Haldane Opposes Riot-Related Evictions

The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers opposes any attempt to evict tenants for the actions of members of their family, especially when those actions do not impact on their neighbours' lives.

We protest at threats by Wandsworth Council to start eviction proceedings against a council tenant on the apparent basis that a member of her family might have been involved in some of the rioting committed in the second week of August 2011. We believe that subjecting a family to eviction constitutes collective punishment of the whole family for the alleged actions of one individual. If the individual has committed a crime, he or she should be subject to the usual penalties through the criminal justice system. His or her family should not be made homeless.
We will be responding to the government's consultation on extending social landlords' powers to seek possession for criminality and anti-social behaviour and expressing our opposition to those proposals. We call upon social landlords not to penalise their tenants for the actions of those who live with them.

The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers fully supports the industrial action called by PCS and other unions on 30th June 2011.

PCS Ministry of Justice workers, including Court workers will be taking strike action to resist cuts to their pensions, increases in their pension contributions and more years to work until they get them. This is all part of the cuts to legal services which will close courts permanently, create redundancies amongst court staff, close Law Centres and CABx, cut Legal Aid so denying access to justice for all but the rich and driving lawyers from publicly funded work.

On 30th June some Courts will be closed and there will certainly be picket-lines at any that remain open. We encourage our members to show solidarity with the striking Court workers by respecting the picket-lines so long as that does not breach members' professional duties. This situation has been explained to PCS who understand the constraints on practising lawyers under a professional duty to attend court but who would not wish to cross a picket line. Members can express their solidarity with the PCS in other ways, in particular by making a donation to the Ministry of Justice Group hardship fund (see the statement below for details).

Members are urged to make arrangements before 30th June to avoid, if possible, the need for their attendance at court on that day so long as the interests of their clients are protected. If you have no alternative but to attend court on 30th June take this statement with you and show it to the PCS steward. We would encourage members who find that they do have to appear in Court on 30th June to consider donating some of their personal remuneration to the strike hardship fund.

PCS will be holding over 50 rallies, marches and picnics all around the country on 30 June.

Here are the details:

http://www.pcs.org.uk In Central London, PCS will assemble at 11am, at Lincoln Inn Fields, WC2A 3TL.  Music provided by Love Music Hate Racism. March to Westminster Central Hall, Storeys Gate, London. SW1H 9NH, for a rally at 1pm. Speakers include union general secretaries - Christine Blower (NUT), Mary Bousted (ATL), Sally Hunt (UCU), and Mark Serwotka (PCS); Dot Gibson of the National Pensioners Convention; and Labour MP John McDonnell. Please try and attend one of the events in your area.

PCS has been an active player in the campaigns to save legal aid, giving evidence at Haldane Society's Commission of Inquiry into Legal Aid in February. Many Haldane members are either directly employed by public authorities or, as legal aid practitioners, are effectively public servants. The battle to save public sector pensions is part of the battle to retain the welfare state, under attack by the Coalition government. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in the PCS and other public sector unions.

Details of the event can be found here, and the poster can be downloaded here

Haldane Society supports Defend the Right to Protest and those students and staff arrested protesting against David Willetts

This letter has been initiated by activists of the Defend the Right to Protest Campaign. To sign the letter please use the e-petition or e-mail mark.bergfeld@nus.org.uk

On late Monday afternoon, a hundred students and staff from SOAS and the University of London assembled to protest against Universities Minister David Willetts' visit to the college.

In order to avoid a repetition of what happened to A.C.Grayling's lecture at Foyles bookstore, or Richard Dawkins at the Institute of Education SOAS management had not listed the event on its website. In addition, SOAS management flouted the fact that both the Students' Union and UCU at SOAS have voted motions of no confidence in David Willetts. Instead they invited the police onto college grounds to guard the door to the Brunei Gallery.

Asserting their democratic right to protest, students and staff entered the building and occupied the foyer of the lecture hall in which Willetts was speaking. Once the occupation had ended the police arrested a student, and went over to arrest three more. Police were using batons, they erected metal barriers outside the Brunei Gallery and one plain clothes police officer was spotted giving hand signals to the police. The police's actions were provocative, violent and turned a good-natured protest into a scene of mayhem.

The events of yesterday are indeed worrying as they show once again the brutal methods the police will employ in order to quell dissent on the streets and on our campuses. It seems that now, every time the student' and trade union movement calls a protest, the police abuse their powers to intimidate and attack people taking part.

On June 30th, up to one million public sector workers will be striking in defence of their pensions and livelihoods. Yesterday's attacks on our right to protest resemble the arrests before the Royal Wedding and in the run-up to March 26th.

We pledge to defend and assert our right to protest, and demand:
- SOAS management instigate a full independent investigation with the involvement of student and staff from the college into what happened at the demonstration
- the police drop all charges against the arrested protesters
- An end to political policing