ISSUE THIRTEEN
A team of crack resistance investigators can reveal a shocking non exclusive: the British State is part of a worldwide terror network which is hell-bent on maintaining a world of exploitation and profit for the sake of a few greedy lunatics. For as long as we can remember they have been organising a massive network of armed fanatics, also known as the police and army. This terrifying network is supported by gangs of cowardly grasses and spies lurking around the globe, or the security services as they’re better known.
THE TERROR TACTICS THE BRITISH STATE USE INCLUDE:
· THE TERROR of poverty, homelessness, unemployment, job insecurity and boredom in the UK, making us humiliate ourselves in front of those with authority at almost every moment.
· THE TERROR of anti-immigration policies used to divide and rule working class people, this is one of the oldest and most effective of their disgusting methods. They often rely on small-time bullies and sados to carry out this racism.
· THE TERROR of the mass bombings by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (N.A.T.O.) in Serbia and Kosova which served the interests of their international capitalist gang, which they call the international community. These gangsters can now profit from the rebuilding of those countries and expand their markets further east. They said they were trying to help people - they meant themselves.
· THE TERROR of starvation and disease imposed on the working class in Iraq by the United Nations (UN) sanctions for the last ten years. The bombing attacks on Iraq continue almost every week. These cowardly raids are plotted and carried out by international terrorists based in the UK and USA. The sanctions - depriving the Iraqi working class of medicine and food is the ghoulish idea of one of international terrorism’s political wings - the notorious UN. They want to control the oil in the region.
· THE TERROR of the Indonesian backed militias in East Timor who continue to butcher rebellious working class people in the area. The country of Indonesia and the surrounding region is one of the main places for these murders’ money making rackets - they can’t loose control of it.
· THE TERROR of the massacres and shoot-to-kill policies in Northern Ireland carried out by a massive force of heavily armed soldiers and local collaborators.
· THE TERROR of the police surveillance and intimidation on all demonstrations here and now. To add insult to injury the British state are now bringing in a new ‘anti-terrorism’ bill which will smear all those who fight against this terror as being themselves terrorists!
TERROR ON TERROR! The reason the state has launched this new offensive against dissent is because they are terrified of us. Terrified because they know working class people - and there are millions of us - can beat this cowardly minority of terrorists! With mass working class revolt - social revolution - in both this country and around the world we can turn the tables and give the ruling class and their henchmen of police and armies real reasons to be terrified. They would flee for their lives - we can defeat them. However we would have to be on our guard, as these fanatics will always try and get back their privilege and power. We know the system that they love - democracy which places them in control and violence against any opposition.
To defeat attacks by the state we need to support those imprisoned by it.
The prisoners below would appreciate letters - but please remember that letters to prisoners are opened and read by prison officers so don’t write anything that could jeopardize anyone’s freedom. Remember they’re in there for us, we’re out here for them
Long time anarchist prisoner Harold H Thompson 93992, Northwest Correctional Complex Site 1, Route 2, Box660, Tiptonville, Tennessee, 38079, USA
Italian militant suffering from state emergency laws similar to the new ‘anti-terrorist’ laws:, Diego Negri (currently out on bail) c/o Lidia Triossi Precari Nati. via Jussi 4 40128 Bologna Italy.
People imprisoned after the J18 demo:
Sean Brown (Sept 99? sentenced to 12 Months) BP5610, HMYOI Ashfield, Sherwood Road, Pucklechurch, Bristol, BS16 9LY
Jeff Booker (21/1/00 sent. 21 months) DN7071, Elmley, Eastchurch, Sheerness, Kent, ME12 4OZ
Stuart Tokam (21/1/00 sent. 12 months) DN7072, HM Prison, Jebb Avenue, Brixton, London, SW2 5XF
Thomas Wall (4/2/00 sent. 18 months) FF4431, HMP Belmarsh, Western Way, Thamesmead, London, SE28 0EB
Kuldip Bajwa (7/2/00 sent. 21 months) DN7230, HM Prison, Jebb Avenue, Brixton, London, SW2 5XF
Jon Barnett (11/2/00 sent. 6 months) FB5538, HMYOI, Bedfont Road, Feltham, Middx, TW13 4ND
Maggie Docherty (17/3/00 sent. 6 months,) PH7352, HMP Holloway, Parkhurst Road, London, N7 0NU
You and the Cops
Here’s a basic outline in case you’re given grief or are arrested by our beloved Officers of the Law.
Stopped & Searched
Stay calm and co-operate. Give a name and address only. Note down all the officers’ names and numbers. A police officer must make a note of any search and why it occurred. A police office cannot ask you to remove anything more than an outer coat, gloves or jacket in public. If you are arrested, shout out a name so you can be located later. Contact one of the solicitors listed below. Ask them to contact your friends and relatives.
At a police station.
If you are arrested you must be informed why - so ask. If charged, the police must release you or take you to the next available court hearing. Once charged they can use “reasonable force” to take finger prints and a saliva sample. You have a right to the solicitor of your choice – free of charge. Sometimes the police will try to delay your contact with solicitors, relatives/friends. Try to stay calm. You still have the right to remain silent.
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT DID NOT GET RID OF THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.
Any questions by the police should be answered with no comment
You can be held up to 24 hours without being charged.
DON’T PANIC – DON’T TALK
– YOU’LL SOON BE OUT
If the police assault you go to casualty or your doctor and get your injuries recorded. Get photographs of you injuries. If you know people who witnessed what happened then get their names and addresses. Write up a full account of what happened.
In absence of a solicitor:
· Do not accept a caution or a warning.
· Do not sign or make any written statements. · Do not admit to any offence until you have seen a solicitor.
· Do inform the police that you require the presence of a solicitor.
· Only answer questions in any police interview with legal advice.
Solicitors on call for May Day are:
Taylor Nichol 020 7272 8336/0850 385 309
Moss & Co 020 7240 6350/020 8986 8336
Blavo Sharp 07979 911082
As the first election for a London Mayor approaches millions have been bombarded with crap from politicians of all parties, as well as ‘Red’ Ken and Co. standing as independents. All of them are after the same thing: power for themselves.
They say only they have they can solve our problems. But who’d trust a politician? And is there even any difference between them or is it just more of the same shit, no matter who you vote for?
After carefully examining all of the election manifestos we’ve come to the conclusion that despite all their apparent differences ALL POLITICIANS have far more in common than they like to let on (see the Against Parliament pamphlet on our website).
All they are offering us is their own version of the current capitalist set up - the rich sponging off the rest of us! Whether they are Left wing, Right wing or Green all the important issues will remain unchanged: we live in a capitalist system where everything is geared towards profit. The state and capitalism exert control in every aspect of our lives and it’s getting worse.
We don’t pretend to have all the solutions but we do know that only by creating a society based on real human needs, free from capitalism and the state can we really make a world worth living in.
Here we compare some of the problems politicians presume exist and the solutions they offer with some possible solutions to real problems:
Presumed Problem |
Presumed Solution |
Actual Problem |
Actual Solution |
| Immigrants are flooding into the country to take advantage of our generous benefits system. | Close the borders to anyone who isn’t white. Scare the shit out of all those who don’t fit in. | The rich elite control the media and use it to spread lies and hate. | Close the media and open the borders. |
| The drugs menace is corrupting children. | Life in prison without parole for smoking a joint. | Drugs laws make them so expensive people turn to crime to pay for them. | Decriminalise all drugs. Make them freely available to resistance editors, er..we mean those who need them. |
| Public transport is shit. | Raise more capital for it from the public/the state/private companies. | Public transport is shit when run by capitalists or the state. | Make transport free and run in the interests of people not capital or the state |
| Health and safely regulations are making businesses go bankrupt. | Let businesses treat their workers like slaves. If any die there millions of un-employed people out there. | Businesses treat their workers like slaves. | Let communities control production. Start producing things for human need not private greed. |
| Too many pensioners without health insurance are taking up all the NHS beds. | Let pensioners freeze to death in winter. | Governments would rather use resources on new bombs than new beds. | Get rid of all governments.
Make health care freely available to everyone, wherever they live. |
| The school system is failing. | Make discipline stricter, follow the national curriculum. | The school system is failing - because no one wants to go and it’s run like a competition. | Change society so people will be free to learn as and when they want. |
| Lazy unemployed people are crippling the country by living it up whilst sponging off the state. | Bring back slavery. Force people to work for their dole . | Most jobs a boring, pointless and waste far too much drinking time. | People should work at what they’re able to, when they want to - for things that we all need. |
| Environmentalists are destroying businesses. | Make protest a terrorist offence. Lock them all up and throw away the key... | Businesses are destroying the environment for the sake of quick profit. | Working class people should decide what, when and how we produce. |
Bradford Mayday ‘98
The Mayday ’98 conference was organised and attended by a wide cross-section of the British anarchist/libertarian-left. The conference got together people from across the ‘movement’ to see what we wanted to achieve, and what was holding us back.
It was initiated in the aftermath of the dissolving of the Class War Federation, which demoralised people but made new options possible. People were asking ‘where to next?’
With this in mind, the topics discussed were ‘Land, Ecology and Environment’, ‘All Worked Up’ (challenging the nature of work), ‘Dream Time’ (what would a society without a state or capital be like), and ‘Away from the Margins’ (how well do we relate our to the communities we live and work in, and to other communities in struggle?).
Looking back, it seems strange to have environmental issues as a single category. Likewise, the emphasis implied by having a Work session and the under-emphasis on community politics was a sign of the times. Most anarchists now see the real potential for change as lying in communities, be they defined by locality, issue or experience (which includes the working environment): a Culture of Resistance.
What was not discussed much at Bradford was the exciting global politics anarchists are involved in. We are now more internationalist in practice; working increasingly on solidarity with and an understanding of world wide struggles in opposition to the increased internationalism of capitalism.
British Anarchism
So how much impact did the conference have on British anarchism? Many people were disappointed at how few permanent alliances or campaigns resulted from the gathering. However, the building of formal structures was an unrealistic expectation. In the Anarchist Federation we believe them to be essential in revolutionary strategies, but this does not deny the usefulness of other work undertaken by more fluid and temporary groups, overlapping in ‘membership’ with formal organisations.
The conference is part of a process whereby the sections of the libertarian left which are active and relevant have become so in part by being more outward looking and less dogmatic and sectarian. Nowadays there IS a sense of a ‘movement’, which strikes a chord with the working class and can at times put the bosses on the run (e.g. through RTS mobilisations, J18, N30 Seattle, and the trashing of GM crop test sites). Bradford 1998 brought together in discussions people who had rarely talked to each other, many of who are now working together for social revolution to make an anarchist society a reality.
Please visit the regularly updated Anarchist Federation diary page for details of the latest events