Newcastle Unites and SWP - 14 arrests

[The Idler]

This report is doing the rounds

Newcastle Unites, who formed themselves largely out of a self-appointed alliance of Labour councillors, SWP members and faith groups, proceeded to explicitly ban other anti-fascist groups from joining planning meetings - before they had even gone to any of them!! - and offered no platform to challenge this ban. The main targets were members of North-east Anti-Fascists - a pre-existing group of socialists, anarchists and others - and in particular the RCG and anarchist groups. When the former attempted to attend a planning meeting on 7 May they were barred from entering, one female comrade was verbally abused with sexist language from a leading local SWP figure and physically bullied by a leading member of the local TUC (http://revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/labourtrade-unions/3012-sw100513). This was witnessed by a number of activists, who have all condemned the actions - not that anyone would be aware, since the organisers of Newcastle Unites systematically censored all critical comments on the wall of the facebook event. They instead responded with more threats - on 14 May at a secretive meeting this self-appointed organising group unilaterally decided to ban RCG activists from attending the demo and public meeting (http://revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/labourtrade-unions/3016-nu190513), and Dipu Ahad warned anti-fascists that they would 'be thrown out of the demo and the public meeting by our stewards who will be many. You will also be reported to the police for causing disorder!'. Which is of course exactly what happened, with police at the door of the meeting with a list of names (who gave it to them?) of who to ban from entry - overwhelmingly RCG members and anarchists (http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2013/05/26/newcastle-marches-against-edl-some-serious-questions-left-and-labour-movement-needs). Lo and behold 14 activists were arrested 30 minutes before the demo was to start.

[ind_com]

This report is doing the rounds

Newcastle Unites, who formed themselves largely out of a self-appointed alliance of Labour councillors, SWP members and faith groups, proceeded to explicitly ban other anti-fascist groups from joining planning meetings - before they had even gone to any of them!! - and offered no platform to challenge this ban. The main targets were members of North-east Anti-Fascists - a pre-existing group of socialists, anarchists and others - and in particular the RCG and anarchist groups. When the former attempted to attend a planning meeting on 7 May they were barred from entering, one female comrade was verbally abused with sexist language from a leading local SWP figure and physically bullied by a leading member of the local TUC (http://revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/labourtrade-unions/3012-sw100513). This was witnessed by a number of activists, who have all condemned the actions - not that anyone would be aware, since the organisers of Newcastle Unites systematically censored all critical comments on the wall of the facebook event. They instead responded with more threats - on 14 May at a secretive meeting this self-appointed organising group unilaterally decided to ban RCG activists from attending the demo and public meeting (http://revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/labourtrade-unions/3016-nu190513), and Dipu Ahad warned anti-fascists that they would 'be thrown out of the demo and the public meeting by our stewards who will be many. You will also be reported to the police for causing disorder!'. Which is of course exactly what happened, with police at the door of the meeting with a list of names (who gave it to them?) of who to ban from entry - overwhelmingly RCG members and anarchists (http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2013/05/26/newcastle-marches-against-edl-some-serious-questions-left-and-labour-movement-needs). Lo and behold 14 activists were arrested 30 minutes before the demo was to start.


Old habits die hard. :(

[Quail]

Unfortunately I don't find this surprising in the slightest.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

I was at a minor UAF-organised demo to oppose a minor EDL demo in my hometown and the SWP and Labourites wanted it to be a static protest in the town centre away from where the EDL had assembled. Thankfully Socialist Party members and local anarchists marched the group on regardless but I think it just goes to show how bankrupt and counter-revolutionary these groups are. There's nothing working class about Labour and the SWP are a bunch of irrelevant petty-bourgeois wankers. I try really hard not to be sectarian when it comes to the SWP but the members in my hometown are so divorced from working class struggle it's unbelievable and this shit which seems to have gone on in Newcastle is just further proof of their opportunistic bullshit.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

SWP have always seemed, to me, like band-wagon-riders or protestors-for-hire who try and dominate whatever event they're attending or whatever alliance they form.