Tuesday 12 March 2013

Former Miner and Distinguished Trade Unionist, Dave Douglass, Answers His Critics!

NO doubt many of the readers of this Northern Voices Blog will find this debate difficult to follow, but what follows here is a comment on the post 'Trade Union Activist Condemns libcom website' (Dated 27th, Feb. 2013) to which one of the individuals criticised, Dave Douglass, then counters with his own response.
Anonymous said...  'Barry-You lip off about a dead mate and I will stick one you... not all suvners are soft... and what the donald was Dave Douglas (a little bully himself) on about? He has had a downer on anarchist communist politics since Virus- he despises theoretical consistency (from DAM to Class War was a classic development from the wonder man) and is he calling himself anarchist these days?- that is not what he has always said.  Yeah you aint liked for your gob Barry- try not being a cock and maybe you wont be treated like one.  Enjoy your small world.  You are havin a giraffe!'
Rich

Dave Douglass responds below:
'I don't normally respond to anonymous comments, for the most obvious of reasons, anyone on earth in or out of the movement, some from from an entirely different movement, the police, or EDL or Legion of Mary could be making them. As a result you just end up chasing a shadow thinking your having some meaningful debate when its just some one pissing up our backs. However, in the case of 'rich' whoever that is, let me just say for the sake of historic accuracity, I became and anarchist and direct actionist when I was 15, secretary of Tyneside committee of 100 at 16, I was a member of Syndicalist Workers Federation (SWF) at that time and anyone who looks up Direct Action, the SWF paper of the 60's will see I am the distributer for the North region. Anyone who reads the stuff I wrote up to 72 will see I describe myself as an anarchist, Its true that for a period of 72-9 I took a diversion through the woods of Trotskyism, but the foothills of the great miners strike from 1981 took me back toward anarchism, and I joined Class War at its inception and spoke at their 2nd national conference and others. I worked with the Direct Action Movement throughout the strike of 84/5 and spoke at their regional and national assembles in support of the miners, they published two pamphlets by me, one on the media and one on the cops. I find no contradiction in remaining essentially a Marxist, and an anarchist, in fact Anarchist Communist is probably the nearest slot you could slide my politics into. I have had and continue to have strong theoretical disagreements with the former ACF, and currently AF but have shared countless  events, and campaigns with them over the last fifteen years and have many many comrades in the AF, who are also personal friends. This disagreement is not about theory. It is about conduct within the working class and revolutionary movement and basic principles of liberty and freedom of speech and thought and publication. I have never tried to censor or ban other anarchist views from anything I have ever organised, and our northern based events always have AF members and publications present (I am talking about anarcho bookfares, and working class movement commemorations and themes ) I have always defended the right of all political tendencies within the broad revolutionary working class movement and always will. To call upon AF to do the  same I would have thought was a fairly basic demand to make. The fact that 'rich' responds with insults and threats speaks for itself really although I am sure he doesn't speak for AF, certainly not the many members I know who are appalled by the current situation.'

5 comments:

barry said...

I would endorse everything that Dave has written. For the record I have never attacked Bob Miller personally in public and indeed in the past I have worked closely with him and the Anarchist Federation re the distribution of Resistance on demos etc. The threats and insults from Anonymous who purports to be an anarchist communist and a friend of the late Bob Miller have no place in the libertarian movement and I hope that the AF publicly disassociate themselves from such disgraceful comments. The whole issue of the Manchester bookfair attack can easily be put to bed if a public apology is issued by AF and the Bookfair organisers in response to the NAN Burnley Declaration. This statement has the support of 150 people including anarchists, syndicalists, Greens, Peace campaigners, community activists, socialists etc. It cannot be swept under the carpet any longer by any section of the anarchist movement.

Anonymous said...

come on, you know that the anonymous message is a fake message from barmy bammy himself!!

Anonymous said...

It appears patently obvious to me that the post from Anonymous is completely bogus and was fabricated . Suvners? Having a giraffe? etc, etc. A pure parody.
Beware anonymous posters, including myself.

Anonymous said...

Apology? Why don't you apologise for the appalling character assasination of a fine person like Bob Miller?

barry said...

Anonymous is evading the issue of the attack on me at the Manchester Anarchist Bookfair which is an entirely separate issue from the obituary in Northern Voices. My conscience in relation to bob Miller is entirely clear and I have nothing to apologise for. My removal from the bookfair on grounds of anti-semitism was a mendacious slur which has not been retracted by the Bookfair organisers and the Anarchist Federation. My advice to anonymous supporters of AF is when you are in hole stop digging.