The following report which we are publishing in full, has been taken from the website 'Boycott Workfare'.
"Some great news: The government has lost its appeal and must reveal the organisations that have used Mandatory Work Activity, Work Experience, and Work Programme placements. That means we’re going to be able to show those organisations what we think of them profiting from free labour!
The evidence the government submitted reveals what a huge impact your actions have had. They argued:
“The activities of campaign groups and the results of negative publicity meant that… “a great many placement organisations” had ceased to offer placements. That in turn reduced the numbers of opportunities available across both programmes with a loss of many placements and prospective new placements being at risk.” (Point 109)
This adds to the evidence that emerged earlier in the week that numbers of people on “Government employment schemes” (read ‘workfare’) have dropped by 16,000 this quarter. We also heard that Seetec were complaining at an industry conference last week how difficult it is to find placements nowadays because employers are worried about protest. The DWP’s appeal revealed that one subcontractor has complained about a loss of 100 placements per week in its area alone (point 93).
That is your actions – whether building pressure online, spreading the word, withholding donations, boycotting shops, joining a picket or staging an occupation – helping push back forced unpaid work in the UK.
The government feared that “Put simply, disclosure [of names] would have been likely to have led to the collapse of the MWA [Mandatory Work Activity] scheme”. Let’s do our best to make sure it does! Keep your eyes peeled for the release of the names and get ready to step up the pressure on those profiting from forced labour.
Special congratulations go to Frank Zola for pursuing this to the Information Tribunal. The full decision can be enjoyed here. (Of particular note are points 28, 29, 67, 70-75, 93, 94, 96, 99, 100, 103, 109, 127, 133, 176, 196)
Since the Salvation Army gets a special mention from the DWP for ‘holding the line’ (point 196), you may like to take this opportunity to remind them why this position is just so inconsistent with their Christian values. The Salvation Army UK can be contacted on facebook, by phone (020 7367 4500), by email (info@salvationarmy.org.uk). More background on their involvement and contact details can be found here, or you can tweet at them:"
Yesterday the Guardian reported that the Department for Work and Pensions, were considering an appeal to the high court or deploying a ministerial veto to ban publication. This is not surprising given the government's track record.
When the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 2011, were quashed by three Appeal Court judges in February, for being unlawful, the government simply changed the regulations and applied them retrospectively, so that people who had been unlawfully sanctioned, could not claim the money back. Ali Baba and his forty thieves, have got nothing on these bastards.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Orwell Prize for breaking Rotherham Grooming Scandal
LAST week, Andrew Norfolk in The Times journalist instrumental in breaking the Rotherham grooming scandal won the Orwell Prize for journalism jointly with Tom Bergin of Reuters press agency. He recently won the Paul Foot Award for investigative journalism.
His submitted articles:
Police files reveal vast child protection scandal
Care home children sent North to save cash
A nations shame: hundreds of girls sexually abused by networks of men.
‘Asians pick me up. They get me drunk, they give me drugs and have sex with me. I want to move’.
Children’s homes ‘powerless’ to protect the vulnerable from predatory sex gangs.
His submitted articles:
Police files reveal vast child protection scandal
Care home children sent North to save cash
A nations shame: hundreds of girls sexually abused by networks of men.
‘Asians pick me up. They get me drunk, they give me drugs and have sex with me. I want to move’.
Children’s homes ‘powerless’ to protect the vulnerable from predatory sex gangs.
Sir Cyril Smith's & his victims at Knowl View
DESPITE last week's suggestions by the police that they had 'only ever had one complaint to the Greater Manchester Police' about the late Sir Cyril Smith and his abuse of boys, the police are now saying that ten people are being investigated over historical allegations of sexual abuse at Knowl View, a residential school in Rochdale, where it is claimed Cyril Smith abused lads. Today's Manchester Evening News, says: 'Three complaints of physical and sexual abuse of pupils at a school linked to the late Sir Cyril Smith are now being investigated by police.'
Detective Inspector Caroline Ward has said:
'Following the publicity surrounding Sir Cyril Smith last year, a small number of people came forward to report physical and sexual abuse which occurred at Knowl View from the 1970s onwards.... The allegations we have received are building up a picture of the regime that was in place at Knowl View at that time, and I would encourage anyone who was a victim of either sexual or physical abuse to come forward and speak to the police as the more evidence we have the better the chances of bringing abusers to justice.'
Knowl View was residential school, for pupils with behavioural difficulties, and was shut down in 1994 after a dossier detailing abuse was handed to the police. These files do not name Smith specifically, but a whistleblower and former head of care at Knowl View, Martin Digan, has said that he believed Sir Cyril was among those abusing the lads at the home. The Manchester Evening News has recently claimed that the files show that at least a quarter of the 48 lads at the school had been victims of horrific sexual abuse - including lads as young as eight.
The Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk has said:
'I am pleased that the police are putting more effort into investigating these horrific crimes. I wrote to Sir Peter Fahy, the chief constable, some months ago urging him to look at this case. There are not many crimes worse than taking away a child's childhood... There is no doubt about it. There was organised abuse at Knowl View. It should have been investigated. Some people raised concerns about it many years ago and for whatever reason, no action was taken.'
It seems that a week is a long time in the realm of police investigations into sexual abuse.
Detective Inspector Caroline Ward has said:
'Following the publicity surrounding Sir Cyril Smith last year, a small number of people came forward to report physical and sexual abuse which occurred at Knowl View from the 1970s onwards.... The allegations we have received are building up a picture of the regime that was in place at Knowl View at that time, and I would encourage anyone who was a victim of either sexual or physical abuse to come forward and speak to the police as the more evidence we have the better the chances of bringing abusers to justice.'
Knowl View was residential school, for pupils with behavioural difficulties, and was shut down in 1994 after a dossier detailing abuse was handed to the police. These files do not name Smith specifically, but a whistleblower and former head of care at Knowl View, Martin Digan, has said that he believed Sir Cyril was among those abusing the lads at the home. The Manchester Evening News has recently claimed that the files show that at least a quarter of the 48 lads at the school had been victims of horrific sexual abuse - including lads as young as eight.
The Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk has said:
'I am pleased that the police are putting more effort into investigating these horrific crimes. I wrote to Sir Peter Fahy, the chief constable, some months ago urging him to look at this case. There are not many crimes worse than taking away a child's childhood... There is no doubt about it. There was organised abuse at Knowl View. It should have been investigated. Some people raised concerns about it many years ago and for whatever reason, no action was taken.'
It seems that a week is a long time in the realm of police investigations into sexual abuse.
2nd BRISTOL BEDROOM TAX PROTEST!
1pm Saturday 1st, June – College Green
BADACA Open Meeting – Tuesday 28th May – 7.30pm – Tony Benn House
Tragically, last week saw the first suicide directly attributed to the Bedroom Tax – more here.
Ujima Radio had a discussion on the Bedroom Tax recently. (FF to 31:00)
Leafleting for the 1st June protest will be taking place in Southmead this Saturday.
BADACA Open Meeting – Tuesday 28th May – 7.30pm – Tony Benn House
Bedroom Tax campaign
BADACA have called a second Bristol Bedroom Tax protest for 1pm College Green on Saturday 1st June. Axe the Tax! No Evictions!Tragically, last week saw the first suicide directly attributed to the Bedroom Tax – more here.
Ujima Radio had a discussion on the Bedroom Tax recently. (FF to 31:00)
Leafleting for the 1st June protest will be taking place in Southmead this Saturday.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Europhobia to the left and the right
IN the Morning Star earlier this month, Robert Griffiths, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain wrote an article calling for 'A people's policy for Europe': in it he argued that '(the basic treaties and structures of the EU (European Union) cannot be reformed as part of a strategy for a progressive or socialist Europe - and it is fundamentally deluded or dishonest to pretend otherwise.' In it he dismissed the 'Tories, Ukip, the EU, the US and Nato', and argued that the 'British, Scottish and Welsh governments should take back powers to intervene in the economy in the interests of working people.'
This policy would seem to be the latest version of what used to be called 'The British Road to Socialism'. Mr. Griffiths is concern that the labour movement is adopting an aloofness and allowing the Tories and Ukip to dominate the Europe debate: 'the Labour Party continues to flounder on the touchline, too timid to don its own jersey and join the fray.' A similar approach against Europe is taken by the Socialist Party, Bob Crow and the TUSC (Trade Union Socialist Coalition), a party that rarely gets many votes when it fields candidates.
Writing his essay 'Toward European Unity' in the July-August edition of Partisan Review, George Orwell wrote: 'A socialist today is in the position of a doctor treating an all but hopeless case.' Judging by the situation that presents itself today the prospects are no better, and may be worse, for democratic socialism than they were in 1947.
In 1947, Orwell wrote:
'Only in those countries (such as those in western Europe) are there still large numbers of people to whom the word "Socialism" has some appeal and for whom it is bound up with liberty, equality, and internationalism.'
'Elsewhere,' Orwell argued, 'it either has no foothold or it means something different' and 'in North America the masses are content with capitalism... in the U.S.S.R. there prevails a sort of oligarchical collectivism which could only develop into democratic Socialism against the will of the ruling minority... the Asiatic nationalist movements are either Fascist in character, or look towards Moscow, or manage to combine both attitudes: at present all movements among the coloured peoples (sic) are tinged by racial mysticism... in most of South America the position is essentially similar...'
Curiously, Robert Griffiths, the Communist Party of Britain, Bob Crow, the Trade Union Socialist Coalition, and much of the British left beyond the Labour Party, are essentially psychologically similar to Ukip and the Euro-sceptic wing of the Conservative Party: that is they are basically little-Englanders with archaic attitudes that hark back to a time in the 20th century when either the Soviet Union or the Empire was alive and kicking.
Moreover Orwell, in his essay on 'Toward European Unity', wrote:
'Of course, Socialism cannot properly be said to be established until it is world-wide, but the process must begin somewhere, and I cannot imagine it beginning except through the federation of the western European states, transformed into Socialist republics without colonial dependencies... a Socialist United States of Europe seems to me the only worth-while political objective today... such a federation would contain about 250 million people, including perhaps half the skilled industrial workers of the world.'
Dealing with the difficulties of bring this European ideal about Orwell wrote:
'The greatest difficulty of all is the apathy and conservatism of people everywhere, their unawareness of danger, their inability to imagine anything new - in general, as Bertrand Russell put it recently, the unwillingness of the human race to acquiesce in its own survival.'
Quite what Mr. Griffiths, and the Communist Party of Britain, hope to achieve is not clear; to be fair he urges the labour movement to campaign for the policies in the People's Charter but not many people in this country would know what that was all about: more public ownership or what used to be called nationalisation no doubt. The fact is that outside of Europe this country would very likely become even more dependent on the USA and its economic ideas. Historically of course the old Communist Party was hostile to Europe because they wanted as Orwell put it to get the peoples of Europe to 'continue to believe in the Russian myth'. Orwell, for his part, insisted that 'Britain can only get free of America by dropping the attempt to be an extra-European power.'
At the moment many people in this country blame immigrants and Europe for all their present difficulties, in the same way in the 1930s German families may have blamed the jews. To sustain a realistic radical tradition of progressive politics that is at the same time part of a liberal culture, it seems to me now, as it did to Orwell in the 1940s, that the best bet is to stick with Europe.
This policy would seem to be the latest version of what used to be called 'The British Road to Socialism'. Mr. Griffiths is concern that the labour movement is adopting an aloofness and allowing the Tories and Ukip to dominate the Europe debate: 'the Labour Party continues to flounder on the touchline, too timid to don its own jersey and join the fray.' A similar approach against Europe is taken by the Socialist Party, Bob Crow and the TUSC (Trade Union Socialist Coalition), a party that rarely gets many votes when it fields candidates.
Writing his essay 'Toward European Unity' in the July-August edition of Partisan Review, George Orwell wrote: 'A socialist today is in the position of a doctor treating an all but hopeless case.' Judging by the situation that presents itself today the prospects are no better, and may be worse, for democratic socialism than they were in 1947.
In 1947, Orwell wrote:
'Only in those countries (such as those in western Europe) are there still large numbers of people to whom the word "Socialism" has some appeal and for whom it is bound up with liberty, equality, and internationalism.'
'Elsewhere,' Orwell argued, 'it either has no foothold or it means something different' and 'in North America the masses are content with capitalism... in the U.S.S.R. there prevails a sort of oligarchical collectivism which could only develop into democratic Socialism against the will of the ruling minority... the Asiatic nationalist movements are either Fascist in character, or look towards Moscow, or manage to combine both attitudes: at present all movements among the coloured peoples (sic) are tinged by racial mysticism... in most of South America the position is essentially similar...'
Curiously, Robert Griffiths, the Communist Party of Britain, Bob Crow, the Trade Union Socialist Coalition, and much of the British left beyond the Labour Party, are essentially psychologically similar to Ukip and the Euro-sceptic wing of the Conservative Party: that is they are basically little-Englanders with archaic attitudes that hark back to a time in the 20th century when either the Soviet Union or the Empire was alive and kicking.
Moreover Orwell, in his essay on 'Toward European Unity', wrote:
'Of course, Socialism cannot properly be said to be established until it is world-wide, but the process must begin somewhere, and I cannot imagine it beginning except through the federation of the western European states, transformed into Socialist republics without colonial dependencies... a Socialist United States of Europe seems to me the only worth-while political objective today... such a federation would contain about 250 million people, including perhaps half the skilled industrial workers of the world.'
Dealing with the difficulties of bring this European ideal about Orwell wrote:
'The greatest difficulty of all is the apathy and conservatism of people everywhere, their unawareness of danger, their inability to imagine anything new - in general, as Bertrand Russell put it recently, the unwillingness of the human race to acquiesce in its own survival.'
Quite what Mr. Griffiths, and the Communist Party of Britain, hope to achieve is not clear; to be fair he urges the labour movement to campaign for the policies in the People's Charter but not many people in this country would know what that was all about: more public ownership or what used to be called nationalisation no doubt. The fact is that outside of Europe this country would very likely become even more dependent on the USA and its economic ideas. Historically of course the old Communist Party was hostile to Europe because they wanted as Orwell put it to get the peoples of Europe to 'continue to believe in the Russian myth'. Orwell, for his part, insisted that 'Britain can only get free of America by dropping the attempt to be an extra-European power.'
At the moment many people in this country blame immigrants and Europe for all their present difficulties, in the same way in the 1930s German families may have blamed the jews. To sustain a realistic radical tradition of progressive politics that is at the same time part of a liberal culture, it seems to me now, as it did to Orwell in the 1940s, that the best bet is to stick with Europe.
George Tapp update and other blacklisting news
GEORGE Tapp is currently still in Manchester Royal Infirmary in the Medical Emergency Trauma Unit, having undergone reconstructive surgery on two broken legs and multiple fractures after being hit by a car that drove through the blacklist protest dragging him 100 yards along the road in Manchester on Wednesday evening. Steve, Kevin and Jason among others have been with George and say he is is good spirits and sends a message that we should carry on our fight til we win.
The Blacklist Support Group wish George a speedy recovery.
some press:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/132953
http://industrialreporter.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/exclusive-blacklisted-worker-needs-re-constructive-surgery-after-being-victim-of-hit-and-run-in-manchester/
http://union-news.co.uk/2013/05/anti-blacklist-campaigner-hit-by-speeding-car-at-demo/
2. Blacklist - Chris Tymkow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPKdPv47l2I
a folk song about the blacklist scandal with a youtube video about the campaign - are you in the video?
Please share and post, blog etc.
3. There were a number of blacklist protests this week including Vince Cable at BIS, Manchester, Portsmouth, Hendon, Norwich, Waltham Forest, Hendersons Global Investments in the City, Big Lottery in Birmigham, Standard Life in Edinburgh, Guardian Awards, Homes for Scotland Awards and Heineken Cup Final in Dublin. Some were more successful than others; some were very polite affairs, others involved large scale civil disobedience but collectively they are having an impact.
some press:
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/16691/15-05-2013/protesters-demand-councils-reject-blacklisting-companies
http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/10424581._/
http://union-news.co.uk/2013/05/union-protests-point-finger-at-blacklist-bosses/
http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/union_protests_outside_may_gurney_s_norwich_base_over_blacklisting_scandal_1_2193238
Next week
*Tuesday 21st May 9am - London*
Frank Morris v Crossrail Employment Tribunal
Kingsway Employment Tribunal,
Holborn,
London
*Saturday 25th May 11am - Glasgow *
March and Rally against Blacklisting,
Holland Street,
Glasgow
Friday, May 17, 2013
Manchester Police Warn Child Sex Suspects
WITHIN days of worries being expressed by Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, about the delays in Rochdale town council publishing a report into child sex abuse, and disputed concerns on a website about the investigations of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) into the former Rochdale MP, Cyril Smith; the Greater Manchester Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood this week gave a warning to child sex abusers at a conference in Middleton to mark the first anniversary of the jailing of a Rochdale grooming ring. Last May, nine Asian men got jail sentences of between four and 19 years for offences against five girls, aged between 13 and 15, during 2008 and 2009 in the Rochdale area.
The Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Heywood, said:
'Our number one priority at the moment is CSE (child sex exploitation). It is now ahead of gun crime. Expect a lot more convictions. I have got more detectives working on CSE than I have on gun crime.'
A report of the conference in tomorrow's Rochdale Observer states:
'Police are now working to construct cases against other potential offenders in the town (Rochdale) going back to 2003... We are dealing with an avalance of child sex cases'
Recently local social workers, the police and the Crown Prosecution Services have all been criticised as a consequence of both last year's horrific case of sexual grooming, and the earlier historic cases relating to the former powerful politician Sir Cyril Smith, for not treating the allegations of victims sufficiently seriously.
The Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Heywood, said:
'Our number one priority at the moment is CSE (child sex exploitation). It is now ahead of gun crime. Expect a lot more convictions. I have got more detectives working on CSE than I have on gun crime.'
A report of the conference in tomorrow's Rochdale Observer states:
'Police are now working to construct cases against other potential offenders in the town (Rochdale) going back to 2003... We are dealing with an avalance of child sex cases'
Recently local social workers, the police and the Crown Prosecution Services have all been criticised as a consequence of both last year's horrific case of sexual grooming, and the earlier historic cases relating to the former powerful politician Sir Cyril Smith, for not treating the allegations of victims sufficiently seriously.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Latest on last night's attack on George Tapp
Witnesses say the car drove deliberately and at speed into a crowd of protesters who were leafletting at the BAM construction site. BAM paid £38,371.85 to the Consulting Agency, a firm that ran anti-union blacklists, between 1996 and 2009. Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said: 'blacklisting ruins lives and we believe it is continuing today on Crossrail because of contractors like BAM.'
Dave Smith, Secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, said:
'George is a blacklist hero who has been campaigning with Steve Acheson for many years. He recently attended the Blacklist Support Group AGM and led a delegation of blacklisted workers who encouraged the Mayor of Salford to ban blacklisting firms from publicly funded contracts. We wish him a speedy recovery.'
Messages of support should be sent to George via 07949 335 390.
Blacklist Campaign latest:
Friday 17th May - London:
Demonstrate to Vince Cable blacklisting still exists
8am
Business Innovation & Skills,
1 Victoria Street, (next to parliament square)
Saturday 18th May - Liverpool
Construction National rank n file meeting
12noon - 4pm
The Casa Bar, Hope Street, Liverpool,
All building workers welcome
Tuesday 21st May - London
Frank Morris v Crossrail & BFK Employment Tribunal
9am demo - court case all day
Central London Employment Tribunal,
Kingsway,
Holborn,
London
Saturday 25th May - Glasgow
March & Rally - No Public Contracts for Blacklisters
11:30am
Holland Street,
Glasgow
Please get along to this event and share as widely as possible.
Demonstrate to Vince Cable blacklisting still exists
8am
Business Innovation & Skills,
1 Victoria Street, (next to parliament square)
Saturday 18th May - Liverpool
Construction National rank n file meeting
12noon - 4pm
The Casa Bar, Hope Street, Liverpool,
All building workers welcome
Tuesday 21st May - London
Frank Morris v Crossrail & BFK Employment Tribunal
9am demo - court case all day
Central London Employment Tribunal,
Kingsway,
Holborn,
London
Saturday 25th May - Glasgow
March & Rally - No Public Contracts for Blacklisters
11:30am
Holland Street,
Glasgow
Please get along to this event and share as widely as possible.
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY at Royal Exchange
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
By Harold Pinter
Directed by Blanche McIntyre
Designed by Dick Bird
The Royal Exchange Theatre
St Ann’s Square, Manchester
Wednesday 5 June – Saturday 6 July
Press Night: Monday 10 June at 7.30pm
Classic Harold Pinter play THE BIRTHDAY PARTY continues the current season at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre from Wednesday 5 June to Saturday 6 July.
A surreal celebration where nothing is certain, the drama centres on Stanley Webber. He is possibly a pianist. He is lodging at Meg and Petey Boles’ seedy boarding house in an English Seaside town – which is possibly on the South Coast.
It is also possibly Stanley’s birthday, although he’s adamant it’s not. When two sinister strangers, Goldberg and McCann, arrive to stay and demand a celebration, his birthday party turns into a nightmare.
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY is Nobel Prize winner Pinter’s first produced full length play that went on to become one of his best-known and most popular.
This powerful, absurd and unsettling story is directed by Blanche McIntyre (winner of the Critics Circle Most Promising Newcomer 2011 for the critically acclaimed ACCOLADE and FOXFINDER).
The cast includes Maggie Steed as Meg. She is best known on television for PIE IN THE SKY, SHINE ON HARVEY MOON, BORN AND BRED and JAM AND JERUSALEM. Film work includes Terry Gilliam's THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS with Heath Ledger (she was working on the film when he died) and her extensive theatre credits include the Broadway production of Alan Bennett's THE HISTORY BOYS.
Also appearing are Desmond Barrit as Goldberg; Keith Dunphy as McCann; Paul McCleary as Petey and Danusia Samai as Lulu. The creative team is completed by Dick Bird (design), Malcolm Rippeth (lighting) and Gregory Clarke (sound).
The PRESS NIGHT for THE BIRTHDAY PARTY is on Monday 10 June 2013 at 7.30pm.
For further information, images, or for interview / press review ticket requests, please contact JOHN GOODFELLOW (Press & Communications Manager) on 0161 615 6783 / john.goodfellow@royalexchange.co.uk.
Production photos for THE BIRTHDAY PARTY will be available for download from the Royal Exchange Theatre Online Press Office from Friday 7 June 2013 at www.royalexchange.co.uk/press
More information available about this production at http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/event.aspx?id=656
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - Listings Information
The Royal Exchange Theatre
Evening Performance Times: Monday – Friday, 7.30pm (except Tuesday 18 June, no evening performance), Saturday, 8pm
Matinee Performance Times: Wednesday, 2.30pm, Saturday, 3.30pm. Extra matinee performance on
Tuesday 18 June, 2.30pm
Press Night: Monday 10 June, 7.30pm
Half Price Previews: Wednesday 5, Thursday 6 & Friday 7 June
Ticket Prices: £10.00 – £35.00 (Concessions Available)
Happy Mondays: Tickets £5.00 for 25-year-olds and under, Mondays Only
Audio-described Performance: Saturday 29 June, 3.30pm
BSL Interpreted Performance: Friday 5 July, 7.30pm
Captioned Performance: Thursday 27 June, 7.30pm
Backstage tours: Wednesday 12 June, 11am (this tour is BSL interpreted)
After-show Discussion: Thursday 20 June after 7.30pm performance
Box Office: 0161 833 9833.
On-line: www.royalexchange.co.uk/bookonline www.royalexchange.co.uk
Blacklist Campaign Veteran Knocked Down at Manchester City Ground
LAST night, 64-year-old UNITE member, and leading blacklist campaigner, George Tapp (who recently moved a motion supporting Northern Voices), is in Manchester Royal Infirmary hospital last night, and has been reported to have broken both his legs and to have a fractured knee cap after a car drove through a crowd of protesters at full speed outside Manchester City FC.
George was at the Blacklist Support Group AGM and alongside Steve Acheson negotiated a blacklist ban at Salford Council last month. Two other blacklisted workers protesting against blacklisting company 'Bam' were reported to have also been hit by the 'hit and run' driver but they only suffered minor injuries.
George was at the Blacklist Support Group AGM and alongside Steve Acheson negotiated a blacklist ban at Salford Council last month. Two other blacklisted workers protesting against blacklisting company 'Bam' were reported to have also been hit by the 'hit and run' driver but they only suffered minor injuries.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Film Night - Manchester and Saint Petersburg Friendship Society.
The Manchester and Petersburg Friendship Society have organised a showing of the classic film 'Ivan the Terrible' (part 1 1943), which will be shown at the Cheadle Hulme Methodist Church, Ramillies Ave, Cheadle Hulme, on Saturday 1st June 2013, at 6.30 pm.
As well as the film, there will be musical entertainment by the Kalina Balalaika Ensemble and Russian refreshments. An introduction to the film and disucussion afterwards, will lead by historian Catherine Danks.
Tickets (£6) can be obtained from the church (0161 485 1605), or reserved through Kalinka84@live.com
The evenings entertainment is in aid of the 'Silver Strings Project', who are sending the Kalinka Youth Balalaika Orchestra on a study trip to St. Petersburg.
The Bedroom Tax & 'Austerity Kills'
SINCE the suicide of the English lady in Solihull concerned about her 'bedroom tax', reported by Blanco on this Blog last Sunday, David Stucker and Sanjay Basu have written an article in the Global Edition of the New York Times (yesterday) entitled 'How austerity kills'. It seems that early last month a triple suicide was reported in the seaside town of Civitanova Marche in Italy, where a married couple, Anna Sopranzi aged 68, and Romero Dionisi aged 62, had been struggling to live of her monthly pension of 500 euros (£590), and had fallen behind with their rent. Their problem was that the Italian government had suddenly raised the retirement age and MR. Dionisi, a former building workers had become one of Italy's esodati (exiled ones) - older workers plunged into poverty without a safety net. On the 5th, April, he and his wife left a note on a neighbour's car asking for forgiveness, then hanged themselves in a storage closet at home. Then when Ms. Sopranzi's brother, Giuseppe Sopranzi, aged 73, heard the news, he drowned himself in the Adriatic.
Mr Stuckler and Mr. Basu claim:
'The correlation between unemployment and suicide has been observed since the 19th century. People looking for work are about twice as likely to end their lives as those who have jobs.'
They maintain that this is not just a story of suicides being an 'unavoidable consequence of economic downturns', but that in 'countries that slashed health and social protection budgets, like Greece, Italy and Spain, have seen starkly worse health outcomes than nations like Germany, Iceland and Sweden, which maintained their social safety nets and opted for stimulus over austerity. Mr Stucker and Basu note: 'Germany preaches the virtues of austerity - for others'.
Stucker and Basu argue:
'What we have found is that austerity - severe, immediate, indiscriminate cuts to social and health spending - is not only self-defeating, but fatal.'
If Stucker (senior researcher in sociology at Oxford) and Basu (an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford) are right, then this may raise problems for anarchists, like Chris Draper, who insist that to be consistent the anarchist movement must detach itself from the andencies of the state through a program of cuts in state spending. Chris Draper opened up a valueable debate for anarchists which must be confronted if an alternative vision for society is to be presented.
Mr Stuckler and Mr. Basu claim:
'The correlation between unemployment and suicide has been observed since the 19th century. People looking for work are about twice as likely to end their lives as those who have jobs.'
They maintain that this is not just a story of suicides being an 'unavoidable consequence of economic downturns', but that in 'countries that slashed health and social protection budgets, like Greece, Italy and Spain, have seen starkly worse health outcomes than nations like Germany, Iceland and Sweden, which maintained their social safety nets and opted for stimulus over austerity. Mr Stucker and Basu note: 'Germany preaches the virtues of austerity - for others'.
Stucker and Basu argue:
'What we have found is that austerity - severe, immediate, indiscriminate cuts to social and health spending - is not only self-defeating, but fatal.'
If Stucker (senior researcher in sociology at Oxford) and Basu (an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford) are right, then this may raise problems for anarchists, like Chris Draper, who insist that to be consistent the anarchist movement must detach itself from the andencies of the state through a program of cuts in state spending. Chris Draper opened up a valueable debate for anarchists which must be confronted if an alternative vision for society is to be presented.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sexual Grooming: Yesterday & Today
Man Abused by Cyril Smith says Manchester police 'have let the victims down'
JUST as tomorrow's Rochdale Observer carries a front-page story on the recent scandal of the 'nine men [who] were jailed for rape and sexual abuse of a number of vulnerable young girls in a horrific case which shocked the nation', a report on the Exaro website yesterday suggesting that the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were winding down their investigation into Cyril Smith historic crimes has now been vigorously challenged by Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle of the GMP as 'misleading and inaccurate'.
Last week, on behalf of Northern Voices, I asked Stefan Jarmolowicz of the Greater Manchester Police Press Office as to what progress the police had made with regard to their investigations into the allegations against Cyril Smith and he told me that they 'had only ever had one complaint to the Greater Manchester Police'.
And yet, DCS Doyle on behalf of GMP, said yesterday:
'To say that we have abandoned our investigation into allegations concerning the late Sir Cyril Smith is misleading and inaccurate'
and that
'From the outset, we have always stressed that if anybody wished to come forward and make a complaint, GMP would record this to recognise the abuse that victim has suffered. We have publicly said just how important it is for victims that any such abuse is recognised because as Sir Cyril Smith is deceased, no criminal prosecution can be brought against him. Since last year, we have only had a very small number of people come forward to report any abuse by Sir Cyril Smith, and we have had no new reports since then. We are still actively investigating the incidents reported to us.'
All of this contrasts somewhat with the tenor of the statements put out by the GMP Press Department last week about their investigation into the Cyril Smith scandal, and someone in that department giving his name as 'Mark' told me:
'I think from what I know we're not looking into it'
and when I asked Mark if the GMP had looked into the allegations of Eddie Shorrock made in relation to Smith when he went on TV last November, Mark even suggested:
'If this guy went on TV we might not have seen it.'
Mr Ronald Alan Neal, now a baker from Whitworth, who has made statements to GMP and who was abused by Smith at Cambridge House in the 1960s, has told me today that he has made precise complaints to the police that raise concerns about the way this investigation has been conducted into Smith's activities. Mr Neal has also questioned the conduct of the police in relation to Smith in the 1960s. When I spoke to Ronald Alan Neal today and asked him how he felt about how the police had handled his case he told me:
'The Greater Manchester Police have been less than helpful, and once again they have let the victims down.'
But Mr Neal was anxious to praise both the Lancashire police and Tony Lloyd's Police & Crime Commissioner's Office:
'The Lancashire police have less of a budget than the Greater Manchester Police, but they have done far more'
and
'Tony Lloyd's Office have been far more helpful than the GMP'.
As the Savile case is now being pursued with a passion it is strange to encounter so much apparent passivity by the Greater Manchester force over the issues surrounding the now disgraced former Rochdale politician, Sir Cyril Smith.
Iberia, the CGT & Unite: Fighting Redundancies
THREE years ago members of the Spanish ('anarcho-syndicalist') CGT trade union at Iberia in Madrid contacted Northern Voices, and through us got the Bury branch secretary of Unite to fix up a meeting with the regional officers of Unite at their office at Salford Quays and with the Unite union's representatives at Manchester Airport. At that time the CGT (General Confederation of Labour) and its members were concerned about the consequences of the then forthcoming merger between British Airways and Iberia: the desire was to exchange information over wages and conditions etc. in the hope of co-operation between labour in both countries. In the end two representatives of the CGT from Madrid came over and held talks with representatives of Unite the Union, and later representatives from Manchester went to Spain.
Recently the secretary of Bury Unite Branch was contacted by Carlos Figueroa from the Spanish CGT asking for information regarding any developments or signs of activity with regard to British Airways because the situation for the workers at Iberia had deteriorated somewhat of late. Last Saturday, the Financial Times reported that 'International Airlines Group's [IAG] pre-tax loss widened to 670 million euros in the first quarter, as more restructuring costs were revealed yesterday (last Friday) at Iberia, its Spanish unit'. IAG was formed in 2011 from the merger of British Airways and Iberia: it is now reporting 'operating losses at both its subsidiaries', and the group's results fell below analysts expectations. Yet, Willie Walsh, the group's chief executive, described IAG's first-quarter performance as 'encouraging'.
Mr. Walsh said:
'These results are encouraging, with underlying revenue strength in strategic markets' but he added 'while the first step towards restructuring Iberia has been taken, there is more work to be done.'
The Financial Times reports:
'IAG recorded 311 million euro exceptional items in the first quarter relating to the restructuring of Iberia, which had been running up losses as it struggled to compete with more nimble competitors.'
This means that the group has accepted a Spanish government mediator's proposal that Iberia cut 3,300 instead of 4,500 that the bosses had originally planned to make redundant in November. IAG's plan to cut the workforce by 22% had run into strong opposition from the Spanish trade unions, which had launched 10 days of strikes in the first quarter of the year. Never-the-less, Mr Walsh said that he intended to pay shareholders a dividend in the future.
Recently the secretary of Bury Unite Branch was contacted by Carlos Figueroa from the Spanish CGT asking for information regarding any developments or signs of activity with regard to British Airways because the situation for the workers at Iberia had deteriorated somewhat of late. Last Saturday, the Financial Times reported that 'International Airlines Group's [IAG] pre-tax loss widened to 670 million euros in the first quarter, as more restructuring costs were revealed yesterday (last Friday) at Iberia, its Spanish unit'. IAG was formed in 2011 from the merger of British Airways and Iberia: it is now reporting 'operating losses at both its subsidiaries', and the group's results fell below analysts expectations. Yet, Willie Walsh, the group's chief executive, described IAG's first-quarter performance as 'encouraging'.
Mr. Walsh said:
'These results are encouraging, with underlying revenue strength in strategic markets' but he added 'while the first step towards restructuring Iberia has been taken, there is more work to be done.'
The Financial Times reports:
'IAG recorded 311 million euro exceptional items in the first quarter relating to the restructuring of Iberia, which had been running up losses as it struggled to compete with more nimble competitors.'
This means that the group has accepted a Spanish government mediator's proposal that Iberia cut 3,300 instead of 4,500 that the bosses had originally planned to make redundant in November. IAG's plan to cut the workforce by 22% had run into strong opposition from the Spanish trade unions, which had launched 10 days of strikes in the first quarter of the year. Never-the-less, Mr Walsh said that he intended to pay shareholders a dividend in the future.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Bristol Radical History Group Events
BRH Mob,
Two events you might like?
The Great Housing Rip Off
Monday 13th May 8.00pm
The Cube, Dove Street, Bristol.
Entry £3/£4 (But nobody turned away due to lack of funds)
As part of co-ordinated action by the International Workers' Association across several countries, Indymedia and Bristol Solidarity Federation are hosting an evening of film and discussion on housing matters. Using film footage from the 1930s and 1970s, the struggles of ordinary people to live in a decent, affordable and secure home will be remembered. The talks and discussions will focus on the present day, providing: an overview of current national and local housing issues; an analysis of the expanding private rented sector; an insight into the tenants movement in Bristol; and a first hand account of DIY housing in the form of a local co-operative. Related Link: http://www.solfed.org.uk/local/bristol
Presented by PCN, Bristol Indymedia & Bristol Solidarity Federation (this event is not organised by Bristol Radical History Group)
And.....
A Marxist History of the World in 45 Minutes
Tuesday 21st May 7.00pm
Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St., Bristol, BS2 0EZ
with Neil Faulkner
We face the greatest crisis in the history of humanity. Economic depression, imperialist war, climate catastrophe, and grotesque social inequalities threaten to tear the world apart. What is to be done? The lesson of history is that human beings make their own history.
Launching his new book, A Marxist History of the World: from Neanderthals to Neoliberals, archaeologist and historian Neil Faulkner argues that history is open and contested. It is an active process of creation in which different futures are possible. It depends on what we do.
Powered by the interaction of technological change, wars between rulers, and class struggle from below, history is a constant struggle for control over society’s wealth. For 5,000 years, that wealth has served greed and war. Now, in the great crisis of the early 21st century, we must act to create a different future.
The meeting will include plenty of time for questions and discussion. All welcome. Join us.
Described by The Guardian as ‘enlightening and apocalyptic in equal measure’, Dr Neil Faulkner is a research fellow at Bristol University, a revolutionary socialist activist, and the author of numerous books, including Rome: Empire of the eagles (2008). He was a lead consultant and contributor to Sky Atlantic’s The British.
Cheers,
BRHG
_______________________________________________ Brhmob mailing list Brhmob@brh.org.uk http://www.brh.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/brhmob
Dates With Blacklist Campaign
Tuesday 14th May - 11am - Birmingham
Dianne Hughes - Deputy Director of Human Resources at The Big Lottery Fund - is listed as the main contact for blacklisting at Costain.
Big Lottery offices:
Apex House,
Embassy Drive,
Calthorpe Road,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham,
B15 1TP
Wed 15th May - 5.30pm - Manchester
Man City FC Academy construction project - being built by proven blacklisters Royal BAM
Ethihad campus (next to the stadium)
Man City season ticket holders are on the blacklist
Date for the diary:
Saturday 25th May - 11:30am Glasgow
Anti-Blacklist March & Rally
Holland Street
Glasgow
https://www.facebook.com/events/310572919072903/
Some press from last week:
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/10412882._/
http://www.andrewdismore.org.uk/home/2013/05/08/dismore-backs-anti-blacklist-campaign-in-barnet/
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1077124/blacklisting-protest-targets-manchester-citys-training-ground
http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/2013/05/08/unite-union-demonstration-outside-may-gurney-refuse-depot-59067-33301237/#.UYrIGb3s3Xk.email
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95565889@N03
Dianne Hughes - Deputy Director of Human Resources at The Big Lottery Fund - is listed as the main contact for blacklisting at Costain.
Big Lottery offices:
Apex House,
Embassy Drive,
Calthorpe Road,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham,
B15 1TP
'You've more chance of being blacklisted than winning the Lottery'
Wed 15th May - 5.30pm - Manchester
Man City FC Academy construction project - being built by proven blacklisters Royal BAM
Ethihad campus (next to the stadium)
Man City season ticket holders are on the blacklist
Date for the diary:
Saturday 25th May - 11:30am Glasgow
Anti-Blacklist March & Rally
Holland Street
Glasgow
https://www.facebook.com/events/310572919072903/
Some press from last week:
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/10412882._/
http://www.andrewdismore.org.uk/home/2013/05/08/dismore-backs-anti-blacklist-campaign-in-barnet/
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1077124/blacklisting-protest-targets-manchester-citys-training-ground
http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/2013/05/08/unite-union-demonstration-outside-may-gurney-refuse-depot-59067-33301237/#.UYrIGb3s3Xk.email
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95565889@N03
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Solihull single mother commits suicide over 'bedroom tax". She could not afford to live!
Amid all the brouhaha about Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement and Michael Gove's call for a referendum on Britain's continuing membership of the European Community, the tragic suicide of 53-year-old Stephanie Bottril from Solihull, was squeezed into a three minute slot on Sky TV.
Last Saturday, Stephanie left her home on Meriden Drive - Solihull, where she had lived for the past eighteen years - and walked to Junction 4 of the M6 motorway, where she threw herself under a lorry. Before killing herself she told neighbour's that she "simply couldn't afford to live anymore" and posted her keys and a suicide note through a neighbour's door, blaming the government's 'bedroom tax' for her death. "I don't blame anyone for me death expect (sic) the government" she wrote.
Under 'bedroom tax' rules, Stephanie was facing a welfare cut in her housing benefit because she had two spare rooms and she could not afford the extra £20 per week she was required to pay in order to retain her home. She told neighbours that she was 'tortured' about how she could afford the extra £20 per week and knew that she would have leave the home she loved, after losing a quarter of her £320-a-month housing benefit when her 23-year-old daughter, left home to live with her partner. Shortly before her death, a neighbour had taken her some barbecue food because she had not eaten for three days.
Mrs Bottril suffered from an auto-immune system deficiency condition known as Myasthenia gravis, which impacted on her ability to work but she was not receiving disability benefit. In a letter to her 27-year-old son, Steven, she said:
"Don't blame yourself for me ending my life, it is my life, the only people to blame are the government."
Although Mrs Bottril had been offered another property, she felt this was unsuitable because of poor transport links and she felt this would have isolated her from her family. Following Stephanie's death, the family issued a statement. Her son Steven told the Sunday People:
"She was fine before this bedroom tax. It was dreamt up by people living in offices and big houses. They have no idea the effect it has on people like my mum."
At a time when this verminous Tory government are taxing poor people for having so-called spare bedrooms, they have cut taxes for the rich and corporation tax for their business chums. As from April, anyone earning over £1 million-a-year will get an annual tax cut of at least £42,295.00. Yet there has been a five-fold increase in food banks since this government came into power in May 2010. The Labour MP Luciana Berger, recently told Parliament that 350,000 people had accessed emergency food aid this year in Britain.
While the government pursues its billionaires agenda of less tax for the rich, less regulation for business, less spending by the State and no cap on bankers bonuses, children are going hungry in Manchester. It is estimated that 91,000 children are living in severe poverty throughout Greater Manchester.
In the local authority area of Tameside, which according to figures published by the trade union UNISON, is one of the hardest places to find work in the North West, the registered social landlord New Charter Housing Trust Ltd, has already started to send out letters to their tenants who are in arrears with their 'bedroom tax', threatening legal action. These 'recovery proceedings' are being made in spite of comments made by New Charter boss, Ian Munro, that the tax should 'axed' and that it is both 'unfair and incompetent'. The housing boss has also stated that the housing company is in no position to rehouse many of its tenants, who are being forced to downsize. It is estimated that two-thirds of people affected by the bedroom tax nationally, are disabled.
In Solihull, the council Labour group leader, David Jamieson, said he was 'appalled' by the death of Stephanie Bottril and he urged the government to reconsider its 'bedroom tax' policy. Figures released earlier this year, show that UK suicide rates have markedly increased since the Tory government came into office. Just how many suicides it will take, before this government scraps this vile and iniquitous tax, remains to be seen.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Savile: West Yorkshire Police Clear Themselves
IN a report into themselves the West Yorkshire Police said that they found 'no evidence' that Jimmy Savile was protected from arrest or prosecution by his pally relations with the force. However, it admitted that there had been an 'over-reliance on personal friendships' between Savile and some officers, and that 'mistakes were made' in the handling of intelligence. Tons of allegations of abuse had come to light after his death in October 2011.
Speaking after publication of the report, Assistant Chief Constable Ingrid Lee said:
'They didn't know, the people engaged with Jimmy Savile, that actually there were these allegations against him... There clearly was information available that we should have tied together and we did fail victims in relation to tying that evidence together and we should have done. If he were alive today, there's absolutely no doubt that he would have had a number of questions to answer.'
The West Yorkshire Police report reveals Savile was used to front a number of the force's campaigns, including one called Talking Signs, where a recording of his voice was broadcast from lamp posts offering crime prevention advice. The report claimed that at the time he was 'seen by most of the public as a man who did good work' and it concluded there were concerns about what it described as 'the over-reliance on personal friendships that developed between Savile and some officers over a number of years': furthermore it stated - 'He (Savile) was able to manage his public persona in such a way that he deceived most people he met' and that 'he was a manipulative man who exploited to the worst possible degree the trust people placed in him.'
A lawyer, Alan Collins, who is a specialist in child abuse, and who is representing 40 of Savile's victims together with a number who claim to have been violated by the former Rochdale Liberal - Democrat MP, Sir Cyril Smith who died in 2010, said today:
'It's protection by inadvertence. It's all about failing to join up the dots. There was intelligence, but that intelligence wasn't shared or used, so Savile was able to run rings around police forces. I think if that relationship [with Savile] wasn't there, and the police officers were not blinkered in who they were dealing with because of his celebrity, then maybe the evidence that was available would have been looked at with a sharper eye.'
This report does not inspire much confidence in the ability of the West Yorkshire Police to manage their records. In the recent past Northern Voices has had experience in a minor case of assault of certain slip-ups with regard to the storage and exchange of evidence between the police and the CPS. The solicitor Alan Collins says 'maybe the evidence that was available would have been looked at with a sharper eye' if some of the West Yorkshire police had not been so cosy in their local relationship with Savile; this may have been so but the documentary sloppiness that has been demonstrated in the Savile case also prevailed in some of the other cases including that of Sir Cyril Smith which now seems to have slipped off the radar.
Speaking after publication of the report, Assistant Chief Constable Ingrid Lee said:
'They didn't know, the people engaged with Jimmy Savile, that actually there were these allegations against him... There clearly was information available that we should have tied together and we did fail victims in relation to tying that evidence together and we should have done. If he were alive today, there's absolutely no doubt that he would have had a number of questions to answer.'
The West Yorkshire Police report reveals Savile was used to front a number of the force's campaigns, including one called Talking Signs, where a recording of his voice was broadcast from lamp posts offering crime prevention advice. The report claimed that at the time he was 'seen by most of the public as a man who did good work' and it concluded there were concerns about what it described as 'the over-reliance on personal friendships that developed between Savile and some officers over a number of years': furthermore it stated - 'He (Savile) was able to manage his public persona in such a way that he deceived most people he met' and that 'he was a manipulative man who exploited to the worst possible degree the trust people placed in him.'
A lawyer, Alan Collins, who is a specialist in child abuse, and who is representing 40 of Savile's victims together with a number who claim to have been violated by the former Rochdale Liberal - Democrat MP, Sir Cyril Smith who died in 2010, said today:
'It's protection by inadvertence. It's all about failing to join up the dots. There was intelligence, but that intelligence wasn't shared or used, so Savile was able to run rings around police forces. I think if that relationship [with Savile] wasn't there, and the police officers were not blinkered in who they were dealing with because of his celebrity, then maybe the evidence that was available would have been looked at with a sharper eye.'
This report does not inspire much confidence in the ability of the West Yorkshire Police to manage their records. In the recent past Northern Voices has had experience in a minor case of assault of certain slip-ups with regard to the storage and exchange of evidence between the police and the CPS. The solicitor Alan Collins says 'maybe the evidence that was available would have been looked at with a sharper eye' if some of the West Yorkshire police had not been so cosy in their local relationship with Savile; this may have been so but the documentary sloppiness that has been demonstrated in the Savile case also prevailed in some of the other cases including that of Sir Cyril Smith which now seems to have slipped off the radar.
Jerry Hicks, Unite the Union & the Awkward Squad
FROM Jerry Hicks:
Please forward to all your contacts / Facebook / Blogs / Twitter /all other stuff. Contact me about what's happening where you are email jerryhicks4gs2010@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 07817827912 Ta Jerry.
Our 'mini tour' round the country continues a pace, to discuss how to organise and build on the magnificent 80,000 votes and continue the fight to make Unite a better union for the members. So far already taking in Birmingham, London and Plymouth.
The accute need for something better has for this has been brought home to us with a 'BANG'........................ [See attached leaflet for full explanation]. London & Eastern Regional Council at its April meeting has decided to close 100’s of branches throughout the region with effect from May 15th. There has been NO consultation in advance of this sudden move. No one has even been informed which branch they will become a member of.
A meeting about the Branch closures in London & Eastern Region has been called [by supporters of Jerry Hicks] for next Thursday 16th May 7-30pm to 9-30pm at the Friends Meeting House Rainsford Road, Chelmsford; CM1 2QL. All Unite members welcome to attend.
Here on details of other Post-election meetings please try to get to one near you:
Saturday 11th May: 2-4pm, Methodist Central Buildings, Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JQ (near Piccadilly Gardens and station). Download a leaflet. Facebook.
Saturday 18th May: 6pm, Cambridge
Monday 20th May: 7:30pm, The Old Fighting Cocks, 48 Market Street, Oakengates, Telford, TF2 6DU
Tuesday 21st May: 6pm, function room, O'Neills, 26 Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3DL
Wednesday 22nd May: 7:30pm, Belle Vue Club, Kedal Road, Hartlepool, TS25 1QU
Thursday 23rd May: 7pm, upstairs room, The Piper on the Square, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, G1 1HL (by George Square).
The discussions at the regional meetings will be followed by a national meeting to take decisions on next steps:
London National Meeting: Saturday 25th May, 1pm, Somers Town Community Centre, 150 Ossulston Street, London NW1 1EE (nearest tubes Euston and Kings Cross). Leaflet. Facebook.
Info: I am in the process of making a number of complaints regarding abuses during the General Secretary election, as soon as there are any major developments I will let you know.
Finally [for now] some brilliant news- Unite member and Grass Roots left Chair Gerry Downing, a bus driver in London for Metroline at the Wilsden garage, has won his reinstatement following his successful appeal against his sacking today [Tuesday 30th April]. Massive congratulations to Gerry Downing and those who joined showed their solidarity support at the picket of his appeal hearing.
Keep on keeping on, Jerry.
For more information go to www.jerryhicks4gs.org
Please forward to all your contacts / Facebook / Blogs / Twitter /all other stuff. Contact me about what's happening where you are email jerryhicks4gs2010@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 07817827912 Ta Jerry.
'80,000 votes [for Jerry as Unite General Sec.] are not going away & will not be ignored'
Our 'mini tour' round the country continues a pace, to discuss how to organise and build on the magnificent 80,000 votes and continue the fight to make Unite a better union for the members. So far already taking in Birmingham, London and Plymouth.
The accute need for something better has for this has been brought home to us with a 'BANG'........................ [See attached leaflet for full explanation]. London & Eastern Regional Council at its April meeting has decided to close 100’s of branches throughout the region with effect from May 15th. There has been NO consultation in advance of this sudden move. No one has even been informed which branch they will become a member of.
A meeting about the Branch closures in London & Eastern Region has been called [by supporters of Jerry Hicks] for next Thursday 16th May 7-30pm to 9-30pm at the Friends Meeting House Rainsford Road, Chelmsford; CM1 2QL. All Unite members welcome to attend.
Don't agonise, organise!
Here on details of other Post-election meetings please try to get to one near you:
Saturday 11th May: 2-4pm, Methodist Central Buildings, Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JQ (near Piccadilly Gardens and station). Download a leaflet. Facebook.
Saturday 18th May: 6pm, Cambridge
Monday 20th May: 7:30pm, The Old Fighting Cocks, 48 Market Street, Oakengates, Telford, TF2 6DU
Tuesday 21st May: 6pm, function room, O'Neills, 26 Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3DL
Wednesday 22nd May: 7:30pm, Belle Vue Club, Kedal Road, Hartlepool, TS25 1QU
Thursday 23rd May: 7pm, upstairs room, The Piper on the Square, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, G1 1HL (by George Square).
The discussions at the regional meetings will be followed by a national meeting to take decisions on next steps:
London National Meeting: Saturday 25th May, 1pm, Somers Town Community Centre, 150 Ossulston Street, London NW1 1EE (nearest tubes Euston and Kings Cross). Leaflet. Facebook.
Info: I am in the process of making a number of complaints regarding abuses during the General Secretary election, as soon as there are any major developments I will let you know.
Finally [for now] some brilliant news- Unite member and Grass Roots left Chair Gerry Downing, a bus driver in London for Metroline at the Wilsden garage, has won his reinstatement following his successful appeal against his sacking today [Tuesday 30th April]. Massive congratulations to Gerry Downing and those who joined showed their solidarity support at the picket of his appeal hearing.
Keep on keeping on, Jerry.
For more information go to www.jerryhicks4gs.org
Thursday, May 9, 2013
How the NCCL lobbied for Paedophiles!
Athough many of the early novels of the English writer Evelyn Waugh, are exquisitely funny, many people have also found them rude and in bad taste. Had he been writing today, it is doubtful whether a modern-day publisher would have printed some of his works because of their overtly racist nature. Even in his own day, Waugh was considered a risk in certain quarters. When he offered his first novel 'Decline and Fall' to the publishers 'Duckworth', they rejected it on the grounds of 'indelicacy'. The book was eventually published in 1928, by 'Chapman and Hall' whose Managing Director, Arthur Waugh, was the author's father.
Although in the first edition of the novel, Waugh wrote: "Please bear in mind throughout that IT IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY", anyone who has read 'Decline and Fall', would have no difficulty in recognising why some people considered this book 'indelicate' at the time of its publication. The novel is replete with such terms as 'nigger', 'chink', and makes rather unflattering remarks and observations about the Welsh. Take this, as an example:
"I think it's an insult bringing niggers here" said Mrs Clutterbuck, "It's an insult to our own women."
"Niggers are all right" said Philbrick, "where I draw the line is a Chink, nasty inhuman things. I had a pal bumped off by a Chink once. Throat cut horrible, it was, from ear to ear."
"Good gracious!" said Mrs Clutterbuck the governess. "Was that in the Boxer rising"?
"No", said Philbrick cheerfully. "Saturday night in the Edgware Road. Might have happened to any of us."
In the early novels, this sort of racism coupled with anti-Semitism, is fairly typical stuff from the pen of the author of Brideshead Revisited. But what some people find particularly objectionable about 'Decline and Fall', are the themes of 'pederasty' and 'prostitution' and the way in which, Waugh deals with these issues, throughout the novel. Although the writer, Christopher Hitchens, consider the novel " a miniature masterpiece", in an essay that he wrote on Waugh, he said of the novel:
"I remember being quite astounded when I was first introduced to the novel at the age of twelve, by a boarding-school master who later had to be hastily taken away."
The novel tells the story of Paul Pennyfeather, a theological student and 'innocent abroad', who is sent down from Oxford for indecent behaviour, when he's found without his trousers in the quad of Scone College after being debagged by members of the 'Bollinger Club'. Disinherited by his guardian, Pennyfeather is forced to look for work as a school teacher. He's interviewed by Mr. Levy, of the Church and Gargoyle scholastic agents, who says to him:
"Sent down for indecent behaviour eh? Well, I don't think we'll say anything about that. In fact officially, mind, you haven't told me. We call that sort of thing 'Education discontinued for personal reasons'."
At Llanabba Castle school in Wales, Paul is interviewed by Dr. Fagin, who says to him: "I understand, too, that you left university rather suddenly. Now, why was that?" Paul replies: "I was sent down, Sir, for indecent behaviour." "Indeed, indeed?" replies Dr. Fagin. "Well, I shall not ask for details. I have been in the scholastic profession long enough to know that nobody enters it unless he has some good reason which he is anxious to conceal. But again to be practical Mr. Pennyfeather, I can hardly pay £120 to anyone who has been sent down for indecent behaviour. Suppose we fix your salary at £90 a year to begin with."
A character in the novel, Captain Grimes, is a one legged tutor at the school, who is also a pederast and a drunk. In his diaries, Waugh says that Grime's 'monotonously pederastic' prototype, was one William R.B. Young - 'Dick Young', a tutor who worked with Waugh. In the diaries, Waugh explains that Young had been "expelled from Wellington, sent down from Oxford and forced to resign his commission in the army. He had left four schools precipitately, three in the middle of the term through being taken in sodomy and one through his being drunk six nights in succession. And yet he goes on getting better and better jobs without difficulty."
Nowadays, people might find it quite astonishing that the subject of child sex abuse could be treated so lightly and humorously by an English novelist writing in the late 1920s or that a pederastic teacher, could move from one job after another, after being dismissed for sexual abuse. Yet social attitudes and perceptions do change over time and many people reading the novel for the first time, may not have batted an eyelid about the racism or the awful underlying themes of pederasty and prostitution. Certainly, racism was commonplace at the time and both the novelist Graham Greene and John Buchan, have been accused of anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, the physical or sexual abuse of children can never be justified no matter how long ago it took place, on the grounds of historical relativism, or that it furthers some discourse on sexual liberation.
Yet at a time when the police are conducting the Jimmy Savile inquiry and there are investigations taking place into child sex abuse in children's homes throughout the country, it may seem shocking that as recently as 1976, the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), now known as Liberty, petitioned Parliament's criminal law revision committee and argued for incest to be decriminalised and that sexually explicit photographs of children, should be legal unless it could be shown that the subject had suffered harm. Harriet Harman (pictured), the then legal officer of the NCCL (and now Deputy Leader of the Labour Party), argued that it would "increase censorship". In their petition the NCCL stated that the 'Protection of Children Bill', would lead to "damaging and absurd prosecutions" and stated:
"Childhood sexual experiences, willingly engaged in with an adult, result in no identifiable damage...The real need is a change in attitude which assumes that all cases of paedophilia result in lasting damage."
At the time the NCCL made its petition to Parliament that "caused barely a ripple", both the 'Paedophile Information Exchange'(PIE), and the 'Paedophile Action for Liberation' (PAL), were active members of the NCCL. In the 1970s, when there were campaigns around the theme of 'sexual liberation', both organisations campaigned to have 'paedophilia' (defined as a person who has a primary or exclusive sexual interest in pre-pubescent children) classified as a sexual orientation in much the same way as homosexuality is accepted today. Yet, many professionals working within the field of child protection, regard paedophilia as acquired behaviour rather than innate behaviour - something which is learned and can be unlearned. Chris Wilson, of 'Circles UK', who works with released offenders, is dismissive of the idea that paedophilia is a sexual orientation: In a Guardian article about paedophilia, which was published earlier this year, he told the newspaper:
"The roots of desire for sex with a child lie in dysfunctional psychological issues to do with power, control, anger, emotional loneliness, isolation."
Although there are considerable differences of opinion regarding clinical definitions of paedophilia or what causes it, The 'American Psychological Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders', classifies it as "a sexual deviation, a sociopathic condition and a non-psychotic mental disorder." However, sociological studies that have looked at paedophilia, do suggest that not all paedophiles are child molesters and vice versa and that not all paedophiles, act on their impulses. Likewise, many people who do sexually abuse children are not exclusively or primarily sexually attracted to them. It is also known that the vast majority of sexual violence, is committed by people known to the victim.
Sarah Goode, who has written two major sociological studies on paedophilia, says that "1-in-5 adult men are, to some degree, capable of being sexually aroused by children." She also adds: "Even less is known about female paedophiles, thought to be responsible for maybe 5% of abuse against pre-pubescent children in the UK."
New Editor for Freedom
THERE hasn't been an issue of the monthly Freedom (the anarchist paper) since February. It is likely that the March, April and May issues will arrive in the next month or so, as the new editor Charlotte takes over. Freedom has had a rocky existence over the last year partly because of the copyright challenge from David Hoffman last year but also more recently because of a fire apparently inflicted maliciously earlier this year. At the time of this incident it seemed that the police had good photographic evidence of the culprits but this later proved not to be the case.
Curiously another Charlotte, Charlotte Wilson, was the first editor of Freedom when it was founded in 1886. Charlotte Wilson was also a member of the Fabian Society. David Goodway in his book 'Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow' (2006) writes:
'Unlike such countries as France or Italy, Britain had never had a numerically significant anarchist movement; and so in the 1930s there was neither a tradition of sympathy for libertarian ideas and aspirations let alone, as in France, the resurgence of a major movement to provide solidarity for the Spanish Revolution (in 1936).'
Goodway adds:
'In Britain even the principle anarchist journal, Freedom, founded back in 1886, had folded in 1927.'
The Russian/ American anarchist, Emma Goldman wrote in 1937:
'... there is no Anarchist movement in England.... we have nothing in London or the provincial cities...'
David Goodway observes in his Conclusion:
'It has been seen that in Britain pure anarchism - unlike the broader libertarianism during the second decade of the twentieth century of syndicalism, industrial unionism, the Shop Stewards' and Workers' Committee Movement, and Guild Socialism - had never achieved any better than a minuscule following (other than among the Yiddish speakers of London's East End and possibly on Clydeside).'
In the late 1940s, Marie Louise Berneri wrote about Freedom:
'The paper gets better and better, and fewer and fewer people read it.'
Of Freedom in the 1950s, Goodway writes:
'The political and intellectual isolation of British anarchism, together with its lack of numerical support continued throughout the 1950s, leading (Colin) Ward to comment that "the problem of the 1960s is simply that of how to put anarchism back into the intellectual bloodstream, into the field of ideas which are taken seriously".'
Now in the 21st century, for the first time Freedom opted to advertise for a new editor and got six applications. The former editor Matthew had taken over at a difficult time following both the David Hoffman copywrite business and an internal dispute with a former editor. Matthew had been unfortunate in getting caught up in the dispute between Nick Heath and the Anarchist Federation (AF) in their dealings with Barry Woodling, the Northern Anarchist Network (NAN) and Northern Voices. This had led to him receiving a nasty, and some would say threatening letter from Mr. Heath, who works part-time in the Freedom Bookshop. Ultimately, Matthew was to suffer an attack of pneumonia and resigned his editorship.
Freedom has had a long history, and I attended its 75th anniversary Anarchist Ball at which Mick Mulligan played and George Melly sang in 1963. In the 1960s that was a point of anarchism's greatest influence and when Freedom, then a weekly, sold about 3,000 copies a week. Since then it has had some great people on its editorial board including John Retty, Peter Turner and Bill Christopher, as well as Vernon Richards and Charles Crute. But last year readers were shocked to learn that Freedom, now a monthly, only had a print order of some 300 copies, and little discernible influence beyond a small circle. Colin Ward did much to place anarchism on the intellectual agenda during the last half of the 20th century, the question is can it retain any credibility now when the British left is in such a derelict state?
_______________________________________________________
The next issue of the printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, will soon be available for sale with a with a review of one of Dave Goodway's books 'The Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: from William Morris to Colin Ward', Northern Voices can be obtained as follows:
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' sent to c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com
Curiously another Charlotte, Charlotte Wilson, was the first editor of Freedom when it was founded in 1886. Charlotte Wilson was also a member of the Fabian Society. David Goodway in his book 'Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow' (2006) writes:
'Unlike such countries as France or Italy, Britain had never had a numerically significant anarchist movement; and so in the 1930s there was neither a tradition of sympathy for libertarian ideas and aspirations let alone, as in France, the resurgence of a major movement to provide solidarity for the Spanish Revolution (in 1936).'
Goodway adds:
'In Britain even the principle anarchist journal, Freedom, founded back in 1886, had folded in 1927.'
The Russian/ American anarchist, Emma Goldman wrote in 1937:
'... there is no Anarchist movement in England.... we have nothing in London or the provincial cities...'
David Goodway observes in his Conclusion:
'It has been seen that in Britain pure anarchism - unlike the broader libertarianism during the second decade of the twentieth century of syndicalism, industrial unionism, the Shop Stewards' and Workers' Committee Movement, and Guild Socialism - had never achieved any better than a minuscule following (other than among the Yiddish speakers of London's East End and possibly on Clydeside).'
In the late 1940s, Marie Louise Berneri wrote about Freedom:
'The paper gets better and better, and fewer and fewer people read it.'
Of Freedom in the 1950s, Goodway writes:
'The political and intellectual isolation of British anarchism, together with its lack of numerical support continued throughout the 1950s, leading (Colin) Ward to comment that "the problem of the 1960s is simply that of how to put anarchism back into the intellectual bloodstream, into the field of ideas which are taken seriously".'
Now in the 21st century, for the first time Freedom opted to advertise for a new editor and got six applications. The former editor Matthew had taken over at a difficult time following both the David Hoffman copywrite business and an internal dispute with a former editor. Matthew had been unfortunate in getting caught up in the dispute between Nick Heath and the Anarchist Federation (AF) in their dealings with Barry Woodling, the Northern Anarchist Network (NAN) and Northern Voices. This had led to him receiving a nasty, and some would say threatening letter from Mr. Heath, who works part-time in the Freedom Bookshop. Ultimately, Matthew was to suffer an attack of pneumonia and resigned his editorship.
Freedom has had a long history, and I attended its 75th anniversary Anarchist Ball at which Mick Mulligan played and George Melly sang in 1963. In the 1960s that was a point of anarchism's greatest influence and when Freedom, then a weekly, sold about 3,000 copies a week. Since then it has had some great people on its editorial board including John Retty, Peter Turner and Bill Christopher, as well as Vernon Richards and Charles Crute. But last year readers were shocked to learn that Freedom, now a monthly, only had a print order of some 300 copies, and little discernible influence beyond a small circle. Colin Ward did much to place anarchism on the intellectual agenda during the last half of the 20th century, the question is can it retain any credibility now when the British left is in such a derelict state?
_______________________________________________________
The next issue of the printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, will soon be available for sale with a with a review of one of Dave Goodway's books 'The Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: from William Morris to Colin Ward', Northern Voices can be obtained as follows:
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' sent to c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com
Blackstone Edge Gathering & Roman Road
'Lancashire's Via Appia Antica'
NOT only the Chartists visited Blackstone Edge but local legend has it that the Romans built a road up it. The leader of the Littleborough contingent that ascended it for last Sunday's gathering Fiona insisted on taking us up the steep 'Roman Road' as the Romans built in straight lines.In his entry to 'Hidden Treasures of England,' Michael McNay writes:
'Anyone who has walked the old Appian Way in Rome will be familiar with the feel and look of a genuine Roman road: slabs of (in this case) lava rock laid with gaps between them of something like an inch. This may not be the scientific way to argue that the remarkable half-mile stretch of paved road climbing to Blackstone Edge in the Pennines off the A58 above Littleborough is also Roman and not, as some doubters feel, a route laid down at some later date, but it certainly has all the appearances of the genuine article. Moreover, there is no evidence that anyone bothered to build roads of this sort after the Romans until the coming of the turnpikes in the 18th century. Quite the contrary, in fact: the appalling state of the roads is why rivers and, later, canals were so important for transport.'
Mr McNay adds:
'The Blackstone Edge road has one other particularly Roman characteristic: it goes straight up the hill the direct way. It was part of the route from the fort at Manchester to Ilkley, and it is in excellent condition. One explanation for the wide groove that runs down the middle is that it was made to help braking, but since the road has no camber, my own guess is that it was put there simply to allow water to run off.'
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Blackstone Edge & Bury Black Pudding
LAST Sunday, a gathering took place on Blackstone Edge in Littleborough to commemorate the Chartist revival of 1846, when 30,000 Chartists gathered under this rocky outcrop on August Bank Holiday Sunday. This time there were about 50 present and a choir.
Paul Salverson, a Labour Councillor and Northern historian spoke about the need for more regional government in the North. A lecturer from Manchester University outlined the significance of the occassion to current events and present-day politics; the decline in turnout in the voting in the recent local elections were noted. Paul Salverson pondered the timidity of all the main stream politicians which had allowed the outsider Ukip Party to triumph.
Ultimately flags were raised and songs were sung, and some of us adjourned to the White House to drink Joseph Holt's bitter and in my case to eat some Bury Black Pudding on a spread of mashed potatoes and onion. Ominously as we decended Blackstone Edge we caught sight of the stripped carcase of a fully grown sheep with its rib-cage gleeming white in the sunlight.
The next gathering is likely to be on Sunday 4th May 2014.
If you would like to contribute a song or reading, or if you are willing to lead a walk up to Blackstone Edge from one of the valley towns or railway stations, please contact
Gwyneth Morgan at: gwyneth@blackstoneedgegathering.org.uk
Paul Salverson, a Labour Councillor and Northern historian spoke about the need for more regional government in the North. A lecturer from Manchester University outlined the significance of the occassion to current events and present-day politics; the decline in turnout in the voting in the recent local elections were noted. Paul Salverson pondered the timidity of all the main stream politicians which had allowed the outsider Ukip Party to triumph.
Ultimately flags were raised and songs were sung, and some of us adjourned to the White House to drink Joseph Holt's bitter and in my case to eat some Bury Black Pudding on a spread of mashed potatoes and onion. Ominously as we decended Blackstone Edge we caught sight of the stripped carcase of a fully grown sheep with its rib-cage gleeming white in the sunlight.
The next gathering is likely to be on Sunday 4th May 2014.
If you would like to contribute a song or reading, or if you are willing to lead a walk up to Blackstone Edge from one of the valley towns or railway stations, please contact
Gwyneth Morgan at: gwyneth@blackstoneedgegathering.org.uk
Blacklist Campaign Latest
Blacklist Flashmob
5pm Wed 8th May - TONITE
Crossrail site
100 Oxford Street
meet: Tottenham Court Rd tube
We have got TV crews following us today - so we need bodies
Manchester
7.30am Friday 10th May
Manchester City FC Academy construction project
(its right next to the stadium)
Blacklist Support Group
video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRB9DjmhBHg
blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
Labour Disputes in Hong Kong & Bahrain
A month ago I wrote to you to ask for your support for striking dock workers in Hong Kong. Over 8,500 of you responded to the call and today I'm pleased to tell you that the strike is over. The workers have accepted an improved wage offer and promises of further negotiations on working conditions, as well as an assurance that there will be no retaliation against workers who participated in the strike.
The Union of Hong Kong Dockers issued a statement thanking us all for our solidarity. In it, they write:
'The passionate support and generous donations of the Hong Kong community, the international trade unions and organizations have helped us to sustain the strike for forty days. On behalf of our members, UHKD is thankful to all of you who have been giving us unwavering support. Together with you, we have demonstrated again the importance of workers’ unity in fighting not only for reasonable pay, but also our dignity and our future.'
(More details are available on the ITF website.).
It's a great win and demonstrates once again the incredible power of international solidarity. We've won a great victory in Hong Kong, but now we have to turn our attention to workers elsewhere who need our help.
In the past, LabourStart has highlighted the case of jailed Bahraini trade union leader Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb.
In early 2011, as peaceful protests spread across Bahrain, Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb and his colleague Jalila al-Salman called for a teachers’ strike to support the growing demands for reform.
Most of us would say that there were doing their job as leaders of a teachers' union. The authorities in Bahrain did not agree.
They were arrested on 6 April 2011. Mahdi spent 64 days in solitary confinement during which he says he was tortured and forced to sign a confession. His family did not know where he was for the first 24 days. Mahdi and Jalila were sentenced to prison. They were convicted for using their positions to call for a strike by teachers, halting the educational process and attempting to overthrow the ruling system.
Their sentences were eventually reduced on appeal – Mahdi’s to five years, Jalila to six months - but they should have never been arrested in the first place.
Jalila has since been released and I had the great pleasure to meet her recently at a teachers' union conference in Britain. But Mahdi is still in prison. For more than two years.
Amnesty International has issued a fresh call for his release. I urge you to support it - please click here.
Thank you.
Eric Lee
Jim Pinkerton, 'Verdi Man' & opera buff
WHEN in the Autumn of 2001 the distinguished old Lancashire anarchist and former international secretary of the Syndicalist Workers' Federation, Jim Pinketon, had just suffered what was to be his first stroke and was speechless in bed in Ashton-under-Lyne General Hospital, Harold Sculthorpe produced a pair of headphones and played him some Puccini, Derek Pattison, another life-long friend said: 'Jim was more of a Verdi man, Harold!'. This year is the bicentennary of both Verdi and Wagner and it caused a little consternation when last December the Teatro alla Scala in Milan opened its season with 'Lohengrin' in observation of Wagner's bicentennial rather than with an opera by Verdi, who was born in Roncole, Italy, in the Duchy of Palma, on either the 9th or 10th, October 1813 (the records are unclear).
Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany, on May 22nd, 1813 (no doubt the German records are clearer). It seems they never met and had little nice to say about each other. Yet in later life, in 1899, Verdi told a German newspaper that Wagner was 'one of the greatest geniuses' who left treasures of 'immortal worth', admitting that as an Italian, he could not claim to 'understand everything' in Wagner, but he declared before 'Trista und Isolde... I stand in wonder and terror.' The scholar Richard Taruskin has suggested that though some of Verdi's praise may have been genuine there is 'sufficient evidence of leg pulling' in the old man's answer to the fawning German interviewer. Anthony Tommasini, the journalist, writes: 'For the most part Wagner and Verdi existed as titans in their separate realms.'
The Puccini music made Jim Pinkerton jerk briefly in his hospital bed when the head-phones went on his ears possibly showing some recognition, but he was never to converse again with any of us and died on March 9th, 2002 at the age of 79-years. He was never again to listen to his 78rpm records of Caruso, Nelly Melba, Alfredo Kraus and a Zazuela from Spain or drink his fine Burgundy.
Since its excursion last year into Wagner the Teatro alla Scala has redressedv the balance in the months since with new productions of four Verdi operas, the latest being 'Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacto'. 'Oberto' was Verdi's first opera ever. Tommasini writes: 'By midcentury Verdi had become the Italian opera composer best known and most performed in Europe' as 'commissions even came to him from St. Petersburg ('La Forza del Destino') and Cairo ('Aida').' For Tommasini: 'He was a colossus who expanded on and experimented with the Italian tradition but never really moved beyond it.'
What did this mean for Verdi?
Anthony Tommasini writes:
'Verdi was born to an Italian opera tradition that embraced tried-and-true procedures regarding recitative and aria, scene structure and the like.' But, 'In letters he complained endlessly about the tyranny of the tradition... the ridiculous expectations of opera audiences for set-piece arias and ensembles could infuriate him as much as the absurdities of the Italian censors, who vetoed story lines and settings that were deemed incendiary.'
Stravinsky wrote in his book 'Poetics of Music' defending the oom-pah-pah aria in the style of Verdi:
'I know I am going to counter the general opinion that sees Verdi's best work in the deterioration of the genius that gave us "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," "Aida" and "La Traviata," ' but, 'I maintain that there is more substance and true invention in the aria "La donna è mobile" (The woman is fickle), for example, in which the elite saw nothing but deplorable facility, than in the rhetoric and vociferations of the "Ring," (Wagner) '
Jim Pinkerton, who retired as a copy-taker on the Sunday People in the 1980s, was a northern, working-class, anarchist intellectual who loved Verdi and took a dim view of the English anarchist movement. Culturally he would have preferred to belong to the Italian middle-class as that would have given him greater access to the music he so passionately desired. But politically he adored the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists of the CNT, particularly the Catalans, as compared to them, he observed: "we English are like shrivelled up prunes". When one considers the the British left today, particularly the half-baked anarchist movement of this island one can't help but think that he was right in this insight.
Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, and the 1959 Apprentice Strike
SIR Alex Ferguson is to retire as Manchester United's manager at the end of this season after 27 years in the job that some say has made him the most successful boss in British football. He had helped the team win 13 league titles, two Championship Leagues, the Cup Winners' Cup, five FA Cups and four League Cups.
It has been said that there is a plan in place for when Ferguson steps down. Ferguson said of his decision:
'The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time. It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long- term future of the club remains a bright one. Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world. Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both director and ambassador for the club.'
But he also spoke sympathetically of the Glazer family, who tookover United and who many up here in Manchester despise, he said:
'Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy chief executive in David Gill. I am truly grateful to all of them.'
In July 2010, Ferguson said:
'When Manchester United Football Club went plc without doubt it was always going to be bought. Somebody was going to buy it. It was inevitable. It's unfair that because a particular family like the Glazers have bought it, they should come under criticism when anybody could have bought it. I have to say they've done their job well. They support myself, the manager, they've supported the players. I've never been refused when I've asked for money for a player, so what can I do other than carry on the way we're doing it, and the way I'm allowed to carry on? I've no complaints.'
Since their takeover in 2005, Ferguson has consistently supported the Glazers but these comments are pointed at a time of widespread unrest among fans over the club's ownership and ability to attract top talent to Old Trafford. At that time the United manager, who then also reiterated that he has no immediate plans to retire, said:
'The debt has come through the club being bought out by an owner. You know very well that no matter which business is bought nowadays, it's usually bought with debt. Because it's a football club it seems to attract a different type of negative reporting via the media or particularly some of our fans.
In 2004, writing in his autobiography 'Granny Made Me An Anarchist', the Scot, Stuart Christie, was to write:
'We shook staid Central Scotland to the core, or so we thought... Four years earlier, in 1959, there had been a strike of Glasgow apprentices, something previously unheard of in industrial relations (the strike committee included men like Sir Alex Ferguson, Gus Macdonald and Billy Connolly, now lords or millionaires, or both).'
That engineering apprentice strike was to spread from Glasgow in May 1959 to Manchester, and much of the rest of England. I got involved when it came to Tweedale & Smalley, Rochdale in Lancashire. Clearly there is a lot more to Alex Ferguson than meets the eye.
_________________________________________________________
The next issue of the printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, will soon be available for sale. Northern Voices can be obtained as follows:
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' sent to c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com
It has been said that there is a plan in place for when Ferguson steps down. Ferguson said of his decision:
'The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time. It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long- term future of the club remains a bright one. Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world. Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both director and ambassador for the club.'
But he also spoke sympathetically of the Glazer family, who tookover United and who many up here in Manchester despise, he said:
'Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy chief executive in David Gill. I am truly grateful to all of them.'
In July 2010, Ferguson said:
'When Manchester United Football Club went plc without doubt it was always going to be bought. Somebody was going to buy it. It was inevitable. It's unfair that because a particular family like the Glazers have bought it, they should come under criticism when anybody could have bought it. I have to say they've done their job well. They support myself, the manager, they've supported the players. I've never been refused when I've asked for money for a player, so what can I do other than carry on the way we're doing it, and the way I'm allowed to carry on? I've no complaints.'
Since their takeover in 2005, Ferguson has consistently supported the Glazers but these comments are pointed at a time of widespread unrest among fans over the club's ownership and ability to attract top talent to Old Trafford. At that time the United manager, who then also reiterated that he has no immediate plans to retire, said:
'The debt has come through the club being bought out by an owner. You know very well that no matter which business is bought nowadays, it's usually bought with debt. Because it's a football club it seems to attract a different type of negative reporting via the media or particularly some of our fans.
In 2004, writing in his autobiography 'Granny Made Me An Anarchist', the Scot, Stuart Christie, was to write:
'We shook staid Central Scotland to the core, or so we thought... Four years earlier, in 1959, there had been a strike of Glasgow apprentices, something previously unheard of in industrial relations (the strike committee included men like Sir Alex Ferguson, Gus Macdonald and Billy Connolly, now lords or millionaires, or both).'
That engineering apprentice strike was to spread from Glasgow in May 1959 to Manchester, and much of the rest of England. I got involved when it came to Tweedale & Smalley, Rochdale in Lancashire. Clearly there is a lot more to Alex Ferguson than meets the eye.
_________________________________________________________
The next issue of the printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, will soon be available for sale. Northern Voices can be obtained as follows:
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' sent to c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com
PCS Walkouts in Defence of Jobs
PCS national programme of action in defence of jobs, pay and conditions. Come and support the one hour walkouts this week in Manchester:
1. Equality & Human Rights Commission, Arndale Centre , 11.00-12.00, Wednesday 8 May. Picket on Corporation St, opposite Selfridges.
2. British Council, 11.00 -12.00, Friday 10 May. Picket on Whitworth St between Oxford St and Princess St.
Fore more information go to:
In Solidarity,
Richard Lighten
Secretary, Manchester Trades Union Council
07841411013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Manchester Airport Cleaner's Strike Tomorrow
Dear all - join their picket lines tomorrow if you can, pickets from 6am til 4pm...
Manchester airport cleaners to take 24-hour strike tomorrow (2 May) - Manchester Airport cleaning staff working for MITIE, one of the biggest cleaning companies in the UK, will take part in 24-hour strike action from tomorrow (Friday 3 May) over an attack on their terms and conditions http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/manchesterairportcleanerstotake24hourstrikethisfriday/
Manchester airport cleaners to take 24-hour strike tomorrow (2 May) - Manchester Airport cleaning staff working for MITIE, one of the biggest cleaning companies in the UK, will take part in 24-hour strike action from tomorrow (Friday 3 May) over an attack on their terms and conditions http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/manchesterairportcleanerstotake24hourstrikethisfriday/
Eric Hobsbawm- An Exemplar in Tergiversation!
Eric Hobsbawm - 'Neil Kinnock's favourite marxist' divided opinion like no other historian. Buckets of praise and criticism were heaped on him in equal measure. In 1994 the newspaper journalist Neil Ascheson said of Hobsbawm 'No historian writing in English can match his overwhelming command of fact and source'. In 2002 he was described by the Spectator magazine a quintessential Conservative publication as 'arguably our greatest living historian'. The historian Nial Ferguson wrote 'that Hobsbawm is one of the great historians of his generation is undeniable'.
Conversely critics such as the British historian David Pryce Jones charged that Hobsbawm was a professional historian 'who has steadily corrupted knowledge into propaganda and scorned the concept of objective truth' and 'He was neither an historian nor a professional'. A lacerating criticism to say the least. Brad Delong criticised Hobsbawms Magnum Opus 'Age of Extremes' thus: 'The remains of Hobsbawms commitment to world communism got in the way of his judgment and twisted his vision.' Therein lies the nub of the matter.
The Yale historian Timothy Snyder cites Orwell's analysis and dismay at the role and actions of the communists during the Spanish Civil War. In regard to the Communists in this war Hobsbawm merely says 'its pros and cons continue to be discussed in the political and historical literature.' He is clearly engaged here in an exercise in fence sitting! He refers to George Orwell not by his literary name but disparagingly as 'An upper class Englishman called Eric Blair'. An attempted put down of a distinguished libertarian writer.
Unlike the principled communist E P Thompson and indeed many others Hobsbawm didn't leave the Communist Party in 1956 after the bloody suppression of the Hungarian workers revolution by Soviet tanks. In a letter to the Daily Worker on November 9th, 1956 he defended the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian uprising although with "a heavy heart". Although paradoxically he signed an historians letter of protest.
In reviewing Hobsbawms memoirs and his albeit equivocal support for Stalinist Russia at times David Caute wrote: 'Didnt you know what Deutscher and Orwell knew.....the induced famine, the false confessions, the terror within the party, the massive forced labour of the Gulag? As Orwell himself documented a great deal of evidence was already reliably knowable.' Hobsbawm feebly claimed ignorance until Khrushchevs denunciation of Stalin at the 20th Party Congress in 1956.
In conclusion, Hobsbawm was undoubtedly preeminent amongst contemporary Marxist historians
although his erudition was tempered by evasion, avoidance and tergiversation. the epithet 'Tergiversator' seems appropriate. His claim that the demise of the Soviet Union was 'traumatic not only for Communists but Socialists everywhere' received short shrift form the journalist Francis Wheen who commented:
'Speak for yourself comrade, I like many other socialists greeted the fall of the Soviet model with unqualified rejoicing. Marxs favourite motto "de omnibus disputandum" (everything should be questioned) was not one which had any currency in the realm of "actually existing socialism"- a hideous hybrid of mendacity, thuggery and incompetence.'
A coruscating critique which cannot be gainsaid.
Conversely critics such as the British historian David Pryce Jones charged that Hobsbawm was a professional historian 'who has steadily corrupted knowledge into propaganda and scorned the concept of objective truth' and 'He was neither an historian nor a professional'. A lacerating criticism to say the least. Brad Delong criticised Hobsbawms Magnum Opus 'Age of Extremes' thus: 'The remains of Hobsbawms commitment to world communism got in the way of his judgment and twisted his vision.' Therein lies the nub of the matter.
The Yale historian Timothy Snyder cites Orwell's analysis and dismay at the role and actions of the communists during the Spanish Civil War. In regard to the Communists in this war Hobsbawm merely says 'its pros and cons continue to be discussed in the political and historical literature.' He is clearly engaged here in an exercise in fence sitting! He refers to George Orwell not by his literary name but disparagingly as 'An upper class Englishman called Eric Blair'. An attempted put down of a distinguished libertarian writer.
Unlike the principled communist E P Thompson and indeed many others Hobsbawm didn't leave the Communist Party in 1956 after the bloody suppression of the Hungarian workers revolution by Soviet tanks. In a letter to the Daily Worker on November 9th, 1956 he defended the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian uprising although with "a heavy heart". Although paradoxically he signed an historians letter of protest.
In reviewing Hobsbawms memoirs and his albeit equivocal support for Stalinist Russia at times David Caute wrote: 'Didnt you know what Deutscher and Orwell knew.....the induced famine, the false confessions, the terror within the party, the massive forced labour of the Gulag? As Orwell himself documented a great deal of evidence was already reliably knowable.' Hobsbawm feebly claimed ignorance until Khrushchevs denunciation of Stalin at the 20th Party Congress in 1956.
In conclusion, Hobsbawm was undoubtedly preeminent amongst contemporary Marxist historians
although his erudition was tempered by evasion, avoidance and tergiversation. the epithet 'Tergiversator' seems appropriate. His claim that the demise of the Soviet Union was 'traumatic not only for Communists but Socialists everywhere' received short shrift form the journalist Francis Wheen who commented:
'Speak for yourself comrade, I like many other socialists greeted the fall of the Soviet model with unqualified rejoicing. Marxs favourite motto "de omnibus disputandum" (everything should be questioned) was not one which had any currency in the realm of "actually existing socialism"- a hideous hybrid of mendacity, thuggery and incompetence.'
A coruscating critique which cannot be gainsaid.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Seascape Exhibition at Touchstones Museum
'Waiting' by Newcastle artist Charles Napier Hemy - a painter best known for his marine paintings, with two of his works in the Tate collections.
BORN to a musical family at Newcastle-on-Tyne Charles Napier Hemy (1841-1917) and his two brothers, Thomas and Bernard, were painters. Charles Hemy trained in the Government School of Design, Newcastle, followed by the Antwerp Academy and the studio of Baron Leys. He returned to London in the 1870s and in 1881 moved to Falmouth in Cornwall. He produced painted figure and landscapes, but is best known works are Pilchards (1897) and London River (1904) which are in the Tate collections. Elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1898 and an Academician in 1910, he was also honoured as an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1890 and became a member in 1897. He died in Falmouth on September 30, 1917.
His oil painting 'The Armed Merchant Men' (1912) is part of an exhibition currently showing at the Touchstones' Museum, Rochdale. This exhibition running for a year from March 2013 is part of a show based on bringing together works from the Touchstones' permanent collection spanning many centuries that have been inspired by tidal waters. A more extensive review of this exhibition may be found in our forthcoming printed publication Northern Voices No.14 - Summer/ Autumn 2013.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Radical History Network of North East London
MEETING: ‘EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE':
General Strikes, Solidarity Strikes and Industrial Solidarity
“The general strike is a revolution which is everywhere and nowhere”
(Fernand Pelloutier)
Wednesday 8th May, at 7.30 pm.
Venue: Wood Green Social Club.
3 Stuart Crescent, Wood Green,
London N22 5NJ
(Not far from Wood Green tube/end of White Hart Lane/nr Civic Centre
On the 87th anniversary of one of the most crucial days in the 1926 General Strike…
The General Strike was originally conceived as a revolutionary weapon – a way for the working class to seize control of society and remake it in their interest. In recent decades General Strikes have been used and proposed for less lofty aims; and in the current onslaught on our living and working
conditions, are seen as a defensive weapon, holding off the imposition of austerity…
But is a centrally organized General Strike with one specific aim an effective tactic, either for immediate practical gains, or to overthrow capitalism. Organised through the union structures and hierarchies which
often frustrate workers struggles, what can a General Strike realistically achieve? How might industrial solidarity be more effectively built? Amidst repeated agitation for One-day General Strikes – is a one day strike really a general Strike at all?
With these questions in mind, we aim to discuss several issues, including some of the myths and facts of the 1926 general Strike in the UK - was it really defeated by the TUC General Council selling it out? Or was it in fact sabotaged at a more local level?
Workers' struggles are very difficult in the context of 27% unemployment. We will look at how the recent general strikes in Spain have widened out to include action by unemployed people, students and pensioners, and how the recent struggles have connected industrial action with other important areas such as housing and
education. We also hope to discuss alternative tactics and strategies that have succeeded in winning strikes and building solidarity across industry lines, without necessarily being 'general Strikes' in name...
All welcome, come with an open mind…
General Strikes, Solidarity Strikes and Industrial Solidarity
“The general strike is a revolution which is everywhere and nowhere”
(Fernand Pelloutier)
Wednesday 8th May, at 7.30 pm.
Venue: Wood Green Social Club.
3 Stuart Crescent, Wood Green,
London N22 5NJ
(Not far from Wood Green tube/end of White Hart Lane/nr Civic Centre
On the 87th anniversary of one of the most crucial days in the 1926 General Strike…
The General Strike was originally conceived as a revolutionary weapon – a way for the working class to seize control of society and remake it in their interest. In recent decades General Strikes have been used and proposed for less lofty aims; and in the current onslaught on our living and working
conditions, are seen as a defensive weapon, holding off the imposition of austerity…
But is a centrally organized General Strike with one specific aim an effective tactic, either for immediate practical gains, or to overthrow capitalism. Organised through the union structures and hierarchies which
often frustrate workers struggles, what can a General Strike realistically achieve? How might industrial solidarity be more effectively built? Amidst repeated agitation for One-day General Strikes – is a one day strike really a general Strike at all?
With these questions in mind, we aim to discuss several issues, including some of the myths and facts of the 1926 general Strike in the UK - was it really defeated by the TUC General Council selling it out? Or was it in fact sabotaged at a more local level?
Workers' struggles are very difficult in the context of 27% unemployment. We will look at how the recent general strikes in Spain have widened out to include action by unemployed people, students and pensioners, and how the recent struggles have connected industrial action with other important areas such as housing and
education. We also hope to discuss alternative tactics and strategies that have succeeded in winning strikes and building solidarity across industry lines, without necessarily being 'general Strikes' in name...
All welcome, come with an open mind…
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