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			    <title>UK | ANTIFA.CA - ANTIFA Canada - Canadian Anti-Fascist movement!</title> 
				<link>http://www.antifa.ca/uk</link> 
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			<title>Up A Mighty River Without A Paddle?</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/up-a-mighty-river-without-a-paddle</link>
			<description><![CDATA[During the last election the centre-right National Party lead by multi-millionaire John Key, said it would partly privatise certain state assets if re-elected. Its main losing rival was the Labour Party, at the time lead by the uncharismatic Phil Goff, who had been one of the architects of the privitisation push in the 1980s. National has now decided to press ahead with its threat. The power company Mighty River Power is the current focus of attention, with other goodies up for grabs in the future. What will the effects of greater privatisation be? What options exist for workers in Aotearoa/New Zealand? 
Up A Mighty River Without A Paddle?

During the last election the centre-right National Party lead by multi-millionaire John Key, said it would partly privatise certain state assets if re-elected. Its main losing rival was the Labour Party, at the time lead by the uncharismatic Phil Goff, who had been one of the architects of the privitisation push in the 1980s. National has now decided to press ahead with its threat. The power company Mighty River Power is the current focus of attention, with other goodies up for grabs in the future. What will the effects of greater privatisation be? What options exist for workers in Aotearoa/New Zealand? 

Aotearoa was one of the first countries where the neo-liberal brand of capitalism gained momentum during the 1980&#039;s and 90&#039;s. The Fourth Labour government began the process in 1984. In terms of finance, foreign exchange controls were removed, the dollar was floated, new banks allowed and keeping inflation low became an obsession. Regarding trade, import tariffs were severely reduced or eliminated and subsidies to farmers ended. The labour market was weighted increasingly in favour of employers, with legislation such as the Employment Contracts Act (1991),which enabled strong attacks on unions, in the name of &#039;flexibility&#039;. A regressive Goods And Services Tax (GST) was introduced, with a corresponding reduction in income and company tax. The State-Owned Enterprises Act in 1986 required remaining government run assets such as Telecom and Air NZ to operate on a &#039;for profit&#039; basis. All this so the market could be free to work its magic of bringing greater efficiency and prosperity to the country. (1)

Subsequent Labour and National administrations have sped up, slowed down or modified elements of this process, but none have reversed it. After three decades of these measures, there can be little doubt as to the effects of privatisation. Most workers have no union coverage and are left to bargain alone against employers. Many work long hours, subject to irregular shifts and job sharing in precarious positions on short-term contracts. Earlier attacks by previous governments have been extended by the present one, in the form of the 90 Day Act. This permits workers to be fired within that period without explanation and limits union access to worksites (2). Wages have not matched the higher levels of productivity squeezed out of workers (3). Welfare beneficiaries (4) are continuing to be attacked and stigmatised. One of the more recent measures for example, being the drug testing of beneficiaries. The individual beneficiary is being blamed for his/her situation rather than the failure of the system to provide meaningful jobs. GST has increased to 15% with no exemptions and basic food items are becoming hard for some working families to buy regularly. This has caused dependence on food banks (which have sometimes actually run out of stock due to high demand), private charities and extended whanau. Rents are high, especially in the main centres and many families have given up on the dream of ever owning their own homes. In short, there is very little prosperity to be seen out there, though a minority have of course benefited. A lot of people are getting by bill-to-bill, rather than living in the financial paradise held out by the neo-liberal theorists.

Asset sales also interrelate to the deeper history of this country in terms of colonialism and its consequences. The NZ nation state is intrinsically based on the confiscation of indigenous land and destruction of indigenous communities. From at least 1860 onwards, the crown broke its guarantees set out in the Treaty of Waitangi and even overrode the fact that many iwi had not signed it. The crown simply invaded and stole (6). Having the land, culture, people and knowledge decimated, has impacted tangata whenua for generations since. As in other countries with similar histories, the indigenous people continue to be over-represented in crucial social indicators such as poor health, gambling, homelessness and high conviction statistics. Most hapu have essentially lost all rangatiratanga - the ability to determine what happens to your land. Asset sales are just another way of transferring assets from one owner to another without Maori being able to even participate in the discussion of how that happens, let alone making any decisions.

As for the question of efficiency, recent governments have had to implicitly admit the failure of privatisation and SOEs&#039; by either buying back assets, selling off some or putting tax payers&#039; money into others. In 2001 the Labour-lead government bought an 80% stake in a nearly bankrupt Air NZ (8). Rail services were taken back into state control and renamed Kiwirail in 2008 after being run down for years. Telecom made multi-billion dollar profits but did very little to develop its infrastructure. Consequently it is now being hugely subsidised to upgrade its network. The Solid Energy coal company became nearly $400 million in debt due to a combination of bad investments and poor management and is now on the list of assets to be sold by this government (9). Mighty River Power is about to be 49% privatised, supposedly in order to reduce government debt, and others will follow.

The neo-liberal privatisation approach has failed in Aotearoa, even on its own terms. This country is far from unique in this regard. Socio-economic damage has consistently been the case globally wherever it was applied, from Chile to Britain. Opponents of neo-liberalism have searched for alternative approaches to asset sales and privatisation, with nationalisation (i.e. state ownership) being put on the agenda. Traditionally in the English-speaking world, nationalisation has been promoted by sections of the ruling class as a means of building infrastructure in sectors of the economy that are natural monopolies and therefore less open to easy profit making.

Current calls for selective nationalisation overseas, have come from some business-friendly members of the elite. Examples include Nigel Lawson ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer under Thatcher (10) and Ilse Aigner a cabinet member in the ruling conservative government of Angela Merkel in Germany (11). The Labour and Greens here are also promoting it as a better way to manage elements of the system. The Greens argue that &quot;Selling off our publicly owned companies would mean more foreign ownership and less accountability to whats best for New Zealanders&quot; (12). Their perspective is one mired in a petty nationalism that sees opposition to asset sales as helping &#039;us&#039;, meaning the nation of fellow kiwis, regardless of social class. It is no accident that these parties find themselves alongside the right-populists of NZ First, headed by the zombie egotist Winston Peters and his racist MP Richard Prosser and Co. The latter spout very much the same rhetoric, arguing &quot;New Zealand First firmly believes that any profits should stay at home&quot; (13). Strangely, even some of those claiming the label &#039;socialist&#039; see nationalisation as a useful tool. This is because to them it is a transitional mechanism on the road to eliminating the entire current economic system, rather than merely a defensive measure to maintain it (14).

The fact that nationalisation can be adopted by various wings of the contemporary establishment and has been used historically by all manner of regimes from the Nazis, to Stalinists and petty dictators in Africa, South America and the Middle East, should give people pause for thought. It cannot be viewed as an inherently progressive move that will secure resources for the majority of the population. Instead it simply entails the transfer of resources from control by private business to that by politicians and unelected bureaucrats. The Fourth Labour Government&#039;s actions showed that this process can be reversed too. The state has not played the role of kaitiaki and can&#039;t be relied on to do so in the future either.

Under state ownership workers can more easily be bullied into compliance with government policies. This can be done by a combination of laws and cops at the &#039;tough&#039; end of the spectrum (15). At the opposite end there are top-down union structures with &#039;friendly&#039; union bosses who act as soft cops. They warn members not to rock the boat and to put their faith in the idea that &#039;consultation&#039; with government will win a few scraps from the table. Its hardly surprising they would do this, given the number of union bosses who get rewarded with safe Labour Party seats in parliament and other perks once they retire. (16)

Under neither privatisation nor nationalisation do those who actually produce goods and services have control or ownership over them. In addition, the myopia of &#039;kiwi first&#039; nationalism that nationalisation would be based on, is a dead end. It fails to deal with the reality that this country is part of an interlocking international economic system. Therefore any solution to economic failure has to extend outwards to deal with it. In this regard John Key at least acknowledges that asset sales are tied to the need for the government to react to the global economic crisis. The attempt by the Labour Party/Greens/NZ First et al to mobilize workers against &#039;foreign investors&#039; and overseas companies is a cheap trick. Workers in this country are experiencing the effects of the global crisis in the same way as workers everywhere else. It isn&#039;t foreign speculators, foreign banks or foreign companies that are the problem. It is a global capitalism which knows no boundaries and the global ruling class with material interests in common (despite internal squabbles) that is responsible for the mess the world is in.

Anarchists don&#039;t accept the false dichotomy of private ownership or state ownership. We see our goal as a transnational economy where those who produce things, collectively and directly own and control those resources. We envisage a world where we actually determine the social and economic ways of organising ourselves in our workplaces and communities. Decisions would be made in a truly democratic way, with direct participation by all and accountability to the collective for those decisions. Given the complexity of operating any economy in the modern world, this would require co-ordination between the various organisations the communities establish. This can be achieved by federations that span wider and wider geographical areas. No doubt, there would be teething problems, especially if a democratic economy arose after a protracted revolutionary upheaval. However, given that the workers of the world currently produce everything anyway, efficiently controlling resources on our own behalf is not an impossible task if the opportunity arises. In addition, with the full possession of the factors of production, the material basis would exist for the whole of society to live comfortably, rather than the minority that do at present.

Collective and federative ways of organising are not new. Many aspects of our lives - from bands to community groups or marae - already include truly democratic and collective ways of operating. Plus, history is full of examples of people doing things together for the community as a whole and not for the betterment of a few individuals.

Moving from the political options available, to modes of struggle, what can be said about the latter in the present environment? Opposition to asset sales has taken a reformist and legalistic shape. For example the Maori Council appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the government&#039;s actions interfered with the Treaty of Waitangi process. This temporarily held up the prospective partial-privatisation of Mighty River Power but ultimately failed when they lost the case. The Greens and Labour along with the Mana Party (17), some unions and Marxist-inspired grouplets have formed an anti-assets-sales campaign. One tactic being applied is signature collecting for a petition to be submitted to parliament. This is intended to initiate a referendum on asset sales. The petition has nearly reached the minimum 300,000 names needed to produce a referendum. However, with a glossy government advertising blitz in favour of selling Mighty River Power shares, you would almost not know any petition existed at all! The very fact it does exist shows that there is a significant level of disagreement with the government&#039;s plans. It also adds credence to the idea that even during times of increased capitalist pressure, the population is rarely entirely passive (18).

Unfortunately for the signatories and the rest of the country, Key will ignore the petition. His argument being that the election, in which nearly a quarter of the population refused to participate, gave him a mandate to push through whatever he wants. The experience of the opposition movement so far proves once again that if a form of protest is permitted by the powers-that-be, its probably because they know it offers no more than a symbolic &#039;threat&#039; to them (ie. no threat at all). An accompanying tactic has been street demonstrations. These have managed to gain some attention and thereby raised awareness of the issue. Though fluctuating attendance has been a feature of them too. However, the nationalistic approach has also made neo-nazis and anti-semites comfortable participating in &#039;Aotearoa is Not for Sale&#039; marches (19). This demonstrates the slippery slope that this really is. Unless we are explicit that our campaign is anti-racists and racists are not welcome (from Rightwing Resistance&#039;s Kyle Chapman to NZ First leader Winston Peters), we legitimise racist and anti-semitic rhetoric. Overall the demonstrations and referendum hardly have the government quaking in its boots and are likely to degenerate further in the direction of electioneering in favour of the Greens and Labour in the next election.

While anarchists have participated in demonstrations and disseminated our message regarding asset sales, we have done so with no illusion that this is sufficient. Real change will require workers and communities across the country to take direct action for themselves. This can come in many forms including strikes and occupations that put resources under their immediate control and begin to threaten the stranglehold of the state and capitalists. This will have to be undertaken in co-ordination with similar actions in other places across the globe. On the face of it, this seems highly unlikely to happen soon in Aotearoa. However, something being unlikely doesn&#039;t make it wrong, just difficult and failure to act at all will guarantee defeat. The fightback though limited here, has begun and will hopefully continue to gain momentum as this ideologically (and in some cases literally) bankrupt system lurches from crisis to crisis.
Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement


Notes:


1. An accessible orthodox Left critique of neo-liberalism as applied in NZ in the &#039;80s and &#039;90s can be found in J. Kelsey, The New Zealand Experiment, (Auckland, 1996).

2. See AWSM, &quot;Solidarity&quot;, Issue 1:1 2009 for more on this legislation.

3. Bill Rosenberg, http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/5824465/New-Zealanders-get-low-wages.

4. See http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7496309/High-cost-for-drug-testing-beneficiaries-Health-ministry.

5. Sophie Rishworth, NZ Herald, Nov 3 2011.

6. Of course there were variations in experience within the colonisation and confiscation processes but the basic picture is clear. See R. Boast &amp; R. S. Hill (eds), Raupatu (Wellington, 2009).

7. For a wide-ranging view of the various social problems experienced by Maori today, see T. McIntosh &amp; M. Mullholland (eds), Maori and Social Issues (Wellington, 2011).

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Air_New_Zealand#Rebirth_and_re-nationalisation.

9. For a summary of how this problem arose, see http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/8489664/Why-Solid-Energy-has-ended-up-on-the-slagheap.

10. http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/news/2240785/exchancellor-lawson-calls-for-full-nationalisation-of-rbs.

11. http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/member-of-merkel-cabinet-calls-for-nationalization-of-german-power-grid-a-877576.html.

12. http://www.greens.org.nz/koa.

13. http://nzfirst.org.nz/what-we-stand-for/no-asset-sales.

14. For example, Socialist Aotearoa which is the NZ affiliate of the International Socialist Tendency.

15. Of course, it is the nature of the state to attempt to act this way, regardless of the exact proportion of government or private control over the economy. Something even right-wing libertarians appreciate. Nevertheless, it is easier when the state has more direct control. The classic example of draconian intervention by the NZ state in industrial warfare was the 1951 waterside dispute. See Dick Scott, 151 Days (1952).

16. For example, Andrew Little - a current Labour MP - spent his entire previous working life as a union bureaucrat and obtained his seat via a prime position on the party list, despite having been resoundingly rejected by voters in an electorate seat.

17. A small Left split from the Maori Party, which had chosen to enter into coalition with National.

18. See Toby Boraman, &quot;The Myth of Passivity&quot;, http://www.anarkismo.net/article/2277.

19. See https://notafraidofruins.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/stop-ignoring-anti-jewish-racism/

]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 13:50:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>[Jura Libertaire] Les grèves sauvages en Afrique du Sud</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/jura-libertaire-les-greves-sauvages-en-afrique-du-sud</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Détérioration du climat social en Afrique du Sud Dix mineurs sud-africains travaillant dans une mine de chrome ont été hospitalisés mardi à la suite d&#039;affrontements entre des grévistes et les agents de sécurité du site, rapporte la police. “Ils ont … Continue reading (...)
		-- Radicalisation des luttes ouvrières, Afrique du Sud, Anhelm Mittelbach, East London, Lanxess, Mercedes-Benz, Mphumzi Maqungo, NUM, Numsa]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>[Jura Libertaire] [Hourra pour les émeutiers de Stockholm !] “It is very similar to what we have seen in London or Paris but not yet on that scale”</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/jura-libertaire-hourra-pour-les-emeutiers-de-stockholm-“it-is-very-similar-to-what-we-have-seen-in-london-or-paris-but-not-yet-on-that-scale”</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Deux nuits d&#039;affrontements avec la police dans la banlieue de Stockholm Sept personnes ont été arrêtées à la suite d&#039;affrontements avec la police, lors d&#039;une deuxième nuit de violence à Husby, un quartier défavorisé de la banlieue nord de Stockholm, … Continue reading (...)
		-- La police travaille, Violences policières et idéologie sécuritaire, Husby, Jörgen Karlsson, Per Adman, Stockholm, Suède]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 01:50:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>[Hourra pour les émeutiers de Stockholm !] “It is very similar to what we have seen in London or Paris but not yet on that scale”</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/hourra-pour-les-emeutiers-de-stockholm-“it-is-very-similar-to-what-we-have-seen-in-london-or-paris-but-not-yet-on-that-scale”</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Deux nuits d’affrontements avec la police dans la banlieue de Stockholm Sept personnes ont été arrêtées à la suite d’affrontements avec la police, lors d’une deuxième nuit de violence à Husby, un quartier défavorisé de la banlieue nord de Stockholm, … Continue reading →]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 00:30:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>[L’Atelier] « Farewell from Indymedia London », l&#039;annonce de la fermeture d&#039;un des piliers du réseau d&#039;info alternative</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/l’atelier-</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Le 13 octobre 2012, le collectif d&#039;Indymedia Londres annonçait la fermeture de son site après 13 ans de participation et une tentative pour faire évoluer ce modèle de site. Dans ce texte, le collectif explique ce qui l&#039;a amené à prendre cette décision. Une contribution intéressante à une réflexion sur (...)
		-- indyspace-comp1.jpg, article-1328385-0C00FE8F000005DC-107_634x411.jpg, annonçait la fermeture de son site, présentation du site]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>FinFisher: UK spy tech used against Bahraini activists</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/finfisher-uk-spy-tech-used-against-bahraini-activists</link>
			<description><![CDATA[A UK-based company’s surveillance software has been used by the Al Khalifa regime to spy on Bahraini activists, London High Court documents show.
According to the witness statement of Ala’a Shehabi, a British-Bahraini activist and a founding member of Bahrain Watch organization, she received emails containing a product called FinFisher (or FinSpy), distributed by British company Gamma International, causing her computer system to be under secret surveillance. 
British technology firm’s FinFisher suite of software products are believed to target individuals’ devices and relay information back to the sender, including the contents of emails, Skype conversations and address books. 
Shehabi was arrested in April 2012 during the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain and later released.
Earlier in February, a number of campaign groups including Privacy International said the Gamma International has breached Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises by exporting a spy technology to the Bahraini regime to crush peaceful pro-democracy protests.
The UK government is considered as one of the most supportive of the Al Khalifa monarchy and it has licensed nearly £13 million worth of weapons to Bahraini regime between 2008 and 2012.
The Bahraini uprising began in mid-February 2011, when the people started holding massive demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime, which promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring states to help quash the revolt.
Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds including doctors and nurses.

Solidarity with the people struggling against the Al Khalifa regime and the British imperialists – Social war is international.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 02:10:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>‘Prisons: Factories Of Hate’ by John Bowden (UK)</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/‘prisons-factories-of-hate’-by-john-bowden-uk</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Right-wing Tory Justice Minister Chris Grayling’s declaration in late April that prisoners would now be made to “earn” basic privileges by “working harder” probably wasn’t just the usual “popularist” promise to stick the boot into one of the most powerless and demoralised social groups. During times of economic austerity and potential social unrest scapegoating marginalised and outcast groups like prisoners, is always useful as a means of deflecting and re-focusing public anger away from the true culprits of the country’s economic ruination, in this case Grayling’s pals in the city of London. Behind the rhetoric and the guise of “getting tough” on prisoners is the actual purpose of the prison industrial complex: to turn prisons into privatised forced-labour factories. 
Prisoners are, it seems, to become like third-world workers, a source of extremely cheap and compliant labour for multi-national corporations, a practice which of course draws its inspiration from the U.S. Where one of the largest prisoner populations in the world have increasingly replaced outside unionised labour as a source of profit. Under the U.N. Charter of Human Rights forced labour is of course unlawful, but prisoners don’t seem to count, and during times of economic crisis and a burgeoning prison population there is a cold rational in the capitalist intention to focus its rapacity on those behind bars.
It also harks back to the original purpose of the Victorian-inspired model of what was then a modern prison system: to instil conformity and the work ethic in the rebellious poor. After decades of the control and containment model prisons are to be returned to their original function as places where the errant poor are taught their true place as producers of profit for the rich.
Of course the tabloids who cheer Grayling’s “get tough” treatment of prisoners and whip-up mob support for him omit to mention or question why prisoners are being forced to do work that its unemployed readers could be invited to do on a legally-enforced minimum wage? And whilst large corporations and companies constantly “rationalise” their operations by shedding labour and creating unemployment, some of these same companies are using prison cheap labour to top-up profits, all with the willing assistance of Grayling and his rich and powerful colleagues in the Tory government.
Not only is prison slave-labour an absolute negation of the basic human rights of prisoners, which Grayling has now prevented any legal challenge to from within jails by stopping legal aid for prisoner litigation cases, but also the removal of a means of employment for many of those outside prison who are influenced by the lies and witch-hunting of the tabloids and an increasingly right-wing political establishment.
Grayling should also ponder this: forcing a slave-labour regime as a condition for basic privileges on prisoners serving increasingly longer sentences might just be a catalyst for some extremely expensive prison repairs further down the line.
John Bowden
6729
HMP Shotts
May 2012

Brighton ABC ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 12 May 2013 13:10:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>#J11: Map of the capitalist West End – London (UK)</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/j11-map-of-the-capitalist-west-end-london-uk</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

Presenting the action map for the June 11 Carnival Against Capitalism. Some 90 locations connected to blatant murder, oppression and exploitation. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg …
Click on the image to zoom in, download and print. Also on http://network23.org/stopg8/
There is also an online map which will feature more details and even more addresses. It is still being updated. To check in for latest progress go to: mappingthecorporations.org/ and select “Mapping Capitalist London” in the sector menu.
If you have more information on any company, or want to add a new address, please email stopg8@riseup.net

This is London.

London is at the heart of global capitalism. It is one of the main hubs of a worldwide system of money and power. Deals made here build factories in Asia, burn down forests in South America, and start wars in Africa. For billionaires, dictators, and other parasites London is a safe place to hide out, launder money, and go shopping. These people are not untouchable. They are right here on our doorstep, and they have names and addresses. 
We now live in a globalised economy. Factories in Asia make goods using raw materials from Africa, South America and the Middle East, which are sold (on credit) to European consumers. The UK produces little: a factory here can’t compete with a Bangladeshi sweatshop where wages are pitiful and life is cheap. In the 1980s and 90s the UK economy shifted away from manufacturing to money management, and is now almost entirely based on debt and on London’s role as a financial middleman.
No longer the capital of a powerful country, London thrives as a money-laundering centre for the new global elites. It attracts international wealth with its banking infrastructure, established networks, minimal tax and regulation, historic prestige, and tame population. As the city’s role changes, its landscape is transformed. The valuable real estate in the centre is socially cleansed and secured with private guards, gated areas, and CCTV, pushing us out to the forgotten fringes.
London has three main economic power centres. In two of them, the City and Canary Wharf, the big banks shout their power with glass skyscrapers and neon corporate logos. But much of the power in London is quietly concentrated in the old elite areas of the West End. Here deals are done in whispers, behind unmarked doors.
Money.

Mayfair is home to private banks, banks that cater to the wealthy and don’t ask questions. The map shows just a few of them, including some dedicated to washing money for regimes like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The deregulation and financial boom of the 80s and 90s led to new forms of investment including *private equity* and hedge funds. These also gravitated to the private banking zone, making Mayfair the world’s second hedge fund capital after New York.
Private equity investors buy companies and shares in private deals, rather than on ‘public’ stock exchanges. They are less transparent, less regulated, and can make much bigger profits. Some private equity funds take over existing companies, sacking workers and ‘asset stripping’ the firms. Some speculate in real estate, including the ‘land grab’ funds buying up farmland in poor countries, displacing communities and pushing up food prices. ‘Soft commodities’ funds speculate on food and water supplies. Other funds specialise in privatisation, using their political contacts to grab cheap government assets.
Hedge Funds are ‘alternative’ investment managers specialising in risk, secrecy, and big profits. In contrast to the cautious and relatively tightly regulated pension funds of the City they are private partnerships, usually run by a few superstar managers, that publish little information and attract wealthy investors. Hedge funds follow a range of different strategies. Some make their money by gambling on currencies and other financial markets: a number made a killing out of the sub-prime mortgage collapse of 2008. ‘Distressed debt’ funds, sometimes called ‘vulture funds’, are glorified debt collectors who buy up and chase bad debts, including those of struggling countries like Greece and Argentina. Many fund bosses are big political party donors, which helps them fend off regulation and investigation despite their unsavoury reputations.
Dirt, blood and spin.

Some of the world’s bloodiest and most polluting corporations are based in the West End. Oil giant BP and mining companies like Lonmin are vestiges of British colonial power, still plundering Africa and other resource rich regions. Their new neighbours are ‘emerging market’ giants like India’s ArcelorMittal, Tata and Vedanta. A number of these companies are based around St James’ Square, south of Piccadilly, the area that is also the traditional clubland of the old British ruling class.
Where there’s a goldmine or an oilfield, you need guns (and drones, jets, guided missiles, etc) and hired killers to defend it. The West End is also the main European base for many of the world’s largest arms companies, including BAE Systems, Thales, Lockheed Martin and more, and also of mercenaries and private security contractors. These can be found clustered around Victoria, and throughout the area.
Some unfortunate regimes and corporations suffer from ‘reputational issues’: i.e. people realise that they are murdering bastards. This is where Public Relations companies like Bell Pottinger, Brown Lloyd James, and M&amp;C Saatchi step in to spin destruction into development. The West End has become a key base of the global PR trade, traditionally centered around Soho.
Dens of the rich.

Once you’ve made obscene money, you need to spend it. London real estate is a prime investment opportunity, and you can get round planning laws by knocking mansions together and digging down for underground swimming pools. The boutiques of Bond Street and the nightclubs of Mayfair and Knightsbridge mix the prestige of the old aristocracy with the glamour of the new mega-rich. Crucially for them all, London is a haven of ‘stability’: extradition treaties don’t touch the elites, and London’s occasional riots usually stay safely away from rich areas.
If we knew our power …

The old idea was that we could overthrow capitalism by uniting as workers and taking over production. But London doesn’t produce anything: the only work left is in the ‘service’ sector, serving the rich. If we want to destroy the system that is killing us, and replace it with sustainable and worthwhile ways of living, we need to identify where our power lies today. Cities like London are key hubs in the circulation of finance and information that keeps the global system going. To function they need stability and security. They rely on us to keep tame and compliant. Time to wake up.
stopg8
stopg8@riseup.net
https://network23.org/stopg8/]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2013 14:50:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>Straßen aus Zucker #4 erschienen</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/strasen-aus-zucker-4-erschienen</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Die vierte Nummer der “Straßen aus Zucker” ist eine Sonder- und Kooperationsausgabe gegen den „Tag der Deutschen Einheit“ 2010 und den offiziellen Feierlichkeiten in Bremen. Hierfür haben sich im Redaktionsteam neben T.O.P. B3rlin und communisme sucré auch Gruppen von „Junge Linke gegen Kapital und Nation“ aus Berlin, Hannover, London und Bremen zusammengefunden. Neben Texten zum Schwerpunkt Nation und Deutsche Einheit enthält die Zeitung ein Interview mit Dirk von Lowtzow (Tocotronic) sowie verschiedene Statemts von Musik- bzw Bandprojekten zur Frage “stolz auf Deutschland?”.
Ihr findet die Hefte ab sofort in den einschlägigen Locations in Köln und natürlich auch online als PDF.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 May 2013 14:00:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>German Neo-Nazi Group to Stand Trial for Murdering Turks and Greek Immigrants</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/german-neonazi-group-to-stand-trial-for-murdering-turks-and-greek-immigrants</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Beate Zschape, the alleged ringleader of the National Socialist Underground, will face murder charges
 The trial of a group of German neo Nazis accused of involvement in the murder of nine immigrants and a policewoman is to begin on Monday.


Beate Zschape, the alleged ringleader of the National Socialist Underground, will face charges with four others in one of Germany’s most high profile trials since World War Two.
The victims, eight of whom were Turkish and one Greek, were all shot in the head at point-blank range in a seven year campaign of terror between 2000 and 2007.
The group is also accused of two nail-bomb attacks, one of which resulted in a device concealed in a cake box exploding in the face of the Turkish shopkeeper who opened it. Another blew up in a Cologne market, leaving dozens injured.
“Their motive was to unsettle citizens of foreign origin in the hope that they would start leaving Germany out of fear for their own safety,” said Harald Range, chief state prosecutor.


Germany’s security services have been castigated for allowing the group to go undetected for so long, despite a bomb-making factory being discovered in Zschape’s garage in 1998.
Initially investigators worked on the theory that the victims had links to organised crime or were targeted by Islamists.
The head of the country’s intelligence services has been forced to resign amidst accusations of institutional racism and its security apparatus is to be reorganised.
Semiya Simsek, the daughter of one of the victims, has described how in initial police interviews her family were made to feel like criminals and said: “I feel like the neo-Nazis shot him [but] the German authorities killed him a second time.”
Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats, called the case a “farce”, saying it had made Germany “the laughing stock of the world”.
The existence of the group only came to light when group members, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Bonhardt, realised that the police were closing in on them after a bank robbery went wrong and killed themselves.
In their caravan in the east German town of Eisenbach police found the Ceska pistols used in each of the murders alongside the men’s bodies.
Officers also discovered a DVD in which the group proclaimed their responsibility for the crimes and which contained footage of the bodies of those murdered and a sequence with a Pink Panther style cartoon character adding up the number of victims.
Zschape then set fire to the Zwickau flat she shared with the men and went on the run, before handing herself in to police four days later.
The trial is expected to last into next year.
There was a surge of support for far-right organisations in East Germany after reunification when unemployment soared.
A study last year by the country’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation found that 15.8% of east Germans had extreme-right views.
In other European countries there has been a resurgence of the far-right in recent years, with groups such as the UK’s EDL and Greece’s Golden Dawn party attracting support.
 From International Business Times . Report by Tom Porter . 04.05.13.


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			<pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2013 13:00:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>Resistance issue 151 - May 2013</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/resistance-issue-151-may-2013</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Regular bulletin of the AF (Britain)
MAY 2013 RESISTANCE is out. THE GREEN SHOOTS OF REVOLT (Bedroom Tax), Pro-choice in Ireland, Benefits interviewee campaign, Bristol Bookfair report (and forthcoming Sheffield bookfair), Greece migrant worker attacks, Bangladesh factory solidarity, Jock Palfreeman prisoner support.
Subscribe to receive Resistance in print for a year, or join one of our free mailing lists to receive PDF or text by email:
http://www.afed.org.uk/res/reslist.html

Also available: Organise! magazine no. 80 - Summer 2013: http://www.afed.org.uk/publications/organise-magazine.html

The Anarchist Federation: http://www.afed.org.uk

---

Contents of RESISTANCE bulletin issue #151 May 2013:

1. The Green Shoots of Revolt
2. Pro-Choice Campaigning in Ireland
3. Inspriring Solidarity after Benefits Interview
4. Bristol Anarchist Bookfair (report)
5. Support Prisoner Jock Palfreeman
6. Greek Bosses Fire on Migrant Workers
7. Bangladeshi Solidarity]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2013 01:00:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>Exec rally students before EDL protest</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/exec-rally-students-before-edl protest</link>
			<description><![CDATA[ 

The Union Exec has called for students to “come together” against racism ahead of a student rally this weekend, organised in opposition to an English Defence League (EDL) demonstration in Leeds.
On Saturday, the EDL will hold a protest against a community centre planned by the UK Islamic Mission, in Moortown.
The group state that they aim to stop their estate from “becoming another Muslim area”, and claim that Islamic residents are trying to “colonise” the area.
The Exec committee collectively states: “Wherever groups like the EDL congregate, we should come together to show that we do not want our communities to be undermined by racism and hate”.
The Leeds Students Unite Against Fascism (LUAF) society is holding a peaceful “celebrate and defend multicultural Leeds” rally on the same day.
David Lewzey, a member of LUAF, said they are hoping for a turnout of 50 to 100 students.
He said: “It’s important that we aren’t complacent about this at our University. Often we see Uni as a safe-haven from racism and it’s not. At Liverpool Uni there is an EDL student group that has recently formed.”
The Leeds Union Islamic society said:
“The EDL’s targeting of this venture highlights a dangerous presence of Islamophobia. They are somehow trying to convince people that British Muslims transforming a failed pub into community facilities (with their own funds) is an attack on Britain. As Britons, we disagree.”
The words “a mosque” were graffitied onto the side of the building in February. This followed the purchase of the site by the UK Islamic Mission, who applied for planning permission to develop the former pub into a public gym, IT suite, library, training facilities and a prayer room for up to 70 worshippers.
Over 400 letters of complaint from local residents were sent to the Council in response to the plans.
David Lewzey added: “There are two different issues in the area. There is the community centre that has been formed, and the residents don’t feel involved in the creating of it. But the fascist thing is a separate thing – they are opposing the centre on very racist grounds.”
The Exec were keen to add: “We urge all attendees of Saturday’s counter-demonstration, whether students or not, to look after each other and stay safe.”
Meg Ingham, an LUAF member, said: “It is important to stress that this is a peaceful rally. We don’t intend for, nor want clashes with the EDL.”
LUAF rally-goers will assemble at the Parkinson steps at 10.30 on Saturday.
From Leeds Student . Report by Ellie Parkes.
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			<pubDate>Sat, 04 May 2013 13:10:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>Physical excercise prevents you becoming gay, claims UK councillor candidate</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/physical-excercise-prevents-you-becoming-gay-claims-uk-councillor-candidate</link>
			<description><![CDATA[John Sullivan, a UKIP party candidate, up for election next week, has made a series of anti-gay Facebook comments, including congratulating Russia for banning gay Pride, and comparing gays to termites




 


John Sullivan, a UK councillor candidate congratulated Russia on banning gay Pride marches and claimed regular exercise in schools can prevent homosexuality.
In a series of Facebook posts, Sullivan, who is a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) likened gay activists to termites and stated that feminism is evil and being gay is even worse.
Sullivan is standing for local elections on 2 May, to win a seat as a councillor for the Forest of Dean area in Gloucestershire’s County Council, in western England, UK.
In a series of posts on the far right anti-gay Traditional Britain Group Facebook group Sullivan expressed anti-gay views, revealed Colin Cortbus, an anti-extremist campaigner and a Gay Star News reader.
In one post Sullivan suggested regular physical exercise prevents children from becoming gay.
He recommended Victorian style regular physical exercise be reinstated in schools as it apparently causes releases of tension which prevents homosexuality.
Gay Star News readers thought Sullivan’s ideas were hilariously bad: ‘Has he never seen a gaggle of gym-bunnies?’, read one comment.
One reader stated: ‘Regular exercise made me even gayer!!’
‘Not in my gym…’, said another.
Sullivan also congratulated Russia for banning gay Pride and saying: ‘Well done the Russians’.
Reacting to Sullivan’s recommendations, Nikolay Alexeyev, co-founder of Moscow Pride and Gay Russia, told GSN: ‘Unfortunately Sullivan was born in the wrong country (and century).
‘I’d advise him to ask Putin for a Russian citizenship, he would make an excellent member of United Russia and his views on promoting hatred would be far better received.
‘Putin would very likely personally take a liking to him and congratulate him on his views.’
Sullivan also went on to call gay marriage supporters ‘termites’ mockingly reacting to an article on Conservative party members supporting marriage equality.
His antagonism doesn’t stop there, he also claimed feminism is evil, suggesting that homosexuality is even worse (saying ‘it doesn’t go there’).
When it comes to education, Sullivan has some novel suggestions: the best way to rear children is to handle them in a similar way to dogs, who learn that with obedience comes trust.
Sullivan recommended this method (which he said he tried and tested on his own children) be adopted by UK educational establishments.
Gay Star News contacted UKIP’s Forest of Dean and West Gloucestershire Branch for comments but has received none to the date of the article’s publication.
UKIP has recently come under fire for some of its members expressing anti-gay views
Nigel Farage, UKIP’s leader, called upon Conservative party members to defect to his party over the government’s pro gay marriage stance. 
While, Olly Neville, the former chairman of UKIP’s Young Independent wing, was recently fired from his position for backing marriage equality.
Winston McKenzie, a UKIP unsuccessful MP candidate previously said gay adoption is like throwing kids to the ‘dogs’.
Former UKIP chair, Dr Julia Gasper, was forced to resign when said gays are more likely to abuse children, branding LGBT rights activists as a ‘lunatics’ and claimed some gays prefer sex with animals.
Cortbus, who exposed Gasper and led to her eventual resignation, told GSN: ‘party-members and candidates like Sullivan evidence the dangers of UKIP’s politics’.
From Gay Star News . Report by Dan Littauer 27.04.2013
Editorial. Poor old UKIP. Despite strenuous efforts to present themselves as not being of the far right – well, no further to the right than Maggie Thatcher was at any rate, they just can’t seem to shake off this image of being a collection of  ”fruitcakes, loonies, waifs and strays”. We at Liveraf wonder how long it will be before the electorate rumbles them; just like they rumbled the BNP and the National Front and that dinosaur from the 1930s, The British Union of Fascists?



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			<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 17:20:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>UKIP: New race storm as party canvasser Tony Nixon faces police probe over Facebook abuse</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/ukip-new-race-storm-as-party-canvasser-tony-nixon-faces-police-probe-over-facebook-abuse</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

He made jokes on Facebook about destroying mosques, setting Muslims on fire and running over people from Pakistan with a bus






Investigation: UKIP canvasser Tony Nixon has been suspended by the party

 
 
Ukip was plunged into yet another race storm today as one of its canvassers faced a police investigation over vile abuse posted online.



Tony Nixon made jokes on Facebook about destroying mosques, setting Muslims on fire and running over people from Pakistan with a bus.
The profile of the Ukip member, who claimed to have canvassed 800 homes in the run-up to today’s local elections, showed support for right-wing groups, including the English Defence League (EDL).
The account featured a Bulldog profile picture, with highly offensive images of President Obama and wife Michelle doctored to make the couple look like monkeys and a photograph of pigs eating copies of the Koran.
It also stated ‘Tony likes Islam – The Crime Against Humanity’.
In one post, Mr Nixon, of Great Broughton, North Yorkshire, tells a friend that the EDL and Ukip are on the same side ‘in the fight against traitors to Britain’.
In another, he rants: ‘Instead of turning Ground Zero into a mosque why not turn some mosques into ground zero?’
Police confirmed they were investigating the messages, as parts of the account were removed from public view.
A Ukip spokesman was ‘shocked’ to learn of the views, and said Mr Nixon was suspended with immediate effect and will be investigated by the party.
He added: “We do not tolerate members with any links to BNP, EDL or other extremist parties.
“We do not condone racist or any other inappropriate comments and regard them as totally abhorrent and if anyone else is discovered acting in such an appalling way they will be thrown out of the party.
“They are as unwelcome inside the party as they are outside the party.”
In one thread, Mr Nixon tells Ukip supporters that immigration was the number one topic among voters on the doorstep.
Some supporters urged him to keep his personal beliefs to himself as he allegedly warns of the ‘impending coming of a million or so Romanians and Bulgarians’.
One comment says: “You’re meant to be representing Ukip and Ukip’s candidate, not your other beliefs.”
Another adds: “Stop focusing on Muslims and focus on local issues for the local elections. You are just giving the Left ammunition to smear us.”
Ged Grebby, chief executive of Show Racism the Red Card group, condemned the remarks.
He said: “Ukip are meant to be a legitimate political party yet it seems some of their members are also supporters of far right groups such as the English Defence League or even the British National Party.
“If parties like Ukip want to remain legitimate they simply can’t have people like this canvassing on their behalf.”
Simon Cressy, of anti-racist group Hope Not Hate, added: “The words and language were disgusting and should be investigated by police.
“If Ukip wants to be viewed as a serious political party it has to rid itself of racists and bigots like this.”

Pot plant impression, reaching for phone, or fascist salute? Alex Wood 




 The Mirror told how Ukip candidate Alex Wood was suspended from the party this week after we revealed a photo allegedly showing him making a Nazi salute.
Mr Wood claimed he was reaching for a friend’s mobile phone, and party leader Nigel Farage claimed he had been ‘impersonating a pot plant’ in a pub.
But Mr Farage admitted the rapid growth of Ukip meant some inappropriate people ‘slipped through the net’.
Veteran Tory Ken Clarke sparked uproar last week when he labelled Ukip “a collection of clowns” and said the party was against foreigners.
Ukip claimed Tory Central Office had been trawling its members’ Facebook and Twitter pages looking for inappropriate material.
Nationally, the party is investigating six candidates over links to right-wing organisations.
North Yorkshire Police said of Mr Nixon’s on-line comments: “We are aware of the issue and officers are investigating to establish if any offences have been committed.
“It would not be appropriate to comment further until these enquiries are completed.”
Mr Nixon declined to comment, asking for any approach to be made via his Facebook page.
The Mirror has yet to hear back from him.
From The Daily Mirror . 030513

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			<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 12:20:01 CEST</pubDate>
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			<title>Anti-fascists set sights on last Burnley BNP councillor</title>
			<link>http://www.antifa.ca/antifa-news/antifascists-set-sights-on-last-burnley-bnp-councillor</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Anti-fascist campaigners said today that they hope to kick the last British National Party (BNP) councillor off Burnley Council in next Thursday’s local council elections.

The far-right party took three seats on the council in 2002, cashing in on the neglect suffered by the former industrial town.
The BNP concentrated its attack on Burnley’s Asian community and won five more seats in 2003, becoming the official opposition on the Lancashire council to Labour.
The infection spread across the Pennines to West Yorkshire, where in subsequent elections it won seats on the district councils of Calderdale (Halifax), Kirklees (Huddersfield), Bradford and Leeds.
In response, unrelenting and determined campaigns by anti-fascist groups including Hope Not Hate and Unite Against Fascism were mounted.
The BNP has now been wiped out electorally on councils in West Yorkshire, though former BNP member and veteran fascist Andrew Brons is still a Yorkshire Euro-MP.
Back in Lancashire, BNP leader Nick Griffin remains as Euro-MP for the north west.
Both will be targeted by anti-fascist campaigners if they stand for re-election in 2014.
Hope Not Hate has maintained a constant anti-fascist campaign in Burnley for the last decade and is now mounting a final push to rid the town of the BNP.
The group’s director Nick Lowles said: “The BNP is in a mess because of recent political defeats. Next Thursday we could see a BNP-free Burnley for the first time in 11 years.”
The far-right party had a minor electoral breakthrough in 1993, when Derek Beackon became its first-ever elected councillor in Millwall, but he soon lost the seat.
 From The Morning Star . Report by Peter Lazenby. 25.04.13.

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			<pubDate>Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:30:01 CEST</pubDate>
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