Civil Liberties
8 months of police harrasment, finally behind me.
Posted on October 9, 2012 by Admin | 8 Comments
Last week, Sean Farmelo was found not guilty of violent disorder at a student protest in February. Here is his shocking account of what happened: a story of fabricated evidence, police lies and a university trying to silence rather than protect its students. Since the 15th of February, unknown to many of my friends I’ve [...]
Universities are becoming part of an oppressive infrastructure
Posted on April 5, 2012 by Edd Bauer | 3 Comments
A worrying trend is taking hold; what started as a trickle is becoming a torrent. A disproportionate attack on student protestors is unsettling not just the student movement, but a wider community accustomed to deeply enshrined political freedoms. This attack has emerged in response to a highly organised, highly politicized movement that is operating well [...]
Does the government need new Internet surveillance powers?
Posted on April 4, 2012 by Gilbert Ramsay | 1 Comment
Surveillance of citizens by governments is generally a bad thing. All things being equal, the more of it the worse. So regardless of the specific details of the legislation the government is going to propose in relation to the real time monitoring of Internet and mobile phone traffic data, it is something we should have [...]
Why CCTV is not the answer to sexual assault.
Posted on March 24, 2012 by Admin | 1 Comment
By Naomi Beecroft I’ve heard a lot of talk about CCTV recently, and this really worries me. It more than worries me, it disturbs me. I am genuinely pleased to hear that the experiences of women are seriously being included in mainstream dialogue, and I am pleased to hear that people are looking for tangible [...]
Why a cross is not a hijab
Posted on March 13, 2012 by Gilbert Ramsay | 4 Comments
News in the Sunday Telegraph that the government plans to argue at the European Court of Human Rights that Christians do not have the right to wear crosses to work has prompted outrage from figures as senior as former archbishop George Carey and Archbishop John Sentamu, with the phrase ‘cross ban’ cropping up in various [...]
Not Guilty: Bauer bridge protest case collapses
Posted on February 21, 2012 by Adam Ramsay | 7 Comments
The case against Edd Bauer, Simon Furse, and Daniel Lindley – the student activists accused of traffic offenses after a banner drop – collapsed in court today. Bauer had spent more than a week on remand in Birmingham prison after being arrested for hanging a banner off a bridge during the Liberal Democrat conference in [...]
Will England’s inner cities burn again this summer?
Posted on February 17, 2012 by Admin | No Comments
by Ryan Bridgwater Angry, young and poor: Youth unemployment in Britain stands at over one million and those who are employed face low pay or even no pay in the case of exploitative internships. The taking away of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for less well-off students and the tripling of tuition fees effectively puts [...]
Death in Custody: Police Shame or ‘Excited Delirium’?
Posted on February 4, 2012 by Admin | No Comments
by Joel Sharples Imagine the following scenario: a police officer’s home is broken into by a gang of eleven youths, who chase him into the street and beat him to death while his watching family beg them to stop. There would be national outrage, the perpetrators would face lengthy jail sentences and the Prime Minister [...]
Calling all students, restore the right to protest.
Posted on February 1, 2012 by Edd Bauer | No Comments
Whatever differences of our oft dysfunctional, sometime self-destructive student “left” may have, it is nice to know that we also know exactly when it is time to unite and fight. Apparently some say we are divided, and perhaps the #ncafc tag on twitter is some evidence for this. However, this so called divided “left” including [...]
Why I am taking my university to court.
Posted on January 24, 2012 by Admin | 8 Comments
First year biological science student Sam Weaver is taking the university of Birmingham to court over its widely publicised “ban” on protests, he explains here in his own words what has lead him to take this extraordinary step. Since starting university last Autumn one thing has really shocked me and that is the draconian measures [...]
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