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Date: Fri, 03 Jul 1998 16:06:00 +0100
From: Cornerstone Resource Centre (cornerstone@gn.apc.org)
Subject: EARTH FIRST! ACTION UPDATE No.49 JULY '98

Forwarded by Earth First! North East mailing list
E-mail EF!NE Cornerstone@gn.apc.org

FROM RTS PARTY-GOERS ROUND THE COUNTRY

BIRMINGHAM: "The RTS did manage to scare the G8 politicians out to the country, but many people felt some lack of a clear political dimension, which prompted discussion about the role of street parties. However the music was loud, the sun shone, the banner which listed all the countries in which anti-globilisation street parties were occurring simultanously was pretty amazing, and the clown-suits which were accepted dress for the day went well with the ridiculous notion of the G8 Summit."

LANCASTER: "Despite police in vans, on motorbikes, on horses, and occupying an overlooking building, Dalton Square was decorated, an anarchist bookstall erected, acoustic music began and a dragon cavorted as kids chased it with gleeful abandon. A short while later the dragon led the procession to reclaim the main road running through the city. The banner flying above the party summed it up - ‘More of this sort of thing!’".

HULL: "This went very neatly; the police did a deal which meant that after a few hours of street-partying and crossroads-occupying, everyone trooped off through the middle of town to the park to chill out in trees and grass. The ‘Hull Daily’ later said that ‘street protest has a party mood’, with a completely mellow report, pictures of smiling children and not a hint of the ‘sinister RTS organisation’ in sight."

LEEDS: "People came together on Albion Street to be confronted with 20-30 police brandishing truncheons, batons and, more worryingly, CS gas spray, which was used on several party-goers. Attempts to set up a bouncy castle were beaten back by more officers with telescopic batons. The confrontation was settled when the 500 protesters sat in the road in non-violent immobility and the police accepted the setting up of a sound system and the bouncy castle, enabling the party to continue through the afternoon."

CARDIFF: "Four lanes of the bridge over the river Taf were reclaimed for about 3-4 hours. A sound system played out against a back-drop of great banners hung from lamp-posts and a veritable sea of custard (What?). Trade-unionists and crusties danced side by side until about 8:30pm, then walked to a warehouse for an after-party, followed by very fluffy cops."

NORTH & SOUTH LONDON: "Two sets of old cars were deliberately crashed at either end against a backdrop of red smoke, to block out cars and set the scene. Police kept traffic problems at bay by diverting motorists and the festivities went on until midnight."....."It was weird to walk into an area of pandemonium and actually feel SAFER than the streets we had just come from!"...."I reckon that most of the people involved in the RTS movement would agree about the lack of inclusivity and diversity, the risk of sinking into a counterculture/raver ghetto of our own making, and so on. RTS needs to be more genuinely rooted in community. However, the Brixton and Euston parties were positive and inclusive in a way that the London group hasn’t managed for 3 years."

road protests 1998   |   road protests (current)   |   movement links