Fitwatch website has been suspended for “attempting to pervert the course of justice” after host were contacted by the Met. Pass On PLEASE This is all we know at this time.. If you saved know any one who saved any content please please get in touch..

Blog was suspended on request of Acting Detective Inspector Will Hodgeson from CO11 as part of Op Malone

More information and new web address to follow soon.

Fitwatch – e-mail: info@fitwatch.org

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The remarkable and brilliant student action at Millbank has produced some predictable frothing at the mouth from the establishment and right wing press. Cameron has called for the ‘full weight of the law’ to fall on those who had caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage to the expensive decor at Tory party HQ. Responsibility is being placed on ‘a violent faction’, after the march was ‘infiltrated’ by anarchists.

There are an encouraging number of intiatives to show solidarity with the arrested students – something that is vital if they are to avoid the sort of punitive ‘deterrent’ sentences handed out to the Gaza demonstrators. A legal support group has been established and the National Campaign against Cuts and Fees has started a support campaign. Goldsmiths lecturers union has publicly commended the students for a ‘magnificent demonstration’ .

This is all much needed, as the establishment is clearly on the march with this one. The Torygraph has published an irresponsible and frenzied ‘shop-a-student’ piece and the Met are clearly under pressure to produce ‘results’ after what they have admitted was a policing ‘embarrassment’.

51 people have been arrested so far, and the police have claimed they took the details of a further 250 people in the kettle using powers under the Police Reform Act. There may be more arrests to come.

Students who are worried should consider taking the following actions:

If you have been arrested, or had your details taken – contact the legal support campaign. As a group you can support each other, and mount a coherent campaign.

If you fear you may be arrested as a result of identification by CCTV, FIT or press photography;

DONT panic. Press photos are not necessarily conclusive evidence, and just because the police have a photo of you doesn’t mean they know who you are.

DONT hand yourself in. The police often use the psychological pressure of knowing they have your picture to persuade you to ‘come forward’. Unless you have a very pressing reason to do otherwise, let them come and find you, if they know who you are.

DO get rid of your clothes. There is no chance of suggesting the bloke in the video is not you if the clothes he is wearing have been found in your wardrobe. Get rid of ALL clothes you were wearing at the demo, including YOUR SHOES, your bag, and any distinctive jewellery you were wearing at the time. Yes, this is difficult, especially if it is your only warm coat or decent pair of boots. But it will be harder still if finding these clothes in your flat gets you convicted of violent disorder.

DONT assume that because you can identify yourself in a video, a judge will be able to as well. ‘That isn’t me’ has got many a person off before now.

DO keep away from other demos for a while. The police will be on the look-out at other demos, especially student ones, for people they have put on their ‘wanted’ list. Keep a low profile.

DO think about changing your appearance. Perhaps now is a good time for a make-over. Get a haircut and colour, grow a beard, wear glasses. It isn’t a guarantee, but may help throw them off the scent.

DO keep your house clean. Get rid of spray cans, demo related stuff, and dodgy texts / photos on your phone. Don’t make life easy for them by having drugs, weapons or anything illegal in the house.

DO get the name and number of a good lawyer you can call if things go badly. The support group has the names of recommended lawyers on their site. Take a bit of time to read up on your rights in custody, especially the benefits of not commenting in interview.

DO be careful who you speak about this to. Admit your involvement in criminal damage / disorder ONLY to people you really trust.

DO try and control the nerves and panic. Waiting for a knock on the door is stressful in the extreme, but you need to find a way to get on with business as normal.

Otherwise you’ll be serving the sentence before you are even arrested.

FUCK THE POLICE PASS IT ON PLEASE:

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Doncaster is an area that is going to be particularly hard hit by the forthcoming cuts. The Tories ravaged our communities a quarter of a century ago and now the ConDem coalition seems determined to finish what they started. Thousands of jobs are at risk and those who find themselves on the dole will be threatened with the new draconian welfare laws. Our kids education and further education is under threat as essential funding is withdrawn from the area and tuition fees are raised. Our one-star council is already one of the worst in the country (among the bottom 4!) and now things look like they’re about to get a whole lot worse.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can work together to create a brighter future for our region. The collection of towns and villages that make up Doncaster are filled with immensely talented people, relatively strong communities and the skills and resources needed to organise a strong local infrastructure which would protect us from the ravishes of the cuts and help us build a better future for our kids.

It may be unfashionable nowadays but we have hope. Politicians of every creed recognise that there is a widespread desire – and need – for political change, but all we ever get from political parties is more of the same. Parliament, MPs and local government cannot deliver, they are tools of the rich and powerful; change will only come, as it always has, from the people themselves. As Peter Kropotkin said: “It is the action of minorities, action continued, renewed without ceasing, which brings about this transformation. Courage, devotion, the spirit of self-sacrifice are as contagious as cowardice, submission and panic.” The welfare state and all the liberties and rights that we currently enjoy were not freely granted by benevolent leaders (there’s no such thing!), they are concessions hard won with the blood, sweat and lives of generations of working class people – your ancestors – who showed the courage, devotion and self-sacrifice needed to bring about real change (get yourself a copy of E. P. Thompson’s ‘The Making of the English Working Class‘ to find out just how wonderful they were). If we lose ground now we will have let them down; do you want to be remembered as a generation frozen by cowardice, submission and panic?  If not then you’d better get organised. Join the anti-cuts protests; support the students; show solidarity with the unemployed. Then, when we’ve stopped the ConDem juggernaut, we must work together to build something better for the next generation. As Ghandi said: ‘you must be the change you want to see in the world.’