Indymedia Cambridge

E.ON withdraws from careers fairs due to persistent protests

E.ON has withdrawn from University Careers Fairs run by AIESEC following a string of protests around the country. E.ON did not show up at Birmingham today (12th Nov). The protesters object to E.ON wanting to develop new coal fired power stations, such as at Kingsnorth - the target of this summers Climate Camp. However E.ON cannot avoid the protests by avoiding careers fairs - expect more fun during 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal on the 28/29 November.

Students have visited careers fairs to protest about the presence of parts of the arms and fossil fuel industries. Climate chaos related companies targeted include RBS (the oil and gas bank), BP and Shell. The arms industry representatives include the Army, B.Ae, Qinetiq and Rolls Royce. Careers fairs have been targeted in Aston, Birmingham ( 2 ), Bristol, Cambridge ( 2 | 3 ), Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial College London, Kings College London, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, Manchester ( 2 | 3 ), Nottingham ( 2 | 3 ), Oxford ( 2 ), Sheffield, Southampton, Warwick and York. More reports are available from People and Planet.

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Mill Road Social Centre - the story so far...

Update:The Mill Road Social Centre was evicted the night after Tesco were rejected again.

Most of know what happened since, but let’s start in the beginning. On Tuesday night 20 May 2008, the building that formerly housed Wilco's automotive parts, and that had been standing empty for over a year, was squatted. This is the selfsame building where Tesco plans to open a controversial Express store. More about that later.

The aim of the squat was to turn the building into a much needed social centre, a focal point for the local Romsey (and Cambridge) community. It should be pointed out that the social centre is not connected to the No Mill Road Tesco campaign.

Since it opened, the centre has hosted numerous events, from women's roller derby to tango lessons, graffiti workshops, an art exhibition, open mic nights and acoustic gigs.

Mill Road Social Centre website

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SHAC Prepares For National March & Rally

On the 12th July, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) hold national march and rally [Report | Pics] to show the mass opposition to the fraudulent vivisection industry and the vile 'experiments' at Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). SHAC is an international campaign aiming to close HLS, the largest contract testing laboratory in Europe.

The rally in the park included info stalls and food/drink from Veggies before campaigners marched through Peterborough. The demonstration ended in Alconbury, so to meet the animal abusers who kill 500 animals every day of the week to test products such as weed killer, food colourings and drugs.

Details: Webpage for the rally, march and demo - Info and times | Rally in the park - Map and meeting point

Reports from last demo in April: Pictures: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Video: 1 | 2

Newswire: HLS Largest Customers Fined For Overcharging Docters | Call for action at SHAC march x2 | Arson Attacks at HLS Animal Breeder | Video of AR Protesters Illegal Arrest at Arromight Hereford | Callout to any FIT watchers - SHAC rally July 12th | Action Alert: Largest HLS Investor: Part 1 & 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Dispatch from Andy Stepanian (SHAC 7) | HLS Supplier DHL trashed for Active Slaughter | Novartis Global Week of Action Roundup | Time For Action 4 - SHAC Need Your Footage + Trailer | Last Primate Lab in Austria to Close! | Staples lies and beagles die | Message from SHAC: May Raids Anniversary | SHAC May Raids Anniversary | ALF torch Staples trucks | PIA Stop Beagle Flights | Sciencelink animal lab has been abandoned | Novartis HQ painted and smashed (Video) | Previous march (Novartis): SHAC Report | Barriers dismantled

Previous features: Victory for animal rights campaigners | Activist Imprisoned for Shouting | Fisher Scientific Embarrassed Over Links with HLS | SHAC World Day for Lab Animals | Asahi Glass Protesters Harassed by Police | "March Against the Murderers"

Links: SHAC-UK | SHAC-UK Prisoner Support | Veggies | Antispeciesist Action | Animal Rights CopWatch | Indymedia UK SHAC topic page

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Struggle and Repression for Social Centres and Autonomous Spaces

Mill Road, a new squatted social centre in Cambridge, lost against Tescos in court last week but are confident about holding onto the place a while longer yet. They have however been experiencing violent attacks from anonymous cowards. There have been many reports of attacks on autonomous spaces recently. In Greece there have been heavy police repression and fascist arson attacks against autonomous space [more]. In Amsterdam, the Citex squat was attacked and illegally evicted by Police. Just a few days ago in Rome, fascists were caught planting a bomb in the front yard of Loa Acrobax. The tide turned briefly when hundreds of people from Berlin and elsewhere went on the offensive and instigated six days of diverse and often militant action in Berlin. In a city which has one of the harshest anti-squatting policies in Europe people showed they were undaunted and defiant [more].

London has seen the eviction of two squatted social centres recently (1, 2) but last week there was a report of a new space opening in Nunhead. Also in south London, the Spike is raising its profile as a community resource as part of a strategy to hang onto the site. At the heart of London's city fringe expansion, Bowl Court social centre lost a courtroom battle against property giant Hammerson and is now considering next moves [background]. Meanwhile, the long running rampART social centre in East London marked it's 4th anniversary but is considering voluntary closure as it has been suffering from neglect, theft and lack of energy since the owners were granted a possession order way back in January.

Gutter press followed the Tory party in inciting hatred towards squatters while squatters in Brighton enjoyed somewhat better press coverage relating to the occupation of a church on London Road in Brighton. In an attempt to promote autonomous spaces, a booklet called 'What's this Place' [PDF] has been produced by the UK Social Centres Network which will probably be having it's next gathering at the newly refurbished Kebele in Bristol, 14th Sept. Also being planned for late summer is a follow up to last months international 'interspace' gathering near Berlin which followed the April2008 mobilisations [more].

Websites of mentioned spaces: Bowl Court, rampART, Nunhead Chapel, The Spike, Mill Road,88 London Road, Kebele, Loa Acrobax

Portal sites : Squat.net | UK Social Centres Network website | <a href="http