North East Uni Alliance Meeting

Tomorrow will see the meeting of representatives from anti-cuts groups across the North East in Middlesbrough, in an attempt to better co-ordinate our campaign and to build a stronger relationship between our North Eastern Institutions. Ideally we want reps from as many groups as possible to attend, this includes schools and colleges.

At the meeting we will be discussing the different plans of action we may have and working out how best to support each other and make maximum impact (preferably non-violent!) Several people have also mentioned that we will be discussing the creation of a Union of North East Institutions of which reps of each group will be members. This would be especially useful as our true Union the NUS seems fairly unsupportive and our SU's have so far not shown any signs of taking the lead.

This is truly a historic movement we are living through: students are taking action to save their education, and taking action independantly of their SUs. School and College students have joined us in a fight which is rightfully theirs and never (in my lifetime at least) have I know my generation so united.

We have high hopes for the future of this campaign and we hope the meeting tomorrow will be the sucessful first of many!

More Videos from London

http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/96-education/8655-student-protest-evidence-of-police-violence-continues-to-emerge


Videos from youtube on the Counterfire website. These videos clearly show a lot of violence between protestors and police, but do, if you look out for it, show some police officers putting up thier visors and communicating with the protestors. These men and women who chose to talk to the crowd instead of ignoring them are to be honoured and thanked. Whatever our views on what happened that day, there is no denying that there was violence triggered by both police and protestors, and there were law abiding people trying to communicate on both sides. It is a shame that in all the fury of the day, these people who chose words over action were overwhelmed by the anger and violence that made the headlines.
I would urge our readers never to hastily condemn the police as a whole, as we ourselves despise being condemned as violent protestors. There are always those who trigger violence among us and there always will be. The only thing we can be certain of is our own actions. That is the one thing for which we are solely responsible. When it comes to it, remember that there were people who spoke to the crowd, there WERE police who tried to work with people. It is, once again the system as a whole that has failed us. And it is at the system we must direct our anger and our energy.

If someone treats you with respect, treat them also with respect, if someone talks to you, do not ignore them. If someone ignores you, do not give up talking. If someone beats you, defend yourself, but do not attack back. There is a right to self defence but it is our responsibility to make sure we do not then behave in an aggressive manner.

It is our individual choice when the heat of the moment takes us, whether to attack someone or not, whether to strike back or whether to take the blow. It is that decision that defines us. And at the end of the day, it is ourselves we have to live with.
Whatever you do in that moment is entirely your decision, but when you make it, be sure you will not regret it.

York Co-ordinates

YSJ Resist the Cuts is currently organising co-ordination between other Unis and groups across the north east including Northumbria and Middlesbrough. We are already co-ordinating with York uni and Fulford. With this improved communication between our institutions we hope to create an organised front against the threat posed by the coalition government against our education. Any other groups, please contact the facebook group York SJ Resist the Cuts at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_167449749958572#!/home.php?sk=group_167449749958572

The better united we are, the better organised we are, the better we can fight this battle and the stronger we will be!
Get in touch with your local schools, colleges, unions and universities. We need to be as organised and open as possible.

Please feel free to get in touch and have a chat!

Cameron tells off naughty students

David Cameron this morning spoke out against the 'mob' that rampaged through London yesterday. At no point does he mention Alfie Meadows, or Jody McIntyre. Nowhere does he mention our own Ben Scicluna or the thousands of kettled protestors who never intended to be violent. NOWHERE does he mention the schoolchildren who were charge by mounted police!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11966861

This blog is obviously supporting student action, but we are trying to keep our view backed up by facts and not fall into the trap of being opinionated beyond reason. We have our reasons. And to be honest, I think if David Cameron feels that strongly about what he condems (oh I'm sorry, BAD PUN THERE) then he should show the spine to come out onto the streets and face us. If he TRULY has a point to make, then he should come out publicly and talk to us FACE TO FACE. And maybe once he's heard our stories and had his head smashed in by police and his little sisters education threatened  and seen his friends beaten and then trampled by horses MAYBE THEN he will understand our point of view and the anger that fuels the violence. Maybe then he will stop his idiocy and talk straight and true for the first time in his life.

RANT OVER

How the Lib Dems voted!

let us not forget that although the Lib Dems as a party have betrayed us and Nick Clegg lied to us, there are a list of 21 Lib Dem MPs who voted AGAINST the raising of the cap. as opposed to the 28 Lib Dems who voted FOR it.

28 FOR     vs    21 AGAINST

Looking at that figure we can clearly see we have split the Lib Dem party almost completely down the middle. This is a great acheivement. the more we unbalance onto our side, the more will follow. 

There were also some six Conservative MPs who voted AGAINST the cuts and two who abstained to vote.

 

December 9th - Ben Scicluna

Shocking scenes of student violence outside Parliament yesterday. Filmed by our London correspondant.


Our London Correspondent, Ben Scicluna, speaks out about yesterday's protests in London, at which he was present and suffered injury and concussion at the hands of the riot police...

9^th December 2010.

'Man is born free – and he is everywhere in chains.' The words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau still resonate. Government exists solely for the protection of the people yet this has rarely been the case. The political elite is self-serving, self-preservering and the insatiable thirst for power is their only concern.

Salus populi est suprema lex? Think again.

With an electoral system rendering the average voter without any influence over the political system, direct action becomes the only way to ensure your voice is heard. Society is unlikely to change. Those with power and wealth shall keep it, those down-trodden shall remain so, the status quo shall remain.

However, it is right that you are counted. Complacency is guilt by association. Edmund Burke's comment on the flourishing of evil is ever true. If you do not take action over the issues you believe in you are giving a carte-blanche to those who would oppress you, you give them the right to do, with little consequence, that which satisfies them. Politicians will protect their interests, political parties will loyally serve their donors, they shall cling to power.

Stand up and be counted.

Stability is what those in power require. A population unwilling to act is a population willing to accept diktats from above. A population showing its anger through political action, peaceful or violent, shows that there will always be good people willing to defend their beliefs, and such a philosophy is venerable.

Yesterday thousands of people, not only students, took to the streets of London to show that they will not lay down and accept that which is reprehensible to them. This government is making the poorest of society pay for the mistakes of the very richest. Students and future-students ARE the future yet they are burdened with the past like never before.

The actions of protesters were valid. A political system which ignores the voice of the people justifies actions against it. The state and servants of the state become valid targets.

Yesterday I witnessed scenes unimaginable in a so-called 'free nation' so willing to preach the ideas of demos kratos around the world. The right of peaceful protest and lobby enshrined in law was denied, illegal containment implemented and protesters rightly vented their frustrations. A person trapped in a cage becomes violent. Unable to leave, attacked and oppressed by a police force unwilling to serve the people, otherwise peaceful people became desperate.

I witnessed children, on the verge of tears, begging to leave. The response? A man twice their size in armour, raising a baton and screaming at them to fuck off. I witnessed rational people attempting to reason with unreasonable people, hell-bent on exercising their authority. I witnessed men laughing at the discomfort of the youth, and happily attacking any who challenged them. I saw a girl falling to the ground attacked with a heavy downward blow from a full body shield, her only crime being losing her balance in front of a police line. People attacking with nothing but words were in turn attacked with truncheons. I witnessed a police column rampaging through a crowd, running at full speed, smashing or trampling any in their way. Were these the 'trouble makers'? No, they were the peaceful protesters of the centre. The violent protesters were primarily concerned with the damage of government property, the police response was the damage of the people. Surely this more than anything shows the true nature of our government and political system.

I praise those who defended themselves against police brutality. Self-Defence is not a crime. A blow to the face of a person beating you to the ground is justified. I am glad police were injured yesterday, for many certainly deserved it. Yet I also praise those police officers who were concerned, who were unhappy at the general strategy, or merely those who were willing to be polite and treat their fellow citizens like human beings. I am glad the vehicle carrying the Prince of Wales was attacked, the people's anger shown, just as I am glad no harm came to them for they themselves were innocent. I am glad the Treasury was attacked. Property is never paramount to human life.

This is the beginning. A generation is showing its anger, flexing its muscles and standing up for what they believe in. Yesterday I was happy to face lines of riot police. I shall do so again, and again, and again. When the people no longer stand up for their rights, what is left is nothing but a nation of sheep led to the slaughterhouse.

Ben Scicluna.

Riot Police clashes with protestors: videos

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Remember what I posted earlier about the injuries my friend sustained?

This video shows an example of how it happened. Riot Police clash with protestors in Parliament Square.