London 2012: the Games and its discontents
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) protest. Photograph: Pete Riches
With only days before the curtain opens on the Olympics, a number of groups intend to shout above the clamour of euphoria and draw attention to the sinister side of London 2012.
Last month, as the audience settled into their seats at an RSC staging of Comedy of Errors at the Roundhouse, a trio of players took to the stage to give an unexpected performance. To the cries of ‘out, damn logo,’ spectators were invited to rip the emblem of BP (official RSC and Olympic sponsor) from their programme.
Jess Worth, one of the troupe and co-founder of the UK Tar Sands Network, explains: “The extraction of oil from Canada’s tar sands by BP and other oil companies has been labelled the most destructive project on earth.”
The UK Tar Sands Network condemns BP’s sponsorship of the arts and now aims to focus on their position as London 2012’s ‘sustainability partner’. Further public interventions are planned in the run-up to and during the Games.
“There are no ethical criteria regarding who sponsors the Olympics. We want to see organisations like the IOC adopting ethical sponsorship policies to see if they are appropriate to the values that the Olympics supposedly espouse.”
Hosting the Olympics inevitably prompts an increased security presence but residents of East London perhaps never imagined that their roofs would become the site of surface-to-air missiles. Confirmed sites include the Frank Wigg tower in Waltham Forest and William Girling Reservoir in the Lea Valley Reservoir Chain. Many residents have complained that they were not asked their views on the matter and so the campaign group Stop the Olympic Missiles (StOM) was born.
Campaign organiser Chris Nineham said: “The whole decision-making process was shrouded in mystery. The Olympics are a sporting event which historically was set up to foster peace and co-operation amongst nations. The British government is turning this into a military circus and global festival for the security industry. Also, if the MOD doesn’t already have a system in place to deal with unidentified flying objects flying over East London, then they should all be sacked.”
A resident of the Bow Quarter estate submitted a legal challenge to the owners of Lexington Building in Fairfield Road, Tower Hamlets, a confirmed missile site, about the legality of the action.
It failed, but campaigners remain unshaken – StOM will be holding regular community events to raise awareness of the MOD’s efforts and they claim many hundreds of supporters.
“The moment we see the missiles entering our estates, we will call on everyone to come down and form a blockade.”
As the name suggests, the Fattylympics was setup by two ‘fat activists’ as a fun and inclusive way to challenge stereotypes.
“Fat activism can be the things that people do to support the idea that body size diversity is part of the fabric of humanity and that fatness is no tragedy, ” said spokesperson Charlotte Cooper.
“When we heard in 2005 that London would host the Olympics, we knew there would be a load of rhetoric about fat, bodies, athleticism, especially regarding children because, both then and now, there is a moral panic about obesity underway. So the Fattylympics is a reaction to this. It will be a community event, and a protest, a joke that’s also serious.”
While not an overtly anti-Olympic group, the campaigning body Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) are up in arms over the sponsorship of the Paralympic Games by an IT firm whose healthcare company conducts controversial assessments for disability benefits. A number of seriously ill people say they have been erroneously told that they are fit to work and consequently denied payments.
Representative Linda Burnip said: “We think that it is inappropriate that a firm that makes money from destroying disabled people’s lives with their tick-box assessment system is an official sponsor of the Paralympic Games. We have heard of the case of a man in Dundee found fit to work who is deaf blind and tube-fed. Surely GPs are in a better place to decide on whether patients are able to work or not?”
In the weeks leading up to the Games, DPAC will be planning marches, drama productions based on the assessment tests as well as a memorial for those that they say have died as a result of the firm’s procedures.
There will be a barrage of astronomically-priced merchandise and sportswear on show and on sale during the Olympics, and the Playfair 2012 campaign shines a light on the working conditions of those at the less glamorous end of the production line.
After investigations into the conditions of factories across Asia producing several Olympic items, Playfair 2012 claim that they have uncovered unsafe conditions, pittance wages and illegal overtime, much of it performed by children.
They are encouraging the public to take part in stunts and actions that draw attention to workers’ human rights worldwide and are producing action packs to facilitate this during the Games and the Olympic torch procession.
The Counter Olympic Network serves as the largest platform for groups with axes to grind over the Olympics. They recently announced a march and rally that will be held on 28 July billed as a ‘family friendly protest’ that is set to feature over 30 organisations.
The weather may be unpredictable but, with a growing list of dissenters, Olympic organisers are sure to feel the heat this summer.
For more about the campaigning organisations go to :