Campaign groups around the UK are building pressure to reject a recent government report that gaslights “people who experience racism”. Far from addressing the real issues of systemic and institutional racism, the report actually plays […]
Category: Activism
Protester’s survival kit: know your rights, police surveillance and how to stay safe
Ahead of a mass weekend of action against the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill, please read and share this essential guide from Netpol (Network for Police Monitoring). Police carry out intense surveillance on protest […]
It’s ‘police who turn protest into violence’, and we’ve had enough
On 30 March, the fourth #KillTheBill demo in Bristol went ahead peacefully. Although police were present, they kept their distance. The result? No violence. Coincidence? Absolutely not. It demonstrated that tooled-up riot cops inflame and […]
‘The three media outlets that most obstruct change in the UK’
In a recent interview with media expert Justin Schlosberg, Phoenix Media Co-op asked ‘Which are the media outlets that you think most obstruct change in Britain?’ Schlosberg answered: I would say a combination of the […]
Protests sparked after police neck-kneeling kills refugee in Mexico
Trigger Warning: this article discusses police brutality and gender-based violence. Neck-kneeling is a dangerous and controversial technique that police officers use around the world. In May 2020, George Floyd died in the US after […]
Bristol’s Kill The Bill protest movement has its own ‘Matapacos’ riot dog
On 27 March, a protester at Bristol’s Kill the Bill demo was seemingly defended by a police dog. The canny hound turned on a police officer and bit him; this appeared to set the man free. […]
Why the new policing bill is also chillingly racist
The new policing bill essentially threatens to criminalise one of the UK’s most discriminated minority communities and destroy the fabric of their lives. It’s also racist. A rising number of people know that the Police, […]
A lesson from Chile: mass mobilisations can shift policy
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, proposing a range of changes to enforcement and sentencing in England and Wales, passed its second reading in the House of Commons by 359 votes to 263 on […]
‘One of the most brutal things I’ve ever seen.’ Eyewitness accounts of police violence in Bristol.
On 23 March, people peacefully gathered on College Green in Bristol in the latest #KillTheBill protest. This ended in what protesters called “brutal” violence when riot police using police dogs and horses moved in on […]
Establishment and press reaction to the events in Bristol are a brief lesson in counterinsurgency
Photos and videos of Bristol’s ‘Kill the Bill’ demo caused immediate waves in both news and social media. The city erupted into street confrontations between police and the public, with spectacular images of a burning […]