The Violence And Incoherence Of The Entitlement Generation…

Mike Weatherley, who represents Hove, has spoken of his horror after he was “besieged” by up to 100 protestors.

One of his colleagues, an intern, was struck by a rock and another had a punch swung at him as angry scenes broke out yesterday afternoon.

Mr Weatherley was chased from the Asa Briggs Lecture Theatre, across the Falmer campus and sought refuge in a locked building.

Police were called and, surrounded by six officers, Mr Weatherley was escorted out into a waiting riot van.

Yes. You read that right. No arrests.

Rather than drive the violent protesters back, the police convince the people who have a legitimate right to be there that they should remove themselves for their own safety the police’s convenience

They should be ashamed of themselves. As should the ‘Argus’, for giving these protesters a forum.

The people who claimed to have attacked him spoke exclusively to The Argus.

They said: “This is a war. Not a war that we chose, but a war that we are confronted with daily.

“The time for debate is over, closing with the passing of “Weatherley's Law”.

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and poor alike to sleep in empty properties, not to suffer the streets, and to steal warmth.”

It’s the same old tired rhetoric that we've heard so many times before.

A university spokeswoman said: “We are appalled to hear that Mike Weatherley was prevented from speaking on campus by a group of protesters.

"We believe that the violent disruption was led by activist protesters from outside of the university, not by our students.”

They may well have led it, but quite a few of ‘your students’ willingly followed, eh?

As the comments at the Argus’s other article show, the public seem to have had enough of these whining, over-privileged adult children:

Crystal Ball says...

So "Peaceful protests" now escalates to assault with weapons? If students, were they supposed to be at a lecture or "off sick"? Same goes for those that might have jobs but chose not to be there for this purpose. Lots of faces on camera to trace perpetrators.

Well, indeed. If only anyone had the will to do so…

Most of these commenters don’t seem to have the slightest idea about…well, anything, really:

dhamallamafarmer says...

But Wetherley is suppose do t be left wing since he's a member of the Labour Party.

/facepalm

There are some sensible people though:

Mark22 says...

As a student of the Uni i'd like to say that these people don't represent the vast majority of Sussex Students who just want to get on with their studies. This video certainly doesn't show the whole story, and yet only the end of what was a violent and disgusting protest. Some of the people protesting were not even Sussex Students. It is so sad to see that a University, especially one so well regarded as Sussex can no longer be the home for a reasoned and peaceful debate, which was Mike Weatherleys intention in coming to the campus.

That draws a lot of fire from the usual suspects. But there are signs their rhetoric is wearing thin:

AmboGuy says... Chazza65 wrote: stoning is about the only thing these privileged tory mps understand - they won't care two hoots when people evicted from squats freeze to death on the streets this winter - well played sussex students keep up the good work!Yeah the strange thing seems to be that the squatters around Brighton seem to be so hard up they manage to throw parties every night while simultaneously trashing the place they're in. Come one, for god sake this 'most vulnerable members of society' line is getting very tiresome now.

Isn't it just?

Humans Are Not Bees Or Ants, Owen, That’s Why…

Owen Hatherley again. This time extolling the virtues of communal living:

Communes are not, as a rule, taken particularly seriously as possible living arrangements for the majority of the population. For some reason, it is still considered common sense for housing, irrespective of its quality, to be as private as possible.

Well, yes. Just as the privately-owned car will always be superior to public transport.

It’s a bit of a no-brainer really.

But in practice, especially in larger cities, housing is collective by accident. It's not just students – the housing crisis is pushing people into flatsharing into their 30s and beyond.

Ah, yes, the ‘housing crisis’, or rather more accurately, the ‘housing (where houses are too expensive where the jobs are) crisis’…

But luxury flats rented to groups of aspirant junior clerks or sold-off council housing and private rented accommodation subdivided into multiple profitably lettable units both ensure that basic facilities – such as toilets and kitchens – have to be shared, without the space or the design being prepared for that. Could collective housing, where the sharing of communal spaces is assumed from the outset, be the answer?

Probably not, no.

But little Owen’s off to find an example that works, which can then be used to prove the same thing will work in a different country with a different social history:

Berlin's Lebensort Vielfalt (Diverse Living Space) is the kind of housing project that no developer or municipality in the UK would consider for a split second. An LGBT housing scheme, with 60% allocated to older tenants, it's the kind of quietly successful project that undemonstratively shows other ways of living are possible.

In what way is it ‘diverse’ if it only caters to LGBT people?

Meanwhile, squats, long the major laboratory of experiments in group living, are being criminalised, not coincidentally at the time when they're most needed. Squatting is usually – and especially now – a response to emergency, a matter of improvisation, taking somewhere dilapidated, removing the trees growing into the floorboards and getting electricity and drainage working.

But as we’ve seen before, squatting is not – and rarely has been – ‘a response to emergency’. And it rarely results in an improvement to the building, in fact, quite the opposite.

… collective living no longer needs to be attached to a "lifestyle" or an easily parodied stereotype. As the crisis of private housing rages, it looks increasingly sensible.

Then, as I asked before, Owen, where do you live?

Well, Why Don’t You Buy It Then?

The Cross Keys in Chelsea, whose previous patrons include Agatha Christie, Dylan Thomas and Bob Marley, has been empty since it was closed by owner Andrew Bourne earlier this year.

Mr Bourne said the pub was not making a profit and wanted to turn it into a £10 million residence complete with basement swimming pool, but was turned down by planners.

But never fear, there’s always someone willing to take it off your hands! And I do mean ‘take’. As in ‘steal’…

He is now taking legal action to evict the 17 squatters, who moved in two weeks ago and have pledged to open to the community for events, an art gallery, community library and for Sunday lunches.

/facepalm

In a note attached to the outside of the building, which has been boarded up since the summer, the squatters wrote: “Hello neighbours, we are your friendly local squatters. “I can assure you that we are quiet and respectful and we would love to seamlessly become a part of your community. We are keeping your pub safe and tidy until it is going to be used again.”

You mean you’re stealing someone else’s property and expect to be treated like Robin Hood because you’re ‘giving back to the community’?

Does that mean it’s OK for me to burgle next door’s fridge as long as I use it to put on a street party? So nice to know…

The squatters, who are aged between 17 and 36 and moved from a previous squat in Holborn, are not subject to new laws criminalising squatting because they are in a commercial building.

That was a mistake, then, wasn’t it? Why was it drawn up that way? And just who are these cheeky little scamps?

Mariana Costa, 21, a Portuguese theatre student, said: “It is boarded up and empty so we can squat here. We have welcomed many members of the community in and everyone seems quite happy about us being here.”

Really? I’d rather you were back in Portugal.

Or do they deal with thieves less leniently over there? Is that why you’re here in the first place?

Mr Bourne, a property developer, said it was “outrageous” that the squatters could move into the pub, which opened in 1708. He has applied for an eviction order and will go before West London County Court on November 5.

He said: “The notice they have put on the door is rubbish and the police have been called out by neighbours some three times already. It has brought crime to the area.

“They are professional squatters who know exactly what they are doing. They will be gone in a week or so, I think they will probably walk out after November 5.”

I suspect he’s right. These people tend to know just how far they can push things.

The locals who agree to give interviews to the ‘Standard’, however, swear they have no problems with theft, as long as it isn't happening to them:

Residents in Lawrence Street said there had been little disturbance from the squatters at the Cross Keys. Matthew Millett, 30, a property consultant, said: “I would prefer it if they weren't there but they haven’t caused me any nuisance or made me feel unsafe.

“I haven’t seen them but I have seen people talking about them, people are looking a bit upset about it. They seemed to be in there quite quickly once the ruling went against Andrew Bourne.

“The pub is an institution, it is Chelsea’s oldest pub. Too many local pubs have shut, because of its location it is a much-loved pub.”

But clearly not loved enough, or it wouldn't have closed.

Ben Kerrigan, 24, a landscape gardener and electrician, said: “They are quite quiet, we don’t ever see anything of them. Most people in this area want the pub to stay, if it closes there is going to be more crime.”

Really? How come? Are you planning on going out mugging, Ben, now you can't have a pint in the Cross Keys instead?

In an email, the squatters told the Standard: “The people dearly miss having the Cross Keys as a community foundation and we know we can adequately maintain that base for the people.

“After so much effort trying to save this pub, it is our main concern to make this dream come true. The community would be helping us by allowing us to have the Cross Keys and we would help them.”

‘The community’ doesn't own the Cross Keys – Mr Bourne does.

They can’t give it to you. And he doesn't want to.

End of.