The last two years have seen an increasing assualt on our rights to protest as the Tory Government clamps down on dissent of just about any kind, and is trying to ciminalise almost every action.
They’ve introduced four new Laws which sit alongside or on top of Laws from previous Governments. The new Laws are: – Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Act 2022 (PCSC) – Public Order Act 2023 (POA) – National Security Act 2023 (NSA – Law in July, many Sections in force from end October) – Strikes (Minimum Service Level) Act 2023 (Law in July, service levels being negotiated)
Even the most hardened Legal Support activists will only know the key, or worst, Sections of these Laws – but it’s worthwhile everybody getting as clued up as they can. So a few local legal activists have sat down and compiled a list of links to the best legal guides, explainers, rights info, bustcards and legal activist websites; plus some basic ‘protest advice’ for you to consider when going on a protest/action.
They’re all gathered together in this pdf below: Legal info Protest advice_Dec23 Just click on the links in the guide, and read away!
Almost 33 months after the Bristol Kill The Bill protest on 21 March 2021, the repression continues with 10 people still in prison, and upto 7 more going through the courts. They still need our solidarity & support!
On Friday 15th December, from 7-10pm, the Justice For Bristol Protesters campaign is hosting a fundraising extravaganza, with all proceeds going to Bristol ABC’s prisoner support fund (donate here!) – which provides monthly support to the prisoners. The event will feature 2 bands, dj, films, prisoner art & poems, and live art from the Bristol Mural Collective. Some prisoner art is available to buy as part of the fundraiser. The benefit is at Strange Brew, 10-12 Fairfax St, Bristol BS1 3DB. Advance tickets, info & videos of the bands are here at Headfirst. Or just pay on the door!
Can’t make the fundraiser, but want to support the prisoners? Why not write or email them! The current prisoners who welcome public support (4 out of 10 current KTB prisoners wish to remain private) are listed on the Bristol ABC website along with tips for writing. Note that the prisoner Ben Rankin is due to be released this December.
BASE Infoshop and a number of other BASE collectives and user groups will have stalls at this Saturday’s next Bristol Radical Bookfair. The Bookfair runs from 11am to 3.30pm at the Exchange Bristol, at 72-73 Old Market, Bristol, BS2 0EJ, and is once again hosted by the wonderful Active Distro.
Active’s FB event promises: “You’ll find new and second hand titles, kids books, novels, calendars and more from radical publishers, zine makers and activists. Plus stalls from local campaigns groups and free talks in the basement room. AND vegan hot dogs, cakes, snacks, hot drinks, and beers available from the Exchange cafe. AND there will also be a small, self supervised kids space with books and toys. The bookfair is FREE to attend. Well behaved dogs are welcome.”
So come on down and stock up on your beach/festival/summer reading, along with a range of other pamphlets, patches, badges, t-shirts, music and more (bring cash and cards) – see you there!
On the 29th April at All Hallows Hall in BS5 – it’s party time as we dance to raise funds for our BASE social centre. Thanks to Undo Cru for organising this beauty! Entry is a suggesteed donation of £5-10 on the door, if you can afford it please. If you’re arriving later you might want to be sure to get in by buying an advance ticket from Headfirst, same suggested donation. There’s an FB event here to share to your friends & networks.
Image text: Bass For BASE Fundraiser (with)… Spanner (Ska-punk) The Daltonics (Psychadelic rock) Ironside (Junglism) Elleyphunk (Breaks) Tillwah (Cheesy Classics) Wednesday & October B2B Caveat (footwork & jungle) – Undo Cru Ambisinister B2B Quiche Chegwin (punk & jungle) – Undo Cru Visuals by Bad Touch
At All Hallows Hall, All Hallows Road, Easton BS5 0HH (All Hallows FB page) 8pm-2am on 29.4.23 Powered by Undo Cru
BASE’s Infoshop returns to the Bristol Radical History Festival this Saturday at M shed, by Bristol’s harbourside. The Infoshop will have a full stall on the day, alongside more than 20 other stalls from local and national groups, distros & campaigns. So why not pop by for an hour, or the full day, and check out some of Bristol’s radical ourstory & visual artists, and buy some literature to get those brains cells working overtime!
This will be the 5th Bristol Radical History Festival organised by Bristol Radical History Group (BRHG), which was formed in 2006 and has been running events & publishing local history pamphlets/books ever since. This years Festival has two main themes with 6 meetings on each: Bristol Trade Union History Then and Now – This theme will aim to provide a historical context for the recent burst of trade union activity in Bristol and throughout the U.K. Radical Bristol and the Visual Arts – This theme explores radical visual artists in Bristol over two centuries.
But there’s not just meetings and talks! Along with 3 outdoor history walks – including one on City Centre Squatting at 4pm, there are 4 exhibitions, 3 film screenings, a performance by Red Notes Choir, and of course the 20+ stalls. The full Festival Programme is here, and a paper version will be available on the day. The FB event includes some useful graphics in the discussion thread as to what’s on when! Come and say hi to us during the day eh!
Members of BASE library collective have curated an exhibition of materials from the Poll Tax resistance in Bristol, compiled from archives held at BASE with contributions from other comrades in the area, Bristol Archives and the Bristol Reference Library, as well as images from local photographer Mark Simmons. The exhibition will be on at the Cube Cinema for two months from April 18th, with a Launch Event on the 18th at 6pm, in collaboration with Angry Workers (Bristol), which will include a film screening at 8pm – Get tickets here for ‘From the Poll Tax to the Climate Crisis: What Can We Learn? What Can We Do Now?‘
The inspiration for the exhibition came from finding some forgotten materials from the Poll Tax years in BASE library while the Don’t Pay campaign was being promoted. However, we realised there are more parallels with today than simply the existence of a non payment campaign. By the end of the 1980s, ten years of Tory government had created widespread poverty, unemployment, and disillusionment with politics, with a weak parliamentary opposition failing to represent the poorest people.
It’s no accident that what most people know about the Poll Tax rebellion is the London riot on 31st March 1990. Blood, flames and horses make for lingering images in a way that public meetings just don’t, but it wasn’t a big demo that the government was afraid of. Police violence in Trafalgar Square was simply a failed attempt to crush unstoppable localised organising, which went on for several years before and after this moment. 17 million people refused to pay the tax – many of whom were breaking the law for the first time in their lives.
The exhibition sheds light on the ongoing and often forgotten work of keeping a campaign going locally: outreach among neighbours, regular public meetings, street stalls, organising rapid-response ‘phone trees’ and practical support for non-payers, as well as regular demonstrations on the street and direct action against bailiffs. It also shows the importance of ongoing solidarity in the face of state repression, both for Poll Tax non-payers and people facing charges as a consequence of protests. Over 100 people were jailed for taking part in protests (primarily in Trafalgar Square and Brixton in 1990), and more for refusing to pay and for resisting bailiffs – many of whom remained in prison even after the tax had been formally abolished.
Highlights of the exhibition include previously unseen ephemera, such as an account by local activist Sue Walker of attending the Trafalgar Square demonstration and witnessing police provocation and violence, local fliers, badges and newsletters, prisoner support zines and classic agitprop by Class War, as well as work by acclaimed photographer Mark Simmons, who has been documenting resistance in Bristol for over 30 years.
Resistance to the Poll Tax led to the tax being scrapped, and ultimately to the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. This resistance was radically decentralised with no official leadership, and a lot of organisation coming from people who did not see themselves as ‘activists’ or whose experience came primarily from community support, such as volunteering in unemployed workers’ centres, rather than politics.
At a time of increasing inequality and increasing criminalisation of dissent, we think it is important to keep the lessons of the Poll Tax campaign in mind. We still have time to build a better world, and the practical solidarity and mass organising of the Poll Tax resistance shows us one of the ways we might get there.
Were you active in resisting the Poll Tax in Bristol? Let us know what’s missing from the exhibition and the story we’re telling. Watch this space for a DIY archiving session, time and venue TBC, so we can record our collective histories together and share more stories of resistance. And if you’re interested in joining BASE library collective and helping with the ongoing work of ordering what is in our collection, get in touch on baselibrary@riseup.net
Update 11th April: you can now buy advance tickets for this fundraiser via Headfirst here.
Image Text: Undo Cru presents…Bass for BASE on 29th April 2023.
With – Spanner, The Daltonics, Ironside, ElleyPhunk, Tilwah, and Undo Cru DJ’s.
BASE is an active radical community social hub in the heart of Easton. For 27 years BASE has provided space for the development of community campaigns, support meetings, events with anarchist ideas and international solidarity.
From 8pm to 2am, at All Hallows Hall, All Hallows Road, Easton BS5 0HH (All Hallows FB page) £5-£10 suggested donation (on the door – if you’ve not got an advance ticket!). All profits go to BASE.
Update 11th April:sadly and due to a combination of unforeseen circumstances, the Whatabout Wednesdays mini-cafe has had to close down early…so 5th April was the last one. We hope it will return for winter 2023.
Original article:BASE’s Whatabout Wednesdays vegan mini-cafe will now run on until Wednesday 31st May 2023. Originally conceived as an alternative welcoming space over the cold winter months, offering awesome but cheap food (free to those with no money), our cafe volunteers have decided to run it until the end of May. We hope it will return next November for another winter session.
The mini-cafe not only provides an awesome soup, cakes and hot drinks each week. It also makes available the full range of facilities at BASE, including the cafe & events rooms, the library, toilets, Info Shop & free info, and a good wifi signal.
There’s a range of regulars and new visitors each week, and a laid back atmosphere, plenty of chatting, and quiet spaces if you prefer that. All are welcome at this cafe, between the hours of 11am to 5pm.
Two years on from Bristol’s first of many #KillTheBill protests on 21.3.2021, campaigners against increasing police & state powers and violence will march and rally in central Bristol. Meeting at 5.30pm in the Bearpit, marching to Bridewell police station. Campaigners will express solidarity with all those brutalised, arrested and imprisoned for standing together and fighting back against police and state attacks on us all; and with all communities, genders & races bearing the brunt of misogyny and racism. Be there.
Text from the flyer image: “On the Tuesday 21st March 2023 we will hold a demonstration in front of Bridewell police station against the violence of the police and the British State.
34 people, mostly young, have been imprisoned for over a total of 100 years for the uprising that took place on this day 2 years ago. An uprising that was self defense against the brutality of the police towards demonstrators and in response to the rape and murder of Sarah Everard and the PCSC Bill.
In those two years we have seen the police continue to brutalise and murder young black men, refugees have been left to die in the channel, we have seen suicides and murders at the hands of the prisons, the inherent and vile misogyny and racism of the police has been openly exposed and we have seen increasingly repressive legislation against protest and the organisation of working people.
The police and prison system continues to attack and disappear the already most marginalised and oppressed areas of society.
At the same time the state protects and furthers a system of systematic poverty. It protects the wealthiest and most powerful who live as they please off of our backs whilst one step out of line puts us in prison. The state punishes those who are the victims of its policies.
We want to come together on this day to show who’s side we are on, to show our solidarity with the Kill The Bill prisoners and their families and all people brutalised by the British State and its institutions of repression.
We will hear from those affected and those involved in organizing resistance”.
Support for #KillTheBill Protestors, Defendants and Prisoners If you need support then contact these groups: Bristol Defendant Solidarity email – bristoldefendantsolidarity[at]riseup.net mobile – 07510 283424 Twitter – @bristoldefenda1
