Press Release
Saturday 11th December 2010
Yesterday, we the occupiers of G7 Pavilion Parade collectively decided to suspend the occupation that began on the 24th of November.
The end of this occupation marks the culmination of numerous successes. Starting as a result of the three thousand strong mass demonstration in Brighton on the 24th November, this has become the largest student occupation at the University of Brighton in recent years. Furthermore, in conjunction with the many occupations across the country, this occupation has forced the NUS into a change of policy, shifting its control back into the hands of the students it represents. As a direct result of this, our occupation has secured the support of our own Students’ Union who were originally reticent in offering it. Our actions have also helped in generating wider recognition of occupation as a legitimate form of non-violent direct action, an important step given the now proven futility of depending on Parliamentary politics to reflect popular opinion.
The occupation has created a space which has served a variety of functions, the most immediate being the advancement of an alternative form of higher education. It has also operated as a base from which direct action throughout Brighton can be organised, which in turn has been successful in raising the consciousness of the general public as well as students at the University of Brighton. These successes, at both a local and national level, have demolished the myth of student apathy and have demonstrated that students can be the catalyst for broader social change, spear-heading the struggle against the advancement of neo-liberalism.
There are still many issues we wish to raise with Professor Crampton, Vice Chancellor of the University of Brighton. However, Professor Crampton has recently shown himself duplicitous in that his statements to students and staff are radically different to his statements in the national broadsheets. To his students and staff, Professor Crampton has said that he would oppose any policy which would “significantly increase individual contributions”, claiming that it would be “damaging to the country’s economic and social development and to the success of the English university system which underpins it.” However, as a signatory to a recent letter in the Telegraph (see http://bit.ly/fGXKB4) he has stated that he believes “that the Government’s proposals for university funding are reasonable”, and urged Members of Parliament to vote in favour of tripling the cap on tuition fees.
While we are eager to continue a dialogue with Professor Crampton, given his duplicity, we aren’t hopeful it will be a productive one. Our collective voice is heard most clearly when spoken through the medium of non-violent direct action.
An occupation is not the room it is based in, it is the people that are a part of it. And these people extend far beyond those who slept in Pavilion Parade for over two weeks. The people who brought us delicious food; the people who shared their myriad skills; and the people who sent messages of support from as far away as Spain, Greece, Argentina, Mexico and Palestine – all these people occupied Pavilion Parade.
While the ideology of neo-liberalism continues to attempt to privatise our higher education, we will continue to resist.
END OF PRESS RELEASE
For more information please contact:
Email: brightonagainstcuts@gmail.com
Blog: brightonresistance.wordpress.com
Twitter: brightonnocuts
Facebook: Brighton University Stop the Cuts
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/blog_comments/alfie_meadows2/
There is a solidarity vigil for Alfie outside the hospital where he is recovering TODAY. Please make it if you can:
URGENT:SOLIDARITY VIGIL with Alfie Meadows at 3:30 in front of Charing X Hospital in Hammersmith & Fulham Palace Rd. Bring banners on Police Brutality. Map here.
UPDATE: Vigil at the hospital was well-attended and filmed on Sky news this evening. Alfie's mother came down to talk to us: he's doing as well as he can do after very serious brain surgery. The IPCC have launched an investigation. There are Facebook groups for Alfie here and here. Please join them. Reckon they'd probably be a good place to leave messages of support for Alfie and his family too.
Previous entry »
Saturday 11th December 2010
Yesterday, we the occupiers of G7 Pavilion Parade collectively decided to suspend the occupation that began on the 24th of November.
The end of this occupation marks the culmination of numerous successes. Starting as a result of the three thousand strong mass demonstration in Brighton on the 24th November, this has become the largest student occupation at the University of Brighton in recent years. Furthermore, in conjunction with the many occupations across the country, this occupation has forced the NUS into a change of policy, shifting its control back into the hands of the students it represents. As a direct result of this, our occupation has secured the support of our own Students’ Union who were originally reticent in offering it. Our actions have also helped in generating wider recognition of occupation as a legitimate form of non-violent direct action, an important step given the now proven futility of depending on Parliamentary politics to reflect popular opinion.
The occupation has created a space which has served a variety of functions, the most immediate being the advancement of an alternative form of higher education. It has also operated as a base from which direct action throughout Brighton can be organised, which in turn has been successful in raising the consciousness of the general public as well as students at the University of Brighton. These successes, at both a local and national level, have demolished the myth of student apathy and have demonstrated that students can be the catalyst for broader social change, spear-heading the struggle against the advancement of neo-liberalism.
There are still many issues we wish to raise with Professor Crampton, Vice Chancellor of the University of Brighton. However, Professor Crampton has recently shown himself duplicitous in that his statements to students and staff are radically different to his statements in the national broadsheets. To his students and staff, Professor Crampton has said that he would oppose any policy which would “significantly increase individual contributions”, claiming that it would be “damaging to the country’s economic and social development and to the success of the English university system which underpins it.” However, as a signatory to a recent letter in the Telegraph (see http://bit.ly/fGXKB4) he has stated that he believes “that the Government’s proposals for university funding are reasonable”, and urged Members of Parliament to vote in favour of tripling the cap on tuition fees.
While we are eager to continue a dialogue with Professor Crampton, given his duplicity, we aren’t hopeful it will be a productive one. Our collective voice is heard most clearly when spoken through the medium of non-violent direct action.
An occupation is not the room it is based in, it is the people that are a part of it. And these people extend far beyond those who slept in Pavilion Parade for over two weeks. The people who brought us delicious food; the people who shared their myriad skills; and the people who sent messages of support from as far away as Spain, Greece, Argentina, Mexico and Palestine – all these people occupied Pavilion Parade.
While the ideology of neo-liberalism continues to attempt to privatise our higher education, we will continue to resist.
END OF PRESS RELEASE
For more information please contact:
Email: brightonagainstcuts@gmail.com
Blog: brightonresistance.wordpress.com
Twitter: brightonnocuts
Facebook: Brighton University Stop the Cuts
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/blog_comments/alfie_meadows2/
alfie meadows
There is a solidarity vigil for Alfie outside the hospital where he is recovering TODAY. Please make it if you can:
URGENT:SOLIDARITY VIGIL with Alfie Meadows at 3:30 in front of Charing X Hospital in Hammersmith & Fulham Palace Rd. Bring banners on Police Brutality. Map here.
UPDATE: Vigil at the hospital was well-attended and filmed on Sky news this evening. Alfie's mother came down to talk to us: he's doing as well as he can do after very serious brain surgery. The IPCC have launched an investigation. There are Facebook groups for Alfie here and here. Please join them. Reckon they'd probably be a good place to leave messages of support for Alfie and his family too.
Previous entry »
http://educationactivistnetwork.wordpress.com/
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Education Activist Network
Building and coordinating the resistance in further, higher and adult education
After the vote: Unkettle Education!
December 11, 2010
MONDAY 13TH DECEMBER
6pm – Unkettle Education!
How do we stop fees, save EMA and defend our right to protest?
Edmund J Saffra theatre, King’s College London, Strand WC2
Called by Education Activist Network, supported by London Region UCU
Click here to download a flyer for the event
Speakers include:
Students who have defied sub-zero temperatures to take to the streets in protest have been subject to an unprecedented level of police repression, with thousands kettled long into the cold winter night, hundreds arrested. One student, Alfie Meadows, needed emergency brain surgery after being hit with a truncheon. Another, Tahmeena Bax, was knocked unconscious and then subject to racial abuse by police.
This generation that will not be silenced, kettled or denied an education. This revolt has already inspired parents, teachers and millions of people facing the Con-Dem axe. Now we need to come together and ask how we can defeat these attacks and win the right to education for all.
Click here for map
4pm – protest at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
Called by Education Activist Network, supported by London Region UCU
Assemble 3:30pm Trafalgar Square
These events are part of a day of action to defend EMA, called by a coalition of trade unions. For more information see http://emacampaign.org.uk
Friends of Alfie Meadows
KETTLE THE COPS – Peaceful Protest against Police Violence
Tuesday 14th December 1pm.
New Scotland yard, 8-10 Broadway, London SW1H 0BG
Alfie Meadows was brutally assaulted by police on the 9th. He suffered severe brain haemorrhaging and has undergone 3 hours of brain surgery. Due to luck his situation is now stable. This is a call for all to show your solidarity with him and the fight for our civil liberties, of which the right to education and the right to protest are both crucial parts. Bring hard hats, fancy hats and any other kind of hat you can. Let’s get noticed.
6pm – Unkettle Education!
How do we stop fees, save EMA and defend our right to protest?
Edmund J Saffra theatre, King’s College London, Strand WC2
Called by Education Activist Network, supported by London Region UCU
Click here to download a flyer for the event
Speakers include:
- Logic MC
- Ali Alizadeh – Friends of Alfie Meadows
- Ruby Hirsch – La Swap College occupation
- Regine Pilling – London Region UCU
- Sara Tomlinson – teacher
- Matt Foot – campaigning lawyer representing arrested students
- Marcia Rigg – United Campaign Against Police Violence and Sean Rigg: Justice & Change Campaign
- Ryan Ahmed – New Vic College student
Students who have defied sub-zero temperatures to take to the streets in protest have been subject to an unprecedented level of police repression, with thousands kettled long into the cold winter night, hundreds arrested. One student, Alfie Meadows, needed emergency brain surgery after being hit with a truncheon. Another, Tahmeena Bax, was knocked unconscious and then subject to racial abuse by police.
This generation that will not be silenced, kettled or denied an education. This revolt has already inspired parents, teachers and millions of people facing the Con-Dem axe. Now we need to come together and ask how we can defeat these attacks and win the right to education for all.
Click here for map
4pm – protest at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
Called by Education Activist Network, supported by London Region UCU
Assemble 3:30pm Trafalgar Square
These events are part of a day of action to defend EMA, called by a coalition of trade unions. For more information see http://emacampaign.org.uk
Friends of Alfie Meadows
KETTLE THE COPS – Peaceful Protest against Police Violence
Tuesday 14th December 1pm.
New Scotland yard, 8-10 Broadway, London SW1H 0BG
Alfie Meadows was brutally assaulted by police on the 9th. He suffered severe brain haemorrhaging and has undergone 3 hours of brain surgery. Due to luck his situation is now stable. This is a call for all to show your solidarity with him and the fight for our civil liberties, of which the right to education and the right to protest are both crucial parts. Bring hard hats, fancy hats and any other kind of hat you can. Let’s get noticed.
