On Friday afternoon, after a 9 day trial, the verdict for the 9 activists accused of criminal damage as a result of the Brighton Uncut action at Top Shop on the 4th December last year, will be announced. That day 8 activists super-glued themselves inside the windows of the shop (where they remained for around 4 hours) while a demonstration took place outside. In total 21 people (out of a total of around 50 people who took part) were arrested that day, with many people kettled and arrested outside the shop.
The aim of the action was to raise public awareness of the the extent to which our whole society revolves around large corporations and their interests, to the exclusion of all other considerations. The example of Philip Green's dodging hundreds of millions in tax while he was employed a government advisor on the cuts, was a particular blatant one. The hypocritical nature of austerity agenda while large corporations and super-rich individuals dodge billions in taxes, was not lost on passers-by who showed strong support for the action. In fact 2 individuals, including a 70 year old man, were arrested for pulling down carrier bags taped to the windows to try to hide the protest.
As stated during the trial the reason for the use of super-glue was that when a month before around 20 people demonstrated outside Vodafone in Brighton, everyone was ordered to disperse and when they refused 8 people were arrested. On the morning of 4th December the fact that the action was happening was on the front of the local newspaper and over a one hundred riot police were deployed in central Brighton that day to try to stop it. In spite of this, by immobilising themselves in the windows, a very successful action was achieved, which was seen by large numbers of members of the public while Top Shop was closed for most of the day.
The trial has been a rather odd mix of complex technical arguments about what exactly constitutes damage and intention, interspersed with detailed testimony from expert witnessed on tax avoidance and spending cuts. Of particular note was when Richard Murphy (Tax Research UK) went as far as to say he doesn't see any material difference between the Philip Green case and other cases that HMRC has prosecuted in court. He then went on to refuse to answer a question from the District Judge about why Arcadia paid out a £1.3 billion dividend in a single year because he didn't want to end up being sued in the high court.
The 9 day trial is thought to be costing in the region of £100,000 and this stunning waste of public money has been hypocritically brought up by the prosecution at every opportunity, as though it was the defendants who chose to be prosecuted for allegedly smudging some windows and scuffing a mannequin. But then given the over £18 million that is being spent to evict Dale Farm while cuts fall all around, these sort of twisted priorities are becoming all too familiar. The consistent thread that runs through the whole case from before the action to the trial, is the fear of that such popular resistance might spread and the ridiculous levels of political policing that have resulted.
Despite the fact that the exciting burst of resistance against the cuts around the end of 2010, of which the Brighton 9 played their part, has so far failed to affect the change to this vicious system that they were hoping for, the outrage amoung ordinary people is stronger that ever. Philip Green recently blamed the the Brighton 9 amoung others for encouraging the riots this summer (a charge that one suspects they aren't big-headed enough to accept). While that says far more about how out of touch with reality Philip Green and his friends are with the effects of there own actions than it says about the Brighton 9, it is clear that as one of the character witnesses in the trial said of one of the defendants, we need more of her.
While if convicted the Brighton 9 are unlikely to face the sort of harsh punishments meted out to those caught up in the riots this summer, we need more people who are prepared to take a stand for their local communities, in the face of this wave of repression, if there is to be any hope that this system of greed and oppression can be ended. The trial is taking place at Brighton Magistrates Court, Edwards St, Brighton. The verdict will be at 2pm.
Video of the 4th Dec Action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXk8nB8QNRI
As stated during the trial the reason for the use of super-glue was that when a month before around 20 people demonstrated outside Vodafone in Brighton, everyone was ordered to disperse and when they refused 8 people were arrested. On the morning of 4th December the fact that the action was happening was on the front of the local newspaper and over a one hundred riot police were deployed in central Brighton that day to try to stop it. In spite of this, by immobilising themselves in the windows, a very successful action was achieved, which was seen by large numbers of members of the public while Top Shop was closed for most of the day.
The trial has been a rather odd mix of complex technical arguments about what exactly constitutes damage and intention, interspersed with detailed testimony from expert witnessed on tax avoidance and spending cuts. Of particular note was when Richard Murphy (Tax Research UK) went as far as to say he doesn't see any material difference between the Philip Green case and other cases that HMRC has prosecuted in court. He then went on to refuse to answer a question from the District Judge about why Arcadia paid out a £1.3 billion dividend in a single year because he didn't want to end up being sued in the high court.
The 9 day trial is thought to be costing in the region of £100,000 and this stunning waste of public money has been hypocritically brought up by the prosecution at every opportunity, as though it was the defendants who chose to be prosecuted for allegedly smudging some windows and scuffing a mannequin. But then given the over £18 million that is being spent to evict Dale Farm while cuts fall all around, these sort of twisted priorities are becoming all too familiar. The consistent thread that runs through the whole case from before the action to the trial, is the fear of that such popular resistance might spread and the ridiculous levels of political policing that have resulted.
Despite the fact that the exciting burst of resistance against the cuts around the end of 2010, of which the Brighton 9 played their part, has so far failed to affect the change to this vicious system that they were hoping for, the outrage amoung ordinary people is stronger that ever. Philip Green recently blamed the the Brighton 9 amoung others for encouraging the riots this summer (a charge that one suspects they aren't big-headed enough to accept). While that says far more about how out of touch with reality Philip Green and his friends are with the effects of there own actions than it says about the Brighton 9, it is clear that as one of the character witnesses in the trial said of one of the defendants, we need more of her.
While if convicted the Brighton 9 are unlikely to face the sort of harsh punishments meted out to those caught up in the riots this summer, we need more people who are prepared to take a stand for their local communities, in the face of this wave of repression, if there is to be any hope that this system of greed and oppression can be ended. The trial is taking place at Brighton Magistrates Court, Edwards St, Brighton. The verdict will be at 2pm.
Video of the 4th Dec Action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXk8nB8QNRI
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