Our mission is now to curate and edit the most fabulous compilation of student and youth struggles from around the world. We will publish the book through Verso Books, with assistance from Tariq Ali, in February 2011. Clare Solomon
Firstly I must declare an interest. Verso published ‘Decade of Disorder’ edited by me in 1992. Now I hear that Verso are to be the first in the rush to publish a book on the student protests.’ Cuts and Kettles’ will be ’curated’ by Clare Solomon, Laurie Penny and Tariq Ali and published in February. Let me deal with Tariq Ali first. He is a toff – always has been. He was President of the Oxford Union. During the student protests against the Vietnam war in 1968 he performed at the last minute a disgusting act of treachery – he took the march away from the American embassy in Grosvenor square and off to a harmless picnic in Hyde Park.This set the template for all future marches from A-B. Despite this Ali then published an autobiography titled ‘Street fighting years’ – the exact opposite of what he’d actually done!
Three months ago Ali wrote an article in the Guardian declaring the that the kind of protests seen in Greece and Paris would never happen here. After the first Millbank protest a leading member of COR e-mailed Ali in Brazil to ask if he would sign a letter to the Guardian condemning police tactics against the protesters. Ali e-mailed back asking ‘what protests?’ Another book of the time written by a fellow member of tariq’s International Marxist group was ‘Hayter of the Bourgeoisie’ by Theresa Hayter – a disgusting Oxford educated toff who the IMG were assiduously trying to promote as the voice of student protest. Fast forward and replace Hayter with Laurie Penny – another Oxford educated writer who is being promoted as the new user friendly voice of the youth protests. ….by tariq Ali amongst others.
‘We are from the slums of of London’…………… WELL NOT EXACTLY COMRADES! OH…..and I almost forgot….at the last election Tariq Ali wrote an article in Red Pepper ADVOCATING A VOTE FOR THE LIB DEMS!!
But now he’s the voice of student protests………WHAT A FUCKING CUNT.