By Michael Holden - Monday, February 23, 2009

LONDON - Police said on Monday they feared a "summer of rage" with mass protests over the economic crisis that could mar Prime Minister Gordon Brown's G20 summit in London in April...Anti-globalisation protesters, environmental activists and anti-war demonstrators are all planning events before and during the meeting of world leaders.

SchNEWS; Friday 13th February 2009 - Issue 666

The trouble with liberal outrage is that it’s so predictable. It’s OK to defend the free speech and movement of people who represent no threat to the status quo. If anyone’s in a position to effect actual radical change however then it’s OK for the gloves to come off. Will the Convention for Modern Liberty or the House of Lords be troubling themselves with the vicious sentences handed down to animal rights activists?...Our movements are under attack. It’s useful to have allies but ultimately...they have their agendas and we have ours[.]

By John Newsinger - December 2008

British subordination to the United States, the so-called special relationship as it is optimistically known in London, is so taken for granted that it is seldom subjected to critical scrutiny. Why is it that the British ruling class and its agents have since 1945 come to embrace a junior partnership in the U.S. empire so wholeheartedly? Most recently, the “special relationship” has seen the New Labor government actively support and take part in the invasion and occupation of Iraq in the face of a hostile public opinion.

By Emily Dugan - Sunday, 8 February 2009

They are the iPod generation of students: politically apathetic, absorbed by selfish consumerism, dedicated to a few years of hedonism before they land a lucrative job in the City. Not any more. A seismic change is taking place in British universities...Around the UK, thousands of students have occupied lecture theatres, offices and other buildings at more than 20 universities in sit-down protests. It seems that the spirit of 1968 has returned to the campus.

Tuesday, 10 February 2009 - The Independent

Britain is facing its worst financial crisis for more than a century, surpassing even the Great Depression of the 1930s, one of [Prime Minister] Gordon Brown's most senior ministers and confidants has admitted...In an extraordinary admission about the severity of the economic downturn, Ed Balls even predicted that its effects would still be felt 15 years from now. The Schools Secretary's comments carry added weight because he is a former chief economic adviser to the Treasury and regarded as one of the Prime Ministers's closest allies.

By SchNEWS - Friday 6th February 2009

From 16th February it will be punishable by up to ten years in [jail] to “elicit or attempt to elicit information about members of the armed forces, intelligence services or policemen, where this information could be of use to a terrorist.” This rather vaguely worded term...is another of the government’s and police’s rather sweeping authoritarian laws that is just one more attack on traditional civil liberties.

By Mark Steel - February 03, 2009

The decision of the British Broadcasting Corporation to not air an appeal for aid to Gaza exposes which side the media are on.

By DEEPAK TRIPATHI - January 26, 2009

A few days ago, the Disasters Emergency Committee of the United Kingdom, an umbrella group of thirteen leading charities, came out with a plan to launch a television appeal to raise funds for humanitarian relief in Gaza...The BBC refused to broadcast their appeal.

By Chris Arnot - Tuesday 20 January 2009

...[I]n 2005 and 2006, this Israeli son of German-Jewish emigrants found himself in the eye of a storm that would lead him to leave the country of his birth and seek sanctuary in the English west country...he had been condemned in the Israeli parliament...[T]he minister of education had publicly called for him to be sacked; and his pictures had appeared in the country's biggest-selling newspaper at the centre of a target. Next to it, a popular columnist addressed his readers thus: "I'm not telling you to kill this person, but I shouldn't be surprised if someone did."

SchNEWS; Friday 16th January 2009 - Issue 662

A young Jewish man was arrested in London on Sunday (11th) after singing at the Chief Rabbi of Britain, Jonathan Sacks, during his speech at an End Hamas Terror (pro-Israel) rally.

By Brian Klug - 15 January 2009

Israel's war in Gaza has multiple meanings. First and foremost, for Palestinians on the ground it is the scene of terror and devastation. It has ratcheted up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by several notches. It poses a threat to the peace of the region and beyond. And it has brought to a head a crisis in Judaism itself, a crisis centred on Israel that threatens to tear Jewry apart.

A collective statement by UK-based academics and writers - January, 16 2009

It is not enough...to call for another ceasefire, or for additional humanitarian assistance. It is not enough to urge the renewal of dialogue, and to acknowledge the concerns and suffering of both sides. If we believe in the principle of democratic self-determination, if we affirm the right to resist military aggression and colonial occupation, then we are obliged to take sides - against Israel, and with the people of Gaza and the West Bank...We must do what we can to stop Israel from winning its war.

By Gerry Hassan, Anthony Barnett - 2009-01-05

In an extract from: 'Breaking Out of Britain's Neo-Liberal State [1]' published as a Compass Thinkpiece [2] today, and based on their original openDemocracy essay in OurKingdom, Gerry Hassan and Anthony Barnett identify seven key steps towards the renewal of British democracy.