Black Cat Centre evicted and reoccupied! Come on down!

Yesterday saw the much loved Black Cat Occupied social centre evicted, with a 17 strong solidarity demo outside. Despite the eviction being a sucess, new squatting activists have moved in -

Following the eviction of the Black cat Centre yesterday, the building has been re-squatted. Local activists and residents, acting in solidarity with the recentley evicted Black Cat squatters last night squatted the building again, and intend to continue operating it as The Black Cat Socail Centre. Speaking to Bath Activist Network last night, one of the new squatters, a resident of Oldfield Park, said 'The work that the original Black cat squatters put into the social centre was so insiring, and such a benefit to the community that we felt that we had to act, and re-open the social centre to the community for as long as possible'.
This latest development means that owners Cabot will have to re-instigate court proceedings to evict the new squatters. The occupiers last night said that, as with the last occupiers, they were keen to enter into a rent paying agreement with Cabot in order to keep the space in community use for as long as possible.

The new squatters intend to have the Black Cat, with all of its previous uses and events running by Friday morning.

For more information, or for an interview with the new squatters, call 07794774938

Action Stations - come and stop the Black Cat eviction - Weds 16th Dec - 11am

We've just received our eviction notice. The bailiffs are due around at 11am on this Wednesday, the 16th December.

After a really sucessful few months, the owners have decided to try and evict the Black Cat social centre - but the occupiers have decided not to go quietly. In the 3 months that it has been operating, the black cat has been home to dance classes, open days, a library, a cafe, film nights, a freeshop, a massive benefit gig raising hundreds for local causes and more - we are not going to let that go to waste because of corporate greed.

We desperately need people to help with resisting the eviction, either to be in the house and be difficult to remove, or to film the bailiffs to ensure compliance with the law, or to protest in solidarity outside. This being Bath's only autonomous social space, it's important for us to send a message to the authorities and landowners that they can't just sweep us aside.

The Social Centre Collective can be contacted at BathSocialCentre@Googlemail.com, or on 07794 774 938

We are planning a peaceful solidarity demo outside the building, as well as resistance inside. We have almost unlimited crash space, so come on down and help save a space that has become valued by local residents, activists or otherwise.

You can find us at -

The Black Cat Centre

7-10 Kelso Place, upper bristol rd, Bath

Please distribute this message widely.

In By A Whisker! - Benefit Gig at the Black Cat Centre, Bath - Friday 20th Nov.

Friday 20th November, doors open at 7.30 - Should be a great night!
Acts -
*Tracy Curtis - protest folk
* Comso - Anarcho folk/one drunk and his guitar
* Robb Johnson and the irregulars - folsky/punky/rock
* Plus more acts tba

The proceeds will be split between Bath Activist Network, Bath Bomb news sheet and Bath CWU. Entry is a suggested donation of £3/4, but free entry with a CWU card and no-one will be turned away for lack of funds.

There will be a cheap/suggested donation bar and cheap food on offer.
The gig is being held at the Black Cat Centre, which can be found at -

Kelso Court
7-10 Kelso court
Upper Bristol Rd
Bath

The Black Cat Centre is a squatted social centre, offering not-for-profit, community space based on mutual aid, not corporate greed.

Other upcoming events include -

*Friday 13th Nov - from 7 - Free film night - we have a decent selection of films, to be decided on the night.

*Saturday the 21st of Nov - Open day including bike repair workshop, gym sessions, recycling/wallet making workshops, guided tours of the building, freeshop, dinner, squatting Q&A sessions, art workshops and more. The evening will be a night of comedy featuring a stand up and the brilliant 'yes men' film.

See y'all there!

Support Bath Posties! - what you can do

On Thursday and Friday of this week, hundreds of thousands of Posties are taking strike action all over the country. Despite demonization from right wing rags like the Daily Mail, the posties are taking the last option left to them. The Royal Mail, and their 'shareholders' (the government) are intent on pushing through a program of job cuts, pay cuts, service cuts and privatization which will send the postal service the same way as the failed railways, energy companies and all other privatized resources, which now cost us more, deliver worse service, and worse working conditions than when they were publicly owned. If the posties lose this strike, it will mean more than just job losses and pay cuts. We will see more, if not all of our post offices closing down, we will receive a less frequent postal service, and with a profit driven company controlling the post, you can bet stamp prices and delivery charges will go through the roof.

So, what can you do to help? Firstly, pop a sign up in your window letting your postie know that you support him or her, secondly, pop down to the picket line. The Bath picket line will be going on for most of the morning and will be at the Manvers street entrance to the depot (between the cop shop and the church - urgh!). BAN are sending a few people down at 7.30, so why not come along and give your support. Experience on the picket lines has taught us that strikers don't want lefty newspapers and leaflets, they want coffee and cake, so that is what BAN will be bringing! Any food, drink or solidarity donations that you could bring down to the picket line would most likely go down well, and show the posties that we are on their side.

With workers going out on strike over pay cuts, privatization and redundancies in many different industries (refinery workers, lecturers, firefighters, posties to council workers and bin ment to name a few), all 3 major parties promising cuts in public services and the BNP promising the banning of our trade unions, it is time to pick sides do we stand united with other workers in a fight for jobs, respect and decent working conditions, or do we let the forces of government, fascism and capitalism steamroller our rights?

Bath Freeshop listening post

As part of the Bath Freeshop, some local activists have been running a 'listening post' asking members of the public 'how does capitalism affect you?'. The following link will show you some of the many responses from the public - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHlbKyIeeng

The Bath Freeshop is a local initiative aimed at promoting the ideas of recycling, sustainability, and a world based on co-operation, not greed. The idea is simple, bring down something that you don't want (or don't) and take away something that you do. The freeshop can be found at the Black Cat Centre (email bathsocialcentre@gmail.com for directions), or opposite Holland & Barrett on Stall street on the second saturday of each month between 12-3.

New social centre in Bath! Come and get involved!

Bath Activist Network are proud to announce the opening of a new, and yet unnamed occupied social centre in the heart of Bath. The building is massive, and in pretty good nick, but we need help before we open the doors, so come and get involved at the beginning of an exiting new social centre with loads of potential. In particular, we need people who are up for coming along and helping get the place ready for opening, and to run activities once the place is open – cleaners, painters, electricians, artists, minor hole in roof menders, artists, musicians, radicals, dreamers, schemers, your mates and assorted malcontents are all welcome! We already have several initiatives in the pipeline, such as a freeshop, infoshop, radical library, salsa, café, workshops, activist self defence sessions, squat games and more – and we are up for anyone with ideas or skills to share to come and contribute to the space. The social centre is being run as a counter-capitalist initiative, run by consensus, and giving a living example of how we can create a world based on solidarity, mutual aid and co-operation, not greed and authority. To get involved in any way, big or small, contact us at bathsocialcentre@gmail.com (we are not freely giving out the address at the moment, so email us for directions) We are slowly gathering the stuff we need to complete the space, but our wish list includes (but is not limited to) – *Chairs *Tables *Sofas *Kitchen stuff *Paint *banners *decorations *Any unwanted stuff for the freeshop *Any books, pamphlets or leaflets for the library This is a really great space, and an exciting opportunity to build something brilliant in Bath, so come down and get involved from the beginning. Cheers Bath Activist Massive x (A)
BAN x e-mail: bathsocialcentre@gmail.com

Direct action stations! - Government green lights Bathampton park and ride!

The Government office of the South west have denied a public enquiry into the concreting of bathampton Meadows, meaning the councils original green (ha ha) light for the project still stands. It also looks like the Rapid transit route ,which ploughs through a nature reserve and dozens of back gardens (aquired by compulsory purchase orders - forcing the garden owners to hand over the land) has got the go ahead. The meadows are home to bats, foxes, badgers, herons and cormorants, not to mention being a beautiful green space right on our doorstep, and not forgetting the fact that concreting over important floodplains has led to tradgedy elsewhere (including the massive floods in Gloustershire a couple of years back). This decision is pretty bad news, but it is what we expected from greedy and corrupt politicians. The battle is not over, but now we are fighting on more familiar territory - direct action and protest. There will hopefully be a public meeting very soon involving BAN and other groups opposed to the plans, so lets start dreaming up some crazy schemes to save the meadows now! As is often the case, appealing to the good side of politicians has failed (largely due to politicians not having a good side), so now it is up to the enraged population of Bath, who put ecology and community before profit to jam a spanner in the works of this stupid and ecocidal scheme once and for all!

Lax security lets BAN meet Cameron!

Last week saw everyones least favourite toff scumbag David Cameron (you know, that bloke who wants to bring back foxhunting, slash public spending, give more of our cash to the bankers, dismantle the NHS, concrete over Bathampton Meadows etc etc) visit Bath for an 'open' meeting. In fact, to get into the meeting, you had to pre-book, provide ID (despite the tories allegedly being against ID) and submit to various security checks and approval from the local tory branch leader. These best laid plans were ruined however, by an anonymous whistle blower who contacted BAN with the time and location of the meeting. This information was then 'accidentally' plastered all over the internet, and before long, both BAN and the Save Bathampton Meadows crew had called protests! With only a day to organise the protests, and with most BANners being in Bristol for the co-mutiny demo, the turnout was pretty decent, involving around 20 assorted malcontents and a large police presence which stuck with, and far outnumbered the BAN contingent. The protest gained support from the general public, but not the lads and ladies queing to get into the meeting, literally all of whom were obviously from a certain class (we'll give you a clue, it wasn't working or middle!). The protest passed peacefully, and as the BAN contingent were about to call it a night, a posh comb-over in a suit (evidently the bloke who put on the event) appeared behind a locked gate and told the cops to make sure that no BANners got inside. The police smugly replied that they had the situation under control, and the BAN activists, who had been preparing to go home smaelt a challenge. As it happened, dodging security was more than easy, and within minutes, and right under the noses of the dozy plod, 2 activists were over the wall and into the 'Cameron compound'. As heckling was about to begin, the BANners were accosted by a posh bloke in a tweed suit, issuing commands in what was either posh apeak that the rest of us aren't privvy to, or gibberish! However, the handcuffs and equiptment on his belt got the message across, and BAN left the building, stopping only to ask the cops who had promised not to let them in for the keys to the gate. Much hilarity followed as the cops got confused about the law, ranted about foie-gras and desperatley tried to concoct a reason to arrest the activists. having set alarm bells rining at Camerons Eton reunion and confounded the local cops (again), the protest faded into the night for a well earned pint!

Co-mutineers rock the boat in Bristol!

The comutiny is now over, but we can look back on a week of well attended protests and workshops over 7 days of anarchic madness in Bristol. High points included a 50 strong 'no-borders' demo and workshop at the Trinity rd police station, from which asylum seekers often get detained while signing in, 60 people taking part in a hactic anarchist games day in the city centre and over 100 making some noise (and lobbing a few paint bombs) in Bristols financial district! The week seemed like a massive success, and the hundreds of people involved over the week seemed to find it an educational and fun event well worth repeating in the future.

Co-mutiny is Co-ming to town!

Less than a week to go and people must be curious as to what Comutiny is and who is involved. EVERYONE IS INVOLVED! Everyone is invited to take part in the event between the 12th and 20th of September in whatever way they/their group feel best!!
In Bristol and surrounds, a diverse bunch of enraged creative, dreamers and schemers, builders and gardeners, workers, students and unemployed have been drawn together by the common threads of our indignation at how a combination of corporate greed, social injustice and environmental degradation is leading us all towards climate chaos and financial collapse. We invite you to converge on Bristol for an uprising of autonomous actions and events from 12th – 20th of September 2009. The provisional CoMutiny timetable is available now. There is more time to add any events/actions/skillshares/performances/happenings so please send the information to: bristolcomutinyworkshops@riseup.net Co-Mutiny Blog

Events include workshops on subjects from climate change and vegan bakery to knitting for begginers, and meetings, protests and workshops will focus on a massive range of subjects including workers rights, animal rights, climate change, recession and more.

This is gonna be big folks, so pull a sickie, quit your job, kill your boss - do what it takes to get down there for a week that you - or the authorities - won't soon forget!

Check out http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com/

Bath Vegan Fayre

On Saturday the 29th of this month, from 12 til 3pm, Bath Animal Action present the Bath Vegan Fayre '09! Taking place at the Percy Community Centre on New King Street, just a minute's walk from Sainsburys (boo, hiss), the event will be free admission, and will feature a host of freed vegan food and drink to sample, as well as a host of info on vegan living - be it nutrition, ethics and the environment, vegan parenting - and offer the chance to make links with local campaigns on food issues and animal rights. If you're in the area, why not come along and steal our food? Contact bathanimalaction [at] yahoo.co.uk, for further info.

The Yes Men hit Bath! 11/08/09

The 'Yes Men', an award winning comedy/journalism activist duo who expose corporate greed and destruction by posing as corporate high-fliers are visiting Bath with their new award winning climate change based film 'The Yes Men fix the World'.

The film will be shown as part of a UK wide tour at the little theatre on Tuesday the 11th of August, starting at 8.30, and will be followed by a live streamed Q&A session with the Yes Men themselves and a talk/workshop from representatives of everyones favourite local malcontents, Bath Activist Network!

THE YES MEN ARE BACK WITH THEIR AWARD-WINNING SHOCK-DOC -"THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD"

Having received standing ovations at its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and winning the Berlin Film Festival’s prestigious Audience Award earlier this year, the hilariously shocking THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD starts its UK cinema release on Friday August 7th at Odeon Panton street with a special simulcast event on August 11th with the film and a Q&A from the Yes Men themselves beamed into 20 independent cinemas around the country.

Directed by the ‘Yes Men’ (Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno) in collaboration with Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 editor Kurt Engfehr, who co-directs, The Yes Men Fix The World leads us through the daring political pranks of two gonzo activists as they take on the fake identity of corporate executives in a bid to highlight the greed and brutal selfishness of some of the world’s biggest and most powerful multi-national corporations.

The film shows the Yes Men posing as Exxon and Halliburton representatives, presenting shocking and ridiculous solutions to climate change to industry audiences, as well as appearing alongside the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans to show how government could right the wrongs done to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Besides covering the Yes Men's daring hoaxes, the film investigates and attacks the blind worship of the free market that has led so many corporations and government agencies to put profits before people.

The result is a hard hitting and hilarious film to inspire even the most politically lethargic into taking action. For screenings, bookings and further information go to http://www.theyesmen.org/movies/theyesmenfixtheworld

"Finally the high priests of the free market get a massive dose of the disrespect they deserve. Hilarious, therapeutic, inspiring. The Yes Men are geniuses." – Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo

Resistance to Bathampton park and ride grows!

  Last weekend saw a large group of BAN folk and assorted direct action enthusiasts take a trip to the beautiful Bathampton meadows to plan direct action to resist council plans to concrete the area. The meadows may soon be concreted over to make way for a 1400 park and ride car-park, part of the ludicrous new transport package proposed by BANES. Even by BANES own admission, the park and ride would have only a 'minimal' effect on easing congestion, and plenty more evidence sugests it would have even less. The majority of Bath workers come to town from Tewrton and the other outlying areas of Bath, so improved bus transport, or even a tram system would make far more sense - but with £50 million to burn, BANES are bulldozing ahead with their stupid plans. The meadows are home to a large bat population, a rabbit population, large numbers of herons and cormorants and provides a hunting ground for buzzads as well as being a designated AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). A recent meeting to discuss opposition to the scheme was packed out, with over 250 attending - many pledging to continue the fight to the end. The meadows have many features with make them easy to defend against the bulldozers, and BAN activists are busy plotting up ways to fight tooth and nail for every inch of the meadows (to get involved, email bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk). If BANES go ahead with their ecocidal plans, local residents and activists are set to give them a major headache - but in the mean time, find out how to object to the plans, get involved in the campaign or recieve posters and leaflets by checking out www.savebathamptonmeadows.org.uk. 

CAPITALISM IS A PUBLIC HEALTH RISK

Before taking any state-sponsored vaccine, it may be worth asking yourself: what caused this problem in the first place? Who is going to profit from this health anxiety? It may be also be worth posing the question: why is the profit motive the real enemy?

Let’s take a brief look at the pharmaceutical industry who we believe are meant to ensure the safety of drugs, and protect the public.

Awareness campaigns are commonly employed by drug companies to gain further control over what medicines are being prescribed, and to whom. GPs tend to be the path of least resistance and often say ‘yes’ to patients, prescribing drugs even though they feel it may not be the most appropriate thing to do. Often companies withhold unfavourable trial results and control what research gets published, ensuring that doctors get whichever message the company wants to promote. The State is usually in collusion, especially in times when they have no credibility, and are looking further to bolster its projected ‘caring role’ to the general public.

Still keen for the vaccine?

Usually it takes years of trials for a popular medicine to be seen as being safe, yet the new vaccine for the swine ‘flu arriving in Britain has been approved within five days, its side effects as yet unknown. Its clinical trials involved a ‘mock-up’ vaccination and, guess what, it will be introduced to the general population, while regulators continue to carry out simultaneous clinical trials. But don’t worry – whatever the nasty side effects may turn out to be, there’ll surely be on hand companies to sell us dodgy drugs for those, too.

A mass vaccination campaign against swine ‘flu was halted in the 1970s after people started suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder effecting the nervous system. Yep, that’s right, swine ‘flu isn’t a new thing. The meat industry then, as it is now, is still profiting from the misery of non-human animals, at the expense of our health.

This is where we come to the cause of swine ‘flu. Smithfields Foods, Inc. are the world’s largest industrial pork producer and processor; operations of this thoughtless industry take place in Mexico, Romania, Poland, the UK, China and throughout Europe. Mexico has been cited as the source of the current infection.

Smithfields have come under criticism for storing millions of gallons of faecal material, untreated, in holding ponds. Chemicals and infectious compounds from swine and poultry waste are able to migrate into soil and water nearby. These migrating compounds can have serious effects on human health.

The role of the pharmaceutical companies is simply to exploit the situation presented by the potential of a pandemic. The process is, in principle, simple: take a virus, incubate and then kill it, dilute it, then inject it into the population. Capitalism does not have public health as its priority; its priority is to obtain profit with as low a cost and effort as possible.

The outbreak of swine ‘flu illustrates the interaction between the global capitalists. Thing is, these people may think they’re able to control us and our minds, but they cannot command and control viruses and bacteria. The industry mode of Capitalism is the real flaw: it’s their economy that’s sick, and it’s about time we killed it.

So, a suggestion… Don’t take their shit. Swine ‘flu can e fatal, nobody is denying its existence. But by managing the Media, the State has already marginalized protest. There is no conspiracy here, unless the greed of bankers and businessmen can be called conspiracy. There is no conspiracy here, unless business practices and the failure to consider anything other than profit can be called conspiracy. And if there is no conspiracy, then surely it shows the incompetence of these people, and surely a vaccine against them would be much more suitable.

BNP sucessfully resisted in Bath!

Nearly 100 people responded to a call out from Bath Activist Network to protest a hustings meeting featuring the fascist BNP. The demo was a huge sucess, seeing the front doors blockaded for nearly two hours, preventing the meeting from going ahead. The majority of speakers due to represent their parties pulled out of the meeting and opted to speak on the street instead, many making the descision to do so on the night. A tiny mob of fascists turned up and made a pitiful attempt to force their way in before giving up and spending the rest of the night moaning to the police (one of whom had an anti-BNP leaflet mysteriously taped to his back). The blockade ended when the police demanded that the demo move out of the public view - protesters unanimously refused, and the blockade was violently broken up allowing the fascists entry to a deserted building, as the real democracy was in full swing on the streets! In an interesting side note, members of the public let protesters know that the police were desribing us as 'scum' and we have some interesting video footage of BNP highups haveing a private chat and a laugh with high up cops. The BNP requested that once the blockade was ended, they should be allowed to move in en masse - a request that the police were all too willing to faclitate. The back patting and obvious mutual support between the cops and nazis was sickening, but on the jight the facts spoke for themselves - Public support was overwhelmingly in favour of the blockade, and the 'no platform for fascists' position. It is impossible for the BNP to publicly advertise, or hold a meeting without protection from the police and a huge and angry reaction from the vast majority of the public. Well done to everyone who turned up and showed once again that the BNP are not welcome in Bath.

'Stop the fascist BNP' protest - this friday (22nd), Bath

SMASH THE FASCIST BNP! FRIDAY 22ND MAY, 6PM, QUEENS SQUARE, BATH This friday (22/05) sees the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution play host to local fascist and BNP candidate Jeremy Wotherspoon. As a result, Bath Activist Network and other local groups are calling for the largest possible demonstration to oppose this. We are calling for everyone who is disgusted by the fascist policies of the BNP to meet at 6pm on Friday the 22nd in Queens square, Bath to oppose the spread of the fascist lies and hatred propogated by the BNP. Bath Activist Network is an umbrella group and hope to make the protest as inclusive as possible, providing a space for people of all political backgrounds and tactical preference. many of us in BAN hold a 'no platform' position. This means that we do not believe that the BNP should be given the chance to spread their hatred and lies. We believe in peoples right to say and do what they like, until those words of actions are designed to infringe on the freedom of somebody else to do the same. In the case of the BNP, their freedom of speech is used to spread racial hatred, encourage racial violence, deny the holocaust and preach for a society of racial division and white supremacy. Wherever the BNP gain a foothold, racially motivated attacks, vandalism and abuse skyrocket - this is what the nazi BNP hope to achieve with their 'freedom of speech'. We are not willing to sit back and allow this. We also want to spread the message that in these hard times of lying and corrupt politicians and greedy banks and bosses, a vote for the BNP is not a 'protest vote' - its is a vote for fascists, plain and simple. If we want to changesociety for the better, we cannot rely on scumbags like the BNP, Labour or Tories, we must do it ourselves. The last time the BNP held a meeting in bath, it ended in shambles, with the Bath Uni students passing a 'no platform' motion. Banned from the campus, the BNP tried to hold a 'secret' meeting in town which ended with Nick Griffin and 10 hangers on being chased from pub to pub before being allowed a five minute speech in an empty park! It is vital that we continue this resistance to fascism and the BNP and hope you will join us on friday to continue this tradition and join together with people from all backgrounds to demand an end to the nazi BNP. Please help to build this protest by passing this callout on and spreading information to friends and collegues. For more information, please contact Bath Activist Network on bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk, or by calling us on 07794774938

Mayday! Mayday!

Monday the 4th of May saw BAN and friends take a large affinity group down to the Smash EDO hosday mayday shindig in Brighton. The theme of the event was to oppose militarism greed and war - the main target being EDO/ITT a Brighton based bomb building factory on its last legs after a relentless 5 year activist assault.

The 2000 strong march started peacefully enough, save the odd paint bomb lobbed at army recruitment centres and a little disagreement over wether or not the cops should arrest some activists hanging a banner from barclays. Things got livlier however when the cops decided to stop us airing our feelings outside a local McDonalds. During the scrap, a riot van got smoked out and spraypainted and the police tried uncussesfully to split the protest. From then on, the day became a running battle with angry police, back to the same tactics that have recently brought so much anger thier way. However, the crowd stayed mobile and free of police kettles at all times, using a variety of tactics (paint bombs to obscure police visors being our favourite!). We didn't make it to the EDO factory, but we did leave the police confused and out of control. Throughout the day, the activists were in charge, and despite a few bruises it was us and not the police that controlled the protest. Later in the night, several banks and companies with links to EDO were smashed in solidarity with the protest. Our tactics on the day showed that a fluid, leaderless movement is far more caopable of adapting to situations than the graey, authoritarian structure represented by the police. It is just such fluidity, creativity and diversity that we need more of to create a world of justice and peace, free from the deprivations of capitalism and the state.

Demo reports - Bath weekend of Rage!

Proceedings kicked off on the Friday with a visit to our local Ford garage in Solidarity with the sacked Ford/Visteon workers. During the demo, we handed out loads of leaflets and got plenty of support and beeping horns from passing drivers and pedestrians. More info on the Visteon workers and their struggle can be found at www.visteonoccupation.org.

The following day, BAN split their forces, sending nearly 15 activists to the world day for lab animals in London, and 1 to the Swindon vs Bristol Rovers derby game - resulting in a resounding 2-1 win for the mighty Swindon. Anyways.....

On Sunday we were all back in Bath and holding an anti police brutality demo. Once again, it was well supported by the public and attracted around 15 activists. The cops, who were treated to a chalk redecoration of the front of their station (see pics) kept a shockingly low profile throughout the demo, possibly aware of the consequences of being seen to repress an anti-repression demo! Some good chats were had with the public, many of whom were sympathetic, or had first hand experience of police mistreatment (leaflets went down particularly well with people leaving the station!).

All in all, the weekend proved to be a sucess. Both demos were totally unauthorised by the autorities, and we intend to keep it that way!

Bath Weekend of Rage! - 24th-26th April

Proceedings kick off on the Friday with -

*Friday 24th April - Visteon solidarity picket - 5.30pm-7pm - meet at Ford garage on Lower Bristol road (opposite Bath Press)

Demo to support the sacked visteon/ford factory workers made redundant without any back pay, redundancy pay or notice. There is a strong (and growing) campaign to fight for justice for the Visteon/ford workers. This struggle has huge implications for workers rights/struggle across the UK.

On saturday, BAN are splitting their energies between the World day for lab animals in London (www.shac.net) and casual, football related holliganism, then back to bath on the Sunday for -


*Sunday 26th April - anti-police brutality demo - meet at midday outside Bath Spa train station

To demand justice for Ian Tomlinson (paper seller murdered by cops at G20), and to demand an end to police brutality and inhumane police tactics such as kettling, mass arrests and beatings.

For any more information, or to get involved with BAN, contact us at bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk, or chack out www.bathactivistnet.blogspot.com

Support on these demos from the South West and beyond would be warmly mentioned!

G20 - we had a smashing time!

Just a quick report - The G20 is over and, as expected, has failed to come up with a cure for the global recession blues. The best our glorious leaders can come up with is throwing an extra £765 billion at the IMF, the same corrupt institution that is responsible for the free market economics and related starvation/exploitation that makes the majority of the world poor in the first place. Eager to suggest a world free of capitalist exploitation, around 10,000 protesters gathered in London to make their voices heard. The results? A huge street party, a 2,000 strong climate camp in the city, several trashed banks, including RBS HQ, a dose of police brutality and a fair amount of angry rioting that succeeded in running rings around the cops despite an £8 million security operation including 5,000 cops from 30 forces. The murderers claimed the life of passerby Ian Tomlinson, tragically caught up in the police's violence, and for that we offer our grief and solidarity, but have some doubts that those uniformed thugs will learn from it. The demo showed the rage that people are feeling about being taken for mugs by bankers, politicians and fatcats - the message was clear - NO MORE! But the question is, where do we go from here?

Summit for the weekend - roll up! Roll up for the G-20 circus!

Next week, the leaders of the world’s richest 19 countries, plus delegates from all EU states, will be meeting in London to discuss deepening the global recession. And as it is getting more and more obvious that it is them and their fatcat and banker buddies who have got us into this mess, we’ll be there to meet them! The week of action kicks off with the ‘Put People First’ march on Saturday the 28th. Meeting at 11am at the Embankment, it calls for “jobs, justice and climate” and is shaping up to be pretty huge. The demo will consist of thousands of people who’ve had just enough of ‘business as usual’, as well as the usual suspects: socialists, environmentalists, trade unionists and anarchists. This will be followed up by several midweek events, starting with ‘Storm The Banks’: starting at 11am on Wednesday the 1st of April, four simultaneous protests will make their way into the heart of London’s financial districts, where some will party, some will protest and some will be a little bit naughtier! There’s room enough for all forms of dissent - peaceful protesters, direct action enthusiasts, experienced and inexperienced protestors alike. Towards the end of the event, the Network for Climate Action have called for a camp to be set up in the financial district to oppose the carbon-driven economy that led to this recession – bring a sleeping bag, food, and sense of adventure, ‘cos this one’s not to be missed! The following day will see a series of protests around the venue of the G20 summit (the ExCeL Centre), during which some will attempt to block the delegates out, some will try to get in, and others will hold a rally. The actions are looking to be pretty dynamic, so if you’re feeling pissed of at the state we’re in, then this is the event for you. People will be travelling to all of the events from Bath, so to find someone to travel down with, drop Bath Activist Network an email to the usual address. What will you tell your grandkids when they ask you where you were when the revolution started? full info and timeline of events at www.g-20meltdown.org

BAN launch local radical lending library!

We are pleased to announce the setting up of another free, local resource - the radical lending library. Books in the library cover a huge range of topics, from anarchism to the environment and cooking, both fiction and non-fiction. Follow this link - http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/03/423520.html (or check out the BAN myspace)for a full book listing, or to find out what we have, or borrow a book, email us at bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk. The library will hopefully soon have a physical home at Twertons soon-to-be social centre 'Off the Map' (the old Twerton railway station). Happy reading folks!

P.s - we have also recently uploaded a mass (yet far from complete) bank of info about BAN activities over the last couple of years. To view it, follow this link - http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/03/423519.html

Update on the Twerton squat

Following on from recent events at the Twerton squat, things seem to have calmed down a little bit. With more residents moving in, and interior structural work well and truly underway, the building seems to be back in our hands. It has been over a week since the authorities last attempted to threaten eviction and, after a 16 strong solidarity demo, the only interaction the residents have had with the law has been frequent chats with Twetons beat manager. The transport police seem to have realised that they cannot act with impunity and have not yet acted on their clearly illegal eviction warning. With any luck the building will soon be open to the public as a space to hang out, meet, read, plot and organise and a number of ideas for workshops etc are already being developed. Oh, and the building now has a name. Borne from the fact that it doesn't appear on land registry maps, the squat has provisionally beejn christened 'Off the map'. More info as it arrives.

Squats happening at Twerton Railway station?

Our brave boys in blue distinguished themselves on the 9th of February with a violent and illegal eviction of a squatted property in Twerton, where a small group of locals had occupied a Grade 2 Listed building and begun work to reverse many years of neglect at the hands of Network Rail. Fortunately, this nefarious behaviour was curtailed when British Transport copper 1306 – acting without warrant, permission, or any form of legal authority, following orders from a company with neither actual claim to the property or to direct police activity, ripped the door off and arrested those inside. So, nothing wrong there then.
The lone occupant present at the time was held in custody until the house could be boarded up and all the fuses stolen. Meanwhile, the police kept their prisoner in a cell with no emergency buzzer, and repeatedly denied him access to his phone call, whilst trying to do him on a succession of increasingly bizarre charges: burglary – dropped upon realising that burglars take stuff out of buildings, not in; criminal damage – apparently this doesn’t apply to people repairing and maintaining a building; padlock theft – dropped after the police failed to boltcrop said padlocks away; and trespass – dropped when the CPS pointed out that trespass isn’t actually a crime. Eventually, the would-be homemaker was cautioned on the fictitious allegation of electricity theft. However, having been chucked out on the streets in the snow whilst their clothes and sleeping bags were boarded in, the former residents were heartened to find a ‘help the homeless’ collection tin in the reception of Bath police station… Although shaken by this blatantly political repression, the squatters have vowed to fight on for housing for all and a community-controlled social space in Twerton and have made a great start by.... moving back in! A few days after the eviction, the squatters recoppied the building and set about repairing the cop damage. A week later, the cops threatened another illegal eviction. Locals rsponded with a 15 strong solidarity demo outside the squat, and the police have yet to turn up. So, as we stand, the squat still exists, and the occupiers are happy for friendly and curious folk to pop by (no cops, bailiffs or network rail employees though!). If the building stays squatted, the occupiers hope to put it to good use, hosting community events and providing an example of ways to resist the current wave of repossesions and financial hardships.

150 Bathonians demand Israeli ceasefire

Saturday the 17th of Jan saw over 150 people respond to a call by Bath Activist Network for an emergency 'Israel out of Gaza' protest. Starting at Bath Abbey, the protest moved of past Guildhall, before moving down Milsom street. During the demo, activists stopped at 3 corporate baddies who have been financially supporting Israeli war crimes. First came Starbucks, whose CEO, Joe Shultz has been given awards by the Israeli government for his financial supporg and also 'creating close ties between Israel and America (e.g ensuring more funding from the USA). Although activists did not blockade the store, it was effectivley shut by weight of numbers. Our next target was Lloyds TSB who have recently cancelled the bank account of InterPal, a charity set up to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees. Activists entered the bank and leafletted customers and employees before inviting the manager out for a discussion. She refused, so talk turned to going in and talking to her, at which point Lloyds decided to lock their doors and close shop! From there, the protest moved through town and held a livley demo outside M&S, Israels biggest corporate partner in the UK, and a company who gets much of its veg for illegally occupied Palestinan land. The demo was a huge success and was loud colourful and angry throughout. The public were overwhelmingly supportive (aside from a few isolated voices). As the chants of 'Free, free Palestine' and 'occupation is a crime, Israel out of Palestine' rang through the streets of Bath, tens of thousands of others were doing the same in dozens of towns and cities accross the UK. If the attacks continue until next saturday, another demo is planned, starting at 12.30 at Abbey Courtyard. Bath Stop the war coalition also hold a weekly peace vigil from 11.30 to 12.30 outsde the Abbey every Saturday. Palestine needs our support, and on Saturday, Bath showed that we were not willing to let the Israeli genocide go unopposed.

Israel out of Gaza! - Bath protest this Saturday! (17/1/09)

As the ground incursion in Gaza intensifies, our resistance must invrease as well. Bath has held several vigils for Palestine, but this Saturday will see the first protest march - and who knows, there might be a few suprises in store for some corporate baddies.
On Saturday 17th of January, Bath Activist Network, Bath Stop the War Coalition and other groups will be joining together to demonstrate against the continued Israeli assault on Gaza. The emergency demonstration will begin at Abbey Courtyard at 12.30 before moving through Bath city centre. Since the Israeli assault began nearly three weeks ago, nearly 1,000 Palestinians, over one third of them children, have been killed, over 3,000 wounded and tens of thousands displaced. In the last five years, 5,000 Palestinians have lost their lives to Israeli attacks. The protest in Bath will be one of dozens happening across the UK. Bristol recently saw a 500-strong protest, London has seen nightly demos, with two numbering 50,000 and 75,000, and Frome recently had a 35-strong march. We hope to be joined by anti-war groups, faith groups and locals concerned at the ongoing genocide waged by Israel against the Palestinian people. In addition to the protest, we hope to encourage people to boycott companies directly involved in financing the Israeli government and the associated war crimes. If you can make it along, or if you have any queries, please email us at bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk. Please spread info about this demo as widely as possible - lets make it impressive!See y'all there!

BANners join in Palestine Solidarity actions

  As the Israeli war machine continues relentless bombardment of the Gaza strip, the world has risen up in solidarity with the Palestinian people. On Saturday, BAN members started the day supporting the Bath peace vigil which numbered around 25 people. The vigil takes place outside Bath Abbey from 11.30 to 12.30 every Saturday and highlights a number of anti-militarist issues, saturdays issue being Israels imperialist and genocidal assault on Gaza

   From there, we moved on to Bristol to join a lively 400 strong solidarity demonstration. At the same time as the Bristol Demo, activists smashed the windows of Boeings Bristol offices (Boeing supply planes and components to the Israeli military) and solidarity demos happened in hundreds of cities across the world, with at least 20 in the UK. The London demo attracted 75,000 activists and concluded with a spontaneous march on the Israeli embassy and a mini-riot after the cops launched an unprovoked attack on a peaceful section of the march, seriously injuring many activists, including kids. 

   A further demo in London is being planned for next Saturday - for info on tickets and travel, or to get involved in anti-militarist activism in Bath contact bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk