Netroots UK – organising and planning a longer fightback
The fightback against the Coalition’s cuts can take the form of many bursts of activity and demonstrations. But I’ve always maintained that this is a fight that will have to be long, planned, and sustained over several years.
I’m not saying the two are incompatible, but we have to plan to make it deeply unpopular and reverse its agenda over several years not just over the new few months.
This is why a group of us have banded together to launch the first of the annual Netroots UK – a one-day event to bring together hundreds of grassroots activists for a day of workshops, networking activity and discussion on strategy.
continue reading… »
Media warned over next WikiLeaks story
WikiLeaks sent out this tweet about an hour ago.
UK Government has issued a ‘D-notice’ warning to all UK news editors, asking to be briefed on upcoming WikiLeaks stories
The next leak by WikiLeaks is expected to be a release of classified US files likely to cause international embarrassment and could damage some nations’ relations with the United States.
Reports in the media say say several countries including the UK, Canada, Turkey, Israel, Denmark and Norway have also been warned to expect potential embarrassment from the leaks.
There are five types of D-Notices. According to WikiLeaks, D-Notice 1 and D-Notice 5 (1 – Military operations, plans and capabilities; 5 – UK Security and Intelligence services and Special services) have been invoked.
D-Notice 5 states:
Information falling within the following categories is normally regarded as being highly classified. It is requested that such information, unless it has been the subject of an official announcement or has been widely disclosed or discussed, should not be published without first seeking advice
The Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger has just waded in:
Puzzled by DA Notice re #wikileaks. Overwhelming majority of t stuff not covered. “Safety + security of Brits” nothing to do w DNotice
The next dump of files is expected to be seven times larger than the massive batch of Iraq War logs.
Update According to Wikipedia:
D-Notices and DA-notices are merely a request and therefore not legally enforceable and consequently news editors can choose to ignore them without (in theory) official repercussions, although they are generally accepted by the media
Developing…
Do Tories not believe in social mobility any more?
He may be a bastard, a class warrior, or a prophet, in any case, but what soon-to-be-Lord Flight said is certainly open to interpretation.Dave Osler hears tones of Keith Joseph’s eugenicism, something which cost him a chance to be Tory leader, Lenin does the same. Chris sees the class hatred, but somewhat excuses Flight, because in a way he is correct, if you change someone’s incentives, their actions will likely change.
What surprised me is that someone on the alleged right has a problem with poor people breeding (The upper classes produce heirs, the middle classes have families, the lower orders breed). This behaviour seems to rather give the game away as far as social mobility is concerned.
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More evidence of police brutality emerges
Another video has emerged of police going into a young student crowd on horses, earlier this week.
This one also shows police pushing into the protesters with horses to cries of ‘scum, scum’.
via @Steveistall
The video doesn’t show as much aggression as the last one.
But what’s significant here is that even though two separate videos have emerged of policemen on horses pushing into crowds, the police deny this happened.
Update: A reader tells us this video above was from Manchester; which indicates usage of horses in London was not an isolated incident.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police told the Guardian:
Police horses were involved in the operation, but that did not involve charging the crowd.
I dare say they [officers policing the Whitehall demonstrations] were doing the movements the horses do to help control the crowd for everyone’s benefit, which has been a recognised tactic for many, many years, but no, police officers charging the crowd – we would say, ‘No, they did not charge the crowd.’
In neither of the cases does it look like the use of horses helped ‘control’ the crowd.
Update
A picture has also emerged of a police media firing a toxic fire-extinguisher at police
In pictures, the officer can be seen discharging the halon device – banned for civilian use because of its environmental impact – above the head of a demonstrator during Wednesday’s march against increased tuition fees. The protester shuts his eyes as someone behind him shields their face with their hands.
One witness was quoted on Indymedia as saying: ‘I saw the shocking sight of a police medic putting his arm through the officers in front of him and spraying a BCF halon fire extinguisher at the faces of some of the protesters caught at the front of the crowd.’
Halon extinguishers contain toxic elements such as bromine and fluorine, and have been linked to breathing difficulties, skin and eye irritation, dizziness and even unconsciousness.
And yet the police keep maintaining their response was “proportional”.
Is it the end for Silvio Berlusconi?
Despite a massive majority, the Italian Prime Minister is days away from bowing out. His third election victory in April 2008 was saluted as “historic“: nobody in Italy’s democratic history had ever won such a huge majority.
Yet in two and a half years, all the Italian government managed to knock out was a number of controversial immunity bills (which critics slammed as “tailor-made” to protect the scandal-ridden PM from prosecution) and a series of anti-immigration measures dictated by Berlusconi’s openly xenophobic coalition partners the Northern League.
Otherwise, the Berlusconi ship started treading water pretty much from the off.
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How Michael Gove will dumb down teacher training, and schools
contribution by Natacha Kennedy
Michael Gove’s plan for teacher training in the Education White Paper will take children back to dumbed-down basics that fail to stimulate and engage young minds or motivate them to learn, and all for the sake of installing right-wing ideology in schools.
Seasoned Tory-watchers will be familiar with the way they usually mean the opposite of what they say: “We are all in this together” and “No swingeing cuts” etc. It is in this spirit that Michael Gove’s stated intention to “improve” teacher training in the education White Paper must be viewed.
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Shocking video: when police charged into students on horses
This shocking video was uploaded to YouTube last night. It shows a woman first trying to get back her wallet, which she says was just grabbed and taken by a police officer.
Then the crowd is attacked by police on horses, leading one woman to burst into tears and run away.
Watch
The police charge takes place 1 min in, despite no sign of violence or disturbance.
Update: It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t just cold and dark, but kids as young as ten were at the protest. There were several aged 13 stuck inside the police kettle. The panic could have led to people being crushed or trampled.
There’s been no mention of police using horses at all in the media.
via @GuyAitchison and @brokenshaman
Eugenics and the Tory right
With four nippers himself, Lord Flight presumably knows a thing or two about fecundity. And the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party is obviously worried that while Britain’s scallies get busy knocking up their babymothers every time you let one of the little buggers out of the Young Offenders’ Institution, nice people are progressively being priced out of the sprog market.
The former deputy chairman of Conservative Party has told the London Evening Standard: “We’re going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it’s jolly expensive. But for those on benefits, there is every incentive. Well, that’s not very sensible.”
Cambridge student demo: policeman punched student in the face
Yesterday afternoon a spokesman for the prime minister said:
Our position is that people have a right to engage in lawful and peaceful protest, but there is no place for violence or intimidation.
No doubt the PM sincerely believes this, as regards the actions of protestors. More troubling is the extent to which “violence or intimidation” is employed overtly by the police.
continue reading… »
Tory peer: Cuts will make poor ‘breed’
A new Conservative peer has been quoted as saying changes to the welfare system will encourage “breeding” among people on benefits. Downing Street swiftly distanced itself from the comments, in a newspaper interview, by former MP Howard Flight.
Mr Flight was named by David Cameron last week as one of more than 20 new Conservative peers. He was sacked as Tory candidate ahead of the 2005 election after suggesting the party had secret cuts plans.
Mr Flight, who is yet to take his seat in the House of Lords, was commenting on the government’s plans to axe child benefit for top rate taxpayers.
He told the London Evening Standard: “We’re going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it’s jolly expensive.
“But for those on benefits, there is every incentive. Well, that’s not very sensible.”
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