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Justice? Brighton's Campaign in Defiance of the Criminal Injustice Act

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Issue 69
12th April 1996

ANARCHISTS STORM PARLIAMENT - in demonstration against JSA!

CAMBODIAN MAD-COW SOLUTION - mines not a burger!

GREEN ANARCHIST TRIAL - ALF pair in court

ASIAN ANGER - following scuffles over parking tickets

STUDENTS PROTEST - NOT! - NUS forever vigilant - NOT!

SCOTLAND KICKING! - launch of a Scottish SchNEWS

Crap bind over of the week

SchNEWS IN BRIEF

...and Finally


ANARCHISTS STORM PARLIAMENT

A huge demonstration against the Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) threatened to shake the very foundations of British democracy on Tuesday when black-flag waving anarchists and paper selling lefties tried to storm the Houses of Parliament. Fresh from an attack on the Department of Employment the work-shy rabble turned their sights on Parliament before...

Er well, not quite. The march against the JSA attracted around two hundred people and the rally ended up with the sort of tit-for-tat faction squabbling that we need like a hole in the head. And in the meantime folks, the people of Medway and Humberside are facing the all new work-for-your-dole fare schemes; Unemployment Benefit was abolished on April Fools Day and the JSA is only six months away....

Come October, if you leave a job, get sacked or refuse to take a job no matter what the pay and conditions, you can lose ALL benefit for SIX months. In the first year alone 70,000 people will lose all welfare benefits and a further180,000 will lose up to 70%.

These figures are scary but the attitude of many unemployed people is even more worrying. Allison from the local Claimants Union told SchNEWS "Lots of unemployed people know about the JSA, and are worried about what will happen but feel they can find some individual solution."

But is burying our heads in the sand or adopting an 'I'll be alright Jack' attitude really the way forward? Peter told SchNEWS "I knew some girl who couldn't get any benefits and she had to strip to earn money to live." Although a few people might be lucky in finding ways of making cash, the squeeze will be even tighter for the rest of the poorer population of Britain.

STRIKE

The recent three month strike in 40 JobCentres around the country over performance-related pay showed just how fed up dole-workers are with the present situation. A new wave of industrial action is in the offing this time over screens. Benefit Agencies in London, Brighton and beyond are staging a 5 day strikes as managers refuse to put up screens between workers and claimants.

Since 1993 attacks on staff by claimants have increased by 240%!

Chris from Brighton Claimants Union told SchNEWS, "Not surprisingly, staff are a little pissed off. They're either going to lose their jobs or get a punch in the head from claimants - or both if they're really unlucky!"

Shane from the Green Party told us "It's ironic that the supposed party of law and order are introducing measures that will leave penniless leading to more crime, burglaries and begging."

But just because you've got a job don't think the JSA won't affect you. According to the Richard Exell of the TUC (notorious radicals!) "Without a minimum wage, unemployed people will be forced to undercut the pay of workers with jobs. JSA will push wage levels down for all workers, and undermine other conditions that trades unionists have struggled for decades to achieve."

We know you've heard all this before and it's not very interesting or sexy, but people don't seem to be very interested in fighting the most vicious attack on the welfare state yet. But, just like the poll tax, we can and must make these attacks unworkable.

As someone at the Tuesdays rally said "We call on the waged and the unwaged everywhere to work together to resist the JobSeeker's Allowance by means of non co-operation, industrial and direct action."

The JSA is part of an all-out attack on the welfare budget currently around �900 billion a year- with over a third of the population dependent on some benefit. This is obviously a lot but to put it into some perspective the Trident submarine costs between �40-�50 billion (ex-chief scientific officer of MoD) Isn't it just a question of priorities and allocation of resources..?

Meanwhile, back in another world...

Members of unelected quango bodies are, just like the rest of us, having to knuckle under for the greater good of the country. What about poor old Sir Brain Shaw, chairman of the Port of London Authority with a �50,000 salary? For this he has to drag himself to 12 meetings a year - that works out as �4,000 a day! Or John Newcombe Maltby, Chairman of the Dover Harbour Board who has to go to just 10 meetings a year. With a salary of �15,000 a year that works out at �1,500 a day!

Get Active!

*Get in touch with the Claimants Action Group to get a JSA info pack, find out about a local group in your area - or set one up! They also have copies of the 'Claimants Survival Guide'
Send an SAE to Claimants Action Group c/o OUWCU, East Oxford Community Centre, Princess St., OX4 1HU or ring 01865 723750

*On Wednesday morning between 8 - 10 am a mass picket has been organised outside the Ealing Benefits Agency (near Ealing Broadway Tube).

*Next Groundswell Conference is in Sheffield on May 25th (Groundswell is 'a network of independent claimants' groups')

*Along with other far-sighted councils Brighton has joined FraudWatch declaring "We will not tolerate greedy people stealing taxpayers money. If you think anyone's fiddling, ring 0500 500 777 - and no joke or malicious callers either! Honest.
A Fraud Amnesty is being piloted in Haringey, Croydon and Enfield asking 'benefit cheats' to own up and volunteer to pay off their debt!

*If you're in Brighton there's a coach going to Kent on Saturday13th April for a rally against the planned work-fare schemes. Tickets �3/�4. Meet 8am at Palace Pier.


CAMBODIAN MAD-COW SOLUTION

While much of the world shuns British cows, a Cambodian newspaper reckons they should be shipped to Cambodia and allowed to roam free - detonating the millions of land mines littering the country. The Cambodia Daily said "The English have 11 million mad cows and Cambodia has roughly the same number of equally mad land mines. Surely the solution to our mine problem is here before our very eyes in black and white. The plan is simple, practical and will make mince-meat of the problem overnight." !


GREEN ANARCHIST TRIAL

Four Green Anarchist (GA) editors, ALF Supporter's Group editor Simon Russell and ALF press officer Robin Webb are bailed to appear in court on April 17 after Hampshire Special Branch raided their houses on January 16. They now face charges of 'conspiracy to incite criminal damage.'

Attempts to silence GA began in '91 when copies were seized from a Manchester book shop by police and follows harassment by ARNI (Animal Rights National Index- the national police squad trying to suppress animal libs and militant Greens) and multiple raids on distributors, subscribers and printers. Phones were tapped, mail stolen and records, office equipment and cheque books stolen in a futile attempt to thwart publication of issue 38.

Think this all sounds a wee bit intolerant of healthy, dissenting opinion? Let us tell you about the laws surrounding conspiracy and incitement. In order to be charged, it seems all you have to do is sound generally sympathetic to the animal lib cause. This gives the thought police the go-ahead to shut down publications they disprove of, because of their attitude. People who have similar attitudes can be deemed conspirators- even if they have never met. When a third like-minded person commits a crime, the conspirators can be jailed for it.

Naturally, this will send shudders down the spine of all alternative news publications. Don't let 'em get to you. GA are still doing their bit, but need more people to come forward with practical offers of help. You can contact them at: BCM 1717, London WC1N 3XX.


ASIAN ANGER

Last Tuesday Asian youths clashed with riot police after a scuffle broke out over a parking ticket. The battle raged in Birmingham in the predominantly Asian Alum Rock area, when petrol bombs and bricks were thrown and shops were looted. The trouble started initially over the enforcement of 'heavy handed' parking regulations and snowballed into a riot against policing tactics.

Mayhem ensued as the men in custody were held in the city's Digbeth police station, including a 74 year old shopkeeper, who had been handcuffed and taken to the station. Mr Aziz Arif, secretary of Saltley Traders Association said "This lack of respect for the older people creates a lot of ill feelings". Whereas parking regulations were vigorously enforced by police, Mr Arif claimed more serious problems of muggings and drugs were largely ignored.

***What a surprise police have been cleared of misbehaviour and indiscipline during heavy handed riots last June in Bradford. Solicitor Mr Iqbal said the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Report "reflects very badly on the Asian community if it says that the police did nothing wrong." One Constable is to be given advice and re-training after misusing arrest procedures. The police meanwhile used that old chestnut of shifting the blame to 'organised outside agitators!


STUDENTS PROTEST - NOT!

Over the last 18 years students have faced huge attacks on living standards. In 1977 a student grant was worth 36% of the annual manufacturing wage - today it's worth only 12%. That's on top of having fewer books, being ineligible for Income Support and Housing Benefit and the introduction of the loan system. Not only does this make students worse off, it also means that fewer working class can afford to enrol. So, are students organising demos, actions and occupations to defend a higher education system open to all?

Er, no...especially not if you're the National Union of Students. When SchNEWS phoned NUS - the body responsible for defending students' rights - we were told that "We recognise that the student grant is not adequate to live on, but we stopped campaigning for higher grants two weeks ago. The government and the opposition have made it clear they will not give students higher grants and we want 'a seat at the table' with the politicians."

Fine - students starve, but the wannabe Labour MPs running the NUS can enhance their job prospects by going along quietly with the destruction of the higher education system. They get their 'seat at the table' - students get no food on their tables. Unless students get tired of paying the wages of their pathetic 'representatives' at NUS and start taking actions to defend the right to a decent education, that is...


SCOTLAND KICKING!

Publication fever seems to have gripped Scotland recently. Following quickly on from the launch of BANEWSED, which describes itself as a Scottish SchNEWS, we now have issue one of JUSTICE/COTHROM (Gaelic for Justice) - another Scottish SchNEWS! All very exciting, especially since they're all mates and see the publications as complementing each other. JUSTICE/COTHROM hopes to come out fortnightly, each issue being edited by different grassroots groups throughout Scotland. The first issue is excellent, with articles on Faslane Peace Camp, the Skye Bridge, JSA, the M74....

Get it! Five first class stamps to
Justice/Cothrom
c/o SACJA, Larkfield Centre, 39 Inglefield Street, Glasgow G42;
BANEWSED from the same address.

Another new publication from Scotland worth looking at is INSIDE OOT, a quarterly magazine by and for prisoners in Scottish jails. Scottish prisons have been adopting Howard-style 'get tough' regimes recently, designed to break prisoners' will and their ability to protest against inhumane conditions.

Send 50p to Inside Oot Collective,
c/o Glasgow Solidarity Centre, 3 Royal Exchange Court, 85-87 Queen Street,
Glasgow G1 3PA.

Looks like we'll have to keep you posted on how many new grassroots publications are coming out of God's own country on a weekly basis!


CRAP BIND OVER OF THE WEEK

A judge told The Worthing Critical Mass 3 that for the next year they've "got to really nice to everyone!" Unfortunately one of the defendants broke the bind-over just 10 minutes later, calling one of the arresting coppers a bastard!


SchNEWS IN BRIEF

***Last November, members of the Movement for Justice chucked paint at Tory party chairman, Brian Mawhinney, in protest at the racist Immigration and Asylum Bill. Funny at the time but now they're in court for assault and using 'threatening words'! Trial at Bow Street Magistrates Court at 9.30am on Mon. April 15th. Nearest tube: Covent Garden. Info: 0956 365393.

***The Jan Rebane Centre, a thriving Unemployed and TU centre since '83 was forced to resort to squatting in '95 when the local authority cut it's funding. It's still running successfully a year later with no paid staff or funding. Keep it going even longer by going to their fund-raising party on Sat 13th April 0171 978 8171???

*** Fancy yourself as a bit of a road protester? Think Direct Action and campaigning for a better public transport system is a good idea? Ventura Galvan is someone who has taken these ideas a bit further. When Mexico's government sacked over 10,000 bus workers and declared the city's public bus company bankrupt, Ventura went on hunger strike and had his eyes and ears sewn shut to symbolise the governments refusal to notice the bus workers. He then had his lips sewn together, his hands sewn into fists and scheduled his own crucifixion for Good Friday! Last minute talk offers encouraged him against it but he is still ready to die for his beliefs.

***The King's Cross Women's centre in Camden was recently evicted from its premises by ...wait for it ...a Housing Association! It wanted the centre to pay a commercial rent of �6,000 a year commenting "We do not think it is our job to pay for voluntary organisations" and attacked the role of the centre for housing political views. What like taking out the first private rape prosecution successfully changing some of the rape laws? Meanwhile, the council have offered the Women's Centre one of their 105 empty commercial properties if they go through the grants procedures and apply for a property at the next meeting. This is not until June, so they have a long time to wait. 0171 624 3577

***To mark 100 days of protest against live animal exports at Dover (who are still shipping out sheep), a big demonstration is planned for the 19th April. Ring 01843 227186 for more info.

***An eccentric Transylvanian Mayor has come up with a novel idea to stop workers leaning on their shovels. In a letter to the Cluj council works department Gheorghe Funar wrote "The handles should be shortened so that they can no longer be used as a leaning point by those who meditate while at work. We need to end the present system where one man works while another 10 colleagues and bosses watch, comment and advise."


...and finally

Ever thought about some DiY surgery? According to the latest Green Anarchist "It's trendy, tribal and trippy, the world's oldest operation - trepanation! Our ancestors learned c.8,000 BC that a hole in the head was a real high. All the cranial fluid between the skull and brain is freed, so more blood can circulate. Trepanation might even make you smarter! Something so good is, of course, illegal. Only doctors are allowed to trepan someone else, and they won't.

If a mate's prepared to help, the traditional tool is a deer antler. If you're staying within the law, operating on yourself, make concessions to technology. A hand drill will probably be too slow - try a Black & Decker cordless in front of the mirror. Go through the crown of the head. Read biology books so you know what blood vessels to avoid but don't worry about your scalp bleeding. Your brain can take a bit of drilling but not churning!"

Happy 'panning!


To subscribe to SchNews send stamps/donations (payable to Justice?)
SchNews c/o on-the-fiddle, PO Box 2600 Brighton East Sussex Tel. 01273 685913
Or pick one up @ Peace Centre, Gardner Street, Brighton uk

next Justice? meeting Wednesday 17th April
@ Brighton Unemployed Centre, Tilbury Place, (off Carlton Hill), Brighton
@ 7.30pm

e-mail: Justice?@intermedia.co.uk

a single act of defiance is worth more than a thousand politicians