London Culture

08-04-2008 13:18 | 4 comments

Olympic Torch Greeted by Tibet Protests in London

On April 6 the Olympic torch was to be paraded through the streets of London in what Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell described as a celebration of the "Olympic spirit." Protesters angered by recent Chinese repression in Tibet sought to undermine this Chinese propaganda exercise. As it made its way through London, the flame was greeted by a wave of protest.

Demonstrators disrupted the torch's journey along the thirty one mile route. There were attempts to seize the torch, extinguish the flame and to prevent it making its way through the city with 37 people being arrested. Although Tibet was the main focus of protests, attention was also drawn to Chinese support for Sudanese atrocities in Darfur and Burma's brutal military dictatorship.

Video: Video of the attempted Olympic flame grab!

Photos: Olympic Relay Free Tibet Rally | Olympic torch protests in London - pics | Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay, London April 6, 2008 | Olympic Torch Relay: Heated Arguments in Trafalgar Square | Chinese Torture Torch Relay Shames Olympic Ideals | Police compete in olympic farce | Olympic Torch Chased off the Streets, pics from Fleet Street | Torch Protest hits Whitechapel

Also on the Newswire: Torch Went Out in London Too! | Olympic torch relay protest timeline | Tibet Protest Great, But.... | "Freedom wins" says the Sun | Tibetan Freedom Torch Rally | 36 people arrested so far during the Olympic torch relay in London | Police Manhandle Press at Tibet Demonstration | Brilliant pro Tibet protest ongoing in London today

Links: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (official site) | Free Tibet Campaign | Students for a Free Tibet

23-03-2008 23:12 | 3 comments

Latest from London Social Centres

Since the new year, three new social centres opened in London. The first of those, known as RAMpart2 has already been left empty after the owners were granted an IPO. The new Hackney Social Centre has also lost its court case already and has an eviction date set for the 15th April 2008. There is also a new womens run social centre opened shortly before the international womens days, which also has its eviction date set for April. Read more >>

29-01-2008 19:13 | 1 addition

Monday Love Returns....

Monday Love returns with a one month residence at The InSpiral Lounge, Camden Lock.
For the valentine month of February, Monday Love will be bringing you the finest in uptown, underground, raise your spirit and blow your mind live music, film and real life grassroots media.
Feb 25th - Monday Love 'Oil & Culture'
Come down for the last Monday Love of the season
Documentary films Source an award winning film about BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, presented by Platform Londons own Mika.
Live Music from Ruth Theodore and Hip Hop Poetry from 'The Assembled Servants'
DJ Snuff bringing Protest Reggae, Funk & Hip Hop from (Speakers Corner)
free entry to all those who believe in something more than money & fear

Read more >>

29-12-2007 18:25 | 8 comments

rampART on the defensive

The rampART social centre in London is finally facing eviction after almost 4 years of providing a non-commercial venue for a wide range of activities. On the 12th of December, the social centre and the squatted houses in the street were all served with notice of court proceedings. On the 20th, the case was heard and a possession order granted from the 3rd of January 2008. However, the occupation has continued and the social centre is open as normal. An appeal has been lodged and evcition held off until a decision about the appeal has been made.

Meanwhile, there have been various meetings to organise opposition to the threat and open a new space. There was also an assembly on the 6th Jan to look at setting up a group to support London social centres and maintain continuity.

RampART legal battle: appeal lodged | court case notes | possesion order granted | court papers served

Background : Audio: Eviction is a comin' | developers make move on Rampart Street | Developments at rampART | The rampART and its evolution

03-04-2007 01:20 | 13 comments

Repetitive Beats. Police Baton London free party.

Update: The RTF4 building was illegally evicted and a meeting cancelled on Thursday, 5 April, by private security backed by police.

Four months after the acquittal of the Coronet Five, police again sealed off Holloway Road and provoked a pointless confrontation with people attending a major event on the social calender of the anarchist movement. [Pics: 1 | 2 | video]

The setting this time was Reclaim The Future 4, a networking event which combined workshops, info stalls, cinema screenings, a vegan cafe and party, and was attended by hundreds and hundreds of people [Pics]. The event was held in a squatted building on the Holloway Road, which was formerly a workshop and salesroom for London Taxis.

29-03-2007 16:54 | 1 comment

Whitechapel Knees Up against Starbucks

On Saturday 24th March, the London's collective of Anarchitects called Space Hijackers invited the Whitechapel local community to a 'East End Knees Up' against the fact that the corporate chain Starbucks recentlty opened a new store in the area. Starbucks has a long history of undercutting and closing down local independent cafes, of treating their staff badly, and their coffee growers even worse.

The tea party in "defense of our area, and to show off the lovely culture we have" lasted for about 4 hours. At 1pm a small crowd turned up outside Starbucks to set up a stall and a sound system, and to give out maps of the area which listed alternative local places to buy coffee and keep money within the local community. From then on, many local people that just came across to it joined in for a hot drink or a plate of hot food provided by the group Food Not Bombs. Police eventually stepped in and threatened to arrest those gathering around the stall for obstruction of the highway, although no one was finally arrested.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3
Related Links: Space Hijackers' Projects Archive | Starbucks - The Faulty Logo | I Hate Starbucks

06-02-2007 04:37

Two Days of Action Target Climate Criminals

Over the weekend of 3-4 Feb 2007, actions up and down the country and beyond targeted dangerous 'greenwash' being desperately pushed by corporations and politicians. The actions came in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Friday, which warned of world temperature rises of over 6C by the end of the century. The report indicated that a 4 degree rise would mean a 10% loss in global food production due to draught, flooding, water shortages. While the world slowly wakes up to the magnitude of climate chaos, Shell and Exxon Mobil last week announced record breaking profits. With the figures laid out so clearly, the nauseating hypocrisy spouted by corporations and politicians has spurred action from Paris to Aberdeen.

18-02-2006 13:23

Valentine's Day Protests

Just before Valentine's Day on Sat 11th Feb, around 600 people took part in Reclaim Love III, providing a counter-point to the greeting card and gift frenzy of Feb 14th - partying at Eros statue in Piccadilly, London - saying 'Love not oil is the most important resource in the world' [report | Photos 1, 2, 3 | Video 1, 2, 3].

On Feb 14th itself campaigners held a mock funeral demonstration outside the Icelandic Embassy in London. They were demonstrating against the Karahnjukar Icelandic dam and the multinational aluminium invasion of the last great pristine wilderness of Europe by companies Alcoa and Alcan [report | Saving Iceland website]. Other recent actions included a protest at the offices of Impregilo, part of the company which is building the Dam [report].

The Hazards Campaign also held a Valentine's Day 'Death by Deregulation' protest in London outside the Health and Safety Commission, drawing attention to the abolition of basic safeguards for workers [report + pic]. See also '10 reasons the Health and Safety Executive top brass makes us sick' - New Hazards Report | Safety at Work: a retreat from law? | LabourStart Health + Safety News Stories.

Meanwhile over in Belfast, where an unofficial two week plus postal strike has crippled the postal service, well over a thousand workers marched through the streets including both the Catholic Falls road and Protestant Shankhill. The wildcat strike action was in response to management bullying. The strike ended on Sat 18th, when the Royal Mail agreed to an independent review of industrial employee relations and not to penalise workers for the strike action [report and pics | Libcom Strike Coverage].

Prior to Valentine's, on 12th February campaigners from Trident Ploughshares held a mock wedding at Devonport dockyard in plymouth. Dressed in red and pink and black they enacted the 'marriage' of the people and City of Plymouth to Britain's own Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Trident missile system. A marriage made seemingly without the consent of many residents in the City [report + pics].

Read more >>

09-06-2005 10:39 | 2 comments

Reclaim the Future III - Party and Protest

This Saturday 11 June sees the third edition of the infamous Reclaim The Future benefit parties in a self-organised space in London.

RTF III is set to be one of the biggest parties-with-purpose to take place in London for a long time. From eight to eigth 5+ rooms including live stages, bands, djs, chillout, bar, cafe, Indymedia cinema, performance and vjs, will keep the crowd on its toes. Musical flavours will include Punk, Techno, Reggae, Drum & Bass, Breaks, World Music and Cabaret. The address is S&W Nightware Factory, Alie St. E1 near Aldgate East tube station.

The concept of RTF arose from a meeting of London Reclaim The Streets (RTS) on June 2002. The idea and call went out, and soon many of the people from the groups that RTS had spawned came together. These included Indymedia, Wombles, Rhythms of Resistance samba band, London Rising Tide, LARC, Disarm DSEi and it started to grow and grow. Quoting one of the party organisers she states:

"RTF was created as a way to show that the streets are ours and we will not be prevented from partying and protesting by laws which have tried to squash the reclaim the streets movement. RTF is also about working togther for a future that we all want, free from capitalism and freedom from exploitation for all peoples and for a planet free from the destruction and pollution it currently endures."

For more information about past RTF events see:

Squall review

RTF I photo gallery

RTF II photo gallery 1 and 2.

03-06-2005 16:32

An Eventful Spring Bank Holiday in London

Friday 27 was one of the hottest days in May for decades, and the start of a busy Bank Holiday in London. The same as in every last Friday of the month, several hundred cyclists gathered at the South Bank for the evening’s Critical Mass that has now entered its 12 years of monthly cycle rides through central London. [Report and photos 1 | 2 | 3 and videos 1 | 2 | 3]

On the same evening the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, together with the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army and the Church of the Immaculate Consumption arrived in the East End for the London's date of their UK wide G8 touring show. This included a two day intensive Clown Army training to prepare for this summer’s G8 Mobilisations in Scotland, as well as a show, films and free food [Report and Photos 1 | 2 | 3]

Saturday 28 also saw the London date of the 2012 Show; "a seven year trip that aims to create a creative space for change before it is too late”. In the event, this was an all nighter with music, poetry, performance, visuals and info stalls.

On Monday Bank holiday the annual Kingston Green Fair took place; a one day festival organised by local environmental activists that began in 1987 [Report and Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 and videos]. The event offered a broad programme of music as well as art and info stalls, cafes, community groups spaces and more, all powered by renewable sources.