Comment

The late John Rety was once taken for tea by a special branch officer, after the London anarchists had addressed Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London. Sergeant Roy Cremer offered the group advice on developing the anarchist movement, as well as tea. “Why is a police officer trying to enlarge the anarchist movement?” they asked. Because, he explained, the section of special branch spying on the communists had a large office, whereas his section, dealing with anarchists, was small and well……

The most memorable film I saw in 2010 – at the cinema or on TV – was Julien Temple’s visionary TV documentary Requiem for Detroit.

The most memorable book I read was Richard Mabey’s Weeds. The two are linked. Both produced a surge of hope within me which ran contra to a generalised feeling of despair against which I was battling. Still am. Both works are concerned with – to put it crudely – the survival of the natural world in the teeth of our man-made conspiracy to…

Sheila – a doughty campaigner against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – is currently in hospital in London. She had a bad fall in a departure lounge and misaligned her spine. She is paralysed for the time being; her holiday ended before it began. Her friends in Stroud visit when possible and others write. A letter sent on her behalf in the first week of November, asked us to send her a white poppy.

If Sheila is able to watch TV from her hospital bed she will have observed the…

There have been strong reactions to the student protests at Millbank on 10 November (see p8). Overwhelmingly, mainstream figures have condemned the “despicable” behaviour of the protesters – the word used by Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students.

From the left, in contrast, came a statement signed by Hilary Wainwright, Billy Bragg, Naomi Klein and a number of student activists saying: “We reject any attempt to characterise the Millbank protest as small, “…

As it is the season of New Year Resolutions, we asked some people around the movements about their experiences of trying to change themselves, live more in accord with their values, or become better activists.

Wow. I’m just trying to think. Lately I’ve been developing…. I’m a complete newcomer, I’m more of a spectator at things, rather than taking an active role in things. I kind of see things in a critical eye. I don’t feel I have a place yet in society, well I do, but I’m trying to…

Back in June, the prime minister said that in resolving the country’s financial crisis, the coalition government would act “in a way that protects the poorest and most vulnerable in our society; in a way that unites our country rather than divides it; in a way that demonstrates that we’re all in this together.”

David Cameron said: “We are all in this together, and we will get through this together.” A noble sentiment shared no doubt by the other millionaires in the cabinet. The…

I don’t like the term unemployment because it is negative and stigmatising. Deliberately choosing not to be in conventional employment is a liberating choice, but there is not really a term for it.
The difficulty about not having a conventional job has been about having self-discipline with regards to paid work. Choosing to be in a state of low employment is about valuing time. I wouldn’t have been able to do Climate Camp or Bicycology if I hadn’t withdrawn from conventional employment…

Since it was founded in 1984, as a meeting place for imagination, discussion, contemplation and action, PLATFORM has been bringing together environmentalists, artists, human rights campaigners, educationalists and community activists to create innovative projects driven by the need for social and environmental justice.

This interdisciplinary approach combines the transformatory power of art with the tangible goals of campaigning, the rigour of in-depth research with the vision…

There is one detail in Tony Blair’s A Journey that seems to have been missed. One of the few times that Blair was forced to withdraw an untruth was in a forceful interview by Jeremy Paxman on BBC Newsnight on 6 February 2003.

Blair claimed that UN weapons inspectors had been “put out of Iraq” in December 1998. Under pressure from Paxman, Blair admitted that, in fact: “They were withdrawn”. Chief UN weapons inspector Richard Butler revealed in his memoirs that he withdrew his…

You think sometimes you’re beyond being shocked any more by anything and then you are. At 8.30pm yesterday (9 September) I listened to the news on BBC Five Live. It’s a sports station so the lead stories concerned sport and corruption I think – I didn’t pay much attention – and then came this bombshell: the Commons had voted overwhelmingly in favour of keeping British troops in Afghanistan. Only 14 MPs voted for their removal. The newsreader stated this was the first time they’d had a chance…

A careful new report from CND demonstrates that replacing the Trident nuclear weapons submarine system will actually cost more jobs than it generates, and that cancelling the project gives Britain a golden opportunity to use its industrial skills for a green economy.

Recent weeks have seen a furious struggle within the military establishment, as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has struggled to plan for the 10%-20% cuts being demanded. Because the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition…

Peace and anti-militarist movements do not have a strong tradition in Portugal. In recent years, the only notable concerted action has been the protest against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which brought together 15,000 people. One can point out some other initiatives, particularly in defence of the Palestinians and against Israel, or in favour of the Sahrawis [of Western Sahara].

This lack of a tradition stems from the colonial past, the important role of the military in the…

The Global Climate Campaign is the collective name given to all the organisations, groups and individuals around the world who come together for the Global Day of Action on climate, this year set for 4 December.

The day of action has occurred every year since 2005 at the time of the annual United Nations Talks on climate change (the COP or “Conference of Parties” to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). The “World People's Conference on Climate Change and the…

A peaceful society can only be based on a peaceful economy. In this light, the recent deaths of Ken Coates and Jimmy Reid brought back memories of the 1960s and 1970s, and the high tide of workers’ control.

The first thing that sceptics say when they hear the phrase “workers’ control” is that most workers aren’t capable of managing their workplaces. They need specially-trained and educated people – more intelligent people, to put it bluntly – to direct them, regulate them.…

He was born into a solidly Anglican line of squires, parsons, professors and army officers, and spent happy school holidays in Oxford during and after the First World War.

In 1934, as a young graduate, he sailed to Trinidad to work as an oil refinery operator. Here he met people of Indian descent and found himself identifying with the disadvantaged.

Subsequently, during theological training in Birmingham, he abandoned plans to be a clergyman and instead became a…

Fig Tree is a new initiative to engage the Christian community in Britain on peace and security issues. It aims to preach the gospel of peace in word and deed, and to build and support the Christian peace community here in the UK.

Biblically, the fig tree is a symbol of peace, security and prosperity with Micah’s vision of “everyone beneath their own vine and fig tree” perhaps being the best known example.

However, in Mark’s gospel, just before he overturns the tables,…

As deaths – and casualties – mount in Afghanistan and crowds turn out to greet the returning coffins and TV stations show bereaved families united in grief, I imagine the conflicting emotions I feel are shared by most PN readers.

We know exactly how many British servicemen and women have been killed in the prosecution of this war, yet we have no idea how many enemy combatants have been killed. In fact, we have no idea who they were or if they were actually combatants.
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Peace News pays tribute to the Gaza flotilla martyrs: Cengiz Akyüz (42), Ali Heyder Bengi (39), Ibrahim Bilgen (60), Furkan Dogan (19), Cevdet Kiliçlar (38), Cengiz Songür (47), Çetin Topçuoglu (54), Fahri Yaldiz (43), and Necdet Yildirim (32), killed by the Israeli Defence Forces on 31 May. Let us not mince words. The Israeli assault on the Gaza aid flotilla was an act of terrorism, of state terrorism. The killings of these Turkish solidarity activists was merely the latest chapter in the…

I’ve never been to a festival. I don’t like big crowds.
Woman activist, Oxford

I used to go to Glastonbury, it looked like the Third World War at the end, all the mud, and it was a bit dispiriting. I prefer the smaller festivals like the Big Green Gathering. Some of them are really good meeting grounds for networking. Glastonbury already has facilities for campaigning so you can add your bit.

And some peace groups have jobs at festivals, like doing the lock-up at…