[OccupyComms] Protest in Cambridge tomorrow at noon

Fri Oct 4 15:37:50 GMT 2013

Protest tomorrow in Cambridge. Gather at noon at the Crown Court on East
Road. Organized by UKUncut - they are planning to block roads. I plan to
stand in support of the rule of law. Here is more info:

Protest Tomorrow Cambridge Crown Court East Road Noon
*5th October 2013** – **Cambridge** Crown Court – Support statement*
People are gathered here to protest the cuts in legal aid that are part of
an assault on the Ministry of Justice budget, which under the current
government is slated to be cut by one-third between 2010 and 2016. (
www.gov.uk/government/news 5 September 2013)
As a result, the most vulnerable people in our society: prisoners,
immigrants, the working poor will not be able to secure legal aid. Sir
James Munby, the Judge in charge of the Family Division of the Courts
called the cuts “disconcerting” and said from the bench that “something
should be done”. (www.familyandchildlawblogspot.co.uk)
The rights and liberties of the populace has seen an unprecedented assault
in the last fifteen years. Our rights to protest and to privacy, to stand
against the iniquities of the government *at all* have been eroded
consistently, and now the ability of the poorest to protect their most
fundamental rights is being diminished for cost savings, savings that most
think are illusory. (See, e.g., *Transforming Legal Aid, Civil and Prison
Law Proposals: Justice at Risk?* The Law Society, June 2013)
The economic collapse caused by the banks has stretched the middle class
and the working class to the breaking point. It has made it more and more
difficult to make a living, and we are all hard-pressed to find time to
love and enjoy our families, let alone help right the wrongs in our
country.  But the rule of law is fundamental. When it is only for the rich,
our country is in danger of fascism. This is not a fringe issue. Access to
the courts was the main demand at Runnymede. We need it still.
Please write to Minister Grayling and tell him you oppose these cuts. You
can email him atgeneral.queries@*justice*.gsi.gov.uk<general.queries at justice.gsi.gov.uk>
Standing against the legal aid cuts is a way of standing up for the people
with mental health problems in prison, the people with learning
disabilities among the marginal poor, the people who the Crown seeks to
arrest who have no one to defend them, the people known, in Christianity at
least, as “the least of these my brethren”.

On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 3:54 PM, <marknbarrett at googlemail.com> wrote:

> **
> PS
>
> Ironically for Nov 5th re blank white flags / banner idea - in London some
> of us used plain white placards and banners as part of a campaign against
> restriction of protest around the Houses of Parliament in 2005-2007 (under
> the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act individual and collective
> peaceful political self-expression within 1KM of Westminster was
> criminalised, unless you got a licence to protest from the police).
>
> We campaigned using blank white placards because the police would arrest
> us if we wrote anything on them, which made everything really surreal and
> it definitely inspired people.
>
> I always thought the blank placard was also a really potent symbol for a
> new society, and then later white flags and all kinds of surrender (while
> still standing up for justice) got suggested which also made lots of sense
> and then, more recently i read the Roman Senator quote (about the white
> armbands and slavery) and the whole idea it made even more sense.
>
> Incidentally, if there is any interest the URL peopleincommon.org (ignore
> the front page of it which is a dead project) which was used for the same
> campaign in Parliament Square is totally up for grabs for Nov 5th if anyone
> likes the name and wishes to utilise it. the group (PIC) is defunct so no
> problem with using it.
>
> It's a pretty good name for what we are about imho, and you can see what
> we used it for politically, in the UK context from 2005-including the blank
> placard which is featured at
> http://www.peopleincommon.org/archive/archive.htm
>
> And http://www.peopleincommon.org/archive/C421.html
>
> Let me know if anyone wants to take it and run a bit with it
>
> Cheers and Salaams
>
> Mark
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
> ------------------------------
> *From: * marknbarrett at googlemail.com
> *Date: *Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:52:46 +0000
> *To: *rachel mariner<rachelmariner at gmail.com>; Chris Keene<
> ckeene107 at gmail.com>
> *ReplyTo: * marknbarrett at googlemail.com
> *Cc: *occupylondon<occupylondon at lists.riseup.net>; <
> occupycomms at email-lists.org><occupycomms at email-lists.org>;
> rdwg at googlegroups.com<rdwg at googlegroups.com>
> *Subject: *Re: [OccupyComms] Cambridge / Norwich Occupiers ?
>
> Cheers for info on this everyone who has kindly replied, both off list and
> on.
>
> And especially to Rachel for posting the Les Mis poem and about the white
> flag / armband idea for Nov 5th. I don't know what you mean about not being
> a proper activist though - what's one of those ? To sort the world out, all
> the human diversity (and however active, or not we have been in the past),
> and all the different thoughts, ideas and talents we bring to the table are
> and will be needed. We all need to be active, and say / do our piece!
>
> Peace and love
>
> Mark
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
> ------------------------------
> *From: * rachel mariner <rachelmariner at gmail.com>
> *Date: *Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:33:06 +0100
> *To: *Mark Barrett<marknbarrett at googlemail.com>; Chris Keene<
> ckeene107 at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *occupylondon<occupylondon at lists.riseup.net>; <
> occupycomms at email-lists.org><occupycomms at email-lists.org>;
> rdwg at googlegroups.com<rdwg at googlegroups.com>
> *Subject: *Re: [OccupyComms] Cambridge / Norwich Occupiers ?
>
> Hi all - we do have a few people and a Facebook group :
>
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/camocc/
>
> I would LOVE to get together, meet up and plan  . . .
>
> I don't think the Norwich Occupy group is active anymore but Chris Keene
> is a great activist who went with me to Durham to meet with the Dean there
> about Winter Carnival. He is a peach and he is cc'd as well.
>
> What I don't have handy is a connection to student activists. they may all
> have become economics or law majors and are gunning for the 1%
>
> The poem is actually the epilogue of Les Mis  - the song Do You Hear The
> People Sing - but the lyrics at the end are different:
>
> Do you hear the people sing?
> Lost in the valley of the night
> It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light
> For the wretched of the earth
> There is a flame that never dies
> Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise
>
> I love the white flag idea because it captures the climbing toward the
> light. I also like the slight dissonance of a white flag - associated with
> surrender - marched forward. Because the only way to bring peace is to
> bring peace. Is to not fight. So I loved it. But I was scared to write to
> everyone about it, Mark, when you suggested because I am not a proper
> activist, etc.  There it is now.
>
> With love and thanks for all of you!
>
> Rachel
>
>
>
> On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 9:36 AM, Mark Barrett <marknbarrett at googlemail.com
> > wrote:
>
>> A comrade from Manchester who is moving to Cambridge has asked me if
>> there is an active Occupy group,  or if we know any Occupy supporters there
>> she can connect with. Also I am thinking of moving, and have the same
>> question re Norwich.
>>
>> Please can anyone advise if they know anyone suitable to make contact
>> with in either place or any info on local Cambridge / Norwich Occupy groups
>> ?
>>
>> Thanks :)
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> OccupyComms mailing list
>> OccupyComms at email-lists.org
>> https://www.email-lists.org/mailman/listinfo/occupycomms
>>
>>
>
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