Welfare Action Gathering - Sat 15 Feb

Come to an info and skill-sharing day in London on 15 February, 10.45am-5.30pm, Maiden Lane Community Centre near Kings Cross. Directions here.

Getting your welfare rights is about a lot more than just knowing your welfare rights. Across the UK, people are getting together to support each other and pushing back workfare, standing up to sanctions, wrong decisions, and insecure housing.

Meet others from across the UK, hear inspiring stories, learn info about our rights and share tactics that work. This isn’t a day for speakers from the front. Party political representatives aren’t invited. It’s about people at the grassroots getting together and working out how we can support each other and throw even more spanners in the government’s plans!

If you are in a local group where people share mutual support on welfare or housing (or plan to start one), Boycott Workfare should be able to help with your travel costs. Please get in touch as soon as you can so we can sort it out.

Planning on coming? There’ll be tea, coffee and a free lunch! Please let us know you’re coming so we know how many people to cook for!

Want to know what to expect? Check out the agenda here. There’s an open space session in the afternoon if you’d like to offer a workshop too!

 

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Published: 28 January 2014

Local traders condemn 'sham' Tottenham High Road consultation

On Thursday 28th November a delegation of traders from North Tottenham High Road West addressed the Council's cabinet meeting. They presented their 4,000-strong petition in which local people rejected the demolition of the area. The traders condemned the consultation over the future of the area as a 'sham' and said they had been lied to by the Council. They also condemned the report of the consultation that had excluded or sidelined most of the objections. They called on the Council to 'freeze this planning process and sit down to design a new Scenario, one that includes this Business Community and allows it to move forward and grow within the regeneration process, not be excluded from it.'  Their powerful presentation is included below in full...

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Published: 07 December 2013

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Occupation camp against anti-squatting law at office of Finchley Tory MP Mike Freer

Mike Freer MP is a co-architect of the controversial ‘Section 144′ law that criminalises squatting in domestic properties.

On 22nd November 2013, campaigners arrived to protest and camp outside his constituency office (the Finchley building that used to be Margaret Thatcher’s office).

At first, in a PR move, he invited them off the pavement and onto the forecourt, but as many local people showed their support, and others arrived to protest, towards the end of the day he changed his mind. However, the squatters pointed out to the police that he would now need to put that in writing and to apply to a court, which he would be unable to do now before Monday morning, so the camp remains over the weekend at least.

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Published: 24 November 2013

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New pamphlet on the history of the New River

Photo: Hjuk at en.wikipedia

North London's man-made water supply, the New River, is 400 years old this year... Much has been made of its history; but it isn't well known that the New River's creation and development is intimately bound up with the growth of capitalism.

Now radical history publishers Past Tense have just produced a new pamphlet, 'Free Like Conduit Water', an updated and expanded version of our old pamphlet on the New River. Author John Tyre discusses the moral economy of water distribution in medieval London, and how the New River, in effect the first Private Finance Initiative, altered this in the interests of embryonic capitalism. Read how the River became contested between the Company and the people who lived near its banks, who subverted it for their own uses...

'Free Like Conduit Water' also includes a long walk down the River's length in London, including trespasses where Thames Water won't let you and me go and relates it to the radical history and present of some of the areas it passes through, from enclosure riots on Enfield Chase, through squatting on the North Circular, arson and rebellion in Tottenham, speakers corners in Finsbury Park, to disorderly open spaces in Clerkenwell.

'Free Like Conduit Water' is available for £5 plus £1.50 P&P from past tense, c/o 56a Info Shop, 56 Crampton Street, London SE17 3AE, (cheques payable to 'past tense publications'), or from the publications page at www.past-tense.org.uk.

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Published: 11 November 2013