Bristol named worst place to live due to yet another best place to live award

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How to turn violent rebellion into a marketing tactic in just six short years

Across the city today Bristolians woke up to the latest barrage of ‘journalism’ about how great their city was.   Any initial pride that was felt back in say, 2013, has been replaced by resigned groans and the question: best place to live for who exactly?. We’re not exactly sure who picks where to live due to articles in The Times, but it probably rhymes with ‘annoying prats’.

‘I guess there are lots of those exciting redevelopments‘ said one local woman ‘like how they replaced our local with a bunch of trendy but cramped and expensive flats, and opened up a food bank down the road’.  ‘I thought it meant all those new restaurants, that are supposed to be quirky and original but are just samey and over priced’ interrupted her friend, before rethinking it and adding ‘but that would make all these articles just self congratulating circle jerks on behalf of the rich, and I’m sure that can’t be the case’.

 

It’s certainly not a celebration of the interesting areas of Bristol grown over the decades by marginalised members of the city’s working class and migrant communities. Those were all here long before the national press decided our city was ‘cool and creative’. Most of the changes we’ve seen lately are related to the ever increasing costs of living and renting. We’re not against nice things for Bristol – but they shouldn’t come at the expense of having to kick out the people that made the place so interesting to begin with.

“It’d be easy just to blame all the people moving here from that London” said one astute Bristolian before continuing “but I guess they’re only here because this is exactly what happened to all the working class areas over there”.

You can read more about the Fight for the City from our friends in the capital, it’s a struggle that is happening across the country, and beyond. The lessons being learned there are invaluable for anyone who wants to fight hard and smart for Bristol.

Fight for the City Part 1: Social Cleansing, Social Warfare

Fight for the City Part 2: No Place to Run

Fight for the City Part 3: The City is Ours!

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Trump: Symptom, Problem or Distraction? – Discussion night next Tuesday @ Hydra

 

After a month off for the recent demo against council cuts, our discussion nights are back!

Trump’s election, and his actions since, have seen a massive wave of protest and action across the US to combat his destructive policies.

Many have echoed these protests in the UK and elsewhere, with thousands coming to the streets (some for the first time). However, other than voicing our somewhat vague displeasure, what purpose does this series of protests serve?

Can it be moulded into effective trans-Atlantic solidarity? Serve as a warning to those looking to import Trump-style politics to Europe? More importantly, can it have an impact on the abhorrent racism, misogyny and anti-working class actions of politicians much closer to home?

After all, we may pour scorn on (or laugh at) Trump’s plans to build a ridiculous and expensive wall across his country’s southern border… but our country ALREADY HAS SUCH A WALL – it was built in Calais by the Tories. It forms just a small part of our brutal border regime, along with other structures on the French coast, immigration detention centres across the UK, border enforcement officers and more insidious schemes.

Join us at Hydra Books, 34 Old Market, BS2 0EZ
7pm – 9pm on Tuesday 21st March.

trump for the anarchists

Continue reading →

Politicians vs Bristol – Fight The Cuts

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Think it should be none of the above? Then join us in the streets this Saturday & Tuesday! 

The fight against cuts has been a long and tough one, but we can’t afford to let up. Not when peoples’ livelihoods, well-being, and very lives depend on it. It won’t end with the upcoming protests (see below for details). In fact, it will need to step up a gear in the months afterwards, if it is to have any impact.

The government in Westminster continues to demand cuts to essential services, still telling the same old lie that it is for ‘the sake of the economy’ or to lower the national debt. The reality of the past seven years says otherwise. Councillors across the country have spoken about being ‘anti-austerity’, but so far have only put their careers and the easy life first, passing on the cuts, regardless of which party they belong to.

In reality, these cuts are an attack on working class and vulnerable people across the country. It’s about giving less of the wealth that we produced to us – whether we receive it in our wage packets, our benefits, or our access to state services – and giving more of it to the few at the top. Privatisation goes hand-in-hand with this, creating yet more profit for the millionaires, and it’s all the easier to implement when services are already stretched to breaking point.

So, what can we do about it?

First off, join the protests ! Continue reading →

Last Minute Demo Call Out Today (Monday)

Update:

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AFed and Our Migrants Welcome Banner

Great to see so many thousands of people out in Bristol – and across the world – to stand up for migrants no matter their nationality. However whilst the border controls in the UK and EU may be less blunt than Trump’s, they are no less devastating.
No Borders is for life, not just for January.
Fight the anti-migrant regime wherever it shows itself, the rhetoric in the papers, the detention centres, the dawn raids, the ‘casual’ racism, and now our schools and hospitals.
No one is illegal!

Original Post:
Two demos today! 5pm @ College Green, demo against the latest round of devastating cuts in Bristol, a chance to spread the word and begin to mobilise for bigger demos during the run up to the full council meeting in a couple of weeks:

6pm @ College Green (conveniently) demo against Trump’s racist ban on travel to the US, and our own governments rather timid response to it.

Followed later by a meeting of the Bristol and District Anti Cuts Alliance who are organising opposition to the cuts that our Mayor intends to implement.

Why the government keep making cuts, and why we need to stop them

Protest against council cuts Nov 2016

Protest against council cuts Nov 2016

Austerity (or cuts as most of us think of it) is a hard pill to swallow. Services are closed or run into the ground with ‘efficiency savings’, jobs are lost, and benefits cut. Still, it’s a necessary cure right? Us ordinary folk can’t continue to have luxuries like care for the elderly. The state needs every penny to help pay off the national debt. You know, that one that got built up by bailing out the bankers. After all, those bankers need to maintain the bare necessities of life, like their multi-million pound salaries and private yachts.

Surely after six years it must be working? Well… Continue reading →

Violence, Money, Revolution: A Year of Anarchist Discussion

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Good news, everyone! Bristol Anarchist Federation has been running its monthly discussion nights for an entire year. Over the past twelve months, we have covered a range of subjects from ‘anarchism and violence’ and ‘revolutionary women’, to ‘mental health under capitalism’ and ‘a world without money’. The talks have been consistently popular, with most meetings seeing about 40 people attending – although, over 200 people showed up for our talk on mental health! We have met lots of new people, some of whom have gotten involved in anarchist organising in Bristol and helped to develop our ideas and actions. Continue reading →

The Case For No Borders (Discussion Night)

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When: 7pm Tuesday 20th September
At: Hydra Books, Old Market
Cost: Free/Donation
Alt Bristol  &  Facebook

After a break for August our monthly discussion nights are back with A Case for No Borders! Continue reading →