Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

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John Hamilton
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Joined: 1 Nov 2010 22:30
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Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by John Hamilton »

There will be a chance for sympathisers with Lewisham People Before Profit to meet to plan activities in this part of the borough on Tuesday 15th March at the Wesley Hall Methodist Church at 7.30. Come in the left hand side entrance and through the blue door.
Lewisham People Before Profit is a political party and pressure-group responsible in the main for the Carnival Against Cuts 3 weeks ago and heavily involved in the library protests in Crofton Park and New Cross. Most activists in the group live in Ladywell, Brockley, Telegraph Hill, New Cross, but the level of support in May's local elections (350 votes in Sydenham and similar in Forest Hill) shows that there is broad support across the borough for policies to regenerate Lewisham through a change of direction in the council towards ending privatisation and building homes and expanding industry in the borough.
One topic for Tuesday's meeting will be whether pressure can be applied on Steve Bullock's administration by organising a Council Tax Strike. All welcome.
See http://www.LPBP.org.uk for further information about the group and www.CarnivalAgainstCuts.org.uk for information about the Carnival Against Cuts.
Tim Lund
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Joined: 13 Mar 2008 18:10
Location: Silverdale

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by Tim Lund »

John:

It's interesting that you're going to have this meeting in a church, since from your web site it would seem you once supported the regime in East Germany
I did some supply teaching in Devon before going to work in East Berlin as a radio journalist.

When I came back from Berlin
Source - your profile from the Mayoral campaign last year - http://www.johnhamilton.org.uk/cms/profile.html

And yet it was a people's movement springing from the churches that led to the collapse of that regime
Image

As I'm sure you know:
Every Monday evening, dozens of Stasi agents and contingents of uniformed police would arrive at the Nikolaikirche on the far side of town to keep a close eye on the church’s regular peace prayers. ... the bishop and notable locals—including Kurt Masur, conductor of the famed Gewandhaus orchestra—would make impassioned pleas for a non-violent revolution.

During the Monday prayers of Oct. 9, 1989, the Nikolaikirche was filled to standing-room capacity, and 2,000 people heard the bishop’s call to march on the Runde Ecke—but he had one condition. Everyone must carry a candle in both hands, because if you are carrying a candle you cannot carry a weapon, and if you are not carrying a weapon you give the authorities no excuse to stop you.

When the worshippers exited the church, they were met by ten of thousands of other Leipzigers.
Every single one of them was carrying a candle.

In all, some 70,000 Leipzigers marched up the ring road around the Old City to the Runde Ecke. As Horst Sindermann, member of the GDR’s central committe, later remarked: “We had planned everything. We were prepared for everything. But not for candles and prayers.”
For more, read here http://www.runde-ecke-leipzig.de/index.php?id=76&L=1

So which people were you with then, and which are you with now?
Eagle
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Joined: 7 Oct 2004 06:36
Location: F Hill

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by Eagle »

I wish people would stop stirring up trouble and costing us more in policing.

Fact
We have overspent for at least a decade. I know not the fault of everyone but the whole country will have to pay the Bill
Fact
There are only limited resources in the world so as others get richer our vast imports of food and raw materials will rise and rise.
Times will be harder. Always amazed me that people on average income seemed to think it it their birthright to go on 3 or 4 overseas holidays a year.
Also so called GAP years . Where did this come from and how can people afford it.


We know times will get tough but endless meetings of left wing sandal weares probably on good state subsidised pensions jobs.

Rather than waste this time and money why not volunteer your time to assist in some of the services that have to be cut.
Tim Lund
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Joined: 13 Mar 2008 18:10
Location: Silverdale

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by Tim Lund »

Eagle:

Please be fair to John. He is not in a state subsidised job, and doubt very much if he goes on that many foreign holidays a year, if any.
Annie
Posts: 1187
Joined: 13 May 2006 11:08
Location: Sydenham

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by Annie »

"I wish people would stop stirring up trouble and costing us more in policing.

Fact
We have overspent for at least a decade. I know not the fault of everyone but the whole country will have to pay the Bill
Fact
There are only limited resources in the world so as others get richer our vast imports of food and raw materials will rise and rise.
Times will be harder. "

Eagle I agree with you on most of your post,
I wish people would stop moaning and get on with it,We are all paying the price of the idiots who wasted and misspent our money,
I am not well off, a Banker or anything else, just a normal every day tax payer, but I can accept what needs to be done.
Robin Orton
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Joined: 9 Sep 2008 07:30
Location: London SE26

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by Robin Orton »

John:

It's interesting that you're going to have this meeting in a church, since from your web site it would seem you once supported the regime in East Germany [...] And yet it was a people's movement springing from the churches that led to the collapse of that regime [...] So which people were you with then, and which are you with now?
Tim, I don't think it's fair to accuse Mr Hamilton of pretending to be a Christian just because he hires a church hall to have a meeting in. So do lots of badminton clubs, playgroups, Pilates classes etc etc....
John Hamilton
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Joined: 1 Nov 2010 22:30
Location: NULL

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by John Hamilton »

Just a quick entry to say that the meeting on Tuesday will now be held in the back room of The Golden Lion as the Wesley Hall Methodist Church apparently decided not to allow a political meeting in their church, but I didn't get the message until Friday.
I'm not sure what Tim Lund is trying to get at: why shouldn't a meeting be held in a church. When I lived in East Germany I had many friends who were part of the movement to improve the country and most of that organisation happened through churches. Most of these people did not want the country to be absorbed into West Germany, though.
If you can't make Tuesday then we also have a public meeting in the United Reformed Church, Bellingham Green tonight (Monday 14th) at 7.30pm. Our candidate in the Bellingham Bye-Election, Ian Page, will be there and we will be forming a People Before Profit group for South Lewisham.
Tim Lund
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Joined: 13 Mar 2008 18:10
Location: Silverdale

Re: Lewisham People Before Profit hold Sydenham meeting

Post by Tim Lund »

John:

I'm sorry that the Wesley Hall felt unable to host your meeting - I would have had had no problem with renting any venue I managed to LPBP. I'm also pleased to see that the United Reform Church in Bellingham takes a more liberal line, especially as this is the church my family attended as a child, and where I was first able to take part in a democratic process, voting for a new minister. For the benefit of Robin & Michael, this is the sort of thing I was getting at in the thread on Methodism vs Marxism.

But I'm puzzled you weren't clear what I was trying to get at here. When Robin suggested I was accusing you of being a Christian, I thought it was mere facetiousness. For you to think I thought you should not use a free local market for public space hiring, for some ideological reason, is just perverse.

What I was trying to get at was something from you on you attitude to the Stasi regime in the former East Germany. So, to restate the question, did you support the regime at any time, and did you regret its eventual demise in 1989?
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