WORLDbytes - The School of Citizen TV » Social Change

Don’t shout at the Telly: Queer Progress

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:13:46 +0000

Gay rights have vastly improved over the decades, but have we progressed enough? This lively on-the-sofa discussion with Jason Smith a freelance journalist and director of Birmingham salon explores the state of ‘queer progress’ today, from Clinton and Cameron’s advocacy of tying foreign aid to gay rights to Stonewall calling for a policing of anti-gay speech in the playground. Has intolerance of anti-gay intolerants lead to a tyranny of the minority? Are gay individuals so vulnerable they now need posh protectors to police our views and intervene in African states?

Recommended links:

Article by Frank Furedi, An unholy marriage of snobbery and snideyness
Article by Josie Appleton, Don’t police anti-gay ‘hate’ speech

Trust us, we’re parents

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:13:02 +0000

Parents, it seems, are no longer trusted to parent. If you fail to take on the latest childcare fad deemed best by policy makers for your baby, then you risk being judged a ‘bad parent’ – guilty of some kind of negligence and abuse. Hence the recent story in the UK of four children being taken away from their parents, without a right to contact, because the family were fat. WORLDbytes Citizen TV makers visited Jennie Bristow, journalist and writer of Standing Up To Supernanny and Alison Small and Jane Sandeman, members of the Institute of Ideas Parents Forum who provide a critical and thought provoking perspective, questioning prevailing distrust.

Dharavi: Reaching for the sky

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:34:05 +0000

Welcome to Dharavi where residents are reaching for the sky. They want Dharavi to surpass London as a great city. Unlike the poverty tourism and accolades awarded to communitarian slum living by the likes of Prince Charles and Kevin McCloud, Dharavi residents think big. Sadhvi Sharma takes us through the streets and introduces us to aspirant families for whom Dharavi is a place of transition. The least we can do, she argues, is support their aspirations.

Recommended links

Article by Sadhvi Sharma, Living in filth is no lifestyle choice
Book by Austin Williams & Alistair Donald, The lure of the cities The Lure of the City: From Slums to Suburbs

The View On The Streets: Riot Control

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:14:21 +0000

The decision to punish the ‘Facebook rioters’ with four years in jail is now being appealed, and other cases are sure to follow. Is harsh sentencing the way forward? In this extraordinary report the public are clearly not convinced rather, they suggest, we need to address the loss of adult authority and rift between adults and young people. In other parts of the world we learn, young people know the rules and ‘child centred’ policies have not degraded parent power. This report shows how most people just want to be allowed to raise (and tell off!) their own children with the support of their community but without government interference.

Recommended links:

A report immediately after the riots by WORLDbytes, The View from the streets: The London riots
An article by Brendan O’Neill, Riotous Youth: Hang ‘em High or Hug ‘em Hard?
Sky News article by Rachel Younger, ‘Facebook Rioters’ Appeal Jail Sentences

Why should I be happy?

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:08:05 +0000

Governments and policy makers are concerned over our individual happiness. This year, the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) began compiling data for Cameron’s so-called happiness index. Meanwhile at the launch of ‘Action for Happiness’ members made a simple pledge: ‘to try to create more happiness in the world around them through the way they approach their lives’. Both assume that material advancement and economic development can’t buy you happiness. This seems obvious, or is it? Should happiness be our end goal? Is getting rich bad for our wellbeing? Should the government measure our happiness levels? Luke Gittos, a WORLDbytes reporter, investigates the happiness agenda and talks to the Director of Action for Happiness, Mark Williamson and Daniel Ben Ami, author of Ferraris for All.

Recommended links:

Action for Happiness website
Daniel Ben Ami’s blog, Ferraris For All
Article by Tim Black, Dumbing down the idea of happiness
BBC’s The Happiness Formula
Audio of Battle of Ideas debate, From religious bliss to well-being: what does happiness mean today?

The view from the streets: London riots

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:04:58 +0000

In the wake of the riots in London, WORLDbytes reporters hit the streets of Enfield and Hackney to find out what the public think. Unlike the over fearful response of the authorities, some residents in these two riot stricken boroughs thought that boarding up shops and not dealing with the looters there and then gave rioters free reign. Sadly the effective stand against the looters many made has been vilified as vigilantism and potentially racist. Yet didn’t they set an example we could all learn from? One member of the public points out, when the authorities dictate every aspect of how we, as adults should interact with children, people are not able to think for themselves and end up scared of the kids.

Recommended links:

Article by Patrick Hayes, ‘The police are just scratching their arses’
The Huffington Post, UK Riot Vigilantes Attempt To ‘Reclaim The Streets’

Fast Food: A Love Story

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:00:11 +0000

London has a love-hate relationship with fast food. Public health campaigns and celebrity chefs vilify it and warn it could kill us; yet, as this film shows, we’ve never had it so good. This programme reveals, with an emphasis on our lunches, how food and eating have evolved since the 1950s. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of supermarkets, as Rob Lyons, author of Panic on a Plate, tells us, supermarkets have enabled more people to be fed more inexpensively, conveniently and well.

Recommended links:

Rob Lyon’s blog, Panic on a Plate
Article by Julie Burchill, Why eating doesn’t matter
Government public health campaign, Change4life

Whose social justice is it anyway?

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:23:05 +0000

Twenty years ago the UN published the hugely influential Human Development Report. Drawing on the work of Amartya Sen, it aimed at ‘putting people back at the centre of the development process…going beyond income to assess the level of people’s long-term well-being’, something that has been carried forward in contemporary debate around social justice. But, should social justice be primarily about subjective well-being or should it be about material and political development? Speakers in this outstanding panel debate include Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent at Daily Telegraph, Sabina Alkire, author and director at Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative; Ann Bernstein, executive director, Centre for Development Enterprise, South Africa; Anil Gupta, professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Stewart Wallis, executive director, new economics foundation (nef).

Recommended links:

Book by Danny Dorling, Injustice: why social inequality persists
Book by Daniel Ben-Ami, Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress

The TUC Anti-Cuts Demo: Tragedy or turning point?

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:59:59 +0000

A WORLDbytes crew followed the TUC March for the Alternative demonstration in London from Temple tube to Hyde Park. The turnout exceeded all expectations yet alternatives to government cuts were hard to find as cutting ‘someone else’s’ income seemed to be the main message. Growth scepticism it seems is rampant.

Recommended links:

TUC Demo website
Article by Mick Hume, The phoney war of Oxford Street

The View from the Streets: Immigration

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:56:43 +0000

A crew of intrepid Citizen TV makers learning to shoot with WORLDbytes, take to the streets to investigate public attitudes to immigration. On asking people what they think about the idea of ‘Open Borders’ many responses are refreshingly positive. Some may argue this is because it’s Hackney and Wood Green in Cosmopolitan London but its clear old fashioned ‘racism’ has had its day. Politicians can not blame the 2^nd class citizenship they impose through immigration law on public attitudes. ‘Too few resources’ for ‘too many people’ is more common but we’ll visit the streets to check out public views on that next.

Recommended links:

Video: The More the Merrier
Video: Don’t stop me now

Are we a classless society Mr Cameron?

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:39:53 +0000

Since the coalition took power there has been no shortage of comment about the number of public school and Oxbridge alumni in the Cabinet. Are we witnessing the return to power of a traditional privileged elite? Can we expect a revival of traditional class politics as austerity measures begin to bite? In this debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas Kevin Macguire, Nirpal Singh Dhaliwal, Professor Peter Saunders and Neil Davenport argue about whether there is an ‘upstairs downstairs’ anymore.

Recommended links:

Blog post by Neil Davenport: Are we still a classless society Mr Cameron?
Article by John Arlidge: Britain’s new political elite
Article by James Heartfield: Where they teach you how to be thick

Rape and the law: he said, she said?

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:10:17 +0000

There is no doubt rape is a heinous crime, but how should the law and criminal justice system deal with it? Headlines feature the oft-repeated claim that only six per cent of rape accusations lead to a conviction. Baroness Stern’s influential review concluded there has been too much focus on conviction rates. How can we ensure rape cases are prosecuted both fairly and effectively? Should rape cases be treated differently from all other crimes? Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, speakers include: Dan Subotnik, professor, Touro Law School, USA, author, Copulemus in Pace; Marguerite Russell, barrister, founder member, Garden Court Chambers; Helen Reece, reader in Law, LSE; author Divorcing Responsibly; Chair: Luke Gittos, trainee barrister.

Recommended links:

Article by Claire Fox: No means no. But what about yes?
Book by Joanna Bourke: Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present

Ageing and medicine: quality versus quantity?

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:56:42 +0000

Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, panelists iron out the wrinkles in the ageing debate. We are living longer, but what about the quality of our extended lives? Average life expectancy has extended by as much as 30 years in developed countries during the 20th century. While this statistic might be seen as cause for celebration, society seems ambivalent. Our doubts are not simply caused by headline scaremongering about massed ranks of the elderly being a drain on pension funds and the NHS. What constitutes ‘quality of life’? When poet Jenny Joseph wrote, ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple…spend my pension on brandy,’ she captured the pleasurable prospect of growing old disgracefully. Is this irresponsible?

Recommended links:

Article by Zoe Williams, Guardian: Abortion and euthanasia: was Virgina Ironsid right?
Book by Irma Kurtz, (John Murray): About time: Growing Old Disgracefully

The view from the streets: working for nothing

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:19:03 +0000

Internships are now accepted as an essential first step into the job market. Graduates often do two or three internships, the majority are unpaid with no job on the cards when they end. Is working for nothing for six months an elitist opportunity for rich kids whose parents can fund them? Are companies abusing free labour? Should internships be regulated or should young people just wise up about what’s on offer? WORLDbytes reporters check out the view on the streets of East London.

Recommended links:

WORLDbytes report: Interns Anonymous

Trust in an age of cynicism

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:27:51 +0000

“I’m the doctor trust me” is no longer a given and from priests to journalists to bankers distrust is the order of the day and they are all on the panel in this illuminating Battle of Ideas debate! Is trust a distinct problem or a symptom of a deeper malaise? The ‘trust industry’ and attempts to ‘restore trust’ one speaker argues will only exacerbate the problem. If you offer to show someone your bank account to prove your worthiness – you must be dodgy.

Recommended links:

A Question of Trust, BBC Reith Lecture Series
Article by Richard Sexton: Trust in an age of cynicism
A review of Anthony Seldon’s book “Trust: How We Lost it and How to Get it Back”, by Patrick Hayes

Interns Anonymous

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:21:34 +0000

The founders of Interns Anonymous explain why they set up their campaign and website. They spill the beans on the largest survey ever done with interns and challenge the idea that a whole generation should put up with working for free. As Rosy Rickett put it “internships don’t get you jobs, jobs get you jobs.”

Recommended links:

Interns Anonymous blog

Seeing through the Veil

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:18:31 +0000

As banning the burqa continues to be all the rage, with France & Belgium having already outlawed it, we ask the British public what they think. Should the burqa be banned in the interest of women’s emancipation, integration and national security? Or, should we look beyond the veil and ask, is it the state’s business to tell us what we can and cannot wear, let alone what we should or should not believe in? This compelling report which includes eloquent pro and anti-ban views, does suggest that UK citizens are not ban-happy and many hold freedom of expression and womens’ ability to make their own choices as principles worth defending. As one woman tells us “secularism is not about banning anything it’s about getting along & the idea of banning a piece of cloth takes us into la la land.”

Recommended links:

Article by Tim Black: Banning the burqa is an assault on secular values
Article by David Mitchell, Guardian Online: If Britain decides to ban the burqa I might just start wearing one
From banning burqas to B&B bigots: can Europe tolerate religious tolerance?

Shooting Views: The Age of Accusations

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:07:46 +0000

A mother tells her daughter off on a bus, a father chastises his son for naughty behaviour and a parent leaves her toddler with a teenager while she picks up some milk. What do these parents have in common as a result of their actions? A criminal record and an end to their career plans. In this edition of Shooting Views we meet Mervyn Barrett from NACRO, a charity working with offenders. Mervyn recounts these shocking stories and explains that changes in the law mean accusations are treated as reality and people’s lives are being destroyed.

Recommended links:

Nacro website
Manifesto Club Report: Volunteering Made Difficult: How The Child Protection Bureaucracy Is Obstructing Volunteers
WORLDbytes film: Bitter Sweet Sixteen

A Taste of the Battle of Ideas

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:59:44 +0000

WORLDbytes volunteers report from the last Battle of Ideas festival giving us a flavour of the range of debates and insights of attendees. Judging by the programme for 2010, already available on line, the event at the end of October this year promises even more exciting stuff. For Citizen TV makers and viewers it’s a must. Tickets for this year’s event are available now; just visit the Battle of ideas website. To join the WORLDbytes crew in filming many of the debates, to access subsidised tickets for volunteers and free preparatory film training in the run up, please email us.

Recommended links:

Battle of Ideas: website

Fact Finder: Unemployment in London

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:37:19 +0000

Did rising unemployment and poverty coincide with the start of the recession? Tom MacInnes, Research Director at the New Policy Institute, unpacks the facts and suggests that job losses, unemployment and poverty started to rise years before the present recession although the recession inevitably made things worse. The economic failure, he argues, is as much, if not more, to do with the loss of manufacturing and industries then the financial sector’s flop. The truth is also laid bare about the chronic problem of youth unemployment; one which is yet to be resolved.

Recommended links:

City Parochial Foundations London’s Poverty Profile: website
New Policy Institute: website

Don’t Shout at the Telly: Unemployment

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:25:59 +0000

On this month’s Don’t Shout, volunteers put unemployment back on the agenda. Despite UK unemployment rising above 2.5 million why have there been no mass protests or marches for jobs? Should we accept unemployment as a fact of life or demand more jobs for all? Are benefits making us lazy? In this contentious on the sofa discussion, unemployed volunteers discuss their concerns with Angus Kennedy who argues that the focus on youth is itself a problem and dependency on the state can make us sick.

Recommended links:

Article by David Conn: The jobless are no shirking scroungers – you try living on £65.45 a week
BBC article: NEETS ‘should not get benefits’, say MPs
Article by James Panton: What’s so great about the welfare state?

Skint not Idle: Carol & Ruje’s Story

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:16:40 +0000

In this short report, two friends explain their situation. Carol has been living on benefits for five years and talks about the difficulties of surviving on so little money. Recent university graduate Ruje Yasmin sums ups the prospects facing many university leavers today: qualified, in debt and jobless. As Carol and Ruje’s stories show, perhaps the problem of unemployment is less about an unqualified workforce, living on benefits or low pay and rather a case of a lack of jobs.

Recommended links:

Article by David Conn: The jobless are no shirking scroungers – you try living on £65.45 a week
Article by Patrick Hayes: This is a waste of youthful potential

Shooting Views: An interview with Norman Lewis

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:04:26 +0000

Many now see unemployment as a problem of an idle generation who are content to live on benefits. In this interview, Saleha Ali quizzes Norman Lewis, author of the London Manifesto for Innovation, on the causes of unemployment and prospects for fuller employment in the future. Norman argues the case for big thinking and innovation and suggests we would do well to emulate China’s positive attitude to growth.

Recommended links:

Manifesto: Big Potatoes, The London Manifesto for Innovation
Norman Lewis’ Blog: Future-Diagnosis

Welfare dependency: who benefits?

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:51:29 +0000

The welfare state was once celebrated as a keystone of post-war Britain, but while the NHS and state education are still widely valued, state benefits are now accused of fostering a dependency culture which traps people. With cuts in public spending looming as the recession bites, and yet more people likely to need state support, should the focus be on cash for those who need it, or more intensive intervention to get people working? At this Battle of Ideas festival panel debate, speakers include: social policy writer Dave Clements; journalist Rowenna Davis; director of think tank Reform, Andrew Haldenby; and Policy and Membership director at DrugScope, Dr Marcus Roberts.

Recommended links:

Article by Michael Portillo: Idle young should be entitled to nothing
Article by Jenni Russell: Some talk about welfare to work.
Article by Dave Clements: Welfare State – the new dependency

Made by Migrants: Brunel

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:07:27 +0000

Rows over immigration which blame migrants for everything from lack of services to housing shortages fail to consider the role that migrants have played in fighting for more for everyone and creating great cities. Lesser – known migrant, but brilliant engineer Marc Isambard Brunel invented the Tunnelling Shield which paved the way for the underground system and the channel tunnel. This is the first of a series investigating the role of migration in the development of civilization.

Recommended links:

Brunel Museum
Letter from Sir Marc Isambard Brunel
Engineering Timelines: The Thames Tunnel
London’s oldest underwater tunnel Slideshow
Book by Harold Bagust: The Greater Genius?

The Suffragettes: Where is Sylvia?

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:05:47 +0000

Sylvia Pankhurst fought for the right to vote with a capital “V”. She believed in social transformation and supported the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Statues of her mother Emmeline Pankhurst and a plaque commemorating her sister Christabel Pankhurst feature outside the Houses of Parliament but where is Sylvia? This taster of a film in the making suggests Sylvia is a woman worth remembering. There are numerous opportunities to get involved in the development of this film. If you are interested, do drop us a line.

Recommended links:

Website dedicated to the life and works of Sylvia Pankhurst
The Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Committee
Book Sylvia Pankhurst: A Life in Radical Politics by Mary Davis
Article by Patrick West, Open Democracy: The Stone Bomb
Articles from the Workers Dreadnought socialist newspaper largely run by Sylvia Pankhurst

Hidden London: The Real Battle of Cable Street

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:58:21 +0000

The magnificent mural in Cable Street in East London, depicts the 1936 battle of Cable Street, when East end residents stopped Oswald Mosley and his fascist followers marching through their streets. In this powerful dissection of what happened, the real battle we learn was three way, between the police, the fascists and local people. Interwoven with eye witness testimony from Bill Fishman, Alan Hudson provides a riveting account of the events, the context and many hidden truths. The official labour movement tried to stop the anti-fascist protests and organised an alternative rally in Trafalgar Square. Lessons for today come thick and fast and we are left to contemplate the mural’s contemporary meaning. It may only strike a cord locally Alan explains if we support today’s migrant population and oppose all immigration controls.

Recommended links:

Podcast of Alan Hudson’s lecture: East End Figures
WORLDwrite’s London Behind the Scenes alternative tour: Brick Lane
Article by Kenan Malik: Race, pluralism and the meaning of difference

Chav Bashing

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:46:28 +0000

‘Chav’ seems to be one of the few socially acceptable slurs today. Regarded with disdain as yobbish, BNP-electing McDonalds Mums and binge-drinking ‘ladettes’, holiday firms now offer ‘chav-free holidays’ and a London gymnasium is able to put on lessons in ‘chav’ fighting. In this debate at the Battle of Ideas, panellists ask what really lies beneath this widespread perception that a significant section of society has values and norms of behaviour that are highly problematic. Do the discussions about ‘chavs’ or the ‘white working class’ describe real problems or are they symptomatic of less tangible cultural anxieties and our disillusionment with material culture?

Recommended links:

Article by Tim Black: How to beat up chavs
Article by Neil Davenport: You say underclass, we say white trash
Article by Nick Britten: Britain has produced unteachable ‘uber-chavs’

Recommended links:

· Article by Tim Black: How to beat up chavs

· Article by Neil Davenport: You say underclass, we say white trash

· Article by Nick Britten: Britain has produced unteachable ‘under-chavs’

Report by Runnymede Perspectives: Who cares about the white working class?

The Myth of Racist Kids

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:40:55 +0000

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 made it law for schools to report ‘racist incidents’ to local authorities. A growing race relations industry has moved into schools, and even nurseries, to combat prejudice in children as young as three. In discussion with a studio audience, film-maker and anti-racist campaigner Adrian Hart argues the idea of racist kids is a myth and intervention can in fact create ethnic tensions. Should we leave the kids alone?

Recommended links:

Report by Adrian Hart
Article by Sean Bell: The Myth of Racist Kids
Adrian Hart: How official anti-racism holds black children back
Telegraph article: Schools report 40,000 cases of racism every year
Article by Josie Appleton: Number of racist incidents in schools tells us more about the mindset of officials than children

From Macpherson to the BNP: Race today

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:39:44 +0000

Everyone got their rocks off about the BNP on the BBC’s Question Time, meanwhile politicians have been competing to say they will limit immigration to the UK in order to stop the BNP. If everyone wants to clamp down on immigration what has happened to anti-racism you may well ask. The highlights of this debate, filmed at the Battle of Ideas, provides some important answers. The speakers featured in the programme are: Karen Chouhan race equality consultant; founder and director, Equanomics-UK; Kenan Malik presenter of Analysis, BBC Radio 4; author, From Fatwa to Jihad, Strange Fruit and The Meaning of Race and Jack Tan president, Students’ Union, Royal College of Art.

Recommended links:

Kenan Malik’s website
Article by Brendan O’Neill: The new divide in British politics: Us and Him
Article by Hugh Muir: In Macpherson’s footsteps: a journey through British racism

Austerity: Don’t re-invent the Blitz

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:35:24 +0000

Austerity now trips off the lips of every politician. They tell us cut backs and tightening our belts are the order of the day. The Imperial War Museum even provides ten top tips from the Blitz for surviving the recession. Jean, Doris and Andy, who lived through the Blitz in East London give us their account of rationing and hope no one will ever have to go through that again.

Recommended links:

Imperial War Museum website
Article by Brendan O’Neill: Against Austerity
Article by Rob Lyons: The Austerity Auction
BBC article: Don’t lose out in the new age of austerity

Cut backs: The view from the streets

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:34:04 +0000

On the streets of London the public are not impressed by politician’s talk of austerity. WORLDbytes volunteers interview young and old and each other and many ask, what are people who already have little supposed to cut back on? Austerity is prescribed for all but not everyone is in the same boat. Should we all take responsibility for economic failure and share the pain? The public say no.

Recommended links:

Article by Rob Lyons: Why It’s Not Our Fault. Honest.
Article by Brenan O’Neill: Against Austerity
BBC article: Don’t lose out in the new age of austerity

Let everyone in

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:32:57 +0000

Curry may be the national dish but the government are stopping the chefs who make the best from coming to the UK. The draconian points based system is now turning thousands away and making many ineligible to stay. The UK Borders Police are using their increasing powers to raid and round up more people – including chefs, their families and ‘ethnic’ diners in restaurants. On the streets of East London, the public and restaurant managers are disgusted and WORLDwrite demands we let everyone in.

Recommended links:

Spiked: Open the Borders Campaign
Catering Alliance article: Chinese catering near meltdown due to clampdown on illegal workers
Article by Michael Millar: Immigration squeeze hits ethnic restaurant sector

Don’t stop me now: The Calais ‘jungle’ and No Borders Camp

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:25:52 +0000

French immigration minister Eric Besson has said he will clear the makeshift tents in Calais known as the ‘jungle’. This report by volunteer Onyeka Igwe, reveals the hell of the Calais ‘jungle’ and the incredible journeys migrants have made. Besson claims clearing the ‘jungle’ is a humanitarian action, yet it involves clearing mainly young kids who have travelled thousands of miles and have no money, no papers and no family with them. Besson’s disgraceful initiative to preserve UK border controls is guaranteed to provide further hell for the aspirant young migrants whose only crime is wanting to make a better life for themselves. Besson is not offering accommodation but is promising repatriation.

Recommended links:

Article by Patrick Hayes: Stop this rumble in ‘the jungle’
Open Borders Calais website
WORLDbytes volunteer Jessica Muddit”s photo essay: In Calais, solidarity with the sans papiers

Vestas: Winds of change

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:24:59 +0000

In August Wind turbine manufacturers Vestas, confirmed it will cease production at the company’s site on the Isle of Wight. Up to 600 employees will lose their jobs and closure will have a devastating impact on the island. Refusing to accept their fate, a number of Vestas workers decided to occupy the factory in opposition to the closure. WORLDbytes visited the occupation during the first 24 hours to investigate.

Recommended links:

Article by Patrick Hayes: Taking sides in the Vestas dispute
Article by Brendan O’Neill: Defend green jobs! Smash ungreen jobs!
Article by Joe Thorne: Vestas – the struggle on the horizon
Vestas Workers official website

On the run against immigration controls

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:20:25 +0000

Meet the women who made it their mission to run the 5K Adidas Challenge in London’s Hyde Park to put the case for Open Borders and an end to all immigration controls. As one young runner says “why should anyone be bound by the piece of land on which they happened to be born?” Runners raised over £2000 for the charity WORLDwrite’s Ghanaian partners who have been refused the right to visit the UK, earn money and send it home. Why not join the runners in 2010?

Recommended links:

Spiked Online: Open Borders Campaign
Article by Phillipe Legrain: The Crowded Fallacy
Information on the points based system: UK Borders Agency

SOAS: No immigration raids on campus

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:17:04 +0000

While the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London was sponsoring Refugee Week in the UK, the management of this international university were hosting an immigration raid on campus. The hypocrisy was not lost on students who quickly occupied directorate offices in opposition to the arrest and detention of nine so called ‘illegal’ cleaning staff by border police. Student’s opposition and speedy action has already brought results. SOAS Principal Paul Webley was forced to make a request to the home secretary to grant all the cleaners leave to remain in the UK. So far, his demand has fallen on deaf ears, but SOAS chiefs may not be so quick to cooperate with the government’s anti-immigrant agenda in future.

Recommended links:

Article by Patrick Hayes: Keep border police out of universities
Free SOAS cleaners blog
Manifesto Club’s Think Piece: A Humane Asylum Policy

Celebrating more people

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:16:16 +0000

It is now seen as an article of faith that the world suffers from overpopulation but exactly who are there too many of? You, me, my friends? For World Population Day 2009, we should be celebrating our increased numbers and looking forward to more not less of the earth’s richest resource, humanity. Volunteers present the case in this inspiring riposte to modern Malthusians.

Recommended links:

Video: The great population debate, too many carbon footprints?
Optimum Population Trust website
Spiked Campaign: No to Neo-Malthusianism; why we oppose population control
Debating Matters Topic Guide: Population

Debating Matters: Population

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:15:13 +0000

In this preparation seminar for the Debating Matters national finals, Spiked Online’s Brendan O’Neill goes head-to-head with Adrian Stott from the Optimum Population Trust. While Adrian advocates cutting back on humanity to save the environment, paying women not to have babies and tells us African men effectively commit mass rape, Brendan argues that such views are profoundly anti-human, authoritarian and a case of Malthusians finding the latest justification for pure prejudice. Brendan reminds us that the growth in our numbers is the outcome of better health and longer life expectancy and people are not just some biological entity or ‘another mouth to feed’ but creative beings that make great things happen.

Recommended links:

Debating Matters: Population topic guide
Article by Frank Furedi: Population control
Article by Brendan O’Neill: Mixing with Malthusians
Optimum Population Trust website

Cabaret without borders

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:12:39 +0000

Onyeka Igwe reports from Cabaret without Borders an event organised by the Manifesto Club, in opposition to the Home Office’s new visa controls on visiting artists and academics. These controls have already prevented a plethora of creative visitors coming to the UK leading to concerts, exhibitions and international programmes being cancelled. Under the new rules the Home Office effectively determines international programming, what we can and cannot watch, share and experience and whose work merits a UK visit. Meanwhile numerous institutions are co-opted to police and report on visitors they are granted permission to host. This lively cabaret event sees a wide range of artists express their opposition through artistic interventions and personal testimonies.

Recommended links:

Manifesto club: Petition against Home Office restrictions on non-EU artists and academics
Publication: UK Arts and culture – cancelled, by order of the Home office