Resist in London on March 26!

Whoever you listen to, it seems Saturday March 26 is shaping up to be an important day in the 21st century British political history.

A lot of people are concerned about the way the TUC is planning its mass march through central London and the extent to which it seems to be collaborating with the authorities to minimise its impact.

In response to this, support is now growing for plans to extend the protest over Saturday night and into Sunday – to make it a 24-hour occupation of Hyde Park and possibly other key parts of London.

We have all seen how protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya did not simply go home at the end of a march, but made their presence felt by claiming a space as their own.

While Worthing Solidarity Network is doing a great job in organising coach transport to London (which is cheap and can even be free for those who cannot afford it), it was pointed out at its last meeting that people are under no obligation to take the coach back home again straight afterwards!

The aim of the transport is to get numbers of people at the protest – we would encourage everyone who cares about the future of this country not only to be in London on March 26 but also to make provisions for staying on there long after the coaches head back for home (hopefully empty).

There are links to a lot of info about March 26 (including the TUC march) at
http://www.resist26.org

And they have out out this statement:

In response to the government public sector spending cuts the Trade Union Congress along with a variety of Trade Unions and organisations are marching through London to protest against government spending cuts will damage public services and put more than a million out of work. They will hit the vulnerable, damage communities and undermine much of what holds us together as a society.

The TUC are unfortunately working closely with the police to enforce strict rules on how we can protest on the day, even going so far as to employ stewards that liaise with a police communication HQ.

We will protest how WE see fit, we don’t need the permission of the TUC or anyone else.

Therefore we propose that rather than a typical A to B march with the same boring speeches that we actually take action for our communities and make a stand in London.

We think that people should take what action they deem is necessary for themselves. After all it is YOUR struggle.

We call for the TUC to endorse a general strike along with other trade unions to show not only fight austerity measures being taken in this country but to show solidarity with other struggles worldwide.

Rather than getting back on the coaches after a non event day, stay in London with us for 24 hours and lets see what we can do? Hyde Park will serve as one occupied territory, from which we can support various actions across London.

The idea of the occupation is to reach out to layers of trade unionists and others who would otherwise just get the coach home.They share our view of the TUC leadership’s gesture politics but aren’t yet ready to occupy buildings or break the law.

Rather than take the coach home feeling like nothing has been achieved lets see what happens?

Join us, 5pm 26th March till 5pm 27th March (or Longer?)