Thatcher Street Party

Hundreds of people joined an impromptu street party in Easton on Monday evening to celebrate the end of Maggie Thatcher.

Gathering in Easton near the junction of Chelsea Rd and Bloy St since 8pm, the beers flowed, bonfires were lit, and sound systems appeared. The road was closed by party goers to ensure vehicles passed around safely. Early on people showed up with kids in pushchairs and smiles on faces. As the late shift kicked in, at 12.20am on Tuesday morning, a couple of hundred people remained and partied to numerous small soundsystems.

We understand from first hand accounts, that people who attended the event where there in good spirits and there was no people throwing stuff around or people defecating in people's gardens as reported in the evening post. Furthermore, there was many people from Easton at the party, in fact many were local Easton residents and those who were from outside of Easton were respectful as the party went on.

Then later on the Police turned up to what was a peaceful gathering, with around ten riot vans and then the situation became confrontational. Why did the police turn up to what was a one off event, she isn't going to die again, late at night when most revelers had left. This is asking for trouble, is it any surprise that there was confrontation, as you are approaching a group of people who have been drinking all night, are then faced with a huge police presence. Surely it would have made much more sense for them to have just let the party die out naturally and people would have then left, as the majority of people had then gone as it began to rain. As the party was a peaceful gathering, why the huge police presence, are we seeing further examples of political policing, if this was a celebration of Thatchers life by the local Conservative club would it have been treated in the same way, very unlikely.

People should be allowed to celebrate the passing of what many saw as an extremely damaging individual for the fabric of our society. Lets not forget the people who lives were destroyed during the miners strike, Wapping disputes amongst others, her part in the Hillsborough tragedy, her support of Murdoch and his despicable press, as well as her support for horrific regimes such as Pinochet and Suharto, the lady who took milk off children, spent many new years eves and lunches with Jimmy Saville, the lady who smashed the trade unions by using police for political motives, the deregulation of financial markets that has led us to the issues we have now, the falklands war where many people lost their lives, the privatisation of all national industries, the list goes on.

Margaret Thatcher's legacy will now be rewritten by those in power as she is held up as an hero for this country and unbelievably as a feminist. They will neglect the truth about her actions and the consequences they have had for us the ordinary people of this country and of Chile and Argentina, which is unacceptable. She will also be awarded status and honour at her funeral next week, when all the sycophants line up to pay their respects (Miliband will be there I'm sure). By doing this they will celebrate the smashing of our communities, the attacks on the poor, the murderous Chilean death squads, the Hillsborough deaths, the massive unemployment, the sell off of our utilities, in short they will celebrate the women who destroyed so many peoples lives and has led us to the appalling government that now lords over us.

So yes it was apt to celebrate the passing of the lady who was not for turning, in what would have been a peaceful night if the establishment had stayed at home and watched tv instead.

So let's see the evil Tory off in style - callout on social media announces Street Party - Mon 8 April - 8pm - Chelsea Rd, Easton, Bristol BS5. Between the 2 pubs - The Chelsea & The Plough. Calls made on social media for soundsystems to come down.

Make it the first of many Bristol street parties. May she never ever RIP

Click on full story to read Ten Reasons to Hate Thatcher.

The Bristol anarchist bookfair collective is pleased to announce that the full programme for the 2013 Bookfair is now available online in pdf format, on this website page.

Printed copies will be available on the day of the Bookfair at The Trinity centre, and a small number will be available from10 April from Kebele social centre and Hydra Bookshop. It wont be anything fancy, just simple, functional B&W A3 folded.

We are also producing pdf's for the programme in each individual meeting space, as well as running that info as website posts. You can find this more detailed info via this website page, along with a simple, title only, pdf timetable of meetings.
For a full list of stallholders please see this website page.
And for a constantly evolving list of anarchist and related other events then see this webite page. Please note that two of our After-Party bands have had to drop out due to illness & injury, details of replacements will be available shortly
We have also provided a host of info about public transport, parking, and maps on this website page.
Lastly, we have a page of publicity materials available, that we hope you might use to spread the word about the Bookfair, see this website page, and this crackbook event http://www.facebook.com/events/437820852938597/

With the public mood growing angrier by the day in response to the Coalition Govt's ideologically-based class hatred of anyone who is not either rich or a docile wage slave, there couldnt be a better time to have a Bookfair that can bring together all those seeking discussions & debates about genuine alternatives to the unsustainable and unequal capitalist system, and its brutal enforcer the state. We hope to see you all on the day!

BABC xxx