Guantanamo, Nationwide Gallery, Elephant, Aylesbury & Lisa; Ten years in the past Thursday fifth February 2015 was a protracted and fascinating day for me, with a few protests, a brief stroll round London, an property occupation and a memorable guide launch.
Shut Guantanamo – 8 Years of protest – US Embassy
A small group from the London Guantánamo Marketing campaign was celebrating 8 years of holding month-to-month protests on the US Embassy in Grosvenor Sq..
Amongst these protesting had been 4 individuals who had been collaborating within the protests there for 8 years.
Shut Guantanamo – 8 Years of protest
No Privatisation At Nationwide Gallery – Trafalgar Sq. and DCMS, Whitehall
The Nationwide Gallery had informed 400 of its 600 workers who’re answerable for the safety of the work and the general public, present details about the gathering, organise faculty bookings and take care of the thousands and thousands of holiday makers annually that they’re now not to be employed by the gallery and can as an alternative turn into employes of a personal firm.
A personal firm had already taken over “quickly” to run providers in a 3rd of the gallery.
Employees on the gallery had staged a 5 day strike in opposition to the privatisation and had been incensed when Sweet Udwin, one of many senior PCS union reps and a member of the staff collaborating in negotiations with administration at ACAS, was suspended, accused of breaching industrial confidentiality, and so they demanded her re-instatement.
The Nationwide Gallery was then the one main museum or gallery in London nonetheless not paying the London Residing Wage. Workers had been already residing on poverty pay and the privatisation would threaten pay and worsen the circumstances – sick pay, vacation pay, pensions, hours of labor and so forth – of those loyal and educated workers.
When no one got here to the door as they tried to ship their 40,000 signature petition in opposition to privatisation a bunch went into the Sainsbury Wing to tray and ship it. Safety tried to get them to go away. No one from the gallery would come all the way down to recieve the petition and finally the strikers handed it over to the Head of Safety who promised to ship it to administration personally.
The strikers and their supporters then marched by way of Trafalgar Sq. and Whitehall to the Dept of Tradition, Media and Sport, then in Parliament Road, the place the minister involved had agreed to obtain a replica of the petition and three of them had been allowed to take it in. Right here there was a brief rally with audio system together with Jeremy Corbyn MP.
No Privatisation At Nationwide Gallery
Across the Elephant – Elephant & Fort
I made a couple of photos as I walked from the Bakerloo Line station at Elephant & Fort to the Aylesbury Property and afterwards on my approach again to the station. The procuring centre has now been demolished and new buildings have sprung up on its web site,
This unusual constructing is an electrical energy substation which continues to be there, though there isn’t any longer a roundabout round it. It was constructed as a memorial to Michael Faraday, ‘The Father of Electrical energy’ who was born a couple of hundred yards away in 1791.
Extra photos at Across the Elephant.
Aylesbury Property Occupation – Walworth
Southwark Council’s Aylesbury Property was one of many UK’s largest council estates, constructed between 1963 and 1977 with over 2,700 properties. Lack of correct upkeep by the council and its use by them as a sink property had led to it getting a fame for crime, exaggerated by its use in filming TV crime collection and movies there not least due to its handy location.
It was on the Aylesbury Property that Tony Blair acquired in on the act making his first speech as Prime Minister promising to repair estates like this and enhance circumstances for the city poor by way of regeneration of council estates.
The buildings had been really well-designed and structurally sound on a well-planned property with loads of inexperienced house, however having been constructed within the sixties and 70s wanted bringing updated significantly when it comes to insulation and double glazing. Southwark Council had additionally repeatedly failed to hold out mandatory upkeep, significantly on the district heating system which that they had allowed to turn into unreliable. However many residents appreciated residing on the property and when given the selection voted by a big majority for refurbishment relatively than redevelopment. I visited a number of properties on different events and was fairly envious, and the residents clearly cherished residing there.
Southwark Council responded by claiming the refurbishment would price a number of occasions greater than impartial estimates steered and went forward with plans to finally demolish the lot. Given the big variety of properties concerned the method was anticipated to final 20 years (later elevated to 25 and more likely to take even longer.) The primary pretty small part was accomplished in 2013, and the properties that had been occupied in 2015 had been in Section 2.
I wasn’t in a position to entry the flats that had been occupied as it could have meant a relatively harmful climb to the primary ground which I made a decision was past me, however I did meet among the occupiers and went with them and a few native residents to distribute leaflets a few public assembly to different flats within the property.
Many residents help the occupiers and knew that they’d lose their snug properties in an excellent location when they’re lastly pressured to maneuver. Some will likely be rehoused by Southwark, although primarily in much less convienient areas and smaller properties, however many are on quick time period tenancies which don’t qualify them for rehousing and should discover personal rented lodging elsewhere. Those that have acquired their flats will solely be supplied compensation at far lower than the price of any related lodging within the space and should transfer a lot farther from the centre of London.
Whereas the volunteers had been posting leaflets on one of many higher flooring of the most important block on the property, Wendover, I took some photos to point out the intensive views residents loved. This was hindered by the truth that the home windows on the walkways had been thick with mud, probably not cleaned for the reason that block was constructed and never opening sufficient to place a digicam by way of. Then happily I discovered a damaged window that give me a transparent view.
Far more at Aylesbury Property Occupation.
Getting By – Lisa’s Ebook Launch – Younger Basis, Bethnal Inexperienced
Lisa McKenzie’s guide ‘Getting By‘ is the results of her years of research from the within of the working class district of Nottingham the place she lived and labored for 22 years, enabling her to view the world from the within and to assemble, recognize and perceive the sentiments and motivations of those that stay there in a approach unattainable for others who’ve researched this and related areas.
On the publish in My London Diary I write far more concerning the opening – and naturally there are a lot of extra photos in addition to a bit of of my private historical past.
Getting By – Lisa’s Ebook Launch.
Flickr – Fb – My London Diary – Hull Pictures – Lea Valley – Paris
London’s Industrial Heritage – London Pictures
All pictures on this web page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
Contact me to purchase prints or licence to breed.
Tags: 8 years, Aylesbury Poll, Aylesbury Property, guide launch, Sweet Udwin, Chartridge, Class Warfare, Shut Guantanamo, DCMS, demolition, district heating, Elephant & Fort, Faraday Memorial, Getting By, housing activists, Jasmine Stone, Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Loach, Lisa McKenzie, London, London Guantánamo Marketing campaign, London Pictures, LSE, march, Michael Faraday, month-to-month protests, My London Diary, Nationwide Gallery, No Privatisation, occupation, peter Marshall, poverty pay, protest, redevelopment, refurbishment, regeneration, Southwark Council, US Embassy, victimisation
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