Illegal accommodation blockade: Declan writes again to the Home Secretary

This photo was taken at 9.45pm, the time we usually arrive at our sleeping pitch on a derelict highwalk at the back of Salters Hall. It is the first time we have found the lights on upon arrival and it is further confirmation that Salters have been told they can no longer remain impartial as we try to break an illegal accommodation blockade (see previous blog, Salters become more menacing where we sleep at night).

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A few minutes after I took this photo, I went to McDonald's in Moorgate to upload it but I should have remembered we are under surveillance and my laptop is being monitored. I gave up after fifteen minutes:

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This is Declan's email today to Home Secretary Theresa May under the subject title of "City of London Police: Maintenance of an illegal accommodation blockade":

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In this clip, Foreign Secretary William Hague makes out that if you have nothing to hide, you don't have to be afraid of the secret services spying on you. I have a more realistic sound bite: If you have nothing to hide, you still have plenty of reasons to be concerned about the secret services spying on you.

On 14 March we were evicted from our previous flat because according to our then live-in landlady's ex-husband, Dr Nigel McKenzie, a consultant psychiatrist in Highgate Mental Health Centre, our flat was needed for somebody with a mental illness. As Declan mentions in his email to May above, MI5 whistleblower David Shayler also lived with Belinda McKenzie in the same house for a couple of years until 2007. It is unfortunate Shayler then declared that he was the Messiah, became a squatter, and was subsequently ridiculed in the press for changing his name to Delores Kane. A New Statesman article dated 11 September 2006 featuring Shayler and Belinda gives no indication that Shayler believed he was the Messiah at that time; whilst a Daily Mail interview with Shayler explicitly shows he believed himself to be Jesus by June 2007.

The Esquire article below* is mentioned in a Guardian article dated 27 March 2012. It is an eye-opener, highlighting the monitoring and surveillance that Shayler had to live with back in 2000, and the contradictory briefings and slanders that were coming out of the British establishment and the media. The author, Dr Eamonn O'Neill, is a lecturer in journalism at Strathclyde University.

*On 2 May 2013, Issuu removed this pdf from my Issuu account following a copyright complaint by Hearst Communications. I had uploaded the article to my Issuu account in December 2012. A couple of months ago, when last I checked, the article had been viewed more than 15,000 times. It can be viewed here.

BBC PANORAMA: The David Shayler Affair (August 1998)

According to BBC Panorama, Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair". In 2002, he was jailed for seven weeks for breaking the Official Secrets Act.

Salters become more menacing where we sleep at night

Salters have surely been told they can no longer remain impartial as we try to break the illegal accommodation blockade on us. See blog of 17 June for an email on behalf of the Master of Salters Hall, Prof Sir John Holman (of the University of York), stating that our dispute is not with the Salters Company and it would be irresponsible of them to involve the Company with our position. Why on earth, then, would they turn their lights on at 4am in a mid-floor hallway and leave them on?

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At 6.30am, as we are leaving, the derelict highwalk is still deserted:

Despite that we have a deposit and one-months rent to offer a landlord, the Chief Executive of Broadway Homelessness and Support, Howard Sinclair, continues to deny us support accessing the private rented sector on the grounds that our previous accommodation was not within the square mile that is the City of London! This is Declan's email this morning to Commissioner Adrian Leppard on the City of London Police's maintenance of this accommodation blockade by continuing to refuse to ask Broadway to engage with us in relation to our welfare and access to their service for supporting clients to find alternative accommodation:

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I am still upset at the death of Michael Hastings on Tuesday. Hastings was working on a story about the CIA prior to his death, according to LA Weekly. Some people don't seem to want to believe that the US secret services could have assassinated him. But what is our crime? We are just trying to run a website that has the participation of 39 Nobel Prize winners, 13 US National Medal of Science winners and seven prominent members of the House of Lords, among a whole score of other distinguished scholars and intellectuals. Where's the criminality?

Declan's pre-action letter against DWP's non-payment of our jobseeker's allowance

The persecution we are being subjected to seems not only to be illegal and highly abusive, but also bottomless. Now the payment of our Jobseeker's Allowance (£225 every two weeks for the both of us) has been stopped without notification or explanation. This is Declan's pre-action letter to the manager of Barnsbury Jobcentre of the Department for Work and Pensions:

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In 14 days time Declan may have no option but to commence judicial review proceedings in the High Court.

Salters threaten us where we are sleep at night

Prof Sir John Holman is current Master of Salters Hall. He is the former director of the National Science Learning Centre (the UK government's top post in science education) and senior education advisor for the Wellcome Trust.

For the last two months we have been sleeping at the back of Salters Hall on a derelict St Alphage Highwalk, and Salters have remained impartial as we try to break the accommodation blockade we are up against (see yesterday's blog for Declan's email to the Home Secretary under the subject title of "City of London Police's refusal to break accommodation blockade"). In fact, last month we received an email on behalf of Prof Sir John Holman, the Master of the Salters Company, wishing us success in finding suitable accommodation:

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However, it seems that Salters have received an instruction to get involved after Declan's email to the Home Secretary yesterday. When we got up this morning at our usual time of 6.15am, the lights in the mid-floor hallway were fully on and some guy was mopping the floor inside the glass doors. Normally, the building is as black as night at 6.15am and we see no-one in it before we are well gone by 7.40am. I had my phone in a bag so I missed the occurrence. This is a few minutes later and as the photo shows we must surely be the neatest homeless in London!

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Some guy mopping at the early hours of the morning may not mean much to somebody else, but we know exactly where this is heading. As Declan explains in paragraph 19 of his recent complaint to the United Nations, we were previously forced to live on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years - from 3 November 2006 to 13 July 2009. We slept at Salters Hall for the last year of this period: for the first four months about twenty paces from the front door, down some twelve steps; for the rest of time, at the back of the building where we are now. Several times we were hosed out in the morning when we were at the front of the building (see blog of 5 June 2009 Salters back in the spotlight). Of course, then I didn't have a camera or a smartphone....

I'm not surprised at all that Julian Assange is hauled up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge and Edward Snowden cannot travel to the UK. This is the way things are done in this part of the world. What really amazes me is that no structure exists to help activists fight back.

Accommodation blockade: Declan writes to the Home Secretary

It seems like we are up against mindless thuggery on every front (including housing and health), but there's always a chance we will cut a break. As Declan mentions in the email below to Home Secretary Theresa May under the subject title of "City of London Police's refusal to break accommodation blockade", this morning we heard from a broadcaster in America. He has assured me that he will certainly do what he can to bring whatever attention he can garner to our cause, and will be in touch. A radio interview with me would be just perfect. I would certainly pull no punches.

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On 14 March we were evicted from our previous flat because according to our then live-in landlady's ex-husband, Dr Nigel McKenzie, a consultant psychiatrist in Highgate Mental Health Centre, our flat was needed for somebody with a mental illness. As Declan states in paragraph 7 of his recent complaint to the United Nations, MI5 whistleblower David Shayler also lived with Belinda McKenzie in the same house for a couple of years until 2007. It is indeed unfortunate Shayler then declared that he was the Messiah, became a squatter, and was subsequently ridiculed in the press for changing his name to Delores Kane. A New Statesman article dated 11 September 2006 featuring Shayler and Belinda gives no indication that Shayler believed he was the Messiah at that time; whilst a Daily Mail interview with Shayler explicitly shows he believed himself to be Jesus by June 2007.

The Esquire article below* is mentioned in a Guardian article dated 27 March 2012. It is an eye-opener, highlighting the monitoring and surveillance that Shayler had to live with back in 2000, and the contradictory briefings and slanders that were coming out of the British establishment and the media. The author, Dr Eamonn O'Neill, is a lecturer in journalism at Strathclyde University.

*On 2 May 2013, Issuu removed this pdf from my Issuu account following a copyright complaint by Hearst Communications. I had uploaded the article to my Issuu account in December 2012. A couple of months ago, when last I checked, the article had been viewed more than 15,000 times. It can be viewed here.

BBC PANORAMA: The David Shayler Affair (August 1998)

According to BBC Panorama, Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair". In 2002, he was jailed for seven weeks for breaking the Official Secrets Act.

Second threat to life

This morning we were threatened near where we sleep at night, Salters Hall. It wasn't as colourful as the last time (see here), although this guy seems to be a big fan of the Italian Solution: as bluntly as he can muster, he points his finger at the last line of today's front page of the Sun where it reads "you die", as Declan is passing. These sort of threats can quickly escalate, so this is Declan's email of complaint to Commissioner Adrian Leppard on the City of London Police's refusal to break the accommodation blockade we have been up against for months now:

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On 14 March we were evicted from our previous flat because according to our then live-in landlady's ex-husband, Dr Nigel McKenzie, a consultant psychiatrist in Highgate Mental Health Centre, our flat was needed for somebody with a mental illness. As Declan points out in the email above, MI5 whistleblower David Shayler also lived with Belinda McKenzie in the same house for a couple of years until 2007. It is unfortunate Shayler then declared that he was the Messiah, became a squatter, and was subsequently ridiculed in the press and media for changing his name to Delores Kane. A New Statesman article dated 11 September 2006 featuring Shayler and Belinda gives no indication that Shayler believed he was the Messiah at that time; whilst a Daily Mail interview with Shayler explicitly shows he believed himself to be Jesus by June 2007.

Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler after he was evicted from Hackhurst Farm on 20 August 2009

Human rights activist Belinda McKenzie speaking at the UK Rally Against Child Abuse, 4 June 2011, Trafalgar Square

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Between one thing and another we desperately need somebody to write something for the internet before one of us is seriously injured (see blog of 21 May for a stunning photo of Declan being threatened in the Marcus Garvey Library in Tottenham). We take this latest threat to life mighty seriously. What's next?

Accommodation blockade

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Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler after he was evicted from Hackhurst Farm on 20 August 2009

Human rights activist Belinda McKenzie speaking at the UK Rally Against Child Abuse, 4 June 2011, Trafalgar Square

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This is what surveillance can do

These screenshots are from Bishopsgate Library on Liverpool Street. My first few minutes are fine - no problem with internet access, good speed too (282K):

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Fifteen minutes later, the speed has dropped so low I can't access the Church and State website:

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And this is what I get from the Guardian:

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We are threatened where we sleep at night

Last night just as Declan had secured our bags and we were about to get into our sleeping bags, two guys appeared out of the blue. They started shouting at us that we were "f*****g scum" and that we should go back to where we came from; one of them even pulled his trousers down to his ankles. The night before a guy on a skateboard threw a dead snail at us. This morning Declan called into Snow Hill Police Station. This is Declan's subsequent (third) letter of complaint to the head of the City of London Police:

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Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler after he was evicted from Hackhurst Farm on 20 August 2009

Human rights activist Belinda McKenzie speaking at the UK Rally Against Child Abuse, 4 June 2011, Trafalgar Square

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We desperately need somebody to write something for the internet before one of us is seriously injured (see blog of 21 May for a stunning photo of Declan being threatened in the Marcus Garvey Library in Tottenham).