Home | 20th October 1995 | Issue 45

WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THE WORLD IS UNDER ATTACK!

NO TOLL TAX!

SKYE SAYS NO TO BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER...

"Everyone sings about Over The Sea To Skye but who is going to think about that, coming here at 40 mph over a lump of concrete?"

At least 30 people were nicked on Tuesday night when angry islanders in a 'freedom convoy' - led by the local Pipe Band - got into some direct action. They blocked barriers just an hour after the £25M bridge linking Skye to the Scottish mainland opened and began charging motorists to cross. 

Already hated for its effect on wildlife (it destroyed the second largest Otter colony in Europe), intrusion on the beautiful skyline and ending the islands romantic isolation, the bridge - privately financed by the Bank of America - is now under fire for its excessive toll charges, the most expensive in Europe. Islanders have no alternative route now the famous

ferries have been taken out of operation on government instructions - even the disabled are being asked to fork out the full amount. Protestors trying to stop work on the bridge two years ago had rocks thrown at them while the police rammed a press boat. 

Local councillors boycotted the opening ceremony last Monday which was also marred by the fact that the structure, scheduled to last for 125 years, has already developed cracks! The operators, Miller Dywidag, will profit from the toll fees - £5.20 for a car in the summer- it is allowed to charge up to the year 2022. Meanwhile Skye and Kyle Against Tolls (SKAT) who are initiating the direct action are stepping up their campaign and asking people:

* Not to pay - they claim the toll charges are in breach of the 1707 Treaty of Union.

* Driving on the bridge from the Skye end where there are no barriers, but turning back before passing through the toll barriers on the mainland to disrupt traffic

* Paying by small denomination coinage.

* Trying to resurrect the ferry service to challenge the bridges supremacy. SKAT are also examining legal loopholes. Well-known Scottish activist Robbie the Pict, who has created the Independent Free

State of Pictland for Scotland's indigenous peoples, also threatened further mass non-payment demonstrations. He warned: "What happened today was just a trickle -a gesture to show we would respond within the first hour of tolls being started. It will get much larger."

BAILIFFS GO HOME

People power again flexed its muscles on Wednesday when 250 people turned up to stop a threatened eviction. A lone bailiff, watched by just two coppers, fought his way through the crowd, but was prevented from delivering the notices to quit. 

The residents of Holt's Field on the Gower peninsula in South Wales have been the subject of a series of bitter legal wrangles for the past six years. The hamlet of 27 chalets surrounded by deep woodland has been compared to "Arcadia" the legendary Greek idyll, by one government inspector, and designated a conservation area for representing "a unique part of the nation's built legacy." 

Landowner Tim Jones wants to build an exclusive housing estate on the site - an idea which Swansea City Council the Welsh Office and the High Court has rejected. However a legal loophole means Jones can evict the occupants as trespassers - apparently out of spite.

A spokesperson for the Land Is Ours Campaign told SchNEWS "Forty-five people live in Holts Field ranging from a baby to an eighty year old woman. Many have been here for decades. Their houses are tiny but beautifully built. The community is one of the last places in Britain which truly deserves that term - they all look after each other." 

The strong show of strength has impressed Swansea Council who are now looking at a Compulsory Purchase Order and organising funding to help people buy their homes. For the time being the people from the hamlet have won a brief respite.... 01865 722016

* As an alternative to the Governments White Paper on the future of rural England, The Land Is Ours campaign have just published its 'Charter for the Countryside'. A radical rights and access based approach to reviving rural employment, landscape protection and the local economy in the countryside, copies are available for £2.50 from Box E, 111 Magdalen Rd., Oxford, OX4 1RQ.

PARTY POOPED

Nearly one year since the CJA outlawed our free parties and festivals, police are now putting a stop to our legal ones. The Big Anti CJA Birthday Bash at The Rocket has been cancelled - thanks to the Met. They told the Rocket that if it took place they would close the venue! Organisers are presently looking for an alternative venue - and SchNEWS will keep you informed of just what the hell is going on.......

MASS ARRESTS    

The first mass arrest under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) finally came to court last week. 31 Hunt Sabs we're nicked at an Essex Hunt last November in a police operation costing £40,000 and marred by allegations of serious assault, including one women who was beaten semi-conscious with a truncheon while she had her hands cuffed behind her back. The lengthy delay wasn't helped by the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) couldn't find a bench of magistrates anywhere in Essex that did not either hunt themselves or have hunting connections! Eventually a magistrates had to be brought in from London.

Ten Sabs were eventually found guilty of "aggravated trespass" - while 3 were acquitted, 8 had their charges thrown out halfway through the trial and a further 8 did not even get as far as court. 2 others had their charges under section of the Public Order Act thrown out. Video evidence flatly contradicted police statements and at one stage the magistrate was giving serious consideration to reporting one copper for perjury!

A Sab spokesperson told SchNEWS "Essex Police and the CPS seem determined to enforce the CJA no matter what the cost to the public purse or justice. How long will the people of Essex be expected to continue to foot the bill for a pastime that over 80% of the population wants banned?" Fox Hunting Season starts 1st November ring Hunt Sabs Associations for actions in your area 0115 959 0357

BREAKING BAIL

Draconian bail conditions - introduced under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) are outlawing our right to peaceful protest. Despite well-known sections aimed at travellers, squatters, road protesters, hunts sabs and the like it is the little known Section 27 allowing the police rather than the courts to set bail conditions - that are hitting protestors hard. Already two of the Flat Oak Tribe opposing the Thanet Way in Kent have been put inside for breaking bail conditions. Last week David Hilton (Iggy) seized the opportunity to jump into a cement mixer stopping work on the Thanet Way motorway extension for an hour. 

He was arrested on leaving the compound. Back at the station the police discovered that Iggy had been arrested twice before for aggravated trespass, and so they remanded him while they collected evidence for breach of bail, aggravated trespass and criminal damage (to the cement!) Iggy has said in previous court-cases that he does not recognise the CJA and therefore is unable to abide by its bail conditions. He is in court today (20th) where there is a high chance of him being sent down.

SEA ACTION 

Brighton's only seaborne direct action group, Sea Action, travelled to France this weekend to take part in a massive protest against nuclear testing. Over 10,000 people turned up at the French high security nuclear submarine base near Brest. French authorities threatened to shoot anyone that encroached the exclusion zone surrounding the base. 3 people from Sea Action tested this, and were arrested, their boat impounded and threatened with a $3,000 fine. They were later released due to threats of riot by the French protestors! If people are interested in training days for high seas action ring 01273 620125 

* Protests continue every Tuesday outside the French Embassy between 5 - 7.30 pm 58 Knightsbridge SW1 ring Youth CND 0171 607 3616

SchNEWS IN BRIEF

A Detroit policeman attending the trial of a man who burgled his house was astonished to notice the defendant - who pleaded not guilty - was wearing his own police issue boots! 
*** Hove Council is thinking of breaking off connections with its twin town Draveil in France, after the nuclear tests
*** A high profile women's centre in Camden is feeing eviction after 16 years in the premises. Kings Cross Women's Centre is being evicted basically because it can't afford the latest rent increase by its new owners. Womens groups in the centre - who have been responsible for changes in the rape law and helped 2 women with the first private prosecution for rape in the country - will be made homeless. The centre is asking for people to picket the court - contact Justice? for info.
*** Reclaim The Streets are planning to liven up the Earls Court motorshow in London which runs from 19th - 29th October. Two major actions are planned, ring RTS for more info 0171 713 5874 
*** Costain have been granted the £6 million preliminary trashing contract for the Newbury bypass from 8th November. 01635 521770
*** Welsh activists are threatening Littlewoods with some direct action if they continue to ignore calls to introduce Welsh language policies. Campaigners have already had successes with amongst others, the Halifax, Next, C&A and HMV by using in-yer-face methods such as picketing, lock-gluing and a rash of bilingual "out of order" stickers 
*** The protest camp against the open cast mine site in Brynhenllys, South Wales has been served an eviction notice - bailiffs could arrive at anytime! Get down there now ring 01639 830553 for details and directions.

Party and Protest

22th-29th ONE WORLD WEEK 0171 620 4444

WED 25th Appeal for Keith Mann, animal rights activist jailed for 14 years 10 am outside Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London (nearest tube Holborn)

WED 25th Open Cast Mining - exposing the human and environmental costs 7pm Reading University

SAT 28th Anti-Corporations Fayre - Reclaim our World! 11am - 8pm Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, WC1 (Holborn tube): Stalls, discussions, workshops, vegan food, creche... 0171 713 1269

SAT 28th  Reclaim the Streets 12.30 pm Arnolfini, Bristol. Music + street entertainment 01225 448556

SAT 28th Scotland's biggest anti fox hunt protest 0141 226 5066

SAT 28th TUC Unite Against Racism March in Manchester

SAT 28th Friends, Families and Travellers Support Group General Meeting Quaker Meeting House, Ordnance Rd., Southampton 10.30am - 4pm 01458 832 371

MON 30th  Demonstrate against A120 Stansted to Braintree euroroute 10 am, near Great Dunmow 01376 584576

30th-19th Nov Stonehenge belongs to You and Me Exhibition Museum of London, Aldersgate St., St Pauls tube

TUE 31st Halloween direct action bonanza M66 Protest Camp, Manchester 0161 371 5433

TUE 31st Stop The Arms Fair -silent march and non-violent sit down blockade 1pm Littleworth Common, Esher, Surrey 0171 281 0297

1st Nov World Vegan Day 01424 427393

4th-5th NOV London DiY Gathering 0171 582 3474

and Finally

One in five Britons are rejecting materialism, and "conspicuous consumption" in favour of personal fulfilment and quality of life. The shift to "post-materialism" in Western society has been described as "The Silent Revolution" and is strongly linked to environment awareness and a rejection of consumerist lifestyles. MORI, who conducted the research say the change is part of a deep-seated global shift in values which will act as a brake on the world economy. International studies have identified: a decline in confidence in large institutions, decreased dependence on the state, a preference for small, flexible, grassroots organisations and a tendency for social change to be "bottom-up, not top-down" - initiated by people rather than institutions. Planetary Connections, 'positive news from around the world', The Six Bells, Church St, Bishops Castle, Shropshire, SY9 5AA

DISCLAIMER
The SchNEWS warns all readers not to attend any illegal gatherings or take part in any criminal activities. Always stay within the law. In fact please just sit in, watch tv and go on endless shopping sprees filling your house and lives with endless consumer crap... you will then feel content. Honest.

Subscribe! Keep SchNEWS free! Just send 1st class stamps (eg 20 for next 20 issues) or donations (payable to Justice?) Mark 'Original' if you plan to copy: SchNEWS c/o on-the-fiddle PO Box 2600 Brighton East Sussex BN2 2DX. Tel: (01273) 685 913

Call Justice? office to find out where we are meeting next...
SchNEWS is Free to Prisoners - just send us your address
Asian anarchist desperately seeking flatmate!!

SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 0EF, England
Phone: +44 (0)1273 685913
email: schnews@brighton.co.uk

@nti copyright - information for action - copy and distribute!