3 ms·

Given your username, I'm curious. Are there many left anarchist activists in the UK at the moment? I had some tenuous contact with the ACF in the late-90s, but

by Veen 6y ago

Given your username, I'm curious. Are there many left anarchist activists in the UK at the moment? I had some tenuous contact with the ACF in the late-90s, but it doesn't seem a very active or impactful part of the political landscape.

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Many? No. There was a very concerted and covert anti-left push during the 80s and 90s. Anti-establishment groups of all kinds - anti-nuclear protesters, greens, animal rights activists, and official far left groups like the SWP - were infiltrated by undercover police and sometimes subverted. It's an ongoing scandal, although it's been lost in the noise from other events over the last year or two. Undercover police with fake identities had relationships with activists and sometimes fathered children with them. In some cases they worked internationally and were responsible for criminal acts (i.e. terrorism) which discredited the organisations and movements they infiltrated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_undercover_policing_relationships_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_undercover_policing_relatio... It's hard not to suspect the apologies are disingenuous. The plan was to subvert, marginalise, and discredit left wing views, and to destroy left wing organisations of all kinds. And it seems to have been very successful.
- KaiserPro 6y ago
  > Undercover police with fake identities had relationships with activists and sometimes fathered children with them. whilst I suspect this happened in the 80s as well, the actual case that was prosecuted was from the early 2000s > were responsible for criminal acts (i.e. terrorism) which discredited the organisations and movements they infiltrated. Our dealings with the unionists in NI are a particular dark stain. Now sadly legalised by this new intelligence bill. (simplification, but its not a good bill.) > destroy left wing organisations of all kinds. Much as this is nice to believe, having worked in a number of left wing organisations, they are perfectly capable of imploding by them selves. It appears that they attract a certain kind of idiot, who is exceptionally well adapted at persuading other middle-class idiots that black is blue. Right-wing organisations also implode, but in a different way. Ironically they tend to have more "real" working class people in them too.
  - cool_dude85 6y ago
    >Much as this is nice to believe, having worked in a number of left wing organisations, they are perfectly capable of imploding by them selves. It appears that they attract a certain kind of idiot, who is exceptionally well adapted at persuading other middle-class idiots that black is blue. This doesn't speak to his point at all. He's not saying all left-wing groups that have been destroyed were destroyed by infiltrators. He's saying that that was the purpose of the infiltration by law enforcement. The fact that orgs can be destroyed by other factors is true but totally irrelevant.
Emma_Goldman 6y ago
They have their causes - Occupy, Rojeve, anti-fascism, mutual aid groups - but no serious political strategy or organisation. A lot of the student movement and extra-parliamentary left abandoned their traditional antipathy of Labour and came into the party after Corbyn's election.
- simonh 6y ago
  Any sign that the flow is reversing?
- nicoburns 6y ago
  > They have their causes - Occupy, Rojeve, anti-fascism, mutual aid groups - but no serious political strategy or organisation Extinction Rebellion is arguably the most significant in recent times. I expect that movement will pick up again post-pandemic.
antihero 6y ago
There used to be a decent amount of book shops and punk gigs. There's IWW and Solidarity Federation, not sure how active. There's also a bunch of Marxist and other varios left-wing philosophically based groups. There used to be a great group called Space Hijackers who bought an APC and drove it through the G20 but that was 11 years ago, they were kinda Situationist. There was UK Uncut. I think a lot of groups end up just being overwhelmed with the amount of awful shit the Tories do and how apathetic/ignorant our population is. London Renters Union is a new and amazing left-wing group, not necessarily anarchist, but not ML or Trot either.

by Veen 6y ago

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago

Many? No. There was a very concerted and covert anti-left push during the 80s and 90s. Anti-establishment groups of all kinds - anti-nuclear protesters, greens, animal rights activists, and official far left groups like the SWP - were infiltrated by undercover police and sometimes subverted. It's an ongoing scandal, although it's been lost in the noise from other events over the last year or two. Undercover police with fake identities had relationships with activists and sometimes fathered children with them. In some cases they worked internationally and were responsible for criminal acts (i.e. terrorism) which discredited the organisations and movements they infiltrated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_undercover_policing_relationships_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_undercover_policing_relatio... It's hard not to suspect the apologies are disingenuous. The plan was to subvert, marginalise, and discredit left wing views, and to destroy left wing organisations of all kinds. And it seems to have been very successful.

KaiserPro 6y ago
> Undercover police with fake identities had relationships with activists and sometimes fathered children with them. whilst I suspect this happened in the 80s as well, the actual case that was prosecuted was from the early 2000s > were responsible for criminal acts (i.e. terrorism) which discredited the organisations and movements they infiltrated. Our dealings with the unionists in NI are a particular dark stain. Now sadly legalised by this new intelligence bill. (simplification, but its not a good bill.) > destroy left wing organisations of all kinds. Much as this is nice to believe, having worked in a number of left wing organisations, they are perfectly capable of imploding by them selves. It appears that they attract a certain kind of idiot, who is exceptionally well adapted at persuading other middle-class idiots that black is blue. Right-wing organisations also implode, but in a different way. Ironically they tend to have more "real" working class people in them too.
- cool_dude85 6y ago
  >Much as this is nice to believe, having worked in a number of left wing organisations, they are perfectly capable of imploding by them selves. It appears that they attract a certain kind of idiot, who is exceptionally well adapted at persuading other middle-class idiots that black is blue. This doesn't speak to his point at all. He's not saying all left-wing groups that have been destroyed were destroyed by infiltrators. He's saying that that was the purpose of the infiltration by law enforcement. The fact that orgs can be destroyed by other factors is true but totally irrelevant.

Emma_Goldman 6y ago

They have their causes - Occupy, Rojeve, anti-fascism, mutual aid groups - but no serious political strategy or organisation. A lot of the student movement and extra-parliamentary left abandoned their traditional antipathy of Labour and came into the party after Corbyn's election.

simonh 6y ago
Any sign that the flow is reversing?
nicoburns 6y ago
> They have their causes - Occupy, Rojeve, anti-fascism, mutual aid groups - but no serious political strategy or organisation Extinction Rebellion is arguably the most significant in recent times. I expect that movement will pick up again post-pandemic.

antihero 6y ago

There used to be a decent amount of book shops and punk gigs. There's IWW and Solidarity Federation, not sure how active. There's also a bunch of Marxist and other varios left-wing philosophically based groups. There used to be a great group called Space Hijackers who bought an APC and drove it through the G20 but that was 11 years ago, they were kinda Situationist. There was UK Uncut. I think a lot of groups end up just being overwhelmed with the amount of awful shit the Tories do and how apathetic/ignorant our population is. London Renters Union is a new and amazing left-wing group, not necessarily anarchist, but not ML or Trot either.