At our national delegate council on 24/01/13, the Solidarity Federation officially recognised three new locals, in Calderdale, Hastings and the Solent. We also recognised a Belfast local as being in-formation prior to reaching a formal decision at national conference in April.

We also agreed to make regular donations to the Sparrow's Nest library in Nottingham which holds the collection of one of our members which stretches back to the Syndicalist Workers' Federation and is an important record of British anarcho-syndicalism. We will also be making a donation to the London anarchist bookfair collective and encourage others to do the same.

What is the National Delegate Council?

The January 2013 issue of Liverpool SolFed's local newsletter Wildcat! can be read below or downloaded as a PDF here. Printed copies are also available in News from Nowhere on Bold Street.

DAVID CAMERON VISITS LIVERPOOL, LEAVES WITH TYRES (AND JOE ANDERSON) SQUEALING

This month saw the visit of David Cameron to Liverpool, apparently by invitation of class traitor
Mayor, Joe Anderson. News of Cameron’s arrival was only released on the day itself. This was
no doubt a ploy by Anderson and the cops to try and stop any greeting party or protest. They
failed….

Around 100 trade unionists, members of Solidarity Federation, and other local anarchists

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt will make a decision on the future of Lewisham hospital at the beginning of February. If he pushes through the cuts, we need to meet them with a campaign of mass civil disobedience and direct action!

The campaign to save the hospital has done a fantastic job at showing the government how unpopular Kershaw's plans are, but the whole campaign depends upon the government being reasonable and listening to people's concerns. How likely is that?

If Hunt won't listen to reasoned argument and decides to close parts of Lewisham Hospital, the only thing left we can do is take action – block streets, occupy - anything that distrupts business as usual and forces Hunt to listen.

We are calling for people to assemble at the roundabout in Lewisham after the announcement, to either celebrate or show our anger and start taking action!

While delegates from Labour councils across the country met at the BT Convention Centre in Liverpool, likely at public expense, to discuss how best to implement cuts while keeping their council seats under the banner of “Austerity With Fairness”, members of Liverpool Against the Cuts, Birmingham Against the Cuts and comrades from across the country decided to forgo a police pen outside the Convention Centre in favour of occupying the council chamber inside the Town Hall, making it, temporarily at least, the People’s Chamber.

Discontent has been brewing at Halesowen College, Birmingham, following the summary dismissal of no fewer than four Maths teachers in the last month, including Dave Muritu, the College’s UCU Branch Secretary. The College has seen pickets, lobbies and widespread condemnation for its persecution of teachers, seemingly solely for raising issues of genuine concern to do with their students’ educations.

A member of the Belfast local (in-formation) writes...

On 16th December 2012 about 1000 people gathered at Belfast City Hall in the wake of 2 weeks of demonstrations, some of them violent, by Loyalist protesters angered by the City Councils' decision to fly the Union Flag only on 'designated days' rather than the full 365 days a year as it has done up until now. The gathering at City Hall was billed as being 'about peace' and 'to show that Northern Ireland has moved on'. Leaving aside the facts that the approximately 1000 attendees were 1000 out of about 3500 who had proclaimed to be 'attending' on facebook, and the fact that a Loyalist demonstration the previous day at the same location was able to attract roughly similar numbers, we have to ask, 'moved on' to what?, and for whom?

On January 5th 2013, South London SF hosted a conference to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the International Workers Association (IWA), to which SF is affiliated. The programme was lively and aimed not only at the history of the IWA but also at the current activities of the sections. As well as participants from across the UK, comrades came from France (CNT-F GAP), Slovakia (Priama Akcia) and Germany (FAU).

Between 80 and 100 people attended a meeting organised by the Liverpool Claimants Network to discuss and plan local resistance to the government’s proposed Bedroom Tax. The initial presentation by a member of the network gave a good overview of what the Bedroom Tax is, the implications it has for housing association tenants, and the need to organise direct action against what is a callous attack on the working-class.