Save the NHS March - Bristol 5th May 2012

At 11am, around 400 people from all walks of life congregated on the bland and sterile new grass on College Green for the final event in the May week of action for the Save Our NHS march.
Organisations and campaigns represented included various unions (including Unite, Unision and UCU), Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance, South West Against Nuclear, Bristol Anarchist Federation, Bristol Fawcett, Occupiers from Bath and Bristol and lots of other members of the public.

A rally with a variety of speeches took place outside the council building. Although there were some great speeches, the highlight was a couple of smartly-dressed women with Virgin badges, posing as company reps and outlining exactly what they were going to do to the NHS.

Following the rally, banners were held up high and all assembled for the march. People joined in along the way, and we caused quite a scene marching through town to chants of "Whose NHS? Our NHS" and a selection of reggae, rock and punk from a stereo system in a wheelie bin, as well as an excellent cover of Pulp's Common People sung from David Cameron's perspective.


Will this march change anything? On its own, no. But if we don't want the NHS to be privatised by this sham of a government - made up of two parties that vowed to protect the NHS - then we need to keep showing that we're not happy. Keep it in the public eye, keep piling the pressure on and maybe someone will listen. But even if it changes nothing, I'm going to keep doing it. I'm here to change the world, not be changed by those trying to destroy it. Be the change you want to see.

Peace all.

Video here:

More reporting from The Shittro here: http://theshittro.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/pro-nhs-rally-bristol-saturday-5th-may.html

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The Rise of Alternative Media

"They’re occupying Wall Street, I’m occupying this taxi. And I will come here every day 'til things change” – Mark McGowan (The Artist Taxi Driver), 25.9.11

Sign at Occupy Bristol

It was the second weekend of Occupy Bristol. The camp was now fully operational, with a kitchen, a fire (in a metal wheelbarrow), sofas, chairs, notice boards, a tipi, an information tent, a first aid tent and signs everywhere “Listen to us or we’ll Occupy the Olympics!”, “People before profit!” and “Earth belongs to us, not corporations!” The buzz round the camp was incredible – it felt like we had already changed the world. I volunteered in the kitchen that evening and along with a few others made a vegetarian curry for over 50 people using only a small torch and a couple of camping stoves (and nearly burnt down the kitchen tent in the process…). While waiting for the rice to boil, I was asked to help set up a screen, tied between two trees – tonight was video night. Someone turned up with a laptop and a projector and as we were serving out dinner they got it going with a variety of informative Youtube clips, interspersed with the occasional music video (anyone who didn’t know “I’m on a boat” by The Lonely Island certainly did after that night). Just as I was passing round the last few plates, it came on.

Setting up the video screen at Occupy Bristol

A video of a 40-something man with shades in a car talking about how messed up this country is, followed by a tirade of anger and swearing directed at the government. It got everyone’s attention and there were applauds by the end of it. Several more of his videos were played that night, and each time people watched and listened. It was entertaining, and the anger expressed was both justified and resonated with the feelings of many there. I asked someone later who he was, and they replied "The Artist Taxi Driver. He does loads of videos." Since then I’ve become a regular follower of his videos – sometimes sombre, lamenting all the shit in the world, sometimes funny and sometimes loud, angry and shouty - but always relevant. It was at this moment I realised more needed to be done in telling the story from the point of view of an Occupier, and a week later Standing Stone's Blog was born. There were already other blogs out there, including the "official" Occupy LSX and Occupy Bristol blogs, as well as pieces on It's Not a Zero Sum Game and A Way to Home, but much more needed to be said and experiences needed to be recorded.

Due to a campaign calling for him to run for Prime Minister, The Artist Taxi Driver released this following right on manifesto video:

This Artist Taxi Driver is just one example of current independent alternative media. There's a number of blogs and alternative news sites that I follow, and I speak to a lot of people in real life involved in various campaigns who I consider to be "in the know" on certain subjects. The internet is a revolutionary tool for spreading news. Indymedia is a favourite site, where campaigners are free to tell their side of the story without the spin put on it by the mainstream press (for instance, see how the headline of this letter to the Bath Chronicle was corrupted from the letter in order to give a negative view of anarchists). The blogger Marcus Moore wrote a series of blogs entitled Occupying the Mind, which were full of insights and explored the possibilities of the movement - food for thought for all those involved. For years I've been following Julian Cope's monthly Address Drudion blog, and more recently Dorian Cope's radical history blog On This Deity, not just because I'm fan of the music, but because they both give insightful and refreshingly honest opinions and reports on current and historical events, often from personal  experience of having been involved in various protests such as the G20 and Newbury Bypass. Other favourites include Contemporary Anarchist, which writes a lot about the problem of the fascist English Defence League (EDL), Bristling Badger, which reports on activism and environmentalism, and Anonops Communications, which reports on Anonymous, as well as The Shittro, written by another Bristol/Bath occupier (who will be reporting on the upcoming Occupy South-West conference in Newton Abbott next weekend). These are just a few of my favourites, but out there is a whole world of first-hand accounts and alternative perspectives on the world that are well-worth the effort in seeking out.

In the last six months we've seen media blackouts, distortions of the truth and complete misrepresentation regarding Occupy and other protest movements, and often it's only through alternative media channels such as blogs, vlogs, alternative websites, word of mouth and social media that the real stories are being published. It's not a new problem either. Back in December, the BBC reported that the council would be sending in teams to clean the Georgian square - it is likely that they were deliberately trying to paint us in a bad light, as they have done with the Occupy Movement since it started. Through writing our own version of the story and engaging with other independent news sources, we were able to get across the message that we had cleaned it ourselves. This morning I woke up to a tweet about armed police with machine guns being present at a peaceful Save Our NHS demonstration yesterday. I checked all of the mainstream news sites and found no reference to the demo or the guns. Shortly afterwards, The Artist Taxi driver released a video talking about just this:

I don't ever rely on just one source for my news, so I did a bit more digging and found a blog post containing the chronology of yesterday's events and photographs of the police here, and promptly spread this around the internet. If the press aren't going to report on the news, or if they do they are going to misrepresent and twist words, we've got to do it ourselves.

The popularity of the video camera, and the availability of digital video cameras and mobile phone cameras has enabled normal people to film events as they unfold. The real brutality of the police and security in protests throughout the years has been caught on camera, not least the arrests and violence in Zuccotti Park (Occupy Wall Street) yesterday. Within minutes these can be on the internet showing people at home and on their laptops and mobile phones what's happening on the front line.

If you're involved in anything at all, get the news out there. Setting up a blog, Youtube account or a website is easy these days and there's tools available to help you. Spread the news of what's really going on far and wide, and speak to people in real life too. Produce books, pamphlets, newsletters and get the word out. We need to counteract the claims of the mainstream news sources with corporate interests and political ties, and people like the Murdochs at the helm, and speak to each other about what's going on. A new people-based media is rising, and they're afraid, which is why moves to censor the internet such as ACTA, SOPA and PIPA are threatening our freedom to do so, and why we must fight them. 

Say NO to ACTA here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20685

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Occupy the UK. That's at Least What The Shittro Thinks (Guest Blog)

This a guest blog from a fellow Occupier who I've known since Day 1 of Occupy Bristol, and at 18 years of age he has a better grasp of politics and protest movements than many people twice his age. His weekly newspaper "The Shittro" can be found at http://theshittro.blogspot.com/, blending relevant politics with profanity and humour. More righteous ranting from Standing Stone coming later in the month.

EDIT: Standing Stone's Blog has returned the favour by writing a piece for The Shittro: "By the people, for the people - An Introduction to People's Assemblies" http://theshittro.blogspot.com/2012/03/shittro-v6-is-here.html

Hello there, and welcome to The Shittro. The newspaper of an 18 year old Occupier who makes it his job once a week to construct a word document containing news which is always well researched and opinionated. I have decided to come out as The Shittro and explain why I think Occupying the UK is the way forward.

Every day we hear the news of cuts, privatisation, reform, war and injustice. Who is doing anything about it? No-one is. Only the Occupy movement has drawn up the resistance to so many different things under one banner. We have brought things such as tax evasion, illegal wars, inequality in society and slave labour together so we can fight a battle in which we are slowly winning. I say that because people are starting to wake up to the injustice. I've been awake to what's been happening for a while. I started in Occupy Bristol on 15th October 2011 on a bright Saturday at College Green (when it was still green). We sat there until January protesting against the corporate greed and corruption while informing people of what the reality of the world was. We met some very nice people but then we found out that not everyone agreed with our aims and decided to personally attack or harm us in some way which is fine, I mean, people can attack the people in the camp but they can't get us to go away.

The reason I occupied was because I felt it was my civic duty to do so. David Cameron talks of his ideas of Big Society, the community running things. That's essentially what we did, we ran our own community (with a little help from the public!). The fact that we were able to keep what could be described as an anarchist society running for 3 months is amazing. Nothing like that had ever been tried in Bristol before so it was great to see it work. We worked under a system of direct democracy in which everyone had a vote on issues brought before a General Assembly in which the whole camp were able to take part in. The voting was consensus decision making which had again never been fully tried on the scale that we were using it with. The most successful use of consensus decision making is when Occupy have used it. So many camps across the world have used this system and many of them are still active today! Without it, we would have come crashing down and our protest would have been ineffective.

Other things which make us effective is the way people naturally work when put into a group like this. There were people that automatically sat down and decided what they were going to do to make their part in the camp successful. I tried out for the media team at Occupy Bristol but then I found that finance was more my thing so I did that for a week. I learned how to manage finances for the first time in my life using a real organisation’s money and I had to record it all in a book and report it back every GA. People found that as a result, we were very transparent. Transparency is something we aim for at Occupy. We feel that in order to gain the trust of the public, we must tell the public what we are doing when they aren't around. People would give us donations and it was my job to record them and allocate where the money should be spent. It was then found that I did this incorrectly to the person that took over. To this day, I don't understand what went wrong with that, but the fact that I had tried and appeared to be so successful at the role prompted people to trust me with similar positions again. At the moment, I am acting as a media/networking person who relays information to and from other occupy sites about Bristol. In Bath, I don't really have a responsibility but I'll talk about that in a minute.

My role in Occupy Bath was a short one, but I quickly learned the ropes of Bath and learned how to be an effective team player. Bath was a lot smaller than the Bristol camp, having about 2/3 of the people that were on site at Bristol. Bath would often have problems with people staying over at the camp and it was the case that people had to sit by themselves manning the camp for the whole day because no one could turn up to relieve them. That kind of camp couldn't be sustained which is why we decided to close it on December 8th and had the final camp meeting to organise logistics on December 9th to pack up by December 10th.

The reaction from people at Bath was very similar to those from Bristol. We still got the abuse and the mockery although there was a different class of people at Bath. I met two students from St Brendan’s College in Bristol who came over to talk to me. They were nice guys who had come over to talk to me about why we were there. I tried explaining it but it was obvious they didn't see the full picture and had a very one sided argument about things. For example, we discussed tuition fees and a few other things. I said most universities were charging £9000 to which they claimed was wrong. They then claimed the bankers had not committed any crimes and then they claimed that the Vickers report was going to solve everything. I was not feeling up to my prime that day so I stormed off, doubting whether what I was saying was right. It turns out that I was! I counted all of the universities that were charging £9000 to which at the time was 57 which is a large majority. I then looked up the Vickers report to which it said ring-fencing between investment banks and high street banks was needed. So does that mean they were right? No, ring-fencing just means limiting the amount of money that can go through, not eliminating it meaning from 2019, the rules will just get slightly stricter. So in fact, the students were ill informed and looking for a fight, which unfortunately, they had. As I said, I do regret acting like a spoilt child, but in my defence, they were being small minded. What else could have I done if they weren't listening to me? I agreed to look these things up but when I pointed these things out to them they pretended like nothing had happened. I'm not saying I was in the right, but then again, they weren't either.

The fact is, my experience of Occupy has been to inform, persuade and argue. Three things that I am good at because I am doing A Level English Language at college. Doing it in real life to real people can be difficult when people aren't willing to listen. They claim we have the wrong end of the stick when in reality, if people do the research themselves, they would find that we are in fact the ones who are right. But people feel that they don't have to do this extra research because what they are being told is right. Well guess what, it's not right what we are being told, it stinks. It's so full of bullshit it's hard not to scream at people that believe it. It's really easy to turn around to someone and ask them 'so what's your opinion on fractional reserve banking?' They don't know obviously, but it's the fact that people don't know how the money system works which is the worrying thing. In fact, more people know who the latest singer is on the chart then they do their local MP or even who messed up the economy.

So what am I going to do about this? Well, after remembering my experiences I want to shout and scream and go blue in the face at people for not listening but I know that won't help. I will continue to offer peaceful resistance to what is going on in this country and just because a bigot tells me that I am wrong doesn't mean I am going to stop and become ignorant again. I am 18 and I am writing this stuff, doesn't that mean something? Isn't it good that I am getting off my arse and contributing to the debate? Apparently not. People would rather me get wasted so they can complain about me doing nothing rather than doing something. People that complain that I am protesting don't have a leg to stand on. They are the ones who are consenting to the government ripping us off daily and they are the ones who need to stand up and say 'this isn't right'. I don't care what your political views are, I don't care of your age, gender, sexuality, height, weight, appearance, skin colour, origin or any other feature, get out there and protest! If you understand what is happening you have to say something. If you don't, your rights are going to be eroded away like the NHS.

If you are interested in writing a Guest Blog for Standing Stone's Blog, relating to the Occupy Movement, environment, other protest movements, or your visions and ideas for the future, get in touch at standingstonesblog@hotmail.co.uk . No commercial requests please.

Previous post on Occupy Bath: Moving Beyond this Representative Democracy

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On Professional Protesters

The term "professional protester" seems to be applied by the opponents of almost every demonstration or protest I get involved in or hear about. When referred to as such at Occupy Bath, I decided to treat it like a badge of honour - my thought was "we're THAT good that people think we're professional!"

For the purpose of this blog, I sought out a definition of "professional protester" to use as a starting point. Unfortunately, despite finding numerous blog posts and comments on news articles using the term, the only definition I was able to find was from that treasure trove that should sit along the Oxford English Dictionary in terms of impact on the modern internet user's vocabulary - The Urban Dictionary. Here, the term is defined as:

"Any unemployed, fanatically Liberal protester, who spends an inordinate amount of time protesting the Republican wing. Often protests so frequently, they lose track of what they are actually protesting. Usually falls within the age range of 18-35. Descriptions include bad dye jobs, nasty facial piercings, and copious amounts of tacky tattoos. While adopting a "hippy-ish" style dresscode, and associated hygiene practices."

The author of this definition (who goes by the name of D. Gould) is obviously biased, but is probably not too far off the mark considering the context in which the term is usually applied.

Let's take a long look at the definition of professional. The Oxford English Dictionary (online version) has several definitions, those appropriate are listed below (the numbering is my own):

1. "In humorous or derogatory use. Of a person: habitually making a feature of a particular activity or attribute, esp. one that is generally regarded with disfavour; inveterate."

2. "Of an event, activity, occupation, etc. (now esp. a sport): undertaken or engaged in for money; engaged in by professionals (as distinct from non-professionals or amateurs)"

3. "A person who engages in a specified activity, especially a sport, as a paid occupation. Freq. opposed to amateur."

4. "Engaged in a profession, esp. one requiring special skill or training; belonging to the professional classes"

5. "That has or displays the skill, knowledge, experience, standards, or expertise of a professional; competent, efficient."

The first definition I give is the one usually applied to people who spend a lot of time protesting. It's a put-down. However, definitions 2-5 are much more positive.

Many of the people I have met on protests have been involved in other protest activities. At Occupy Bath and Bristol I met people who had been involved in the 2003 war march, Greenham Common, Stop the War Coalition, Newbury Bypass, G20, the recent tuition fees protest and many others. It is very common that you will find a lot of people at a protest who have previously been involved in other protests, and some have been involved in a lot. At a recent demonstration outside Bath City College, when Vince Cable was opening a new building, there were more than a few familiar faces. But I don't meet a lot of people who don't know what they're protesting about - more often those that attend a lot of protests know too much, and care so much, that they feel they need to make a habit of making a stand on a regular basis. I won't deny having met a few individuals who were doing it because it was cool, part of a scene or didn't quite understand what was going on, but even then I think they often learn something from others there, so I wouldn't tell them to sod off.

In America there is a popular conspiracy theory amongst some Republicans that Occupy protesters are being paid by the Democrats. See this article for an example (note the comments below), and this article for a reasoned criticism of this claim (Occupy in America have protested against Obama and the Democrats on several occasions - see here and here, and also Obama has signed the "anti-Occupy law"). As most protesters aren't being given a wage to protest, we can discount definitions 2 and 3. Long term protest camps such as Occupy, Newbury Bypass and Democracy Village did get given donations of money, food and equipment from members of the public, but this is not a wage. At Occupy Bath and Occupy Bristol we regularly received donations, with the people donating often commenting that they would be camping out if they didn't have work/kids/partner etc.

Definitions 4 and 5, on the other hand, are more relevant. They separate the newbie and the amateur from the seasoned banner-waver, the person who knows how to put up a tent and cook on a fire, the person who knows what to say to the cops and how to talk down aggressive opponents, the one with all the knowledge of the issues and the experience of many years of protesting.

Many people who support causes or who are opposed to an activity do not have the time to attend every demo or set up camp somewhere in protest against the issue at hand. Even of those that do, there is also often the fear of arrest, or being looked down upon by certain sections of society – which may include friends, family and workmates. These are the people who send in their messages of support, or drop by with some food and few quid for the collection box every now and then, and perhaps even write a letter to a newspaper. They rely on the actions and abilities of others to protest. Then there are the part-timers and the occasional protesters – those that have other commitments, but do it when they can. They rely on the professionals to organise things and keep things running while they are not around.

Professional protesters are not always hippies, and are not always left-wing and/or liberals. Back before hunting was banned in the UK, there were many people who didn't fit this description marching and demonstrating against the proposed ban on a regular basis. I never had Fathers 4 Justice down as hippies. However, as this country has long been governed by centre-right and moderately authoritarian parties, one would expect the majority of modern protestors to be mostly the liberal-left. If the Green Party ever got into power, could we expect to have Conservative voters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral or Parliament Square demanding a return to corporatism and a relaxing of green legislation? Perhaps even people chaining themselves to the cooling towers of gas and nuclear power stations about to be de-activated? Maybe calling for an increased tax on the poor?

So, after careful consideration, and in another of case of reclaiming a formerly insulting term, I’m going to redefine it:

Professional Protester – A person with considerable experience in protesting who is often willing and able to put themselves in sometimes compromising positions in which others are not. Usually highly knowledgeable of the issues surrounding the protest and dedicated to the cause. Often a veteran of many protests and demonstrations and usually well-equipped to ensure that things run according to plan. 

Update July 2012 - The Urban Dictionary has now accepted this definition! http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=professional+protester

Standing Stone's Blog would like to express solidarity with the protesters (professional or otherwise) currently surrounding Hinkley Point nuclear power station, and it is with regret that I am not there with you.

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The Ongoing War Against the Corrupt Financial Elite

Occupy LSX, outside St Paul's cathedral, has been evicted. With most of the camps gone, it might appear to some that the Occupy Movement has lost. Nonsense. Occupy is an idea, and the people involved haven't gone away. We're all still talking, and Phase 2 is taking off quite nicely. That's not to say that the loss of the St Paul's isn't a tragedy - as a friend of mine put it "why do things always have to end with a fence and bastards in hi-vis?".

Occupy LSX

Back in the mid-90s, occupying physical spaces was an almost as widespread form of direct action as in the last 6 months. Back then, the target was the government road schemes. Some occupations of the land made the national headlines - in particular the protests at Solsbury Hill, Twyford, the A30 and, of course, the Newbury Bypass. Their dedication to holding onto those physical spaces was much more than those trying to hold onto Occupy camps, for good reason - the woodlands and other important habitats were under threat. The pavement outside St Paul's and the land at Queen Square and College Green are not under threat, and not home to rare wildlife. It didn't matter so much where the camps were. The Newbury Bypass protest, and many of the other road protests, failed to achieve their primary objectives - protect the natural habitats faced with imminent destruction. But although those battles were lost, the protests scored some big wins in the long-term. The road protests caught the attention of the media in a big way, and turned a large proportion of the public onto the issues. By the end of the Newbury Bypass protest, scores of camps were set up along the route and many thousands of people had participated in some way in opposing the bypass. It's one of the biggest regrets I have, that I wasn't one of them. It was one of the most important battles fought in my lifetime. I visited Snelsmore Common (the site of several of the encampments) recently and was horrified by what I saw. The legacy of the road protests is that hundreds of proposed road schemes never happened, and that environment and wildlife laws are now enforced much more strictly at the planning and development stages. Another scheme like the Newbury Bypass would have a lot more difficulty getting off the ground today with the current planning laws and demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of direct action. As Swampy put it when evicted from his tunnel at Fairmile:

"I think it's the only way to get a voice these days. I mean if I had written a letter to my MP, would I have achieved all this? Would you lot be here now? I think not!"

The victories scored by those brave people who put their lives at risk deserve never to be forgotten, and their achievements need to be upheld and protected. The coalition government are now branding our wildlife laws as "red tape", are trying to make developments easier to get through planning and attempted to sell off our forests. They are eroding our right to occupy, with the squatting laws and enforced evictions. We need to stop them at all costs.

It's easy to overlook a one-day protest, but long-term high-profile protests get the media interested and, despite some media sources painting negative pictures, a chance to get the word out to the public. Occupy has started an international conversation. When we had the camps in Bristol and Bath, we were constantly on the TV, radio and newspapers. We were given the opportunity to get our message across to the general public and the people in charge, and they were listening, even if only to dismiss us. The camps were in central locations. We had so many people walk past, shouting at us to have a bath and, then go to the pub, start talking about why we were doing it and come back with questions. Already the politicians are speaking about "fairer capitalism". I'm not convinced they completely mean it, but there have been some positive outcomes - the government are now cracking down on tax avoidance by the banks, and the Move Your Money campaign has seen many people move to more responsible ethical banks and credit unions. People are now more aware than ever, thanks to the months of Occupiers using whatever means they can - from social media to newspapers, TV, leaflets, talks and tent city universities - to get the messages across.

But even though we're onto the next phase and few are still camping, I don't think it's the end of direct action. If things get worse, the protest side of things will heat up again. The UNITE union leader is calling for protests during the Olympics, and the 15th of May is a significant date for Occupiers (the Spanish Indignados - the pre-cursor to Occupy - started on this date last year). Both of these are opportunities to expand on showing the fat cats, the government and the rest of the world that we're not happy.

I see the Occupy Movement as the latest manifestation of an ongoing war against the corrupt wealthy elite of this world who are hell-bent on wrecking societies and the environment for the sake of profit. Newbury was part of this fight - some of the dialogue from the protestors in videos from the evictions could just have easily come from an Occupier - as were the war march, the G20 protests, the CND movement and countless other protests and movements. From my perspective, the way forward involves "joined-up thinking". We need to connect poverty, environmental degradation, wars, loss of public services, political oppression and human rights violations with corrupt corporations, bankers and governments. There are many organisations and individuals out there fighting different battles of the same war. We need to come together as one, and attack them on all fronts.

In other news, the Move Your Money campaign is gathering momentum - more info here: http://www.moveyourmoney.org.uk/. March is Move Your Money month - if you don't want the big banks to hold the power and want to support better alternatives, now is the time to do so. If you haven't signed it yet, the petition to get Bath and North East Somerset Council to move from NatWest to an ethical bank like the Co-operative is here.

Further Reading:

Occupy LSX eviction:
Guardian article - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/28/police-evict-st-pauls-occupy-protesters

Surprisingly neutral Sun article - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4159319/Occupy-London-evicted-from-St-Pauls.html

Where next for Occupy?:
Guardian opinion piece on the next step - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/29/occupy-london-represent

Road Protest Movement
Lots of resources on the Newbury Bypass here - http://www.ukrivers.net/newburybypass/factfile.html

Videos of the Newbury camps and some of the evictions here (not always comfortable viewing, but highlight how insanely vicious police and bailiffs can be when they want to) - http://www.kinokast.net/index.php/protest-videos/transport/the-newbury-bypass/raw-hi8-tapes/

Swampy's speech after leaving the tunnel at Fairmile (A30 road protest) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvSwc9ryKAY&feature=related

For an account of Newbury by one of the protestors, see Merrick (1996) "Battle for the Trees"

Also worth checking out the songs "Battle for the Trees" by Julian Cope and "Snelsmore Wood" by New Model Army.

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Occupy Bath and Bristol - January 2012

Occupy Bath/Bath People's Assembly

Occupy Bath may no longer have a presence in Queen Square, but the movement lives on in Bath in 2012. At the beginning of January we organised a meal in Queen Square. We set up a gazebo and banners and brought a table, a cooker, pans and food and sent out an invite on facebook for anyone to join us. Despite the heavy rain, about 25 people turned up and had an excellent meal. This was not only a gathering for those who were at the camp, but was also a public display of people getting together to share and cook together to save energy and money, while creating a social environment.

The Occupy Bath meal in Queen Square, January 2012

Many of us have met up since the meal and we are currently working on some ideas, which will hopefully be rolled out in the near future. However, Occupy is not exclusive, and I encourage others to come up with ideas also - and you can share them with the other 400 or so people on the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OccupyBath

The Occupy-inspired Bath People's Assembly is still going strong, and now includes non-occupiers as well as those from the camp and/or the movement. We currently meet twice-monthly and the meetings are open to everyone. We've even had local councillors attend, and occasionally invite guest speakers, such as one of the organisers of the local Bath currency "The Oliver" and a councillor from the Independence for Frome, a local democracy group that now have the majority on Frome council. We currently have several projects in the planning stage, including a meeting of all of the groups in Bath to see how they can work with each other. The website is www.bathpeoplesassembly.org and the minutes of our meetings are on there (latest minutes coming soon). Occupy Bristol are now in the process of setting up a network of People's Assemblies and have attended our meetings to see how we do things. The meeting format is one all of the Bath Occupiers are familiar with (hand signals etc.) and it has now caught on amongst the non-occupiers.


Occupy Bristol - Eviction and Phase 2

Occupy Bristol have now been evicted from College Green. After efforts to clean up the camp, the last few remaining structures were removed this morning. Newspaper reports suggest that there was just one person left, with a number of others having left when they were told they would be evicted. I've been back to visit several times since Occupy Bath packed up, and although they had their problems, they were determined to stay, and I was always met by familiar friendly faces who had been there since the start. The shacks they built when it got cold were amazing, warm and cosy with burners and kettles, and I was always offered a bite to eat or a cup of tea. I'll miss that, and I'm going to rant for a minute (it's my blog and I can do what I want on it):

It is a pity that some people in Bristol couldn't see beyond their noses and realise that these people weren't just doing this for the sake of it. Yes, it was a bit muddy and a bit untidy, but really - SO WHAT? If the loss of a small area of, frankly, dull and boring mown grass, happens to send a message to the government and the financial institutions that we are not happy with the situation, while simultaneously creating a vibrant atmosphere and a community of likeminded individuals, then I'm more than happy for it to be sacrificed. GRASS GROWS BACK!!! The Occupy camps were (and in some cases, still are) places where anyone can turn up 24/7 and be with people who are also concerned or affected by the the mess the country and the world is in. Having places like this is important. They were fun and there was a mix of people from many backgrounds. Sure, there were homeless people, but, again, SO WHAT? They are part of the 99% too, and in many cases the reason for their homelessness is out of their hands. If I were in control, I would have let them stay, and told the public that they have genuine concerns and should be free to express them - and that people should head down and hear what they have to say and make up their own minds. I would have had weekly meetings with them in the camp to find out what their concerns were and what I could do about them. Instead, Barbara Janke agreed to a lame "ethical banking policy" that effectively means the council don't have to do anything, despite banking with RBS. This is one blogger calling for her immediate resignation and replacement with someone with a conscience. Rant over.


However, like Occupy Bath, Occupy Bristol are not just about camping out. Their Move Your Money campaign idea has spread to other Occupations (and Occupy Bath are looking at it seriously). They are starting up a network of People's Assemblies and are also looking at coming up with an alternative to the council's Bristol 2050 project. Good luck to them, and I'll help where I can. They are meeting on 4th Feb to discuss these projects further (see Occupy Bristol website below)

Previous post on Occupy Bath: Occupy Bath - The End of the Beginning
Next Post on Occupy Bath: Do the right thing - Move Your Money!

Further Reading

Bath People's Assembly website (includes all minutes): http://www.bathpeoplesassembly.org/

Article on the Occupy Bath Meal: http://www.nowbath.co.uk/local-news/occupy-bath-return-for-meal-41979/
Occupy Bristol Website: http://www.occupybristoluk.org/

Guardian article on the Bristol eviction: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/31/occupy-bristol-camp-cleared?newsfeed=true

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Occupy UK and Ireland Conference

The Occupy LSX general assembly at St Paul's Cathedral

This weekend (19/20 November 2011), delegates from most of the UK and Ireland Occupations came together in London for the first UK-Ireland Occupy Conference. Starting in the early afternoon on the Saturday, delegates gave short speeches to the crowd assembled outside St Paul's Cathedral about how things have gone so far with their camps and the activities that they have been involved in.

The Occupy Bath guest tent in Finsbury Square

Camps represented included Bristol, Bath, Peterborough, Plymouth, Glasgow, Isle of Wight, Cork, Brighton, Norwich, Birmingham, Liverpool, Northampton, Portsmouth, Exeter, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sheffield and London (and probably a few more that I've forgotton - I met a LOT of people this weekend).

The speeches were followed by a series of informative and sometimes moving talks from representatives from organisations and groups such as UK Uncut, Climate Justice and Women Against Rape.

In the late afternoon, we relocated to the quieter Finsbury Square camp and were allocated tents for the night. It was a bit of a cram (4 of us somehow managed into squeeze into one average-sized tent), but the tents were kitted out with decent bedding and REAL pillows - a luxury after many nights of using my rucksack as a pillow! After a cup of tea and much mingling between the delegates and the Finsbury Square camp, we reconvened to go as a group to visit London's third Occupation - The Bank of Ideas.

Occupy Finsbury Square

The Bank of Ideas, a derelict building owned by UBS, whose main office is situated just across the road, was repossessed by the public just last week. A huge building with numerous offices and large open areas is now in the process of being converted into a place where people can trade ideas through debate, discussion, talks, arts and music, not through money.

Dinner was served later that evening at Finsbury Square, and the camp General Assembly took place in the meeting tent, followed by a speaker bringing news from Wall Street.

The rest of the evening was free, and a bunch of us wandered back down to St Paul's and sat on the steps listening to music and talking to people. I struck up a long conversation with a few sixth-formers who informed me "even the chavs are talking about politics in the playground these days". I was reminded of my primary school days, when kids used to make up rhymes about Thatcher - "2, 4, 6, 8, who do we really hate? Maggie Thatcher, put her in the bin, glue the lid on, sellotape her in". It really hit me there that these times we are living through, and this movement that we have started, have got everyone talking.

The Bank of Ideas

The atmosphere at all three sites is vibrant, with late night tents serving tea, musicians singing protest songs, lively debate inside and outside of tents - and so many warm hugs from so many genuine people. As a certain senior politician once said: "We're in this together".

Finsbury Square was peaceful at night and despite having little space in the tent, I slept better than I have done in any night I've spent on Queen's Square, Bath or College Green, Bristol.

In the Bank of Ideas

On the Sunday, the real work began. A large discussion took place in the morning on welfare issues such as security, drugs and alcohol and burnout, with all of the delegates sharing ideas and experiences. After lunch, we broke up into separate groups to discuss various aspects of the movement, including government cuts, climate change issues and squatter's rights. After a small debate in the climate change group, a consensus was reached that climate change is directly related to the economic and political situation and the group decided to return to their camps and try to incorporate climate change issues into events and camp statements. A group dealing with communications debated at length the various ways that the UK and Ireland Occupations could keep in touch, work together and share ideas.


This blog entry presents a very brief overview of my experiences at the conference. I have omitted many details, mostly on purpose. All of the delegates present know what's going on and will be reporting back to their various Occupations. I now feel confident enought to state the following (as an individual, not on behalf of the Occupy Movement) to any doubters still out there:

We are now organised, our support is growing by the day, we are connected and we are one step closer to creating a fair and equal world. 

Watch this space...

Meanwhile at Occupy Bath, a debate was held on the Occupy Movement that was apparently enjoyed by most who came, with some commenting that they now have a better understanding of the Occupy Movement. Read about it in the Bath Chronicle link below. We will be supporting the trade union march in Bath on 30th November and some of our Occupiers will be marching with them in solidarity. Also, one of our number has been selected to go on Question Time this Thursday, and the Occupy Bath Info page on Facebook is asking for suggestions for questions - there will be a vote this Wednesday night at the General Assembly from 7.30pm. Oh, and our kitchen is getting a makeover this week - looking forward to dinner afterwards!

At Occupy Bristol they are organising a Move Your Money day on 2nd December, encouraging people to move their money away from the greedy high street banks to more ethical and democratic banks like the Co-operative and credit unions. Find our more on the link below. I shall be moving mine.

Finally, Occupy Bath have some potentially big plans that are currently under discussion (with a big announcement following the march on Weds 30th November) which are likely to be implemented in the coming weeks - again, watch this space...

Previous post on Occupy Bath: Occupy Bath - Two weeks old today!
Next Post on Occupy Bath: Occupy Bath to make important announcement following the trade union march

Further Reading

Guardian article on the conference: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/19/occupy-london-protesters-ideas-bank?INTCMP=SRCH

Occupy London article on the conference: http://occupylsx.org/?p=1298

Bath Chronicle article on the debate: http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Occupy-Bath-protesters-answer-questions-public/story-13910509-detail/story.html

Move Your Money Day: http://www.occupybristoluk.org/national-move-your-money-day-2nd-dec/

Disclaimer: All views and opinions above that are not stated facts are those of myself (as an individual parcipitant in the Occupy Movement), except where stated, and do not necessarily represent the views of a particular Occupy camp or those of the Occupy Movement as a whole.

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10 ways to support the Occupy Movement if you're not camping

Not everyone can camp out every night (myself included) due to a variety of reasons, but there are many things you can do to help your local Occupy camp if you can't be there all the time:

1. Come down when you can
Many Occupiers have other commitments too, such as jobs, university or children, and can't be there all the time - particularly in normal working hours. Come down and lend a hand with the camp for an hour or two so that they can take care of other things in their lives.

2. Write letters
If you are of the opinion that your local Occupy camp and the Occupy Movement in general is a good thing, write a letter or an e-mail of support to your MP, local councillors and/or local and national newspapers. Lets outweigh the complaints with positive letters.

You can find your MP's contact details here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/

3. Donate
Many camps have a donation box and also a "wishlist" of equipment that they need. Food is always useful and welcome (be aware that most camps don't have freezers and may have vegetarians/vegans among them).

4. Educate
Tell your friends and family why we are doing this, comment on blogs and news articles and try to explain that this is about issues that affect everyone. Share relevant news articles, pictures and videos with your friends on social networking sites like Facebook.

5. Keep the Occupiers up to date
Bring a newspaper, share important news articles on the Facebook pages, and pop along if you've heard something really important. Camping out and talking to the public 24/7 with no electricity can sometimes result in little time to keep informed of current events.

6. Play some music
Some Occupy camps have music sessions. If you play an instrument or sing, offer to come along and play a few songs. You may find yourself with a fan club! Check with them first, as some camps may have restrictions on noise at certain times of the day or have other things planned.

7. Inform yourself
Do some reading about some of the issues that are responsible for the current global economic crisis and/or are relevant to the Occupy Movement. Some suggestions are: Fractional and Federal Reserve Banking, find out which corporations have donated to which political parties, research alternative political and financial systems. Share what you have learnt with others.

8. Diversify the Movement
"We are the 99%". Some groups are working to ensure that all are represented within the movement. An idea that has had some success in Bristol is making a safe space for women. Family days, where people with children are encouraged to come along, have been successful also. If you think that any section of society affected by this crisis isn't represented well enough within the movement, talk to your peers and your local camp about it and try to come up with ideas to involve them.

9. Printing and distributing
Some camps have posters and flyers. If they need help, offer to print/photocopy some for them and/or distribute them around town.

10. Occupy your life
If you have had a positive experience at a camp and/or learned something from this movement that you think would be great to have in everyday life, try to put it into practice. Things such as consensus-based decision making, not buying unessential items, reducing your carbon footprint, moving to a more ethical bank, stop buying from unethical corporations and encouraging discussions on local and global issues are all things that could work in the world outside the tent cities.

Disclaimer: All views and opinions above that are not stated facts are those of myself (as an individual parcipitant in the Occupy Movement), except where stated, and do not necessarily represent the views of a particular Occupy camp or those of the Occupy Movement as a whole. Follow @stonestanding

The Occupy Movement - Occupy Bristol: The beginning

In solidarity with the Occupy movement that went global on 15th October 2011, Occupy Bristol met and set up camp on College Green, overlooked by Bristol Cathedral and the council offices. The scheduled meeting time was 12pm. Numbers grew steadily throughout the afternoon, and the first general assembly took place.

I arrived in the late afternoon, curious to see how things were going. Within 10 minutes I had been offered room in a tent and a sleeping bag for the night. The atmosphere was incredible and throughout the evening more people came and put up tents. A small disagreement broke out over whether or not a fire would be appropriate, with some arguing that they were cold and others arguing that a fire may give the authorities a reason to evict the occupation. But this minor event did not cause the occupation to fall apart - a valuable lesson was learned on why consensus decision making was a crucial part of keeping the parcipitants in the occupation together.

The first few tents at Occupy Bristol

The fire was eventually lit in a wire basket, and the fire brigade came. They confirmed that the fire was not a health and safety risk, and many of those initially opposed to it (including myself) breathed a sigh of relief. The fire was soon transferred to a metal wheelbarrow and the basket was turned over and used as a grill to cook food on. A friend phoned me from Occupy the London Stock Exchange with news of kettling and the Julian Assange speech. Later, several people returned from London with further news about the occupation there.

Reggae music played at a moderate volume until the early hours of the morning. Many people out on the town that night came over to dance and to talk about what the occupation was there for. Several police officers stood on the outskirts of the encampment and occasionally chatted to the occupiers. One officer that I spoke to seemed sympathetic to the views expressed by people at the camp, as police jobs are among those threatened by government cuts. At approximately 1am, someone attempted to call a general assembly. Few people were interested, and most people I spoke to were of the opinion that that night was a time of celebration, and that the real work would begin the next day.

I spoke to a wide range of people that night, and almost everyone gave a different reason for being there. I met teachers, nurses, IT technicians, veterans soldiers, students, homeless people, shop workers, gardeners, pensioners, people on incapacity benefit, freelance journalists, film makers, cooks, parents, environmentalists, owners of small businesses and people from many other backgrounds.

Due to a combination of music, talking and the cold weather, many people did not sleep well on the first night. But few were willing to give up just yet. Like all happenings, a few teething problems are to be expected, and many of them were ironed out in the coming days and weeks. After a litter pick, a meeting was called the next morning under the Occupy Bristol banner.

Morning general assembly on the second day of Occupy Bristol

A number of items were discussed, in particular statements to the press and a wish list of items for the camp. The BBC came along during the meeting, and someone was elected to give a short interview. Throughout the morning, people made signs. Members of the general public came to the camp to see what was happening and to talk with occupiers. A Spanish couple, aware of the Indignado movement back home, came and played songs on a guitar. Some people did not venture further than the signs, highlighting their importance in explaining why the camp was there. Aside from a single man shouting "you should all have your benefits cut", the general public were largely supportive, with people coming over to tell us what a good thing we were doing and asking how they could help. Donations of food and equipment started to come in. Around mid-day, a general assembly was called. There was much to discuss, namely the role of the police, the reasons for being there, engaging with the public and the future of the camp.

News came in from London that Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, had asked the police to move on, and said that he was happy for the protestors to stay on his land. Word circulated around the Bristol camp that the Dean of Bristol Cathedral was happy for the camp to stay for the time being (although he later stated that he did not actually give his permission).

Many people put a lot of effort into founding the camp that weekend, from making food, putting up tents and banners, engaging with the public, providing music and other entertainment and playing an active part in discussions. I walked away that afternoon in the sun with a smile on my face, wishing I could stay, but also with a reaffirmed sense of responsibility towards my job and my personal life. I promised I'd be back.

Further reading:

Occupy Bristol Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/occupybristol

Occupy Bristol Website: http://www.occupybristoluk.org


Some videos from the first weekend of Occupy Bristol can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/supersonixstudio1


News articles:
Bristol: http://www.blottr.com/bristol/breaking-news/occupy-bristol-takes-over-college-green

London: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15566

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