As the city council slashes services for the elderly & vulnerable, and prepares to increase the council tax; as more land gets flogged off to private developers; as water and other utility bills increase by many times the rate of inflation; and as the Government attempts to rush through Parliament, with some Bristol MP’s support, yet more draconian attacks on our civil liberties; it just so happens that a series of G7/8 ministerial meetings are taking place around the UK, involving Employment, Environment & Development ministers (for info see 
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2005/g8/). And of course we have Blair’s conscience-saving Commission on Africa reporting today.
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2005/g8/). And of course we have Blair’s conscience-saving Commission on Africa reporting today.
What is the connection you may ask? Well it is not one that Blair and the rest of the G8 & their corporate backers would like you to make. The city council’s NuLabour rulers may bleat about cuts in central govt funding of local govt, but then look runs central govt. The connection they don’t want us to make relates to the globalisation of capital, the opening up of all sectors of a nations economy to the private sector and market economy. Privatisation. The running down & selling off of the public sector and public utilities. Using public money to assist the takeover of the former public sector, which is why public spending is not actually going down, it’s just going into private pockets.
Take a look at Blair’s Commission on Africa. It’s big idea is a massive increase of £25billion in aid per year upto 2010, along with 100% cancellation of African debt owed to the IMF & World Bank. Sounds good eh. The money will be raised in the short term via Gordon Brown’s proposed International Finance Facility (IFF), which aims to raise the money on the international capital markets. But here’s the catch, that money raised will be backed up by Government bonds as security, presumably because those capital markets expect a return on their money. And those Govt bonds, are in fact paid for by our taxes. Meanwhile the US is refusing to back the IFF, and it’s banks & corporations are resisting 100% debt cancellation – you won’t catch them ‘losing’ money & profit, not unless of course they get cast iron guarantees that you, the taxpayer, will bale them out and make up their profits. Meanwhile a long way down the line, after taking into account the taxpayers money wasted on war in Iraq and elsewhere, our local services are getting slashed and our publicly owned property gets flogged off.
Bristol G8 Dissent! exists to provide information on, and resistance to, the G8, along with ideas on alternatives to their ways of doing things. Over the next few weeks we will be producing a number of factsheets & briefing papers on climate change, sustainable development, PFI (privatisation), the IMF/WB/WTO, and African debt/poverty.
Additionally, on 9 April, we are holding an ‘Information for Action’ day at the Malcolm X Centre, City Rd, BS2, from 10.30 to 5.30pm. All are welcome, entry free/by donation. Workshops, presentations, free info, idea sharing, stalls and food. Full details to follow shortly, including a benefit social in the evening at The Full Moon on Stokes Croft. Contact bristol_g8workshops (at) riseup.net for info.
Other upcoming Dissent activities:
Tues 22 March – monthly Bristol Dissent meeting, brought forwards from the 29th due to the bank holiday weekend. From 7.30pm (food from 7pm). At Kebele, 14 Robertson Rd, Easton BS5 (tel 0117 939 9469). All welcome.
Tues 15 March – Info sub-group meet: preparing those briefing papers and organising the Information for Action day. 6pm at Kebele.
Thurs 17 March – events sub-group: organising benefits, outreach & protests. Check with Kebele for time.
Sat 19 March – street stall & outreach, Corn St, city centre, from 11am approx.
Sat 26 March – Bristol Artivists: art as resistance workshop, from 3pm at Kebele.
Sat 9 April – Info for Action day plus benefit.
Sat 16 April – Bristol Dissent workshop & stall at the ‘Don’t agonise, organise’ event at the L Shed (see for info http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire/display/22120/index.php and http://www.digitalbristol.org/members/nsf/index.htm)
20/22 May – Clown Army event in Bristol (check http://www.clownarmy.org/recruit/recruit.html and http://www.labofii.net/tour05/dates/)
If you can’t stand it any longer, Bristol G8 Dissent! would love to hear from you.
Email us at dissentbristol (at) subsection.org.uk
Write to Box 102, Greenleaf Books, 82 Colston St, Bristol BS1.
Join the elist at http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/dissent-bristol
Even better, come to one of the events above, and get involved. We don’t just want to make poverty history ( http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/), we want to make the G8 and all it stands for history!
Take a look at Blair’s Commission on Africa. It’s big idea is a massive increase of £25billion in aid per year upto 2010, along with 100% cancellation of African debt owed to the IMF & World Bank. Sounds good eh. The money will be raised in the short term via Gordon Brown’s proposed International Finance Facility (IFF), which aims to raise the money on the international capital markets. But here’s the catch, that money raised will be backed up by Government bonds as security, presumably because those capital markets expect a return on their money. And those Govt bonds, are in fact paid for by our taxes. Meanwhile the US is refusing to back the IFF, and it’s banks & corporations are resisting 100% debt cancellation – you won’t catch them ‘losing’ money & profit, not unless of course they get cast iron guarantees that you, the taxpayer, will bale them out and make up their profits. Meanwhile a long way down the line, after taking into account the taxpayers money wasted on war in Iraq and elsewhere, our local services are getting slashed and our publicly owned property gets flogged off.
Bristol G8 Dissent! exists to provide information on, and resistance to, the G8, along with ideas on alternatives to their ways of doing things. Over the next few weeks we will be producing a number of factsheets & briefing papers on climate change, sustainable development, PFI (privatisation), the IMF/WB/WTO, and African debt/poverty.
Additionally, on 9 April, we are holding an ‘Information for Action’ day at the Malcolm X Centre, City Rd, BS2, from 10.30 to 5.30pm. All are welcome, entry free/by donation. Workshops, presentations, free info, idea sharing, stalls and food. Full details to follow shortly, including a benefit social in the evening at The Full Moon on Stokes Croft. Contact bristol_g8workshops (at) riseup.net for info.
Other upcoming Dissent activities:
Tues 22 March – monthly Bristol Dissent meeting, brought forwards from the 29th due to the bank holiday weekend. From 7.30pm (food from 7pm). At Kebele, 14 Robertson Rd, Easton BS5 (tel 0117 939 9469). All welcome.
Tues 15 March – Info sub-group meet: preparing those briefing papers and organising the Information for Action day. 6pm at Kebele.
Thurs 17 March – events sub-group: organising benefits, outreach & protests. Check with Kebele for time.
Sat 19 March – street stall & outreach, Corn St, city centre, from 11am approx.
Sat 26 March – Bristol Artivists: art as resistance workshop, from 3pm at Kebele.
Sat 9 April – Info for Action day plus benefit.
Sat 16 April – Bristol Dissent workshop & stall at the ‘Don’t agonise, organise’ event at the L Shed (see for info
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire/display/22120/index.php and http://www.digitalbristol.org/members/nsf/index.htm) 20/22 May – Clown Army event in Bristol (check
http://www.clownarmy.org/recruit/recruit.html and http://www.labofii.net/tour05/dates/) If you can’t stand it any longer, Bristol G8 Dissent! would love to hear from you.
Email us at dissentbristol (at) subsection.org.uk
Write to Box 102, Greenleaf Books, 82 Colston St, Bristol BS1.
Join the elist at
http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/dissent-bristol Even better, come to one of the events above, and get involved. We don’t just want to make poverty history (
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/), we want to make the G8 and all it stands for history! 