josef1878
Well-Known Member
It is a good read, ghost written by Bushell who manages to squeeze far too many mentions of himself in, even if he was their manager back then.
Beating the Fascists: The authorised history of Anti-Fascist Action
- Thread starter cogg
- Start date
It is a good read, ghost written by Bushell who manages to squeeze far too many mentions of himself in, even if he was their manager back then.
Limerick Red
Мы вас похороним!
Ldn mustn't be that interestin if yer on the fuckin internet at half 10 on a Saturday night
connollyist
Active Member
I might of had a bit of drink in me at the time..
A veritable classic of the genre. Morrisey turns out to be an unlikely fan iirc.
malatesta32
Not Serb. No, Really!
the morrissey intro is hilarious. cant see him boozing with 'the firm' tho! the battle of birmingham is quite messy.
And Stinky turns out to be a diamond geezer.
He maks the decent point that for all the violence they suffered, the CRs never carried guns. Which made me wonder: why on earth not? Life would have been a lot easier for them if they had. As it was they seem to have kicked someone's head in, or had their own heads kicked in, or both, almost every day between 1977 and 1986. Must have been exhausting.
To be honest there are few situations in which one would not find the addition of guns an improvement. I remember mother deploying her pearl handled revolver in the queue in Sainsburys when I was a child to great success.
I may well be wrong, but I doubt the good Mrs. Longhorn had to contend with hundreds of NF Chelsea headhunters trying to sever her bollocks with a Stanley knife every Friday and Saturday night for over a decade.
You have obviously never shopped in Shirley Sainsburys on discount cheese morning.
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
Not sure where to put this, but possibly of interest:
How the police won ‘The Battle of Digbeth’
http://weare40.west-midlands.police.uk/how-the-police-won-the-battle-of-digbeth/
Some time before Saturday 18 February 1978 West Midlands Police learned that 200 Young National Front members intended to hold a meeting in Digbeth Civic Hall and that several organisations opposed to the National Front intended to march in protest. The potential for violence and bloodshed was obvious...
(via Paul Gilroy on twitter)
How the police won ‘The Battle of Digbeth’
http://weare40.west-midlands.police.uk/how-the-police-won-the-battle-of-digbeth/
Some time before Saturday 18 February 1978 West Midlands Police learned that 200 Young National Front members intended to hold a meeting in Digbeth Civic Hall and that several organisations opposed to the National Front intended to march in protest. The potential for violence and bloodshed was obvious...
(via Paul Gilroy on twitter)
malatesta32
Not Serb. No, Really!
joey owens was around liverpool in the 1980s. he claims the NF ruled the roost which was rubbish. there were a few confrontations, 1 notable 1 with a solid DAM member who kicked a tooth out of his head. the fash were kicked out of town and put the windows thru the autonomy centre and the feminist bookshop. which is hardly running the town is it? he went on to become BNP and griffins bodyguard. he was replaced after a while which led to him being bitter beyond belief and, after being slagged off on VNN, disappeared from fash circle.
he was also involved in some daft assassination conspiracy with lecomber. larry O'H knows more about this. owens wrote his memoir which i read and to save you the bother its bollocks. he was done, i think, for attacking the mother of his son, hangs out with scouse gangsters and in general is a sad, bitter old man who has achieved nothing. when drunks like the watmoughs, morrison, tommy and dave on VNN think you're a loser, you are.
he was also involved in some daft assassination conspiracy with lecomber. larry O'H knows more about this. owens wrote his memoir which i read and to save you the bother its bollocks. he was done, i think, for attacking the mother of his son, hangs out with scouse gangsters and in general is a sad, bitter old man who has achieved nothing. when drunks like the watmoughs, morrison, tommy and dave on VNN think you're a loser, you are.
Joe Reilly
Well-Known Member
The account, like the title, suffers from being sexed up. For example it describes a significant number of a large crowd 'concealing their faces'. With what? And why? The idea of aerial photography to id suspects was unknown in '78. Indeed police did not really even take photos on the ground. Unless you were captured on the day the chances of retrospective action were about zero. It also refers to anti-fascists as 'militant'; something else not really in vogue until early 90's.
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
Thanks Joe.
I did wonder about the use of the term "Militant".
I also narrowed my eyebrows at the "Jamaican People's National Party" being out in force in Digbeth. An odd electoral strategy, you would think.
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
The article appears to be a recently-written account reflecting on one aspect of the policing of an event in 1978; as such the use of descriptive terms which may have been unusual at the time, such as ‘militant’, does not seem that odd. On the other hand, writing it in the authentic style of a mid-seventies police officer is likely to have come over as pastiche.
The article makes no mention of ‘aerial photography’, only ‘aerial surveillance’ in the context of tracking crowd movements and making general observations.
The history of the PNP-UK:
http://pnpuk.com/pnpuk history.html
See also:
http://thephoenixnewspaper.com/arti...s-national-party-uk-birmingham-group-agm.html
The article makes no mention of ‘aerial photography’, only ‘aerial surveillance’ in the context of tracking crowd movements and making general observations.
The history of the PNP-UK:
http://pnpuk.com/pnpuk history.html
See also:
http://thephoenixnewspaper.com/arti...s-national-party-uk-birmingham-group-agm.html
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
This 2011 ‘from the archives’ article in the Birmingham Mail about the day's events suggests that a camera was fixed to the helicopter to record events, but that the results of this trial were unsatisfactory:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/new...battle-of-digbeth-and-a-callous-murder-155067
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/new...battle-of-digbeth-and-a-callous-murder-155067
dennisr
the acceptable face
Funnily enough Militants (with a big M - supporters of the Militant Tendency - what is now the Socialist Party/CWI) played quite a role in the founding of the PNP-UK youth movement. The PNP could draw large crowds. This was a britain where a big section of carribean youth felt abandoned by the labour party and under siege.
Joe Reilly
Well-Known Member
He describes a crowd of 5,000 and claims "many of the demonstrators had concealed their faces". That is the main point of contention.
malatesta32
Not Serb. No, Really!
that's the name! i seem to remember the shop workers staying overnight at 1 point. typical fash tried to burn it down once thus giving ample ammunition over book burning. eejits.
Red Storm
M14
This Mickey O'Farrell ticket has been brought to my attention.
If the price is right I'm going to get it for the Archive.
Bringing it to peoples attention so there's not a little bidding war and just in case there is a better cause for it to go too.
If the price is right I'm going to get it for the Archive.
Bringing it to peoples attention so there's not a little bidding war and just in case there is a better cause for it to go too.
juice_terry
Here is a man who would not take it anymore.
What's the new address for the archive ?
juice_terry
Here is a man who would not take it anymore.
Cheers bud
malatesta32
Not Serb. No, Really!
redskins, manchester poly during the miners strike. one of the best gigs i've ever seen. righteous music, righteous politics and great clothes!
Joe Reilly
Well-Known Member
With C4 News official confirmation this evening that the Rolan Adams campaign was also targeted by undercover police and possibly other agencies, the chapters on the campaign and the distinctly curious behavior of uniformed police on the day at both Abbey Wood and Kensington Library (BTF pages 219 -235)) demand (if only for future reference) a second look.
Ps 'Operation Blackshirt' page 285 also worth a a contextual gander
Ps 'Operation Blackshirt' page 285 also worth a a contextual gander
Last edited:
miktheword
Well-Known Member
can you clarify Joe, is that 'uninformed' or
un (non) uniformed OB...maybe I've read it wrong...
Joe Reilly
Well-Known Member
Apologies. Should have read 'uniformed'. Although how much the wooden tops on ground were informed about on a day to day basis is another matter. As there may have been another agency involved.
The main point is police are now claiming that the various campaigns were infiltrated to gather intelligence on 'violent groups using the family campaigns for their own ends' when in fact the evidence shows that the police used the Rolan Adams campaign in order to try and settle accounts with the militants. And went to extraordinary lengths to do so. To such an extent that the political campaign against AFA inside the campaign by professional anti-racist elements working to a state agenda, which eventually led to it's ignominious collapse may well have been regarded as collateral damage.
miktheword
Well-Known Member
and even if they didn't have the motivation of settling scores, the OB would have had a battle in their attempts to do damage to the Adams, Duggal, Lawrence campaigns as much as some of the 'revolutionaries' did
e.g. Jasper 'let's hold an anti racist march in Bermondsey and don't do any ground work...maybe I'll get a grant after the stampede'
for Adams, read p223 in particular BtF and despair.
memory might be failing but seem to recall Richard Adams walked out of one meeting due to such shenanigans.
If they didn't exist, the state would invent them.
not meant as a derail, focus on OB of course.
e.g. Jasper 'let's hold an anti racist march in Bermondsey and don't do any ground work...maybe I'll get a grant after the stampede'
for Adams, read p223 in particular BtF and despair.
memory might be failing but seem to recall Richard Adams walked out of one meeting due to such shenanigans.
If they didn't exist, the state would invent them.
not meant as a derail, focus on OB of course.
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