Fantastic News in the SOCPA camapaign

This article, which appeared in The Guardian, seems to suggest that SOCPA (mentioned in my first post) is going to be repealed by our Prime Minister. This is fantastic news for those campaigners who have spent many an hour chaallenging the law in creative ways.

"In August 2005 it became illegal to demonstrate in parliament and the surrounding environs without first gaining permission from the police, six days in advance. On June 24 2007 Maya Evans, the first person to be convicted of the criminal offence of "participating in an unauthorised demonstration" (for the heinous act of reading out the names of the Iraqi and British war dead at the Cenotaph), sent a text to friends and supporters: "Brown promises to allow peaceful protest around parliament". Less than two years after its arrival onto the statute books and the law looked like it is to be scrapped.
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (Socpa) was introduced by David Blunkett to get rid of Brian Haw, the peace campaigner from Parliament Square. As you might expect of a piece of legislation that was bought in specifically to target one man, the end results were spiteful and farcical in equal measure. The police decided that one person with a banner counted as a demonstration; in fact, one person with a badge was deemed to be a demonstration. A friend of mine was threatened with arrest while having a picnic on Parliament Square as she had the word "peace" iced onto her cakes, this was deemed to be an "unauthorised demonstration". I had to get permission from the police specifically to wear a red nose, on Red Nose Day in Parliament Square, just in case it was mistaken for an illegal protest that could have led to my arrest. The implementation of the law became so absurd that a group of breast-feeding mums had to apply for permission to gather in Parliament Square to feed their children, as this was seen as a political protest that had to be controlled by the law.
To many this law, which would have us get permission to wear a badge or a T-shirt within a 1km radius of parliament, became the epitome of New Labour's control-freak tendencies. Socpa typified the Kafkaesque reach of a government determined to make the citizen more accountable to the state than the state was accountable to the citizen.
Some opposed the law by refusing to cooperate with it, like Maya, and held demonstrations without permission, like the Sack Parliament demo, calling for MPs to resign. Other less brave souls, like myself, decided to take on the law by organising mass lone demonstrations, where individuals applied for lone protests but en mass, swamping the police with paperwork. Each month people would arrive demanding everything from "an end to aggression in Palestine" to "free chocolate for the unemployed". In the process I became the Guinness World Record holder for "most political demonstrations in 24 hours" - I have a framed certificate - and in April this year we applied for 2,500 individual demonstrations around the Socpa zone in the space of a week, giving the police about three years' worth of work in seven days.
That Brown wants to scrap this law is good news. Though, frankly, it was an obvious and easy choice for him. The law is unpopular and there are few who will defend it. The GLA voted to recommend its abolition. Lady Sue Miller was pushing a private members' bill in the Lords to repeal it. Police officers sent me private emails saying: "we don't need this [law] and it makes us look stupid." I have even been in discussion with some folk within parliament about how they might organise their own illegal protest and force the police to arrest the very people the law was introduced to protect.
By repealing an unpopular law Brown not only appears to be listening to the British people, but emphasises the differences between himself and Blair, a vital task if he is to win back Middle England's trust, fractured by Iraq, loans for peerages and Blair's liberty grabbing tendencies. It also gives him a bit more room to promote ID cards, while rebutting the charges of being illiberal.
However, the devil is in the detail and while his comments are welcome I suspect that Brown is likely to keep parts of Socpa that make protest on various military bases (like the US spy base at Menwith Hill or RAF Fairford) illegal. Under trespass laws Quakers and peaceniks protesting on these bases would break the law if they refused to leave the property, under Socpa they can be arrested just for being on the property. It also remains unclear if he will repeal the law directly or tinker with it.
But while we might have to wait to find out exactly what kind of victory we have won, it is none the less a victory. And it has been a victory for protesters, for people who read names out at the Cenotaph, for people who pitched tents in Parliament Square and for people who waved banners at the mass lone demonstrations. This is a victory for the people who stood with hand-scrawled signs demanding "End the war in Iraq!", for those who made banners demanding the government ban Robbie Williams and for demonstrators who stood with papier mache boots demanding "Bigger shoe sizes for women!", it is a peculiarly British victory."
Mark Thomas, The Guardian: June 26th.

Banksy

Dear Mr Brown

Dear Prime Minister Brown,
Firstly can I congratulate you on becoming the new British prime minister, I hope that the job is everything that you expect of it. I believe that you have come into power at a crucial time for British and International politics and I urge you to make the very best of your premiership by focussing on some crucial issues that we, the global citizens, require our governments assistance with.
Climate change has to be the one single issue that should shape every decision you make while in your position. We all already know the threat and how little time we have to address it. As you know, if we do not cut our carbon emissions quickly we will be essentially digging our own graves and the graves of many of the poorest people in our fragile earth. Britain must make a stand both domestically and internationally and we must play a leading role in securing a sustainable future for generations to come. If the world heats up by the expected maximum increase (6 degrees centigrade) we will be in the most dire situation that our species has faced and it will be too late.
Domestically we must ban flights within Britain. Provide subsidised public transdport. Raise tax on fuel and/or road tax. Our Airport and road expansion projects should be curbed. Environmentally friendly local food should be supported. Non-energy saving lightbulbs should be banned. Plastic bags should be taxed. All of these ideas will work. It is time to start a carbon rationing scheme applied to every person in our country and every business. Oil and Coal must be exchanged for modern efficient renewable energy. Your priority must be to educate every Briton about how they must cut their carbon footrprint and quickly enforce this with law. We need to act on this now.
Internationally I think it is time to stand up to the USA and tell them that they must cut their insane overuse of Carbon and push towards sustainability. They are acting far too slow. Environmental improvement should be linked to development all round the world and expertise should be lent if needs be. An international binding agreement on carbon emissions should apply to each and every single country. Poorer nations who rely on export should be helped financially so as to deal with a movement toward locally produced goods. We need a concolodated international effort to make a change. You know the statistics, Stern made it clear what the price will be if we fail to make a move soon. The future of our planet is very much in your hands.

Tony Blair left behind a rather dissapointing legacy. For all the good things he did right he did too many wrong. Please keep focussing on affordable homes, on Education and please do not privatise the National Health Service. We want a health service run not for profit but for people and we can still say we are proud of what we have. Do not take away that right from us. Furthermore I want to see a minimum wage increase on a yearly basis and a guarantee from you that immigrant workers will be afforded the same rights and wages as native ones. Too many young people in Britain earn barely enough to live on and this is unnaceptable. Please keep museums and art galleries free and if possible make more of them free.

Tony Balir did however leave a stain on Britain because of some of his terrible mistakes. Iraq was one and was a disaster. It sickens me to think that my country played a part in a war where 600 000 Iraqis have died and the country is now in a state of civil war. Guarantee the British people you will never again enter into a war for money and oil based on blatant lies. Never again dismiss the voices of millions on the streets, it would be at your own peril. A wat with Iran will not be tolerated.

When will Britain address the Issue of Israel having Nuclear Weopans- this is unacceptable. When will we see that we have no right to nuclear weopans ourselves. It is time to end our old fashioned hypocricy and join the majority of the world in the relative safety of having a nuclear free country. Let us be world leaders, rather than followers of the United States of America. We only distance ourselves from the world, especially the Muslim nations by keeping our nuclear arsenal.

The final and perhaps most immediately urgent issue that we must address is poverty and Aids in Africa. It is unacceptable that a child dies every 3 seconds from poverty- the Western world should not be able to sleep at night. I know you want to make a change. Let us firstly meet our UN Development goal of giving 0.7% of our GNP to international development. Let us stop trying to privatise the economies of Africa. Let us help African farmers financially by supplying them with the tools they require to provide for themselves, their families and their nations- that is their right.

Mr Brown there is more to do than the above and so little time. Please make your Prime Ministership one that will be remembered for all the right reasons.

Yours Sincerely

Someone who cares

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change
2)http://www.stoplutonairport.org/
3)http://www.one.org/issues
4) http://www.cnduk.org/

Blogging

Just a short one.
I am currently in China.
Although i can write this blog I cannot view it or anyone elses blog or, at the moment, the BBC website.
Bit spooky really isn't it.
Got to go- though police might be on their way.....

The 2nd commander

Although we weren't gifted with the chance to vote on the next Prime Minister of Great Britain some of us (Labour Party members and union members) have been given a say as to the next Deputy Prime Minister. The job itself is decided on by the Prime Minister but the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is decided by us (and the Prime Minister is fully expected to follow suit)

The candidates are strong or at least seem so at first inspection. Hilary Benn, Alan Johnson, Hazel Blears and Peter Hain are all household names of the Blair cabinet and from the start would probably have been favourites. Harriet Harman is a strong candidate although perhaps less well known but it is John Cruddas who is going to get my vote.

John (if i may be so rude) is the only candidate who seems to have any voting record which reflects a personal and thought out opinion rather than one created by the party. He bravely voted against Trident and Student top-up fees both of which i fully support him on. He is environmentally concerned albeit a nuclear power advocate and he seems to have a genuine interest in helping the poor as best he can. I admire him greatly for being a staunch BNP critic in his constituency Dagenham, where the BNP have a large amount of council power. I think a man of principle who is willing to stand up for what he believes is what the Labour Party and the country need.

The G8 In Germany

Once again the G8 has met up in some posh hotel in Europe and made decisions on our behalf. And the outscome? A watered down version of Kyoto to suit the interests of the Americans.
Well done to all those who have taken to the streets in Northern Germany (see below).

Larkin about...

Life isn't all about politics. Life is sometimes about poetry.


This poem has a lot of meaning to me:



Side by side, their faces blurred,
The earl and countess lie in stone,
Their proper habits vaguely shown
As jointed armour, stiffened pleat,
And that faint hint of the absurd--
The little dogs under their feet.



Such plainess of the pre-baroque
Hardly involves the eye, until
It meets his left hand gauntlet, still
Clasped empty in the other; and
One sees, with sharp tender shock,
His hand withdrawn, holding her hand.



They would not think to lie so long.
Such faithfulness in effigy
Was just a detail friends could see:
A sculptor's sweet comissioned grace
Thrown off in helping to prolong
The Latin names around the base.



They would not guess how early in
Their supine stationary voyage
Their air would change to soundless damage,
Turn the old tenantry away;
How soon succeeding eyes begin
To look, not read. Rigidly they



Persisted, linked, through lengths and breadths
Of time. Snow fell, undated. Light
Each summer thronged the grass. A bright
Litter of birdcalls strewed the same
Bone-riddled ground. And up the paths
The endless altered people came,



Washing at their identity.
Now, helpless in the hollow of
An unarmorial age, a trough
Of smoke in slow suspended skeins
Above their scrap of history,
Only an attitude remains:



Time has transfigured them into
Untruth. The stone finality
They hardly meant has come to be
Their final blazon, and to prove
Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.
-- Philip Larkin



My English teacher told us that this is one of Philip Larkin's most misunderstoof poems, but i couldn't remember why so i picked myself up a poetry book and had a look. I hope that you read the poem too and have some thoughts.


Philip Larkin was a man who appreciated irony, who was obsessed with death and whose poetry has had a great effect on me.


Arundel Tomb, despite what is commonly believed, is not a poem with 'the happy ending' that Larkin seems to be missing. The poem is one of falsehood and dishonesty, one which reflects on the passing of time and a void of love in our world, or at least in Larkin's. To me the poem reveals an insecurity that runs deep within us; that nothing actually survives of us, not love, not a memory, nothing.

The couple with their 'faces blurred' have become nothing but a part destroyed stone carving in a cathedral where people 'wash away' at their identity. The partners who lie together come from an age of stiffness, of tradition and lovelessness and could be seen as a sign of 'love' in a 'loveless age'. The reality of this poem is however not so rosy. The couple 'lie' side by side, a pun of course, as their very existence, dead together and holding hands is a falsehood- love has not survived but in fact their 'love' was a fallacy, a lie.
I have so much more to say, but too little time.

Bye bye Tony...we'll miss you

So the time has finally come, Tony Blair is stepping down as Prime Minister of our country after ten years at the helm.

We can look back at his time and really see a tale of the 'Good (minimum wage, free museums, devolution, Ken Livingstone, strong economy) the Bad (Further privatisation, restrictions on free speech, longer detention without trial, increased wealth gap, building new nuclear weopans, failing to act strongly on climate change, breaking manifesto promises (House of Lords anyone)) and the Ugly (Iraq)'.

I thought it was time for change, but instead.. we have Gordon Brown.

The time has now come for Politics to transcent national boundaries. Climate Change can only be adressed by drastic action, something Gordon Brown will not take. British politics is cornered by the majority of voters who WANT lower taxes, cheaper fuel, more roads and less Immigration. Instead of any sort of consensus on important issues and a drive to explain why WE ALL have a part to play in saving our world, our leaders cower in the face of right wing sentiment.

I would expect no less of the Conservative party and have little faith in them; but the Labour party is made up of people who care and I firmly believe it would be healthier to see a principled, social democratic Labour party fighting to the death on the issues that matter and losing, than see them win another election with Conservative policies.

The time has come for Labour (and Britain) to stand against Nuclear Weopans, neoimperialism, global inequality, human rights abuses (at home and abroad) and stand for Equality, Social Justice and Peace. Gordon Brown is not the man for this.

Let us not forget that Mt Brown has failed in ten years to raise 0.7% of our GDP to help International Development. Like all who have failed before him, he has been all talk. Mr Brown has failed to stand up for the rights of non-free-market countries and instead has followed the United States in trying to force poor countries to liberalise their markets (while we protect ours), only making them poorer still. Gordon Brown has been in charge of an economy that has seen the rich-poor divide widen.1.
Let us not forget we live in a deeply divided world, where nearly the whole of one continent cannot expect to live to 50 years old. Where half the world population lives on under $1 a day. These are the issues that need to be addressed.

Gordon said Britain must be:
"Strong in defence in fighting terrorism, upholding NATO, supporting our armed forces at home and abroad, and retaining our independent nuclear deterrent, In an insecure would we must and we will always have the strength to take all necessary long term decisions to ensure both stability and security."

In an insecure world me MUST NOT continue to develop weapons that have the capability to wipe out half of the world's population. We MUST make the long-term decision to be a nation of peace, stability and a world where security is guaranteed not just for the rich and the West but for all.


We have to change something. It is time for Britain (and the world) to start really caring. It is down to all of us to make sacrifice and really push for change.

1 http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-05-17T200822Z_01_L17547254_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-INEQUALITY.xml

Climate Change and what WE can do...

So we all know what's happening really don't we?

Since the Industrial revolution we have pumped more and more carbon (as Carbon Dioxide) and other Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases store heat in the atmosphere meaning that the world heats up.

Great news for vineyards in Cornwall perhaps, but not so great for the millions who already struggle to get a regular water supply or, for that matter, anyone living near the coast.

Climate change will not only make the earth hotter causing longer and worse periods of drought in dry countries but it will also cause glaciers to melt, meaning more water in the sea and following that a rise in sea level that could leave many coastal areas uninhabitable.

We are at a stage now that if we do not do something drastic it will be too late. The economic effects of climate change have been made clearby the 'Stern Enquiry' - even the British government admits something must be done. Far worse than any economic problems is that those who live in the most climatically treacherous places on earth will be hit by climate change the worsed and those people are the poorest already and the ones who have contributed the least to the problem.

The science behind climate change is complicated and there will NEVER be absaloute proof that humans are responsible but we must accept that the likelihood is that we are messing up our world and that we simply cannot step back and let this happen. For more info on the science and some background reading please see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/portal/climate_change/default.stm

The good news is that we can and I believe will stop wrecking our world before it is too late but some sacrifices (the word politicians cannot use) will have to be made.
- We MUST stop relying on cars to get around
-We MUST cut down on consuming items from all over the world but more importantly we have to cut down consumptions all together.
-We have to (and it sounds stupid coming from me) stop flying accross the world regularly.
-Our home must be efficient and powered wherever possible by renewable energy.
-We MUST tell the government that we believe laws MUST be passed to curb our emissions and that we believe the time for carbon rationing (another word politicians can't say) is here.
-We CAN turn off our appliances at the plug, can't we? And maybe abolish 'standby' buttons while we're at it?
-We CAN walk to local shops sometimes or catch a bus instead of driving to work, maybe just one day and week to start and then more.
-We CAN all hop on a bike, and get fit and save the world.

We all have a part to play and we will make a change. We have to TELL our governments, world over, that we want to be helped out with our aims. We want public transport and investment in renewables and we want to halt airport exapansion and cut out national flights in the UK.

I believe that we can all make a difference and that developed countries should help developing countries (like China and India) both financially and with expertise in renewable energy. I believe that those countries who fail to meet emissions targets or do not sign up to global climate change agreements should be financially punished.

So many people have already changed their lives for the better and embraced a more sustainable way of living, and i think we can all do it too.

I urge you to get in touch with your MP, your Councillor, your Prime Minister or whoever holds the power and tell them you don't want to watch our world be destryoed by something we could have stopped.

Thanks

Nuclear Weapons Hypocrisy

The date is Friday 13th October, the time is 5am and a small force has taken to the street to disarm one the most dangerous bases in the world.
Their Mission: To Stop the Production of Nuclear weapons on a large scale.
Place: Faslane, Scotland.
While the rest of the world is shuddering at the thought of North Korea being in possession of a nuclear arsenal some intelligent people seem to have realized that our hypocrisy is what makes negotiations with North Korea impossible and our actions are just as threatening to the world as theirs.
A small group of protestors made the trek up north from Edinburgh via Glasgow to Faslane and stayed overnight at the local peace camp. The mood was good and the porridge was warm in the morning. The group resembled a bit of a circus act (in a good way) and they made their attempt to block the North Gate of Faslane Nuclear base by locking themselves together in front of the gates. After a short time those locked were arrested, for the dreadful crime of trying to create world peace, and taken away and the rest reamined to shout and scream at all who would listen. Very Well Done to them.
Everyone who cares about our world must call on the government to conform to the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty (npt) which they helped to create. We are breaking international law along with the USA, Israel, Pakistan, India, China, Russia, North Korea and France and this must stop.
We have no right whatsoever to call upon anyone to disarm if we do not ourselves. The argument of a nuclear deterrent is ridiculous, and every country who has nuclear arms must disarm unilaterally.
Those brave souls who went up to Faslane today were perfectly in the right and we must tell the government in clear terms that we do not want £25 Billion spent on trident but instead on hospitals, homes and teachers.
The only reason North Korea and Iran (among others) threaten nuclear weopans is because they want to compete with the Western 'Big Boys'.
By conforming to international law we can make the world a safer place.
http://www.cnduk.org/ - The CND- a fantasitc and deadicated organisation.

Freedom of Speech

For my first post i have decided to talk about Freedom of Speech and what it means to me: I believe that everyone in the world has an unalienable right to free speech and that it is a most basic and fundamental right that should never be denied unless it actually harms others.
When people think of restrictions on Freedom of Speech they usually imagine countries like Myanmar, Cuba, North Korea and China but restrictions on free speech are not limited to 'communist' countries but are commonplace in countries like The United Kingdom.
Tony Blair Once Said:

"When I pass protestors every day at Downing Street... I may not like what they call me, but I thank God they can. That's called freedom."

And i agree with what he is saying here. The sign of a true democracy is a country where minority groups are not scared to say how they feel and where every citizen feels that they have an influence in government.

Is Britain like this? Not by a long shot.

Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (Socpa) section 132 it is ILLEGAL to protest within 1km of Parliament without police permission. This law is incredibly worrying and despite opposition to it it does not look like it will change. The law was created to stop 1 MAN protesting on Parliament Square but it applies to every single person in the world. Brian Haw had been at parliament square for a number of years and he had created an anti-war protest which had become a tourist attraction for many and an eyesore for some.
It just doesn't seem very democratic to pass a law because someone is an eyesore does it?
If this kind of law was passed elsewhere in the world it would be frowned upon by us and the Western world but somehow this law has slipped under the public's eye. I was involved in a campaign to try get the law destroyed but the campaign lost it's focus and i have all but quit on the group i was involved in. Each person in the group had the right idea but nothing was getting done. I have now written letters to my MP (who backs me), Ken Livingstone (who ignored me) and other people. Mark Thomas, the comedian, is getting involved in mass lone protests to question the law and i believe they are a good way of drawing attention to the dangerous nature of SOCPA.
Freedom of Speech is the foundation of democracy and the only way of us ever reaching a state in the world where peace comes before war. Understanding each other and standing up for what we believe in are fundamental in the creation of a better world and i believe that SOCPA MUST BE ABOLISHED.
EVERYONE WHO CARES SHOULD WRITE TO THEIR MP.
Visit www.peopleincommon.org- the parliament square picnickers
http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/ - Brian Haw's site
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_Organised_Crime_and_Police_Act_2005 - Info on SOCPA
and always keep posted to
www.indymedia.org.uk
and please WRITE TO YOUR MP at www.writetothem.com