March for the alternative(London)

[Dimmu]

Damn i wish i would be in London at this moment.

Guardian has constant live updates.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2011/mar/26/march-for-the-alternative-live-updates

[Lyev]

It's my brother's birthday today so I decided not to go, but I am sooo regretting it now. Some reports say there's 200,000 people, I heard one source saying 400,000. The Labour Party's opportunist agenda in this march is completely transparent. Do you think we'll see any meaningful (if it's possible) occupations of buildings or public spaces? I'm not sure. I guess most UK comrades are there today. Good luck and solidarity to everyone there.

[Red Future]

It's my brother's birthday today so I decided not to go, but I am sooo regretting it now. Some reports say there's 200,000 people, I heard one source saying 400,000. The Labour Party's opportunist agenda in this march is completely transparent. Do you think we'll see any meaningful (if it's possible) occupations of buildings or public spaces? I'm not sure. I guess most UK comrades are there today. Good luck and solidarity to everyone there.

The same, good luck :thumbup1:

[Left]

It's more then 250,000. The Guardian has it right on 400,000+.

I read comments on alot of sites calling this march a minority because Britain has a population of 67 million and this is less than a million(as far as we know) :rolleyes: what are you even supposed to say to dumbshit comments like that? I couldn't think of anything.

Solidarity to Britain from Sweden.

[Iraultzaile Ezkerreko]

All the reports I've heard or seen peg it between 400-500k.

[Dimentio]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/mar/25/voters-cuts-coalition-poll

How much does the nobility cost? This is really ludicruous.

[Left]

"The majority of the UK public back the huge demonstration that is set to take place today (March 26th) in opposition of the coalition government's spending cuts, a new poll has shown.

According to the survey, carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), 52 per cent support the aims of the TUC March for the Alternative campaign.

The results also revealed that one-in-five Conservative voters are behind the union-organised protests, with just 31 per cent disagreeing with the action being taken."

http://www.manchesterwired.co.uk/news.php/141236-Majority-of-UK-citizens-support-anti-spending-cuts-protests

[RED DAVE]

250,000 Crowd Central London in Budget Protest


LONDON - A quarter-million mostly peaceful demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday against the toughest cuts to public spending since World War II, with some small breakaway groups smashing windows at banks and shops and spray painting logos on the walls.

Another group of black-clad protesters hurled paint bombs and ammonia-filled light bulbs at police.

Organizers of the March for the Alternative said people from across the country were peacefully joining in the demonstration, the biggest protest in London since a series of rallies against the Iraq war in 2003.

Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Metropolitan Police confirmed that more than 250,000 people had marched peacefully, but said around 500 had caused trouble in London's main shopping streets.

He said nine people had been arrested, for public disorder and criminal damage. Police said 28 people had been injured during the demonstration, and seven were admitted to hospitals for a range of problems, including shortness of breath and a suspected hip fracture. Five police officers were also injured and one of those had to be treated in hospital for a groin injury.

Police said one group of a few hundred people broke away from the main march, scuffling with police officers and attempting to smash shop windows on two of London's main shopping streets. Others threw objects at the posh Ritz Hotel in nearby Piccadilly. Members of protest group UK Uncut later walked into the nearby luxury department store Fortnum and Mason and remained inside for a few hours. Police clashed with other demonstrators outside.

But the protests otherwise had a carnival feel. School teachers, nurses and students all marched through central London and rallied in Hyde Park, one of London's biggest public gardens, with banners, balloons and whistles.

Britain is facing 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) of public spending cuts from Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government as it struggles to get the country's large budget deficit under control. The government has already raised sales tax, but Britons are bracing for big cuts to public spending.

After the country spent billions bailing out indebted banks, and suffered a squeeze on tax revenue and an increase in welfare bills, Treasury chief George Osborne has staked the coalition government's future on tough economic remedies.

As many as half a million public sector jobs will be lost, about 18 billion ($28.5 billion) axed from welfare payments and the pension age raised to 66 by 2020, earlier than previously planned.

The TUC, the main umbrella body for British unions, says it believes the cuts will threaten the country's economic recovery, and has urged the government to create new taxes for banks and to close loopholes that allow some companies to pay less tax - an argument that chimes with many of the protesters.

"They shouldn't be taking money from public services. What have we done to deserve this?" said Alison Foster, a 53-year-old school teacher. "Yes, they are making vicious cuts. That's why I'm marching, to let them know this is wrong."

Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, likened the march to the suffragette movement in Britain and the civil rights movement in America. "Our causes may be different but we come together to realize our voice. We stand on the shoulders of those who have marched and have struggled in the past," he told protesters at the rally.

The Metropolitan police have been criticized for adopting heavy-handed tactics when dealing with demonstrations in the past. In particular, they have been criticized for penning demonstrators up in a small area for several hours without allowing them to leave. Police have said the so-called "kettling" procedure will only be used as a last resort.

The TUC has called for a peaceful protest during which people walk along official routes that have already been cleared with police. But leaflets scattered around central London by other groups have asked demonstrators to leave the official route and stay in central London after the event officially ends in the afternoon.

In another incident away from the main march, a group burned a giant model of a Trojan horse made by art students and dragged into central London.

The students said the horse was a metaphor for deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg. Clegg's party had promised not to raise tuition fees during their election campaign but abandoned that pledge when they formed a coalition government with the Conservative party.http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/26/thousands-crowd-central-london-in-budget-protest/?icid=maing|main5|dl2|sec1_lnk2|51936 (http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/26/thousands-crowd-central-london-in-budget-protest/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk2%7C51936)

RED DAVE

[Triple A]

I want to go to London!!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370053/Anti-cuts-demo-Protesters-occupy-Fortnum--Mason-half-million-march-London.html

According to this the protesters occupied a fancy store in central London.:laugh:

[Sasha]

lol at the chopper vid of the evil anarchists attacking the armoured copper van while a couple of bobbies amble past completly unhurt...

you lot are so british :lol:

but probs for punking the ritz though....


just know that you all did it because you support gadaffi..

its true, libya state TV told me so:
http://www.indymedia.nl/img/2011/03/75032.jpg

:lol:

[Sasha]

10.33pm: (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2011/mar/26/march-for-the-alternative-live-blog-updates#block-26) Laurie Penny, who writes for Comment Is Free (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/laurie-penny) and the New Statesman, is tweeting (http://twitter.com/#%21/pennyred) from Trafalgar Square now. This presents quite a different picture, suggesting that the police are kettling protesters and fireworks are being let off.Meanwhile, Sky News are showing footage of police officers in the square forming riot lines four men deep to keep protesters back as missiles including bottles and bricks are thrown at them.
10.25pm: (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2011/mar/26/march-for-the-alternative-live-blog-updates#block-25) Matthew Taylor has been in touch again to say that a couple of hundred people have now dispersed, and the situation in Trafalgar Square now appears to be dissipating.This live webcam feed (http://www.camvista.com/england/london/trafsq.php3) would seem to back that up, though it only shows a small part of the square.
10.12pm: (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2011/mar/26/march-for-the-alternative-live-blog-updates#block-24) Matthew Taylor (http://twitter.com/#%21/mrmatthewtaylor) has received a call telling him that there are between 500 and 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square. Apparently people are throwing bottles and flares, and there have been reports of protesters carrying petrol bombs.10.01pm: (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2011/mar/26/march-for-the-alternative-live-blog-updates#block-23) Hello, this is Alan Evans picking up the live blog from Rowenna.Reports are coming in of clashes between protesters and police in Trafalgar Square.
The Met have tweeted a warning:

If you're not involved in the disorder, please move away from Trafalgar Square. Officers are coming under sustained attack

[durhamleft]

I was there today and there were at least 400k. I would place the figure at comfortably over 500k an probably approaching a million.

The people at the front of the march arrived in Hyde park at around 20 past one. Those at the back didn't make it there, and were still in Trafalgar square half a mile back at 4pm!

That was a march that was 30 odd people wide and wasn't going terribly slowly.

People were piling in to get into the demo and couldnt actually get down onto the embankment it was so busy.

General public were absolutely loving it too. Taxi driver in the morning gave us a discount on the fare because he was so buzzing about it. On the train back people not connected to demo were saying how proud we should be etc. Also, yougov poll suggested over 50% of Brits supported the demo (fucking amazing for the UK!!!)

Also, some bod. in Unison (?) if i remember rightly said they were going to plan for a coordinated public sector strike- let's see if he sticks to his word (likely).

Everyone there was absolutely fantastic, expect for a group of a couple of dozen pro gadaffi wankers who decided to make an appearance.

Bring on the strikes is all I can say.

[Luís Henrique]

just know that you all did it because you support gadaffi..

Let's hope that the left isn't stupid enough to lose the increasing momentum of anti-neoliberal demonstrations by squabbling around Gaddafy.

[Dimmu]

Watching both BBC and Sky.. I have never seen so much propaganda at the same time..

Claiming that anarchists are drunks and drug users and "they dress in black to intimidate"..

Horrible.

[PhoenixAsh]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/03/26/uk.london.demonstration/index.html?hpt=T2



They smashed a nearby Starbucks Coffee window and spray-painted anarchy symbols on the front. Police lined up at the sandwich shop next door to stop further damage:) ... the debate in the riot thread ... :)

[PhoenixAsh]

500.000 protesters. I think thats gaining momentum

[PhoenixAsh]

pictures: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12870701

[Rusty Shackleford]

maybe we need another biritsh invasion like the 60s, but in the context of militant struggle. we already got your dubstep and your stones, now we need your militancy!

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

The amount of propaganda in the press was staggering.

I left Trafalgar Square at 3pm, and at the time there were thousands of people of all political and social stripes dancing away, cheering - you know the score.

Got back home at 4pm, put on the tv and saw Sky News reports of '150 anarchists not on the march causing trouble':rolleyes::lol:

Also, did anyone see the BBC news reporter who tried to interview an anarchist and ended up getting heckled by a group of about 50 people live on air shouting him down with 'WHAT DO YOU EARN? WHICH CLASS ARE YOU?' Hilarious!

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

was a good day even though i had to leave early. i wonder what's next, we need more militancy.

[Octopus]

The atmosphere was amazing, and the clear demonstration of pure passion by the people really did uplift my spirit and makes me hope that maybe one day we'll overthrow them.

I very much enjoyed the experience of the protest and I hope this continues on until we take down the fascist bastards

[brigadista]

the NE mineworkers union banner they bought governments down -sadly only v few behind the banner due to the destruction of their community but they came and joined the protest never the less-v bitter sweet moment

I was in front of students and workers who were playing and singing the international in kurdish

8123

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Let's be clear, though. This was one of those marches that has the movement at a crossroads - this can either fall into the lull of being a once in a year day out for some shop stewards, nurses and families, or it can progress into a campaign of sit-ins, occupations, targeted strikes, wildcat strikes alongside regular marches and demonstrations. We need all this tactics in conjuction with one another to stop the government, as they've shown - and we all know - that they aren't going to listen to a singular peaceful march, as morale raising as it was for the British labour movement in general.

[Amphictyonis]

This needs to be a daily or at least weekly thing. 24/7 protest?

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

I had a really fun day.

[Dimmu]

Let's be clear, though. This was one of those marches that has the movement at a crossroads - this can either fall into the lull of being a once in a year day out for some shop stewards, nurses and families, or it can progress into a campaign of sit-ins, occupations, targeted strikes, wildcat strikes alongside regular marches and demonstrations. We need all this tactics in conjuction with one another to stop the government, as they've shown - and we all know - that they aren't going to listen to a singular peaceful march, as morale raising as it was for the British labour movement in general.

Well i dont expect it to "escalate".. I called some of my friends in London and read the Twitter comments and i came to the conclusion that most people protested and then went home and claimed that they made a change.

At the same time these liberals criticized the anarchists because they were "violent" and even cheered on when police were violently assaulting peaceful protestors.

Remember anti-Iraq war protests? People came out with their banners and their pink balloons and shit and what did they change?

[Queercommie Girl]

I went to the demo yesterday, marched from ULU to Hyde Park, met a few people I knew from the SWP and the CWI, but I didn't stay too late.

[Quail]

I went to the demo. I thought it was pretty good - massive turnout and also a lot of people willing to do something a little more militant than march from A to B. As always, the media claim that "a small, violent minority" ruin the demo for people who wish to demonstrate peacefully (which of course just means make some noise that people won't listen to). I support the direct action that took place yesterday, although people were damaging things like phone boxes, which doesn't really make any sense. It would be nice to see this demo as the first of many actions, but I think that people need to be pushing for more effective action such as strikes and occupations. It's fun to take to the streets and feel as though you're making a difference, but people are going to have to do more than hold up banners to change anything.

Also:
Six people from the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area were marching away from Hyde Park after four hours of peaceful protest, when an Anarchist Federation riot broke out around them on Piccadilly. :lol:
source (http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/news/BREAKING-NEWS-Local-protestors-narrowly-avoid-violent-clashes/article-3377657-detail/article.html)

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I too support the direct action, but it would be perhaps better if those who take part - generally the more 'secretive' anarchists -, would target their action a bit better and maybe even come out with some rhetoric to accompany their actions.

The problem with smashing windows, sitting in and then spray painting 'tax the rich' and 'tory scum' is that it gives off the impression to the wider working class that those who are behind such actions are just mindless.

It would be perhaps helpful if next time, instead of just spray painting insults, they maybe unfurled a banner with their beliefs/demands/principles for all to see, as Anarchism to me is really quite a thoughtful and elegant intellectual-political school of thought, but its message doesn't get to the wider working class, partly because all the public see of Anarchists in the public arena is hoods, red/black attire/flags and what can be portrayed as mindless confrontation.

[Quail]

^I agree with you. The reasons behind the property damage aren't always clear, and we obviously can't rely on the bourgeois media to comment on it. On smaller direct action-y demos I've been on, people handed out leaflets alongside the action so that people understood why we were doing what we were doing. I'm not sure how effective that would be on a demonstration as big as the one in London though.

[Dimmu]

I too support the direct action, but it would be perhaps better if those who take part - generally the more 'secretive' anarchists -, would target their action a bit better and maybe even come out with some rhetoric to accompany their actions.

The problem with smashing windows, sitting in and then spray painting 'tax the rich' and 'tory scum' is that it gives off the impression to the wider working class that those who are behind such actions are just mindless.

It would be perhaps helpful if next time, instead of just spray painting insults, they maybe unfurled a banner with their beliefs/demands/principles for all to see, as Anarchism to me is really quite a thoughtful and elegant intellectual-political school of thought, but its message doesn't get to the wider working class, partly because all the public see of Anarchists in the public arena is hoods, red/black attire/flags and what can be portrayed as mindless confrontation.

I agree with you here, but i must also say that its pretty impossible to make anarchist look like the "good guys" in the eyes of the avarege liberal. Dont forget that while the liberals and anarchists might have some common ground when it comes to the issues of "freedom" etc. Liberals still support the capitalist system. The media does not really help because they understand that the anarchists are the most active rioters so the trick is too demonize every single one of them by claiming that they are drug users and drunks.

Liberals only support "violent riots" when it comes the the Middle East. But damn you if you managed to break their favorite coffee shop!!

[brigadista]

needs to be further action but the tuc have just called a big demo [6 months after the event].. there should have been further action arranged to consolidate the feeling from yesterday.. at least a general strike...:)

my favourite moment was two little seven year old boys with painted faces for at least 15 minutes leading the adults where we were in chants up to a roar and then moving off to start elsewhere

im glad De Beers got it..

[nuisance]

Only an idiot or someone willing to deceive can call the acts mindless, it is perfectly easy to see why people targetted certain places.Leftists just don't seem to think the average person can think critically and needs to be led by the hand every step of the way. Don't forget that it is the mainstream media and people already opposed to the actions that decry things like this as mindless, not necessarily everyone outside of your radical clique.

[brigadista]

where i was went past after the damage in piccadilly and most people were laughing and taking pictures of the damage- just saying

[bricolage]

I thought the fortnum and masons thing was just because it's a posh/expensive shop and culturally significant so I was thinking yeah cool... then it turns out it was to do with tax evasion which is helluva lame, ah well...

[human strike]

The black bloc was pretty damn big. Police left it alone mostly so the black bloc left the police alone mostly.

EDIT: That makes it sound like shit didn't kick off when it in fact did and pretty damn intensely, but the rioting had little to do with any anarchists or black bloc specifically.

My new most favourite thing ever: http://www.flickr.com/photos/_mmp_/5564371304/in/photostream/#/

The burning barricades were fucking sick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_1pIBLp9lY
http://www.fitwatch.org.uk/2011/03/27/serious-violence-by-police-at-protest-party/

[Dunk]

We need action like this in the US.

[Sasha]

What really happened in Trafalgar Square

Posted by Laurie Penny (http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/laurie_penny) - 27 March 2011 16:22

Neither mindless nor violent, young protesters were forced into a stand-off with police.
http://images.newstatesman.com/articles/2011//20110327_110909035_w.jpg A protestor waves a GMB union flag alongside an Egyptian flag from a statue in Trafalgar Square. Photograph: Getty Images.


"We're fucked," says the young man in the hoodie, staring out through the police cordon of Trafalgar Square, towards parliament. "Who's going to listen to us now?"
It's midnight on 26 March, a day that saw almost half a million students, trades unionists, parents, children and concerned citizens from all over Britain demonstrate against the government's austerity programme. All day, street fights across London between anti-cuts protestors and the police have turned this city into a little warzone. Barricades burned in Piccadilly as militant groups escalated the vandalism; the shopfronts of major banks and tax-avoiding companies have been smashed and daubed with graffiti, and Oxford Street was occupied and turned into a mass street party. Now, night is falling on the Trafalgar kettle, and the square stinks of cordite, emptied kidneys and anxiety. We've been here for three hours, and it's freezing; we burn placards and share cigarettes to maintain an illusion of warmth.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, who was in charge of the Metropolitan Police operation on the day, later states that the clashes in Trafalgar square began because "for some reason one of [the protestors] made an attack on the Olympic clock." That is not what happened. Instead, I witness the attempted snatch arrest of a 23 year-old man who they suspect of damaging the shop front of a major chain bank earlier in the day.
It starts when a handful of police officers moved through the quiet crowd, past circles of young people sharing snacks, smoking, playing guitars and chatting. They move in to grab the young man, but his friends scrambled to prevent the arrest being made, dragging him away from the police by his legs. Batons are drawn; a scuffle breaks out, and that scuffle becomes a fight, and then suddenly hundreds of armoured riot police are swarming in, seemingly from nowhere, sweeping up the steps of the National Gallery, beating back protesters as they go.
Things escalate very quickly. In the space of a minute and a half, the police find themselves surrounded on both sides by enraged young people who had gathered for a peaceful sit-in at the end of the largest workers' protest in a generation. The riot line advances on both sides, forcing protesters back into the square; police officers are bellowing and laying into the demonstrators with their shields.
Both sides begin to panic. Some of them start to throw sticks, and as the police surge forward, shouting and raising their weapons, others band together to charge the lines with heavy pieces of metal railing, which hit several protestors on their way past. Next to me, young people are raising their hands and screaming "don't hit us!"; some are yelling at the armoured police - "shame on you! Your job's next!"
I find myself in front of the riot line, taking a blow to the head and a kick to the shin; I am dragged to my feet by a girl with blue hair who squeezes my arm and then raises a union flag defiantly at the cops. "We are peaceful, what are you?" chant the protestors. I'm chanting it too, my head ringing with pain and rage and adrenaline; a boy with dreadlocks puts an arm around me. "Don't scream at them," he says. "We're peaceful, so let's not provoke."
A clear-eyed young man called Martin throws himself between the kids and the cops, his hands raised, telling us all to calm down, stand firm,stop throwing things and link arms; the police grab him, mistaking him for a rabble-rouser and toss him violently back into the line. The cops seal off the square. Those of us behind the lines are kettled, trapped in the sterile zone, shoved back towards Nelson's column as flares are lit and the fires begin to go out.
It would be naive to suggest that small numbers of people did not come to London today intent on breaking windows should the opportunity arise. It would be equally naive to suggest that no other groups had action plans that involved rather more than munching houmous in Hyde park and listening to some speeches. Few of those plans, however, come to fruition: however the papers choose to report the events of 26 March, there is no organised minority kicking things in for the hell of it. Instead, a few passionate, peaceful protest groups attempt to carry out direct action plans, plans that quickly become overwhelmed by crowds of angry, unaffiliated young people and a handful of genuinely violent agitators.
Those young people are from all over the country, and when the word goes out at 2pm that something was happening in Oxford Street, they headed down in their thousands. By the time the twenty-foot-high Trojan Horse arrives at Oxford Circus in the early afternoon, a full-blown rave is under way, coherent politics subsumed by the sheer defiant energy of the crowd. Chants about saving public services and education quickly merge into a thunderous, wordless cheer, erupting every time the traffic light countdowns flash towards. "Five-Four-Three-Two-One..." hollers the crowd, as bank branches are shut down, paint bombs thrown at the police, and small scuffles break out.
When UK Uncut's well-publicised secret occupation plan kicks into action at 3.30pm, the numbers and the energy quickly become overwhelming. As we follow the high-profile direct action group's red umbrella down Regent Street, we learn that the target is Fortnum and Mason's - the "Royal grocer's", as the news are now insisting on calling it, as though the stunt were a yobbish personal assault on the Queen's marmalade. The crowd is too big to stop, and protesters stream into the store, rushing past the police who are too late to barricade the doors.
Once inside, squeezing each other in shock at their own daring, everyone does a bit of excited chanting and then down for a polite impromptu picnic. Placards are erected by the famously opulent coffee counters, and tape wound around displays of expensive truffles imprecating the holding company to pay all its taxes. Tax avoidance is the ostensible reason for this occupation; the class factor remains unspoken, but deeply felt.
The posh sweets, however, remain untouched, as do all the other luxury goodies in the store, as protestors share prepacked crisps and squash and decide that it'd be rude to smoke indoors. When someone accidentally-on-purpose knocks over a display of chocolate bunny rabbits, priced at fifteen pounds each, two girls sternly advise them to clear up the mess without delay. "It's just unnecessary."
Refined middle-aged couples who had been having quiet cream teas in Fortnum's downstairs restaurant stare blinkingly at the occupiers, who are organising themselves into a non-hierarchial consensus-building team. "I oppose the cuts, I'm a socialist, but I think this type of thing is too much," says property manager Kat, 32. "There are old ladies upstairs. And I just came in to buy some fresh marshmallows, and now I can't."
Outside the building, the crowd is going wild. Some scale the building and scrawl slogans onto the brickwork; others turn their attention to the bank branches across the road. I leave Fortnum's and make my way down Piccadilly under a leaden sky, past the ruined fronts of Lloyds and Santander, to Picadilly Circus, where the riots - and make no mistake, these are now riots - have momentarily descended into an eerie standoff. The police raise their batons; the crowd yells abuse at them. Noone is chanting about government cuts anymore: instead, they are chanting about police violence. "No justice, no peace, fuck the police!' yells a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. I scramble onto some railings for safety as a cohort of riot police move into the crowd, find themselves surrounded and are beaten back by thrown sticks. Someone yells that a police officer is being stretchered to safety. Flares and crackers are let off; red smoke trails in the air.
"A riot," said martin Luther King Jr, "is the language of the unheard." There are an awful lot of unheard voices in this country. What differentiates the rioters in Picadilly and Oxford Circus from the rally attendees in Hyde Park is not the fact that the latter are "real" protestors and the former merely "anarchists" (still an unthinking synonym for "hooligans" in the language of the press). The difference is that many unions and affiliated citizens still hold out hope that if they behave civilly, this government will do likewise.
The younger generation in particular, who reached puberty just in time to see a huge, peaceful march in 2003 change absolutely nothing, can't be expected to have any such confidence. We can hardly blame a cohort that has been roundly sold out, priced out, ignored, and now shoved onto the dole as the Chancellor announces yet another tax break for bankers, for such skepticism. If they do not believe the government cares one jot about what young or working-class people really think, it may be because any evidence of such concern is sorely lacking.
A large number of young people in Britain have become radicalised in a hurry, and not all of their energies are properly directed, explaining in part the confusion on the streets yesterday. Among their number, however, are many principled, determined and peaceful groups working to affect change and build resistance in any way they can.
One of these groups is UK Uncut. I return to Fortnum's in time to see dozens of key members of the group herded in front of the store and let out one by one, to be photographed, handcuffed and arrested. With the handful of real, random agitators easy to identify as they tear through the streets of Mayfair, the met has chosen instead to concentrate its energies on UK Uncut - the most successful, high-profile and democratic anti-cuts group in Britain.
UK Uncut has embarrassed both the government and the police with its gentle, inclusive, imaginative direct action days over the past six months. As its members are manhandled onto police coaches, waiting patiently to be taken to jail whilst career troublemakers run free and unarrested in the streets outside, one has to ask oneself why.
Shaken, I make my way through the streets of Mayfair towards Trafalgar to meet friends and debrief. In the dark, groups of people wearing trades union tabards and carrying placards wander hither and thither down burning sidestreets as oblivious shoppers eat salad in Pret A manger.
By 8pm, there's a party going on under Nelson's Column. Groups of anti-cuts protestors, many of whom have come down from Hyde Park, have congregated in the square to eat biscuits, drink cheap supermarket wine, share stories and socialise after a long and confusing day.
‘'These young people are right to be angry. I don't think people are angry enough, actually, given that the NHS is being destroyed before our eyes," says Barry, 61, a retired social worker. "The rally was alright, but a huge march didn't make Tony Blair change his mind about Iraq, and another huge march isn't going to make David Cameron change his mind now. So what are people supposed to do?"
That's a tough question in a country where almost every form of political dissent apart from shuffling in an orderly queue from one march point to the other is now a crime.
"I don't have a problem with people smashing up banks, I think that's fine, given that the banks have done so much damage to the country," says Barry, getting into his stride. "Violence against real people - that's wrong."
Minutes after the fights begin in Trafalgar square, so does the backlash. Radio broadcasters imply that anyone who left the pre-ordained march route is a hooligan, and police chiefs rush to assure the public that this "mindless violence" has "nothing to do with protest."
The young people being battered in Trafalgar square, however, are neither mindless nor violent. In front of the lines, a teenage girl is crying and shaking after being shoved to the ground. "I'm not moving, I'm not moving," she mutters, her face smeared with tears and makeup. "I've been on every protest, I won't let this government destroy our future without a fight. I won't stand back, I'm not moving." A police officer charges, smacking her with his baton as she flings up her hands.
The cops cram us further back into the square, pushing people off the plinths where they have tried to scramble for safety. By now there are about 150 young people left in the square, and only one trained medic, who has just been batoned in the face; his friends hold him up as he blacks out, and carry him to the police lines, but they won't let him leave. By the makeshift fire, I meet the young man whose attempted arrest started all this. "I feel responsible," he said, "I never wanted any of this. None of us did"
Back on the column, a boy in a black hoodie and facerag hollers through his hands to his friends, who have linked arms in front of the police line. "This is what they want!" he yells, pointing at the Houses of Parliament. "They want us to fight each other. They want us to fight each other!
“They're laughing all the way to the bank!"



source: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2011/03/trafalgar-square-police-young

[human strike]

That Laurie Penny article is the most accurate account I've read so far I think.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Laurie Penny's observations of marches tend to be pretty accurate and quite witty. Good read.

[human strike]

http://libcom.org/library/letter-uk-uncutters-violent-minority


Letter to UK Uncut members by members of the Solidarity Federation in the aftermath of the disorder on the March 26 TUC organised March for the Alternative.





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
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!)

[human strike]

What really happened in Trafalgar Square. This is spot on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zii2qzGbaM

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

Some articles on how the Met's managed to balls-up it's arrests;

Number one (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/30/uk-uncut-arrests-protests)

Number two (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/28/cuts-protest-uk-uncut-fortnum?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487)

Looks wouldn't suprise me if the met quitely drops the charges.

[Sasha]

What really happened in Trafalgar Square. This is spot on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zii2qzGbaM


someone is radicalizing :cool:

[Sasha]

Some articles on how the Met's managed to balls-up it's arrests;

Number one (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/30/uk-uncut-arrests-protests)

Number two (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/28/cuts-protest-uk-uncut-fortnum?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487)

Looks wouldn't suprise me if the met quitely drops the charges.


no suprises there:

A Guardian video producer, Cameron Robertson, who was at the protests with officers from the Met's public order unit, the Territorial Support Group (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2011/mar/28/march-alternative-police-video), captured a pre-demonstration briefing that made it clear senior officers wanted to draw a "line in the sand" over legal and illegal occupations.
Adam Ramsay, a campaigner with UK Uncut who was detained for more than 20 hours, said the arrests might have been politically motivated or to faciliate information gathering on the group. "At the time, the chief inspector at Fortnum and Mason effectively told us there we had committed no criminal damage – that we were all 'non-violent' and 'sensible'. But moments later we were all arrested for criminal damage – a charge later dropped. This certainly looks to me like political policing.".


also:

A total of 149 people have been charged with offences, including 138 charged with aggravated trespass in connection with the Fortnum & Mason protest.

so 4000 or something cops managed to arrest an grand total of 11 people they feel comfortable charging on the streets where the actual rioting and property destruction took place?
either your cops are totally inept and have awfull ineffective tactics or they let the rioters run free out of a tactical/political descision.
my bet is on a combination of both.

[IndependentCitizen]

When UKUncut begun their occupation of Fortnum & Masons, me and a comrade were watching and cheering. When the occupiers wrote on the wall "Tory Scum" The elderly couple that was to our right were going nuts. And not in a negative way. They were cheering, clapping and joining the chanting of 'tory scum'.

The march has definitely opened up a new level of consciousness, now we just need to manage that and direct that anger at not just the neo-liberals, but also at the TUC for having no back bone.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

so 4000 or something cops managed to arrest an grand total of 11 people they feel comfortable charging on the streets where the actual rioting and property destruction took place?
either your cops are totally inept and have awfull ineffective tactics or they let the rioters run free out of a tactical/political descision.
my bet is on a combination of both.

The police were woefully under-prepared, you have to remember that the majority of the 3,500 coppers where spread out along the offical march route, even before the march they admitted they had limited intelligence on more radical groups' plans. The police were also holding off due to lack of numbers to properly kettle people, and the fact that they got a lot of bad press for being heavy handed with the student protests.

The Fortnum & Mason arrests were likely an attempt to show the other protesters the power of the police.

If more evidence like the videos the guraniad has obtained come to light, the met's case will further collapse and they will be left with even more egg on there faces.

[Red Future]

Was reading the Tory blogs today ..they really are terrified of anarchists and their actions ....even to the extent of regarding an anarchist conspiracy in the UK:cool:

Ruling class is starting to shake here

[Dunk]

Was reading the Tory blogs today ..they really are terrified of anarchists and their actions ....even to the extent of regarding an anarchist conspiracy in the UK:cool:

Ruling class is starting to shake here

Let the ruling classes tremble. :D

[human strike]

This article made me laugh a lot: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23936505-thugs-stripped-off-their-anarchist-uniforms-to-hide-from-police.do

[A Revolutionary Tool]

This article made me laugh a lot: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23936505-thugs-stripped-off-their-anarchist-uniforms-to-hide-from-police.do
LOL:

A police source said : "They are trying to make it difficult for us to identify them and pin them down. It shows they are much more sophisticated than many people thought."

They must think you anarchists are really dense if bringing a change of clothes is "sophisticated" behavior for anarchists.

[Dimmu]

Article from Guardian about BlackBlock

"Meet us outside the British Library. That seems appropriate." I'm due to interview two men in their late 20s who were part of the "black bloc" direct action wing of last Saturday's anti-cuts protest. We'd originally agreed to meet at a bar in King's Cross, but they tell me later it was "too media" for their security concerns.

I conduct an interview of sorts, but they are reluctant to tell me much about themselves other than that one is a "low-paid public sector worker". In any case, they have come armed with handwritten answers to questions they have posed to themselves. Anarchists like to be in control. I agree to edit those answers for length, then show them the edited version. Their "self-interview" appears below. I never do learn their names.

The media, police and other sections of the left have called the black bloc "criminals", "hooligans" and "cowards". How do you respond?

In the legal sense, those who damage property or fight the police have committed crimes, so yes they are criminals. But in everyday language, a criminal is someone who lives by criminal means. We saw plenty of nurses, education workers, tech workers, unemployed workers, students, campaigners and charity workers on the bloc on Saturday, but we didn't see any criminals.

As for being hooligans or cowards, the black bloc formation is used for tactical purposes. We aren't trying to be "hard" or to give ourselves a thrill. We are trying to give uncompromising opposition to capitalism an appropriate image on the streets – and not end up in jail. True cowardice would be not fighting an economic system that wants to destroy us.

The black bloc is not a group or organisation; it's something that happens on marches or actions. It's not pre-planned; it relies on people turning up with the same ideas and clothes. That is why there is a "uniform": people who want to take direct action and resist containment arrive on the day in black and identify people with the same ideas this way.

We had no idea of the numbers before the event on Saturday, and no idea it would be so radical in its actions. The black bloc idea spread like a ripple through the march. As people saw others in black, they changed into black themselves. Some marchers even left the protest to buy black clothing.

Is it not fair to say you hijacked the TUC march?

No. To hijack it would have meant taking the front of the march and leading it away. What happened was that thousands of marchers left of their own accord to support our direct action and do some of their own. The black bloc largely avoided the march route, only dropping into it twice, briefly. We support the other marchers who didn't take direct action, just like many of them supported us.

Don't you think the violence has invalidated your message?

Our only collective points were the promotion of a confrontational attitude and the use of symbolic direct action to show that direct action in the wider society was both valid and possible, and that there is a radical movement in this country that's going to put up a fight. We made these points. Anyway, you cannot be "violent" to property. The police chose to attack and arrest people in their defence of property, and got themselves hurt in the attempt. If they had acted rationally, and decided a cracked window was not worth a protester's cracked skull, they would have been fine.

Is the black bloc a reaction to police heavy-handedness?

We don't do "good cops" versus "bad cops"; whether they smile or snarl while they do it, their primary function is to defend the rule of the wealthy. We do not want the police to control us "more justly" in the interests of capitalism. We want them to stand back for a just society to be created. If they don't, they have picked their side, and they will have to be opposed.

Was the bloc anarchist?

From the red and black flags in the crowd it seemed to be, but there is nothing inherently anarchist about masking up. By the evening thousands of people had left Hyde Park and were taking action all over central London; the open class warfare of the cuts has convinced far more than the UK's minority of radicals that only actions count.

Do you consider the black bloc to be the most radical part of the new movement?

No. Occupations of universities and town halls are far more important, and this is where the anti-cuts movement has been heading. To develop, it needs to spread into workplaces next. The black bloc tactic was appropriate to give the day a confrontational edge, and to target the real enemies: the rich. The aim was to make people realise this is not an abstract struggle between "the economy" and us, but between a group of super-rich exploiters and those they are exploiting – the workers.

There is now talk of a "mask law" in response to Saturday's action. Don't you feel responsible for that?

Introducing a mask law would be a serious misjudgment. Already we've seen how the tactic of kettling has backfired on the police, creating a desire among the crowd to be mobile and in effect unpoliceable. A mask law would probably just make more people wear masks. If last Saturday is anything to go by, they already are.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/31/black-bloc-anti-cuts-protest

[Red Future]

Article from Guardian about BlackBlock

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/31/black-bloc-anti-cuts-protest

Guardians left liberals went wild over that (1024) comments!!:laugh:

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

we need solidarity now in building the really radical elements of the movement, stepping away from the tuc and its pro-labour platform. coordinated and militant action needs to be taken, autonomously, and i'm pleased to say its happening (has been for a while) - tomorrow should give us some exciting news.