Ian Bone

Ian Bone
Ian Bone extolling the virtues of the Fifth Monarchy Men, Wapping May 2013
Born	Ian David Bone (1947-08-28) 28 August 1947 (age 69) Mere, Wiltshire, England
Known for	Social and political activism

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

In 2006 he published his autobiography, Bash the Rich. He presents a radio show, Anarchy in the UK, on London's Resonance FM in which he interviews anarchist activists.

Bone was dubbed 'The Most Dangerous Man in Britain' by British tabloid newspaper The Sunday People.

Ian Bone was the son of a butler. He said this background greatly contributed to his later political outlook. He studied politics at Swansea University, becoming an active anarchist throughout the 1960s to early 1990s. He set up the anarchist agit-mag Alarm in Swansea. In the 1980s, with others, he set up the anarchist paper Class War. The confrontational style of the paper led to Bone becoming an infamous figure in the politics of the 1980s. His personal stock was at its highest when he appeared on the Jonathan Ross show.

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. Ian 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, including Tim Scargill, Bone set up the rival Class War Organisation. However this venture did not last more than six months.

In October 1994, Ian Bone organised the Anarchy in the UK festival. Billed as '10 days that shook the world' and described in the festival program as an attempt to have the largest gathering of international anarchists, the festival attempted to bring together different strands of anarchists. 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.