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All of the Homeless Diamonds editorial committee were arrested by MI7 as they met on a recent Friday morning in March. Ten working-class heroes were shocked to find that they were being charged with sedition, treason and blasphemy. We were outnumbered.

After six hours in custody – all in separate cells – we were bailed out by Mungo’s David Devoy for £38,000 in total.

This censorship and state editing exercise was organized by the jealous and jingoistic house of lords, two lords in particular we were told.

All the group’s private files were also seized by huge police officers, one of whom said that we were part of the general apathy and should not over-rate ourselves. We are to appear at Bow Street magistrates court on August 10th. We were not interrogated but our fingerprints and D.N.A. were taken.

The cops thought that two of us were jihadists but later admitted their error.

St Mungo’s itself as an institution escaped from the statutory vindictiveness because of the traditional disclaimer printed on every page 3 of Homeless Diamonds – that the mother organization does not share the views of the mag’s contributors. Our lawyer Sam Silkin of the Holloway Road was very hopeful in the initial stages of our defence. The maximum sentence for sedition by publishers is 20 years imprisonment.

Other metropolitan periodicals including The Guardian and Fortean Times have also been raided. Peace News and The Martian Chronicles were faced with closure should they not change their policies.

Silkin (70, Labourite) told us that sedition implies suborning, and that libel or slander charges – civil affairs – may follow. Whom have we offended? Not Lord Ashcroft, that’s for sure!