CALL OUT: Day of action against military spending/austerity and repression within universities – UWE Bristol this coming Monday (14 April 2014)

CALL OUT: Day of action against military spending/austerity and repression within universities – UWE Bristol this coming Monday (14 April 2014)

Author: striking parrots

CALL OUT: Day of action against military spending/austerity and repression within universities
UWE Bristol this coming Monday (14 April 2014)

  • ‘Spend on welfare and education, stop fuelling the business of death’. Joint action of UWE students, Bristol Against the Arms Trade and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade student network (nation’s action), part of the Global Day of Action Against Military Spending (#gdams #demilitarise)
  • ‘A university that represses its students is not a university anymore’. In solidarity with politically active students repressed around the country (#copsoffcampus), calling for calling for an independent review of the repression against 20 November 2013 ‘UWE arms fair’ student protests.

Budget Day on 19 March 2014 confirmed the UK government’s priorities: broad and deep ‘austerity’ cuts to welfare and education, but £38 billion for military spendings (HM Treasury – Budget 2014, page 5). Together with the Campaign Against the Arms Trade and Bristol Against the Arms Trade, students at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) invite you to join their demonstration this coming Monday (14 April) to raise awareness about the UK’s wasteful military spendings enabling the obscene business of death, and to demand a shift in priorities towards education and welfare. This action will be sync’ed with numerous other actions around the world, as part of the Global Day of Action Against Military Spending.

The demonstration will take place within Bristol’s Frenchay suburb to highlight the proximity and relationships between the Ministry of Defence, arms dealers of the ‘Bristol Business Park’ and the university. It will start from UWE Bristol not only to denounce this university’s backstage decision to rent out its conference centre (ECC) to the first two editions of DPRTE. DPRTE is a military business and arms fair widely promoted by the Ministry of Defence and the military community as ‘the UK’s leading defence event’ for businesses ‘to gain [their] share of £160 Bn from the MoD’s 10 Year Equipment Plan’ including £11.4 Bn on weapons, £18.5 Bn on combat air, and £35.8 Bn on submarines and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

The demonstration will also start from UWE Bristol to denounce the repression against the “‘impeccable’ protest” that UWE students and their allies staged against the ‘UWE arms fair’ on 20 November 2013, and to demand an independent review into those events. Campaigning students have released an open letter to UWE’s Board of Governors demanding a transparent, comprehensive and independent review into the conduct of the university and the policing of the event. This follows an open letter that students sent to UWE’s Vice-Chancellor in the aftermath of the protests. The Vice-Chancellor ignored the letter and subsequent reminders.

If you can come to Bristol this coming Monday:

  • The demonstration will start at 12:30pm from the university’s main bus station at Frenchay.
  • How to get to UWE Bristol Frenchay Campus: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/comingtouwe/campusesmapsandtravel/frenchaycampus/howtogettofrenchaycampus.aspx
  • Protesters are encouraged to get ready to make noise and/or music, and to bring a paper plane.
  • Independent trained legal observers will be there to protect our democratic rights and document possible breaches to our right to protest.
  • Please let us know if you intend to come: uwe.better.together@gmail.com

If you cannot come to this demonstration, there are other ways you can help:

See you on the streets!

https://network23.org/better-together/2014/04/08/call-out-day-of-action-at-uwe-bristol-on-monday-14-april-2014/

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