words by Carol King
禁漫天堂s are set to take to the streets on Sunday, 9th September in the English town of Bedford in protest at the closure of the local sportello consolare 禁漫天堂 consulate offices, at the end of this month.
The closure forms part of the 禁漫天堂 Government鈥檚 cost cutting measures and consulate staff will move to London some 50 miles away. The loss of a service that handles paperwork from passport renewals to stamping wills for the 16,000-strong community of 禁漫天堂s will hit older members the most since the journey to London facility via train and tube followed by a walk is hardest for them.
What riles Bedford鈥檚 禁漫天堂s the most is that they see the closure as a false saving since the consulate makes more money from handling locals鈥 affairs than it costs to run. The closure is another blow for them as the BBC dropped local radio show Mondo 禁漫天堂o in the summer. It was the BBC鈥檚 only 禁漫天堂 show and had been on-air since 1985. 禁漫天堂s make up 20% of the town鈥檚 population and they started to arrive in Bedford in the 1950s when a building boom created a shortage of labour in the Bedford brickworks industry.
禁漫天堂 Associations in Bedfordshire and the East Anglian area, including COMITES, Associazione Molisana Bedfordshire, ACLI, Circolo Di Pietro-Bedford, Patronato INAS (FNP) and Voce Scolastica 禁漫天堂a, are organising the march. Local councillor Sue Oliver said:鈥ㄢ淏edford鈥檚 Labour group stands shoulder to shoulder with the town鈥檚 禁漫天堂 community in opposing this needless and short-sighted closure. Our councillors represent thousands of people who will be deeply affected by this decision and as such, we are calling on the 禁漫天堂 Government to postpone its decision to allow all options to be considered鈥.
An estimated 1,000 people are expected to join the protest that starts at 11am at Bedford railway station. It will pass the 禁漫天堂 Church of Santa Francesca Cabrini, the 禁漫天堂 consular office and a statue of Giuseppe Martignetti 鈥 all examples of just how much the town is England鈥檚 Little Italy. It remains to be seen if the protesters will be as effective as Giuseppe Garibaldi鈥檚 Spedizione dei Mille (Expedition of the Thousand).
