Social Centres update: Common house in trouble, Partisan nears opening
Radical social centres across Britain have run into financial issues recently, with business rates rises causing trouble for Larc in east London and the Cowley Club in Brighton this year. For the Common House however cash problems have followed on from the loss of their major funding grant — and they’re in dire need of solidarity to stay afloat while they reorganise. But brighter news is also afoot, as Manchester’s… Continue reading
LCAP: A decade of direct action
Based on a “direct action casework” model of community organising pioneered in Ontario, Canada in the 1990s, the London Coalition Against Poverty was formed in 2007 to fight against the worsening squeeze on welfare provision which had been occurring under successive Labour governments.
Organised on horizontal lines, it immediately made a splash with punchy actions such as occupations of jobcentres and housing offices demanding that councils keep to their legal… Continue reading
Grenfell: Because they were poor
A member of the Anarchist Federation writes on guilt and the ever-rising death count in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
“The people who died and lost their homes – this happened to them because they are poor” ~ Akala, rapper and poet, local resident.
“Regeneration is a euphemism for ethnic and class cleansing” ~Kensington resident and writer Ishmahil Blagrove.
Guilty: Boris Johnson. When Mayor of London Johnson… Continue reading
Sisters Uncut have “fully secured” Holloway prison
After a ten-hour standoff with police last night, women’s rights campaign Sisters Uncut announced this morning that they are in control of the recently closed women’s prison in London.
Sisters let themselves into the building through an open window yesterday afternoon, draping banners outside reading “this is public land, our land” before being surrounded by a large contingent of Met police. After a brief siege, during which police… Continue reading
Anarchist Haringey: Brief radical history of a London borough
I guess Tottenham is most known for its riots in 1985 and 2011. These were in no way organised or led by anarchists, and we were a very small part of them. But, they definitely showed the anger sections of the local community had toward the killing of members of their community by the police. This anger was also evident on the streets of Haringey when Joy Gardner and Roger… Continue reading
Picturehouse living wage strikes spread to East Dulwich and Brighton
Workers at London Picturehouse cinemas in Brixton, Hackney, Crouch End and Piccadilly will be on strike again on April 15th. They will be joined by East Dulwich, and Duke of York’s Cinema in Brighton, striking for the first time. The strikers want the living wage, sick pay, maternity pay and union recognition. The cinema workers’ union, Bectu, reports that the most recent strike ballot was 96.8% in favour of industrial… Continue reading
London anti-fascists in callout to block opportunist EDL and Britain First rally
A ‘Block The Fascists’ counter-demo has been announced for April 1st following the decision by EDL and Britain first to hold rallies to capitalise on the recent Westminster attack. In a statement, organisers said:
London Anti-fascists are calling a demonstration to support calls to oppose both Britain First and the English Defense League (EDL) who have called demos in London in light of the recent attack in Westminster.… Continue reading
RMT union puts anarchist in charge of London
Freedom has received the following, written by an anonymous railway worker with the RMT union
At the beginning of this year the RMT elected Andy Littlechild (pictured right), a longstanding anarchist and member of the Solidarity Federation (Solfed), to the RMT union’s National Executive Council as its London transport representative.
The role, which lasts for three years, takes responsibility for the entire battlezone of London Underground including trains,… Continue reading
Rallies kick off fortnight of action against mass deportations
A march through Brixton, South London today following on from Wednesday’s demonstration at the Nigerian High Commimssion has kicked off a two-week campaign by the Movement For Justice By Any Means Necessary against British charter flight deportations, used to forcibly expel migrants en masse.
The campaign is part of an international action in Nigeria, Jamaica and Britain to end the British government’s mass deportation charter flights to Nigeria, Ghana,… Continue reading
Your guide to 2017 anarchist bookfairs in the British Isles
Every year the anarchist movement has its biggest get-together at the London Anarchist Bookfair at the end of October. But there’s a lot of similar events going on between now and then, and we’ve done a roundup below so you’re never short of a book or two.
April 29th: Cambridge Radical Bookfair Venue: Portland Arms, 129 Chesterton Road, CB4 3BA 1pm-5pm
Stalls from the likes of East… Continue reading
