“Greece is going to hell, it is going to hell and I am glad it is so that we can comeback and start things from the beginning” These were the last words of   an anarchist comrade in Greece as we spoke about events that have taken place in recent weeks because of the austerity measures introduced by the Government to tackle Greece’s enormous debt.

Greece’s Premier has likened the Greek economic situation to that of a country in “wartime”, in which he announced that the public must come together in order to “survive”

Although this wartime reference was used as a metaphor, Papandreou might only too soon find his Government locked in a state of war with the working classes. Trade Union leaders have called the measures an act of war and the Communist Party Leader of Greece has already called for the working classes to rise up against the European Union and the International monetary market and began its efforts by blocking the Athens Stock Exchange through members of its Union PAME. These “calls to arms” however, have typically fallen on deaf ears among Greeks who claim the communist party ,as one taxi driver said to me, “are a party who want to take us back one hundred years”. However, this might prove to be an understatement as the newly introduced measures on force people onto the streets in what they see as an unfair burden that has been placed upon ordinary Greeks by the international banking community and the Government.

Among the new measures that have been imposed are rises in value added tax from 19% to a staggering 21%. A further rise in the price of fuel, cigarettes and alcohol, which if one has already visited Athens, is above the average price of these commodities in other European cities, and are especially high for common Greeks who earn much less. And an added tax on luxury purchased goods. The same taxi driver who condemned the KKE also admitted to me that it would be cheaper to not drive the taxi at all, due to the introduction of the new economic measures. This explains why taxi drivers have staged walk outs in recent weeks in response to a government austerity measure which forces them to give receipts to clients and keep a log of all their earnings. The little extra money they were able to make through driving extra hours in order to save, will to now be consumed by the state in order to feed the enormous public debt bubble and bring it back under control.

The mainstream press are claiming that most of the electorate, two-thirds in fact, are behind the new Government’s plans to cut public finances, including the 14th salary in which civil servants are paid an extra bonus over Christmas, which they depend on and is a historic part of the labor movement in Greece. Yet, one has to question this statistic when only this week, at the beginning of March , Labor activists attempted to break into the labor ministry to disrupt the Labor minister’s meeting with an EU Finance Minister Olli Rehn, only to be beaten back by Police armed with pepper spray and batons. One again, one has yet to question this statistic when two national strikes and demonstrations have take place, called by private and public trade Unions ADEDY and GSEE, which brought most of Greece’s public services to a standstill. There was even a media blackout as journalists joined the some 50.000 demonstrators on the streets of Athens. If one were to believe the statistic of public backing, the only questions remains is why? Why are Greeks backing this austerity package the Government is so rapidly and desperately trying to put together at the behest of the international markets? Simply because, the revolutionary spirit has been dampened and people do not know what to do next. Revolution or reform is the question on everyone’s mind.

In a further blow to Greece’s sovereignty, Goldman Sachs, US investment bank has entered the fray. Using similar derivatives which caused the bursting of the subprime mortgage market bubble, financial instruments known as currency swaps, allowed Greece to mask up to a billion euros of its deficit. As one professor of economics from an Athens University told me, although this deal which was brokered through Goldman Sachs only accounts for less than 1% of Greece’s deficit, it is the principle of their actions which should be scrutinized. Once again we are seeing Investment Banks act above Governments, in using over the counter deals, fixing rates, which are not regulated. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve stopped himself short of announcing that there would be an official inquiry into the deal the Greek Government made with Goldman Sachs. A Guerilla  group, named Conspiracy of |Cells of Fire, have already claimed responsibility for an explosive device which ripped through the entrance to Athens HQ of JP Morgan Chase, a bank backed by Goldman Sachs.

With further strikes planned for later in March only time will tell how the public will react to the introduction of these measures, one thing that is certain is that young Greeks soon will have to seek opportunities abroad as unemployment figures will inevitably rise. Another telling moment for developments will be in a couple of months when Greece will be called upon to refinance its 21.2 billion debt and is forced to tap capital markets amidst a potential downgrade from credit ratings agencies. If however, Greece is unable to acquire aid from its European counterparts, there is speculation that the IMF will enter the arena, and for economists and activists alike who are aware of the nature and history of the IMF’s policies, one can only fear a repeat of the 2002 bankruptcy of Argentina which brought the country near the brink of collapse.

The riot brought into the public consciousness the level of brutality and barbarism inherent in the British penal system. People learned that prisoners in Strangeways, many on remand yet to be convicted of a crime, were being held three to a cell for 22 hours a day with no sanitation, one shower per week and one change of underwear. They learned that harassment and intimidation, threats and beatings were normal everyday occurrences and an accepted method of maintaining control.

The riot itself wasn’t unexpected as tensions had been steadily brewing for months previously. A week before two prisoners held a one day rooftop protest after being beaten in their cells. Later other prisoners decided to stage a sit-in protest over the systematic brutality of the prison officers. On Saturday 31st there was a limited protest in the chapel after the film showing. Prisoners returned to their cells only after assurances were given that their grievances would be listened to and improvements made. That evening a prisoner was held down by seven officers in front of everyone and injected with largactyl (a “liquid cosh”). It was this that triggered the riot in the chapel the following day.

Paul Taylor, who was later to become a leading figure in the protest and one of the most severely punished, remembers there was an explosion of rage in the chapel after the sermon as prisoners made their anger felt. Prison officers were ushered out, and Taylor took their keys unlocking the doors to cells letting other prisoners out. Others barricaded themselves in the chapel and gained access to the roof. All the prison staff evacuated the prison leaving the prisoners in full control of the five accommodation wings.

Of nearly 1,650 prisoners in the jail, up to 1,100 were involved on the first day. Over the course of that day 700 of those surrendered and were transferred, along with the 400 non-participants. After the initial frenzy of liberation where whole wings were ransacked, the remaining prisoners began to organise themselves; barricades were constructed, food was gathered and stored for easy access, sleeping arrangements made. News quickly spread and along with the media onslaught hundreds of people converged on the prison, including many friends and family of those locked up as well as ex-prisoners. The level of support outside the prison was to remain solid throughout the protest.

The rooftop protest began in earnest with concrete demands being issued which included improved visiting facilities, Category A prisoners to be allowed to wear their own clothes and be able to receive food parcels, along with longer exercise periods and an end to 23-hour-a-day lock-up. After 25 days where they kept the prison authorities at bay the last five prisoners who remained on the roof were finally lifted off by a cherry picker, defiant and saluting to the crowds below. What began as an act of desperation turned into a wave of defiance as prisoners responded to what was happening in Manchester with similar uprising in Hull, Durham, Wandsworth and other prison facilities across the country.

As a consequence nine men went on trial for the Strangeways protest charged with riot. The charge of murder (a prisoner died during the uprising although there were doubts cast as to the actual cause; despite him receiving a beating from other prisoners) was to be dropped.  Another trial was held over the battle of e wing where 14 defendants were charged with various offences, including two who were previously acquitted from the first trial, their names added to the second trial as a form of retribution. Of all those convicted for their part in the Strangeways revolt, only one, Alan Lord, remains incarcerated.

After the total destruction of the prison during the protest Strangeways was rebuilt, refurbished at a cost of £55 million. But as one prisoner put it at the time: “The better conditions in here are not down to the prison department. But for the riot, we would still be in the same old jail banged up all day and slopping out … The rioters brought this about. They should have done it years ago but it took a riot to get them to do it”

The death of a worker on the massive Olympics 2012 construction site in East London forms the backbone of a new and damming report by Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union members, some of whom work on the site, exposing systematic breaches of basic health and safety, putting workers ‘at risk of injury and death’, as well as management cover-ups and deception.
Copies of the Report are available in the Bookshop for free or can be posted if you send in a pre-paid (61p 1st class, 47p 2nd class) SAE.

Shaun Scurry, 39, who worked for sub-contactors Firesafe as fire systems installer, was seriously injured at the beginning of December at the Stratford City section of the Olympics site, owned by multinational shopping developers Westfield. He later died in hospital to become the first fatality of the 2012 Olympic project. The cause of his death is still being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

However, the report published by members of IWW who spoke to workers on site at the time of the incident reveals a catalogue of sub-standard health and safety work practices and management cover-ups. According to eye witness accounts immediately after the accident, and before the arrival of police and HSE – who are charged with investigating any serious accidents or injuries on site – management contractors, PC Harrington, closed the sector while they erected safety signs and fences, secured ladders and cleaned walkways in an attempt to cover up their own failings.

Once the police arrived, the Firesafe workers were sent home but, incredibly, the other workers in the sector were told to continue working, and were not informed of the true nature of the incident until several days later. This, the report claims, could have led to further serious risk of injury. Also in the report workers with direct knowledge state Shaun Scurry was working alone on a scissor lift without a second ground operator as required for safe working. It concludes that the controls to the lift were inadvertently activated crushing the worker against a steel beam.

Workers are angered at being left in the dark about the incident and the lack of respect shown by management for not closing the site while a proper investigation could take place. The report was also critical of the construction union UCATT whose officials failed to keep workers informed or investigate the accident themselves, even failing to attend on the day of the accident.

Construction is the countries biggest industry with over 2.2 million workers. It is also one of the most dangerous. In the last 25 years, over 2,800 people have died from injuries they received as a result of construction work. Many more have been injured or made ill.

Now available to buy at Freedom Bookshop

The final volume in Dave Douglass’s mining trilogy, Stardust and Coaldust, published to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the end of the miners’ strike. A first-person, insider’s view, of, probably, the last generation of miners and their union. Following on Cameron’s description of ‘a broken Britain’ this book comes close to describing who broke it and how.

The definitive history of the great coal strike of 1984/85 and the background to it, this book explodes all the prevailing myths around that epic period, and corrects the inaccuracies in dozens of books previously penned by academics and journalists. Written by a participant at the sharp end of that struggle, it uniquely deals with the poststrike period, which hitherto no other writer has attempted to describe, nor any commentator understood. It portrays the efforts of the miners to stay in the ring and stay on their feet, in the run-up to the John Major assault in ’92/’93 and the last stand of the miners as a social force.

The book reveals the harsh internal relations within the National Union of Mineworkers in the post-strike years, set against a backdrop and commentary on other world and domestic events like the Poll Tax, the Gulf War, and the Good Friday Agreement. Inevitably, it addresses the role of Arthur Scargill both during and after the strike — which in the author’s view displays two distinct and conflicting aspects of his leadership. However, Dave shows how the central role in both periods was that played by the miners themselves organised in their Union.  Dave has not sought to exclude those smaller, more personal aspects that intersect this trajectory and link the personal to the political, the major to the minor. Though it is not written in the style or with the pretensions of academic neutrality, this book will be an essential reference for any serious academic study in the future.

The title of this work, Ghost Dancers, is inspired by the last stand of the Native American Indians in their efforts to retain their culture and dignity, and by the Durham Miners’ Gala as a mining equivalent of that same endeavour. The book records the last stand of the last generation of pitmen and their communities.

As always it can be ordered from the shop £12.95 (post free) and will be posted as soon as we get them “hot off the press” so to speak. Make cheques payable to Freedom Press

Ghost Dancers by David John Douglass, ChristieBooks

♦

According to the organisers the aim of the event is to:
· share information, local experiences and views about some of the key issues affecting our communities
· establish better links and communication channels among radical, community-orientated local groups and individuals
· promote collective and non-hierarchical, open and horizontal forms of organisation
· promote anti-authoritarian, anti-state, anti-capitalist and pro-community, pro-working class grass-roots politics – that is, the interests of people rather than of governments and corporations.

The day event will look at such issues as fighting for local services and facilities in the area, affordable housing, gentrification, local workplace struggles, as well as looking at the practical demands of setting up a local group, methods of communication – newsletters, mailing lists, leaflets, public meetings etc, and effective activity. Groups interested in attending and getting involved should contact Community Action Gathering 2010 at: communityactionnetworkuk@googlemail.com

♦ The latest edition of the Hackney Heckler is now available. Produced by Hackney Solidarity Network in east London, it is beautifully put together packed with useful information on the area including an Olympics update and a feature on the successes of Hackney’s Unemployed Workers group. There’s also a top ten of best Hackney novels which, criminally, fails to mention the Martin Amis classic London Fields. Hackney Solidarity Network in association with Reel News will be hosting a film and discussion night on Sunday March 14th featuring “Copenhagen: System Change Not Climate Change!” and a discussion and a proposal for a Peoples Assembly in Hackney on April 4th. Further details: www.hackneysolidarity.info

♦ The people involved in the Black Cat social centre, Bath, have started an online petition to save it from closure, and to let the council know that communities need independent and community controlled social spaces. The Black Cat has been occupied for the past six months making real inroads into the local community, becoming a popular resource for the area. It currently provides a venue for live music including a bar, plus meeting and workshop space, library and cheap cafe but is threatened with imminent eviction.
People can sign the online petition here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/blackcatbath
or visit their website http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com/ for more information.

♦ Issue 12 of the bulletin for the Hereford Solidarity League, the Hereford Heckler, is out now. Featuring articles on Hereford’s Tory MP and old Etonian Bill Wiggin, who criticised Cadbury’s workers as a “whinging workforce” over the Kraft takeover, a look at Hereford’s radical history with the Whitson riot of 1605 and a round up of the Heckler’s impressive first two years in existence which has seen over 40,000 copies distributed throughout the area. Available to download at: http://herefordheckler.wordpress.com/



As one hunger striker explained:
“The women have been through terrible experiences – some are survivors of rape and torture – but we are treated like criminals. When we staged a protest two weeks ago, we were locked in a corridor, with no water or toilet facilities. One had an asthma attack and we begged the officers to let her out, but they refused. Since then, I have been detained in isolation”

Lawyers representing four women have taken their case to the high court. Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) are applying for a judicial review to assess their claim that Yarl’s Wood breaches articles three, five and eight of the European Convention on Human Rights. Paul Shiner of PIL called the incarceration of the women “disgraceful”.

“It is unlawful and we are calling for the policy to be struck down and for there to be an independent investigation,” he said.

Campaigners, who have been in daily contact with the women, fear retribution and further violence by staff.

One of John’s first postwar political acts was to write and perform an anti-war play on the steps of the Hungarian parliament. This alarmed his family, who arranged a visa for him to visit London in 1947. John was then informed by his aunt that his passport had been burnt, stranding him. Fittingly for an anarchist, John was for almost his entire adult life a stateless person.

In the early 1950s, John became “one of the genuine movers and shakers” of 1950s London, in the words of collaborator John Pilgrim. John’s magazines Intimate Review, Cheshire Cat and Fortnightly were key parts of Soho life, publishing major literary figures such as Doris Lessing and Colin Wilson (first published by John). Pilgrim was sent to report on the Malatesta Club in Holborn for Intimate Review in 1954 as “it is rumoured that anarchists go there”. Both Johns then became involved in the anarchist scene.

The editor
Contrary to lingering rumours, there is abundant evidence that John was a Freedom editor in the 1960s. Neil Collins, who helped fold Freedom every week in the mid-1960s, remembers John’s “ebullience” fondly. Class War founder Ian Bone paid this affectionate tribute: “John Rety was the first anarchist I ever met and therefore directly responsible for everything! For me he was the best editor of Freedom. Our movement has suffered a sad loss – a very fine, honest, funny, steadfast human being has died.”

Wynford Hicks, now a distinguished journalist, was in the 1960s part of the Syndicalist Workers Federation and the Notting Hill Anarchist Group, both highly critical of Freedom. He Wynford Hicks recalls: “When John became one of the editors [of Freedom] he suggested that I write a column, which I did for about 18 months (from the autumn of 1967 to the spring of 1969).” Called “Fifth column”, the title gave Hicks “a licence to be subversive (i.e. disagree with what other Freedom contributors wrote)”. This inclusiveness was the hallmark of Freedom under John’s editorship: “John was the least sectarian anarchist I ever met: he just couldn’t see the point of the divisions that seemed so important to other people.”

Anarchist poet Jeff Cloves recalls Freedom having “more verve” and being “less puritanical” under John’s editorship – “contributors liked John because he was quite liberal about what he put in”. In an interview with Ian Bone, John explained his policy: “I just printed everything that people sent.” John visited Scotland and other places, and invited critics of Freedom to take responsibility for the paper: “The Scottish [group] had an issue once every month, it went in rotation.”

The activist
Sylvie Edwards, who was involved in Freedom through the 1990s, remembers John as being “a real anarchist – he didn’t just write about things, he also got out there; everything that I went to, John was there.” Longtime peace activist Ernest Rodker says that his “abiding memory, even after so many years” is of John, “in heroic mode”, being “one of the first to burst through the heavy police cordon surrounding Grosvenor Square” at the famous anti-Vietnam War demonstration at the US Embassy on 27 October 1968.

In his memoirs Bash The Rich, Ian Bone recalls the night before the demonstration: “John Rety – who was the editor of Freedom at the time – was debating with Tariq Ali why we should go to the Embassy and not the picnic in the park…. The room was packed out and Rety looked an especially romantic figure with his beard and red and black neckerchief. He was the only anarchist anyone had heard of and gave Ali a good sneering run for his money.”

John was prominent in the anarchist movement at that time – he appeared on television at least once as “an anarchist”, and he was the prime organiser of the Anarchist Ball in Fulham Town Hall on 1 April 1966. Asked about the Grosvenor Square demonstration, which became a fierce physical confrontation with the police. John once said: “I’m not terribly fond of violence. I think that violence means that we have lost the argument.” He chose instead to focus on an event in nearby Speakers’ Corner, a 13-person 13-day fast to end the Vietnam War that he participated in. John was involved in Speakers’ Corner in the 1960s, and, briefly, in the 1980s. Philip Sansom described John in his 1977 essay on Speakers’ Corner as “practically the last of the [London Anarchist] ‘group’ speakers”, noting that John was “an amusing speaker with whom the crowd felt it easy to relate.”

One of John’s less amusing commitments during the 1960s was his role in defending Stuart Christie, who was arrested in Spain in August 1964 carrying explosives for an attempted assassination of Franco, Fascist dictator of Spain. After an international solidarity campaign, Christie was released in September 1967 (but his accomplice Fernando Carballo Blanco was not). John was a driving force in the Christie-Carballo committee, initially convinced by Christie’s protestations of innocence. Later, in his long elegiac poem “Song of Anarchy”, John wrote:

That was the day my friend went to Spain,
Love and peace, I said and patience
Look around you, this is our world
Be patient, trust in your comrades
Do nothing in secret conclaves
Anarchists have no secrets
His young face was a grin from ear to ear
Trust me John and he sang me a song
And I never felt so cheated so betrayed
It took me ten years to drop out
But drop out I did.

Despite his personal feelings after learning the truth, John was a committed campaigner for Christie’s release. John Pilgrim, press officer for the Christie-Carballo committee, recalls: “Rety said he was going off to the Observer. He was one of the scruffiest people I’d ever seen. The fact is he got the best coverage of the lot, a two-page spread.” Christie credits the British press coverage as a major factor in his release.

In the 1960s, John was also passionately campaigning against French nuclear tests in the Pacific, hence the publication of the Freedom-connected pamphlet Liberty, Equality & Radioactivity, with a lovely cover by Arthur Moyse. This 1966 pamphlet drew together contributions from a variety of political perspectives including the Independent Labour Party. The contributors’ section states: “Jack Robinson and John Rety are editors of ‘Freedom’.”

A 10 June 1966 invoice for the cover is still among John’s papers (this is actually the only way of dating the pamphlet). Also among John’s papers are many letters from actual or potential contributors to Freedom discussing articles or columns that John had published or might publish. It is clear that John was indeed one of the editors of Freedom, along with Jack Robinson and Pete Turner, probably from 1964 to 1969, as he himself recalled. John had initially been invited to join the editorial group (by Philip Sansom) on the basis of his journalistic experience. Interestingly, “Nobody asked me if I knew anything about anarchism”.

Later, in the 1990s, John returned to Freedom, writing a column entitled “Through The Anarchist Press” (published as a book by Freedom Press in 1996).

The poet
In the interval between his two engagements with Freedom, chess and poetry became central parts of John’s life. His highest FIDE rating this century was 2034, and he played chess for England several times in the European Senior Team Championship.

John’s involvement in poetry developed after he turned from supporting squatters to becoming one himself, taking over a semi-derelict building at 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town in 1981. This building, initially without gas or electricity, was gradually transformed into an extraordinary community arts centre. Torriano Meeting House was the base for Hearing Eye publications, through which John and his life partner since 1958, Susan Johns, have published over 150 poetry books, many of them illustrated by their daughter Emily Johns, featuring an astonishing array of poets. Some poets to perform at Torriano included John Heath-Stubbs, Stephen Spender and Adrian Mitchell.

Hearing Eye poet Hylda Sims reflects on John’s capacity to persuade people – often notable people – to contribute to his initiatives – generally for free: “John and Susan have lived their lives as true anarchists. They haven’t cared about money, and it shines out. John truly lived the life of the proper anarchist: he was fundamentally uncommercial and people sensed that, and people trusted him.”

John Rety (8 December 1930 – 3 February 2010), leaves behind partner Susan Johns, daughter Emily Johns, and son Jacob Rety. There will be a celebration of John’s life at 6pm, Friday 19 March, at the Artworkers’ Guild, 6, Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT (nearest tube Russell Square). Ian Bone’s Resonance FM interview with John is available on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/john-rety-resonance

Milan Rai

Both Anna Mendelssohn and Jake Prescott died within months of each other, and while both had retired from the political scene, their actions and activities during their time in the Angry Brigade brought a certain dynamism and daring to anarchist politics, not witnessed before or since, and raised the bar in terms of how we confront the state.
Howard Zinn, who for many a young anarchist was the introduction to a new way of thinking – the original politics from below – with his seminal A People’s History of the United States. The scope, clarity and sheer magnitude of his work still cast a long and impressive shadow across the political spectrum despite his untimely demise.

The most recent deaths of John Rety and Colin Ward perhaps resonate most with Freedom and its readership. Both contributed enormously to the paper, Freedom publishing, and to the anarchist movement in general. It is a testament to both that their works still play an important role in our political thinking. They were great men whose commitment and fearless passion for anarchism was informed by their humanity and desire for a better world.

How anarchists treat their comrades in both life and in death will always reflect, in microcosm, the society we wish to see develop. It is a great shame that neither man will have the opportunity to see that society come into being. It is up to us to ensure their lives were not lived out in vain. Freedom as a paper, as a publishers and as a bookshop continues to provide the traditions both Colin Ward and John Rety so ably contributed to.

With the general and local elections looming it will become the job of anarchists to ensure the spectre of capitalism and the state doesn’t monopolise the discourse, and that our ideas become relevant and necessary, and most importantly heard, above the clatter of clashing ideologies. Social change can never be mediated through the very institutions that are actively preventing that change. As such Freedom is compiling an ‘election special’ in the run up to the general election. We need to reclaim the agenda and express anarchism as a real and achievable goal. John and Colin, I’m sure, wouldn’t have it any other way.

The National Delegate Meeting of the Anarchist Federation took place on January 30th/31st in Glasgow, attended by 35 members. This was a sign of the increasing strength and vigour of the Federation. Those present were from: Aberdeen, Brighton/Portsmouth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Lincoln, London, Manchester, Merseyside, Nottingham, Sheffield and Stirling/Dunblane. Apologies were received from East Kent, Bristol, Hereford and Norwich.

The Edinburgh AF, which was set up in the middle of last year, gave its first group report and described its activities carried out by the nine members there. It has produced three issues of a support sheet for Edinburgh Council manual workers called the Edinburgh Muckraker. Forthcoming events organised by the comrades include a one day Film Festival on 20th March.

Merseyside and Sheffield followed with details of their activities. Both groups are growing and Sheffield continues to produce its local newssheet The Fargate Speaker and has been involved in setting up an Unemployed Workers Group. (As well as the Edinburgh Muckraker and the Fargate Speaker Hereford AF have been involved in producing a fine local newssheet the Hereford Heckler over the last few years). They have set up a discussion group with the Commune group and are organising a bookfair in May. Manchester reported on its propaganda activities, the setting up of a discussion group and its publishing venture Peterloo Press which has produced a range of fine pamphlets.

Nottingham talked of their work with the Sparrow’s Nest Library a valuable resource set up by the AF. Brighton described their work around resistance to cuts at Sussex University and around EDO. Glasgow is well established with eight core members and is involved in propaganda activities including regular street distributions of the AF monthly newssheet Resistance and activities against cuts. Leeds has ten members. It supported the refuse workers strike in Leeds and was involved in the occupation of an empty school and a campaign to turn it into a community centre.

London has regular street distributions of Resistance- it maintains several every month- and some of its members are active in a local community group Action East End and in the London Education Workers Group. A series of public meetings introduced anarchist ideas to a new audience and one person has joined the AF as a result. London AF hopes to be setting up a new group in South London soon. New groups have been set up in Aberdeen and Hull and Stirling. A youth caucus has been formed within the AF and two AF educationals are planned in March in Newcastle and Bristol.

The meeting deliberated over the effective internal life of the AF and its forthcoming National Conference and Summer Camp; on a levy for international work and an International Solidarity Fund and on propaganda and activities.  There was a lively, interesting and fruitful discussion on the nature of the English Defence League as well as a report and discussion on our international work within the International of Anarchist Federations and in contact work in Latin America and Africa. The organisation of bookfairs by the AF in Manchester and Sheffield were also discussed. The overall atmosphere was positive and friendly with a growing confidence that we are putting down roots and are a growing organisation

Canterbury
A speaker from London AF spoke at a packed meeting (40 people in attendance) on an introduction to anarchism at Canterbury University in January organised by the Socialist and Anarchist Societies there with the help of East Kent AF. The talk was well received with a lively question and answer session afterwards.

Oxford
A speaker from London AF spoke at a meeting on Anarchism and the Environmental Crisis at a meeting convened by Oxford Autonomous Forum on February 13th with a good discussion afterwards. It was preceded by a distribution of Resistance in Oxford city centre.

London
Members attended and distributed leaflets at the Photographers rally in Trafalgar Square in January against the use of anti-terrorism stop and search powers to harass photographers and prevent them taking pictures. Full text can be viewed at the website

Publications
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of non-payment of the Poll Tax in England & Wales (following non-registration in 1989 and solid mass non-payment in Scotland), to remember the commitment of community campaigns who supported each other in non-payment, and to take inspiration from the great Poll Tax Riot in London on 31st March 1990 and smaller uprisings in many local areas, AF have republished all the Organise! magazine articles over the period 1988-1991 spanning ten issues.

People interested in getting involved in the AF should contact their nearest local group, which can be found on the website: http://www.afed.org.uk/

Light refreshments will be available.

FREEDOM BOOKSHOP
Angel Alley
84b Whitechapel High Street
London E1 7QX