BONFIRE OF AUSTERITY | 5 NOVEMBER

ONFIRE OF AUSTERITY | 5 NOVEMBER

#BurnAusterity

We want to make this Firework Night one which David Cameron will remember and remember for a long time!

The Peoples’ Assembly is calling for a day of protest in every town and city in the country.

The actions will be many and various, ranging from occupations of public space to occupations of banks, from online petitioning to blocking roads, from leafleting with the rail unions against the privatized rail companies to student occupations.

We are hoping for three waves of action: one in the morning, one at lunchtime and one in the evening. And at the end of the day the local out-sourcing contracts, the welfare legislation, the loan company adverts will all make a splendid bonfire…and you can choose whether the guy is Cameron, Gove, Clegg or Osborne.

Get in touch with your local group to find out what’s being planned near you.

Bonfire of Austerity – Local actions

London – Block Westminster Bridge – Assemble at Jubilee Gardens at 6pm, contact office@thepeoplesassemblyorg.uk/ FacebookBring your energy bills: we will be burning our energy bills on the bridge to highlight the massive rise in energy prices which have left people choosing between heating and eating.

Anonymous – Trafalgar Square, 6pm

ACTION FOR RAIL Leafleting across the country on NOV 5 – check here for details

Join us at stations across the country, meeting passengers and letting them know about our campaign for a national, integrated railway under public ownership.

Barnet – Assemble at 6pm outside Hendon Town Hall, the Burroughs, NW4 4BG, see here for more details

Birmingham – Assemble at Waterstones, High Str. at 5pm, contact birminghampeoplesassembly@gmail.com

Bolton – Campaigning against Zero Hours Contracts, Bedroom Tax, Pay Day Loans & NHS Cuts, organised by Bolton Trades Union Council

8AM – 9AM Leafleting, petitioning at the Bolton Railway Station

12:30PM – 1:30PM Leafleting, petitions, mock Bonfire outside Sports Direct (Bolton Town Hall Square)

Blackpool – 16:20 outside the Town Hall,  Anonymous Protest

Bridgwater -  ”Democracy? They’re Having a Laugh” A mass binning of Tory policies at the Cornhill, Bridgwater (TA6 3BY) 17:00 – 18:00

Brighton – Assemble at the Clock Tower at 12pm, contact pplsassembly.brighton@gmail.com / Facebook

Bristol – 5th November, 5 PM, 5 Campaigns
Assemble at The Fountains opposite Hippodrome

Come along and burn some austerity policies. Bring a placard with a policy you want to burn! We’re going to being making some noise and a presence in the centre of town so as well as placards, some will be in fancy dress, bring drums, whistles, horns or anything else that will grab attention.
Contact bristolpeoplesassembly@gmail.com / 07971630005 / Facebook

Cambridge - Contact cambridgepeoplesassembly@outlook.com
“Break the Chains of Austerity” – Time 5/6PM, details TBC.
We will form a chain gang led by David Cameron, dragging behind him various victims of austerity: a schoolboy/girl, a nurse, a train conductor, a fireman/woman… and march through Cambridge singing the old union song “Which Side Are You On?”
Rehearsal on Nov 4 at 7.30pm, we will meet at the University Centre (Grads Cafe, 3rd floor).
Contact cambridgepeoplesassembly@outlook.com / https://www.facebook.com/events/570519243017788/

Darlington – Assemble outside at 4.30 pm outside the Town Hall for a protest organised by Darlington Against Cuts and supported by the Teesside Peoples Assembly Against Austerity. Contact TeessidePA@gmail.com / Facebook

Doncaster – Set up a food bank in a bank, Meet at 11am, Clock Tower, Doncaster  contact doncasterpeoplesassembly@gmail.com/ 07587697028

Durham – Protest, 12:30 PM at Market Place, https://www.facebook.com/events/157323847811577/

Dundee – March and Rally
Assemble at Hilltown Park 11.45 am
March to City Square for Rally 12 noon
Followed by Picket of Home Scotland
Contact: 07894901688 /raymond.mennie@googlemail.com /https://www.facebook.com/dundeepeoplesassembly

Ipswich – Contact: suffolkpeoplesassembly@runbox.com
7.00 -8.30 Ipswich Station
Action for Rail - Leaflet to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Rail Privatisation and support public ownership of rail.

11.30 am – 1.00 pm Silent Street, Ipswich
Vigil outside ATOS and Job Centre.

1.00 pm – 3.00 pm near  Boots in Tavern St
Living Wage Activity.  Joint activity with NAPO members on strike.

6.30 pm  Bonfire of Austerity
Consign Austerity to the Bonfire on the Green by Felaw Maltings (assemble in Mather Way)

Kings Lynn – “Pin the blame on Cameron” 11AM – 15pm outside Boots/ Wimpey/ Burtons - If you’re mad at the Coalition, here’s your chance to let them know.
Come and meet Mr Clegg Cameron, your two-faced government.
Let him know how you feel… and why. Contact  jackiemulhallen@btinternet.com / Facebook

Kingston upon Hull – Assembly 12:30pm, Queen Victoria Square - Dress up, bring placards, whistles, drums! Make some noise, get your voices heard! Let’s show the people of Hull that there IS an alternative to the government’s damaging policies of austerity. Facebook / Contact

Lambeth – Contact 07913496012 /  lambethpeoplesassembly@gmail.com

Leeds –  4pm in Dortmund square (outside the St John’s Shopping Centre). Action jointly organised by the West Yorks People’s Assembly and Unite Community Branch

Morning action –  7:30am, Leeds train station for a leafletting action with Action for Rail. Contact: west-northyorkshirepeoplesassembly@live.com

Leicester – 4PM – Assemble outside De Montfort University’s Hugh Aston Building
Planning 2 demonstrations – one around the NHS and one around the Bedroom Tax. Contact: Leicester.PA@gmail.com / Facebook

Liverpool -  Contact andrea@merseysidepeoplesassembly.org/ Facebook
10AM – Assemble at St George’s Hall - there will be actions throughout the day.
Join the email list to keep updated (http://www.merseysidepeoplesassembly.org/join-us/)

London (Brent) – 9AM at Brent Magistrates Court  - “No Council Tax Benefit Cuts” Facebook
Protest called by Unite the Union – Community Members, West London Peoples Assembly, Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group, Brent Housing Action, Zacchaeus Trust (Z2K)
Brent Council has summonsed 12000 people for non-payment of council tax .   Many  of these cant pay as their council tax benefit has been cut in the new council tax support scheme.  Come and voice your objections to the cuts to the benefit and show support to those who have been summonsed. Debt advice charity Z2K will be at the court giving advice to those who have been summonsed.

London South – Contact peoplesselondon@gmail.com / text 07806545279 / www.carnivalagainstcuts.org.uk / Facebook

10AM – Deptford High Street / New Cross Road  - An action against poverty, led by the local Foodbank
1:30PM – Deptford Lounge public square – A performance against austerity politics
4:30PM – Catford Town Hall to Lewisham High Street – A procession against austerity, the bedroom tax and local cuts. Finishing with
6PM – The grassy Knoll, opposite Lewisham DLR – Bonfire of Cuts with music, speakers and effigies

London West - 12PM – protest against loan sharks – H&T Pawnbrokers and The Money Shop, 22 Uxbridge Rd, Shepherds Bush

Manchester - 5PM – Anti austerity torch lit tour of the city  Assemble at ATOS HQ Albert Bridge House Bridge street M60 GAT  More info

At 8 am we will be leafleting workers as they arrive in the city and local tram and bus depots.

Medway – contact medwaypaaa@gmail.com / Facebook
7am – Chatham Station, leafletting action with RMT
12pm – outside the ATOS centre on Bachelor Street, Chatham
2pm – Picket at the Jobcentre

Middlesbrough  – flashmob-style sing-a-long protest against austerity in the town centre around lunchtime/early afternoon in a location where we suspect it will be noticed. Contact the Teesside People’s Assembly: TeessidePA@gmail.com / Facebook

Newcastle - Assemble from 5pm outside Haymarket metro station.
Actions begin at 5:30pm which will highlight local examples of tax-dodging, loan-sharking and zero-hour-contracting
Contact peoplesassemblyne@gmail.com/ 07515676025/ Facebook 

Norwich – Planned vigil outside the Town Hall, Facebook

Nottingham – Assemble at 5pm, Brian Clough Statue, Market Square – Firesculpture, Fire Breathers, NHS petition. Contact shalforty@gmail.com/ Facebook

Oxford – Contact oxfordpeoplesassembly@gmail.com / 07954365186
9.30 am Lobby County Council
11 am Austerity on Trial: Bonn Square
12 noon Probation officers’ strike begins: St Aldate’s
5.30pm Bonfire of Austerity: Bonn Square
6.30pm Where next? Town Hall Contact oxfordpeoplesassembly@gmail.com / 07954365186

Pembrokeshire – Saturday 2 Nov –  Dress up as politicians for a symbolic bonfire – actions will focus on post offices, NHS, fire stations. Contact pembrokeshirepeoplesassembly@yahoo.co.uk / Facebook / Website

RCT/ Bridgend – “Unite Against Austerity” – Rolling demonstration – Actions focused on workfair and zero-hour contracts, the Bedroom Tax and local cuts proposed in RCT. Contact bridgend_rct.peoplesassembly@outlook.com / 01443 227996

10:30AM – Bridgend Valleys2Coast housing association. Meet outside the entrance to the shopping centre, Caroline St in the centre of Bridgend.

13:00 – McDonalds on Llantrisant

14:30 – Pontypridd Job Centre

From 16:00 – Pontypridd town centre by the fountain to oppose the RCT cuts.

Salford – Assemble 2PM at Stott Lane by Meadowbrook and Salford Royal hospitals.
Protest against the closure of mental health wards in Salford and Bolton by Gtr Mcr West NHS Trust. The protest is organised by United Service Users Committee and Salford Against Cuts, and supported by Keep Our NHS Public.

Sheffield and South Yorkshire –  4pm at the Town Hall for a celebration and a demonstration – Actions also planned during the day, contact sheffieldpeoplesassembly@gmail.com/ 07814420319 / Facebook

Shropshire – ‘Sit-in’ at the banks in Shrewsbury. Meet at The Square, Shrewsbury between 12-12.15pm. Contact  shropsfightback@virginmedia.com /Facebook

Southampton – contact spaaa4ever@gmail.com / Facebook
12.30 outside the local ATOS centre
1.00pm outside the Job Centre
5.30pm we will be holding a demo at the local BBC studio, Opposite the Civic Center

St. Albans – Contact stalbanspaaa@btopenworld.com

Stroud - Stroud Against the Cuts is joining  @pplsassembly Nov 5th ‘Bonfire of Austerity’ protests:
Assemble outside the Stroud Jobcentre at 12.30PM
and @ Neil Carmichael’s office 4.00 – 6.30PM

Tameside – Contact NIGEL 07709056079
DAYTIME
OCCUPY A PUBLIC SPACE TIME: 12.30PM
ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE GOLD MEADOW FISH & CHIP CAFE, OLD ST, ASHTON-U-LYNE

EVENING
TAMESIDE’S BONFIRE OF AUSTERITY TIME: 6.00PM
JOIN US AND BURN THOSE AUSTERITY BLUES AWAY
ASHTON MOSS ALLOTMENTS, MOSS LANE, OL7 9LA
FREE AND OPEN TO ALL
REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED

Wilts and Dorset - Sunday 27 October – “Balls to the Cuts” – Gather at 12pm at Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset for a photo of people in a No Cuts formation. Contact wiltsanddorsetpa@gmail.com / Facebook

Wrexham – Gather at Queens Square Wrexham at 10am for a day of rolling action / 12PM for a rally. Contact redmolotov21@googlemail.com / Facebook 

Wokingham - 12:30 – 13:30 Lunchtime protest, Town Hall

York – City centre from 1pm – Model bonfire of austerity measures

Assemble at 4pm at St Helens Square for ” A festival of free speech against austerity” – an open mic event so bring speeches, poems, songs and anything else, dress up, bring props and join in a festival against austerity. Contact yorkpeoplesassembly@gmail.com / website

SAVE THE NHS - NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION - SUNDAY 29TH SEPT - FREE COACH FROM RUGBY - 7AM TOWN HALL RUGBY

Big NHS demo -join the queue

29 September - Manchester 

This is a public health warning - David Cameron's Tory-led government is destroying our NHS  

Help us contain the threat - join the big NHS queue to Save our NHS, outside the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Sunday 29 September.

The TUC organised national demo will set off from Liverpool Road, M3, making its way though Manchester city centre and around the conference centre on two sides, before heading out for a rally in Whitworth Park M15.

What better way to get the attention of David Cameron’s Conservative party than thousands of ‘noisy’ people on the streets of Manchester forming a human ‘quarantine’ around their political conference.

Come dressed as walking wounded in hospital gowns and wrapped in bandages or as health worker zombies, and bring your noise makers. We're organising transport from the regions, find out more by following the link below. 

Free Coach from Rugby - Demonstration outside the Tory conference (The Railway Hotel) in Manchester. Sunday 29th September. Unite coach leaving Rugby town hall at 7 am. Book your place. Contact Jan Thomkinson West Midlands Unite on: 01215536051

DPAC protest outside BBC Portland Place September 2 2013

Disabled activists from grassroots campaigns Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Black Triangle and Mental Health Resistance Network have occupied the BBC building in London to protest against the role the media are playing in worsening attitudes towards disabled people and a complete failure to give space to the realities of what this government are doing to disabled people.

Ironically just last week the BBC reported on a research report by Scope which highlighted how things have got worse for disabled people since the Paralympics, but the BBC themselves have contributed to this situation by a lack of balanced or accurate reporting. In fact their coverage of the research angered disabled people by spectacularly failing to draw any links between the worsening conditions disabled people are facing and government policy.

Despite the fact that Iain Duncan Smith has been pulled up before the Work and Pensions Select Committee for misrepresentation and manipulation of figures and statistics, the BBC continues to report information released by the DWP as fact.

This resulted in a situation over Easter weekend where disabled people, about to face an austerity armageddon with benefits and income essential for their survival brutally slashed away, also had to contend with national media coverage that encouraged a view of us as benefit scroungers and cheats. It has since been proven that information released by the DWP ahead of the changes in April such as the figures for all of those who had supposedly stopped ineligible claims for incapacity benefit due to the tightening up of the benefit system, were misrepresentations with no basis in evidence. Just the smallest amount of research would have revealed to the BBC that they were about to report lies as objective fact. In addition to the misrepresented figures and statistics which the BBC promoted, further weight was given to the government’s propaganda by the succession of government ministers who were then given air time to continue to peddle their falsheoods. Where people were invited on to present an alternative view, they were non-disabled people from national charities. Firstly these people do not represent us, and secondly there are many more informed disabled campaigners who could have exposed the lies and misrepresentations.

Time and again the government and front bench Ministers have lied to justify policies which are causing the deaths of disabled people. Only last week the Disability News Service has had to raise formal complaints against the DWP press office for deliberately presenting false information about the level of spending on disability in the UK. Meanwhile the situation in the UK has gained international notoriety. The UN are currently in the UK to investigate and report on what the UK is doing through its housing policies. Solidarity protests outside the British Embassy have been organised by supporters in Canada.

Yet time and again the BBC have not only failed to report on what is happening but to contribute to public ignorance of what is going and to inflame hostility with questions such as “Why can’t disabled people take their fair share?” It is well evidenced that disabled people are bearing the brunt of austerity measures with those with the highest level of support need being hit nineteen times harder than the average citizen. To even put the question why can’t we take our fair share is damaging and in contempt of disabled people’s basic rights to be treated with respect and free from hostility.

For more information please contact Rosa Wilkinson on 07505144371.

Notes for editors:
1) Disabled People Against Cuts was set up in October 2010 to oppose the government attacks on disabled people. Our week of action last year highlighted the hypocrisy of Atos’ sponsorship of the Paralympic Games and culminated in a protest of 700 people outside Atos headquarters and the occupation of the DWP building by disabled activists and a guide dog for 2 1/2 hours. We are now in the middle of our week of action for 2013: Reclaiming Our Futures, which is focused on the wide range of attacks that are pushing back disabled people’s rights be decades.
2) DPAC report on DWP abuse of statistics: http://www.scribd.com/doc/149776210/DPAC-Report-on-DWP-Abuse-of-Statistics-Final-22-June-2013
3) http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2013/08/ministers-silent-after-being-caught-pulling-lies-out-of-thin-air/
4) Campaign for a Fair Society: how the cuts are targeting disabled people revealed the extent to which austerity is disproportionately impacting on disabled people

- See more at: http://dpac.uk.net/2013/09/for-immmediate-release-dpac-do-the-bbc/#sthash.jHB28XZ0.dpuf

Join the free coach from Rugby to the massive TUC demo in London on 20th Oct

Come to London and make your voice heard. The local Unite trade union have put on a free coach to London at 7.30am from outside the Town Hall on Sat 20th Oct, to ensure as many local people as possible can protest against the cuts. Please contact rugbyagainstthecuts@gmail.com and we will pass your details onto the organisers of the coach.

Unemployed or need support find out about unite and its Community Membership

Support the Public Sector Pension Strike – 10th May 2012

30th Nov Strike Demo

PCS, UCU and Unite will be on strike on Thursday 10th May, in protest at the government’s ongoing attempt to slash public sector pensions in order to pay for the bank bailouts.

In Birmingham, there will be lefletting on Hospital Way, at the QE Hospital from 12noon, followed by a joint strike rally from 1pm.
The rally will be held in Lecture Theatre Room 101, Haworth Building, University of Birmingham (see the flyer for a map).

Coaches are running from around the midlands, and are free. Solidarity delegates from student & community groups are welcomed, but priority will be given to PCS, UCU and Unite members.

Coaches:
Birmingham – Town Hall, Victoria Square. Midlands TUC 0121 643 4342
Worcester – Elgar statue by Guild Hall. Steve 07545 838 690
Dudley, Merry Hill, Stourbridge, Halesowen. Dudley TUC 07795 410 261
Telford, Wolverhampton. Debbie 07881 823 211
Coventry – Tile Hill, Spon End, City Centre. Ian 0773 664 6554

Fair pensions for all – don’t make teachers, nurses and public sector workers pay for the bankers’ crisis

NHS Privatisation- A guide to the Tory and Lib Dems plans

This video explains how the government's NHS White paper will result in the privatisation of the majority of the NHS. The government has no mandate to do this. Please contact Mark Pawsey Rugby's Tory MP by calling 01788 579 499, writing to Mark Pawsey MP, Albert Buildings, 2 Castle Mews, Rugby CV21 2XL or by emailing mark.pawsey.mp@parliament.uk

Also contact, Rugby Lib Dems leader Jerry Roodhouse and demand the Libs drop their support for the plans.
 jerry.roodhouse@rugby.gov.uk