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Riot going on now in Bristol - Stokes Croft

This link's doing the rounds on Twitter - interview with a protester who was helping run the stall and had spoken to security there - discovering that they were a possible source for the tip off to police re: petrol bombs at Telepathic Heights. Curiouseur and curiouseur

http://dru-withoutamap.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-many-petrol-bombs.html?spref=tw

Interesting that they were using a London based firm who specialise in squat evictions and who evidently believe the residents of the area to be 'scum'
 
Finally for now, article on how the police got their spin on events in first, with many mainstream media outlets using A&S police's press release as basically the entire basis for their reporting. Prioritising police 'injuries' over anyone else's (and how many of these injuries were serious?), the repetition of the lie that the store was petrol bombed and the failure to look for any facts beyond what A&S police have provided them with.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkin...ritain-how-police-spun-battle-of-stokes-croft
 
Cllr Jon Rogers (Lib Dem Ashley - the ward which covers the eastern side of Stokes Croft/Cheltenham Road and includes Tesco - but not Telepathic Heights) reporting on Twitter that he hears one person from the squat has been charged. No other details so charged with what I'm not sure.

Rogers' Twitter postings over this have been a load of bollocks
 
Bristol West MP Stephen Williams (LD) comments on Laurie Penny's New Statesman article (or it's supposedly him, no verification other than name but it looks genuine):

"what an irresponsible article. The first sentence is hyperbole. Bristol was not "on fire" last night. A few bins were burnt. There are legitimate concerns about supermarkets but last night's events were more to do with anarchist or hard left anti-capitalist drop outs who were determined to have a violent confrontation. The vast majority of people in my constituency will be sickened and dismayed by what happened and will not thank various commentators who are trying to stir things up again."

20:09 on 22/4 here

So zero understanding of what happened or which of his constituents were involved, just an abrupt dismissal. I may not have much time for Kerry McCarthy (Lab Bristol East) or what she had to say about it but at least she appears to have been present and is speaking with a touch more of an informed position.
 
Finally, before I go to fulfill family duties, a thought. There was apparently a party at the squat on Wednesday, fairly normal for somewhere like that given that a few of the squatters were moving out and the possibility of eviction was looming. If Tesco security saw petrol being taken into the building, is it not at least plausible that this was for a generator? If there were large numbers of bottles, could it not have been the aftermath of that same party?

And why do I feel pointing out the bleeding obvious is so controversial when it comes to stuff like this?
 
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The more I read about this the more I think the real agenda here is that the squatters were perceived by Tesco management and Bristol Council as different and therefore to be a problem. At root is a demand for conformity at all costs. Fail to conform sufficiently and there have always been people who will demand that you conform or be killed. What we currently have is government, media, and pretty much the entire political establishment prepared to back up those extreme sentiments with action and propaganda.
 
See Alfreton Road, NG7

There are loads and loads of empty commercial premises in Nottingham. Alfreton Road has more than its fair share. Tesco is currently doing up one place there. I'm not sure what it was before it last closed down, but I think it might have been a car dealership.

Are they actually building it now? The site is/was boarded up for ages.

Isn't like there is a shortage of convenience stores or supermarkets in the area, though I guess ASDA is a bit of a trek on foot....I bet it will ruin that early morning news agents and the people that bought the old SPAR :(

A riot in NG7 would be pretty epic though.... :hmm:
 
There's some interesting stuff on Ian Bone's blog, dated September last year:

Ian Bone said:
USELESS ACTIONS BELOVED BY ANARCHISTS NO.2

ANTI-TESCOISM: Tescos is the new McDonalds – hated by right thinking anarchists everywhere. Apart from being a heinous supermarket it is run by..ahem…people who probably don’t support Hamas and won’t sell those fetching Palestinian headscarves. It also takes trade away from those delightful and inexpensive Farmers Markets (every other Thursday) and doesn’t pay the caring farmers enough money for their milk.It’s also reponsible for the decline of the village smithy and the closure of all those lovely independent shops you never used to go to.It’s also currently selling a 12 pack of Birds Eye waffles for a £1. Bastards. I’m pleased that the anarchists of Bristol are at the world forefront of anit-Tescoism and that Stokes Croft will be where the vile food retailers meet their Alamo( or should that be Rorkes Drift..or the other way round?) and that everytime a demo passes Tescos they’ll have to have armed goons outside.

There are some interesting responses from Bone's readers too.

The Don said:
i always said when i was on the dole that the first place i’d petrol bomb would be that fucking corner shop charging me £1-50 for a fucking loaf!!!

Badnewswade said:
I wish Tesco would open a supermarket round my way. Here in sunny redcliffe we have our fill of local shops – overpriced, rude, Margaret Thatcher style grocers that don’t even stock wholemeal rice (woops worra giveaway!)

Every sodding time I go into my local shop I have to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a load of attitude and crappy goods that they’ve often just bought at Aldis and are re-selling for twice the price any normal person would pay. A Tesco around here would provide employment, help the poor save money, be open late, and best of all it would wipe the superior smirk off the face of the little punk behind the counter.

Anyone who drones on about how great local grocers are has obviously never had to depend on one.

Badnewswade said:
Like I say, my local shop treats me like shit so fuck them. What is this thing about how great small businesses are? They’re every bit as shit as big business with the added bonus of costing more. They have a really snooty attitude to boot, like they’re better than you because they run a poxy shop. Fuck that – the only problem I have with Tesco is that all the profits go to rich bastards, but other than that you’ll find that it’s more efficient, cleaner, and generally better than the average corner shop – at least in working class areas.

Dale Winton's Trolley said:
I’ve never understood why activists of all hues single out one capitalist enterprise over another. “I hate starbucks”, “i hate tesco” etc. They’re all versions of the same need to create profit by exploiting the working class. For revolutionaries, the policy should only ever be to single out this or that company solely on the basis of supporting their workers in struggle and to outline how they exemplify the revolutionary struggle to overthrow capitalism. I’m not into all this green/liberal guilt tripping shit that wants a “nicer” capitalism, with “fair trade” and the rest of it. Look, if you’re guilt trip wants to get involved in that, go for it, but just remember your enforcing the system every time you try to ameliorate it. Only action geared towards the endtimes of the capitalist monster is worth a fuck, in my view. Otherwise, go join a christian charity and have done. Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy my Starbucks coffee and tescos croissant until the workers go on strike.


See: http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/useless-actions-beloved-by-anarchists-no-2/
 
Are they actually building it now? The site is/was boarded up for ages.

Isn't like there is a shortage of convenience stores or supermarkets in the area, though I guess ASDA is a bit of a trek on foot....I bet it will ruin that early morning news agents and the people that bought the old SPAR :(

A riot in NG7 would be pretty epic though.... :hmm:

Not building it, revamping an existing building, which I think was a car dealership, before it closed down.

There is certainly no shortage of convenience stores on the Alfreton Road, but they can be a bit of a rip-off and I'd guess that the Tesco, though not one of their massive ones, will be a bigger better shop than others in the immediate area.
 
There wasn't any mention of tesco in the above link. Just a call out for a party in the face of police aggression.
 
Oh do cock off JHE. Thursday night we persuaded some unwelcome guests in our community to fuck off back over the bridge in their vans when they threw their weight around. Stop banging on about fucking Tesco, it's only one aspect of it. Ta.
 
Police under pressure to explain raid

So, we have two people charged - James Smith has been involved in anti-EDO stuff and was already on bail for stuff in London March 26th. Remanded in Horfield nick until late June on a public order charge with no plea entered yet nor any application for bail, looks likely he could be going down for a while based on his previous. Joseph Porter is 20 years old of Irish traveller descent, barely reads or writes and has pleaded guilty to possession of a petrol bomb but not guilty to a charge of threatening to use it. Evicted from one squat on Stokes Croft and booted out of another after causing some problems, recently moved into Telepathic Heights and a history of drug/alcohol problems. Only had a duty solicitor in court. Sounds like more of a victim of society than an armed revolutionary. On remand awaiting trial.

The two others arrested at Telepathic Heights - one has been given a 12-month conditional discharge after pleading guilty to obstructing police after the original charge of assaulting a police officer was dropped. The other has pleaded not guilty to affray and was bailed until trial in Crown Court. Bail conditions include not going to Stokes Croft and also not going to the City of London or City of Westminster between April 26 & 30. Committal hearing is set for 17 June.

No word of the five arrested during the riot, nor of any other arrests yet after the event.

Tesco say they intend to open again on Thursday 28th April.
 
A Freedom of Information request has been made to Avon & Somerset Police regarding Thursday night, requesting information on numbers of officers in attendance, the cost of the operation, who authorised it all, what arrests were made, on what charges and by which force and injuries sustained by officers on the night.

Full request here
 
You are right about this.

However I'm pretty sure that when it comes to the council approving an "off licence" they are only allowed to consider a limited range of things. Provided the person applying has no bad history for selling booze to underage teens or to those who could be said by a reasonable shop assistant to have "had enough" already, and that the shop doesn't have some reputation as THE place that the super-lager and quite frightening cider drinkers refuel and hang around, I think they are pretty much bound to give it. Until some years ago, there WAS taken into consideration whether the licencing magistrates felt that the area did or did not NEED another offie. This was the same also with bookies. Until some bunch of politicians - not sure if tory or nu-liebour, swept away such fuddy duddy notions of social responsibility and began to consider bookies and bottle shops as businesses vital to revive the economy. Yeah, right.

Giles..

In fact, Tesco were refused an alcohol licence for the Cheltenham Road store, I think on the grounds that there are already big concerns about street drinking in the area and that another store selling booze was not desirable.

An account of Stokes Croft from Kerry ? the local MP who went there (@KerryMP on twitter) : Louder Than War http://bit.ly/dLd5MX - and one on her blog http://bit.ly/dFP6y5

As strung_out says, relatively sensible. She may not be the local MP but she's been a damn sight better, shown more concern and at least an attempt at getting a handle on what's going on in the area than the entirely useless Lib Dem lobby fodder Stephen Williams who appears to have had absolutely nothing to say about this beyond a post made in his name on Laurie Penny's New Statesman article. Alleged petrol bombers, well over a hundred riot cops flooding the area, running battles through St Pauls and Kingsdown, a supermarket trashed and he hasn't said a single word officially. Thanks for your concern Mr Williams.
 
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