Freedom News

Prisoners respond with cheers to protest surrounding HMP Full Sutton

Around fifty people descended on HMP Full Sutton, East Yorkshire, in a historic demonstration on Saturday 5th June. Campaign groups are demanding an end to racist violence against incarcerated men of colour Kevan Thakrar and Dwayne Fulgence, and an end to the 1440-bed ‘mega prison’ expansion plan, which has been opposed by the local community

Anti-prison expansion activists halt construction of HMP Wellingborough for second consecutive Friday

Protesters attached themselves to PVC pipes and blockaded the entrances to the construction site of the new HMP Wellingborough mega-prison, bringing construction works conducted by Kier Group to a halt for the second consecutive Friday. The multi-week campaign aims to stop the government’s massive prison expansion project and dissuade private companies, like Kier, from taking government contracts

Protesters occupy HMP Wellingborough construction site

Protesters occupied the construction site of HMP Wellingborough for 6 hours on Friday, successfully halting its work. The work is conducted by a construction, services and property group Kier. The direct action took place during a demonstration against the HMP Wellingborough development, which saw anti-prison expansion activists from across the country gathering to oppose the

Emergency callout as government sneaks in megaprison consultation

Yorkshire Campaign Against Prisons (YCAP) has caught the state slipping through a late-notice “consultation” over its massive new East Yorkshire project. Their submissions callout, deadlined at end of this month, is below. The residents of Port Talbot, South Wales, successfully stopped plans to build a mega prison. Now its East Yorkshire’s turn. The government’s intentions

Prison Island: A new report on prison expansion in England, Wales and Scotland – out now

In August Corporate Watch, a not-for-profit co-operative that researches the social and environmental impact of capitalism, released their latest report on prison expansion in England Scotland and Wales: Prison Island. Now physical copies of the report are available to buy from Freedom Bookshop and from Corporate Watch’s website. Find out more about the report below

Campaign to fight toxic prisons to tour Britain next month

In a timely move as the prison system faces major market-oriented reform, members of the US-based Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons will be going on tour around the country in late September and early October to talk about their experiences of — and successes against — the social and ecological impact of the United States prison-industrial

As details become clear on prisons expansion, campaigners prepare for a fight

The Empty Cages Collective and Community Action on Prison Expansion (CAPE) campaigns are calling for people to get involved in fighting at what they say is a crucial stage in government plans to build four new megaprisons across Britain. Plans to build new facilities at Full Sutton in east Yorkshire, Hindley in Wigan, Rochester in Kent and

Anonymous group claims acid sabotage on superjail’s foundations

An anonymous group claiming responsibility for a raid on controversial superjail HMP Berwyn in May 2015 which destroyed the engines of diggers and construction equipment has said in a letter to insurrectionist site 325.nostate that they also fatally undermined houseblocks with acid powder shortly afterwards. The letter states: It is important to announce one week before the opening

Empty Cages announce first No More Prisons conference

The Empty Cages Collective, a solidarity group supporting prison abolitionists in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff and London, is backing a major new conference aimed at growing the movement nationally and gearing up for a campaign to fight the government as it pushes forward building new megaprisons. The first of the new giant facilities, HMP Berwyn near