Learning from Kenmure Street
5 years ago today Glasgow citizens foiled a UK immigration raid
Most folk are now familiar with what happened in Kenmure Street, Glasgow, on 13th May 2021,when a dawn raid by UK immigration enforcers to remove two residents for deportation was foiled by a peaceful citizen’s sit-down, leading to the release of the two detained men. The documentary Everybody to Kenmure Street takes you right inside the event, is completely absorbing and is an excellent account of a day which gladdens the heart.
Not so many people know that the success of that determined act depended on a local community already united, an already established network of communication, lots of local preparation for responding to dawn raids, the readiness of so many to put their bodies in the way, plus a well organised legal support system in case anyone should face arrest. All in all it was an amazing act of resistance to the UK’s brutal immigration system and it resonated far and wide. It was a collective act that expressed a general aspiration for the kind of community people want Scotland to be.
In May 2021 a new Scottish government was about to be formed and the response of the incoming First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice might well have been key to the good outcome.
Five years later we have a new parliament and (shortly) a new government.
The Kenmure Street story is special but not unique. Think of the protests and peaceful direct action against companies like Leonardo, and the Palestine Action placard people. Going back, a bit recall the mass blockades of the nuclear weapon base at Faslane which had such an influence of the first SNP government. All these and many more share three key elements. They put the powers that be on the spot – dramatically so in Kenmure Street, when Aamer Anwar warned the police that they either backed away or faced another Hillsborough-type disaster. They showed the powers that be that they could count on significant public support if they made the right response. And they are bright examples of how leadership has to come from ordinary citizens.