MAYBE IT’S MAYDAY, MAYBE WE’RE BORN WITH IT

THE FOLLOWING FROM some of Bristol First of May Group:

May Day has been celebrated as International Workers’ Day since 1890, and is a time to remember our collective history, and to re-ignite our present day struggles for a better world. For May Day 2013, unions in our sister-shitty Bristol are calling for a March Against Austerity on 04/05. We are one of the ones calling for a Radical Block/Bloc (dictionary, anyone?) to march with them.

Come and join us on the streets if you are:

Mad – at the govermint which continues to attack society’s most vulnerable for the benefit of no one, other than themselves (and their rich mates)

Angry – that the costs of living are going up and your boss won’t pay you more

Frustrated – that your working conditions are being destroyed and the bureaucrats at the top of your union don’t seem up for the fight your fellow workers are ready for

Worried – that if we don’t do something soon, there will be no NHS or decent education left for your children

Bored – with the latest lies from the politicians and press you’re expected to believe

Inspired – by the courage of those that have gone before us, who have fought against exploitation, and won us all victories which last to this day

Optimistic – about creating a society that can meet all our needs and seek an end to: sexism, racism, transophobia, ableism, ageism, religious intolerance, homophobia, and the many other oppressive ways we are divided.

Grab your red flag, your black flag, your pirate flag, or no flag at all, and get together at 10.30am, Saturday the 4th of May on College Green to take to the streets of Bristol, and lets rekindle the spirit of resistance!

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THEORY CORNER: GETTING ANGRY

I SPEND A lot of my time talking to ordinary people, whether it is on demos, walking the dog or when just out and about around town. What has really pissed me off is that most people don’t give a shit about anyone else. It is all me me me, with no understanding or empathy towards other people. I guess it is just the society we have been brought up in, capitalism has definitely made people less responsible for their own actions and has created a blame culture, which has led to most people being whining little brats who don’t think about others’ suffering, and if they do have a moment of clarity it is quickly pushed aside for a shiny new i-toy of some sort. The N.H.S. and the benefit system are in tatters, people are being forced into Victorian-style workhouse labour, others are being forced onto the streets, the vulnerable in society are being abused and some people just say ‘well I’m able to survive so why can’t others?’ ARGH! What they don’t seem to understand is that if we don’t stick up for each other then it will be us next. We would rather aspire to be in the minority of rich, controlling bastards than look out for our neighbours. Lets make no mistake; those at the top are bastards. They were born into wealth and are unlikely to let too many share what they have. They sell you the dream of wealth and power, with no intention to let you have any. They make you compete against those who would otherwise help you and share their knowledge and skills with you.

Instead of getting angry and jealous of those around you, get angry and those who have put us all in this fuckstick of a situation. Get to know your neighbours, maybe an elderly neighbour could do with some company, or there might be a single parent that might need some time off. If you have skills in D.I.Y. or cooking, you can offer your skills to others in return for theirs. And from creating this community you will develop more empathy for those around you. Now doesn’t that sound much better than watching the prejudice and hateful bullshit on the news? Keep your hate for those that deserve it… and that really isn’t those who are worse off than you.

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OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH SATAN AND THE DENIZENS OF HELL AT THIS DIFFICULT TIME…

IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED: It’s finally happened: the woman who destroyed the unions, created mass unemployment and fucked up generations of British people through war and discrimination, has popped her clogs. Tonight, thousands of people will be taking to the streets in celebration of the death of the ‘Iron Lady’, and don’t forget to get to Trafalgar Square this Saturday for the biggest free party so far this decade!

Thatcher is dead poster imageHowever, with things being shitter than ever before (mass unemployment, the end of the N.H.S. and the benefits system, workers’ rights getting destroyed despite all the lives lost to win them, and people losing their homes), I am sure most of us wish that the whole of government had been blown up instead.

But nothing’s better than a party to cheer you up! And the destruction of a half-dead, evil, mean-spirited old Tory monster is a much better celebration than a couple of posh kids getting married… and it’s not like you were invited to the wedding anyway!

Another thing to look out for is Thatcher’s state funeral, with full military honours: a blatant incitement to riot on behalf of the Tories, if ever there was one. At a cost of £3 million, I am pretty sure the only reason she is getting one is so that we will all be allowed to form an orderly queue to get the opportunity to piss on her. I personally think her grave should be under a public toilet so millions of people for decades will be able to relieve themselves on her… if you get charged £1 a shit then I am sure it would get the country out of debt. Or perhaps if the rest of the Tories (yeah, and Lib Dems too, why not?) start to follow suit, the sales of alcohol and party food alone should be enough to pull us out of whatever economic crash we’re told isn’t happening that we find ourselves in.

Anyhow; have a drink to the old bitch’s death tonight, and think of her roasting in the deepest circles of hell.

In other news, Atos Origin allegedly announced this afternoon that they found Margaret Thatcher for for work.

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FOOTBALL IN SHOCK AS FASCIST WANKER DI CANIO IS MADE MANAGER OF SUNDERLAND….

EXCEPT WE’RE NOT here at the Mutineer, seeing as we knew about DiCanio’s dream career of managing English football teams since he was appointed as manager of Swindon Town. We even did a little report on how happy we were when the fash fucker left his position there earlier this year. There were other media sources that reported this but obviously it was not seen by many as the most important of news.

Of course that all changed when DiCanio was appointed manager at AFC Sunderland; it seems that everybody now is asking questions as to why this is happening, and the B.B.C., along with other media outlets and left wing groups, are starting to complain about this turn of events. Personally this writer is more pissed off with the left-wing and the media, than with the recent signing in of a self-proclaimed fash.

DiCanio pictured along with some other boneheads
DiCanio pictured along with some other boneheads

It’s no surprise that the press only started to chase after DiCanio’s far-right activities once he was signed at Sunderland – which also happened to be chaired by Ed Milliband’s loser brother David. That’s what mainstream news does, and while it does piss me off we shouldn’t be surprised, because this does happen all the time. At least Paul Merton made note of this on the newest episode of Have I Got News For You “It’s a bit like invading Czechoslovakia, you got to invade Poland before people take notice”.

However, the people who have really pissed me off are the left-wing reformist idiots who run Hope Not Hate. Looking through all their articles on DiCanio, the first article they wrote on the bastard was dated April 1st 2013. Wait a fucking minute, 2013? DiCanio has been involved in English football since the 90’s – he was managing Swindon Town from May 2011, and you didn’t mention anything then? What the fuck? I would’ve have thought that a group that concerns itself with the monitoring of fascism in the UK would have considered his appointment at Swindon to be of some significant importance. The local G.M.B. union certainly took action when they pulled out from financially backing the team due to the controversial decision, but obviously it was only important for H.N.H to take action when fascists get appointed to the managerial positions of fancy premier league clubs. This is what irritates me the most about H.N.H., S.W.P., S.P., and the broad left in general: they take action on issues which have become mainstream media material. If it is not that widely reported by the B.B.C. and other media mogul elites then they tend to not bother themselves with it at all.

My respect to the individuals and groups who did highlight and take action when DiCanio was appointed manager at Swindon Town; as for the rest of you just remember that fascists must be opposed everywhere. Just because Swindon Town is not a high-profile club doesn’t mean you can relax and let the fuckers carry on...

…Not Swindon – the fascists.

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A RETROSPECTIVE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME, WORKFARE-STYLE

LAST WEEK’S WEEK of Action against Workfare saw 11 demos around the country, and got off to a positively super start, as Superdrug announced their withdrawal from the scheme (get it? “Super”? As in “Super”drug? No? Ahh, forget it). Okay, it was on the Friday, not the beginning of the week, you pedant, but they pulled out all the same.

graphic criticising Poundland's breach of minimum wage

But as a reminder, what is Workfare? From the B.A.R.F. leaflet: “Unemployed people being forced to work for free for up to six months with no guarantee of a job afterwards, many of them for major high street companies, such as British Heart Foundation, Debenhams, Poundland, Superdrug, Tesco, W.H.S. Smiths, and more.” So, yeah, modern slavery, but without the obligation to keep the slaves healthy, because this time there’s more than enough of us.

At the beginning of the week, the Employment Related Services Association (E.R.S.A.) put out a ‘myth buster’ in defence of Workfare – conveniently made up of mythology itself. The E.R.S.A. is the trade body for welfare-to-work companies like A.4e and J.H.P. Employability. Though they claim that the scheme is only used in limited ways, 163,000 people were on “Government training and employment support programs” in February 2013 – over 10% of J.S.A claimants – most of which were Work Experience Placements. They think that Work Programme providers wouldn’t force people to do something that won’t help them get work, because they won’t get paid if they don’t help find someone a job; which is a logical perspective if you have no basis in reality. They also allege that mandation is used only in a minority of circumstances and must benefit to the local community, ignoring how claimants are pressured into placements, or not properly informed about their mandatory nature, and how the so-called “benefit to the local community” often includes cleaning private homes. And one of their most naïve claims: placements organised via the Work Programme and Mandatory Work Activity programme are unpaid precisely so they do not displace paid workers. But it is patently obvious that access to a ready supply of unpaid workers does replace paid jobs and undermine wages, and the companies know it too: Asda reduces overtime hours for staff; Argos replaced its Christmas temps with Workfare staff; J.H.P. Employability cuntishly even advertised workfare as “free temporary staff for up to four weeks” on their site. It’s uncertain to what extent this impact is, as the govermint refuses to actually carry out any trials. The E.R.S.A. also claim the public don’t object to workfare, in the face of growing opposition, and to prove it they hark back to a March 2011 poll done for thinktank Policy Exchange – long before workfare hit the headlines.

Another factoid to consider in all this: incidence and severity of assaults on JCP staff are apparently on the up, with frustration and confusion about sanctions are cited as the cause.

On Tuesday, attention was turned to the Salvation Army, whose U.K. H.Q. was paid a surprise visit. Nevertheless, the media-savvy Sally’s showed how they’re happy to act as Iain Duncan Smith’s Workfare foot soldiers, as their heavy-handed response to a peaceful protest left one person temporarily arrested after being falsely accused of assault, until police realised they’d been lied to. Never content to just stop there, when questioned about how they “can morally take sick and disabled people and force them to work?”, the charity replied that they believe in “emancipation through employment” – just like at Auschwitz. Should you wish to let them know exactly you think about their use of forced labour, ring them on 02073 674500 (or e-mail them at: info@salvationarmy.org.uk) – and please spare a thought for their witless P.R. officer who is probably even now just entering the dole queue. ‘Arbeit macht frei’, indeed.

But the real shit in ya slippers was Duncan Sith’s Workfare bill getting itself enacted in Parliament. Aside from a few votes against, Miliband’s goons put the ‘Slave’ back into Labour as their abstention slipped the law through with ease. Not only did politicians enable a retroactive law to be enacted, they also deprived 225,000 people of justice, effectively robbing £130 million in welfare payments people were lawfully due. Neo-nazi I.D.S. (who has grown fat off benefits via his unemployed albeit rich, wife, four child benefit-enriched children and his own periods of dole claims) had this particular wet dream extraordinarily rushed through, with the Second Reading, Committee Stage and Third Reading all being scheduled for the same day. Which is nice. This spate of legal time travel now means that the govermint has ‘always complied’ with the court ruling, even though for two years it did not. Slavery is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, and Orwellian fiction becomes fact.

But then again, if Babyface Smith didn’t get his way, “If the Department cannot make these retrospective changes, then further reductions in benefits might be required in order to find the money to repay the sanctions.” Otherwise known as: “Fuck you, plebs!”

Wednesday seemed a bit of a quiet one, but saw Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group leafleting outside the local Job Centre, in solidarity with the day’s strike by the P.C.S. union.

One highlight of the week, for what it’s worth, is on the Thursday when the govermint was forced to admit that jobcentres have been setting targets to sanction claimants, despite assurances by employment minister Mark Hoban in Parliament that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. According to a leaked e-mail, staff in Walthamstow were threatened with disciplinary action for being 95th out of 109 on the league tables, only punishing six of their 300 claimants a week, when they should be setting up 25 innocents for sanctions (the keywords staff were on the lookout for were: “Do not accept the same job search every week, do not accept ‘I dropped off C.V. to shops like Asda or Sainsbury’s’, listen for telltale phrases ‘I pick up the kids’, ‘I look after my neighbours children/my grandchildren’ or just ‘I am busy’”). Bearing in mind that such a league table could only have been compiled based on data supplied by senior management; makes you wonder what the top prize is? The D.W.P. is of course trying to blame this faux pas on a couple of middle management bad eggs, rather than admit a general culture of top-down institutional hatred for ordinary people; surprise surprise, but why be so naïve as to expect that honesty is the name of the game? So all we’ll get out of it is a bullshit inquiry distraction before they start screwing us harder, but at least they were caught lying.

On the Friday, seven activists from the Black And Red Federation held a modest afternoon demo to greet the new Poundland on Westgate Street. Despite the focus of the High Court judgement (where Cait Reilly – the Geology Graduate forced to give up voluntary work in a museum to work for nothing at Poundland – whose successful challenge led to the ruling declaring Workfare regulations unlawful), Poundland are still at it. Poundland have 30-hour ‘Work Experience’ placements across 71 of their stores, though allegedly not in Bath. 80% of placements do not even get offered any kind of job there; considering how Poundland’s profits rose by 27% to £40 million in the last financial year, they can probably afford to hand out a bit of wage. Though they claim that their scheme is completely voluntary, it does involve Job Centre Plus, so the threat of benefit cuts are still on the cards for those who refuse. The degree to which the scheme is genuinely voluntary is disputed though, as there are countless reports of lies and intimidation to force Jobseekers’ participation, and after one week the scheme becomes mandatory. Not only are placementees getting an effective £2 or so an hour (do we not have a minimum wage in this country anymore?), the scheme is also a direct attack on Poundland’s other workers – replacing paid jobs, holiday pay & ending temporary posts for students and others who rely on this type of work. Boycott Workfare have received various complaints from Poundland staff who have had their hours cut, because of the Workfare job destruction scheme.

The demo was met by overwhelming support from the passersby (at least those who have heard of Workfare, which is surprisingly few), with such classics as the posh elderly former Tory (“Well, the government are just a bunch of cunts aren’t they? Pardon my language”), the Tory-hating U.K.I.P.-enthusiast, and Red Army Faction tattoo guy coyly suggesting a much-needed bombing campaign – perhaps we’ve been aiming a bit low with our action? Well, maybe they will, once they work our way through the bag of donuts they got donated. Protests like these do add up; until Poundland gives in, help us in fighting this attack on all workers’ terms and conditions – Donut Shop At Poundland.

Feedback form: http://www.poundland.co.uk/enquiry/customer-enquiry/
Press centre: poundland@bottlepr.co.uk
Chief Executive (Warburg Pincus – their U.S.-based private equity fund owners): egustafson@warburgpincus.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Poundland
Twitter: https://twitter.com/poundland

Then on the Saturday, B.A.R.F.ers joined 50 or so Bristol Afed, Solfeders, Wobs and Socialist Partygoers and fiends for a rolling picket throughout Bristol centre, meeting at Castle Park at 2p.m., and chaosing its way through Cabot Circus for Dorothy Perkins, then Poundland (where a worker bizarrely knifed the banner and stole a demonstrator’s camera), then Debenhams, then McDonalds and then into the Galleries for Greggs, where protesters were handed another donation of donuts, from an amused competitor (notice a pattern?). The day finished up inside the Marriot Hotel, just before everyone froze to death. Saturday also saw action in Kirkgate, Scotland;

So, who has pulled out of the sinking ship we call ‘Workfare’? Well, we have Holland and Barrett, the Red Cross, Capability Scotland, Sue Ryder, Scope, Superdrug, P.D.S.A. and Cancer Research, just off the top of my head. The Children’s Society has also pledged not to use Workfare. Already before the latest withdrawals, the govermint complained how “The high profile withdrawal of placements from a number of larger charities meant a sharp reduction in placements.” British Heart Foundation, for its part, are also now “moving away”, whatever that means; recently they declared they had withdrawn from the Mandatory Work Activity scheme, but are still openly declaring on their website that they are participating in the Work Programme – despite the fact that, in December, the scheme was extended to give providers the power to force many sick and disabled claimants on Employment and Support Allowance to work for nothing, or face sanctions. Nah, bollocks, B.H.F.’re still fair game! Contact them via phone (retail H.Q. tel: 01372 477300; head office tel: 02075 540000; customer service centre – 03003 303322) or e-mail (customerservice@bhf.org.uk).

Also fair game is the Y.M.C.A., who recently made a statement defending their use of forced unpaid workers, ignoring the fact they are responsible for pushing people into destitution and possible homelessness, through sanctions which can last up to three years. Uselessly, their president Bishop John Sentamu has spoken out against workfare in the past. They can be rung on 02071 869500 or their shops’ hotline: 08456 010728, and e-mailed on shop@ymca.org.uk and enquiries@ymca.org.uk, tweeted at @ymcaint and then Facebooked at www.facebook.com/ymcas. But remember whilst it’s well worth trying to speak to a manager if possible, bear in mind most people taking calls/e-mails will be low paid retail or admin and could even be on Workfare themselves.

For the number-crunchers out there, one in five people sent on Mandatory Work Activity in charity shops face benefit stoppages of three or six months. Alongside B.H.F. and Y.M.C.A., charities like the R.S.P.C.A. (head office tel: 03001 230100), the Papworth Trust (e-mail: info@papworth.org.uk; utilising disabled labour) and T.C.V. (The Conservation ‘Volunteers’, formerly B.C.T.V.; head office tel: 01302 388883, e-mail: information@tcv.org.uk, www.btcv.org.uk/volunteer/index.html) are still involved – with the latter previously boasted of using 20,000 unpaid workers on various govermint schemes since the ’80s, and their current lucrative D.W.P. contracts have forced at least 589 people into unpaid work.

Miscellaneous Rogues Gallery

 

From Boycott Workfare:

  • Asda has been at the heart of workfare in the UK, helping the government relaunch its “Work Experience” scheme last year. We have had reports that one of their stores in Manchester uses disabled people on workfare on the night shift.
  • A.4e is one of the biggest beneficiaries of govermint welfare policy – in 2011 the company turnover was £180 million, 100% of which came from public coffers. Out of this the bosses shared out £11 million between them. A4e utterly fail to meet even the paltry minimum targets set by the D.W.P. for finding people jobs on the Work Programme. Not content with just this scam, aided and abetted by their friends in government, there are numerous accusations of fraud against them, where records are apparently falsified, so that they can claim even more public money for not doing their job. They are further subsidised by the public by their use of mandatory unpaid labour within the company as well.
    customer services: customerservices@a4e.co.uk; freephone tel: 0800 345666
    head of communications: kmccrory@a4e.co.uk
    media relations manager: jkerr@a4e.co.uk
    head office fax number: 0114 275 4632; send free faxes via: www.freepopfax.com; many classic books are available as free P.D.F.s online – perhaps A4e would like to read them?
    website complaints form: mya4e.com/contact-us/complaints-form
    Also, why not send a secure e-mail via: www.hushmail.com
  • Argos appears to be using six week placements from the Job Centre on a massive scale. Multiple reports of Argos using workfare placements so that paid staff hours are being reduced, and fewer Christmas temps employed have emerged.

    business e-mail: info@argos.co.uk
    corporate irresponsibility (H.R.G.): gordon.bentley@homeretailgroup.com, corporate.responsibility@homeretailgroup.com
    media relations (H.R.G.): media.relations@homeretailgroup.com
    managing director: john.walden@argos.co.uk
    head office tel: 01908 690333
    customer Services tel: 01785 710253

  • Debenhams has 165 stores across the U.K. and Ireland, and a turnover of £2.2 billion. They too have been taking advantage of wageless, rightless workers supplied by the D.W.P. at the taxpayers’ expense. They’re very keen to insist that the scheme they’re involved in is voluntary, but D.W.P. rules say if you don’t get take part you’re referred to a scheme which carries 3 year sanctions. So it’s only voluntary if you say ‘yes’.
    press office: press.office@debenhams.com
    customer services: customerrelations@debenhams.com
    company secretary (Paul Eardley): company.secretariat@debenhams.com
  • Tesco has committed to 3000 workfare placements, and so far 80% of the 1,500 people who have gone through their stores have not been given a job. Tesco’s profits last year were £1.7 billion. 1,500 eight- week, thirty hour placements would mean the company has so far profited from 360,000 hours of free labour on the schemes.
    head office e-mail: online@tesco.co.uk; tel: 08457 225533; Tesco Direct: 08456 004411
    customer service e-mail: customer.service@tesco.co.uk
    Phil Clarke, current C.E.O.: philip.clarke@uk.tesco.com

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/03/five-things-the-government-wont-tell-you-about-workfare/

http://www.channel4.com/news/now-asda-is-accused-of-employing-youths-for-no-wage

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POLICE INVESTIGATE ‘ATTACK’ ON LOCAL HUNT KENNELS

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE has been supplied by our good friends at the Hereford Heckler:

“The Ross Harriers hunt are in the media yet again this week with an article published claiming that the police are investigating an attack on their kennels, including the dumping of a dead dog on the huntsman’s driveway.

Police were called to the address in Coughton, near Ross-On-Wye last Tuesday, 19th March, to reports of criminal damage to a 4×4 belonging to the huntsman, David Lee Peters, and the death of his dog. In the article an ‘anonymous source close to the hunt’ suggests that the attack and murder of the dog was the work of animal rights activists. The initials ‘ALF’ (standing for Animal Liberation Front) were apparently scratched onto the vehicle and the source claimed that the dog was ‘beaten to death.’

Questions raised

Questions are already being raised about the validity of the claims, especially regarding the involvement of animal rights activists.

Firstly and most obviously, what motivation would activists associated with the animal rights movement have for harming a dog, let alone ‘beating it to death’ and leaving it on the huntsman’s driveway? The pro-hunting community often slander animal activists as ‘people haters’ but whatever point the activists could have wanted to make, either about hunting or about Peters himself, would vegetarian and vegan protesters who commit themselves to ending all animal exploitation (often at the risk of injury or arrest) have done something so counterintuitive and opposed to their beliefs to make this comment? Given the obvious public backlash that would follow and the condemnation and even stronger backlash from the rest of the animal rights movement, we think not!

The ‘hunt source’ in the article heavily suggests that the ALF was responsible for the attack and attempts to explain who and what the ALF is. The Animal Liberation Front is a loose collection, or more accurately concept, often attributed to those who carry out non-violent direct action in defence of animals. Over its 40 year history the ALF has rescued (or ‘liberated’) hundreds of thousands of animals from places of cruelty and exploitation (including factory farms and animal experiment labs). It has also caused £millions of financial loss to those who profit from the exploitation of animals.

In the ALF aims and guidelines, which have to be clearly adhered to for the name to be used in a direct action, it is imperatively stated that activists should:

Take all necessary precautions against harming any animal, human and non-human.

If this does not happen, then it quite simply is not an action of the ALF.

Hunt saboteurs are also mentioned in the article, as they are often active in the region close to the kennels and have previously attended meets of the Ross Harriers Hunt. Again there is the suggestion that they may have be involved in the attack, or that they and the ALF are one-and-the-same.

Hunt saboteurs also use non-violent direct action to save hunted animals. They put themselves between the hunted animal and the hunters, using scent-dulling sprays and hunting horns to mimic the huntsman and call hounds away from the hunted animal.

In the 50 years that hunt saboteurs have been active, there have been all sorts of accusations made against them by the hunting fraternity; spraying hounds with battery acid, using trip-wires to trip up horses, even bringing pre-caught foxes along and releasing them in front of hounds to prove that hunts are illegally hunting – none of which have ever been proven.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association introduction literature clearly states that saboteurs should never harm or put animals at risk, whether they are the hunted animal or animals used by the hunt. This is seen as somewhat of a golden rule by hunt saboteurs and monitors. The press officer of the Hunt Saboteurs Association commented on the incident saying:

“We simply do not engage in or condone criminal damage or any attacks on animals,”

“We engage in legal disruption of illegal hunting and we had nothing to do with this whatsoever.

“It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing the ALF would do either, killing a dog. They have been known to steal an entire pack of hounds, but they wouldn’t harm one.”

In short the murder of this innocent animal (if that is indeed what happened) is obviously a heinous crime, something that animal rights activists and hunt saboteurs would also be extremely opposed to, whoever it belonged to.

Lee Peters, pictured outside Hereford Magistrates Court. On Trial for a criminal case that lead to him being found guilty of being a racist bastard

The Ross Harriers – not so squeaky clean

It seems that the media (including, unsurprisingly, the Daily Mail) are swallowing up yet another animal rights scare story, without looking any deeper and only giving a glancing reference to the recent history of this particular hunt.

The Heckler has reported on the Ross Harriers a number of times in the recent past. In November, Peters was fined £720 by magistrates in Hereford and ordered to pay £200 compensation to a hunt saboteur he was found guilty of racially abusing during a meet at Aston Crews last January. In October a supporter of the Harriers was also found guilty of assaulting a saboteur and around this time last year members of the hunt attacked the vehicle of anti-hunt protesters and some of its occupants with an iron bar. Hardly the track record of law-abiding, non-violent and decent human beings and certainly far from the image of ‘victims’ that they appear to have gained with some.

A ‘false flag’ attack?

So with it looking extremely unlikely that the people who carried out the murder of this dog were associated with hunt saboteurs or the animal rights movement and the previous bad behaviour of the hunt examined, who could have been responsible? A number of possible (and in our opinion much more likely) explanations for the attack and who carried it out have been raised online:

It could be part of a smear campaign by the hunting community to slander hunt saboteurs and animal rights activists. Lee Peters is appealing his conviction of racially abusing a saboteur last year, and the retrial will be heard at Worcester Crown Court in the Summer. The media attention and police investigation would serve as a well timed attempt to gain public support for Peters and to discredit and put pressure on the activists who oppose him and who will presumably play a part in the case against him.

It could have been committed by somebody with a personal gripe against Peters, or another rival, local hunt. There are often bitter rivalries over hunting territory, support and finances. The pro-hunting community have also been known to dump dead foxes at the houses of hunt opponents, have killed and injured pet animals (such as dogs) and have vandalised vehicles and houses. This sounds awfully similar to the type of attack described in the article, and the ‘antis’ would make for perfect cover for such an attack.

It could have been proponents of the upcoming badger cull, which will take place in the area. The badger cull is conveniently mentioned in the article and by the hunt’s ‘anonymous source,’ without anything else suggesting that this alleged ‘ALF action’ had anything to do with the cull. By making it look like ‘animal rights extremists’ are operating in the area, the police would be forced to take more of an active interest in pursuing the animal rights activists who would oppose the cull.

The ‘ALF’ attack on the vehicle could have been an action genuinely committed by animal rights activists, with the dog being dumped (or planted) by others afterwards – the dog either dying of natural causes and being made to look like it was killed, or being killed in a more sinister manner. Again this could serve to discredit the action and the activists, by giving a scapegoat for the death and turning the media attention to what the hunting community would portray as ‘hypocritical hunt opponents.’

It is not unheard of for such ‘false flag’ attacks to happen, after all. Back in 1990 an unheard of group called the ‘British Animal Rights Society’ claimed responsibility for having attached a nail bomb to a huntsman’s Land Rover in Somerset. Forensic evidence led police to arrest the owner of the vehicle, who admitted he had bombed his own car to discredit the animal rights movement. He was jailed for nine months.

Whoever the perpetrator of the alleged attack on the Ross Harriers kennels was, we think there is more to this story than meets the eye…”

http://herefordheckler.co.uk/

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AXMINSTER CARPETS COMMIT WORKERS PURGE

300 WORKERS AT Axminster Carpets have been told that they no longer work for the company because, as they told the rest of the media, this is an attempt to stop liquidation of the company. Staff are without a doubt devastated. This has also had a terrible effect on families who have been working there for many years, such as the Kaxee family: “There’s three of us who have been made redundant today. For the last two weeks we’ve had no wages. There is no work around here at all.” Mr Kaxee said his wife, who still has her job, is very distressed about this loss; while she may have the fortune of keeping her job she now has to run a department by herself that would normally require at least eight people.

The main building of Axminster Carpets

With all these mass job losses and companies going into administration, along with the savage attacks from the ConDem govermint, circumstances for both employed and unemployed alike will be getting a lot worse. Out of all the staff that have worked there only 95 are keeping their jobs, less than 25% of the workforce; which means that workers will now be working more for less. There is no doubt either that this won’t be the last of their problems – with all the economic troubles and austerity measures there will probably be a lot more similar headlines…

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HUGO A-GO-GO?

HUGO CHAVEZ, THE now former president of Venuzuela, died of cancer yesterday at the age of 58. Left-wingers from around the world are mourning the loss of a great socialist hero, The S.W.P. are probably going to arrange discussions around this issue in the hope that rest of the left will ignore the internal crisis that is currently tearing their party apart, right-wingers will be loving the fact that the commie bastard is dead, and the BBC will be try to be ‘impartial’ out of fear of pissing off pretty much everyone in the entire globe.

As for us, we’re not going to mention too much about how we feel about his death, mostly because we simply don’t give a fuck. This may sound horrible, but that’s how it is. However we do want to use this opportunity to show you readers one of the many ridiculous things that Hugo has said whilst serving in office. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPsPUrocP8k

 

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SOUTH WEST FASH ON THE MOVE

ANOTHER ANTI-FASCIST STORY for this week: turns out that the South Wales National Front (yes, they apparently still exist!) and the Plymouth division of the English Defence League have both announced plans to demonstrate their hatred against everything that isn’t white and British. In Swansea, on the 9th of March, the South Wales N.F. are hosting an imaginatively-titled ‘White Pride’ day to celebrate how fucked up and out-of-touch with the people they claim to support they really are. Meanwhile, on the 13th of April, the already-dwindling E.D.L. will be dragging out their fake Stone Island fashionwear and sloping brows to potential mosque which will replace the Dance Academy, which has been closed now for six years.

The E.D.L., for their part, are enjoying a painful, humiliating nosedive in support, with new splinter factions and minor civil wars dogging them at every turn; theiir Cambridge outing a few weeks was a wash-out, trudging out a shower* of 30 E.D.iots and the festivities involved muchas entertaining infighting; since July, the disorganisation has multiplied into the English Volunteer Force, and previously the Northwest Infidels and also the Combined Ex-Forces. And lets not forget the Judean People’s Front.

The National Front are themselves a living fossil, forgoing the decency if disappearing into the annals of history, desperately clamping onto any modern-day rightwing hate expression, in a lame attempt to recruit new blood, and not die the inevitable death they so richly deserve; but we can say the same for Blood And Honour, a Nazi fetishist music promoter. Nowadays, they manage to squeeze out showers even smallest than their E.D.L. contemporaries, with turnouts of five blokes and a reluctant dog not uncommon (A.L.F. take note).  It’s fair to assume that their ambitions for Swansea this month is a clumsy bid to siphon off members of disillusioned Welsh Defence Force.

All that being said, it’s important to not just ignore these poor excuses for humanity, or relegate them to being a pure laughing matter; though they are pretty funny. They are violent nutters and can still pose a physical threat to communities, which why it is important to make sure that when we do oppose the, and oppose them we shall, that we don’t resort to the same old liberal/U.A.F. tactics of hosting demonstrations as far away from them in the towns and cities as possible, or ignore them and hope against hope that they’ll go away. It’s through direct action and physical confronting the bastards, as well as systematically dismantling their bullshit arguments, that they’ll be kept off the streets – after all, no one likes a repeated kicking.

MUTINEER DICTIONARY CORNER

Shower* (v): to wash oneself by partial or full immersion in a continuous spray of water; (n) a device for personal hygiene, moving water through a nozzle with minuscule holes; a short period of rain; a collective of fascists or racists [ i.e. “a shower of fash”]

Facebook event for the counter-mobilisation

E.D.L.’s own event page

N.F.’s blog detailing their event

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