Exclude a Generation – Expect Anger
The size and anger of the student protests came as something of a shock to the establishment. They came as something of a shock to the media. And they came as something of a shock to those who’d written off our generation as apathetic. But they shouldn’t have come as a shock to anyone. Our [...]
Climate activists stand trial
By Will McCallum As I write, twenty activists are currently standing trial in Nottingham Crown Court for conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass. The night before the plan to occupy Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, the UK’s third largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions, all 114 participants were arrested in a nearby school. All but 26 of [...]
What could NUS do to back student direct action?
Aaron Porter visited the UCL occupation this morning to finally pledge his support, and that of NUS, to the occupations across the country, and to Tuesday’s day of action. So, what could NUS be doing to provide practical support to the wave of people across the country taking direct action over the coming winter? Well, [...]
Why Occupy in Scotland?
At 4.30pm on Wednesday around 200 students, workers and claimants occupied lecture theatre 2 in Appleton Tower in solidarity with occupations across the country. As I write this we’re just settling down for the third night of that occupation, and we’ve voted to stay till at least Tuesday, when the next national day of action [...]
It was always going to be students
It was always going to be students who fought back first. There is a myth that my generation is apathetic. But the truth is that most are alienated. And that’s not the same thing. The “usual suspects” are a product of that alienation. And this generation of twenty somethings has more “usual suspects” than any [...]
Wildlife agency may kill wild native beavers
A gnawful mistake… – by Louise Ramsay Free Beavers of the Tay under Threat of Deportation In a sadly typical example of human greed, the European beaver was hunted to extinction in the UK – mainly for its valuable pelts – some hundreds of years ago. Although most of them had gone by the 16th [...]
Edinburgh University Settlement: When not if; the slow demise of a much loved old friend…
This is a guest post by Chris Richardson. A little under a month ago Edinburgh University Settlement was declared bankrupt and I started to consider how I would write this piece. Let me put my cards on the table up front, I was asked to write this because I was once uniquely positioned to witness [...]
#dayx closes, did it work?
As night ends the biggest day of civil disobedience in a generation, many will reflect on what it has achieved. While kettled in at Whitehall earlier today, I had a chat with group of students from an East London FE College. They had never been to a demo before, but being black and working class, [...]
Edinburgh DayX – Photo Blog
Inital advice before we leave Bristo Square: The police are our friends today, they’re facing cuts too. Don’t be an arse. On our way to Haymarket to post the Lib Dems their tuition fee pledges back. We arrive at Lib Dem HQ. It looks like they’re closed up for the day, to be replaced by [...]
Millbank was just the Beginning: Everyone must have Access to Education
I’m writing this from Whitehall. The smell of burning ink is ever present, as smoke drifts from a bonfire of placards in the middle of the road. The cheers and grunts from the crowd trying to push through the line of riot police mixes with the Michael Jackson songs played by those who have occupied [...]
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