Libcom Exposed

The intention of this article is not to set out the long history of division sown by Libcom.org within the UK activist/anarchist scene - which is well documented https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2013/01/505687.html?c=on Neither is it a smear on an individual- but rather it's an attempt to begin to unravel the web of deceit behind this website. Libcom.org has been involved in attacks on activists, their families and friends. These attacks widened a number of years ago and now include ongoing attacks, both physical and online, against the Trade Union movement. The content of the Libcom website has led directly to five physical attacks on activists https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2013/11/513614.html and on senior trade union officials https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/03/520021.html.  Only recently, this now totally discredited post that appeared in Libcom and penned by Andy Littlechild, continues to be used to attack Steve Hedley.  https://twitter.com/sergiofalcone/status/589171313702477824

Over the weekend of 10th March 2015, anonymous activists uncovered the person who is probably responsible for the  Libcom.org server: James Poulter. Poulter owns jamespoulter.net which links to his twitter and linkedin accounts. Both sites share the same IP address, https://www.robtex.com/ip/188.165.199.119.html and are hosted on the same OVH server https://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://www.libcom.org. All this information has been passed to the relevant parties who are now considering legal action. Before Poulter locked down his Google Plus account it was noted that his network of friends includes many who have been active in the witch hunt against Steve Hedley, Senior Assistant General Secretary of the RMT.  Significant numbers of these players were involved in an online campaign to "Hold Abusers to account."https://saferspaces.exposed/2014/10/14/part2/. It is assumed that at least some of these people were also in attendance at the meeting in the Marlborough Arms that was focused on attacking Hedley's involvement in left wing political parties. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/an-open-letter-from-the-left-to-the-trade-unionist/. This meeting was organised by Andy Meinke or 'Legal Andy' as he likes to be known, obviously a reference

James Poulter is the former editor of the now defunct Freedom Newspaper. It has not gone unnoticed that the Freedom Bookshop building is a common link between those involved in attacks on activists. In August last year this was confirmed on Facebook by Andy Meinke https://saferspaces.exposed/2014/10/14/part2/  who at the time admitted to being heavily involved on the attacks on Steve Hedley. On Sunday 12th April 2015, Poulter attended a letter-writing event in Freedom Bookshop [Not sure of relevance of this sentence - need to say why it's there, e.g. to establish link between Poulter & Freedom building] . On Facebook James Poulter is connected to Andy Meinke and Andy Littlechild, two people who are prominent in the Hedley debacle.

Poulter has been a Solfed activist for years, goggle jimmer and South London Solfed and he appears in numerous articles and minutes from meetings.


Poulter thinks that attacks on the 1% are racist https://twitter.com/jdpoulter/status/559683881587449856 [need to expand if going to use - will have to be clearly argued] and that's important when you begin to understand his privileged background.[need to check out that it def. is privileged!] Linked to his Google Plus account https://plus.google.com/108847182712286189165/posts [That link just goes to a page I can't access, he locked down his google cirles page] is David Poulter, likely his brother. [Is David Poulter significant? If he is, we need to say why]. James is also connected to Jane and Delvin Poulter, most probably his Mother and Father [what's the evidence for this? just that they are in his circle of online friends. May well be parents but would be good to have something more concrete]; Delvin is the Deputy Head Master of King Edward's School, Witley is an independent co-educational boarding and day school, founded in 1553 by King Edward VI and Nicholas Ridley http://www.kesw.org/ ]


For someone who presents as an anarchist activist, James Poulter has an unexpected connection to the City of London: we understand that his career was in financial institutions before he moved across into journalism, and his journalism reflects this.  According to the Independent, Poulter

 "is a financial journalist working as an online producer for Citywire. He graduated from City University with an MA in financial journalism, after working for an asset manager for a number of years. James has a degree in Politics from Goldsmiths and has written for The Guardian and The Observer among other titles."

According to its website http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/author/jpoulter "Citywire provides news, information and insight for professional fund buyers working in the global asset management industry" which begs the question: why on earth is someone who identifies himself as an anarchist writing for the 1%? See, for example, this article by Poulter about properties in the £2m to £10m price range, complete with monopoly money illustration http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/kames-to-expand-property-range-with-paif-launch/a720765?ref=author/jpoulter.

Poulter has also been involved in the publication of an article which names a London-based Irish activist as a 'tout' and which remains to this day on his Libcom website.  How interesting that someone with such a privileged background would be trying to subvert Irish Republicans with a term only they would understand and which has a very emotive meaning in Irish politics. This article led directly to at least one of the attacks on the Casa Bar in Liverpool as reported at the time on indymedia uk. https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2013/11/513614.html
This is an interesting allegation, given that the same activist's personal movements appeared on a known fascist website as early as 12 months ago. The pictures on the website had the faces of other activists removed, unlikely that this material was posted by someone from the far right.

James Poulter or Jimmer, as he likes to be known in activist circles and online forums, https://twitter.com/davidgraeber/status/197011907163594752, only came into our sights when we were directed to a comment he made on the website forum of Urban75: "Are you the guy who's friends with fascists and gives them anti-fascists details?"  http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/clapton-fc-celtic-bhoys-vs-locals-e15-supporters-etc-part-2.333853/page-24#post-13826693 confirming that he is in fact libcom and that he is involved in these attacks.  Today , jimmer set his homepage to Libcom.org on the Urban75 forum profile page.

Poulter gives a fictional account on the Urban75 forum of what he imagines unfolded at Clapton FC on Saturday 28th March 2015. He wasn't in attendance and is mostly relying on second hand information. [Reminds me of News from Nowhere & the anarchist bookfair/Casa] Neither does he offer evidence to back up some of the points he makes in his account.  He writes that "There's a video of this incident on YouTube although," he claims, "it's not very clear." http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/clapton-fc-celtic-bhoys-vs-locals-e15-supporters-etc-part-2.333853/page-25#post-13827027

Not everyone agrees. For example, an observer on indymedia recently said this of the video with specific references:

putlog https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/03/520021.html?c=on#c302613
For reference purposes;
Projectiles (beer cans?) can clearly be seen agressively thrown by the group of women et al in the direction of football fans in the stand, who are in close proximity;
45 secs
55 secs
1.25 mins
1.35 mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RkC469x8Ns&feature=youtu.be
If you haven't already viewed the video, which has over 4,000 hits, we suggest you do so and decide for yourself whether it is clear or not.

In his recent contribution on the Urban75 forum http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/clapton-fc-celtic-bhoys-vs-locals-e15-supporters-etc-part-2.333853/page-25#post-13827027 Poulter is clearly trying to present himself as an honest broker and to distance himself from the attacks. However, his account doesn't ring true.  As 'Casually Red' pointed out on the Urban75 forum: "I know one thing for sure, Steve hedleys accusers are engaged in deception and misrepresentation around this issue . More than once, more than twice . The public is being repeatedly lied to . Including about the events at Clapton that were an absolute disgrace." http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/clapton-fc-celtic-bhoys-vs-locals-e15-supporters-etc-part-2.333853/page-42#post-13836035


In April 2013 the Libcom 'collective' posted an article attacking Steve Hedley and the RMT, the article is entitled 'Steve Hedley: not 'cleared of domestic violence' with a case still to answer."  https://libcom.org/news/steve-hedley-not-cleared-domestic-violence-case-still-answer-08042013   Bob Crow ordered Andy Littlechild to remove the article, however, Littlechild claimed he had no power to do so and the article remains on the site to this day despite being demonstrably untrue https://saferspaces.exposed.

This article is one of the main motivations for the continued and ongoing attacks on Steve Hedley.

In addition to City Wire, James also writes for the Independent http://blogs.independent.co.uk/author/james-poulter/ and Vice https://www.vice.com/en_uk/tag/James%20Poulter. So, here we have a journalist from a privileged background [If we can verify that], with a previous career in the city and a recent history of writing articles for the 1%, who calls himself an anarchist and is involved in online attacks on trade unionists and other activists. These attacks fall way below anything that could be considered of an acceptable journalistic standard. In short, they are full of fabrication and lies. We wonder how long these mainstream media outlets can continue a relationship with such a 'toxic brand'.

 END OF ARTICLE
 *******************************************************************************************************************

Technical details

Citywire http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/author/jpoulter
The Independent http://blogs.independent.co.uk/author/james-poulter/


The Libcom.org server has this IP address:

- https://www.robtex.com/ip/188.165.199.119.html

And the server also hosts:

- http://jamespoulter.net/

The IP is the same:

- https://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=jamespoulter.net

This domain name is also registered with Gandi:

- https://www.gandi.net/whois/details?search=jamespoulter.net

The site at jamespoulter.net links to his Twitter account:

- https://twitter.com/jdpoulter

and Linkedin:

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdpoulter


James Poulter and David Graeber exchange, Poulter has deleted all his tweets in relation to the smear campaign against DG https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3Adavidgraeber%20%40jdpoulter&src=typd


background

Delvin Poulter Father [earlier you said he's likely his father - do we know for sure?] is deputy head of this private boarding school. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward%27s_School,_Witley Mother Jane

Attacks on the 1% are racist https://twitter.com/jdpoulter/status/559683881587449856

David Poulter brother https://www.facebook.com/dave.poulter.50/friends?collection_token=100004251820574%3A2356318349%3A2&next_cursor=MDpub3Rfc3RydWN0dXJlZDoxMDAwMDMxNDAzMzA4MTM%3D

Dean of Catheral in Austraila https://plus.google.com/+JohnRoundhill John Roundhill, has the whole Poulter family as friends

 "mr moffat used to call him delvin 'swastika' poulter. says it all really. "  http://uk.ratemyteachers.com/delvin-poulter/186313-t

James Poulter Google+ https://plus.google.com/108847182712286189165/posts


Hosting company OVH https://www.ovh.co.uk/
3 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ
020 7357 6616

And

FreedomBookshop
84B Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX · 020 7247 9249