Thatcher on Acid. My part in her downfall.

With the current beatification and media frenzy over the iron lady reaching Thatchuration point (I’ve been waiting for years to use that one) I thought it would be a good time to publish my own tale of direct disrespect of the Milk Snatcher. I’m being purposefully vague about the details to avoid self-incrimination but apart from that this is a factual account.

The new ‘Police Air Force’

How  the UK’s new Police Chief is promoting the civil use of drones amid pan-European calls for UAV liberalisation.

This month sees the launch of the National Police Air Service (NPAS) a new cross-boundary cost-saving venture that joins all of the UK’s regional police air capabilities into one umbrella organisation – in effect a new national police air force. The objective of the NPAS is to allow faster, cheaper and more efficient coordinated helicopter response across the country

Memories of Lol

Lol Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012)

The Recedents Live at the Red Rose, London Feb 6th 2007

In 1984 I attempted to release the first album by Lol Coxhill’s trio ‘The Recedents’* on our Recloose Organisation label. Unfortunately all of the global distributors absolutely point-blank refused to take the LP claiming that even by Recloose standards this was strong meat i.e. no one but the terminally obscure or criminally insane would think of buying such a product. So, to my eternal regret I shelved the project.

Kif Higgins: August 23, 1957 – May 19, 2012

With empire came sugar and with sugar came slaves. Slaves that made the sugar (African) and slaves that brought it to England and processed it (English, Irish, Welsh and Scots). Those that exploited the labour made fortunes and built the city of Liverpool (the irony of Tate Liverpool).

Bourbonese Qualk Peel Session 1987

So after a lengthy campaign of pestering, John Peel finally allowed us to record a session for his show in late 1986 (for the unaware; John Peel’s nightly BBC Radio programme was hugely influential to new music in the UK throughout the seventies and eighties) with the caveat that we weren’t to set foot in the BBC studios. John Walters, Peel’s producer somewhat haughtily claimed that we had such a bad reputation for anarchic trouble making, nicking stuff and smashing things up that we had to use our own equipment…which was a bit rich considering the long list of ruffians who HAD been allowed in.

Auf einen Augen-Blick

‘Auf einen Augen-Blick’ is an animated video piece using sequences of hand corrupted jpg files. If I was a bit smarter i could probably have written a script that batch processed multiple files but I found that there is something important in the laborious process of doing each frame by hand – it introduces some organic element into what should be an efficient process…I like the contradiction of using digital media in such a manual way…especially when the content is all about degradation and corruption of the media itself.

Random Rough Mix

Been a while comrades: heres some audio and video of stuff from the studio floor that wouldn’t otherwise see the light of day – edited together in a random fashion. Quite a large dose of Geoff Leigh in there from the work we did together and never quite finished…

 

All London Anarchist Revolutionary Movement

At 3pm on Sunday 15th May the All London Anarchist Revolutionary Movement (ALARM) was born amidst beery cheers in a crowded function room above the Calthorpe Arms pub. The diverse group of eighty or so Anarchist and Libertarian Socialists (including myself and the sound asleep 1.5 yr old Finn) spent the next two hours debating organisational and constitutional issues in an atmosphere more redolent of the W.I. than a revolutionary group. Representatives of London boroughs were nominated and selected, informal communication networks built and, due to the exertions of such a prolonged labour, the debate on the thorny issue of a political manifesto was postponed until next Sunday (at the Cock Tavern, Euston).

ALARM is an opportunity to focus the resurgence of interest in Anarchism that has surfaced here over the last six months. It should provide a cohesive and active confrontational force in opposition to the ongoing Tory austerity programme and the corporatist state. It should become a platform for collective action that goes beyond just ‘fucking things up’ but provide real-word examples of practical anarchism in housing, education, work, healthcare etc.

Coming soon: ALARM website, blog and contact information

Revolting Police: How will the MET respond to the cuts?

UK Police protest at pay cuts, London 2008

Police Comment: Dec 13th 2010

“…These idiots (the protesters) have all the answers, all too ready to mouth off to any passing journo or camera crew, filling our screens with pity-me martyrdom. Actually, life is totally unfair from cradle to grave… the revolting yoof do not have a constant worry about starvation, civil war, sky high infant mortality or rampant disease. Most people alive today do. So, students, if you want to go to college, get a job so you can pay your bills – just like the rest of us. If not, take out a loan and live with debt – just like the rest of us.”

Police comment on  http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com Police blog

Police Comment. March 3rd 2011 – after  Home Secretary Theresa May announces cuts in Police spending

“We are in for a fight, this is a fight that we can win. Honesty, Integrity and Fairness is key. Miss May and Nick Herbert watch out for the shit storm that is coming your way”

Police comment on http://www.policeoracle.com Police blog

The coalition government’s agenda is  to implement their neo-con ideology as rapidly as possible; to make desperate but irreversible changes to our social infrastructure while they are still in power. Theresa May’s (UK Home secretary) latest round of public sector cuts is aimed at, your-friends-and-mine, the police. Already stretched and suffering low morale these cuts will inevitably further impact on the effectiveness of the force – an interesting scenario for the anti-cuts/anti-government movement and one that seems to deliberately catalyse opinion – reminiscent of Thatchers class-centric tactics during the 1980s. Discussions from current police forums (that wouldn’t look out of place on ‘Class War‘) debate internal tactics at combating the cuts including work-to-rule, mass-sick days, strikes and demonstrations – even suggesting jumping sides and joining the anti-cuts march on the 26th:

An Activists Guide to Police Tactics

“The people whose jobs were destroyed were in no way responsible for the excesses of the financial sector and the crisis that followed…I’m surprised the real anger hasn’t been greater than it has.”

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King March 1st 2011

“Students, activists, agitators, stoners, scratters, scrotes. You will be hit with sticks and sent home to mummy. The rule of law will prevail, order will be restored, Winston will not be shamed, my ancestors will not have died to have allowed you to bring shame on England. You will get up early, get out of your bed, seek work and contribute to the greater good.”

Post on Inspector Gadget Police blog December 2010

“Following the student protests in London on 10 November 2010, where greater numbers gathered than had been anticipated by police, and the incursion of the Conservative Party headquarters in Millbank, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson stated that ‘the game has changed’3. The character of protest is evolving in terms of: the numbers involved; spread across the country; associated sporadic violence; disruption caused; short notice or no-notice events, and swift changes in protest tactics. After a few, relatively quiet years, this is a new period of public order policing – one which is faster moving and more unpredictable. Foreseeing the character of events will prove more difficult and, in some cases, their nature and mood will only become apparent on the day.”

HMIC feb 2011 Adapting to Protest and Nurturing the British Model of Policing

Public Order tactics used by the British Police have their origin in colonial rule. From that starting point they were refined through the experience of Northern Ireland and the riots of the 1980′s to form today’s set of Quasi-military tactics where lines of police attempt to control, contain or disperse crowds of protesters. The rise of a spontaneous, decentralised protest movement and increased anger directed at the police set against a deepening economic crisis has led to calls for a tougher approach to public ‘disorder’. The demonstration against the coalition governments economic policy on March 26th will be the biggest showdown London has seen since the poll tax riot of 1989 and will be a defining moment in how the state polices mass dissent. The following is a user’s guide to understanding police tactics and capabilities culled mostly from police sources, specifically “ACPO Manual of Guidance on KEEPING THE PEACE” 2010 as well as various police blogs and forums: