About 20 people demonstrated today (9 February) at lunch time in front of the French consulate in Cromwell Rd, London. The demo had been called by London NoBorders to protest the police raid of the "Kronstadt Hangar" by French authorities in Calais last Sunday.

People put up banners and distributed leaflets. Police was around and made sure no protester got inside the consulate.

Serco, 18-22 Hand Court (off High Holborn), WC1V 6JF.

During the days of action around the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in Denmark - most commonly referred to as the COP15 - a group of radio ethusiasts hailing from around the globe came together to produce daily radio shows for Indymedia Radio in four different languages.

Library House, 52 Knatchbull Road (entrance on Burton Road, behind Minet Library), Camberwell, SE5 9QY.

London NoBorders and Noborders Brighton call for a demonstration at the French consulate ( Cromwell Road, Corber to Cromwell Street,SW7 2EN) in London to protest against the repression of the new Kronstadt Hangar Project in Calais by the French authorities.

Tuesday, 9th February, 12.30, French Consulate , Cromwell RD, SW7 2EN

On Saturday 6th February the Kronstadt Hangar was opened for the public. In the afternoon, despite a heavy police presence migrants successfully entered the newly-opened space at the invitation of NoBorders activists. The hangar is intended to be a space for information-sharing, debate and practical solidarity.

Together, around 100 activists and migrants broke through police lines chanting “Freedom! Freedom!”. Riot police in full body protection are currently circling the building and threatening the migrants with mass arrests. People are currently occupying the building.      Read full feature

A few days ago, activists from the transnational No Borders network and the French
organisation SôS Soutien aux Sans Papiers have opened a large warehouse
for migrants in Calais, help is needed.

CHINA BULLIES DAVOS THE IRRELEVANCE OF DAVOS G8, G20 AND COPENHAGEN

195 Mare Street, Hackney.

A few days ago, activists from the transnational No Borders network and the French
organisation SôS Soutien aux Sans Papiers have opened a large warehouse
for migrants in Calais as a response to the ongoing repression against the migrants
in Calais by the authorities. [1]

On 25 January 2010 members and supporters of No Borders Brighton and London No Borders picketed the Crawley Borough Council planning meeting where an application by Arora International Hotels Ltd. to covert the Mercure Hotel into a detention centre was rejected by the Development Control Committee.

Saturday 23rd January 2010, about two hundred people took the streets of London in protest at ever more draconian immigration controls and this countries pervasive surveillance culture.

This 16 minute video contains speeches and footage from the march. (320x240 mpeg4 ~64MB)

Further Indymedia coverage of the demo is available here:

• Peter Marshal photos - https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/445139.html
• Report and photos - http://london.indymedia.org/articles/4218
• Dissident Island audio recording - http://london.indymedia.org/articles/4221
• London Indymedia feature and timeline - http://london.indymedia.org/articles/4196

Note: A higher quality screening version is available on the Real2Reel Blip.TV channel (720x576 quicktime ~122MB)

• The video = http://blip.tv/file/3136790
• Other R2R video = http://real2reel.blip.tv

All Real2Reel videos, audio or photos are copyright and available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license

Last night, Monday 25th January, Arora's planning application to turn their four star hotel at Gatwick into a detention centre was defeated by 14 votes to 1 at Crawley Council's Planning Meeting.

No Border activists held a demo outside Crawley Town Hall before the meeting and a number went into the meeting.

Articles on Indymedia: | 1 | 2 | 3 | Video October 2009 | Articles on the London NoBorders Website: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Radio Interview on Arora | Press Release 26 January

On Saturday, 23 January 2010, demonstrators took the streets of central London as part of the 'Life's too short to be controlled' demonstration called by No Borders. This article contains links to audio from the demonstration, including the speeches made at the start of the demonstration, in front of the entrance to St Pancras Station and at the end, near the Eros statue in Picadilly.

Today's 'Life's Too Short to be controlled' demo that was called by London No Borders attracted over 150 people that gathered at St.Pancras international terminal from 2pm. Whilst people were arriving banners were being unfurled, speeches were given over the mobile sound system, and bandanas specially made for the demo that read 'cctv operating at all times - life's too short to be controlled' and 'Smile you are on cctv - london no borders' were given out to the crowd.

At around 2.30 the demo took to the middle of the road in Euston Road effectively stopping trafic, and started to march south towards Picadilly Circus. For about 2 hours the demonstration managed to maintain control of the roads marching unhindered all the way. Strangely enough there were no police on sight throughout, so the only problems the crowd faced were a few over excited drivers that attempted to move into the demo. At some point, in Russell Square, part of the crowd had to face a nasty taxi drived that repeatedly tried to drive into the demo. Protesters had to forcefully stop him from running over people.

Troughout the journey the atmosphere was very lively and determined. Chants of 'no borders no nations, stop deportations' we repeatedly heard, the mobile sound system kept playing a mix of conscious hip-hop and hard core, a small samba band kept playing, and leaflets were given out to passers-by.

The demo eventually made it to Picadilly Circus, stopping the traffic heading East on the intersection of Coventry Street and Great Windmill for around 15 minutes, with loud hip-hop being played. For a little while it resembled an impromptu street party. The crowd then moved to the square itself where more speeches were given at the foot of the Eros. A protestor then climbed the Eros statue and hung a Palestinian flag from it. After the speeches finished, music kept playing for a while longer until people started to disperse.

The demo ended at about 5.00pm with a general sense of success. People kept together all along occupying the roads in central London, and being in control of the route of the demo at all times whilst managing to defend the space from cars that tried to break it up several times. In this sense, it is a long time since central London had seen such as succesful autonomously organised demo as this one. The fact that the forces in blue (and yellow) didn't appear, not even for a second, made the day even better! :-)

Here there are some shots from today:

Crawley Town Hall, The Boulevard, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1UZ

After a few speeches have been given in Saint Pancras, over 150 people - many covering their faces with bandanas specially made for the demo - were marching towards Picadilly today 23rd January at about 3 o'clock. They passed The British Museum at about half past three. At about quarter to four, the demonstration, taking on the road on Shaftesbury avenue, were arriving at Picadilly, and all the way there was not one single cop in sight. Speeches began in Picadilly Circus at about four o'clock. There were quite a few banners but the most prominent read: "Life too short to be controlled" and "Freedom to move, freedom to stay"

Demo's timeline | Report and Pics | Pics on IMC UK | Audio from demo | Video from demo

52 knatchbull road (entrance on Burton rd, behind Minet library) SE5 9QY.
Nearest tubes : Brixton, Oval, Kennington.
Nearest train : Loughborough junction.
Nearest buses : P5 or Brixton road (3/N3, 59, 133/N133, 159/N159, 415. stop: loughborough road)

The statement below in opposition to the planning application by Arora International Hotels Ltd. for a change of use of the Mercure Hotel, Povey Cross Road, Crawley, allowing its conversion into an Immigration Removal Centre, has been sent to all 37 Crawley Borough Councillors and to Laura Moffet MP for Crawley. The nature of this planning application and the exisitng structure means that any resulting detention centre could only be used to hold families and children.

Download the 51st episode of Dissident Island Radio, broadcast live from LARC on 15 January 2010, featuring:

• Folks from London No Borders chatting about the upcoming "Life's too short to be controlled" day of action on 23 January, with a discussion linking the issues of migration, border control and state surveillance;
• SmashEDO on their upcoming "Remember Gaza" mass demo, aiming to shut-down the Brighton bomb-makers;
• Some words from the Cloak and Dinner, on putting together a gourmet food experience in Bristol;
• Reflections on state repression in Denmark from a legal observer at the COP15 actions, and prisoner solidarity info for the political prisoners in Copenhagen, with information on how to show your solidarity from afar; and
• A live telephone call to Non Commercial House with news of their re-opening, as well as the usual banter, bollocks, tunes...and to end it all, jungle-vibes from xtrats.

So check it!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW

And make sure to check our archive for a links to other awesome shows!

Keep it warm and cosy.

D*I

Meretz UK
37A Broadhurst Gardens, London, NW6 3BN

The Library House, 52 Knatchbull Road, Brixton, SE5 9QY.

outside Communications House, Old Street, London EC1

(nearest tube Old Street - exit on Clerkenwell Road side)

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES

LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES