Blacklist Support Group New Year message: 2025 – the year when justice finally arrives?

 

Happy New Year to all our supporters. It is more than 15 years since the Consulting Association blacklist was exposed. Yet despite a select committee investigation, a public apology in the High Court and new legislation, union members who were repeatedly denied employment are still fighting for truth and justice. No senior executives from the multinational construction companies who oversaw the secret conspiracy, nor the police and union officials who colluded with the employers have been held accountable for their actions. 2025 is set to be a year where at least some elements of the hidden underbelly of the blacklisting scandal are brought into the public domain. Here’s what to expect:

 Independent Collusion Investigation

The independent investigation into collusion by officials from UNITE and predecessor unions that was set up by Sharon Graham is set to publish its findings early in 2025. Nick Randall KC and John Townsend, assisted by solicitors from the Public Interest Law Centre have gathered oral and documentary evidence from around 90 individuals, searched the union’s electronic archive and sought permission from the High Court to use documents never before placed in the public domain. 

 The Blacklist Support Group and the Construction Rank & File publicly fought for an investigation that was independent from UNITE to be set up, and three blacklisted activists have acted as an oversight committee throughout the investigation. Neither BSG nor the oversight committee have any knowledge of what will appear in the final report, but we have faith in the independence of the lawyers, and in the robustness of their investigation. 

 Spycops Inquiry

Core participants in the union strand of the undercover policing public inquiry, the Blacklist Support Group (BSG), UNITE, FBU, NUM, and seven individual activists (Steve Acheson, Frank Smith, Dan Gilman, Steve Hedley, Lisa Teuscher, John Jones, Dave Smith) were scheduled to give evidence in April 2025. This has now been pushed back to a date later in the year. Spycops who infiltrated and gathered intelligence on trade unions, plus the managers and politicians who oversaw the political spying operation will also be giving evidence.   

 The BSG opening statement made specific allegations that the police and security services passed on intelligence to major employers and the blacklisting organisations; the Consulting Association and the Economic League, and about undercover officers acting as agent provocateurs, and state interference in the internal democratic processes of trade unions (in breach of ILO conventions).

 The public inquiry has already published an interim report that slated the human rights violations of the Special Demonstration Squad, concluding that the police unit should have been closed down in the 1960s. However, blacklisting was specifically omitted from the interim report. The evidence hearings in 2025 will be the first time the judge led inquiry properly considers the BSG and union concerns.  

 Retraining Fund

As part of the settlement of the High Court trial, the major blacklisting employers placed over £220,000 in a fund administered by UNITE, to be used to pay training costs for blacklisted workers who were claimants in the litigation. For the first few years, those overseeing the fund turned out multiple applications. But in late 2023, the fund was relaunched and in 2024 tens of thousands of pounds has been paid out to blacklisted workers. The money has been spent on updating certificates for work on the railways, offshore and in the High Voltage sector, but also in costs for career changes such as teaching. If any High Court claimant has paid out for any training since 2016, please claim the money back from this fund.

 Labour government pledges 

The government has announced proposals for new laws on blacklisting. You might think that as the primary victims of the UK’s biggest blacklisting scandal ever, that the BSG might be consulted on the proposals. Yet, despite having directly contacted Angela Rayner on this subject, and despite BSG secretary, Dave Smith having co-authored a pamphlet published by the Institute of Employment Rights about the need for new legislation on blacklisting. To this date, the BSG has not been contacted to be part of the consultation on the new blacklisting laws. Its hard to imagine politicians not talking to the victims of the Post Office scandal about possible new legislation. Perhaps it takes a TV drama before MPs take notice.

 Lee Fowler employment tribunal 

Blacklisted construction union activist, Lee finally gets his day in court in January for his discrimination claim against Cargill following a dispute at the Liverpool site in late 2023. 

Lee Fowler -v- Cargill PLC

15th -17th January 2025

Liverpool Employment Tribunal

35 Vernon Street

Liverpool 

L2 2BX

Unless there is a last minute offer, the Blacklist Support Group will be at the court.

SOLIDARITY PROTEST 

9am Wednesday 15th January 

Show your support - Bring your banners

 

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

 

Sir Keir Starmer-oid - Britain's absent Prime Minister.

 

Peter Mandelson

The Labour government have just appointed Peter Mandelson as the UK Ambassador to America. The newspapers are now reporting that in desperation, Mandelson has offered to work with Nigel Farage the leader of Reform UK to win over Donald Trump and his administration. They might as well as make Nigel Farage our man in Washington. A member of Donald Trump's team recently described Mandelson as a "moron."

The Labour Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer-oid, is increasingly looking like he's out of his depth and out of touch with the British electorate. This former Trotskyist now seems to spend much of his time absent from Britain and flying around the world. The Deputy Prime Minister, Angie Rayner, has been given the nuclear codes in the event of war. Labour have alienated many voters by withdrawing the winter fuel allowance from the elderly and refusing to pay compensation to the WASPI women. Starmer-oid is facing a possible backbench rebellion by Labour MPs over the issue.

Labour swore to grow the economy but since the budget, economic activity in Britain has been stalling, inflation is rising, and there is talk of an economic recession. Politically, Starmer seems clueless and lost. He's now less popular than Liz Truss who lasted just fifty days in office. Labour have now been in power five months, but I doubt that Starmer-oid will last five years as Labour leader.

Tony Blair must be already eying up a replacement for Starmer-oid. The man is a total jerk! Farage and Reform UK must be rubbing their hands with glee at the mess that Labour and the Tories are in as they're likely to benefit from it politically. It's been rumoured that Labour are now trying to change the law to prevent Elon Musk making a huge financial donation to Reform UK. That will make them even less popular with the Trump administration and the British voter.

 

Is the Assisted Dying Bill open to misuse?

 

I can't quite understand why it was necessary to have an Assisted Dying Bill. I have known a number of people who have been terminally ill and all of them were receiving end of life palliative care. They were given opiates to help with pain relief.

What concerns me about this Bill is the potential for misuse. There have been a number of scandals involving assisted dying already. We know that families have often been told that an elderly loved one is coming to the end of their life and would they agree to putting them on palliative care. Some refused to do so and took their relatives out of the hospital and they have lived for several years longer. A friend of mine told me that this is what happened to his elderly father who was an in-patient in a Manchester hospital. He was told his father was dying and would he agree to putting him on palliative care. He refused to do so and took his father home with him. He lived another three years.

Not many years ago there was the scandal involving the Liverpool end-of-life Care Pathway (LCP).  An independent review led by Baroness Neuberger, recommended discontinuing the use of the LCP. The review found that the LCP compromised patient autonomy, was used to "free up hospital beds" and was even used by financial trusts for financial gain. I think this means that NHS trust were given financial inducements to put people on palliative care. We also know that there were at least 456 patients who died at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in suspicious circumstances after being given powerful opiates when it wasn't medically necessary. The police are still investigating the matter.

Have the English working-class been depoliticised by cultural debasement?

 

I know George Orwell's book 1984 very well. The proles were depoliticised by cultural debasement but don't forget that Winston Smith believed that all hope rested with the proles.

In today's Britain, which is a bit like living at Butlin's holiday camp, one of the most popular TV programmes is about baking a cake, so don't expect too much. The Marxist historian Raphael Samuels wrote in the New Left Review, "A dozen vanguard parties and as many tendencies and groups, compete for the honour of leading a non-existent revolutionary working class."

The Trotskyist Paul Mason, seems to agree. In his book 'PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future', he wrote: "Marxism got it wrong about the working class. 200 years of experience shows it (the working class) was preoccupied with 'living despite capitalism' not overthrowing it."

Friedrich Engels was often driven to despair by the English workers because of their imaginary sense of national superiority and their narrow-mindedness and bourgeois ideas and viewpoints. In general, British people have a low level of political awareness and have been softened up by years of Labour reformist politics. In addition, the education system in Britain does a cracking job on them. Politically, they know fuck all and Winston Churchill was well aware of it. Churchill said that the best argument against democracy was a five-minute conversation with the average voter.