Ian Bone

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.

If you look at the student protests to date you can see who’s had a good war on the Left and who hasn’t. The salient point is that the SWP has been completely shafted by it’s former leadership led by John Rees and regrouped as Counterfire. The SWP has it’s EAN network but has been saddled with it’s dead duck of  the Right to Work campaign – a horse which just can’t be flogged to anyone. Meantime Rees/German have set up the far more user friendly spirit of the times Coalition of Resistence and they have recognised in Clare Solomon an outstanding media friendly asset. The whole Countefire project is aimed at RCP style projecting themselves as the first port of call for  media ‘wanting to get a handle’ on the student revolt.They have to a large extent succeeded – it’s to Counterfire and COR and Clare Solomon the media go to not the Right to Work campaign.The exasperation of the SWP at this turn of affairs was demonstrated at the COR conference where SWP sectarian hatchet man Chris Bamberry made an extraordinary call for ‘unity comrades’ and condemned ‘splitters’. The incredulous gawped.

Anarchists too need to realise that Counterfire is not exactly the same as the SWP. Clare Solomon and also the NCAFC leadership like Simon Hardy have turned in some solid telly peformances under heavy pressure  to condemn violence. They have not buckled and have learned from Sheridan and Militant’s post poll tax riot disaster.This is positive, has built confidence in the movement to resist being put on the backfoot. The COR conference had anarchist stalls at it and a few anarchist speakers. More generally Counterfire’s analysis of events has been at the very least interesting and on the ball and to many almost libertarian friendly. In short -Counterfire has hoovered up the franchise.

An article by James Meadowes on Counterfire on the way forward for the student movement has been positivel greeted by some anarchists and contains many good points. For example – to be effective university occupations need to paralyse thhe administrative HQs of the universities – not just some lecture room where it is easily contained.this might then force the uni authorities to call in the cops to evict and mean us physically holding some territory/buildings which would certainly be a significant advance. And yet…and yet…….when push comes to shove Meadowes can only fall back on the need ‘to build an alternative leadership in the NUS’. He is likewise distrustful of the ‘leaderless resistence’ ideas which are contrary to his alternative leadersip line and exemplified by facebook/twitter organising tools.

‘Some have claimed that the ubiquity of social media like Twitter and Facebook makes the question of leadership irrelevant. It is now possible to organise major demonstrations, as we saw on 24 November, on the basis of a single Facebook posting. We do not, runs the argument, need centralisation.

These new tools are absolutely critical to successful activism. But in a world in which everyone can organise a demonstration through Facebook, it is absolutely vital that not everyone does so. A cacophony of different initiatives, all reduced on-screen to equal validity, would disintegrate the movement.  Social media has increased – not diminished – the need for a credible, central voice for the student movement.’

At a time when all old ideolgies – including anarchist ones – are being swept away and made irrelevant by uncontrollable kids on the streets who are far in advance of wannabee vanguards let’s guard against any atempts to bring back the old order whether from outside or our very own Counterfire.The centralised leadership should not be rescued from the dustbin of history.

Compare and contrast these interviewsith Tommy Sheridan of Militant  and Andy Murphy of Class War sfter the poll tax riot. We never forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDlqF6AE6dk

And a well reasoned view of Sheridan here:  A Very Public Sociologist:

The pathological liar and copper’s nark Tommy Sheridan has been found guilty of perjury. No doubt the SWP and other deluded idiot trots  will continue to worship their fallen idol in every calumny and lie he has heaped on former comrades. Sheridan vowed to work with the police to grass up poll tax rioters so just as well he’s out the fucking way of the students protests aint it. He’s got bail till sentencing on Jan. 26th so no doubt the usual trot toerags will be launching an undeserved defence campaign.Funny how every charismatic stalinoid/trot  who launches their own party based on their own personality cult – Scargill, Galloway, Sheridan – comes a cropper. Bob Crow beware. But in reality Sheridan should be given an Oscar rather than a gaol sentence:

But in a moment which capped all the drama which this case has seen, he paused, to hold back tears with a choking note on his voice. “I’m frightened of you. I’m frightened of you because you can do something that the NoW will never be able to do. You can separate me from my wife. You can make me break a promise to my daughter that I would spend Christmas with her,” he said.’

Exit Stage Left  Bob Cratchett  and Tiny Tim………..pass me a fucking onion…..Gail sings ‘Stand by your man’……Tommy throws a few bawbees to passing urchins…………..’Gawd bless you uncle Tommy – you’re a good ‘un’………….Sheridan bursts into ‘Flower of scotland’……assorted true believers clutch the hem of his Armani coat…………

there is an excellent vitriolic and funny account of tommy’s lying life from former comrades here:

http://ssy.org.uk/2010/12/the-truth-about-tommy-sheridan/

‘Tommy’s real crime was to be a principled socialist’………….from today’s Socialist Worker report on verdict!! Tommy is ‘principled’ !!!!!!!!

Those familiar with Met. Police after the riot PR operations know that it goes like this:   

A senior commander sits at a table hiolding pieces of rock, sticks, banner poles, traffic bollards. He intones gravely that the sticks were thrown ‘like javelins’ at his men.Then cut to wonky faced copper in hospital bed with sprained ankle but bandaged up to look like the Invisible Man. This cop is invaraiably ‘plucky’.  Senior Commander gives out injury figures…’398 cops injured, 12 demonstrators’ – job done.

But in the student protests the Met has failed to come up with either even one hospitalised copper or the usual injury balace sheet skewed in their favour.Giving they claim unprecented levels of violence how come there’s no injured cops? We were told after the sacking of Millbank that one copper was taken to hospital with a ‘soft tissue injury to his leg’ – that’s a fucking SCRATCH to you and me! After the last demo even the Met gave out injury numbers showing demonstrator injuries were far more than those to cops. So basically they are talking bolocks about violence. the truth of the matter is that they narowly got away with causing many deaths through crushing on westminster Bridge and outside Westminster station by their kettling. An operation that the Conservative chair of the MPA’s civil liberties panel has desribed as ‘ ghastly and appalling’ and urged people to formally complain. They are losing the propaganda war – so expect a good ‘ol plucky family man copper to be wheeled out on a hospital trolley soon to try and restore the Met’s family values ethos. Every student demo the Met win an initial PR victory with a camplaisant press then see it frittered away as mobile phone footage comes in………..a hospitalised copper will no longer cut the mustard.

Many moons ago Class War produced some very popular ‘TORY FREE ZONE’ posters. They were A4 black and red road sign type posters like a NO ENTRY sign. Has anyone got one of these lying around – or could some creative genius like the Anarchist Media Project design a new one. They were designed to be stuck up in house windows primarily but also shops, workplaces, schools, colleges, flyposted all over. In the coming months leading up to the great events of March 26th it would be a good confidence builder to see these posters everywhere and maybe bring you into contact with radical neighbours you never suspected lurked in your street! Also they might be a forerunner of real attempts to set up Tory Free Zones later in the year. Either way they were a good laugh and it was great to see them sprining up in house windows as you strolled round the streets.