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AF PRESS RELEASES AND COMMENTS

Anarchist protests connected to the G20 summit
in London April 2, 2009

The  Anarchist Federation (British and Anglophone) calls on all anarchists to participate in the protests, and of course demonstrate with dignity, not ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined).

The first big protest is expected to take place Saturday in Central London. Police expect some 20,000 people to turn out. Though organized by trade unions, some 120 different groups are taking part in the "Put People First" march, which will start at Victoria Station, wind through Trafalgar Square, and end in a demonstration at Hyde Park.

April 1, the day before the summit, will see various smaller demonstrations in central London. Protesters are calling it "Financial Fools Day," a play on April Fools Day and the anger surrounding the current economic crisis. The protest, organized by an umbrella group called "G20 Meltdown," will feature four separate "carnival parades," each led by giant "Horseman of the Apocalypse" puppets. A flyer for the event, carries the slogan "Storm the Banks!" and features images of French revolutionaries storming the Bastille in 1789 and a mannequin of a banker hanging from a noose. An "Alternative G20 Summit" will also take place near the summit venue, the ExCeL convention center in east London. The slogan "Storm the Banks" is of course not to be taken in a literal sense.

Marina Pepper, one of the organizers of "G20 Meltdown", said that Twitter, the blogging tool that allows short updates to be filed, published and read via cellphones, would be used to coordinate the protests -- and warn participants of possible trouble. But she warned that dissatisfaction with the government and the state of the economy was likely to provoke a minority to violent protest. The Anarchist Federation calls on all protesters to demonstrate with dignity, not ochlarchy and violence. 27.03.2009.

The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU. They will meet to discuss measures to tackle the downturn.

28.03.2009. G20 demonstrators march in London. Tens of thousands of people marched through London demanding a.o.t. action on poverty, climate change and jobs, ahead of next week's G20 summit. The Put People First alliance of 150 charities and unions walked from Embankment to Hyde Park for a rally. Protesters had travelled from Spain, Belgium and Italy to take part, and the age ranged from children in prams to pensioners in their 80s. Police estimated 35,000 marchers took part in the event. Protesters taking part described a "carnival-like atmosphere" with brass bands, piercing whistles and stereos blasting music as the slow-paced procession weaved through the streets. "The sun is shining - there are lots of banners and flags and everyone is in good spirits," said Chris Jordan, an Action Aid campaigner. People were clearly angry, but the atmosphere was not tense. The relatively small group of anarchists with slogans, @-signs and waving red and black and black flags was clearly present, also in the newsmedia, mainly CNN, Euronews, BBC, and AP. The basic anarchist demands about less statism and capitalism/economical plutarchy and for more autonomy and socialism, were however not clearly expressed in the newsmedia.  Slogans as "welcome to the pig state", and "we've got a long week ahead, the streets are our streets" and similar quoted by the press, are not good enough and should be avoided. Bad press is worse than no press. The demonstration was non-violent, no ochlarchy, and so it shall be also next week.

Anarchism and anarchist strategy. Anarchy is in reality and objectively seen a system significantly without archs, ochlarchs/ochlarchists included, i.e. a system with relatively small rank and income differences, orderly (optimal order, and not chaos) and efficient, also environmentally. Anarchy is real democracy - from the people and upwards, significantly. Anarchists are real democrats. The people, seen as a class, are the grassroots in contrast to the superiors in rank and/or income, the pyramid that in reality is the state/government, if significant i.e. top heavy, and it is probably always inefficent. Anarchism and anarchist strategy are to change the societal organization in horizontal direction, as members of the people, not attacking persons or things... More and more... Until complete horizontal organization is achieved as an ultimate aim. This may take some time...

In this sense, and only in this sense, the anarchists are for abolishment of the state, as expressed on CNN Saturday. Anarchism means anarchist, i.e. non-authoritarian, non-ochlarchical means and methods, as well as anarchist ends and aims. There must be consistency between means and ends. This is the only strategy that works. The difference between ochlarchs/ochlarchists and anarchists is per definition dependent on what you do , not what you say you are or flag. Don't act as an ochlarchical boss!!! If you do act in this way, you are no longer an anarchist, but a form of superior, i.e. ochlarch/ochlarchist, authoritarian. Anticapitalist ochlarchs/ochlarchists are authoritarian socialists, i.e. marxists.

01.04.2009. Protesters block London's financial district. About 4,000 protesters locked down a section of London's financial district for much of the day on Wednesday a day before the Group of 20 summit meeting here, shouting "storm the banks" and "shame on you." Around 2 p.m., several hours into the protest, a handful of furious protesters smashed the windows of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which became a symbol of the financial crisis because of a record loss that prompted a government bailout. Some painted slogans such as the communist (ml) "class war" on the facade, while others carried computers through the broken windows and smashed them on the street. A branch of HSBC also had windows broken. When the police stepped in to stop the looting, Liam Edin, a student, said "the police are defending the very people they should be fighting: the bankers." A wide range of interest groups were in attendance, including climate change campaigners, marxists, anarchists and pensioners concerned about their life savings. The rioters were criminal anti-capitalist leftwing extremist ochlarchs/oclarchists, i.e. ultra-authoritarian marxists. No anarchists were involved in the vandalism. The demonstrations continued late in the evening, with sporadic violence. There have been 63 arrests, with some police and protesters injured. Later, a man died after collapsing, police said in the evening. Most of the protests were non-violent, non-ochlarchical. All in all about 5,000 people took part in the protests on Wednesday.

02.04.209. More protetsts. Demonstrators gathered near the G20 summit venue in London's docklands for a second day of protests. Several hundred staged "noisy but calm" protests on various issues near the ExCel centre. Earlier, 40 protesters met outside the London Stock Exchange where they had threatened to disrupt business but were outnumbered by 100 police officers. On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Gordon Brown greeted world leaders arriving at the ExCel centre a few hundred yards from the protesting groups. Elsewhere, campaigners got their message across in a variety of different ways. A small number of protesters played a giant game of Monopoly in the City, armed with huge crates of fake money. Later French freeclimber Alain Robert, known as the Human Spider, attempted to scale the Lloyds' building in the capital as part of protests. He unfurled a banner but returned to the ground. Stop the War Coalition, the British Muslim Initiative, CND, Middle East campaigning groups, marxists and anarchists, were among the protesters.

Confrontations between ultra-authoritarian marxists and riot police ensued, as extremists high-jacked the initially good-humored protests that had begun outside the neighboring Bank of England. Protestors' anger focused at the greediness of the few against the majority of the population. Marxist expressions as "burge into banks" and "hung bankers" were some of the slogans used in the protestations. More than 23 people were arrested, all of them leftwing extremist ultra-authoritarian marxists.

On Wednesday, all in all about 90 people were arrested in the City after flashes of violence marred mainly peaceful protests. Four people were charged, three with possessing bladed weapons and the fourth with assault. Metropolitan Police Commander Simon O'Brien said small pockets of criminals were responsible for the outbreaks of trouble on Wednesday and would be tracked down. But he added that the vast majority of demonstrators were good-humoured. Investigations have already been launched after protesters smashed their way into a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branch in the City of London. The Metropolitan Police said those involved in violence should expect a "knock on the door". Senior officers said one police officer was in hospital, receiving treatment after suffering a blow to the head. Seven protesters were also taken to hospital. Those arrested were held for offences including violent disorder, obstruction, aggravated burglary, arson and unlawful possession of police uniforms.

Meanwhile, police have raided two squats in east London to arrest people they believe may be linked to violence at Wednesday's G20 protests. Scotland Yard said a total of 80 were arrested in the operation, which also included a raid on property in Rampart Street, Aldgate. Police also confirmed that the circumstances behind the death of a man who was involved in the protests has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Police said the man, thought to be in his 40s, died on Wednesday evening after bottles were thrown at him and he collapsed. Scotland Yard said he was found unconscious near the Bank of England and the London Ambulance Service took him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, including the throwing of bottles, and send condolences to the relatives and friends of the victim.

03.04.2009. The protests are over. The world leaders claim to have struck an historic deal to combat the global recession following the G20 summit in London. A whole raft of measures has been agreed to tackle the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The most notable is a 750 billion euro cash boost for the International Monetary Fund to assist those countries hit hard by the financial crisis.

08.04.2009. G20 probe officer comes forward. The police officer thought to be shown in video footage of the G20 protest in London pushing a man who later died has come forward. An independent criminal probe has begun into the death of Ian Tomlinson, 47, who had a heart attack minutes later. Additional video footage shown on Channel 4 News appears to show an officer striking him with a baton. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is trying to identify officers who were at the scene. Deborah Glass, of the IPCC, explained the decision to take over the investigation: "People are rightly concerned about this tragic death and this footage is clearly disturbing." "In light of new information which we became aware of yesterday (Tuesday) evening, we have now taken the decision to independently investigate." Opposition MPs have called for a criminal investigation into the death. The police have well-established powers to use reasonable force if they think there is a threat either to themselves or the public, but these are enhanced during a protest or riot.

The Anarchist Federation demands a full criminal investigation into the death!

23.04.2009. The Anarchist Federation calls on the World Bank and IMF to act quickly on G20 goals. The Anarchist Federation has called on the World Bank and IMF to use the opportunity of their spring meetings in Washington to accelerate efforts to stem the  global collapse in employment and economic prospects.  The Anarchist Federation today warns that global unemployment could increase by 50 million people in 2009 unless the World Bank and IMF and public sectors in the countries of the world take immediate action to implement the commitments made at the G20 London Summit. This year, hundreds of millions of workers will not earn enough from their labour to reach the poverty line because of the crisis. The World Bank and IMF should use the spring meetings not only to confirm the G20 conclusions, but to make further proposals for global management reform, i.e. in the direction of anarchist self management - autogestion - and increased efforts to create jobs and protect social programmes. Among the groups most affected by the financial meltdown are workers close to retirement in countries that adopted mandatory privatized pension funds as advocated by the World Bank. The Anarchist Federation suggests that the Bank participates in providing compensation for the loss of retirement incomes suffered by these workers

The Anarchist Federation emphasizes that job creation and public investment must be an essential part of all economic recovery strategies, and further proposes reform of global management systems to ensure that the world economy remains sustainable after the crisis, i.e. in libertarian direction. Noting that longstanding demands for management reform of the World Bank and IMF remain unfulfilled, the Anarchist Federation urges both the World Bank and IMF to quickly and substantially increase the delegations of the developing countries in their decision-making structures.  It also suggests that the IMF should monitor recovery programmes and advocate for stronger fiscal stimulus measures if current expansion plans prove insufficient. The traditional Keynes type countercyclal monetary and fiscal policy measures, are not sufficient. Measures to lower inflation and to achieve a modest increase in labour productivity, taking into account green economics, should also be introduced.

The World Bank and IMF must address the imbalances of recent years, such as increased income inequality, that led to this crisis. But the recovery and reform processes cannot be left to finance ministers and bankers, alone.  The World Bank and IMF must include trade unions and civil society including the anarchists in their discussions and work with other international institutions as they move forward.  It is essential that they confirm a clear break with the failed, anti-growth and anti-jobs economic adjustment programmes they have advocated in the past, i.e. unenlightened plutarchy.

The Anarchist Federation proposes a new libertarian financial sector regulation, including the nationalization of insolvent banks, and encourages the World Bank and IMF to promote active labour market policies, extend social safety nets, and invest in green projects to shift the world economy onto a low-carbon growth path. The Anarchist Federation calls on the World Bank and IMF  to work with the International Labour Organization and the anarchists, etc.. to find employment-driven solutions to the crisis, to support the proposed Global Jobs Pact at the upcoming International Labour Conference, and to cooperate in establishing a global Charter for international management, i.e. libertarian self management - autogestion - that would include all the major international labour, financial, trade and development instruments. 

28.04.2009. The Anarchist Federation welcomes the World Bank's suspension of "Doing Business" labour indicator EWI. The Anarchist Federation welcomed the decision of the World Bank to instruct its staff to stop using the "Employing Workers Indicator" (EWI) of its highest-circulation publication, "Doing Business".  The  EWI  gives the best ratings to countries with the lowest level of workers' protection and has been used by the World Bank and IMF to pressure developing countries to undertake labour market deregulation. In the context of the current global economic crisis, where a) more than 50 million more workers could become unemployed this year, and b) pressures to decrease wages and workers' living standards are intensifying every day, it is c) significant that an important development institution like the World Bank is turning the page on a one-sided deregulatory view on labour issues and d) proposing to adopt a more balanced approach where adequate regulation, improved social protection and respect for workers' rights will be given a higher profile.  

In a note on revisions to "Doing Business" made public today, World Bank management informed its staff that "the EWI does not represent World Bank policy and should not be used as a basis for policy advice or in any country program documents that outline or evaluate the development strategy or assistance program for a recipient country". The World Bank will furthermore remove the EWI from its Country Policy and Institutional Assessments (CPIA), which the Bank uses to establish countries' overall level of eligibility for loans and grants allocated by the Bank's concessionary lending arm, the IDA. It is clear that use of the EWI may contribute to excessive inequality, that can become politically dysfunctional, and to the extent that it begins to depress consumption, it can become economically dysfunctional.

An alternative approach that promotes the creation of decent work should be introduced.  The World Bank Group has already made considerable strides concerning respect for the ILO's core labour standards (CLS), starting with the requirement three years ago by the IFC, the Bank's private-sector lending arm, that all of its projects conform to the CLS. More recently, the World Bank incorporated a CLS requirement into its master procurement documents and led a process to include CLS clauses in the harmonized standard bidding documents used by all multilateral development banks. The IMF took a similar step concerning the "Doing Business" labour indicator in August 2008, when IMF management instructed staff that mission teams should refrain from using the EWI in any of the Fund's public documents because of various methodological problems associated with the index.

In its note on the "Doing Business" labour indicator issued today, the World Bank states that it proposes to give appropriate weight to "issues as diverse as political stability, social safety nets to shield vulnerable parts of society from intolerable levels of risk and protection of rights for workers and households as well as for firms". The World Bank's decision to pay greater attention to issues such as these is consistent with the commitment of G20 leaders at their London summit to "build a fair and friendly labour market for both women and men". The World  Bank should listen to the ILO and civil society in general, including the anarchists, on this theme, noting that the G20 statement called upon the ILO to assess appropriate employment and labour market policies.

The actions taken by the World Bank regarding the Employing Workers Indicator of the "Doing Business" report are described in a note posted today on the Bank's "Doing Business" web site: http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/EWI_revisions.pdf . Interesting reading for anarchists.

Irish EU referendum 12 June 2008: Vote no!

Irish Lisbon II referendum: Vote NO to the Lisbon Treaty 2 October 2009

Irish voters are preparing to decide the fate of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in a referendum on 12 June 2008. Ireland is the only EU member state to have a public vote on the treaty and both sides have stepped up their campaigning, with many voters still undecided. The Lisbon Treaty is a step towards creating a very authoritarian EU-mega STATE - EU super-state. Thus, the Anarchist Federation says vote no!

Best regards
L. Flanagan
Spokesperson of the Irish section of the anglophone Anarchist Federation

PS. 13.06.2008: Ireland rejects EU reform treaty. Voters in Ireland have rejected the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty in a referendum by 53.4% to 46.6%. The vote is a major blow to leaders in the 27-nation EU, which requires all its members to ratify the treaty. The vote was a great result for the people as a class, in contrast to the superiors economically and/or political/administrative in the whole EU, included Ireland. An earlier, more wide-ranging EU draft constitution failed after French and Dutch voters rejected it in 2005. The Irish No campaign won by 862,415 votes to 752,451. Turnout was 53.1%.

24.06.2008: EU after the Irish referendum. The Lisbon treaty, under EU rules, it cannot enter into force if any of the 27 member states fails to ratify it. Since then, the Czechs have suspended their parliamentary ratification vote pending a constitutional court ruling, and ratification by the UK parliament is being delayed until a court rules on a legal challenge. EU leaders meeting in Brussels on 19-20 June decided to delay any decision on what to do after the Irish No vote until their next summit in mid-October. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he could not speculate on whether Ireland would hold a second referendum. The leaders are very divided. EU foreign ministers agreed on 16 June to keep the treaty alive and rejected suggestions that Ireland might be left behind. But Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said there were "no quick-fix solutions" and called for a "comprehensive analysis" of the Irish No vote. Mr Martin's Slovenian counterpart Dimitrij Rupel warned against any hasty moves to resuscitate Lisbon. The Anarchist Federation is prepared for all alternatives, including a new Irish referendum, that should be a new No vote...

28.06.2008. International support for the Anarchist Federation's point of view, with a comment to the article "EU in crisis after Irish No" (EU i krise etter irsk nei) in Dagsavisen, see http://www.dagsavisen.no/utenriks/article354673.ece .

16.02.2009. Lisbon EU treaty - Call for earlier 2nd Irish Lisbon vote. Ireland's main opposition party has urged Dublin to hold the country's planned second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty months earlier than previously proposed, to "help the economy". Fine Gael wants it to be in April. The government is sticking to some time before the end of October. It is waiting for details of guarantees promised by European partners in exchange for holding the re-run before giving an exact date. A new poll shows growing support for the treaty, up to 51 percent – an eight point rise since November. The No dropped six points, to 33. In the first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, last June, an alliance between Fine Gael, fellow opposition Labour and the governing Fianna Fail, failed to obtain a Yes vote. The anarchists again declare: Vote NO to the Lisbon treaty.

27.09.2009. Lisbon II referendum. As mentioned above, the Lisbon Treaty was rejected by Irish voters in 2008. However, Ireland will hold a new referendum on 2 October 2009. The anarchists declare: The Lisbon Treaty is still a step towards creating a very authoritarian EU-mega STATE - EU super-state. Thus, the Anarchist Federation says vote no! Vote NO to the Lisbon Treaty 2 October 2009!

03.10.2009. The Irish electoral office says 67.1 percent of voters said "yes" while 32.9 percent voted "no", on a 58 percent turnout. That contrasts sharply with the June 2008 referendum, when 53.4 percent rejected the treaty on a 51 percent turnout. The treaty requires unanimous ratification. All the other EU nations already have passed the treaty through their national parliaments. Ireland was the only EU member state to hold a referendum on Lisbon, though there have been calls for referendums in several countries. Democratic? Only the heads of state of Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to withhold their assent. The Treaty of Lisbon still has to be ratified by Poland and the Czech Republic, but the Irish vote is a major step towards it's acceptance. The Treaty of Lisbon is not democratic, it is aiming to impose federalism with a top - down approcah, and destroy the people in the member countries' sovereignty and autonomy. Federalism without autonomy is not anarchist.

28.12.2009. The ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty was completed the following month when the Eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus finally signed it. It came into force in December 2009. The anarchists declare: The yes to the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland is a step towards creating a very authoritarian EU-mega STATE - EU super-state. The anarchists continue the fight for autonomy and socialism, against capitalism and statism.

The Anarchist International's Statement on the London Bombing

The Anarchist International Condemns the London Bomb Attacks of 7th July 2005.  

As anarchists we deplore the horrific attacks on innocent people 7th July in London. We express our deepest  sympathy to anyone affected by the blasts. We condemn the use of  political violence and the  perpetrators of the bombings whether they be Islamists or anyone else.
 
Terrorist actions are completely at odds with any struggle for a freer, fairer society and never help oppressed people in any part of the globe. Instead violence against civilians is a tool of states and proto-states every bit as brutal as the ones they profess to oppose. Terrorism is a significant authoritarian tendency according to the Oslo Convention of 1990. Terrorism has more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree on the economical-political map, i.e. very evil.
 
Our thoughts are with the victims of this atrocity, and their loved ones.

 

[AF logo ]

WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
ANARCHIST FEDERATION's'
British/anglophone section of the International of Anarchist Federations
Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, a.s.o.

CONGRESS  SEPTEMBER 01-05 2003 ON INTERNET ABOUT OCHLARCHY (MOB RULE) AND OCHLARCHIST INFILTRATION TO THE ANGLOPHONE ANARCHIST MOVEMENT

Contact/contribute to the AF congress? - click here!

Background note to the congress at

click on: http://www.anarchy.no/ija133.html

RESOLUTION FROM THE CONGRESS - UNANIMOUSLY DECIDED UPON:

The Congress takes the background note mentioned above as a program for the fight against ochlarchy and ochlarchist infiltration in the anglophone anarchist movement, and concludes after discussion and analysis that there is a lot of ochlarchist infiltration in the anglophone anarchist movement. Groups with significant ochlarchist infiltration are, say, the so called Anarchist Federation of Britain rooted back to the so called Anarchist Communist Federation with e-mail adress at "bigfoot", (that must of course not be mixed up with the British/anglophone Anarchist Federation), the so called Anarchist Federation of Ireland, NEFAC and the so called Industrial Workers of the World in America. After this congress these groups have got expelling Brown Cards from the IAT for ochlarchist infiltration. All anglophone anarchists, i.e. not ochlarchists, should thus leave these groups at once and join the British/anglophone Anarchist Federation.

IRELAND: Comments on the referendum about the ugly "Nice" treaty

Click on: http://www.anarchy.no/ireland1.html

MASSIVE PROTEST AGAINST THE REFENDUM - 51,55% REFUSED TO VOTE AS A PROTEST AGAINST THE ROTTEN SYSTEM! A LARGE MAJORITY, 71,23 % OF THE IRISH PEOPLE, I.E. THE GRASSROOTS, VOTED NO TO THE NICE TREATY. HOWEVER THE BULK OF THE INHABILE UPPER CLASSES, I.E. THE AUTHORITIES, VOTED YES, SO THIS FASCISTOIDE TRAVESTY OF A REFENDUM FALSELY INDICATED "YES" ALL IN ALL, BUT THE PEOPLE DISALLOWED IT.

IRELAND - VOTE NO!

FOR JOBS, GROWTH AND THE BEST FUTURE FOR THE GRASSROOTS OF IRELAND - VOTE NO 19 OCTOBER.

Don't back the treaty - Vote No to the Nice Treaty on Saturday. Teach the Government, led by Mr Ahern's Fianna Fail party, a real lesson on 19 October.

The Nice Treaty is being put to the vote for a second time, 16 months after it was rejected in its first public test. It is a key part of the European Union's plans to take in new members, and fulfill Adolf Hitler's political last will about creating a Gross Germania with the capital in Brüssel*. If the treaty is passed in Ireland, expansion should go ahead without further hitches in 2004. If it is rejected, it throws a spanner in the works - delaying expansion for an unknown period. "No" campaigners must woo the 24% of undecided voters. All libertarians should join in direct actions to create a No-majority.

European Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen spoke optimistically about the progress of the Yes campaign on Sunday, saying the odds offered by Irish bookmakers indicated a victory. Anarchists have another opinion, but the result depends on joint direct action for a No vote, via Internet, on the workplaces and in the streets.

The No campaign suffered a setback when chief spokesman Justin Barrett confirmed attending meetings of far-right parties in Italy and Germany. This must however not stop libertarians to enter the No campaign. Barrett has also insisted that he had been unaware of this. Latest opinion polls suggest that 41% of voters are planning to back the treaty, with 27% against. The crucial "undecided" sector stands at 24% - high enough to swing the result either way. The Irish Government on Monday renewed its campaign to persuade voters to take part and vote yes. The anarchists call for the opposite - a loud and clear NO Saturday 19 October!

FOR JOBS, GROWTH AND THE BEST FUTURE FOR THE GRASSROOTS OF IRELAND - VOTE NO 19 OCTOBER.
ONLY THE AUTHORITIES AND UPPER CLASSES WILL BENEFIT FROM A YES.

Best regards
L. Flanagan
Spokesperson of the Irish section of the anglophone Anarchist Federation

*) Or a similar city in the same area west of northern Germany

TO SEE THE NO VS YES DEBATE IN IRELAND FOLLOWING THIS RESOLUTION
CLICK ON:

http://www.anarchy.no/ireland1.html

GIBRALTAR - ANARCHIST POINT OF VIEW

"We will not have shared  British and Spanish sovereignty over Gibraltar. We will have anarchy as in Norway or even more anarchy, and not anything like an authoritarian pseudodemocracy as in Spain," say the anarchists of Gibraltar.

Police acting libertarian in Norway at the ABCDE-event 24-26.06.2002 in Oslo, i.e. real, anarchist law and order. For more information click on:
http://www.anarchy.no/abcde.html and http://www.anarchy.no/sevilla.html

Police acting authoritarian in Spain similar to at the EU-meeting 21-22.06.2002 in Seville. "Order" achieved by repression in this way is not real, anarchist, law and order.
The situation in Seville related to the EU-meeting was horrible and authoritarian, and demonstrations were problematic. The anarchists in Spain however raised their voice, but they were not heard as much as in Oslo.

  Regards... S. McCracken S.G. of AF

ANARCHIST FEDERATION OF BRITAIN/ANGLOPHONE
http://www.anarchy.no/afb.html
Press Release 09.06.2002 updated
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MICK JAGGER ON THE WRONG TRACK

BOYCOTT MICK - THE YELLOW SHIT!

"NAZI-MICK"!

"TELL ME WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE - AND I WILL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE " IS A WELL KNOWN ANARCHIST WORD OF WISDOM. COMBINING THIS WORD OF WISDOM WITH THESE PICTURES FROM THE ADOLF HITLER LOVER LENI RIEFENSTAHL'S WEBSITE AS PROOF - WE CERTAINLY MAY CALL MICK JAGGER A "CLOSET NAZI"

NAZI-COLLABORATIONISTS:- LENI RIEFENSTAHL WITH TWO BOYFRIENDS - MICK AND THE MAJOR
(Pictures from www.leni-riefenstahl.de/deu/bio.html)

Jagger's royal honours tease in 2001. Now he is heading for a "sir" title. "Return to sender", says Elvis of AF.Mick Jagger: The Rolling Stone gathers no titles, (and that is how it should be.) Rolling Stone Mick Jagger has poked fun at the royal family for the lack of honours he has received during his long musical career. That is what he should continue to do. In a documentary, the singer held a conversation between himself and an imaginary royal person, drawling in exaggerated upper-class tones: "Is it true that you haven't got anything at all? That is rather odd, isn't it?" Jagger's fellow musicians Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John have already been formerly recognised, and The Beatles were all made MBEs many years ago, although John Lennon later handed his back. Mick should not receive such an upper class title. He is a "street fighting man", although "playing in a rock'n roll band". If he is going to be a "sir" we will never buy a Rolling Stones record again, says Brian Jones of the Anarchist Federation of Great Britain. (not the dead R. S. guitar player of course, but an ordinary member of AF). Rock of ages: The Rolling Stones are still touring. Jagger made his comments shortly before meeting the Prince of Wales at the London première of the film Enigma, which the singer produced. "If Mick takes a "sir" title, he should f... o... He is then no longer a friend of the people of the world", Brian says, "but one of the authorities!"
IF MICK TAKES THE "SIR" TITLE WE SHOULD: "BOYCOTT MICK - THE YELLOW SHIT!"... and stop buying Rolling Stones' records and tickets.

Anarchist greetings

S. McCracken

S.G. of the Anarchist Federation of Great Britain.

11.06.2002: The direct action boycott against "Mick the yellow shit", i.e. if he is taking the "sir" title, has reached the Latin world:
Assunto: The Rolling Stone gathers no titles, and that is how it should be! AF! "S. P. (TUTOPIA)"

Observação: mensagem anexa encaminhada. Os honras reais do Jagger arreliam em 2001. Agora ele está pensando em um "título de senhor. "Retorne ao
remetente", diz Elvis da Anarchist Federation. Mick Jagger: O Pedra Rodante não tem nenhum título, e isto é como ele devia ser. A pedra rodante Mick Jagger cutucou diversão na família real para a falta de honras que ele recebeu durante sua longa carreira musical. É era isso que ele devia continuar a fazer. Em um documentário, o cantante manteve uma conversação entre ele mesmo e uma pessoa imaginária ligada a realeza, na caricaturizaçã da classe alta manteve uma voz com alta afinação: "É verdade que você não conseguiu qualquer coisa mesmo? Isto é bastante estranho, não é isto?" O JAGGER segue seus amigos músicos da mesmas categoria Sir Paul McCartney e Sir Elton John do já foi anteriormente reconhecido, e The Beatles eram todos fizeram MBEs (condecorações e títulos da realeza) muitos anos atrás, embora John Lennon mais tarde tivesse mandado tudo as favas. Mick não devia receber tal título de classe alta. Ele é um "homem que luta nas ruas", embora "tocando em uma banda de rock'n roll". Se ele estiver virando  um "senhor/Sir" nós nunca  mais compraremos discos dos Pedras Rodantes novamente, diz Brian Jones da Federação Anarquista da Grã-Bretanha. (não o tocador de violão de R. S. morto claro, mas um membro ordinário de AF). A Era do Rock: As Pedras Rodantes estão ainda viajando. Jagger  fez seus comentários logo antes de se encontrar com  o Príncipe de Gales em Londres  na première do filme "Enigma", que o cantante produziu. "Se Mick aceitar um "título de senhor/Sir, ele devia fuck  off/sair fora/se fiuder. Ele não seria então mais um amigo das pessoas do mundo", Brian diz, "mas só mais uma das autoridades!"

Saudações anarquistas
Tradução "CCN"

13-18.06.2002: FREEDOM ONLINE NEWSLETTER NO 1 - 2002 - BOYCOTT OF "YELLOW MICK JAGGER" UPDATE, ETC ... SEND TO THE GB ETC. E-MAIL-ADRESSES OF YOUR OWN LISTS TO AF AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.  THE AF IS A NON-SECTERIAN NETWORK AND OPENS FOR WIDE DISTRIBUTION IN GB AND THE ANGLOPHONE WORLD IN GENERAL.  Regards...  S. McC. 

P.S. Feel free to copy and paste and send messages with "BOYCOTT MICK THE YELLOW SHIT" to: <yourname@stones.com>; <getAccess@cc.com>; <Sales@TicketsNow.com>; <myorder@TicketsNow.com>; <Manager@TicketsNow.com>; <News@TicketsNow.com>; <Feedback@TicketsNow.com>; <Webmaster@TicketsNow.com>; <rockandrolletc@rcn.com>; <mailroom@beggarsbanquetonline.com>; <postmaster@genesiseditions.demon.co.uk>; <iorr@arena.no>; <rolling.stones.fan.club@lund.mail.telia.com>; <Wolfgang.Morscher@uibk.ac.at>.

Comment from NOTBORED: "Should have started the boycott back in 1976, during the "Black and blue" ad campaign! Well, better late than never, wot? Re. S. McC: "Yes, better late than never! By the way the other "sirs" of R&R in Britain are of course practically boycotted long time ago.... Boring far...."

The boycott of "Mick the yellow shit", and Rollings Stones is ON!

Sir Mick's 'surprise' at royal honour: Sir Mick Jagger has said his friends and family were amused at him being given a knighthood, while he was surprised at receiving the title. The Rolling Stones singer, once seen as the scourge of the Establishment, added that it also led to merciless teasing as news of his honour spread. Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Mick the yellow shit, 58, said he was "very surprised" to receive the letter informing him of the honour (Friday). Sir Mick the yellow shit is looking forward to the next Stones tour. Jagger said he had not been waiting for a knighthood, although other pop stars from the 1960s such as Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Cliff Richard have received the honour. "Noel Coward didn't get a knighthood until he was 80. Tom Stoppard's older than me - he didn't get a knighthood until recently," he said.

"I didn't expect to get one. I just didn't," he said. "Very strange since he nearly begged for it last year", says S. McCracken. But he ducked the question of whether or not he deserved the knighthood. The Stones once personified 1960s counter-culture and revolutionary movement, with songs as "Street fighting man", "Salt of the Earth", "2000 man", "Mother's little helper", "Factory girl", "Satisfaction" and "Gimme Shelter". "I'm very happy to get one. Whether I deserve one or not is not my place," he said. "You've got to feel apart from that. "I think the thing about honours is that you should never really ask for them, and you should never really expect them, but I think you should accept them if they are given to you. "Well, John Lennon returned the yellow shit title...", says McCracken. Mick added: "It's a great recognition of what the band's achievements have been over the years we've been together." Jagger said that his son Gabriel, four, told school friends that his father would now be able to wear armour. "Yeaah, Mick has certainly been a real knight of the Queen and a nobelman..." S. McC, continues. "Gabriel was asked to talk about his news of the week to the class and he said: 'My father's going to be knighted. He's going to be a knight'." 

"I don't think it will change me," says Sir Mick, they yellow shit. The honour would no doubt have surprised and puzzled both friends and foes of the band in their 1960s heyday, when the group seemed to personify counter-cultural and revolutionary tendencies. But Sir Mick said: "There's been a debate about whether I'm in the Establishment or not since about 1966, when I was first on the London social scene." And, he added: "I don't think it will change me that much. I don't see any great changes in friends who have had similar things happen to them." "This debate is now brought to and end. Mick is from now on not only a rich plutarch, but also a knight, "Sir", and nobelman, and a yellow shit. That's it! "says S. McCracken: "The boycott of "Mick the yellow shit", and Rollings Stones is ON! We will buy no records and Rolling Stones tour tickets.... The next Rolling Stones tour starts in the US on 3 September. 

Update: 03-05.09.2002: The Rolling Stones have started the 2002 tour, but it sounds politically false and very out of tune - when Mick - the yellow Shit - sings about revolution and "Street fighting man". The boycott continues until Mick returns the whole knighthood thing to the queen, does solidarity work and acts revolutionary, - says S. McCracken, S.G. of the Anarchist Federation.

15-16.09.2002

Hello there: 

Reply to Mick Jagger Boycott:  Just a couple of thoughts from a Melbourne, Australia anarchist: -  I'm wondering why you expected him to be aware, radical, with a conscience  etc?

Well, as pointed out in the text above the Stones once personified 1960s counter-culture and revolutionary movement, with workingclass songs as "Street fighting man", "Salt of the Earth", "2000 man", "Mother's little helper", "Factory girl", "Satisfaction" and "Gimme Shelter". Mick is in this way a kind of political icon for people that want to change the world, at least seen in a historical context. And The Rolling Stones are probably still the no 1. R & R and R & B band in the world.  Besides we think music may be an important trendsetter on the way people think, as explained below.

 - I'm wondering why you are criticising him for knowing and or being
 photographed with Leni Reifenstahl?

Leni Riefenstahl is a well known cultural nazi icon, and have made several nazi propaganda movies. Thus, it is quite obvious that Mick in this way contributes to legitimate the nazi stuff of Leni Riefenstahl. When Mick is publicly friendly with Riefenstahl, many people may wrongly think her nazi propaganda movies are ok or not so bad after all.

- ...And not for his mindless consumption or sexism etc. etc. I'm wondering why you expected him to be any  different from any other
wealthy consumer?

We are mostly interested in Mick as a political icon in this context, and as a kind of trendsetter it may be important to give him a hint that he is on the wrong track. In other ways Mick is not more interesting than any rich rock star.

- I suppose it all seems a bit passe.. So what? Another pop music figure is
exposed as a conservative...  Cheers C. S.

Passe or not - as indicate above, this is more of a special, political case. Say, the Beatles were all made MBEs many years ago, but John Lennon later handed his back. In this way he kept up a relatively progressive political profile. Mick, who is even more of a revolutionary icon, should do the same - return the shit. When he becomes conservative - and a "closet nazi", say, a lot of fans may also get this tendency as well as people reading about this in the papers. The boycott is also an action against the ongoing authoritarian and reactionary tendencies in pop music in general.

Of course the boycott against Mick & Co is not the most important work of AF, say, we also join in the broad based libertarian actions of the different sections of the Anarchist International in general, i.e. feminist, syndicalist, environment, solidarity work, etc. 
 
Regards... S. McCracken

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ORGANIZATION RESEARCH - IIFOR
http://www.anarchy.no/iifor.html - IIFOR P.B. 4777 Sofienberg N-0506 Oslo - Norway


ANARCHY IN NORWAY - ANARCHY IN GREAT BRITAIN?

Dear Matt

I have got a question from you sent via the mailform at AF's homepage:
....
> I'm interested to know whether the UK is an anarchist paradise, just
> like Norway?

Norway is no anarchist paradise, although some Americans in California think so (say, LA-Times), see link at foot of web-page http://www.anarchy.no/a_nor.html

The Norwegian system is only a little above 50% anarchist (ca 53%), i.e. significant anarchist, but at ca 47% distance from the anarchist 100% ideal, and just 3-4 % from significant authoritarian rule, i.e > 50% authoritarian. There is all in all an influence from the people, anarchists included, on the societal management upwards at about ca 53%, and ca 47% the other way around, from the top, the authorities, towards the bottom, grassroots. Thus the people seen all in all have a significant influence on "the wheel", a) sometimes directly or by sacking of delegates, mandated persons and officials that don't deliver and produce results in the interest of the people, and b) most of the time as a "hand on the hand who turns the wheel" in different ways via media and workingclass people's organizations, but the bureaucracy broadly defined, the authorities, are also quite powerful, especially relatively to their small number of persons. Sometimes the state council, a kind of minority based cabinet, must "eat camels", "sluke en kamel", as we say in Norwegian, because it is over-ridden by a majority of the mandates at the Storting. Furthermore, nobelmen are not allowed, there are no "sirs". Thus Norway is no anarchist paradise, i.e. 90-100% anarchy, but only a bit anarchistl, as mentioned ca 53% anarchist and thus also with about 47% authoritarian tendencies (1994-2001. In 2002 an anarchist degree of ca 54% was measured, an per 2008 it is the same).

The IIFOR and the networks, FICEDL, AIUF, etc. have not analysed GB very much in this context. As a preliminary working hypothesis, we think perhaps the British system seen all in all is a liberal, a bit authoritarian democratic (more than 50% authoritarian, but not totalitarian/dictatorship, i.e. more than 67% authoritarian), significant plutarchy (more than 50% capitalist), i.e. within the liberalist quadrant on the E.P. map, see http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html .

The Tony Blair "Labor" cabinet is probably pulling in left-populist direction more than towards socialism and freedom, but this force is weak, and we see no change towards Britain moving out of the liberalist quadrant in the near future. Sorry to say, the so called British "libertarian" movement is for a large part just semilibertarian at best, and infiltrated by council communists, marxist-lubbeists included, trotskyites and their "friends" and "wannabe" libertarians, and thus not pushing and pulling significant in the right direction. Several more or less marxian and ochlarchical unofficial "anarchist" and "anarchist federation" websites made by kids and provokers, don't make it any better. The purpose of this infiltration is to provoke, make chaos and ochlarchy, falsely rename it "anarchy", later call for strong rule by the commie party, and compromise and put the blame for the ochlarchy on the anarchist movement, throwing shit on the idea of freedom and the libertarian in general. This authoritarian game of ochlarchy and false "anarchy" is well know. The only hope is AF, see URL above.

Sorry pal. My tip is no significant anarchy, i.e. above 50% degree of anarchy in Britain in the near future.

Anarchist Paradise? Not even in Norway in the near future. Perhaps in a 100 years, about 60% anarchy can be achieved?! It may easy go the other way, towards significant authoritarian rule.

By the way. The AF is an open, including, not a splitting and expulsing network-organization. Thus, it will send newsletters to all radical groups in GB, anarchist, marxian, populist light, liberal, leftist, middle and rightist as long as they are a) not more than ca 55% reactionary, and/or b) not more than 67% authoritarian, i.e. terrorists and/or very chaotic, red/brown, dark brown , or blue/brown, left wing extremists and right wing extremists and/or nationalists, mafia/ochlarchists or small group "class war" vanguardists, i.e. for "class struggle" militarism.

Thus we hope AF of GB may contribute at least to some dialog and progressive actions in general, of course not ochlarchical, terrorist included, but with dignity. If you have any fellows that may be interested in joining in with an e-mailadress in GB, you should feel free to send a list to WSC-IFA at http://www.anarchy.no/wscifa.html or the AF . The AF in GB has already local contacts/federations in Scotland, Wales, England, Northern Ireland, Falkland and other islands mainly in the South Atlantic ocean plus Gibraltar, as well as a contact at the WSC-IFA. Furthermore there are contacts/sections for the Anglophone countries broadly defined world wide, i.e. Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, etc. The S.G. of AF is for the time being S. McCracken.

Great Britain is no anarchist paradise and Norway is no anarchist paradise. Britain is a little authoritarian (populist), and Norway is a little anarchist. The same as in GB is more or less valid for the rest of the Anglophone world, although the coordinates of the systems within the liberalist quadrant may variate from place to place. Say, it is relatively a big difference between Vermont in USA and the system of Mauritius.

Anarchist greetings.
S. Johnsen,
Research fellow
IIFOR

THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM PRESS AND THE PAPER FREEDOM

Freedom Press has published the anarchist paper Freedom for many years. The group has also published an anarchist quarterly, the Raven, and many anarchist books and pamphlets. They also have run an anarchist bookshop and distributed the output of some North American anarchist publishers. The Freedom Press started in 1896 and had first an office close to Fleet Street in London, but soon had to move to another adress. In 1942 Freedom Press moved to Angel Alley. Contributors, editors and other workers are all unpaid volunteers. For a free specimen copy of Freedom and a book list write to Freedom Press in Angel Alley, 84b Whitechapel Highstreet London E1. Behind a door with a small sign with "Freedom Press" written on it, up some stairs and in a door, we find the bookshop.

The first Freedom emerged from the British socialist movement in the early 1880's. At that time there were several overlapping organisations with associated periodicals - The Social Democratic Federation with Justice and Today, the Fabian society with the Practical Socialist and Our Corner, the Socialist League with the Commonweal, and so on. Anarchists were active in all these, but there were no seperate anarchist initiatives in the country until the formation of a "circle of English anarchists" in May 1885. This group included both Continental emigres (Such as Nikola Chaikovski and Severio Merlino) and native British anarchists; among the latter the most prominent member was Charlotte Wilson, who was both well educated and well off , and who was an active writer and speaker advocating anarchism in socialist organisations and publications from 1884.

When Peter Kropotkin, the best-known figure in the international anarchist movement, was released from prison in France in January 1886, Charlotte Wilson was responsible for the group inviting him to come to Britain to join them. He settled in England in March 1886, and the group decided to produce a new anarchist paper. This was the origin of Freedom and the Freedom Press.

Meanwhile Charlotte Wilson wrote an account of anarchism in the fourth Fabian tract, What Socialism is , which was published in June 1886, and led the anarchists at a joint socialist meeting which supported parliamentary socialism by a two-to-one vote, at Anderton's Hotel in London in September 1886.
The time had come for a new anarchist initiative.

Freedom began publicating as a monthly in October 1886. From the start it was intended not as the organ of a particular group but rather as an indpendent voice in the wider movement. At first it was described as a journal of Anarchist Socialism, but in June 1889 it became a "Journal of Anarchist Communism"; it has often represented mainstream anarchism, and also giving a voice to differing views. Although Freedom Press concentrated on the periodical from 1889, it also produced other publications - first pamphlets and then booklets and books, mostly works by foreign writers (Kropotkin above all, but also Errico Malatesta, Jean Grave, Gustav Landauer, Max Nettlau, Domela Nieuwenhuis, Emile Pouget,Varlaam Cherkezov, Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman plus Proudhon and Bakunin) and also works by British writers (including Herbert Spencer and William Morris). And from the start there were regular discussions and occasional public meetings.

For most of the first decade, Freedom was edited, published and largely finanaced by Charlotte Wilson, although its most important contributor was Kropotkin. Freedom became the main English language anarchist paper in the country, a position it has held for most of the time ever since. After the First World War anarchism seemed eclipsed by the rise of Communism and later Fascism abroad and parliamentary socialism at home and the original Freedom ceased publication in December 1927.

When the Spanish Civil War and Revolution began in 1936, Freedom Press helped to revive the anarchist movement in Britain, Spain and the world appeared fortnightly from December 1936 to December 1938. When the Second World War began yet another Freedom Press paper was started, a rather naive journal called War Commentary began publication in November 1939, the production of other publications was resumed, a printing press was acquired in Whitechapel and a bookshop was opened.

War Commentary co-operated with radical pacifists and the few socialists who escaped the line of the labour and Communist parties. When the war ended in Asia, in August 1945, the title was changed back to Freedom.

Freedom Press was attacked with a firebomb Spring 1994. The bomb destroyed much of the printing office. This was the first time in history Freedom was violently attacked. "We have never had trouble before" said Vernon Richards in 1994. A domestic neo-nazi group stood probably behind this act of terrorism.

Freedom published among other things in October 1994 the Oslo Convention of 1990 against mob rule etc. related to an ochlarchical meeting in October 1994 arranged by authoritarian chaos-punks, marxians and mad fogarchs posing as "anarchists", called "Anarchy in the UK", with magical "Levitation of parliament" as the main "direct action". Vernon Richards et.al. of Freedom and Freedom Press denounced this meeting, together with the IAF/IFA.

In the late 1990s the paper Freedom declined in quality, and the paper is today mostly of historical interest. To keep up the tradition the AF has called this online news-file "Freedom Online". This is however not an organ of Freedom Press, but of the AF.

The main militant of Freedom and Freedom Press for several years was Vernon Richards, see note below.

IISG has an archive on the paper containing the following: Freedom in the period : (1886) 1904-1980: Biographical/historical note : The anarchist periodical started in 1886 by a group of friends around Peter Kropotkin after their separation from the English Anarchist Circle and The Anarchist edited by Henry Seymour; in addition to Freedom, the group eventually set up the Freedom Press, the main publisher of anarchist literature in England; first editors of Freedom were Charlotte M. Wilson 1886-1895, Alfred Marsh 1895-1912 and Thomas H. Keell 1912-1932; among the contributors to the periodical were George Bernard Shaw, Max Nettlau and Kropotkin; a rival Freedom was published by opponents of Thomas Keell, including John Turner and Oscar Swede 1930-1936; ceased publication in favour of Spain and the World 1936-1938, edited by Vernon Richards, and changed its name to Revolt in 1939; this was continued as War Commentary, renamed Freedom in 1945.  

The contents of the IISG archive on Freedom are: Daybooks, accountbooks, letterbooks and subscription lists 1889-1980; documents concerning administration, financial affairs and publications of Freedom and Freedom Press; manuscripts for, and letters to Freedom and Freedom Press (most complete for the period 1920-1938) from Guy Aldred, Ba Jin (Li Feigan), George Ballard (pseudonym Barrett), Alexander Berkman, Thomas Cantwell, Edward Carpenter, Varlaam and Frieda Cerkezov, Fred Charles, Clara Gilbert Cole, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, Vera Figner, Henry Glasse, Emma Goldman, Marcus Graham, Jean Grave, Rudolf Grossmann, Auberon Herbert, George J. Holyoake, Mabel Hope, Henry M. Hyndman, Joseph Ishill, Harry Jones, Bernhard Kampffmeyer, Thomas H. Keell, Harry Kelly, Kotoku Sakae, Peter and Sophie Kropotkin, Jo Labadie, Gustav Landauer, John McAra, John Henry Mackay, Enrique Flores Magón, Errico Malatesta, Tom Mann, Saverio Merlino, Louise Michel, Leonard Motler, Erich Mühsam, Max Nettlau, William Owen, Joseph Presburg, Ben L. Reitman, John Beverly Robinson, Rudolf Rocker, Olivia Rossetti, Emil F. Ruedebausch, Alexander Schapiro, George Bernard Shaw, Mollie Steimer, Oscar Swede, James Tochatti, John Turner, Charlotte M. Wilson and others.

When Freedom Online in 2002 became an organ of the Anglophone libertarian world and Anarchist Federation in general, it is following the historical tradition with writers of several countries word wide.

Vernon Richards

He helped to keep the anarchist voice alive in Britain

Across seven decades, Vernon Richards, who has died aged 86, maintained an anarchist presence in British publishing. His chosen instrument was Freedom Press, based in Whitechapel, in London's east end. He edited the anarchist paper Freedom - and its prewar and wartime variations - into the 1960s. Earlier, he had written a biography of the Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta, and photographed George Orwell. Born Vero Recchioni in Soho, Vernon was the son of the Italian anarchist Ernidio Recchioni. Vernon was educated at Emmanuel school, Wandsworth, and graduated in civil engineering from King's College London in 1939. In his Soho childhood, he had been taught the violin by the conductor John Barbirolli's uncle, and had performed the orchestral repertoire.

By 1934, he was becoming active in the battle against Mussolini, and, in 1935, was deported from France, where he had met the Italian anarchist Camillo Berneri, and fallen in love with his daughter, Marie-Louise. Back in London, he anglicised his name to Vernon Richards and, co-operating with Berneri in Paris, started publishing Free Italy/Italia Libera. In 1936, the year the Spanish civil war began, Vernon joined the veterans of Freedom - founded in the 1880s, it had effectively ceased publication by 1932 - to produce Spain And The World as an English-language voice for Spanish anarchists, according to Colin Ward. This was at a time when the only version of events in Spain being heard on the left in Britain was that of the News Chronicle and New Statesman, supporting the Soviet-backed popular front. In October 1937, Marie-Louise joined Vernon in London, and, to give her citizenship, they married. She and their baby died in childbirth in 1949.

Between the end of the Spanish civil war and the outbreak of the second world war, the fortnightly Spain And The World briefly became Revolt!, before adopting the title War Commentary. In 1945, War Commentary resumed the title of Freedom. A bit naive pacifist acts ruined his career as a civil engineer. Instead, he ran the family business, a food shop at 37 Old Compton Street, Soho, until it was sold in the 1950s. He also worked as a freelance photographer - producing latterly famous images of Orwell in the mid-1940s - and as an organic gardener and travel courier. Convinced that the links formed by tourism were a liberatory influence, opening closed frontiers, he went to Franco's Spain and the Soviet Union. In 1968, he and Peta Hewetson moved to a smallholding in Suffolk, where, for almost 30 years, Vernon produced vegetables for the organic market.

After 1951, he continued to edit Freedom as a weekly, and wrote, in weekly instalments, his continually reprinted and translated Lessons Of The Spanish Revolution (1953). He quit as Freedom's editor in 1964, but assumed the role again whenever he felt that others were pushing it in the wrong direction. It was not until the 1990s that he finally stopped writing for the paper. By this time, Freedom Press, as an anarchist publisher, had a spectacular range of books in print. Looking for the source of Vernon's single-mindedness, friends assumed that his father had set him in motion. The anarchist who influenced him most was Malatesta. In his dedication, Vernon was a bit of an ruthless exploiter of others. None of the group he had inspired in the 1940s - Sansom, Hewetson, and George Woodcock - were on speaking terms with him at the times of their deaths. Unable to recognise himself as a bit of a manipulator, he saw their withdrawal from his circle as proof that they had been seduced by capitalist values. At the end of the 1990s, admirers sponsored the publication by Freedom Press of four books of Vernon's photographs. In 1999, the Centre For Catalan Studies produced an album of his pictures, taken after 1957 while he was escorting holidaymakers to the then poverty-stricken Catalan village of L'Escala. For local families, the book became a precious record of their grandparents, their dignity and hard times. Peta predeceased him in 1997. Vernon Richards (Vero Recchioni), the writer and publisher, born July 19 1915; died December 10 2001. All in all an a bit naive spokesman of anarchism, and with some minor authoritarian tendencies, but he certainly contributed to keep the anarchist voice alive in Britain. Perhaps one of the best among a not too impressing and a bit naive lot of British writers on anarchism.

IISG has a also a file on Vernon Richard. It starts with a biographical/historical note: Recchioni, Vero, later anglicised to Vernon Richards: born in London 1915, died in Hadleigh, Suffolk 2001; civil engineer, anarchist and editor; helped his father with propaganda work against Mussolini; arrested in Paris in January 1935 and extradited from France; in 1936, he published in collaboration with Camillo Berneri a bilingual anarchist and antifascist paper Italia Libera/Free Italy; founded and edited Spain and the World, which became Revolt in 1939, and eventually was followed by War Commentary 1939-1945 and Freedom from 1945; imprisoned for nine months for inciting agitation among soldiers in 1945; editor of Freedom until 1964; continued to run Freedom Press; among his publications are ‘Lessons of the Spanish Revolution' 1953 and ‘Errico Malatesta Life and Ideas' 1965.   Berneri, Marie Louise: his first wife, born in Arezzo, Italy 1918, died in London 1949; took part in the publication of Revision Paris; went to Spain in 1936 where her father Camillo Berneri edited Guerra di Classe; returned to Paris to study psychology at the Sorbonne; went again to Spain after the assassination of her father; in October 1937 she went to London to help her companion Vernon Richards with the publication of Spain and the World; member of the group that edited Revolt and then War Commentary and Freedom until her premature death; among her publications are ‘Journey through Utopia' 1950 and ‘Neither East nor West' 1952.

Recchioni, Emidio: his father,  a wild one called "bourgeoisie terrorist" by Vernon according to Colin Ward, born in Russi near Ravenna, Italy 1864, died in Paris 1934; railroad employee; originally a republican and follower of Giuseppe Mazzini; converted to anarchism in the early 1890s; contributed to Sempre Avanti; founded and edited, with Cesare Agostinelli and others, L'art. 248 Ancona in 1894; arrested in June 1894 in connection with the shooting of Prime Minister Crispi and confined for three years; started with Malatesta and friends L' Agitazione Ancona in 1897; soon arrested again and sent back to the prison isles, but managed to escape; emigrated to England in 1900; stayed involved in all Italian anarchist publications published in Ancona before and during the First World War; contributor to La Protesta and L' Adunata dei refrattari and other papers, mainly under his pen name Nemo; organized and financed a number of attempts on Mussolini.  

Contents of IISG archive: Vernon Richards papers; correspondence relating to Freedom, 1924, 1933-1987 and n.d., including some personal letters, with Camillo Berneri, Gerald Brenan, Havelock Ellis, Emma Goldman, Jim Huggon and Steve Sorba, August John, Max Nettlau, George Orwell, Sylvia Pankhurst, Herbert Read, Raffaele Schiavina and many other anarchists mainly from France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and the USA; personal papers relating to education, study, finance, family members, memberships and business activities 1926-1983; Manuscripts of articles and books, including ‘Malatesta – Life and Ideas' and ‘Lessons of the Spanish Revolution', with some other documents; manuscripts and notes by Camillo Berneri, Max Nettlau and others 1858-1984; manuscripts of translations, including ‘Kropotkin's The State – Its Historic Role' and Gaston Leval's ‘Collectives in the Spanish Revolution' by (1937) 1969, 1973-1975, 1978; files relating to Freedom Press, including minutes of meetings 1946-1948, 1965-1967; documents relating to organization, finance and premisis, partly also concerning Spain and the World and Revolt 1936-1984; manuscripts by various authors; documents on publishing activities, the Freedom bookshop, a conflict with the Anarchist Federation Group 1941-1946, the prosecution of Freedom members on charges of conspiracy 1940-1941, 1944-1945; documents relating to a protest meeting against political trials in Spain 1952, including single letters from Benjamin Brittan, Fenner Brockway, E.M. Foster, Aldous Huxley, Lewis Mumford and Bertrand Russell; documents on other subjects and printed material. IIFOR also mentions a collection of essays edited by Vernon Richards called "The Impossibilities of Social Democracy" available from Freedom Press bookshop in 1994 and "Why work? Arguments for a leisure society" presenting some rather naive arch-utopian ideas of little anarchist interest. IIFOR has also some more articles and other stuff about Freedom and Vernon Richards from the 1990s and later.

Marie Louise Berneri papers: correspondence with anarchists 1936, 1938-1949, including Volin (pseudonym of Vsevelod M. Eichenbaum); letters from her mother Giovanna Berneri 1937, 1939 and from Vernon Richards 1945; diaries 1934, 1939, 1947-1949; documents relating to education and study 1933-1936; manuscript of ‘Workers in Stalin's Russia' 1941-1945 and of articles and speeches 1937-1938, 1940-1943; notes 1929, 1935-1944, 1949; documentation 1932-1947; letters by Marie Louise Berneri to her grandmother Aldalgisa Berneri-Fochi 1947-1949. Emidio Recchioni papers: letters received from Luigi Fabbri, Carlo Frigero, Luigi Galleani, Errico Malatesta, Max Nettlau, Raffaele Schiavina (1904-) 1921-1934; notebooks kept during his illness 1934; manuscripts of articles 1921 and n.d.; financial documents relating to his Italian produce store ‘King Bomba' in London 1917-1919 and Carrara marble trading 1925, 1931-1933; some documents concerning Michele Schirru's attempt on Mussolini and Recchioni's involvement 1930-1932. Papers of other relatives: papers of Camillo Berneri (1897-1937) consisting of letters received by Berneri 1916, 1920, 1929, 1935, manuscripts of articles primarily on the catholic church and fascism 1905-1906, 1909, 1926-1927, 1932-1937, notes on Spain 1936-1937, printed material; papers of Giovanna Berneri, Giliane Berneri, Constanza Recchioni, Vera Balfour-Recchioni.