Below is a letter signed by 40 key sabbatical officers from across the country protesting against People & Planet activist Edd Bauer’s arrest and suspension from his role as VP for Education at Birmingham Guild of Students.

Edd Bauer has been unilaterally suspended from his post by staff members at his students’ union.

For more information, see this article on Counterfire.

Edd Bauer, vice-president for education at The University of Birmingham Guild of Students, was arrested on 16th September after unfurling a banner that protested against university fees and education cuts, at the start of the Liberal Democrat party conference.

Edd Bauer was held in Aston Police station over the weekend and from Monday the 19th of September until Monday the 26th of September in Winson Green Prison. The arrest and detention for a minor act of civil disobedience was widely criticized as repressive crimalisation of peaceful protest, especially as Edd Bauer pleaded “not guilty”.

Bauer received solidarity from many quarters including local Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming who spoke in support of his bail application in court. John Hemming said: “Whilst I do not believe he should have put the banner there in the first place, the protest was peaceful and placid and I think it is dis-proportionate to keep him in prison any longer.”

The Birmingham University and College Union passed a motion in support of Edward Bauer. The National Union of Students intervened to help push for his release from jail. A letter signed by a number of high profile figures was published in the Guardian on Sunday 25th September, opposing the criminalisation of his peaceful protest.

Despite the wide ranging public support, the ongoing trial and his pledge of not guilty, the University of Birmingham Guild of Students - without any consultation with the Guild’s democratic bodies- has suspended Edward Bauer from his role as Vice President Education “indefinitely” and with “immediate effect”.

We call on the Guild of Students’ mangers to respect democracy in the students’ union and allow Edd Bauer to continue in work until the matter has been investigated and discussed at either a union general meeting or a student union council with all the information at hand. We do not consider any disciplinary valid unless it is done democratically by students at either a UGM or Student Union Council.

Signed:

Manoj Kerai, Welfare and Diversity Officer Goldsmiths Students’ Union

Vice President Education and Welfare York St John Students’ Union

Stanley Ellerby-English Activities and Development Officer, LSE Students’ Union

Ben Jackson, Education Officer, Leeds University Union

Alex Peters-Day, General Secretary, LSE Students’ Union

James Haywood, President, Goldsmiths Students’ Union

Bob Sutton, Liverpool Guild of Students

Maev McDaid, Liverpool Guild of Students

Ruth Brewer, Liverpool Guild of Students

Zahid Raja, NUS Wales NEC

Andrew Tindall, Aberystwyth Students Against Cuts

Clare Solomon, Counterfire

Mike Williamson, Edinburgh University Students’ Association

Vicki Baars, NUS LGBT Officer (Women’s Place)

Kanja I Sesay, NUS Black Students Officer

Matt Bond, NUS Disabled Students NEC

Sean Rillo Razcka, Vice President, University of London Union

Kelley Temple, NUS Scotland Women’s Officer

Mark Bergfeld, National Union of Students NEC

Arianna Tassinari, Co-President Welfare and Education, SOAS SU

Jade Baker, NUS Women’s Committee

Emma Kerry, NUS LGBT Committee

Alusine Alpha, Union Secretary Treasurer, University of Bradford Student Union

Izzy John, Welfare Officer, Warwick SU

Leo Boe, President, Warwick SU

Chris Luck, Democracy Officer, Warwick SU

Matthew Rogers, Societies Officer, Warwick SU

Sean Ruston, Education Officer, Warwick SU

Hannah Dee, Defend the Right to Protest

Joshi Sachdeo, Vice-Chair Birkbeck SU Executive Committee

Kai Weston, NUS LGBT Committee

James McAsh. NCAFC, Edinburgh

Michael Chessum, NUS NEC and NCAFC

Daniel Lemberger Cooper, President Royal Holloway Students’ Union

Fionnuala McGoldrick, NUS LGBT Committee

Sarah Kerton, Postgraduate and Mature Students’ Officer, UMSU

Sam O’Connor, University of Manchester Students’ Union

Joe Kelly NUS LGBT Committee

Liam McNulty, Cambridge Defend Education

Morgan Wild, Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU) Education Officer

Ruth Graham, CUSU Women’s Officer

Taz Rasul, CUSU Access and Funding Officer

Hannah Paterson, Welfare Officer, UMSU

Oeiisha Williams, Education Officer, Birmingham City University Students’ Union

Sign the petition calling for a democratic vote.
E-mail Birmingham Guild of Students to tell them your thoughts: president@guild.bham.ac.uk

So many people despair of our generation. Hippies from the 60s bemoan the fact that “young people no longer care about issues”. People who supported the miners’ strike in the 80s claim that “young people are self-interested”.

You only need to go on a bus or a train to hear “Young people today…” followed by a comment about how young people are self-serving, shallow, and care only for fame and fashion.

But anyone who was at Summer Gathering this summer would have seen that things are quite different. 45 students came to summer gathering. That’s 45 people who care about things other than getting drunk and sleeping around.

And while 45 does not sound like a great number, imagine if each of those 45 students could persuade another 45 students to join. And imagine what would happen if those persuaded students did likewise. We could build a movement!

Building a movement was a key theme at this year’s Summer Gathering. Workshops on workers’ rights and the environment focused on makin small steps to make big changes. But it wasn’t just small steps. Those who were in the Buy Right movement building workshop were party to a discussion about the concept of expanding the Worker Rights Consortium model to electronics, a huge potential step for universities.

Those who were in the Transport workshop discussing where the campaign should go next, decided on targetting aviation. These are not small steps taken by a small group of people; these are ambitious projects, which, with the support that we get from People & Planet, we can achieve.

So to any cynical idiot - be they your university’s Vice Chancellor, a businessman (or woman!) or the heads of state - who believes that we cannot make a difference, hear this: We are the future, we WILL make a difference, we WILL bring about change. And it took Summer Gathering to show us that. We activists CAN change the world, and with our support, friendship and skills, this may well happen sooner than you think.

This article first appeared on Bright Green Scotland.

The three men remanded in custody for three days over the weekend, after a banner drop at the Liberal Democrat conference, appeared in court today. The men were remanded as their membership of an “organization” showed that they could not be trusted not to cause danger to the public.

At court all three men pleaded not guilty denying entirely that they caused danger to road users. Even the prosecution accepted in court that “no damage or injury was caused.” Two of the men were bailed on the condition that they do not enter Birmingham City Centre but the other one – a 22 year old from Fleet in Hampshire – was refused bail on the grounds of a previous conviction for aggravated trespass, as well as his continuing trial for the peaceful occupation of the Fortnum and Mason shop on March 26th of this year. He has been sent to prison awaiting a review of his bail.

Clair Lister, a witness, said

“The banner drop was very peaceful and no disruption or danger was caused to motorists. When the police arrived at the bridge the men left immediately and went willingly into custody.”

Michael Chessum from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and NUS national executive said

“”It is appalling that students taking part in peaceful protest are being victimised in this way. It is ludicrous that anyone would be remanded in custody for a minor traffic charge – and it’s clear that the behaviour of the police and the court is an attempt to intimidate and muzzle protests against the Liberal Democrats’ betrayal of education. Whether it’s kettles, intimidation, or tactical charges – it is becoming increasingly difficult for students and young people to say that they have a meaningful right to protest.”

by Bethan Tichborne

Anyone who’s been on a student demonstration against the fees has likely encountered the thin edge of the wedge: they’ve been crushed in a ’super-kettle’ or held in the cold for hours, they might even have been charged by horses or hit with a baton or the side of a shield. They’ve seen protesters punished while police violence goes unchallenged.

Things have taken a step for the worse this week. Edd, a well known and liked activist in the People & Planet network, who is also a democratically elected sabb and a member of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, is currently in prison for a banner drop.  He and two others were arrested on Friday, supposedly for a traffic offense, held in station cells (i.e. in isolation) over the weekend, and then he was remanded to HM Prison Birmingham until at least the 26th, the date of his pre-trial hearing. That’s a minimum of 10 days, in prison, for a peaceful act of protest.

It’s sadly likely that he’ll face further repression from the university, there are certainly political opponents who are already manouvering to take advantage of the situation. Will Miéville-Hawkins, President of the Liberal Democrats Society has given a laugh-out-loud-at-the-irony quote to Redbrick, the Birmingham student paper as saying that Edd’s “actions this weekend show his contempt for democracy and free association and bring the Guild into disrepute.”

It’s hard to see them doling out the same treatment to someone who, say, climbed on a bridge for a dare, or hung a ‘happy birthday’ banner. I doubt they even lock up many genuinely dangerous drivers before they’ve been properly tried. This difference of treatment, this denial of bail to a prominent and popular activist, is the definition of political policing.

To send Edd messages of support you can address letters with his name and date of birth to the prison. You can also help by leaving supportive comments on articles, and keeping an eye out for misreporting. And of course, by spreading the word. Write about your own reaction for the People & Planet blog and link all your friends to it on facebook. Many people will be shocked by this, including people who don’t necessarily agree with the message of the protest, but care about the right to protest without being imprisoned before even a trial.

The Egyptian Twitter Revolution?

Much has been written about social media’s role in the Arab spring. Few but the most hardline technodeterminists genuinely believe the existence of Twitter, Facebook and the like are solely responsible for the mass uprisings.

However,  a view persists that these tools played a fundamental role. Several news sources, the BBC and Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) among them, proclaimed social media’s impact in Tunisia’s so-called Jasmine revolution.

Let’s look at a couple of facts:

- Twitter activity abou the Jasmine uprising peaked on 15th January 2011 - the day after Ben Ali was deposed and a full three weeks after the protests began. The peak broadly correlates with Western Media’s interest in the Tunisian uprising. Stats here.

- The Sidibouzid hashtag that CPJ flags up as being critical in the revolution was only created on 27th December 2010, ten days after Mohammed Bouazizi set fire to himself and the day the protests reached the capital, Tunis.

Both these facts suggest there was no Twitter revolution in Tunisia. It was utilised primarily as a broadcast medium for westerners to follow events.

But what about Facebook?

This is rather more difficult to assess as Facebook does not make its data public. Tangential evidence suggests Facebook did play a significant part.

In 2008 there was another uprising in Tunisia in the mining town of Gafsa. Causes were similar - lack of employment and frustration at the corrupt regime. With an election pending Ben Ali took no chances, shutting down Facebook and sending in his forces. And the strategy worked. Ben Ali crushed the uprising and went on to win the election.

So what was the key difference?

In 2008 there were 28,000 Facebook users in Tunisia; in 2010 the were 2 million. By shutting down Facebook in 2010 Ben Ali risked politicising a fifth of his population, many of whom may have been apolitical to that point. However, by allowing users to post emotive videos, share links and formulate strategy online he allowed what he sought to avoid; apolitical citizens being politicised.

The sheer volume of Facebook users put Ben Ali in an impossible position. And this may indeed be social media’s strength - its latent potentiality. The vast majority of content being passed around on social media is in no way political but the dense interconnectivity of social media facilitates means messages can and do spread quickly if the offline environment creates the appetite for protest.

David Cameron’s call to ban social media during riots fell into the same trap. Such a move would irritate people who previously had no reason to protest, likely swelling the numbers involved in any uprising. In this sense, social media’s stength may well be in its numbers.

Hi, I’m Megan, a new media activist volunteer for People  & Planet - I will be sharing my thoughts,  ideas and experiences with you for the next year! At the moment I am president of Cardiff Uni’s People and Planet society and hoping to create some fun and magic for the newbies in September, as well as keeping the rest of the UK up to date on the Buy Right campaign.

Buy Right for Workers Rights

I am quite a passionate person and therefore will be exposing my anger or delight at the way the world is evolving. I would call myself a feminist, green human rights activist who is also very focused on having fun, therefore I hope to fit in well in the happiness of national People & Planet. Today, upon my first day of training, I learnt about the successes of People & Planet since 1968 and felt so proud to become part of such a productive and worthwhile organisation, where hopefully I can make a small impact myself

Since singing at a Fairtrade event at 14 I have felt determined to make human rights a priority, especially when thinking about the tiny things I can do to help. Therefore I will be spreading the word and mobilising students to put pressure on their university to join the Workers Rights Consortium, just as Sheffield are about to, and making sure that all the People & Planet’s across the country are making the most of Fairtrade Fortnight in February.

However I will probably be letting out some anger, perhaps just against statements made on Question Time by ignorant right wing individuals or expressing my constant disbelief at people who are so apathetic about climate change and human rights issues - in a hope that one individual, one day, might read my blog and start thinking differently and make a small change of their own.

Here’s to a year full of hope and ambition with my fellow media activists at People & Planet

Cheers!

Hey guys,

This is Katie Luxton putting my sustainably sourced and ethically made stamp on my first blog post. My Monday this week started out as usual - dodging bombs and using human shields.

Yes, I am a female James Bond and I plan to shake up and stir the cocktail of environmentalists who are as eager as I am to help make life a few ‘Degrees Cooler’.

In case you were wondering, I am of course referring to the current environmental campaign for Transition Universities at People & Planet. The bomb dodging was apart of the People & Planet Volunteer Media Activist training I have just undertaken. My use of a human shield was a warm up exercise to get the blood flowing to the brain; cue excellent media ideas.

For me, the training was a refreshing way to initiate putting my passions into practice. I hope to raise awareness on environmental issues, but most importantly instigate ACTION.

I learnt more about ethical investment and tar sands on the training which was something I was eager to clue up on. I also found an excellent introduction to ethical investment in the Guardian. I am definitely going to pursue this avenue of environmental conservation further. I will keep you updated if I find anything new; if readers have any fruitful suggestions on the topic, they would be more than welcome.

I also wanted to say thanks a lot to the staff members at People & Planet for making the experience so enjoyable. It was a great opportunity to meet the dedicated faces behind the organisation, but also my fellow Media Activists; like minded people trying to make the world a better place.

Be safe, be green.

Katie