Action Reports – Page 235

Mayday Mayday: Invasion of the climate snatchers…: day of climate action [updated again; video added]

1.5.2008
London: at 07.45 this morning E.ON offices on Pall Mall were targeted by the new upstart Coal Cleaning Company as part of a nationally co-ordinated Day of Climate Action against False Capitalist Solutions.

FOR ONSITE INTERVIEWS AND UPDATES CONTACT : 07790 430 620

The Coal Cleaning Company launched their enterprise with E.ON as their first customer. According to the chatty cleaners, “There’s no mess too big! We make coal Fossil Fuel Fresh ™”.

The climate activists targeted E.ON for their promotion of ‘false capitalist solutions’ to climate change. E.ON is exploiting the idea of a future Carbon Capture and Storage system to justify building a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth – where the utopia of low-impact living // education // high-impact direct action that is the Climate Camp will spring up this August.

CCS requires up to 40% more coal per unit of electricity than coal generation without CCS. So more coal needs to be burnt; increasing the overall pollution caused. It also neglects to address the wider problems of over consumption or deal with coal’s other social and environmental impacts.

The Coal Cleaning Company can be contacted on 07790 430 620 for onsite interviews and updates.

www.daysofclimateaction.org.uk 07880 937511 for national updates

www.climatecamp.org.uk

Video: Coal Cleaners at E.ON – video/mp4 29M
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RBS Banner Protest in York

People from groups across the city and both Universities took part in a banner protest outside Royal Bank of Scotland’s central branch in the city. Leaflets were handed out sumarising RBS’s climate crimes.

If the action was unimpressive in and of itself, then the fact we’ve finally broken the inertia around actions in York was probably a success in itself. The rain managed to hold off (only just) and even the passing cops had nothing whatsoever to say on the matter.

The action was held today because, well, its Mayday and its the day of action against False Capitalist Solutions, of which investment in new oil is perhaps the dimmest idea of the lot!

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Green Living show Inspected in Canada

Green Living show inspected and greenwash flyers handed out yesterday in Toronto Canada.

For pictures of the stalls on display with greenwash stickers, visit here

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Urban development sabotaged

The Earth and its inhabitants are being raped of their natural resources by the Corporate-State Complex. This is why for the Day of Climate Action we sabotaged this smooth operation in the early hours of April XX

Members of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front joined forces to carry out an action against unnecessary urban development in the south-west. Ecoteurs broke into the construction site that is building yet another bridge for the transport of motorized vehicles. A 4×4 was found, paintstripped, all sides completely scarred, tyres damaged, whilst a truck and JCB had logos removed and sides stripped. The flawed concept of “building our way out of congestion” will no longer be tolerated at the expense of the rivers wildlife and £8 million of tax payers money spent on this project.

No Compromise in Defence of Mother Earth.

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INRA – French agricultural research – chalked about biofuels

The words AGRO-CARBURANTS = DANGER were chalked on the side of the French Agricultural Research institute, as were various cars throughout Paris.

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Sizewell Mayday Critical Mass

In support of the Mayday Climate Action Day, some people from Rising Tide and Earth First got together this Saturday for a Critical Mass to Sizewell nuclear power station to highlight that nuclear is not a solution to climate change.

We turned up at the meeting point – a train station in the tiny Suffolk village of Saxmundham – to be greeted by 15 police officers including some FIT from London. As we set out on a lovely sunny ride through the countryside, the extent of the over-the-top police operation became clear as we passed several unmarked cars full of FIT photographers, the entrance to Sizewell guarded by another twenty cops, and a further ten congregated at our end-point on Sizewell beach. All told we reckon there were fifty cops on hand to police our fun family day out to Sizewell. It was a great critical mass, a good time was had by all, and the local press seemed as bemused as we were by the ridiculousness of the police operation. Wonder if there are any red faces in police intelligence this weekend?

Why Sizewell on Mayday weekend?
This demo was part of a national weekend of action against false solutions to climate change. As climate change rises up the political agenda, a huge number of techno-fixes are forming a new economic sector: from biofuels to nuclear power, carbon-trading to hydrogen fuel cells, dumping urine in the ocean to carbon capture and storage. Everywhere corporations are seeking the elusive elixir which allows us to continue business as usual. All of these technologies are a distraction from the real solutions: a massive reduction in our consumption and the end to economic growth.

Let’s challenge these false solutions to climate chaos and show the real solution: far-reaching social change.

http://www.networkforclimateaction.org.uk

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On May 1st, Leamington Rising Tide visited the E.on headquarters at Westwood Business Park in Coventry to expose the truth behind E.on’s greenwash and show that carbon capture is a false solution to the problem of climate change.

E.on are planning to build a £1.5 bn extension to their coal fired plant in Kingsnorth. They justify this on the grounds that it will be ‘carbon capture ready’ even though the technology for carbon capture has yet to be invented and even when it does exist it will emit more pollutants trying to capture and store the carbon than if they just left the emissions unchecked. To protest against this, Leamington Rising Tide arrived at 8am to hand fliers to the workers.

Banners were erected reading “POLLUTE.ON NO MORE GREEN WASH”. There was juggling and a picnic outside the doors of the building as the protestors waited for a march of students from Warwick University People and Planet to arrive at 1.30. The marchers came with a replica model of the coal power station and a game of ‘catch the carbon’ with balloons and nets. The protesters gathered outside the building and then the sign outside was painted green to symbolise the e.ons greenwash and one protester occupied the roof of the building. The day was a great success with a positive, festive vibe and no arrests.

Court Case Victory for the Red Factory, Bristol

April 29, 2008

Portland Square squat gets reprieve in Bristol County Court

April 29, 2008

Portland Square squat gets reprieve in Bristol County Court

Bristol squatters were in Greyfriars court this morning to oppose the granting of an Interim Posession Order (IPO) against the occupiers of the Red Factory squat in Portland Square. If granted, residents would have had to leave within 24 hours or face criminal proceedings. Owners Askon estates, a large multinational based in Dublin with interests in the Middle East, failed to name a date when they knew the building had been squatted. They are required to do this under the provisions of the 1997 Criminal Justice Act (CJA) – an infamous piece of legislation bought in the last gasp of Major’s Conservative government..

The Red Factory is a large squat at the junction of Cave Street and Portland Square in St. Pauls, Bristol. Occupied in the middle of January 2008 by a pioneering group of squatters who braved pigeon dust, damp and absence of all services, it has become home to a dozen homeless people and holds regular community events including a cinema. The building has been tidied up, painted and made habitable by people who would otherwise have been sleeping on Bristol’s streets.

With a controversial open door policy the Red Factory has been, at times, a difficult squat to run but has taken into account the concerns of neighbours including the Perion Centre next door.

The Red Factory collective are committed to running the building as a community enterprise as recommended in the St. Pauls neighbourhood plan. They have contacted Askon to see if they can secure the building for community use and have made a substantial financial offer .

If Askon had won today’s case the building would become empty and lain derelict, as it has for more than twenty years. Despite taking ownership around the year 2000 Askon have done next to nothing with the building. With the onset of the current property price crash it seems unlikely they could sell it quickly, particularly because the building is grade two listed and would need up to £1m to restore.

Bristol Housing Action Movement is making an appeal for suport for the Red Factory, both financially and in any practical way possible. We believe the squatters may face another court case, and welcome any support. Contact Ben from Bham on 07833 100399 or by email at housingaction@yahoo.co.uk

The Pierian Centre :
http://www.pierian-centre.com/
A space for conferences, meetings and celebrations of all shapes and sizes.
Located in Grade 1-listed Portland Square, the Centre is an oasis of calm right in the heart of Bristol. Within easy reach of the M32, the City Centre and Temple Meads railway station, we have ample parking right here in the Square. You can book a room for your own event – and also browse the range of open events and activities on offer.

Askon Estates (UK) Limited
http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/experian/03489912
http://www.yourlocalpages.co.uk/business/legislative-bo…-ltd/
16 St Stephens Street
Bristol
Avon
BS1 1JR
Tel : 0117-925-4570
Fax : 0117-922-6816

Revived in 1984, Bristol Housing Action (BHAM) is a non-heirarchical collective of sqatters and their supporters. We help provide housing and other support for homeless people.

http://www.squatbristol.org.uk/

We are committed to the opening of community spaces and to solidarity with existing social centres.We campaign against the privatisation of public land and housing and for the defence of public space.

Somerset Travellers Face Second Eviction within 48 hrs

April 28, 2008

Travellers, who had been evicted from a site they had occupied for nearly two years, near Radstock, Somerset, Now face a violent eviction from a disused quarry, in the Mendips.

April 28, 2008

Travellers, who had been evicted from a site they had occupied for nearly two years, near Radstock, Somerset, Now face a violent eviction from a disused quarry, in the Mendips.

A Group of Harassed Somerset Travellers have been promised a visit from baseball bat- wielding balliffs if they don’t leave immediately. The threat was made during a child’s 4th birthday party. Having just been removed from there previous site with little notice, the group have no where to go. All they ask for is a little time. But evil quarry company Hanson, have obtained an injunction, which means that balliffs can evict at any time, with out the safeguard of a police presence.

The Travellers are appealing for support, and have made a special request for anyone with a video camera to get down there, hopefully with the effect of abating any violence.

The site, is in an old quarry, adjacent to the old protest site at the fabulously named “dead womans bottom. Also known as Whatley Quarry. Its on the A361 before you get to Wells.

—

update

after not fleeing in the face of threats of violence, seems the owners of the quarry have decided to go through the caughts, giving the travellers , a little breathing space.

Another Franco-German nuclear waste transport this autumn

German authorities have allowed another transport of highly active nuclear waste from France to the north German village of Gorleben this year.

It will be the first since 2006 and as usual is expected in autumn on dates not yet revealed.

German authorities have allowed another transport of highly active nuclear waste from France to the north German village of Gorleben this year.

It will be the first since 2006 and as usual is expected in autumn on dates not yet revealed.

Each transport by train and trucks usually costs about 30 million euros to police as thousands of demonstrators from all over Germany converge on Gorleben, roughly equidistant between Hamburg and Hanover.

About 20,000 police drawn from all over Germany are usually marshalled into the area to assure passage on the last 20 kilometres of the journey by heavy-duty, low-loader trucks from a railhead at Dannenberg to the prefabricated storage hall at Gorleben.

On past occasions both police and demonstrators have been injured in clashes. Police have been chastised many times by the country’s supreme court for illegal actions against protesters.

A new French type of casket claimed to withstand greater radiation heat will be used this year while development of a new German type has been held up.
This delay has caused French and German authorities to call off the transport planned for next year.

The local group resisting waste dumping in Gorleben demands from the licensing authority, the Federal Agency for Radiation Protection (MfS), total disclosure of permit documentation for the 11 socalled Castor caskets to roll this year.

“It cannot be allowed that the population is exposed to great dangers while security documentation is kept secret,” said a media spokesman for the Lüchow Dannenberg Citizens Environment Initiative (BI), Francis Althoff.

“After it’s become known that the books were cooked in regard to the safety of the newly developed German Castor HAW 28 M, now all the facts about the just permitted French model TN 85 need to be put on the table in a publicly understandable form.

“Specifically we want to know whether drop-crash or fire tests were made, or whether again only questionable mathematical models were the foundation for the permit,” Althoff wrote in a media release.

“The secrecy handicaps our rights to litigate. The transports have to be stopped immediately.”

The waste originated in German power stations and was transported to La Hague in northern France for processing in a plutonium factory there. Germany is contractually obliged to take the unusable remnants back.

The last transports from La Hague to Gorleben, with 11 caskets each, are planned for 2010 and 2011.

The government of Lower Saxony state, where Gorleben is located, says the storage hall there now holds 80 Castor caskets and 33 more are due from France.

Local activists, who include scientists, claim that every Castor casket contains the equivalent of about two fifths of the radiation released by the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 or the Hiroshima bomb.

The opponents argue that every new shipment makes it more likely that a salt mine built at vast cost in Gorleben to explore its suitability will become the permanent repository for highly radioactive waste.

Waste in a similar nuclear dump, the ‘Asse’ trial salt mine near Wolfenbüttel, about 80 kilometres east of Hanover, is flooding and the radiation is threatening to contaminate the biosphere. The Gorleben pit was constructed using the same science as Asse.

As pressure grows to solve the waste issue and the European Union doubles spending to promote nuclear power, the Gorleben pit looks more and more likely to become Germany’s – if not Europe’s – final dump.

This although the pit has contact with ground water and aquifers which, if breached, would contaminate drinking water supplies in a radius of hundreds of kilometres.
Gorleben activists argue that there has been scientific proof since the early 80s that the Gorleben salt dome cannot prevent atomic waste from entering the biosphere because it lacks a sealing rock cover.

They demand that Gorleben be given up as a dump site and argue that the only way to solve the waste issue is to stop nuclear power production.

Vegan Banquet for Saving Iceland – May 9, Edinburgh

On Friday 9th May we are holding a vegan banquet with live music, bar and raffle! The ticket will include all the vegan food you can eat (including desert), all the live music you can hear and all the banqueting atmosphere you can take! The Banquet starts at 7pm at Old St Pauls Hall, Edinburgh.
Tickets are £5 (unwaged / low income) and £7 (waged). All profit will go to funding the Scottish Saving Iceland Collective.

Location:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&safe=off&:official&hs=h5k&q=EH1%201DH

There are two ways to get your ticket:
1) If you know someone from the Scottish Saving Iceland Collective, get
one from them!
2) Email us at savingicelandscotland@riseup.net to reserve yours!

If we have not sold out, there will be a limited amount of tickets
available on the door.

If you want to arrive for the entertainment afterwards then we will be
letting people in after 9.30 for a discounted price.

New protest camp for College Grove – Bunbury, Australia

New protest camp for College Grove – 29 April 2008

Activists have set up a new camp in the College Grove forest area that is due to be destroyed in the next stage of development.

Whilst the the first protest failed to stop Landcorp from clearing the area, activists and the community of Bunbury in general are determined to stop any further destruction.
SOURCE:
http://www.globalwarmingfg.com/

BACKGROUND:
Police Violence at treesit action in College Grove, Bunbury
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/20531

College Grove Tuart action escalates in Bunbury
http://perth.indymedia.org/?action=default&featureview=618

and other posts on this website, see under http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/international or
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/wildernessdefence

Antispe dismantle barrier clips at Novartis march + video

Antispe: http://www.antispe.tk

3 articles + 2 additions

reported by Indymedia UK: https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397667.html

Antispe: http://www.antispe.tk

3 articles + 2 additions

reported by Indymedia UK: https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397667.html

“Antispeciesists claim responsibility for breaking police lines at the SHAC march against Novartis headquarters in Horsham, West Sussex. Many barriers were left broken and seperated after a long battle with police, aided by a minutes silence for the animals who suffer from this speciesist war. [sic] We left as riot police turned up.

For Greg, Natasha & Heather.
Direct action from the streets.

Antispeciesist Action”

> Addition: Barrier clips from Novartis demo

“Feel the passion

Strength in numbers

Antispe”

Antispeciesist Action/Autonomous bloc at Novartis march

reported by Indymedia UK: https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397673.html

“Against Speciesism! Against Capitalism! Against the State!

Speciesism is the assigning of different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership, therefore making non-human animals available to consume, wear and exploit. We understand that speciesism is a form of bigotry, utilized by humans, similar to racism, or sexism.

Antispeciesist Action is a collective of militant antispeciesists and animal rights activists committed to confronting animal abuse, suffering and exploitation of non-human beings through the use of direct action.

We believe in the ‘No Compromise’ philosophy, veganism and actively support the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and animal rights prisoners.

We are opposed to capitalism and the state, understanding that without both entities, the universal exploitation of animals would not be possible.

Until Every Cage Is Empty!

Antispeciesist Action”

Shaming HLS top supplier Staples on Novartis march – video/avi 12M

reported by Indymedia UK: https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397794.html

“Clip from the autonomous bloc confronting Staples, 26th April 2008. They have been caught out delivering office equipment to HLS in a disguised vehicle. SHAC have listed them as no.1 supplier.

Click here: https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/media/2008/04//397795.avi”

> Addition: YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_aKgsm5L6o

Antispeciesist Action
e-mail: antispeciesistaction@hotmail.co.uk
Homepage: http://antispeciesistaction.tk
YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/AntispeciesistAction

9 UK Actions: ALF/ARM/Countrside Resistance

19th-29th April >>

anonymous report (photo above):

“Springtime is here, and images of lambs frolicking in the sunshine leap to mind. Unfortunately, for most lambs the reality is much harsher – confined to metal pens, with the slaughter man’s noose permanently weighing around their necks. Well not if the ALF have anything to do with it..

Ten lambs have been liberated from this death sentence and given loving new homes. They are now free to live out their natural lives away from abuse and repression.

ALF – respect life..”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr29_08.htm

anonymous communique:

“During the night, activists broke into an intensive breeding unit in Hampshire. Inside this windowless prison they found hundreds of young birds living in squalor with no access to fresh air or sunlight.

The hens were destined for a lifetime of suffering in miserable egg farms where they would have been exploited until no longer profitable and slaughtered. However, in just over 2 hours volunteers had loaded 530 of the birds and took them to safety. As the morning light rose, for the first time in their lives they saw daybreak, sunshine and felt the earth beneath their feet.

Dedicated to all those who acted to free animals from their cages but ended up incarcerated themselves…

A.L.F.”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr28b_08.htm

reported anonymously:

“In solidarity with the World Day demonstration outside of Novartis’ torture labs the following day, and to remind them that not all activists carry placards and bullhorns, two Novartis vivisectors were visited at home in Horsham on Friday night.

Steve Charlton of 7 Saint Christopher Close had glue put in his front door lock, and ‘Animal Abuser at No. 7’ was painted on a row of garages next to his house. We can’t be sure they were his, but we’ll leave it to him to explain that one to his neighbours.

At 5 Ryecroft Drive, Gerald Dubois had left a car out under an open window. Hardly a deterrent. Silent as the night that hid us, we stripped the paint, slashed all the tires and left our calling card in our own paint.

You never see us, and you can’t stop us.

Animal Liberation Front”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr27_08.htm

reported anonymously:

“Yet another hunt scum has received the ALF treatment in Humberside,
this time the target was a dark blue Volvo estate displaying one of
those ridiculous countryside alliance stickers.

The car was a piece of trash before we even got started, missing
lights and the front reg plate, covered in dents etc. It’s a wonder
it’s even safe to drive.

Thought we’d add to the damage already incurred by adding a few extra
dents and scratches, also let the tires down and superglued the
valves shut.

Have a nice day, courtesy of the ALF”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr26c_08.htm

anonymous communique:

“To give World Week For Lab animals a good start, the ALF were out spreading the good news.

Unfortunately, Novartis director Kevin White at 3 Pipson Close, Yateley, Hampshire, GU46 6JL forgot to leave us much to work with, so after the standard package – sloganeering of windows, doors and walls; glueing of locks – we had to improvise. Fortunately we green-fingered types noticed that his daffodil border looks a lot nicer when redistributed around his whole garden. We hope Kev likes our flower arranging.

Novartis employee Christopher Golunski of Carthena Drive, Fleet, Hampshire, GU52 7SF was far more sporting, displaying his car under a very handy floodlight. An ‘ALF classic’ was duly administered.

Until next time…
ALF”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr24_08.htm

received anonymously:

“There are some that would have dominion over England’s pastureland, claiming to be its guardian but enslaving some animals for food, and hunting others for leisure. They must be resisted!

shooting signs have been ripped from their posts

2 pheasant were pens were destroyed :- water hoppers cut, electricity lines chopped, fencing torn and poles ripped from the ground and broken, main water supply and tubing sabotaged, locks glued on entrance gates, feeders removed and dismantled

tyres were slashed on a land rover that visibly displayed support for the shooting lobby

Don’t let these scum get away with murder in the name of countryside ‘conservation’.

The Countryside Resistance”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr24b_08.htm

anonymous communique:

“That disgusting piece of scum Tristian Roberts might get a little
surprise when he opens his post, paint and bricks through the windows
are going to be the least of his worries.

He seems to think that it’s ok to torture and kill innocent animals,
and that mutilating a pregnant sheep with pitchforks and fence posts
before dumping the body in a wheelie bin is just a bit of Saturday
night fun. You may get off lightly in the courts because of your age,
but we’ll make sure justice is done.

We don’t just target vivisection all forms of animal abuse are
equally wrong.

Animal Rights Militia”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr23_08.htm

anonymous report:

“Oops we accidentally squirted super glue into the locks at a butchers
store in Hull, how clumsy of us.

Have fun opening the locks on your shutters, might need a drill
rather than a key though.

In solidarity with the actions against butchers at Norwich market
earlier in the month.

Yorkshire ALF”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr23b_08.htm

reported by activists in the UK (see photos in link below):

“So we recognised a little problem (if you can really call it that) within the animal rights movement as activists continue to argue and disagree over what forms of activism are most or more effective.

This is called the Direct Action vs. Outreach debate, which is known throughout the broader revolution by compassionate individuals looking for real change. A solution to this is ALF Outreach, taking direct action primarily to educate others about the atrocities and crimes towards the non-human animals on this earth.

Since understanding that an undeclared war against innocent individuals is currently taking place, we knew we had to take action. Our cell demonstrated our commitment in the last few months by stenciling ‘animal liberation’ over 40 times on walls, bollards, pillars, electricity pylons, water meters & carparks. Identical tagging years ago inspired our activity.

This is dedicated to 90% of the public who continue to consume graveyard food and to the badger who caught us off guard recently, the only individual who has.

Here is a tip for those who have spent a lot of effort to remove our work. It takes far less time for us to tag than it does for you to clean up after us. The bottom line is we will be back to replace our work time and time again and that this is a much larger battle that you are not prepared for. Just remember that you own the paths and streets just as much as we do, we claim the right to decorate because nobody else has. Whether its animals in battery farms or those starving in poverty, veganism is the solution for the forthcoming revolution. Until all are free!

Want to join in? Get your stencils from http://www.animalrightsmerchandise.com, they are only £1.50 and can be shipped worldwide. A message for the police: you can raid their offices, but we’ll just double our actions to support them.

Tagging the state and reclaiming the streets,
ALF Outreach-South West”

Source: http://directaction.info/news_apr19_08.htm

Eco-related arson against ministry of development offices in Greece (Athens, 21/4/2008)

A translation of the parts of a communique sent to “Eleftherotipia” newspaper and published on 25/04/2008, not mentioning any group’s name:

“Kavala, Almyros at Volos, Mantoudi at Evia, Astakos at Etoloakarnania, Elefsina: Residents mobilizations are realised against the plans of building new power plants using coal. Public Power Company (PPC) in cooperation with national or international partners promotes its investment plans, within the country as well as in the Balkans, responding to the system’s increasing needs for power consumption, something that signifies the constant amplification of economy and the wider subordination of our existance to it.”

“When capitalism is self-declared environment friendly, it is only to measure and manage the symptoms of the crisis it produced itself.”

“We don’t share any environmentalist compasion. It is impossible to fit within any green slogans that belittle any perspective of rupture in their partiality. The concern raised by the environmental destruction is disarmed through the participation of active citizens in ironic programms of beach cleaning or the ridiculous consumers preferance for “eco-friendly” enterprises.”

“The impacts of the use of coal are only a part of the symptoms of the development this world promises: climate change, species extinction, desertations, forest destruction. This is why, the way we talk and act against everything that turns our lives to a total disaster, aims at the constant subversion of the capitalist structures, the total overthrow of the authoritarian relationships.”

source: http://directactiongr.blogspot.com

London Critical Mass 14th Anniversary ride

Early in the ride police blocked the front at traffic lights and prevented movement, even when the lights were green.

Early in the ride police blocked the front at traffic lights and prevented movement, even when the lights were green. This is a familiar tactic which is done to compress the ride into as small a space as possible, with officers and a van at the back hassling stragglers to keep up, which slows things down and holds up traffic as well as making cycling difficult.

Several riders deep managed to completely encircled Parliament Square and perform at least three or four circuits before police put a stop to it and diverted the ride into Whitehall. Beyond Downing Street, and well out of earshot of Parliament, someone turned their cycle sound system on and was quickly made to turn it off again by one of the police who then attracted shouts and criticism from nearby riders. A short distance up the road it was defiantly turned on again before leaving the zone just before entering Trafalgar Square. Currently the law on sound systems within the SOCPA exclusion zone around Parliament is under review but this doesn’t stop the cycle police trying to spoil the fun, despite there being no ban outside of the zone or on car sound systems within the zone. Throughout the ride several individual riders were picked on and argued with by the cycle police, who number 25+ on every ride, except the one in December which just happens to coincide with Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Police aside, the April ride was well attended and good fun but the usual commemorative anniversary t-shirts were sadly missed this time. Ironically, towards the end of the ride it was held up for a while in Shaftesbury Avenue by the usual Friday evening motorised traffic congestion. Critical Mass is often blamed for holding up traffic but they are not the only ones doing so on entertainment evening outings, nevertheless they are much more stringently policed.

http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/socpasounds.html

Video of ride.