Undercover Roger Pearce — later head of the Special Demonstration Squad — attempted to link anarchist paper to Northern Irish republicans in the 1980s
Spycops Inquiry to hear evidence of Freedom infiltration
Tag: Freedom Press
Radical Reprint: The Voice of Labour
With militarism and the expectation of a war in Europe on the rise, Freedom‘s approach wasn’t getting as much of a bump in readership as hoped, according to reports from the anarchists’ annual gathering in Newcastle in May 1914. Anarchism’s reach in Britain at the time was, as ever, limited compared to the greater movements
Spycops Inquiry: Closing statements roundup
Yesterday saw closing statements in the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI), a sprawling investigation into the use of spycops covering four decades of operations, focusing in this tranche on the 1968-1982 period.
Book Review: A Normal Life
M Morrison takes a lengthy look at the autobiography of Vassilis Palaiokostas, better known as the Greek Robin Hood. A Normal Lifeby Vassilis PalaiokostasISBN: 978-1-904491-40-8Paperback: 352pp£15 (available here) Illegalism is a practice that has its roots in the French anarcho-individualist movement of the late 19th century. The idea in, its initial form, argued that if
Radical reprint: Wait! Wait! Wait!
In 1932, a Freedom Bulletin was produced which took aim at the state of the economic crisis in Britain, calling on workers to cease listening to the lies of the political class — it almost could have been written yesterday. The article, produced when Freedom consisted of Tom Keell (pictured and most likely the author)
Beer punks and anarchist cafes: politics for profit
Many could be forgiven for thinking it was a belated April Fools prank when, at the beginning of the month, Freedom Press released a statement reading that close to their premises in Whitechapel and out with their knowledge, the colossal Hilton hotel group had opened an upmarket cocktail bar bearing the name ‘Freedom Café’. Marketed
Freedom Press co-opted by … the Hilton?
This story is so utterly ridiculous that when we heard it yesterday we all initially thought it was an April Fools. Freedom Press has, admittedly, got an interesting sort of history and some nice old-timey aesthetics – we’ve been around for a long time after all, selling anarchist books and newspapers. There’s photos of Freedom
The Met spychief who infiltrated Freedom Press: a memory
Freedom, among many other left organisations, was targeted by the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) multiple times over the years, most notably by senior officer Roger “Thorley” Pearce. Back in 2018, we published the results of our investigation, tracking his articles through the paper and talking to old comrades, and revealed at least some of the
Freedom Press and the MI5 vendetta
Today we’ve uploaded a new set of 25 War Commentary newspapers, mostly covering late 1943 through 1944, to our digital archive and to mark the occasion Jack Saundrs looks at a set of MI5 files which show exactly how angry the Freedom Group publication was making the State at the time. The files tie in
Transcript: Freedom and ASS at the Spycops Inquiry
Freedom, among many other left organisations, was targeted by the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) multiple times over the years, most notably by senior officer Roger Pearce. The Advisory Service For Squatters, which has premises with Freedom in Angel Alley, has also been targeted, and speaking on behalf of both for the inquiry’s introductory sessions Rajiv
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The authorities decided on a unique opening ceremony in the open air, and maximum security with all the police in the world — both are getting pissed on Hours before the start of the Olympic Games, coordinated acts of sabotage targeted several high-speed lines in France during the night, disrupting all traffic and immobilising 800,000
The Pergamon: The morning dream
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James C. Scott (1936-2024)
The prolific scholar had a monumental influence on Southeast Asian, agrarian, and anarchist studies
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