On Saturday evening, up to 200 squatters and No Borders activists held an
unauthorised demonstration in the city centre. Accompanied by Rhythms of Resistance
and two soundsystems mounted on bike trailers, they marched from Victoria
Station into the Northern Quarter, along Market Street and Kings Street,
through Spinningfields into Castlefield.
The demonstration highlighted the ridiculousness of hundreds of houses
standing empty, while many of us face extortionate rents, mortgage
repayments or eviction threats. A participant said: “It was about time
that someone protested about the invisible borders that divide the city
into rich and poor”.
At the end of the march in Castlefields, the protesters succeeded in
taking symbolic action against the redevelopment of the area. As they
arrived at the old Jackson’s Wharf pub, they entered the abandoned
building and brought it back to life for a couple of hours of celebration.
This event in Manchester coincided with dozens of building occupations,
protests and street parties across Europe, in cities as diverse as London,
Amsterdam, Vienna and Prague. Worldwide, tens of thousands attended.
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