ACTIONS
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1) Occupy the London Stock Exchange. (Sat 15th Oct)
EVENTS
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2) Festival of Ideas (Oct 29 - 30th)
3) Africa demands climate justice (14th Oct)
4) GROW HEATHROW PRESENTS: RESISTANCE JAM! (14 - 16th Oct)
5) Defend Welfare Gathering (23rd Oct)
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1)
Occupy the London Stock Exchange
15th October
12pm
St Paul's Cathedral
http://occupylondon.org.uk/
#Occupy LSX
The words 'corporate greed' ring through the speeches and
banners of
protests across the globe. After huge bail-outs and in the face of
unemployment, privatisation and austerity we still see profits for the
rich on the increase. But we are the 99%, and on October 15th our voice
unites across gender and race, across borders and continents as we call
for equality and justice for all.
In London we will occupy the stock exchange. Reclaiming space in the face
of the financial system and using it to voice ideas for how we can work
towards a better future. A future free from austerity, growing inequality,
unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its
citizens, and work towards concrete demands to be met.
Assemble in front of St Pauls Cathedral at Midday please try to be on
time and not early or late. When you are there be ready and attentive.
Make sure to follow @OccupyLSX on twitter for updates on the day. If you
don't have a smartphone, sign up to twitter text updates for the day (see
how below).
Try to come with a friend or group of friends. If you are thinking of
staying for a while bring plenty of food and water, wrap up warm and you
may want to bring tents and a sleeping bag.
Bring your energy and excitement, and be ready to create a better world!
Check out this call to action from Jody Mcintyre:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTXjiBQ3ta4&feature=player_embedded
Signing up for twitter text updates, see how here:
https://support.twitter.com/articles/289826-how-to-get-sms-notifications-for-mentions-dms-and-more#user
If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch
Email: general@occupylsx.org
Twitter: @OccupyLSX
Website: http://occupylondon.org.uk/
For press enquiries please email:
press@occupylsx.org
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2)
Festival of Ideas
I thought that you and your colleagues may be interested in hearing about
this year's Battle of Ideas festival, taking place at the Royal
College of
Art, London on October 29-30. During the course of the weekend, over 2,250
people will be participating in 75 different debates involving hundreds of
incisive and thought-provoking speakers.
This year's festival programme includes strands of debate entitled
Battle
for the World, Battle for Morality, Food Fight, Society Wars, Battle for
Our Brains, and Reassessing Politics and Sporting Contests.
It also features keynote debates on: The Battle against the Fates,
Profiting responsibly? Business in the big society, Creativity and
curiosity: do we make stuff up or find it out? Has tolerance gone too far?
Loyalty in an age of whistle-blowing and Wikileaks, Is individualism bad
for society? as well as many more discussions on current themes in the
arts, science, health, parenting, education, design, international
relations and religion.
Internationally renowned speakers include: David Aaronovitch, Jonathan
Aitken, Decca Aitkenhead, Anne Atkins, Simon Baron-Cohen, Daniel Ben-Ami,
Katharine Birbalsingh, Melvin Burgess, Christopher Caldwell, Matthew
Collings, John Cooper, Claire Fox, Giles Fraser, Frank Furedi, Maurice
Glasman, Tom Holland, Mick Hume, Sue Ion, Rebecca Jenkins, Simon Jenkins,
Irma Kurtz, Philippe Legrain, Dame Ann Leslie, Kenan Malik, Paul Mason,
Joyce McMillan, Tim Montgomerie, Brendan O’Neill, Ruth Padel, K.A.S.
Quinn, Jeffrey Rosen, Jenni Russell, William Saletan, Fiona Shaw, John
Sutherland, George Szirtes, Ray Tallis, GM Tamás, Mark Vernon, Tom Watt,
Zoe Williams, Alison Wolf, Martin Wolf, Cathy Young and over 300 more.
To provide a taster of the festival, a series of standalone Battle
Satellite events will be held across London, the UK and worldwide. Topics
for debate range from happiness in Athens and the future of Indian
democracy in New Delhi, to Croydon after the riots. The Battle Satellites
look to address the challenges facing society in a fast-changing and
increasingly globalised age. Foyles at Charing Cross Road will host
debates on the oversexualisation of children, and what boys should be
reading. The Battle Satellite programme will begin on Friday 30 September
with a special free debate on the future of manufacturing at London’s
Victoria and Albert Museum Friday Late, and with over 25 national and
international events, the boundaries of public debate will certainly
continue to expand beyond the main festival weekend.
Visit http://www.battleofideas.org.uk to view this year’s festival
programme, including satellite events, as well as carefully selected
readings for each session and videos of previous years’ sessions.
** School students aged 16-18 are able to attend a day of the festival for
free (the second day costing only £10) email
schoolschampion@instituteofideas.com. There are also a limited number of
HALF PRICE Student Champion tickets, allowing university students full
access to the weekend festival for just £27.50. Click here to purchase
discounted tickets. **
Tickets are available through online booking, or by phone: 0207 269 9220.
We hope to see you at this year’s Battle of Ideas.
Best wishes,
Claire
Claire Fox
Director
Institute of Ideas
Signet House
49-51 Farringdon Road
London EC1M 3JP
020 7269 9220
020 7269 9223 (direct)
www.instituteofideas.com
www.battleofideas.org.uk
www.debatingmatters.com
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3)
Africa demands climate justice
http://www.wdm.org.uk/
Thursday 13 October, London
More than ever before, rich industrialised countries are using the UN
climate talks as an excuse to advance corporate interests. In the run up
to the climate talks in Durban, South Africa, this December people across
Africa and the world are demanding climate justice.
As part of our climate justice speaker tour, join us to hear Desmond
D’Sa,
coordinator of South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, Maria
Adebowale from Capacity Global and Kirsty Wright, World Development
Movement climate justice campaigner.
When: Thursday 13 October, 7pm
Where: University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY.
Find out how you can take action against the UK’s unfair policies
that are
prioritising corporate profits via discredited institutions such as the
World Bank. Not only will this fail to tackle climate change, but it will
also deepen existing global inequalities.
Desmond D’Sa is coordinator of South Durban Community Environmental
Alliance, which mobilises local people against industrial pollution. A
veteran campaigner on local and global environmental justice issues,
he’s
centrally involved in organising the alternative civil society space
during the UN talks. He will be speaking in Brighton, Bristol, London and
Eastleigh.
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4)
GROW HEATHROW PRESENTS: RESISTANCE JAM!
WHAT: With BAA still scheming for expansion at Heathrow and Grow Heathrow
up in court, we'll be getting together for a weekend this October to show
them we're here to stay. We'll be... Pizza-munching, Apple-scrumping,
Chutney-making, Face-painting, Cake-baking, Scaffold-sculpture-making,
Potholing, Tyre-rolling, Fire-stoking, Jam-stiring, Night-singing,
Lake-swimming, and much, much more.
WHEN: Weekend of the 14th/15th/16th of October 2011, from Friday evening.
Come for the day, an hour or the whole weekend. Bring a tent or at least a
sleeping bag if you're planning on staying over. Some limited indoor bed
space is available, so get in touch early if this is the only option for
you.
WHERE: Grow Heathrow, Vineries Close, Sipson, West Drayton, UB7 0JG
Train from London:
Trains run from London Paddington to West Drayton Station and the site is
a short bike or bus ride from there.
Bus from West Drayton:
Take the 222 from outside West Drayton Station (towards Hounslow). Get off
at the 'Harmonsworth Lane' stop in the village of Sipson. Turn left just
after the King William pub and you're there!
CONTACT:
Email: info@transitionheathrow.com
Web: transitionheathrow.com
Site Phone : 07890 751 568
AND...!
As well as all this - The UK Tar Sands network will be joining us. On the
Saturday October 15th we unveil the first Tar Free Community in the UK -
Tar Free Transition Heathrow!
What does it mean to be a tar free town? How can your community become tar
free?
Find out when we celebrate with you all on October 15th at Grow Heathrow,
3pm - the movement for a tar free future begins!
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5)
BHP Billiton: Dirty Energy
Public meeting, Wednesday 19 October 2011, 7pm to 9pm, Room 1, Upper
Corridor, Houses of Parliament
London Mining Network in association with Colombia Solidarity Campaign,
Down to Earth and PIPLinks
BHP Billiton is the world's largest diversified resources company. It made
record profits of $23.6 billion over the past year. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange. Many British workers' pension funds, British banks
and insurance companies have investments in it - but most British people
have never heard of it.
BHP Billiton is heavily involved in the production of minerals for energy:
coal, oil, gas and uranium. It makes a massive contribution to worsening
climate change and is creating deadly radioactive pollution for hundreds
of thousands of years to come. Its operations contribute to or benefit
from involuntary relocation of communities and the destruction of rural
communities' livelihoods.
Main speaker: Julio Cesar Gomez, President of FECODEMIGUA, the Federation
of Communities Displaced by Mining in La Guajira (Colombia)
BHP Billiton owns one-third of the huge Cerrejon opencast coal mine, which
has displaced many communities and threatens to displace still more.
Displaced communities have united in FECODEMIGUA and are demanding
justice.
Other speakers will talk about BHP Billiton's coal and uranium mines in
other parts of the world
All are welcome to this meeting. Please arrive at St Stephen's Gate (the
main entrance to Parliament) in plenty of time to go through security,
which can take a long time if a lot of people are waiting to enter the
building.
Contact:
contact@londonminingnetwork.org
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6)
Defend Welfare Gathering
Sunday 23rd October, 11am-5pm
Somers Town Community Centre, 150 Ossulston Street, London, NW1 1EE
(5 minutes walk from Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross stations)
Wheelchair accessible
Join us for a meeting with like-minded people to share ideas and
strategise to stop the government's attacks on welfare.
Welfare is being systematically attacked:
Unemployed people are being forced to work without pay.
Disabled people are being deprived of their entitlement to benefits
through the devastating Work Capability Assessment process.
People can now be left destitute for up to two years through benefit
sanctions.
The right to housing is under attack: Housing benefit cuts are set to make
thousands homeless. The right-wing called for evictions in response to the
riots, even before courts had found people guilty.
Private companies stand to make millions through bullying claimants on the
Work Programme.
Legal aid cuts make it harder to challenge bad treatment.
The only benefit that was available to people under 18 – EMA –
has been
abolished by this government.
Single mothers are being forced to be job-seekers when their children are
at an even younger age.
Asylum seekers are forced to survive on incomes far below benefit levels,
which are already set at subsistence level.
The full impact that the Universal Credit will have is yet to be understood.
But people across the UK are organising to defend welfare. The Boycott
Workfare campaign recently forced the “Making Work Pay”
conference to
relocate at short notice. Atos, the private company responsible for
depriving hundreds of thousands of people of sickness benefits, has had
many of its offices occupied, costing it thousands of pounds. Claimants
are sharing information on how to challenge the bullying and
discrimination that is rife in the new set-up.
This gathering is open to everyone who wants to take action to defend
welfare. We are a claimant-led network - our response to welfare reforms
is led by people who feel their effects the most – but the attacks on
welfare will affect us all whether we are in work or may need welfare as
parents, if we become unemployed, due to sickness or disability, or as
pensioners.
We plan to run the day with lots of discussion and chances to share ideas
and information in workshops and an open space session where we can set
the agenda on the day. If you can offer a workshop or would like to
propose something for the agenda, please get in touch.
Please help make the day happen!
Let us know you can make it!
welfareactionhackney@gmail.com
The network does not have any funding, so if your group or union branch
can make a contribution to the costs of the room or participants' travel,
please help raise funds for it. Groups and individuals may want to
approach union branches or organise fundraisers to raise funds for your
travel.
Let us know if you can help with food, childcare or facilitation on the day.
welfareactionhackney@gmail.com
Forward this invite to anyone else you know who might be interested, post
it on your blog or social media; mention it at meetings, and help spread
the word!
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