Credit: Fuel Poverty Action

Lewisham joins protests across the UK as part of the Fuel Poverty Action Winter Warm-Up Weekend of Friday 27^th - Monday 30^th January

Locals angry at having to make the choice between ‘heating and eating’ will be ‘warming up’ in and outside offices of energy companies, local government, and housing providers.

Protestors will gather at Lewisham Town Hall to demand democratically controlled and accountable energy, decent fuel-efficient housing, and an end to deaths caused by fuel poverty.

There will be a Peoples’ Forum, a burning of bills to keep warm , and a sharing of tea and information on how to bring down the cost of heating. Fire Eaters are also expected.

Local campaigner Alice Miller said, “We’ve chosen to hold our protest at Lewisham Town Hall because it is a tax-payer heated building and if we get too cold outside, we should be able to go inside to keep warm”.

Community Action Lewisham, who have organised the event, want people to know that: “There are things we can do ourselves right now to keep warm for less and make sure councils and other landlords do what they should”, says CAL activist Alex Hardy, going on to say, “However, only a democratic public energy system can permanently lift people out of fuel poverty and enable us to make the rapid transition thats needed, to green and sustainable energy”

Marai Larasi, Jacqui Hunt, Anna Van Heeswijk and Heather Harvey gave evidence to the Leveson enquiry yesterday

By Koos Couvée

The press remained relatively quiet about the goings on at the Leveson enquiry yesterday, and the journalists I usually follow for updates were not offering their live tweet services. Perhaps it had something to do with the topics of the day – the representation of women and Muslims in the media.

Witnesses at the morning session were headed by Marai Larasi of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, who said:  “The media creates, reflects and enforces attitudes.  Those who work in the media should be conscious of this and should actively seek not to reproduce attitudes which condone violence against women and girls.  Too often this is done through inaccurate reporting — for example, on the law on rape – intrusive reporting on victims and their families and misrepresentation.”

The afternoon session saw Inayat Bunglawala from Engage, a Muslim advocacy organisation which seeks to encourage greater civic participation on the part of British Muslims, take to the witness stand. Bunglawa told the enquiry:

“At Engage we believe that as a society in recent years we’ve moved away from overt racism.  We recognise that racism is wrong, we recognise that stereotypes of people are generally wrong, you know, to propagate these. The one glaring exception, it seems to us, is that in recent years the coverage of Muslims has not improved. Sometimes we come across some very disturbing headlines which seem to us to be aimed at fermenting prejudice against Muslims. Rather than reporting facts, it’s aimed at stirring up prejudice towards the British Muslim community.”

On Monday, a letter was published in the Guardian calling for a proper enquiry into the anti-Muslim press. The letter was signed by a large number of lawyers, public figures and lawmakers including human rights solicitor Imran Khan, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ahmed Versi of The Muslim News, blogger Sanum Ghafoor, Labour activist Sunny Hundal and many others. The letter read:

“The Leveson inquiry has so far failed to adequately address unfair media coverage as it relates to less prominent cases, including those relating to Muslims and Islam, focusing as it does on the impact of phone hacking on celebrities and other high-profile individuals.

An alternative inquiry is necessary to investigate what many regard as widespread and systematic discriminatory practices in reporting on Muslims and Islam in the British media.”

Three months after its launch, the Leveson enquiry is thus devoting a single session to issues many find much more important than the phone hacking of Jude Law or Hugh Grant; people who have actively seek media attention and reap the benefits of this attention every day. What is more, large settlements for 37 prominent victims of phone hacking totalling £1m were agreed by News International last week.

I am sure the family of Mark Duggan, killed by police in September last year, would like to testify to the Leveson enquiry the fact that the press uncritically reported the police’s statement that Duggan had shot at police first, a claim that later proved to be a blatant lie. The press also engaged in a smear campaign portraying Duggan as a gangster, implying this compromised the father-of-four’s right to a fair trial. On the day of his father’s funeral, a tabloid journalist asked Duggan’s 10-year-old son if he was in the same gang as his father.

The fact that the Leveson enquiry is not addressing these questions, and not turning to these communities for evidence in its assessment of media ethics, speaks volumes about the state of the media in Britain today.

The full letter published in the Guardian on Monday calling for an enquiry into the anti-Muslim press can be read here.

by @justinthelibsoc

The callout came late on Thursday night, I received a text message forwarded from a friend stating Steve Hedley from the RMT has called for a counter-demo to oppose the English Defence League in Barking.

UAF made a similar callout on Friday, I was surprised that staunch anti-fascists were apparently either caught unaware until short notice or decided only belatedly to hold a counter-demo. I suspect the reason was the latter. Barking & Dagenham Council, formerly the electoral stronghold of the British National Party had allowed the English Defence League to march through the Town Centre, assemble in front of the Town Hall and loudly play music in a residential area.

The anti-fascist mobilisation led by Unite Against Fascism on the day was small but significant, around 60-70 people, surrounded and matched in number by the police. We gathered at the front of the market, distributing leaflets and catching up with old comrades. While I bought a pasty, a shop worker asked me what was happening. I explained that the EDL were marching and I was part of the group to oppose them. She replied:

“Good, I’m glad someone is standing up to them. They are not welcome here.”

While we waited in the cold for the EDL to march, the racists were drinking in the Wetherspoons whilst equally surrounded by the police. At around 1:30, English flags with the EDL logo emblazoned in the centre were hoisted into the air and we started chanting and singing as the racists came down the hill.

“E-D-L go to hell! Take your Nazi mates as well!”

“Follow your leader, shoot yourself like Adolf Hitler!”

“We’re black, white, Asian and we’re Jew!
We’re black, white, Asian and we’re Jew!
We’re black, white, Asian and we’re Jew!
And we’re gay!”

“Unemployment and inflation
Are not caused by immigration
Its bullshit, come off it
The enemy is profit!”

The EDL were mostly composed of white, ageing skin-heads, however their stewards were mostly middle aged smiling women from (according to their fluorescent bibs) Berkshire. In total there were around double our number, as we taunted them, you could see quite a few welcomed it, though a number were angered at the suggestion that they were being called racist while marching with clear British National Party organisers.

As they walked past, we then moved to the town centre, where Weyman Bennett led us into a nice cage that had been arranged for us by the police. The EDL were about 50 metres away and we were both outnumbered by the police who filled the chasm between us. Locals watched bemused by two chanting groups cordoned off from each other. I left our cordon to talk to some of the youth and they joined our section to swear and shout at the EDL and have a laugh while doing it. Our contingent though small seemed to have a diverse array of Britain was made of Asian local councillors, young African, African-Caribbean and Asian teenagers, female trade unionists of varied backgrounds,  white and Sikh students and the odd anti-racist skinhead.

After 15 minutes, Weyman suggested that we join a Stephen Lawrence vigil that was away from the demonstration. Others expressed their desire to stay until the EDL had left the Town Centre. This caused a split and reduced our small number into half, to the cheer of the EDL. I guessed this was the local Labour Party’s attempt to draw attention away from the EDL and reduce the likelihood of confrontation, though with our small number I believed it would appear like we were running away and conceding defeat. So our resident skinhead started another song:

Can you hear the Nazis sing?
No, No
Can you hear the Nazis sing?
No, No
Can you hear the Nazis sing?
I can’t hear a fucking thing!

Their only audible chant was “E-E-E-D-L”, in the usual football hooligan-cum-man-ape manner and with not much humour. The anti-fascist contingent that stayed and sang “Cheerio” to the racists as the English Defence League were escorted back to the rail station by the police. Weyman shortly after reappeared to inform us that we were to stay behind in the town centre, until it was considered “safe”.

As we waited, around 5-6 police officers, one of whom was of African origin decided, in a somewhat provocative manner, to stop and search two black teenagers, plus “stop and account for” two other non-white teenagers who joined us from the street. Some of us started shouting “SHAME! SHAME!” to officers as we witnessed one teenager being thoroughly padded down for weapons. As tensions we’re clearly rising we were then asked to stop chanting by a local councillor.

I obliged and went around to see the police officers faces and asked if this was happening under Section 60, one officer looks at me and shook his head. The Met are currently reviewing its use of that power and so are probably under orders to use it sparingly. This meant that they were likely being searched by section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

At this point the approximately 10 police officers were surrounded by activists and locals who were predominately women of African and African-Caribbean origin, watching with disgust and outrage.

I asked the officers what crime were these young people suspected of, one officer calmly replied that his superior heard one of these youths “talking about finding articles to throw as missiles at the other demonstration”, so where being searched for having offensive weapons on suspicion of causing an affray.

“So you think its plausible that these young people have the Herculean strength to throw a missile from the back of our demonstration over our heads, across 50 metres and into the EDL demonstration? Ridiculous.”

Whilst seething with anger, we watched the search take place. As I looked at the young men, only the non-African kid, who may have been of Central Asian/Eastern European heritage appeared the most upset by it. The others were anything but angry or annoyed. Indifferent, numb and even possibly bored are more accurate descriptions of  the procedure which they may have had some familiarity with.

Later that day I went on to Whitechapel for a meeting and coincidentally this happened. A bunch of anti-fascists were on hand to intervene but it appeared that the locals dealt with what was suspected to be a dozen or so white teenagers eager for a fight.

By Koos Couvee / @kooscouvee

Over two hundred people gathered at the steps of St Pauls cathedral today to celebrate the birthday of Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, commemorate his life’s work and share their views on how Dr King’s legacy is relevant today.

The event, a collaboration of community activists, church members, trade union representatives and OccupyLSX, was co-hosted by Lee Jasper.

Speakers included Bishop Wayne Malcolm, Zita Holbourne (Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts), Lee Jasper (Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts / Operation Hope and Recovery), Selma James, Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy (Black Lawyers Association) and Tanya Paton from Occupy LSX amongst others. And the spirits were raised by the energetic Lee Jasper, comedy from Ava Vidal, and a gospel choir.

Selma James, founder of the International Wages for Housework Campaign and author of The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community, met Dr King in the 1950’s. Her husband, the legendary marxist CLR James, had invited King to join him for lunch in London when the pair met in Ghana at the 1957 Independence celebrations. James drew a number of historical parallels between neoliberalism, riots and war in the present and what Dr King faced when he attempted to cool off the rioters in Watts, LA, 1965. King was jeered off and subsequently accepted the argument that perhaps riots were the only way black voices were going to be heard. A day later, he invited Stokely Carmichael to church and came out in opposition to the Vietnam War. James spoke of King’s further swing to the left, for instance when he supporting striking dustmen in Birmingham.

There was a contribution from Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer who spoke about his country’s legacy – the first independent black republic in the world in 1804. Joseph went on to speak of his country’s present struggle against cholera, and the ongoing occupation of Haiti by UN forces – there to impose and maintain neoliberal policies on the island.

The crowd heard from community activists Stafford Scott (Tottenham Defence Campaign), Merlin Emmanuel (Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture)  and Marcia Riggs (United Families and Friends Campaign).

Merlin Emmanuel, who lost his uncle Smiley Culture, aka David Emmanuel, at the hands of police last year, spoke about the issue of deaths in custody, double standards of the criminal justice system and the importance of giving young people hope for their futures. On the Lawrence verdict, he said:

“Although I was happy with the Stephen Lawrence verdict, I maintain that the full measure of justice is yet to be served. There will be some closure for his family of course, but the conviction of two murderers when there were at least five involved shows that justice still has to be procured. Further to that, the individuals involved were expendable in my opinion, a gang of rogue racist thugs that the system decided to sacrifice to give the false impression that everything is ok and well here in Britain.”

We also heard from Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean died in Brixton police station four years ago.

The Rigg family is still waiting for a proper enquiry and crucial evidence from the IPCC. The  United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) will be launching an e-petition on the 20th of January to demand a public enquiry into deaths in custody. Please sign!

Despite a relatively low turn-out, the atmosphere at today’s event was great and it was clear from the variety of voices and the sense of unity at the event that increasingly, different groups and campaigns are talking to each other. Whilst prominent trade union campaigners like Zita Holbourne and Lee Jasper were present, the language used was very much that of the Occupy movement. Martin Luther King’s birthday thus provided the opportunity for a variety of campaigns to join forces, commemorate Dr King’s legacy and celebrate its continued relevance.

The presence of the OccupyLSX camp continues to provide the movement with a site of resistance in the heart of London. A large number of tourists stopped by to listen to today’s speeches.

Occupy London will be in the High Court at 2pm on Monday 16 January to hear judgement regarding the injunction requested by the London Stock Exchange. Eviction is expected within days of the court judgement if the injunction is served.

No Justice, No Peace.

Wednesday 25th January 2012, 7pm – 9pm
The Bread and Roses Pub, 68 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6DZ

Speakers confirmed:

• Dr Jane Holgate – Co-founder of Hackney Unites
• Paul Stott – Anti-Fascist Activist & Academic
• Performance by The Ruby Kid

The British National Party may be imploding but they achieved 5% at the last GLA elections. At this meeting we will elect our officers and decide if we should broaden our focus to community organising. We’ll also discuss the new British Freedom Party how to tackle the English Defence League. Following the conviction of two of Stephen Lawrence’s murderers, there is a lot to reflect on at this year’s AGM.

Find the event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/340585399301466/

South London Anti-Fascists Group are supported by Battersea & Wandsworth TUC

By Koos Couvee

The media storm Hackney MP Diane Abbott caused last week as a result of her ‘divide and rule’ comment on Twitter is indicative of the ways in which Britain’s political elite is still able to turn issues of race and racism to its advantage and brush the lived reality of so many black Britons under the carpet.

When Diane Abbott tweeted: “White people love playing ‘divide & rule’ We should not play their game #tacticasoldascolonialism”, she was not referring to 19^th century colonialism, which is what she later said to defend her comment. Firstly, if that were the case she would have put the sentence in the past tense. Secondly, the tweet came as part of a conversation about present day politics with Hackney based freelance journalist Bim Adewunmi, who had expressed concern to Abbott about what she perceived to be the red herring ‘black community’.

Conservative blogger Harry Cole, who at times also refers to himself as a journalist, eloquently summed up the deep pain and outrage felt by white people as a result of Abbott’s tweet in his debate with race and human rights activist Lee Jasper on Sky News. He told viewers that Abbott’s comments were derogatory to an entire ethnic group, based on the colour of their skin. Indeed, Cole pointed out, racism works both ways and should not have been used as a political tool by the opportunistic Hackney MP.

Whilst Lee Jasper did a good job of defending Diane Abbott’s record as anti-racist campaigner, he did not attack Cole’s positioning as a victim of a racist jibe, or the notion that white people can also be the victims of racism. He simply laughed, shook his head and said: “Dear, oh dear, oh dear”, which perhaps, in that setting, was the appropriate reaction to Cole’s phony outrage.

But the point needs to be made. In a society where whiteness is the norm and racial otherness – being black, Asian, or Muslim – is still seen as irreconcilable with mainstream Britishness, the notion of anti-white racism rings hollow.

Because its wording is so much more lucid than I could ever put it, I will quote a definition of racism as it appeared in an article in the Guardian last week.

“Racism is the systemic discrimination of whole groups of people cast as outsiders, deemed incapable of full incorporation into society, and treated with suspicion on this basis. It has a deep and lasting effect on individuals’ life chances and consequent wellbeing, and is damaging to the social fabric as a whole.”

The crucial bit follows:

“For all the equivalences drawn between clumsy and prejudicial references to skin colour, racism is inherently political; it requires the power to contribute to racial oppression.”

Do people of colour in Britain have the power to exercise racial oppression over whites? No. Can a black person generalise about white people? Obviously. Is the hurt caused by such a generalisation felt by a white person equivalent to that felt by a black person? Most definitely not.

Diane Abbott’s tweet must be read not as a generalisation about white people, but as coming from a place of honesty and anger over the present state of race politics in Britain. The choice of the term ‘white people’ was far from smart for an MP whose constituency is 61 per cent white, but surely the general idea behind the tweet was historically accurate?

It is unfortunate that those defending Abbott in the media did not make this point. And it is a shame that Abbott, in the media storm that ensued, was forced to backtrack and apologise. Because rather than using this opportunity to talk about racism, its history and its current manifestations, the political establishment posited themselves as victims of a crude generalisation without regard to the context and sentiment of Abbott’s comment. The underlying context of racism Abbott was referring to in her tweet was neatly brushed under the carpet.

The Abbott affair shows that people of colour are in a no-win situation when it comes to getting racism discussed as a lived reality in Britain today. In the case of Stephen Lawrence, there was an acknowledgement of racial injustice, but it was is partial and served after 18 years, largely because of the determination of a single woman, Doreen Lawrence. It is unknown to most Britons that there are countless black mothers like Doreen out there, like those seeking justice for the deaths of sons and daughters at the hands of police officers – singer Smiley Culture and Tottenham’s Mark Duggan being prominent examples of the last year.

The media hype dubbed ‘Abbottgate’ revealed that when a black MP, in her position as community leader, speaks from a place of anger and honesty to one of her constituents, she is hung out to dry and accused of exactly the thing she has been campaigning against all her life.

Diane Abbott merely pointed to the fact that Britain today is still a racist place. The question is – what would it mean to have an actual multiculturalism where the grievances of people of colour around racism are acknowledged and discussed in the same way as issues around education, housing and healthcare? It would certainly upset existing racial hierarchies in society. We are a long way off that scenario, but a good look into divide and rule strategies in British society today may be a good place to continue that process.

Twitter: @KoosCouvee

Monday 5th December, 7.30pm
@ Doddington Community Centre,
Charlotte Despard Avenue,
Battersea Park Rd, SW11 5HD

Maite de la Calva with her daughter and their block of council flats

Venue map:

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Saturday 5th November in Whitechapel

Dale Farm: Building the Traveller Solidarity Movement
A meeting of in-depth debate and discussion.

The ongoing Dale Farm eviction does not mean that we as a Travellers solidarity movement have failed. This is only the beginning as the struggle of Travellers all over Britain continues with multiple communities under the threat of eviction. There will be a meeting of in-depth debate and discussion on the 5th of November 11 am at Cityside House, 40 Adler St, London E1 1EE. Please disseminate this meeting widely and rsvp to savedalefarm [at] gmail.com to attend.

When: 11am Saturday 5th November, 3rd Floor
Where: Cityside House, 40 Adler St, London E1 1EE.

Near Aldgate East and Whitechapel tube st. (District Line, Hammersmith & City)

Buses: 205 (from Paddington), 15, 25, 67, 115, 135, 205, 254, D3.

To attend you need to RSVP- email savedalefarm[at]gmail.com
or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=174583375963954

From UFFC

By Families, For Families

Saturday 29th October 2011 – From 12.30pm
Assemble: South side of Nelsons Column, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN

UNITED FAMILIES & FRIENDS CAMPAIGN (UFFC) PROTEST & RALLY AGAINST CUSTODY DEATHS AND ABUSE!

Silent Procession along Whitehall followed by Noisy Protest at Downing Street!  Download Flyer Here >

ALL WELCOME – BRING YOUR CAMPAIGN’S / GROUP’S BANNER

Further info: contact United Families & Friends Campaign:
Via Google Mail or Via UFFC Campaign Central

UFFC is a coalition of families and friends of those that have died in the custody of the police and prison officers as well as those who are killed in secure psychiatric hospitals. It includes the families of Roger Sylvester, Leon Patterson, Rocky Bennett, Alton Manning, Christopher Alder, Brian Douglas, Joy Gardner, Aseta Simms, Ricky Bishop, Paul Jemmont, Harry Stanley, Glenn Howard, Mikey Powell, Jason McPherson, Lloyd Butler, Azelle Rodney, Sean Rigg, Habib Ullah, Olaseni Lewis, Smiley Culture, Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser and Mark Duggan to name but a few.

Together we are building a network for collective action to end deaths in custody.