A LOAD OF PONY
Today (Thursday 15th) marked the two month anniversary of the Occupy London movement, and not to be outdone by their American counterparts (see SchNEWS 797) the UK's own called for a day of action.
A crowd gathered at the occupation site at St Paul's at 10.30am with a festively appropriate pantomime horse. After listening to speeches on the current financial crisis and possible bottom-up solutions, the demo went on a 15 minute 'canter' targeting Lloyds branches in particular, as a symbol for the 'call to greed' that the movement aims to tackle through its actions. The panto horse and its followers occupied Lloyds' main offices for a short while and then toured other branches. Lloyds' CEO who saw in the 41% taxpayer bailout of the bank has returned to his post after standing aside for six weeks due to 'extreme fatigue and sleep deprivation' and the Co-operative Group has won the bid to take the 632 Lloyds and Cheltenham and Gloucester branches the bailed out institution was ordered to sell.
The horse-led protest returned to the Occupy site in time for speeches by Rev. Jesse Jackson and others who spoke to the assembled crowd of around 350 supporters about the global occupy movement. A roving 'street party' ensued with the demonstrators heading to The Carlton Club, the 'spiritual home' of the Conservative party – an exclusive members only club for the lizards in blue.
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Over 20,000 violent individuals take part in a surprisingly peaceful demonstration.
Recoiling from the austerity measures activists and organisations worldwide are starting to get together to fight back against the illegitimacy of the national debts and bailouts. On 7th April the first Euro-Mediterranean Meeting of the newly formed International Network for Citizen Debt Audits took place in Brussels.
Climate Justice target UK Energy Summit
A new strategy inspired by South American peasant movements has emerged in San Francisco. 'Occupy The Farm' intends to break the corporations' control over the food industry and replace it by community-managed food production.
Italian museum burns art works in protest over budget cuts as art imitates life
A new community-based bartering system emerged in Volos, Greece to counteract the devastating effects of an all time high recession.
The Wilderness centre in Mitcheldean in the Forest of Dean was taken by activists back in January after budget cuts forced it to close in August last year.
Hundred of thousands joined general strike to protest against the harshest austerity budget in Europe.
