UPDATE on Spycops inquiry from Blacklist Support Group.

 

After 8 years of demanding to see our police files, blacklisted union activists represented by the Blacklist Support Group and Imran Khan KC have finally started to receive some disclosure from the public inquiry. Restriction Orders mean we are not allowed to tell anybody what is in the documents until they are discussed at the evidence hearings. But we are allowed to say that 100s of pages of Special Branch reports and police witness statements have already been disclosed, relating to our trade union and political campaigning. Much more disclosure is expected to be drip fed out over the next few weeks.

The inquiry has also sent a list of questions for each core participant to answer. The current inquiry imposed deadline for the written responses is March. It is expected that each witness statement is likely to be a 10-20,000 word count. This is clearly going to take some time. The BSG has a stand-alone witness statement of its own. We thank all those who have contributed with suggestions of what should be in it.

Finally, the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance is the umbrella campaign set up & supported by BSG and our sister campaigns & the vast majority of non-police core participants. https://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.comCOPS has a financial appeal to assist with costs for reporting the inquiry. This is especially important given that most of the mainstream media has barely published or broadcast a word on the recent evidence hearings. If your union committee (or any individual) wants to support the work of the COPS campaign, please donate via this link:

https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/BWSTSWTMH2ZV8

 

 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

 

Did banning corporal punishment in English schools lead to a lack of discipline and respect?

 

Summerhill School

I doubt you can run a school without some form of discipline but there have been exceptions. Summerhill which was founded in 1921 by A.S. Neil, in Leiston, Suffolk, is a progressive school that believes that children should be taught without force. The school's basic principle was to replace authority with freedom. Children at the school are not forced to attend lessons and they have a say in the running of the school on democratic lines. The British government have tried to close it down on a number of occasions and there have been a number of investigations and scandals.

At my secondary modern school in the 1960s, there was plenty of discipline but not much teaching or education. My primary school was much better and the teachers were dedicated and very good and I had respect for many of them because they took an interest in you. The discipline at secondary school didn't teach me respect because I had no respect for many of those teachers at all because they didn't teach. Many were a waste of taxpayers' money. I've always believed that you earn respect and are not entitled to it. What was knocked into me at secondary school, was an intense dislike of teachers and intense dislike of authority.

Corporal punishment was banned in state schools in 1987 and in private schools in England and Wales in 1998. Many people thought that was a bad decision that would've serious consequences and I think they've been proven right. Nowadays, the English state schools seem to turn out foul-mouthed uneducated louts who know neither discipline or respect. Many of them act like wannabe gangsters who mimic the accents of the Gallagher brothers, Bez and Sean Ryder.

I remember talking to man from Afghanistan who was with his children in a public park during the COVID lockdown. We were talking about the way in which some addlepated malcontents want to nihilistically vandalize property in public parks. He said to me that he thought the problem arose because the English don't teach their children discipline and respect. Pointing to his little children, he told me, "These don't mess me about because they know who the boss is." When I was growing up, we knew who the boss was in our house and you didn't mess him about.

 

Over 20 years ago, the Labour MP Ann Cryer, was shunned when she spoke out about Asian grooming gangs.

 

Ann Cryer

One of the first people to draw attention to Asian grooming gangs, was Ann Cryer, the Labour MP for Keighley. In 2002, she became one of the first public figures in Britain to talk publicly about allegations of "young Asian lads" grooming underage white girls for sex in her constituency in West Yorkshire. As a result of what she said, Ann was shunned by many members of her own party - who considered what she said as racist - the police, imam's and social services. She received death threats and Nick Griffin of the BNP, stood against her in Keighley, claiming that she hadn't done enough as the local MP to protect young white girls from sexual exploitation.

Some politicians like the former Conservative Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, who is of Indian origin, have claimed that Pakistani men were predominantly involved in grooming gangs. There have been a number of very high-profile cases involving Asian grooming gangs in places like Rotherham and Rochdale and there were allegations of Asian gangs, grooming young girls for sex in Oldham. In all these places it has also been alleged that there were cover ups involving the police and local politicians.

Despite a number of public inquiries into grooming gangs and child sex abuse, some people continue to believe in cover ups and conspiracies. What these inquires have often found is not cover ups as such, but an unwillingness to take victims and their allegations seriously or an unwillingness to act because it was considered culturally and politically sensitive.

Home Office data that Braverman must have been aware of, does suggest that most of the people convicted of child sex abuse in Britain, have been white people. There have also been white people, including women, who have been jailed for being members of grooming gangs set up to sexually exploit children. It's also known that most children who are subjected to sexual abuse in Britain, are not abused by strangers or grooming gangs. Very often the child knows the perpetrator and the abuse often takes place in the family home.

 

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.