Ra Ra Ra!!!! Tony Blair's a Wankah!

by iosaf Wed Sep 15, 2004 19:43

so goes the featured comment on a BBC discussion thread.

Britain's parliament was suspended for twenty minutes today after a group of five protesters burst into the chamber shouting "Blair is a Wankah!"

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWPOLITICSHuntingWed17Huntc?source=

Shortly after 1620 BST the men rushed in, with one protester shouting at Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael: "This isn't democracy. You are overturning democracy."

As the sitting resumed, Labour MP David Winnick said such incidents were "unknown in the 20th century" and fellow backbencher Stuart Bell said such an invasion had not happened since the time of Charles 1.

For the benefit of Irish readers who normally have only scant knowledge of British history, Charles 1 was a Stuart King who was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell after a brief civil war had suspended the monarchy and set up a military fundamentalist protestant dictatorship in the mid 17th century. Cromwell's regime also (believe it or not) banned hunting (as immoral gaming).

At 16h00 the Metropolitan police estimated there were between 8 and 10,000 protesters in parliament sq, (organisers claim 20,000) [I've done parliament sq, from the photos I believe the police no way were there 20k ]

Van loads of police in riot gear were sent into the area to bolster the hundreds of officers already there ( in high visiblity softly softly mode) , after scuffles in one corner of Parliament Square as police sought to keep demonstrators penned in. Some bottles and fireworks were thrown and some protesters were filmed with bloodied heads after the clashes.

And that's when five of them got into to shout Blair is a Wankah!

There are quite a few bloody heads going about but so far no good quality photos, as this is all a bit embarrassing for the law and order brigade.

by wankah! wankah! wankah! Wed Sep 15, 2004 19:52

so far there's just one "scuffle" pic. and it's not so good, generic white englander type being manhandled by a high visilibity cop.
I was hoping for a cheltenham girls school type throwing a petrol bomb at the riot squad _actually_...

by wankah! wankah! wankah! Wed Sep 15, 2004 20:12

so no up to the minute coverage there, but it seems to be "ongoing". Here's a link to indymedia united kollectives, who are a bit peeved coz they've never been asked by BBC Radio 4 woman's hour what it's like to be senselessly hit with a baton and pushed to the ground.

oh well, now they've been blooded.
ha ha.

if you want to watch London's webcams here's the link-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/jamcams/camloco/546501.shtml

by merrovinginvanjan Wed Sep 15, 2004 21:19

on October 25th 1999, John Jackson addressed the first annual meeting of the CA in London.
There were 300 of them. He made an appeal to fight blair's proposed anti-Hunt legislation, and vowed to use new technology to channel the energy of myriad groups.
By which he meant to use the internet.

he went on to make reference to RTS! 1999-

"That nasty little riot in the City of London some months ago showed us all the organising potential in what can now be done. That was for a bad purpose. The alliance will realise that potential for a good purpose."

he warned Blair that that government plans to ban foxhunting had "lit the fuse" and provoked it into action.

Almost five years later, of all the fuses lit in 1999, that of the CA seems to still burn brightest. And it is indicitive of how prejudiced have been authorities, democratic institutions, police forces and the whole "law and order" brigade have been in so selectivly focussing their not paltry attentions on Social, Libertarian and Ecological protest and pressure groupings who used the internet in 1999 and use the internet in 2004 and more than once reclaimed Westminster Square and more than once have been made the senseless and arbitrary object of the policeman's baton.

I have today looked through the archives of an organisation, with paramilitary assocation, access to firearms, which threatens to undermine the armed forces of the UK, which has secretly planned and carried through multiple attacks on the democratic institutions so beloved of the Englishman and Englishwoman since the restoration of fox hunting to legality by Charles Stuart the 2nd after Cromwell's military dictatorship had proscribed such sports as immoral gaming.

I have seen an orchestrated campaign which has brought hundreds of thousands of trouble seekers onto the streets of Britain, the evidence is there in the archives of their site.
Never once have they desisted from using language is not only violent in intent, but sinister in motive.

This morning's photos show masked protesters "dressed as wild animals", as surely they have proved themselves capable to act.

It is past time, that these reactionary and anti-State forces were seen for what they are, and who they are.

Arrest every single one.
Send them to Guantamano.
You will have my blessing Tony Blair
Wankah Wankah! that you are.

four legs good two legs bad. shadenfreude. bop that "arrest me if you dare" gal one for us. you know how many guns the CA have?

by old enemies Wed Sep 15, 2004 22:05

on civil disobedience:-
John Jackson
The Guardian October 23, 2002

In recent months a number of normally law-abiding people have said that in the event of a ban on hunting they will disobey the law, and accept the consequences of their actions. The Countryside Alliance would never recommend its members, or others, to engage in civil disobedience by breaking the law. It would say that it regarded the matter as one for the individual conscience, and endorse the thinking of Henry David Thoreau in his essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience published in 1849. It would also raise the issue of what constitutes a victimless crime, and treat the question of non-cooperation within the law as a separate matter.
*****
They have in the last two years broadened tactics, and increasingly have moved to exerting pressure on the British government by less than "democratic means" and not always under their "own banner". The most recent threats to withdraw land from the Defence Ministry, belies a certain amount of support in both regular commissioned Military and more significantly the Territorial reserve forces.
They are the octopus of the English reactionary body politic.
They have succesfully infiltrated many other "rights orientated" groupings always pursuing an almost totalitarian (at end) agenda. The application of C.A.'s plans would result in a seperate society being _planned_ and sustained by central government. No secret has ever been made of their belief that "urban solutions" are different to "the country life". And those urban solutions would mean more and more poverty, Control, et cetera...
They are probably responsible for more repressive legislation resulting from provocative actions than anyone else during the nominally "left" of centre government of Blair. "Left" as in there really is no other option ¿is there?

All of this being pitched in a "rights" orientated and "traditional" values format which quite slickly on occasion hides a reactionary and unhealthy fascination with earlier versions of the English constitution.
And beneath that you find monsters.

by The Fox Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:23

Interesting to see indymedia contributors calling for police brutality as a way of dealing with protesters.

by pat c Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:26

But at the same time it does cheer me up to see those toffs and their lunpen lackeys getting a good hiding. I just wish I could get away with doing the same to them in public.

by pc Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:29

heard on the radio that a camera man was knocked over (one hopes he not seriously hurt) but it must have the dgn block black again... fecking protest tourists

ps tintin troll you volunteering?

by pat c Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:07

SDLP didnt vote. Interestingly all 4 Plaid Cymru MPs voted against the ban. Shamefully, Sinn Fein abstained.*

The Bill to ban hunting with dogs received a third reading on Wednesday by 339 to 155 votes. Here's how MPs voted. (link below).

*Please note this comment about SF is a weak attempt at satire.

by curious Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:42

Indymedia regulars advocating police violence against protesters.

Main reason for opposing the protesting being perception of them being "toffs".

Have these people considered what could happen to the fox population? Do they advocate bith control?

These country activities are clear example of where many of the much lauded "working class" find employment. I think they'd prefer their jobs than hearing platitudes and praise from students on inymedia. "Oh why won't the working classes organise and form a party that represents their interest? (with me in charge preferebly)".

Animal rights activists are moving onto angling now. Angling? Anglers are the only people with a real interest in keeping our WATER clean.

I oppose unrestricted fox huntiong. I could go on forever, but unlike others will try and keep it short.

by pat c Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:46

The "working class" at the rally are the lumpen sort who provide the footsoldiers for fascism. I dont care what happens to them anymore than I care about what happens to "workers" in Nuclear Power plants.

On this occasion I say 3 cheers for the workers in uniform!

As for the foxes, re-intoduce wolfs. that'll do.

by Fergal Thu Sep 16, 2004 13:04

So it's freedom of speech just for the people we agree with then, is it?

Pat C, I was going to comment on your posting above, but I realise that there's not much I can say about it without stating the obvious, i.e. that it's utterly immature. You can't beat a "radical" when it comes to misanthropy, can you?

by pat c Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:07

How is it misantrophic or immature to hate your class enemies and their lackeys? These huntscum often get away with beating up the sabs while my comments about the cops were satirical, as I said I wish I could get away with giving these thugs a good thumping in public. I guess thats why I envy the cops on this occasion.

I also consider nuclear power workers not just class enemies, they are enemies of humanity. They dont even care about their own children. Fathers exposed to radiation pass on the damage to their children, research suggests. A recent Leicester University report shows fathers who had been exposed to radiation passed on genetic mistakes to their offspring. Professor Dubrova (research team leader) said: "Our results show that radiation-induced instability can be transmitted for at least two generations."

by Fergal Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:23

I think the fact that they're willing to work such a dangerous job is proof that they do in fact care about their children. But what do I know? You've obviously met these guys and thus are aware of their emotions regarding their offspring. That's how you know that they knew about the dangers to their kids and did it all on purpose because they're capitalist lumpen prole lackey monsters. Tell me Pat, would I be right in guessing that you're a student? I don't mean this in a patronising way, it's just that it would explain your disconnection from, and disdain for the real world. Not unusual, I had it myself. It'll take a year or two out of the cocoon to wear off.

By the way, it's interesting that the cops aren't lackeys this time. That'll change come the next protest I assume.

by iosaf Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:31

For the first time since Cromwell, yes Cromwell "dismissed the Rump" there was a violent intrusion of the House.

Meanwhile all the CCTV cameras went blank and people with very clear links to every reactionary group you can think of, including the regular and reserve Military had a pitch battle with the police.

I can (rather ruefully) inform the Irish readership and those beyond who rely on me for this sort of thing, that England did not have a coup d'etat yesterday and even though members of the aristocracy "with their men" went attacking Parliament and the Police, today it's all armed guards and normal debate and _an inquiry into the Police handling of protesters_.

BUT for a few hours, it could have gone the other way, and Blair might have been hung from a lamp-post, and all of us left and right awoken to a very different neighbour. One with an entrenched military, an archaic class system, and well it wouldn't have been that different, but there would have been no more GM i can tell you that!

Oh well... back to the drawing board.

How the columnists saw what happened-
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1305593,00.html
http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/13225442?source=PA

by Major Woody Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:33

How about the Daily Mirror!

by pat c Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:34

" think the fact that they're willing to work such a dangerous job is proof that they do in fact care about their children. "

What? They pass on leukemia etc to their children and means they care? They poison the land and the sea. Now whos being immature!

I'm not a student. I was an active trade unionist for 20 yrs but taking a rest from it at present. I still work fulltime. I'm a bit old in the tooth to be likely to change my opinions about Nuclrar Power at this stage.

Interestingly though, when I was a young and callow Trotskyist I did support Nuclear Power. Lets hear it one more time "Nuclear Power is Ok Under Workers Control!". Fortunately I did grow out of that mindset.

"By the way, it's interesting that the cops aren't lackeys this time. That'll change come the next protest I assume."

How many times do I have to say that I am being satirical/ironic/sarcastic with my pro-cop remarks?

by pat c Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:38

What a front page!

by Fergal Thu Sep 16, 2004 14:39

...it was hardly Paris '68, was it? the main movers in the protest are quite happy with the system as is. They certainly don't have a problem with GM food (read "What a carve up!" by Johnathan Coe for a grotesque, but accurate satire on an english factory farm). Considering the huge amount of power they have, the rights and wrongs of their disappearing right to kill foxes is a mere sentimental detail.

by cough cough Thu Sep 16, 2004 16:04

"An elected parliament's right to meet, debate and pass laws without fear of intimidation stands at the very heart of the democratic system. Any physical threat to that right is an event that should alarm any true democrat, whether it comes from the monarchy, as it did in the 17th century, the Luftwaffe, as in the 20th, or from the Countryside Alliance, as happened yesterday. In its own way, yesterday's 21st-century assault on parliament by pro-hunting militants was an attack on the liberty of the British people and its elected representatives as serious in principle as anything attempted by Guy Fawkes, Charles I or Hermann Goering's pilots. The irruption into the Commons chamber yesterday afternoon of five thugs, following a series of assaults on police protecting the House of Parliament, may not have been such a life-and-death challenge to this nation's democratic existence as Colonel Tejero's gun-toting raid was on the Spanish parliament in 1981. But it came from the same impulse. It was a desecration of the basic principles of democracy and law and it was absolutely beyond excuse."

from the Leader article of The Guardian.
the paper for those who's heads would be on the line were there ever any "very English coups" happening.

by Cough Cough! Thu Sep 16, 2004 21:47

that neither our Dail Eireann nor our Parliament were ever suspended from normal business in such a way.

Ireland had her protesters have always been a well mannered bunch that would never dream of using influence and power to obtain back door entry to a government debate.

And as such are respected and well liked throughout the world. Whereas the English scallywags and gurriers are a completely different matter.
Now it is very important that people remember stuff from history like- Cromwell, Tejeros, the Florida recount et cetera... because these things happen. Not however let us assure you; in Ireland.
This has perhaps been the reason that the Irish might have ended up being caught on the hop, if the English had yesterday entered into civil war over the hunting foxes question.

Do we have a contingency plan in the case of a democratic institutions and and the democratically elected government of England being overturned?

Do we have a pamphlet perhaps?

Now before any smart ass goes and corrects me- the serious incidents in Irish Legislatures have been confined to:-

Tony Gregory shouting at the US President.
Eamonn De Valera walking in Fianna Fail for the first time and every one of them packing a gun.
The last debates of "grattan's" parliament before it voted to dissolve "where rude words and money not a few blows were dealt".

Another reader might like to furnish the "skirmishes" within Stormont, but you'd be surprised at how meagre they were.
there is a point in all this.
And it is this.
Tony Blair is a very unpopular prime minister who brought his country into war on intelligence that can't even monitor the countryside alliance capability to enter Parliament without prejudice let alone assess Saddam's weapon potential.
It would be a good idea for those people "on the Left" who want rid of Tony Blair to do it quickly and not leave "all the rest of them" (in the gutter) without a hope of democracy.
The rest of them, number ten million families without a bank account, number over thirty million without a safe food supply, number almost fifty million little englandurs who no matter how hard you try-
Don't want to be Yanks.
& that means they'll fight every "assault" on thier traditions. Be they hunting foxes, or using the pound or smoking a cigarette in their local pub.
The English are very different to us Irish.
We must keep a close eye on them.

by pat c Fri Sep 17, 2004 12:07

(These guys really love the countryside. pat c)

The wildlife site could take years to recover from the burnt slogan.Pro-fox hunting protesters who burnt a slogan into a hillside ahead of a vote in the Commons have been described as irresponsible by conservationists. Supporters burnt the words "No Ban" into the grass near the Long Man of Wilmington in East Sussex.

The chalk grassland around the historic carving is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The Sussex Downs Conservation Board and English Nature expressed their concern at the damage caused to the site.

There are up to 50 different species of plant per square metre around the area of the Long Man of Wilmington, which is one of the largest carved figures in the world.

Full story at:

by curious Fri Sep 17, 2004 16:44

Look at the damage those historic vandals did by carving the long man. The grass still hasn't recovered!

by Pro sab hunter Sat Sep 18, 2004 01:17

If you think the poll tax riots were bad.Now the gloves are really off.Now sabs,labour and pigs are all fair game.[all the same actually]
Lets see the fuckin pigs try to deal with 60 hounds and fifty plus horses average on a hunt.
Tally Ho a huntin labor,sabs and pigs we go

by Orderly Citizen Sat Sep 18, 2004 16:05

That comment from "Pro sab hunter" shows the thuggish mentality of these hunting types. If these people try to break the law, and if the police cannot cope, it will be the duty of the general citizenry to see that the law is upheld. There is no way that decent people should allow these hunt terrorists to win.