Priceless!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:25:05 +0000

From this week's Hackney Gazette (20/11/08):

Police bang on target at fireworks bash

AS a councillor for Queensbridge ward, I was pleased to read the report in last week's Gazette of the police disrupting Class War's annual "fireworks display" in London Fields.

The police deserve our thanks for cracking down on this depressing ritual. Two years ago, Class War were allowed to burn effigies of religious figures sacred to Hackney's faith communities, set off their own fireworks and start a fire in the middle of a public park.

I'm sure the members of Class War who caused that disturbance have long since got themselves girlfriends and jobs in banks, but unfortunately the current crop are still intent on staging this annual riot in Hackney.

So I'm grateful to the police for tackling it properly and trying to make fireworks night safer and more pleasant for Queensbridge residents.

The unintentionally hilarious response of Class War, that this was an attempt to provide family entertainment to the residents of Hackney, does not merit a response other than to point out that my idea of a public fireworks display is not the running battles with police and random fires lovingly chronicled on the Class War website.

If anyone reading this needs any evidence that the police were right to crack down on these misguided thugs, then they can find their answer there.

Cllr Tom Price,
Queensbridge Ward

Our Reply

We cannot let Tom Price's sneering letter (Police bang on target at fireworks bash) pass without comment. Tom's often acted as a cheerleader for the police, as a look at his record shows. On the Hackney Labour Party website, he crows about the provision of a Safer Neighbourhood Team of police as though it was a Hackney Labour Party initiative - when it's a pan-London thing. He's frequently praised the police for arresting and harassing Hackney residents, reluctant to do the work necessary to truly address anti-social behaviour which should be integral to his role as a councillor.

Tom's contemptuous attitude, that Class War is composed of people who'd be better off for a job and a shag, is the sort of tosh you'd expect from a man who works in the Labour Party press office and has never had a real job. By contrast, our members do have proper jobs making a positive contribution to the communities in which we live, partners - and some have even worked in banks!

We make no apologies for burning effigies, or setting off our own fireworks (who else's should we use?), at our bonfire in the past. Of course religious effigies are burnt on bonfire night - it's core to the event, as even a casual knowledge of history makes clear. And of course we've had fires in the park, as we will again next year. What seems to have really got Tom's goat is that this was a group of Hackney residents doing something for themselves outside the pub he likes to frequent.

Paul Davis

British National Party membership and contacts list, spread sheet, 2007-2008

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:31:16 +0000

Enjoy!

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/British_National_Party_membership_and_contacts_list%2C_spread_sheet%2C_2007-2008

The Good Soldier Svejk

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:10:55 +0000

Jaroslav Hasek's Anarchist classic is dramatised by Radio 4 at 3pm on Sunday 16th November.

The title role is played by Sam kelly, best known for his parts in 'Allo 'Allo and Porridge.

My Monk Is Harder Than Yours!

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:59:45 +0000

Police had to wade in to stop monks monkeying around at the weekend when a long running dispute over parking or some such other biblical matter turned into a full on re-enactment of some Old Testament thuggery.

Armenian and Greek monks in full garments of churchury got right stuck in, while Church of England tourists almost choked on their cheese and cuccumber sandwiches from the sidelines whilst on a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

It is apparently, the place where some sandle wearing god-botherer was 'silenced' for being a nasty brat. (John 3:16)

"It's certainly not like Church of England," one pilgrim said,

"If it were more like this perhaps we could fill the pews! I'm sure a fight between our 'Brawler' Rowan Williams and that catholic scrapper Cormac Murphy-O'Connor alias 'Da Cardinal' would absolutely rake it in.

We could be onto a right fucking earner! In fact young Rowan is knocking around here somewhere, I wouldn't be suprised if he started all this, he's well'ard!"

Infact we did see his archbishopness at exactly one minute into the above footage, coming in from top right and having a right go at a copper!

Class War tried in vain to get a comment from Lambeth Palace on whether our Christians were as hard as the foreign ones but all we got was gagging and choking from the other end of the line....

We'll be back - next time it's personal!

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 20:26:51 +0000

The bonfire bit of the Class War Bonfire Party at London Fields on Wednesday didn�t exactly happen this year, but that�s not to say that sparks didn�t fly. 200 people or so turned up at the park and in the nearby pub to �remember, remember the fifth of November�� They were met by up-for-it cops � as well as a few blatant undercover plod too.

After one van of firewood was confiscated, a second appeared, only to be searched and warned off from entering � so no bonfire. A few beers later, revellers sent police in all directions as the left the pub in two columns to reach the park for the fire-show. Someone let off a firework � only to be jumped on by police � but after a scuffle they managed to de-arrest her.

The next bout of trouble kicked off when sparklers were handed out and lit up and police waded in trying to seize them. A brawl erupted, leading to more arrests, which were quickly de-arrested. While this was going on, others let off a few small rockets near another group of police, but avoided arrest after a chase. The undercover police were easy to spot: they were the ones with radios which kept going �Crrrrkkk � Charlie tango oscar moonbeam four, over, crrrkk�.

The old bill said they were enforcing a Hackney parks by-law forbidding the use of fireworks in London Fields. In response, people moved further out into the park, letting off their explosives with hilarious consequences. In total two were arrested with many more de-arrested. There were a number of injuries suffered by the revellers, with at least one man, in his fifties, pepper-sprayed, and another man having a finger broken.

Another fine evening of local park by-law enforcement and squiffy scuffling. Meanwhile elsewhere in Hackney there were quite probably a number of beatings, robberies, burglaries, maybe some rapes and muggings. And the cricket pitch in London Fields has some deep tracks gouged across it, in the name of stopping Hackney people having a peaceful firework party in a Hackney park. No Hackney Council staff appeared to tell anyone that fireworks were not allowed, nor did that appear the object of the exercise.

Next year we will be back in London Fields, to hold a bonfire party. Instead of meeting in the Pub in the Park, likely meeting points will be the Ship on Mare Street and the Dove on Broadway Market. Our plans this year may have failed, but we will just come up with a better plan for next year. If the Council�s not going to put on a fireworks show, we�ll take matters into our own hands once again.

We�re not going to go away, you know!

Class War Issue 95 Out Now

Sun, 2 Nov 2008 10:14:05 +0000

Have you got your copy yet?

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Class War "Burn A Politican" Bonfire Party November 5th 2008 (THIS WEDNESDAY!!)

Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:32:00 +0000

You are cordially invited to the Class War "Burn A Politican" Bonfire Party on Wednesday 5th November 7pm London Fields in Hackney. Bring effigies of politicans and any loathed figures of authority. Get into the festive rebellious tradition and bring along fireworks and booze. ...

Class War TV Times 25 - 31Oct

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:47:00 +0000

A great week of loafing around ahead for the revolutionary couch potato, with good programming virtually every night. Any more of this and we will be paying the licence fee!

Sat 25 Oct 7.10pm BBC2 - Stephen Fry in America. Perhaps recalling Oscar Wilde's visit more than a century earlier, Stephan Fry visits West Virginia's coal mining industry.

Sun 26 Oct 4.25pm BBC2 - Down The Line. More to get Class War Trainspotters angry - the axing of rural train services analysed.

9pm ITV3 - The Molly Maguires. An important section of American working class history - the rise and fall of the Molly Maguires. Sean Connery attempts to do them justice............

10pm UKTV History - The life and leagacy of English radical William Cobbett.

Mon 27 Oct 8pm Ch4 - Dispatches: Don't Bank On the Bailout. A City speculator asks how much the City is to blame for the global financial crisis. How honest will he be?

8.30pm BBC1 - Panorama. The volume of data on individuals kept by both the state and private companies.

9pm BBC2 Prescott: The Class System and Me. After nearly a decade as a New Labour Cabinet Minister, John Prescott suddenly rediscovers his working class roots. How much did the BBC pay you John?

10pm BBC4 - When Borat Came to Town. The Romanian village of Glod, which 'starred' in the film Borat.

Tues 28 Oct 10.40pm ITV1 - The Troubles I've Seen. You get celebrity insights into everything these days. This is how celebrities 'survived' the Northern Ireland conflict............

10pm More4 - True Stories: Jesus Politics. Religious faith and the US political system.

Weds 29 Oct 10pm BBC4 - A Year In Tibet. The role of Buddhism in Tibetan society. What chance the BBC being even slightly critical of every liberals favourite religion?

Thurs 30 Oct 7.30pm BBC2 - Credit Crash Britain: HBOS Breaking the Bank. "Bail out the banks loan art to the churches......."

Fri 31 Oct 9pm BBC2 - The American Future: A History by Simon Schama. The far from bashful Simon Schama puts forward the issue of race in American politics.

Radical Dance Faction Play The Montague Arms

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:52:07 +0000

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For all those disapointed RDF didnt play Antifa's Cable Street Anniversary Benefit you can catch them at the Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, New Cross, London, SE15 2PA on Tuesday 28th October.

If you can get along we're sure you'll have a great night.

Tube: New Cross Gate (0.6 miles), New Cross (0.9 miles)

Rail: Queens Road Peckham (0.3 miles), Nunhead (0.5 miles), New Cross Gate (0.6 miles)

Successful Anarchist Bookfair - Yet Again!

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:34:39 +0000

Class War members from the south east, east Anglia and Scotland were all present at the very successful Anarchist bookfair in east London last weekend.

Hello to everyone who came over to the CW stall, and congratulations to the organisers, and the venue itself, for an excellent day.

Hundreds of flyers for our November 5th bonfire were distributed, the new issue of Class War was launched, and several encouraging meetings were held. It seems likely a series of initiatives well emerge in the coming weeks around a 'fair price' campaign, demanding the mega rich corporations do not make us pay for their crises.

More details as and when!