose it. The cuts are a bigger, more general attack, but once again we need ensure that they become impossible to implement.
The battle lines have been drawn. This is just the beginning. I'll see you on the barricades.
The Protest, The Police & The Press
27-03-2011 21:22
The media have once again jumped all over themselves to attack protesters and violence. As ever they miss the point and refuse to understand the reasons behind political violence.
Another mass demonstration in London and once again the headlines are filled with stories of Anarchy in the UK. At least half a million people, from all walks of life, took to the streets on Saturday to register their disgust at the brutal and savage cuts being forced upon the British population by the ConDem Coalition.
But this in itself shouldn’t come as a surprise and in reality is understandable. Given the choice between pictures of Ed Miliband speaking from Hyde Park and the smashed up windows of luxury shops, it’s no contest. On going battles between police and masked clad protesters certainly makes for a compelling story.
The real failure of the media is not to portray the violence; it is their refusal to understand it. The large majority of the media painted angry young demonstrators as mindless vandals and criminals with a thirst for violence. The language I heard from the likes of Sky News and the BBC was at best sensationalist at worse biased. Even murder suspects aren’t afforded such impartiality.
One Sky News anchor referred to protesters as ‘criminals who have nothing to do with the real message hijacking a peaceful protest’. Sadly this is a narrative repeated across the media, as well in the Police force and even in some sections of the trade unions.
But was this really mindless vandalism? Whatever one thinks about the political tactic used by those who attacked businesses it is impossible to not understand the symbolism. Particular shops were attacked for particular reasons. Vodafone and Top Shop are accused of dodging taxes at a time when we are in desperate need of their contribution.
As for Fortnum and Mason and the Ritz, these are clearly symbols of the million and billionaire elite that are riding scot-free whilst the poor are made to suffer. The Tories like to repeat the false notion that we are all in this together. A few broken windows are nothing compared to having your welfare slashed or education allowance removed.
This is what the mainstream media fails to report. This is where they let down their audience and deceive their viewers. True, violence might not be the answer to the spending cuts but to divorce the violence from the politics is a dastardly tactic of the media.
What’s more this painting of protestors as having a thirst for blood is plain wrong. At one point outside Fortnum and Mason I saw around 10 police officers grossly out numbered by protestors, most of whom looked particularly angry. But given that at that moment the police posed no immediate threat there was no attempt to attack the clearly scared officers. They danced around for a few minutes, celebrated their victory and moved on!
On the other hand the real violence always comes from the boys in blue. I was in Trafalgar Square until around 9pm. The atmosphere was jovial, people were dancing, singing, rapping and generally having fun. No major crime. But as I returned home I saw the horrific violence that was taking place.
Speaking to those who were there the police had suddenly and with great force moved into the square to rid it of the people. So where does the real violence come from? And why does the media refrain from reporting this? Once again I saw Sky News telling the story of glass bottles being thrown at police. Not once did they mention the casualties amongst the protestors or the swinging police truncheons.
I did not take part in any violent actions on Saturday. I don’t think it really helps the cause but I understand and sympathise with the anger behind it. The mass media in Britain does not. This is their failure and this exposes the inherent bias within our press. For every action there is a thought process behind it. After all what’s a few smashed windows compared to a series of cuts that will decimate the futures of a whole generation?
Putting In The Ritz
27-03-2011 20:28
SchNEWS emergency bulletin on the M26 demos in LondonNew Police Tactics March 26th
27-03-2011 20:28
Symbols of Wealth Targeted - Global corporations
27-03-2011 19:23
thousands of people in fluid and well organised break away groups took to the streets to show their anger at the inequalities of a capitalist system that continues to reward the rich at the expense of the poor and working classes. Global corporations, banks and symbols of decadence where all targeted throughout the day.