Ian Bone

Ian David Bone[1] (born 28 August 1947[2] in Mere, Wiltshire) is an English anarchist and publisher of anarchist newspapers and tabloids, such as Class War and The Bristolian.[3] He has been involved in social campaigns since the 1960s, including the 2001 "Vote Nobody" election campaign.

For the Australian author, see Ian Bone (author).

Ian Bone
Ian Bone extolling the virtues of the Fifth Monarchy Men in Wapping, May 2013
Born
Ian David Bone

(1947-08-28) 28 August 1947
Mere, Wiltshire, England
Known forSocial and political activism

In 1984, British tabloid newspaper The Sunday People described Bone as "The Most Dangerous Man in Britain".[3][4]

Activities

Ian Bone is the son of a butler, and has said that this background greatly contributed to his later political outlook.[5] He studied politics at Swansea University, becoming an active anarchist throughout the 1960s to early 1990s.[3] He set up the anarchist agit-mag Alarm in Swansea.[3] In 1983, with others, he established the anarchist paper Class War. The confrontational style of the paper led to Bone becoming an infamous figure in the politics of the 1980s.[6]

Based in London for most of the 1980s, he moved to Bristol in the early 1990s, where he became involved in various campaigns, but often keeping a low profile. Bone left the Class War federation in 1992, citing "too much dead wood" as the reason for his departure. Along with other members who left with him, Bone set up the rival Class War Organisation, a venture which lasted less than six months.

In October 1994, Bone organised the Anarchy in the UK festival.[7] Billed as "10 days that shook the world" and described in the festival programme as an attempt to host the largest gathering of international anarchists, the festival attempted to bring together different strands of the anarchist movement. Amongst events featured were an attempt to levitate parliament, an anarchist picnic, punk gigs and meetings about various aspects of anarchism. The festival was criticised by some anarchist groups (including Class War) for being too focused on lifestyle politics and only featuring a small amount of class struggle-based events.

In 2001 Bone started the Vote Nobody campaign which encouraged residents in Easton, Bristol to turn out for the local election and vote for 'Nobody'.[8] In that same year he started The Bristolian, a scandal sheet that gave "independent news from Bristol that the other papers won't touch". Distributed for free in bars and pubs of Bristol, and by Bone himself in Bristol's Corn Street, the news-sheet gained a weekly circulation of over 15,000. He wrote much of the paper himself, but was assisted by local journalist Roy Norris and by his long-term partner Jane Nicholl. The success of The Bristolian led to the Bristolian Party, which stood in the 2003 Bristol City Council elections in an attempt to mobilise discontent with Bristol City Council's policies. Bone was criticised by some in the anarchist community for his involvement with this campaign.[9] On 1 May 2003, 2,560 people voted for the Bristolian Party, which gained an 8% share of the vote in the 12 wards they contested. The Bristolian was runner-up for the Paul Foot Award for investigative journalism in 2005.[9] It ceased publication shortly afterwards but has since returned in the same format with occasional double-page issues.

On 6 December 2006, Bone appeared on Channel 4's current affairs discussion show Starkey's Last Word, alongside Ed Vaizey and Harriet Harman, discussing the Iraq War. In it, Bone contended that the solution to the failing war was that British soldiers serving in Iraq should take part in mass desertion, that 10 Downing Street should be blockaded on May Day (International Workers' Day), and that the two speakers beside him, both of whom were pre-war advocates of the Iraq invasion, should be put on trial for war crimes.[10]

Tangent Books published Bone's autobiography, Bash the Rich, in 2006.[11] He sold its film rights to cult British film maker Greg Hall for £10 in 2007.[12] A blog was created to follow the film from its conception to release.[13] To promote the book, Bone organised a "Bash the Rich" march through Notting Hill, claiming he would march on David Cameron's house.[14]

Bone said that Class War was standing candidates at the 2015 United Kingdom general election "because all other candidates are scum".[15]

In September 2018, Russia Today broadcast footage of Bone doorstepping Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, shouting "Your daddy is a very horrible person" and "lots of people hate your daddy" at his young children.[16] Bone's targeting of Rees-Mogg's children was widely condemned.[17][18]

In May 2021, Bone unsuccessfully stood for election in a council by-election in Croydon.[19]

Works
  • Bone, Ian (2006). Bash the Rich: True Life Confessions of an Anarchist in the UK. Naked Guides Ltd. p. 280. ISBN 0-9544177-7-1.
  • Anarchy in the UK podcast episodes
  • Ian Bone's appearance on the Jonathon Ross show on YouTube

References
  1. "Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Bill". Parliament UK. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  2. Bone, Ian (2006). Bash The Rich. Tangent Books. pp. 10. ISBN 0-9544177-7-1.
  3. Saner, Emine (20 October 2006). "We need to push and shove and throw things". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
  4. ""Most dangerous man in Britain" calls for attack on Boat Race". The Cambridge Student. 24 November 2011. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. Bash The Rich, pp. 2–3
  6. Cross, Rich (2014). "British anarchism in the era of Thatcherism". In Smith, Evan; Worley, Matthew (eds.). Against the grain: The British far left from 1956. Manchester University Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 978-07190-9590-0.
  7. Home, Stewart (25 October 1994). "Organised chaos". The Independent. ISSN 0951-9467. ProQuest 313228092. The event is the brainchild of Ian Bone ... Among revolutionary anarchists, Anarchy in the UK is derisively referred to as the Bone Show.
  8. "Mills & Bone Subverting Democracy". Bristol Radical History Group. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  9. "Scurrilious magazine scoops top award". BBC News. 14 October 2005. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
  10. Starkey's Last Word staff (6 December 2006). "Starkey's Last Word, Video: The Iraq Study Group reports". More4. Channel 4 Television Corporation. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2006. (Video broadcast.)
  11. Boncza-Tomaszewski, Tom (24 December 2006). "Paperbacks". The Independent on Sunday. p. 30. ProQuest 336971620.
  12. Hall, Greg (3 March 2012). "Broke but making films". Bash The Rich Film. WordPress.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  13. Hall, Greg (9 March 2008). "Brief Introductions". Bash The Rich Film. WordPress.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2008. This Blog was set up to keep people informed on the developments of Bash The Rich, Ian Bone's autobiography being adapted into a film by Writer/ Director Greg Hall.
  14. Jack, Ian (6 October 2007). "From Henley to Notting Hill: Class War is on the move again". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  15. Croucher, Shane (8 April 2015). "Election 2015: Meet Class War, the party standing 'because all other candidates are scum'". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  16. Brown, David (12 September 2018). "Your daddy's horrible, say Jacob Rees‑Mogg protesters". The Times. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  17. Marshall, Francesca (12 September 2018). "Labour MPs attack left wing activists who told Jacob Rees-Mogg's children 'your daddy is a totally horrible person'". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  18. "Jacob Rees-Mogg brushes off protest outside home". BBC News. 12 September 2018. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  19. O'Connor, Tara (5 May 2021). "The 7 candidates standing in Croydon Council's Woodside by-election". My London. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
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