BBC R4 - Graham White\'s \'The Trial Of The Angry Brigade

BBC R4 - Graham White's 'The Trial Of The Angry Brigade'
Produced by Peter Kavanagh
Broadcast August 9, 2002
Coded from tape at 128/44.1

The Angry Brigade. Britain's own urban guerillas. Libertarian socialists. Genteel
by comparison with Italy's Red Brigades and West Germany's Red Army Faction
(Baader-Meinhof Gang). Active in the late 60s/early 70s. Made symbolic attacks
on property (not people) - embassies of repressive regimes, boutiques (including
Biba), police stations, army barracks, government departments, and the homes of
Cabinet ministers, the Attorney General & the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

It's not publicly known how many attacks they made - for a while their activities
were concealed. Research implies that there were about 200. It was the Brigade's own
ideology rather than the police that stopped them. They took direct action because -
in their view - the old left had failed to bring change. But this view was transformed
when the 1974 strikes brought down Heath's government. In light of what happened under
Thatcher, they were mistaken. But one thing's for certain though, their analysis of the
growing damage consumerism was doing - would continue to do - to society and the planet
was spot on.

Eight people were selected for trial from two branches of a much larger 'community'.
Four were acquitted. The others each got ten years. Their trial was the longest in British
criminal history. And it still looked like a fit-up.

This is a reconstruction of the trial combined with other background information.

Cast Includes
Kenneth Cranham
Juliette Stevenson
Mark Strong

[url]http://recollectionbooks.com/siml/library/AngryBrigade/[/url]
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