Activists from Oxford are part of the - still ongoing - 100+ strong overnight blockade at BAA HQ opposite Heathrow Airport.
To Affinity and Beyond!
A strong group from the Oxford barrio formed several affinity groups and travelled to Sipson to mark out part of where the runway, if built, will trash (in our case Heathrow Primary, a small school on Harmondsworth Lane, ironically bearing a concorde as its logo). Although a few Oxonians were caught in a kettle, penned in by the police, on the kids' march, most managed to avoid being surrounded. Then onto a quick detour at a friendly local pub (thanks for the free tea!) before heading towards BAA.
Funky Monks
One affinity group - dubbed the monks and the mikes - split off, to meet later in the carpark at BAA. The Monks proceded to deliver a sermon worshipping BAA and 40 - 50 people joined in to prostrate themselves in front of the building. They sang a chant to depict the proposed airport expansion. And invited people to join in their only hymn:
"All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small.
All things wise and wonderful,
BAA kills them all."
Whilst the praying and conga'ing was taking place, activists from the Scottish barrio and a the clowns who arrived by bus were kettled in. Although it can be argued that this was a form of sublime masochism on the part of the riot cops who then had to put up with four hours of in-your-face clowning.
At 6pm, the sound systems and kids' march arrived. And then the police started getting heavy-handed.
Police fuck-wittery
The police began to cordon people in once the march had arrived and they threw their weight around. One Oxford activist felt the wrong arm of the law as she tried to get to her partner and was thrown violently to the floor. Fortunately, as Oxford is a strong group there were lots of witnesses - and hugs to be had.
Block the BAA
Once everyone arrived, there was a brief battle of sound-systems (oh no, blocked in with music, dancing and food - damn!), and then people decided to block the car park to BAA.
To fast-forward to where the author of this piece left, there was a tarpaulin city and singing going on at around midnight - and the activists are still there now. We're going back to join them.
A strong group from the Oxford barrio formed several affinity groups and travelled to Sipson to mark out part of where the runway, if built, will trash (in our case Heathrow Primary, a small school on Harmondsworth Lane, ironically bearing a concorde as its logo). Although a few Oxonians were caught in a kettle, penned in by the police, on the kids' march, most managed to avoid being surrounded. Then onto a quick detour at a friendly local pub (thanks for the free tea!) before heading towards BAA.
Funky Monks
One affinity group - dubbed the monks and the mikes - split off, to meet later in the carpark at BAA. The Monks proceded to deliver a sermon worshipping BAA and 40 - 50 people joined in to prostrate themselves in front of the building. They sang a chant to depict the proposed airport expansion. And invited people to join in their only hymn:
"All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small.
All things wise and wonderful,
BAA kills them all."
Whilst the praying and conga'ing was taking place, activists from the Scottish barrio and a the clowns who arrived by bus were kettled in. Although it can be argued that this was a form of sublime masochism on the part of the riot cops who then had to put up with four hours of in-your-face clowning.
At 6pm, the sound systems and kids' march arrived. And then the police started getting heavy-handed.
Police fuck-wittery
The police began to cordon people in once the march had arrived and they threw their weight around. One Oxford activist felt the wrong arm of the law as she tried to get to her partner and was thrown violently to the floor. Fortunately, as Oxford is a strong group there were lots of witnesses - and hugs to be had.
Block the BAA
Once everyone arrived, there was a brief battle of sound-systems (oh no, blocked in with music, dancing and food - damn!), and then people decided to block the car park to BAA.
To fast-forward to where the author of this piece left, there was a tarpaulin city and singing going on at around midnight - and the activists are still there now. We're going back to join them.
Homepage: