Lindsay, John

Lindsay, John

John Lindsay

1 March 2012News

Global protests surveyed

On 4 February, in cities around the world, anti-war protesters, marching to the common message, ‘No war, no sanctions, no intervention, no assassinations,’ led a day of mass action against a possible war in Iran.

The wordwide protests were organised by over 60 anti-war, pacifist and human rights groups.

In the US, the largest protest took place in New York, as a group of 500 marched from Manhattan’s Times Square to the US mission to the United Nations and then to the Israeli…

1 March 2012News

Protestors target British Gas over fuel poverty

On 29 January, as part of an Occupy-style protest, six Fuel Poverty Action activists barricaded themselves into meeting rooms on two floors of the British Gas offices in Staines, Middlesex.

The protests were part of Fuel Poverty Action’s ‘Winter Warmup’ weekend, drawing attention to a situation where a large portion of the population must choose to either ‘heat or eat’.

Protesters also held demonstrations in Cambridge, Leeds, London, Manchester and Swindon, targeting the ‘Big…

1 March 2012Feature

Four hundred people are being prosecuted for refusing to fill out the 2011 census. Many of them took their stand on political grounds. Here are some of those who are resisting.

Deborah Glass-Woodin

Deborah Glass-Woodin was an active member of the Green Party and served on the city and county council in Oxford, where she still lives. Deborah had her pre-trial hearing on 2 February and her full hearing is scheduled for 14 May at Reading magistrates’ court.

After spending many years as an active member of the Green Party, she has become a green activist. In 2008, she was arrested during a protest against treefelling in Oxford. The charges were later…

1 March 2012News in Brief

Groups who have dismantled their camps or been evicted from their buildings since the last issue include Edinburgh (14 February); Exeter (10 February); Liverpool (8 February); London’s Bank of Ideas (29 January) and Sheffield (13 February). (Almost all the groups mentioned here have their own websites or Facebook pages.)

Cardiff – Two members of Occupy Cardiff are being prosecuted for public order charges stemming from a demonstration in November. They held a 100-strong march on 7…

1 March 2012News

Anti-nuclear power activists occupy oak grove

Three anti-nuclear power protesters who had ‘occupied’ a grove of oak trees near Hinkley Point in Somerset were evicted after two days on 9 February by local police and a five-man tree-climbing team hired by power company EDF.

The grove of mature oak trees was scheduled to be cleared in late February to make way for a new nuclear power plant. On 12 February, activists then took possession of an abandoned farm on the development site. On 13 February, they were visited by a civil…