Anarchists’ Travelling Circus
A festive air in Manchester prevailed on election day, though police fought valiantly to contain outbreaks of responsibility and community-empowering politics. Not so much anti-vote as it’s irresponsible to just vote when faced with a corporate-driven sham democracy.
Thus followed our on-the-hoof Mayday fun, when without anything having been planned, a ‘spontaneous’ loose and large mass of people wandered round the town centre, instrument banging, agit-prop distributing, and generally giving the police the run- around. What prevented the police containing the dynamic crowd till late in the day was simply that, as no-one knew where they were going, the march was too spread out to surround!
There was ‘No Such Thing as a Free Lunch’, with free plant give-aways, each wrapped lovingly with a rant. Diners were entertained by music, the police hooligan van (can rise 15 feet above the crowd, with mounted CCTV) and street theatre, which gave the police a scare when a white-clad group entered the square (“back up, back up; kkkrch; cancel that sarge, it’s street theatre”).
To work off some of the food, merry pranksters headed off to banks, supermarkets, bookshops, train stations, coffee shops and fast food merchants, with further uncontrolled outbreaks of street theatre and music. In one bank, blood was spilled, filling up the metal trays under each window so stopping any transactions; in others cash machines got out of order stickers slapped on before the mounted police arrived to drive away any remaining public. GM food defrosted in trolleys sprouting banners and leaflets, Burma leaflets got inserted into holiday guides, and train ticket counters got besieged by people with 90% for 90% cards claiming their discount (others had travelled to Manchester in the morning with 90% cards). While Nestle cafes were entered, Megabucks had free drinks and cakes outside, and a rival free veggie burger stall called NotDonalds did a roaring trade. Everyone got free propaganda, while some young rascals pushing their way to the front and threatening the NotDonalds staff additionally got treated to a ‘scally hot burger mix’.
Now obviously these threats to the very fabric of democracy had gone too far, and with a Critical Mass bike ride threatening to end car culture as we know it, the police had had enough - it was time to protect the system with their complex strategy of the last few years - crack heads & contain.
After they forgot the route they’d imposed on cyclists, they decided it was a much better ruse to pull people off their bikes, threaten, arrest & then de-arrest after taking people’s details, and contain any remaining cyclists for two hours.
The State Funeral, narrowly avoiding containment through negotiating its way to the intended final destination, moved off at a funereal pace. To the beat of a drum and a New Orleans-style jazz band, the pallbearers followed the 4 horses of the Eco-pocalypse and a 12-foot grim reaper, behind a “Call this Apathy?” banner, to destination BBC. Here, the last will and testament of the state was read out, after which a mighteous samba wake was held, before revellers went to dine in a nearby park. Two arrests (for unlicensed blood in bottles after a Section 60 search, and one woman who unmasked more than the police had intended), and not a line of press coverage (despite much press work having been done) rounded off a good day.
More info: www.x21.org/uninvited or 0161-226 6814