UK Indymedia - UK UK Newswire Archive

Disrupt the FIT at DSEi

11-09-2011 15:05

It's that time again. DSEi, Defence Systems Equipment International, the world's largest arms fair, is returning to ExCeL, and Disarm DSEi, alongside others in the Stop the Arms Fair Coalition will be trying to stop them. 13th September has been announced as the main day of action, with Disarm DSEi calling for people to stop the arms dealers in their tracks by blockading the DLR from 10am at Custom House station. Actions will be continuing throughout the week, including at the arms dealers dinner on Thursday.

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Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair: Iran is the real enemy

11-09-2011 14:16

Unlike George Bush, who kept a low profile since leaving presidency in 2009, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997-2007), the other war criminal-in-chief, is still at the forefront of war propaganda efforts.

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Massive battles in Thessaloniki

11-09-2011 13:56

MASSIVE battles erupted on the streets of Thessaloniki on Saturday as thousands of angry citizens protested at a speech by neoliberal Prime Minister George Papandreou.

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Oldham NHS Campaign

11-09-2011 10:38

Oldham trades council held a public meeting on Friday 9th September to discuss how to campaign against cuts to the NHS budget and against the (so-called) Health Reform Bill. Since Oldham is a political desert, with almost no political activity going on outside of general elections, this was a significant event in itself.

The meeting was chaired by Mark Larkin of Oldham TUC, with a union representative from Unite and from Unison and both local Members of Parliament as invited speakers. After each had made a ten minute speech, contributions were invited from the audience.

Health service staff talked about patients already being denied some types of NHS treatment because the criteria for deciding whether a patient is suitable for treatment is being manipulated so as to ration some procedures. Cataract operations are being subjected to rationing. Debbie Abrams MP gave the example of a local man aged 33 who is unable to work because cataracts have impaired his sight too much and he is in a precision engineering job which requires acute vision. he can no longer work but has been told that cataract operations are only available to people who are completely blind or almost so. If he has to wait until his visual impairment is that far advanced, he will not only not be able to work but will need carers as well. But that cost comes out of social services budgets, not the NHS.

Some people, out of desperation, are paying privately for treatment at the same hospitals that denied them treatment on the NHS.

Most of the discussion concerned the Health 'Reform' Bill which has just been through all its House of Commons stages and will shortly be looked at in the House of Lords. The Health Secretary's claim that he had 'paused' the Bill to take account of objections was false. All the amendments made to the Bill since then have left it in much the same form. For example, the clause that said Monitor (the quango which is to oversee the NHS budget) would actively promote competition to provide health care has been changed to read that Monitor 'will prevent anti-competitive practices.' There is no discernible difference!

The aim of the Bill all along has been to break up the NHS by allowing private companies to bid for contracts to provide the health services they consider most easy and profitable to take on. Since they aim to make a profit there will be a worse but more expensive service. What money is left in the NHS budget after the private providers have creamed off the profitable services will not be enough to adequately treat people with serious or complex conditions and for Accident & Emergency services. These will be rationed even more and people will be faced with the 'choice' of paying privately or doing without treatment. Any Tory politician's statements that they have no intention of breaking up or privatising the NHS is pure lies. They have already gone a long way down that road. The Health 'Reform' Bill has removed the Secretary of State's responsibility to ensure there is universal health care provision around the country. If the Bill is finally passed in its current form, what free NHS treatment you can get will depend on where you live.

The trouble with meetings organised by trade unions is that they tend to let the Labour Party off rather too lightly. Nobody challenged the two Labour MPs on their party's record of introducing competition into the NHS in the first place and of devising the (wasteful and discredited) Private Finance Initiative to fund the building of hospitals. Only a member of Manchester Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) challenged Michael Meacher and Debbie Abrams to say whether the Labour Party would undertake to re-nationalise the NHS and return it to a comprehensive and fully publicly funded service. Neither MP replied to the question, not even to give a waffly politician's answer.

The campaign against health service privatisation is now focussing on lobbying the House of Lords, plus organising a demonstration of the Tory Party conference in Manchester on 2nd October. The House of Lords lobby is being done through an Adopt A Peer scheme, for which there are details on the national TUC's website. If you join it, you will be assigned a Peer to write to, with information about what points you can make about the Health Bill. Whatever the limitations of lobbying as a campaign tactic, the usefulness of lobbying Peers is that a lot of them have no party affiliation and so are not concerned with following any party line. They are at least in a position to make serious waves and hold up the Bill enough to induce the Condems to make concessions and amend it, if they don't actually throw the whole thing out.

Both the TUC website and the Manchester Coalition Against Cuts website should have some information about the demonstration. However big it turns out to be, I suspect it will be a fairly standard march from A to B, but it does intend to be about the public spending cuts in general, which will at least give people scope to protest about any aspect of the cuts they wish.

There is also a plan, not started by the TUC, to 'occupy Manchester' during the Tory conference by setting up camp on Albert Square next to the Town Hall. For more details about this, 'Occupy Manchester' has a facebook page.

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Tesco loses battle for Keyworth store

11-09-2011 08:23

Relieved residents of Keyworth heard on Friday 9th Sept that Tesco’s were not to be permitted to build a store in Keyworth, near Nottingham.

Back in 2009, after several years work, the Keyworth Village plan was completed by an independent group of volunteers who live in Keyworth. One of the clearest outcomes was that 89% of residents did not want another supermarket in the village.

So you can imagine the consternation when in march 2010 Tesco announced, with just five days notice, that they would be holding a public exhibition in Keyworth of their proposed supermarket. Although neither local residents, politicians, nor councils had prior knowledge of these plans the Tesco’s representatives arrived to stage their exhibition only to be greeted by a campaign stall set up by the already established opposition campaign.

Over the next 18 months many people dedicated a great deal of time and effort to campaign against Tesco’s proposal, and many lobbied the planning department of the local council. In March 2010 Tesco’s proposal was rejected by Rushcliffe Borough Council but in March 2011 Tesco appealed this decision.

The Planning Inspector heard a 4 day enquiry in June 2011 and his decision to deny Tesco’s appeal reached the people of Keyworth on 9th September.

Hopefully the property developers who own the land will now revert to their original plan, for which they have permission, to build sheltered housing.

The inspector’s decision was based on safety issues due to the narrow footpaths leading to the site of the store and the potential effects on local shops.

It may be useful to note that the Inspector found significant errors (?) in the data Tesco provided regarding its likely impact on local shops! This was exposed by an independent survey commissioned by the local traders.

Whilst the people of Keyworth have earned a celebratory party it is sad that the fate of the community was not decided by that community. In the end it was based on the decision of an outside Inspector applying rules which we have no part in drafting.

The wishes of the community were clear 2 years ago but since then Tesco’s avarice has wasted huge amounts of public funds and the personal time of council staff and Keyworth people and caused great emotional upset to many people of the community.

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succesful protest against the sdl

11-09-2011 07:50

uaf/antifascists protest against the sdl

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Update on Land & Freedom Camp

10-09-2011 23:55

This is an update on the Land & Freedom Camp: a 7 day open exhibition and demonstration taking place on Clapham Common from Sat 17th Sept til Sun 25th Sept.

Greetings,

This is an update on the Land & Freedom Camp: a 7 day open exhibition and demonstration taking place on Clapham Common from Sat 17th Sept til Sun 25th Sept.

The aim of the camp is to highlight the issue of the economics of land ownership and the politics and laws regarding the use of the land locally and globally. We want to communicate the myriad of effects that the current system has including:

the almost complete restriction of access to land to live (and grow) autonomously and sustainably by common people in the UK and around the world due to laws governing use of the land and/or economic domination of it by the few (despite there being over 5 acres of land for every human being on earth) *
the ensuing effect of artificial scarcity of available land that the restriction of access creates: driving up the cost of housing and reducing it's availability in both cities and the rural areas. This creates a slave culture where people struggle to make end's meet in crammed urban environments or as for the most of the world's population even to put food in their mouths.
the modern legacy of political structures that serve the interests of the land owning establishment which have been previously constructed through history by the same priveleged group.
the laws and land grabs which these structures continue to push forward dispossessing people locally and globally: whether it be the UK Gov's agenda to ban squatting, evicting people from their land (Dale Farm) or as in Africa with the forced dispossession of people from the land they depend on for their survival.
the completely undemocratic, unsustainable and dangerous control of the natural resources by private corporations for profit, monopolising production of humanities bare necessities: food, fuel, water and so on. The result: food scarcity, destruction of eco-systems, climate change, peak oil etc...

We go peacefully to Clapham Common calling for a radical change in the economics of land ownership: a redistribution of land locally and globally and a reform of the laws which currently prevent reasonable access to the land by the common people.
We are common people!

Land & Freedom Camp opening ceremony

On Saturday 17th September, we will be meeting at the Bandstand on Clapham Common from 12 O'Clock onwards for the opening ceremony of the Land & Freedom Camp. Join us, whether you intend to stay the night or not. There will be some music, presentations, a people's assembly, games and a picnic. If you want to, bring an instrument, some food and/or a game that groups can play.

Event: Land & Freedom Camp opening ceremony.
Time: 12 Noon onwards.
Location: Bandstand, Clapham Common.
Map link: http://tinyurl.com/6l66xw4
Transport: Clapham Common tube or Clapham South. Buses from Clapham Junction.
Contact: 07963 475 195 for any questions.

Banner Making Session @ Passing Clouds in Dalston this Monday

If you fancy making some beautiful banners, this Monday (12th Sept), there will be an oppurtunity to paint banners for the Land & Freedom Camp at Passing Clouds from 6-8 p.m If you are able to please bring along paint and or banner material/brushes.

Event: L&F banner making session
Time: 6-8 p.m
Location: Passing Clouds, Dalston, E8,
Map Link: http://tinyurl.com/5rwam74
Transport: Haggerston/ Dalston Kingsland.
Contact: 07963 475 195.

Final planning meeting @ the Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday.

The final open planning meeting for the Land & Freedom Camp will be this Wednesday (14th Sept) in the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London from 6 p.m onwards. The purpose of the meeting will be logistical preparation for Saturday's opening ceremony and the rest of the camp, PR strategy organisation and networking the event.

Event: final L&F planning meeting.
Time: 6 p.m
Location: Blue Zone, 4th Floor, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London.
Map link: http://tinyurl.com/5voqotw
Transport: nearest tube: Waterloo
Contact: 07963475195

Call out for presentations, music and performance for Land & Freedom Camp

Have you got something you would like to present relating to the core issues of the Land & Freedom Camp? Perhaps you'd like to express yourself through music, poetry, theatre or another art form? Have you got an activity or workshop that will empower people? If so, please send an email to landandfreedomcamp@aktivix.org with what it is that you want to do and we can organise a time and day with you to do it on Clapham Common between 17th Sept and the 25th. If you'd prefer, just come along to the camp itself (exact details of the location to be posted on landandfreedomcamp.squat.net on the 17th Sept).

TAT CALLOUT.
We are currently short of: tarps, tents, banner material, cooking pots, food & water containers. If you can help with all or any of these, please email: landandfreedomcamp@aktivix.org, call or text: 07963 475 195. Thx 8)

SKILLS WANTED
Videography, real journalism, photography, art, cooking, communicating, facilitating, skipping, tatting & funning 8)

Join the Networks and spread the word:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=281856581829845#

follow us on Twitter : @freetheland

www.landandfreedom.squat.net

Fliers and posters for sharing and printing.

Poster-------->https://we.riseup.net/land andfreedom/land-freedom-ca mp-poster+105652

Flier----------->https://we.riseup.net/asse ts/65289/Reclaim%20the%20c ommons1.pdf

Contact: landandfreedom.squat.net
Tel: 07963 475 195.

"Propriety and single interest divides the people of a land and the whole world into parties and is the cause of all wars and bloodshed and contention everywhere"

Gerrard Winstanley & 14 others TheTrue Levellers Standard Advanced - April, 1649

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Boycott Dirty Harry in Brighton North Laines

10-09-2011 15:53

Tell the proprietors of Dirty Harry to stop selling "Joke" Guantanamo Bay orange boiler suits.

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Orwell was right: antidote to MSM coverage of 9/11 tenth anniversary

10-09-2011 13:03

After six: straight talking and investigative reports with Martin Summers and Tony Gosling

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Leeds police impose illegal curfew powers

10-09-2011 12:55

West Yorkshire Police have been granted new powers including a dispersal order which discriminates against the young and threatens summary eviction for council tenants.

On Thursday 8th September 2011, police announced they had secured a range of powers to use against the people of Leeds. A new dispersal order that applies to Harehills and Gipton means that police can now ask people to leave the designated area, and arrest them if they refuse. The grounds for being asked to leave do not require that you've committed a crime, or even to have been reported doing something antisocial: the police can apply these powers if they "suspect that someone may go on to commit antisocial behaviour", in other words, to anyone.

Additionally there is a curfew excluding unaccompanied under-16s from public spaces in the designated area between 9pm and 6am.

The dispersal order covers Harehills Lane, Foundry Approach, Harehills Park View, Coldcotes Avenue, Harehills Park, Foundry Approach, Foundry Place, Strathmore Drive, Berkeley Crescent, Berkeley View, Chatsworth Road, Sandhurst Avenue, the allotments, St Wilfrid's Drive, Hovingham Avenue, Hovingham Park, the track behind Hovingham School, Ryan Place and Hovingham Avenue.

People who have had to deal with the violent gang known as "police" in these areas before will not be surprised that they are incapable of integrating with the rest of the community, and instead resort to these measures.

A particularly sinister development is the new threat of eviction, which would amount to a penalty without having committed any crime, let alone being subject to due process. This is in direct conflict with Articles 11 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been adopted into UK and EU law.

Anyone finding themselves being harassed by the police in these areas should seek independant legal advice (from a lawyer with an interest in Human Rights, i.e. not the duty solicitors who service police custody suites.)

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UG#568 - 9/10 Anniversary (Unaccountable Accounts from Powerdown to Stand Down)

10-09-2011 11:54

This week's show is released 10 years to the day since Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon could not account for 1/4 of all its spending. Like the $2,300,000,000,000 he spoke about, many details from the next day are still unaccounted for, a decade later - including most notably the sudden (though not unexpected) implosion of WTC7. We hear the soundtrack of a new video by

http://ae911truth.org.

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UG#567 Radical Democracy & The Rebirth of Epimethean Man (Deschooling Society 7)

10-09-2011 11:35

We start this week's show with Professor David McNally on 21st century instances of people rebelling against their would be overlords. Then a set of activists in Spain on how a recent wave of protests against the austerity morphed into an experiment in self-government. Finally, we conclude our reading of radical philosopher Ivan Illich's 1971 book, Deschooling Society, in which he describes the re-conceptualisation needed to break from the counter-productive and dependency producing hierarchical institutions of the 20th century.

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Breaking: Kayaks attempt to stop warship getting to DSEi

10-09-2011 10:34

Activists on inflatable Kayaks have this morning attempted to stop the Destroyer HMS Dauntless from reaching the Excel Centre where it is due to be displayed at the DSEi Arms fair.

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Causes : solidarity action for norwegian politcal activist

10-09-2011 09:20

Andre is a Norwegian comrade, our loyal and good friend who had the
misfortune to experience psychological repression. whilst fearing for his life and liberty

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Greek protesters to blockade PM

10-09-2011 07:56

THOUSANDS of protesters are aiming to blockade the Greek Prime Minister on Saturday September 10 when he gives his annual talk in the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, outlining his fiscal policy for the year ahead.

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Urgent Appeal - Sab Van Stolen!! Donate Now!!

10-09-2011 06:59

The Sheffield & Doncaster Hunt Saboteurs van was stolen this morning

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European far right terror network? EDL links to Norway massacre

10-09-2011 01:02

At five: discussing the big stories in Bristol, Britain and around the world

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EDL in Newark

09-09-2011 23:55

Monday night some graffiti appreared in Newark opposing the emergence of the English Defence League

Wednesday EDL painted over.

Graffiti opposing the emergence of the English Defence League appeared in Newark on Monday night.

newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Graffiti-opposes-EDL

The EDL didn't loose any time and they sprayed over and distributed Flyers in the market square: "yes-harmony and peace for all religions"... maybe they forgot to say "in their own countries?"...

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Dale Farm Demo - March from Wickford Station Sat 10 Sep.

09-09-2011 21:51

A reminder that there's a demo and march starting from Wickford station at 1pm on Saturday 10 September to Dale Farm in protest at the eviction of this longstanding Traveller site, which will cost Basildon one third of its entire annual budget and, more importantly, will cost many vulnerable people including children, elderly and sick people their homes. More support urgently needed at Camp Constant, so come and stay if you're able.

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The English Defence League and Redwatch

09-09-2011 21:22

Article with images at

http://www.edlnews.co.uk/edl-news/the-edl-and-redwatch

It has long been suspected that the English Defence League have been in bed with white supremacists Redwatch.

Redwatch is an organisation set up by the far right British People's party in an attempt to track down the home addresses and work places of people who protest against them both on the street and the political stage.