Catalyst newssheet for August 2005

Double Jeopardy!
The Home Office have refused to grant permission for a Liverpool CAB worker to stay in the UK. They plan to send him back to Afghanistan where he could face persecution and danger.
Even though Shah is married to Heather, a British citizen, this doesn’t seem to count, for he has been told, "removal to Afghanistan will not interfere with [his] family life." Even though the Foreign Office strongly advises against British citizens travelling to Afghanistan due to the high risks of terrorism, kidnappings and suicide bombings; not to mention extreme dangers and difficulties a Western woman living there would face.
Heather and Shah are due to go to the civil immigration court on 9 August 2005. Heather, Shah and their friends and supporters in Liverpool have set up a campaign to try and persuade Tony McNulty, Minister for Immigration to allow them to remain in the UK. The campaign aims to put pressure on the Home Office and to inform people of the way immigration control is handled in this country: dividing families and couples with no regard for the human rights or private lives of those involved. If you want know more look at: http://www.labournet.net
To offer messages of support or solidarity: heatherbullen@yahoo.co.uk

Busking becomes sanitised
In an outrageous move (which totally misses the point of why people busk) Liverpool City Council are to licence busking.
They say this is to make sure shoppers are entertained by regulated performers. Ten city centre sites have been designated open air stages for musicians, magicians and mime artists.
In a bid to make Liverpool the capital of UK street entertainment, performers will have to pay around £100 to be licensed and given regulated time slots. Competitions will be held to attract the best artists to the city.
How sanitised and controlled is that? You will have to book to perform!
The Capital of Culture team seem to have little idea that this plan will destroy culture and prostitute art.

'Better regulation' more pollution!
The government is proposing to remove pollution controls from thousands of small businesses as part of its deregulation strategy, threatening its own targets on air quality.
About 10,000 people a year in the UK die prematurely because of particulates in the air. Small industrial processes are among the largest emitters of these substances. But because of cost, the government want to roll back legislation (which is not very tough anyway) and go back to the old system of nuisance laws.
Using their double speak language they call this ‘better regulation’.
For more info: www.guardian.co.uk/waste

ID madness
ID cards will create new and vicious social divisions and discrimination. The Passport Office is opening 70 new centres across the country to process the first wave of ID registration at an estimated personal cost of £93. People will be required to travel to centres at their own expense, with the right documents and the money to pay. If they are disabled, marginalised, ill or confused they will experience difficulties in doing so. Many will simply give up. If they do, the government can fine them £2,500.
To get involved in the campaign against the introduction of ID cards, Liverpool Defy ID holds meetings every Thursday, 6.15pm at News From Nowhere, Bold St.
www.liverpool-defy-id.org.uk

Liverpool Dock dispute 10th Anniversary
In September the Liverpool dockers are planning to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the start of the Docks dispute. The Liverpool Social Forum is inviting activists to join them in organising a week of events - bands, talks, films - around the theme of workers and communities united in struggle.
If you know bands that would play, people who would talk or rant, artists, sources of films and film shorts they can show, or would like to be involved in planning and organising, get in touch: liverpoolsf@yahoogroups.co.uk. We were there, let's celebrate our role in what was a historic struggle.

Book Reviews - The Family/In Praise of Slow/A Hat Full of Sky. Read more