Bristol TUC motion on the Bristol protests

March 30th 2021

Forwarded to NV by Dave Chapple

This Council strongly oppose the ill-conceived and dangerous Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill being proposed by the Home Secretary. To push through repressive legislation under the cover of the pandemic is awful politics and will make dreadful law. As it stands, the Bill seeks to:

· Erode fundamental rights of protest including vital trade union actions and activities that support working people

·

Draw false links between violence and the Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion protests

·

Attack those marginalised from society, such as traveller communities and other minority groups

·

Create a fake ‘culture war’ where moves to establish a more tolerant and diverse society is somehow destroying our history.

We are saddened by the violent scenes in our city. As a trade union movement, we believe in the right for workers to be able to protest without police harassment or violence. We condemn the police violence towards peaceful demonstrators and members of the press. Furthermore, we note with concern the reports of police intimidation towards journalists as they are trying to carry out their job, as well as preventing independent media coverage. These incidents need to be fully independently investigated and those responsible held to account.

******************************************************

Government new restrictions to the right to protest!

from Andrew Wasting

THE coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our ability to take to the streets. Now the Home Office is busy preparing, in readiness for when public health restrictions start to ease, to make sweeping changes to public order legislation that will give the police extra powers to restrict future protests.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill announced today includes plans to “strengthen police powers to tackle non-violent protests that have a significant disruptive effect on the public or on access to Parliament”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel’s anger is aimed in particular at Extinction Rebellion and the rejuvenated Black Lives Matter movement. Last year she attacked Extinction Rebellion as “so-called eco-crusaders turned criminals” and denounced their direct action and civil disobedience tactics as “a shameful attack on our way of life, our economy and the livelihoods of the hard-working majority”.

Patel has also condemned Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020 – some of the biggest seen in recent years. Although protesters took to streets that were largely empty because of the pandemic to demand racial justice and most protests passed without incident, Patel characterised them as “dreadful” and demonised those who took part in them “hooligans and thugs”. The new Bill will increase the maximum penalty for criminal damage of a memorial – like the statue to Bristol slave trader Edward Colston toppled in June last year – from 3 months to 10 years.

Netpol’s report last year highlighted, however, how it was Black-led demonstrations that were more likely to experience aggressive, more confrontational policing.

In the aftermath of a summer of demonstrations in 2020, Patel requested a review by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue (HMICFR) to look at the way protests are policed and whether police forces should have new public order laws to protect “the rights of others to go about their daily business”

.

In the course of its consultation for the review, HMICFR indicated to Netpol that the government wants to challenge the perceived legitimacy of certain protest tactics by groups like Extinction Rebellion, as well as to give the police the power to more widely interpret whether protests like Black Lives Matter constitute “significant disruption” and are therefore likely to justify arrests.

Even before protests by Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter, the police seemed to believe that rights to freedom of assembly are “abused” by even minor breaches of the law, such as blocking roads. A much-delayed draft ‘Protest Operational Advice’ for local forces, produced by the National Police Chiefs Council in 2018 and based largely on the policing of five years of opposition to fracking, relied heavily on the notion that human rights protections for protests should not extend to activities that negate the rights of others, including companies.

As Netpol’s Lawyers Group said in a submission at the time, there is absolutely no legal basis for such a claim, which would “constitute a doctrinal leap of massive proportions on current case-law principles”. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that the police have continued to lobby hard for tougher new laws.

The Home Secretary’s plans look, on the face of it, like a combination of defending business interests and petty vengeance against political and social movements she dislikes. However, they are unlikely to frighten off many campaign groups from returning to the streets once the current restrictions end. With institutional racism and climate change still acutely critical issues, more arrests and more criminalisation therefore seems inevitable.

Resisting attacks on the freedom to protest

We are opposing planned changes to the law that threaten our right to protest and are calling on other organisations and individuals to join us.

However, in responding to these latest challenges, Netpol argues that unless we advocate for positive demands, the government will simply keep chipping away at our rights.

This is why we are also launching a new “Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights”, which calls on the government and the police to accept greater transparency and accountability for the way protests are policed. We are demanding police respect existing international human rights standards – or explain why they refuse to do so.

Amongst its eleven points, the Charter calls for:

Proper protections – not more restrictions – for the right to protest. This includes an end to treating direct action and civil disobedience as an excuse to shut down protests completely.

An end to routine surveillance of protesters. This includes strict limitations on the use of police video recording, use of facial recognition, and surveillance of social media sites used by campaigners.

An end to discriminatory policing of Black-led protests, which in particular disproportionately face excessive and violent interventions.

An end to targeting the most vulnerable. The police have a particular duty to protect the rights of young people, vulnerable and disabled people wishing to exercise their rights to freedom of assembly.

Next week, we are formally launching the Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights. Please ask your organisation to add its name in support of the Charter.

****************************************************************

EXTINCTION REBELLION's TOPLESS PROTEST

YESTERDAY TOPLESS Extinction Rebellion activists were seized by police after padlocking themselves to the gates of Parliament with a banner reading 'Can't Bare the Truth?' today on the final day of climate change protest.

About 30 women gathered in central London wearing just face masks branded with '4C' and trousers, and joined hands as they chained themselves to the black railings surrounding the Palace of Westminster.

The women used D-locks to chain themselves by the neck to the railings at 9.30am on the final day of the XR protests in London.

The Metropolitan Police began shifting the women around mid-day. A spokesperson for the Met said they could not confirm the number of women arrested during the protest.

XR tweeted in response to today's demonstration: The forces of the state mobilise to crush dissent & protect the interests of the powerful, mothers & babies step up to defend the truth. We are in a #ClimateEmergency.

'

We face a 4C increase in temperature in the lifetime of this child. 4C = the death of millions. #WeWantToLive'.

XR activist and teacher Sarah Mintram told the Daily Mail: 'Now we've got your attention. By neglecting to communicate the consequences of a 4C world - war, famine, drought, displacement - the Government are failing to protect us.'

Officers removed the D-locks from their necks and took the women to police stations in four separate vans as supporters cheered the protesters on from Parliament Square.

The radical climate action group made headlines at the weekend after it blockaded the Newsprinters printing presses and delayed the distribution of hundreds of thousands of newspapers including the Mail.

*****************************

The Wrong Kind Of News by Les May

I HAVE never taken Extinction Rebellion (XR) very seriously and I increasingly see their performances as a bit of street theatre. In part this is because when I hear people say they have 'demands' it tends to make me think they have a much higher sense of their own importance than I am inclined to assign them; in part it is because I think they give the impression that they have simple answers to complex issues.

So far as I understand their latest stunt, blockading access to printing presses, it is because the papers printed on them are unsympathetic to their views and don't print the sort of news regarding the issue of climate change that they would like to see. My response to this is 'Welcome to the real world'. Try getting anyone in the mainstream media to take seriously alternative viewpoints about, for example, raising of the pension age for women, domestic violence, contact with children following family breakdown, rape and sexual assault, etc.

Annoying though this is, not publishing the things the XR people would like to see is neither censorship nor an attack on freedom of speech. No one is saying 'you cannot say that', they are just saying 'don't expect us to print what you do say'. If XR owned the papers how much news would be published expressing scepticism about human activities being the cause of climate change?

Appendix

In 1972 the Club of Rome published a study called The Limits to Growth (LtG) so the issues which XR are now addressing have been known for nearly half a century. Had this been taken seriously at the time we would not now be facing the same level of climate change. The problem XR needs to address is not how to get governments to sign up to their demands; it is how to persuade all the people who elect those governments that we have to consume less materials and energy, and that unlimited economic growth is a fantasy. The rapid shift to buying goods ordered on-line and the insistence of many people that they must have a continental holiday this year in spite of the Covid 19 pandemic, does not suggest to me that there is any great enthusiasm for reducing consumption. Changing that is where the work needs to be done.

**************************

Press Baron's news outlets blocked

Boris Johnson condemns Extinction Rebellion protesters

YESTERDAY it was reported that Boris Johnson had condemned the Extinction Rebellion protesters for trying to silence free speech after they blocked access to three printing presses owned by Rupert Murdoch. The blockade affected the distribution of several national newspapers – including The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph – which arrived late on newsstands on Saturday. Mr Johnson labelled the protests ‘unacceptable’ and pointed out that a free press was ‘vital’ for holding his Government to account for its actions on climate change. He tweeted: ‘A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change. It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way.’

More than 100 protesters – who accused the papers of failing to report on climate change – used vehicles and bamboo structures to block roads outside three press sites in Hertfordshire, Merseyside and North Lanarkshire. Police said 72 people have now been arrested. Home Secretary Priti Patel accused the protesters of carrying out an ‘attack on democracy’. She wrote: ‘This morning people across the country will be prevented from reading their newspaper because of the actions of Extinction Rebellion. This attack on our free press, society and democracy is completely unacceptable.’

Yet do we have a free press?

In his book 'THE PREVENTION of LITERATURE' [Polemic, No.2 January 1946] George Orwell wrote: 'In our age, the idea of intellectual liberty is under attack from two directions. On the one side are its theoretical enemies, the apologists of totalitarianism, and on the other its immediate, practical enemies, monopoly and bureacracy. Any wrter or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than active persecution. The sort of things that are working against him are the concentration of the press in the hands of a few rich men, the grip of monopoly on radio anf the films, the unwillingness of the public to spend money on books, making it necessary for nearly for nearly every writer to earn part of his living by hack work, the encroachment of official bodies like the M.O.I. [Ministry of Information] and the British Council, which help the writer to keep alive but also waste his time and dictate his opinions...'

Orwell was writing in a time of war, but can the typical journalist today claim to be free and independent of the press barons like Murdock etc?

Boris Johnson has condemned Extinction Rebellion protesters for trying to silence free speech after they blocked access to three printing presses owned by Rupert Murdoch. The blockade affected the distribution of several national newspapers – including The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph – which arrived late on newsstands on Saturday. Mr Johnson labelled the protests ‘unacceptable’ and pointed out that a free press was ‘vital’ for holding his Government to account for its actions on climate change. He tweeted: ‘A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change. ‘It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way.’ More than 100 protesters – who accused the papers of failing to report on climate change – used vehicles and bamboo structures to block roads outside three press sites in Hertfordshire, Merseyside and North Lanarkshire. Police said 72 people have now been arrested. Home Secretary Priti Patel accused the protesters of carrying out an ‘attack on democracy’. She wrote: ‘This morning people across the country will be prevented from reading their newspaper because of the actions of Extinction Rebellion. This attack on our free press, society and democracy is completely unacceptable.’

Shadow International Trade Secretary Emily Thornberry told Times Radio she was concerned for older readers who may have missed out on their daily dose of news. She said: ‘I don’t really know what it is that is expected to be achieved and I know that for many older listeners it’s very much part of their daily life, getting their paper delivered in the morning and I just think it’s wrong.’ A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change. It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way.— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 5, 2020 This morning people across the country will be prevented from reading their newspaper because of the actions of Extinction Rebellion.This attack on our free press, society and democracy is completely unacceptable. https://t.co/3DfasjD6sS— Priti Patel (@pritipatel) September 5, 2020 The Sun accused the protesters of carrying out an ‘attack on all the free press’. Today’s Sun carried an opinion piece by Sir David Attenborough calling on Brits to do more to tackle climate change. The piece was commended by Carrie Symonds, Mr Johnson’s fiancé, who said the protest was an own goal. She wrote: ‘I care about climate change and biodiversity a massive amount but preventing a free press to spread this message further is just wrong. Not to mention all those small businesses that rely on being able to sell newspapers.’

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/05/boris-johnson-blasts-extinction-rebellion-for-unacceptable-protest-against-newspapers-13227269/?ito=cbshare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

While owned by News Corp, the presses also print other titles such as the Evening Standard. Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook wrote an opinion piece for the Standard the day of the protests, leading some to accuse the organisation of hypocrisy. The co-founder of XR actually wrote a column for the standard yesterday before hurrying over to blockade their printing presses https://t.co/SsiqohUYUN— Martha Gill (@Martha_Gill) September 5, 2020 A good day to #buyanewspaper A free press matters to all of us who value a free society. They mustn’t be silenced by an intolerant minority. pic.twitter.com/r3r3ksGkbN— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) September 5, 2020 Extinction Rebellion defended the blockade by accusing the papers of not paying enough attention to climate change. A spokesman said: ‘We are in an emergency of unprecedented scale and the papers we have targeted are not reflecting the scale and urgency of what is happening to our planet. ‘To any small businesses disrupted by the action this morning we say, “We’re sorry. We hope that our actions seem commensurate with the severity of the crisis we face and that this day of disruption successfully raises the alarm about the greater disruption that is coming”.’

Extinction Rebellion protests Banned

London bans Extinction Rebellion protests

London has become the first city to prohibit the global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion from staging protests, in a move condemned by legal observers and campaigners as a massive "overreach."

 

Source: CNN

***************

Fossil Fuel: Letter to the NV Editor

Trafford Council Motion on Fossil Fuels

Editor,

I should also fill you in. I’m proposing this motion to Councl next week. It would be great if we could get some support. It will be Trafford Town Hall Wednesday the 9^th, I think at 7pm.

It will be official later today so will be spreading the word then.

Geraldine Coggins

Investing in green solutions instead of fossil fuels.

This Council notes:

1.             That at least 5% of funds of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund are invested in Shell, BP and other fossil fuel companies. (See paragraph 3 of Appendix A of GMPF document in responding to Trafford’s climate emergency motion https://democratic.trafford.gov.uk/documents/s32216/Fossil%20Fuel%20Investments%20Jan%2019.pdf

**********************

We Need Solutions Not Talk

by Les May

I HAVE NOT read or listened to anything that Greta Thunberg has said since she burst onto the world stage.  So far as I am concerned talk is cheap.  We already know that burning fossil fuels, coal, natural gas and oil derived products, is the root cause of the increase in global temperature, and we know what the likely results will be, a rise in sea level flooding coastal areas and a more active atmosphere/sea system leading to more extreme weather events in parts of the world that normally do not experience them.

The problem we have to solve is how we are going to reduce the amount of fossil fuel we burn to produce energy to make, move and recycle things.  A switch to so called ‘green’ energy sounds like a great idea but there is a question about whether we can produce enough ‘green’ energy to completely replace the energy currently derived from fossil fuels.

One way of saving materials and the energy needed to process them is to make the things we buy last longer so that fewer need to be manufactured.

As part of the European Union (EU) Ecodesign Directive which aims to remove the most wasteful products from the market and replace them with ones that use less energy and fewer resources, from 2021 all televisions, monitors, fridges, freezers, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and lighting will have to meet minimum repairability requirements.  Manufacturers will have to ensure that appliances can be dismantled with commonly available tools, and repair information and spare parts will have to be made available to repairers.  This will have the effect of extending the life of appliances so that they have to be replaced less often.

Making fewer appliances means fewer workers are needed to make them. The challenge to our social fabric of attempting to prevent further global warming may be just as great as letting it happen and not taking any steps to prevent it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49499521

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrowth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_economics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steady-state_economy

******************************

Jigsaw II by Louis Macneice

IN April 2004, someone had posted a request on a blog asking

for poems on the Influences of Technology.  I already knew 

about the Louis Macneice Jigsaw II from A level in the 1960.

It strikes me that this is relevant to our time now with Greta  

 Thunberg addressing the UK today.  People are so easily dazzled

by technology.   In the 19th century, John Ruskin and William 
Morris wanted us to bring nature into our homes.  
And yet, people today prefer to inflict technology upon themselves. 

**************

Posted by: Johnny (---.nasd.k12.pa.us)

Date: April 22, 2004  Hi,
I'm looking for poems reflecting on the influences of technology on culture.
 *****************
How about Jigsaw II by Louis Macneice?

Property! Property! Let us extend
Soul and body without end:
A box to live in, with airs and graces,
A box on wheels that shows its paces,
A box that talks or that makes faces,
And curtains and fences as good as the neighbours'
To keep out the neighbours and keep us immured
Enjoying the cold canned fruit of our labours
In a sterilised cell, unshaved, insured.

Property! Property! When will it end
When will the poltergeist ascend
Out of the sewer with chopper and squib
To burn the mink and the baby's bib
And cut the tattling wire to town
And smash all the plastics, clowning and clouting
And stop all the boxes shouting and pouting
And wreck the house from the aerial down
And give these ingrown souls an outing?

*********

Youth speaks out on climate change

 Sent to NV by John Wilkins (BOLD group)
ON Friday, 20 th. September thousands of young people gathered around the world to protest for climate justice.  Inspired by Greta Thunberg but powerful in their own right and in their collective unity, this movement is part of wider circles that ripple out in ways we can not imagine...


In Manchester, many of of us shared our voices in speeches, poems and songs.  It was an inspiring space to be and spurred Bridget Holtom, a poet and storyteller from Yorkshire living in Scotland, to stand and share a piece of spoken word written in response to burn out in activism.  To find out more, you can listen to Bridget Holtom speak to other activists about what sustains them in their fight for basic rights or while in solidarity in social and environmental justice movements at www.sustenanceradio.com and most podcast platforms. 


Only when...
Only when climate justice is done,
Only when all of the battles are won,
Only when freedom is for everyone,
Only then will all of our work be done.
Only when...
Borders are open,
Children have spoken,
New leaders are chosen,
Racist myths are broken
...only then
Only when women can say what they wish,
Say it without being burned as a witch,
Say it without being blamed as a bitch,
Only then will we be able to switch...
Off our brains and find peace, without losing sleep, 
while we worry that there's something we might have all missed.
It was only when...
Broader trauma
Border drama
Only then did I ask to take a break,
...survival was at stake.
Only when...
I took a year
Far far away from here
Finally to face my fears

Only then...
Did I realise why I felt so defeated,
***************