In 1983 Margaret Thatcher delivered a speech to the Tory back bench 1922 Committee in which she identified Britain’s mining communities as being as dangerous an enemy as Argentinian General Galtieri had been over the Falklands. The Tory PM went on to infamously crush mining communities in Britain in the years thereafter.
Today the State continues to target communities it deems “suspect” and uses all its apparatus to do so.
We will look at migrant populations exposed to a “hostile environment” policy and the abuse of anti-terror “border control” powers; Muslim communities affected by the UK Counter Terrorism Prevent Strategy and how inherent State Racism in Britain impacts on individuals and communities there; How unnecessary and unfair surveillance is used to target those in receipt of welfare benefits; and how those, who as the result of a perceived political opinion or the political opinion of a family members, are targeted for special treatment by the police and statutory bodies in the North of Ireland.
The event will explore how the State turns us against each other – turning professionals such as GPs, Social Workers, Civil Servants and Teachers, whose duty it is to care, into enforcement agents for the State and ask whose interests does this serve? What is the impact of these policies on the communities affected and society as a whole? and, what can be done about the collective punishment of “suspect” communities?
Speakers Include:
Seán MacBradaigh (Participation & Practice of Rights, Belfast)
Seán is Assistant Director of Programmes at Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR). PPR puts the power of human rights at the service of those who need it most, supporting marginalised people to assert their rights in practical ways and make real social and economic change in their communities.
Located in Belfast, PPR supports groups in using the organisation’s Human Rights Based Approach to tackle the issues challenging them. The groups launch campaigns which measure success when change is seen on the ground, not when government makes a commitment.
Shane O’Curry (European Anti-Racist Network, Dublin)
Shane is the Director of The Irish Network Against Racism formerly ENAR Ireland. HE directs a Civil Society network of anti-racist NGOs, grassroots organisations, and community groups, which aims to work collectively to highlight and address the issue of racism in Ireland including through the promotion and monitoring of EU and global anti-racist initiatives. INAR is a member of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) based in Brussels.
Stafford Scott (Monitoring Group, London),
Stafford is a key figure in numerous black community and family justice campaigns. He was a co-founder of the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign in 1985, and many other campaigns since 1985. He is currently Director of Tottenham Rights CIC. A race advocacy worker he also previously led work on Undercover Policing at The Monitoring Group.
The exposure of undercover police adds a new sinister dimension to the state repression he has devoted himself to opposing, with campaigns being infiltrated and undermined by officers.
Local Family member targeted by state authorities.
Simon Byrne, Chief Constable of the PSNI in September 2019, said when speaking about Irish Republicans, “My message to them is ‘you carry on doing this, we will have your house, if you keep going, we will have your car, we will have your kids, we will have your benefits and we will put you in jail’.” A local family, collectively targeted by the PSNI and MI5, will voice their concerns and document their experiences of violent house raids, alleged verbal and physical assaults, vexatious referrals to social services concerning their fitness as parents, having bank accounts frozen and welfare benefits obstructed and other practices which they firmly believe amount to human rights abuses.
Chair: Sheila Coleman (Hillsborough Justice Campaign)
Sheila has played a leading role in the Justice campaigning along with the families of the 1989 Hillsborough atrocity, in which 96 Liverpool football supporters were killed due to police contempt for their lives. Hillsborough, like Bloody Sunday, was then the subject of a conspiracy by corrupt police officers and Tory politicians to cover up the truth. Shiela has never hesitated to make the point that Hillsborough that it reflected the same attitudes on the part of the establishment as are also seen in other scandals, including Bloody Sunday.
Venue: Pilots Row Community Centre, Rossville Street