Harold Evans: a Northern Campaigner Dies!

HAROLD EVANS who started his career on independently-owned Tameside Reporter, which was first published in 1855 died last week at the age of 92. The 157-year-old title was known as the Ashton-under-Lyne Weekly Reporter when future Sunday Times editor Sir Harold started there as a 16-year-old school leaver in the 1940s.

Harold Evans, was the Patricroft, Eccles born journalist who was widely regarded as the greatest newspaper editor of our times.

He was famous for his work on the Sunday Times, particularly for his long battle to get compensation for victims of the Thalidomide drug.

In 1944, in a bomb-ravaged city, he was just another 16-year-old who got on his bike and pedalled from his home in Newton Heath to the offices of the Ashton-under-Lyne Reporter. He was to be paid just £1 a week on a three-month trial, about half of what his mates were earning working in factories. He was one of a number of schoolboy reporters, filling in for men fighting the war.

Perhaps his most remarkable campaign concerned Timothy Evans (no relation) who had been hanged for murdering his wife and child at 10 Rillington Place in London in 1950. Evans would be regarded now as a vulnerable adult, and it later transpired that mass murderer John Christie had been living, and indeed killing, in the flat beneath. Christie was, in all probability, guilty of murdering Evans’ family, yet the unfortunate man, unable to mount his own defence, had hanged.

As editor he campaigned to have his namesake pardoned, and when Home Secretary Roy Jenkins granted it in 1966, it effectively ended the death sentence for all but high treason.

When Evans arrived at the Northern Echo, it was deeply rooted in its community but hadn't done much campaigning for decades. 'A rocket needs a solid base and The Northern Echo was deeply rooted in the region,' he once said. 'All I had to do was put some fuel in the engine…'

He modernised the Echo so that it sounded like a newspaper for the 1960s. He channelled the 'vigour and bluntness' which he found in the North-East cultural scene through writers like Sid Chaplin and artists like the pitman painter Norman Cornish to create a sharp and punchy paper.

He gained a national fame by presenting What the Papers Say on Granada Television, and left the Echo to edit the Sunday Times where he ultimately won compensation for victims of the thalidomide morning sickness drug.

Since 1984 Sir Harold has been living, writing and editing in New York, with his second wife, Tina Brown. He founded Conde Nast Traveler magazine and served as president and publisher of Random House from 1990 to 1997, and was Reuters' editor-at-large.

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Spanish Civil War talk in Ashton-under-Lyne

LAST NIGHT Dr Mercedes Penalba-Sotorrio of Manchester Metropolitan University gave an exquisite talk on the Spanish Civil War at a crowded event at Ashton-under-Lyne Central Library.   Ashton has been the scene of several such events since the unveiling of a Blue Plaque on behalf of  a local lad, James Keogh, who died in the hills of Aragon in 1938 fighting for the freedom of Spaniards on the 25th, November 2011.

Dr. Mercedes Sotorrio gave a very interesting detailed account of the struggle to defend democracy in Spain of the 1930s.  She described the contribution made by working-class volunteers such as James Keogh, a tailor and the son of a local binman.*   But James Keogh, as she showed in her talk last night was one of a vast number of northern workingmen, who were so inspired that they fought in many battles on the Spanish peninsula, throughout the war.  People went from Ireland and as she pointed out fought for both sides.

She referred particularly to the Battle of the Ebro which occurred between July and November 1938.  Fought on the banks of the Ebro; the longest river in Spain, it became a slaughter house for the republic.  It was a folly described so well by Antony Beevor the military historian in his book 'The BATTLE for SPAIN':

'To continue the battle in such circumstances had no military justification at all, especially when the Republic was so vulnerable there was no hope of achieving the original purpose of the offensive.  But instead of withdrawing with their best troops in good order to fight again, the republican command continued to send more men across the Ebro.  And all this was because Negrin believed that the eyes of Europe were upon them and he could not acknowledge a defeat.  Once again, political and propaganda considerations led to yet another self-inflicted disaster.'

Dr. Sotorrio said:  'Some 35,000 people went to Spain to fight with the volunteers, mostly, but not only,  in the International Brigades and some 10,000 died in the conflicts'.   She agreed during the question time which followed that the Soviet Union, like the Fascist Axis powers, 'had its own agenda'; which sometimes contrasted with that of the Spanish Republic.

There was some criticism during the questions about the non-intervention of the British and French governments in the Spanish Civil War, and Dr. Sotorrio said 'it seemed that some of the British public had more understanding of the likely danger presented by Fascism to Europe'.  There were also queries about the role and relevance of British Gibraltar to the conflict.  In the early stages of the war the British authorities on Gibraltar had tended to assist the supporters of General Franco rather than the legally elected Spanish Republic.  Some Spaniards who supported the Republic, who sought refuge in Gib. were sent back to Spain and imprisoned by Franco's supprters, and a Republican ship that sought British protection was threatened  by the British that if it didn't leave the port of Gibraltar the authorities would illuminate it so that it would by vulnerable to nationalist bombers at night.

Meanwhile, although it wasn't mentioned  last night, in 1937, it is worth mentioning that during the Spanish Civil War, the British Governor of Gibraltar was successful in obtaining permission from Franco to continue the Hunt.^[23] The tradition of the Royal Calpe Hunt continued for more than a century. The last Hunt took place on 4 April 1939.  It could not be resumed the following autumn due to the outbreak of the Second World War.  Although the horses and the pack were maintained in the hope that the Hunt would resume, and the Hunt Committee remained active until 1973, the Second World War brought the end of the Royal Calpe Hunt.^[4][5][7]

After the questions to Dr Mercedes Penalba-Sotorrio, the archivist who organised the event thanked the speaker and expressed his delight at the turn-out having originally worried that perhaps the subject was not sufficiently local. 


*  See more:   www.northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com › 2011/12 › james-keogh-commemoration

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Green Party win in TAMESIDE

LAST year on the 27th, November, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, ANGELA RAYNER (27th, November 2018) said on her FACEBOOK page:
Massive congratulations to Jean Drennan who tonight has been unanimously selected as the Labour Party candidate in my constituency for the Ashton Waterloo Ward Tameside local elections 2019.
Last night the chickens came home to roost for the Labour MP Ms. Rayner, when Cllr. Jean Drennan lost the Ashton Waterloo ward seat in the Tameside Council local elections to Lee Huntback of the Green Party.

Mr Huntbach said of his victory: 
'I campaigned for local issues which I think has really stuck with residents.
'What we did was ask for what residents wanted, and we reacted to their answers."
'Everyone knows the conservatives are not going to get in but I seem to have given people another option other than labour,' he added.

This represents a landmark victory for the Greens in Tameside, as a Green has been elected for the first time ever.  The ward had been a Labour Party stronghold in the past.

********

Angela Rayner- So much for anti-poverty!

 by The Blue Knight.

September 2018

Ashton Waterloo by-election, 6 September 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Pauline Hollinshead	889	52.5	4.9
	Green	Lee Huntbach	448	26.4	12.7
	Conservative	Therese Costello	357	21.1	7.8
Majority			441	26.1	2.4
Registered electors			8,717
Turnout			1,697	19.5	7.2
Rejected ballots			3	0.2	0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	1.2

 Editor note:  The result above is of the election in Tameside's Ashton Waterloo ward in which poverty campaigner, Charlotte Hughes, was turned down by the local Labour Party as a candidate because she was behind with her council tax.  Only the Green candidate had an improved showing on a poor turnout of 19.5%.

*****

Angela Rayner‏Verified account @AngelaRayner

Angela Rayner in red centre writes on Twitter on the 6th, Sept.: Absolutely superb win tonight for newly elected Cllr Pauline Hollinshead in Ashton Waterloo Ward part of my constituency. Our local Labour teams worked very hard in this by election and residents backed Labour&Pauline. Nice to see the wretched Tories finish bottom!

 

THE most recent appointment of [Ashton] Waterloo Ward Councillor, in May 2018 was someone many of the residents had never heard of.  The campaigning was done underhanded and the Ward areas which would have caused some consternation and controversy were not visited.  Despite what will be inferred to the contrary, this was a safe seat, did not need a high density Labour party members canvass and this person was parachuted in to fill the vacancy. 

 

There appeared to be a pecking order as to who was next in line!

This caused some unrest inside the Labour party members. Feathers were rustled.

I have had no dealings with the person elected, but it appears that he is an officer of the neighbouring, next door, Oldham Council. Continuing the Nepotism route.

The By election now about to occur in Waterloo Ward is happening as the result of the death of a long serving, sometimes controversial Ward Councillor Cath Piddington.  She was a stalwart for her residents within the ward.

I believe certain people had been earmarked to fill this role from within the Labour group, but these people have now fallen from grace due to their differing views over the lack of involvement of residents and their views and their wishes not being responded to, by the council. 

 

The anti-poverty campaigner Charlotte Hughes was identified from within the local Labour group as being the ideal prospective candidate.  However it appears that someone within the Labour group decided that this now did fit within the well-defined nepotism route and highlighted the fact that Charlotte was behind on some of her Council tax payments.

This in effect caused her to be de selected from the group.  This has now caused ructions from sitting Councillors within Tameside.  There has been lots of cat calling and spats over the selection of the new candidate for the ward. 

 

However a recent, 22/08/18, public Twitter spat took place between the current Deputy Mayor, Leigh Drennan, Labour Ashton Hurst Councillor with residents and ward councillors of the Waterloo Ward.

This occurred as the result of Tameside Councillors and prospective candidates being accused of jumping on the bandwagon by attempting to draw in those essential votes by selectively agreeing to support a current campaign, which is causing problems for Tameside and the Waterloo Ward, over the sale and planning issues, regarding a small piece of public open space bordering Daisy Nook, known to the locals as The Backfield. (See Save the Backfield Campaign)

This has caused an unprecedented furore and backlash within the council.

The crux of the matter and in reality is that Charlotte did not fulfil the nepotism role, that Tameside Council appear to actively encourage.  Unlike Councillor Faisal Rana [in Rochdale] with his many houses in his portfolio, she would not fit in within the Shameside Council by owing council tax. 

 

Charlotte, unlike some of the Tameside Councillors does not own several other houses or property abroad, does not own property to rent out for a high income within the borough or further afield, does not own a holiday home where she can vanish for several months a year. Charlotte by her own admission is poor, in debt and working class.  The term working class will be a unknown phrase to most of the Tameside Council, as their own well paid safe seat jobs continue to provide a high level of income or “wage “as some councillors have recently referred to it.

How can you have a fair representation of the population if these people do not understand the true predicament of many of the people who find themselves at the lower end of the pecking scale and in debt?

Where is the support of Angela Rayner now? Nepotism continues to roll on.

********

Fraudulent Faisal & Charlotte, the Single Mother

by Brain Bamford
Labour Shuns Single Mother & Embraces Election Fraudster

Charlotte Hughes - Dumped by Labour for Council Tax Arrears

WHILE in Rochdale the Labour Party appears to be only too willing to excuse Councillor Faisal Rana, a vulgar fraud who voted twice in the local elections last May, breaching the Representation of the People Act 1983; in nearby Tameside the local Labour Party has blocked a single mother, Charlotte Hughes, from standing in a by-election in Ashton Waterloo ward because she had fallen into debt with her council tax.

On the 3rd, August, an excited local Tameside MP, Angela Rayner wrote:  

'Congratulations to anti poverty campaigner @charlotteh71 who has tonight been selected as our Labour Party candidate for Ashton Waterloo Ward in my constituency in the upcoming council by election. I look forward to campaigning hard with Charlotte and our Labour Party team.'

Alas, it was not to be for on August 8th, Charlotte wrote on Twitter that she had been deselected owing to an unpaid council tax bill: :   
'However I owe council tax, a big NO NO. I’m not ashamed of being poor. It’s a fact. I’m working class and proud of it. However to cut along story short I have been deselected because of this.'

What distinguishes the single mother Charlotte Hughes in Tameside from Councillor Faisal Rana in Rochdale, is that the Rochdale Councillor is a rich director, who also has a portfolio of some 32 houses in central Rochdale, while Ms. Hughes who lives in a council house is poor, and has been driven by misfortune into debt.

The cunning swindler and manipulator of the election register is acceptable in today's Labour Party, while a person down on her luck becomes a persona non grata  in the eyes of the great and the good in today's Labour Party in the Greater Manchester area.

 ***************

Tameside, the costs add up as receivers take-over

A source close to the levers of power at Tameside Council has told Northern Voices that 'it's a right mess'  in Tameside, since Carillion, a partner to Tameside MBC, suffered the indignity of falling into the hands of the receivers.

This contrasts with the official line put out by the Labour council that it's 'Business as usual' and the crazy claim that Carillion are 'carrying on as normal' after the company imploded.

'Normal business' at Carillion with the company in receivership?  This takes some believing in the present climate.

Up to last week there were 16 sub-contractors working on 'Vision Tameside' services employed by Carillion.  

Northern Voices has had its spies watching the Carillion site in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre, and there's very little movement to be seen.  When NV tried to talk to a security guard he turned tail and ran.

If Tameside council or any of its 'servants' have occasion to want some advice from the receivers, Price Waterhouse Cooper, or make contact in any way, the council must pay a considerable fee for this privilege..

Last week, when the Tory Councillor John Bell asked 'Did Carillion give value for money?', he answered his own question by saying:  'Well we'll never know, because there has been no oversight or proper scrutiny'.

Yet in September 2011, Councillor David Sweeton, executive member for business and community, said: If we transfer workers and services to Carillion,'  this will " protect  jobs, services, and cut costs' ..

Tameside MBC has made similar promises before.  In  the 1990s Tameside Council outsourced all their old peoples' homes to Tameside Enterprises Ltd (TEL) originally formed in 1985 to provide local housing.  In 1993 the company running the homes (TEL) went bust due to financial mismanagement owing £2.2m in debts. TMBC renegued  on its promises to the care workers that they would be redeployed by TMBC if TEL went bust.

Tameside Council's Mantra is 'Vision Tameside', but if this is 'vision' then perhaps, we should humbly suggest, they should go to 'Spec Savers'.

In all this mess the one thing is clear,  Councillor Kieran Quinn's sense of timing in popping his cloggs last Christmas, was perfect.

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Tameside union official slams MP's over ignorance on Benefit Sanctions!

MANY of Charles Dickens' characters, have become archetypal English types. This is no less true, when we look at English politics. The Pecksniff's and Podsnap's, Gradgrind's and Bounderby's, seem to be prolific in the Tory party and in the House of Commons. Some of these MP's, seem to have fallen straight out of the pages of a Dicken's novel.  The character of John Podsnap, who appears in 'Our Mutual Friend', has become a model for English middle-class pomposity, complacency, and condescension, and represents a person who cannot face up to unpleasant facts.  

There was a great deal of humbug and 'Podsnappery' on show during the debate on the 'Benefit Claimants Sanctions Bill', which took place in the House of Commons on 2 December 2016.  The level of ignorance that was displayed by some MP's and their refusal to face up to unpleasant facts, was quite astonishing.  While it was apparent that some Tory MP's swallow the official drivel about sanctions, others had clearly put their consciences in cold storage.  Not only have people been driven to hunger and food-banks because of unfair sanctions, they have also been driven to suicide.

Despite repeated assurances by Tory stooges that benefit sanctions have had a benign effect on claimants and have not driven people to suicide, in 2014, it was reported that the DWP had carried out '60 peer reviews following the death of a customer' since 2012. A 'peer-review' is triggered when suicide or alleged suicide is 'associated with DWP activity'.

In a letter sent to four MPs, including Angela Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Brian Bamford, Secretary of Tameside Trades Union Council, condemned the appalling level of ignorance and indifference that was displayed by some MP's during the debate on Benefit Sanctions.  He wrote:

'I don't suppose that any of us should be surprised to hear this sort of thing. Even in the mid-1860's, when according to reports, people were dying of starvation in the streets of London at a rate of about two a week, there were plenty in the House of Commons, who denied it, or dismissed it, as the work of providence - the poor will always be with us.'  Read More...

Members of Tameside TUC have been protesting every Thursday against benefit sanctions outside Ashton Jobcentre since August 2014. For further information call Steve on 0161 338 8465 or email starlord@starlord-enterprises.freeserve.co.uk

Non-violent action in Tameside dispute

by Martin S. Gilbert

REPORTS of different forms of action around the world give ideas about replicating them at home.

Also, they can remind us about fairly similar action in our own  areas.  'Rev Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping' (Peace  News October-November, pp 9 – 11) gives an example of well planned, effective NVDA (non-violent direct action).  In the late 1990s during the year-long Tameside Care Workers dispute*, at Ashton-Under-Lyne in Greater Manchester we performed a non violent 'invasion'.  Tameside Care Group were forcing new contracts: a second pay cut, reduced service conditions and no sick pay**.  A local solicitor who had financial interests in those care homes was refusing to negotiate with the union.  Also, that gentleman was showing interest in child fostering businesses.  

Supporters of Earth first and Northern Anarchist Network assembled close to that solicitors office.

On my own, dressed in business suit and with a shiny brief case I told the receptionist about my 'appointment'.   She looked at various papers for a record of such meeting.  While thus distracted, it was enough time for our non-violent invaders to swarm over the building.  They emptied filing cabinets and tossed stuff out of windows before leaving as quickly as they came.  

It raised moral among the strikers and made the solicitor negotiate with them.  Sadly this strike, the longest ever in that area failed to win it’s objectives.

Some readers will be critical of the above account claiming it was  dishonest of me to put on a business suit to confuse the receptionist.  Others might claim that we all should have stayed to get arrested and should not have destroyed any office records.   But those records were 'caring'  for the 1%.   Also,  there is the idea that always getting arrested at actions is 'putting oneself on the

sacrificial plate of the state'.  

On balance I think that Rev Billy would have approved.  

*  A report in the journal 'Caring Times' (1999): 'About 150 people took to the streets between Stalybridge and Ashton-Under-Lyme in Greater Manchester on Saturday, 27 March (1999) to mark the first anniversary of the dismissal of some 200 care workers by the Tameside Care Group. Accompanied by supporters, children and a police escort, the sacked care workers were calling attention to the year long dispute which is scheduled for a 10-day industrial tribunal hearing in Manchester beginning on 1st June. The Tameside Care Group took over the operation of residential care homes from Tameside Council in 1990. In January last year (1998), close to 200 care workers at 12 residential homes in Tameside were served with termination notices after they refused to sign new contracts. The contracts involved acceptance of a pay cut (the second since the Tameside group had assumed control of the homes), reduced conditions of service and having the company sick pay scheme abolished. The workers then balloted for official strike action and were subsequently dismissed. '      
**  In April 1999, UNISON North West Region published a report which outlined the impact on staff:
'Throughout the history of the Trust and its subsidiary company financial savings have meant reductions in staff costs, with all the decreases falling on already low paid and undervalued staff. The staff working for Tameside Care Group have been poorly treated for nearly a decade and any improvements in the condition of the homes have been at the direct expense of care workers and domiciliary staff, most of whom are low-paid women workers. 200 staff went on strike in March 1998 and were sacked by the company. A year later the dispute is unresolved; an Industrial Tribunal set for June has already cost the company large sums in terms of legal fees, employment of agency staff and disruption to the service.'
                                                                                                        

Confessions of an NHS whistle-blower!



ALTHOUGH this book by Milton Peña Vásquez is not without its faults, mainly in the editing, it ought to be compulsory reading for any young person intent on embarking upon a career in the medical profession. Not only does it give a revealing and honest account of the internal workings of Tameside hospital, but it also exposes the incompetence of NHS managers and their attempts to cover up their failings by threats and intimidation.
The findings of the Keogh review team which were published in a report in July 2013, led to the resignation of Christine Green, the Chief Executive of Tameside Hospital and Tariq Mahmood, the hospital Medical Director. Among its findings, the report stated that Tameside Hospital had the 7th highest rate of infection for MRSA of 141 Trusts nationally over the three years from 2010-2012 and had the second highest infection rate in the country for Clostridium difficile, over the same period. It also found that:

'The Trust’s clinical negligence payments have significantly exceeded contributions to the ‘risk sharing scheme’ over the last three-years, by a total of £21m over this period.' 

Yet, in spite of its appalling record for mortality, cleanliness and safety, Tameside Hospital managed to obtain foundation trust status in February 2008 (“supposedly the benchmark of excellence”) when death rates were 19% above the average and safety was the “sixth-worst in England” (Daily Mail 30/11/2009). Mrs Green also managed to secure a 17% pay rise which took her salary from £120,000 to £140,000 a year.

READ MORE:

http://tamesideinfocus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/confessions-of-nhs-whistle-blower_10.html

Low-life scum batter Ashton mum with metal bars - police appeal for information!

Ashton mum left with fractured skull after brutal attack

Police are appealing for information following an horrifick attack that left a 65-year-old Ashton-under-Lyne, mother (unnamed) with a fractured skull.

In the early hours of last Tuesday morning, two men wearing balaclavas, broke into her home on Neal Avenue, Ashton, and battered her with metal bars after demanding money. She suffered multiple facial fractures, arm injuries and a fractured skull. She is recovering in hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.

Detective Inspector David Loughlin, of GMP's Tameside Borough, said:

"This was a vile attack on a vulnerable woman who was alone at home. She has been left in hospital  being treated for some nasty injuries which could have been much worse."

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call police on 101 or Crime-stoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Tameside Libraries to close a further one day a week!

WE have received reports that bosses at Tameside Council, are planning to cut library hours for the six public libraries currently open in Tameside.  Under the proposals, all libraries will close for an extra one day a week and on one night of the week, will remain open while 8.00pm.  Staff working at the Ashton studies library and archive, have already had their hours reduced.  It is not intended to consult the public about these further cuts in library opening times.

Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, local authorities are required to provide a 'comprehensive library and efficient' library service.  However, this is not defined in the Act and is therefore open to interpretation.  Whether Tameside Council are complying with the law is something that is open to challenge.  Likewise,  under equality legislation, local authorities are required to carry out impact assessments to establish how their proposals are likely to affect people living wthin the community.  Complaints can also be made to the Secretary of State who, for example, intervened when Sheffield proposed to close libraries.

Although Tameside Council are axing services and jobs and closing buildings, TMBC's annual Statement of Accounts for 2014-2015, shows that they have 'Usable Reserves' of nearly £205m, as of 31 March 2015.  These reserves can be 'applied to fund expenditure or reduce local taxation.'

In September 2012, Tameside Council closed five libraries and imposed cuts in opening hours on the rest.

"The bar that hates customers!"

The Society Rooms

The town of Ashton-under-Lyne, in Lancashire, never really recovered from a spate of street killings that hit the town's night spots in 2002. At that time, rarely a week went by without a newspaper report of a fatal stabbing, shooting, or someone being beaten to death on Ashton's mean streets. Since then, many pubs and clubs have closed and walking through the town on most evenings, today, is like walking through a ghost-town. 

While night-life in Ashton-under-Lyne, plummeted, the adjacent town of Stalybridge, went through something of a renaissance. Many new pubs opened, hoping to cash-in, when the town acquired the nickname 'Staly Vegas' and the pub trade peaked. However, the pie and a pint economy was not to last and like many other towns in the Northern Poor House, night-life in Stalybridge, has been declining for some time now. The Ruby Rooms, Pavillion Bar and Amber Lounge, have all closed and the 'Pad' nightclub, is now a charity shop.

Many people who go to Stalybridge (which can be reached by rail or bus), for a night out, generally start off by going to the 'Society Rooms', the local J.D. Wetherspoon pub which opened in 2002. The building which was the former 'Good Intent Co-operative Society', is situated at the top of Melbourne Street, which cuts directly through the town centre. This was a fairly decent J.D. Wetherspoon pub until about twelve-months-ago, when a new manager was brought in to replace the former manager, 'Big' John, who left to run 'The Smithy Fold' in Glossop, Derbyshire. Although cask beers are still on sale, the range of beers is not so good or varied as it used to be and prices have rocketed. Both the 'Cotton Bale' in Hyde and 'The Ash Tree' in Ashton-under-Lyne (J.D. Wetherspoon pubs), sell more hand-pumped cask beers at lower prices and a wider variety. By comparison, the Society Rooms, is a poorly run establishment where staff are inclined to treat customers like idiots. It can often take ages to get served and the situation is not helped by the under-staffing or that staff, go on walk about or scarper, when they see a customer. The pub struggles to keep five cask beers on sale at any one time. Comments left on the influential 'Trip Advisor' website attest to some customer dissatisfaction: "Poor selection of cask ales." "The bar that hates customers." "Staff go missing or wander about." "Culture that customers are disliked or looked down upon." "Staff need attitude training and training on how to run a bar." "Not one one of the staff smiles, instead they look at you as if you shouldn't be there."

Within spitting distance of the Society Rooms, are two friendly and hospitable little social clubs that sell some of the cheapest drinks in Stalybridge. At St. Peters Social Club on Corporation Street, a pint of Guinness can be had for £2.20 and over the road at the Staley Ward No.2 Conservative Club, a pint of Sam Smiths, can be had for £1.70. WI-Fi is available in both establishments.

If it's music and a good pint of cask ale that you're after, a trip to both The White House and The Q Inn, on Market Street, Stalybridge, is highly recommended along with the Stalybridge Buffet Bar, which can be found on the platform at Stalybridge railway station. 

Tameside Closing Swimming Pools?

IN a report on his Blog Carl Simmons, standing as an independent candidate in the Denton constituency of Tameside, argues that legally 'All schools must provide swimming instruction'.

Yet, it seems that all three local swimming pools in Ashton, Dukinfield and Denton are at risk of closure, to be replaced by what Mr. Simmons' calls 'one state of the art swimming pool' yet to be built in Tameside.  More centralization of facilities, more building, more disruption, more demolition of what is already serving the community.  More pomp and glory for the local Labour Party administration.

On his Blog Carl Simmons' lists 35 Tameside schools that now need to use these swimming pools in order to teach pupils to swim competently up to the standard required.  This does not include the 'Little Ducklings', toddler groups, as well as swimming clubs in the Ashton, Dukinfield and Denton areas who if the proposal to shut down the three pools goes ahead, would soon be served only with a single pool.

Mr. Simmons' asks: 

'How will Tameside Council accomodate all these schools and clubs with the necessary swimming lessons?'

Below he urges the people of Tameside to read and sign this petition - calling upon Tameside MBC to rethink their proposals to close Denton, Dukinfield & Ashton Pools - by clicking on the link below:

https://www.change.org/p/executive-cabinet-tameside-metropolitan-borough-council-andrew-gwynne-mp-shadow-health-minister-no-swimming-pool-closures-in-tameside

Or go to his latest article on his blog at:   http://carlsimmons-independent.blogspot.co.uk/

On the stump with Ashton's prospective parliamentary candidates. Elections 2015!

A series of election events known as ‘question time hustings’, have been organised by Community & Voluntary Action Tameside (CVAT), to take place in Ashton-under-Lyne, Hyde and Denton, prior to the General Election in May. On Tuesday evening, I attended the first of these meetings at the Holy Trinity Centre, Dean Street, in Ashton.

Angela Rayner, the Labour candidate for Ashton-under-Lyne, - who was selected from an all women’s short-list - was the first to speak. She began by paying tribute to her predecessor David Heyes, who is retiring at the next election. Ms. Reyner is a socialist but doesn’t believe that people should get something for nothing. Although she is now a trade union official with UNISON, she began her working life as a home help and didn’t go to university. Referring to the financial cut- backs she told the meeting that Tameside Council had lost 50% of its budget and that over 1 million people, were relying on food-banks in Britain in order to feed themselves and their families. “I’m not here to manage the decline she told the meeting.” She also told the meeting that public services should be defended and should remain in the public sector.

Charlotte Hughes, the Green Party candidate, is a single parent who was born and bred in Ashton. She believes that because of this, she is fully aware of the needs of her constituents. Unlike many of the other mainstream parties, who are only interested in ‘hardworking families’, Hughes believes that everybody should be helped, not just those who are in work. She told the meeting that she was sick of the way in which the Labour controlled council in Tameside were using people as guinea pigs to pilot Tory government projects, such as Universal Credit and the so-called ‘Troubled Families’ phase 2 initiative, which is bullying and harassing  single-mothers who are unemployed. She told the meeting, “So far there has been no consultation with the public” about these schemes or the way in which, the Labour council in Tameside, are implementing Tory policies. A community activist, Ms. Hughes, can be seen on a regular basis protesting outside Ashton Jobcentre against unfair and illegal sanctioning. She told the meeting that this year, she had stopped two people from committing suicide.

Another candidate who was born and bred in Ashton is bungling Maurice Jackson, the UKIP (Kipper) candidate. A former Tameside Labour Party member, he was hopelessly out of his depth on the night. Jackson declared that he would not be making a three-minute speech but was happy to take questions. At times, he was barely audible or coherent and struggled to even string a decent sentence together. For most of the evening, he could be seen reading from what presumably, was a UKIP leaflet, in order to check what the party’s policies were. Judging from his performance on the night, he had obviously drawn the short straw.

A Canadian study that was published in January 2012, in the Journal of Psychological Science and reported in the Daily Mail the same month, stated that people with conservative beliefs, were likely to be of ‘low intelligence’ and were receptive to ideas that appealed to their basest and stupidest impulses. 

As right-wing Thatcherites, UKIP seems to draw their fair share of English cranks into their ranks. The former UKIP MEP, Godfrey Bloom, resigned from the Party after calling women ‘sluts’ and after complaining of foreign aid going to ‘bongo-bongo land’. Another UKIP member declared that the floods which brought havoc to parts of Britain two years ago were caused by the Wrath of God, after the introduction of ‘Gay Marriage’.

Most of the evening was taken up with questions from the floor. One questioner complained about a lack of political leaflets through the door. All the candidates said it was either down to lack of funding or resources. Bungling Morris said that UKIP didn’t have any money to back the candidates and that he was a paper candidate.

Ms Rayner, was asked how she would retain public services in Tameside when the Labour Council was a privatizing council? She responded that it was all about giving adequate funding to local government. Asked if she thought the number of councillors could be reduced as they now had less to do, since many public services had been hived-off to the private sector, she said she didn’t believe in reducing things to their lowest common denominator. 

For the Green’s, Ms Hughes said there was a lack of transparency in Tameside Council and that the council leader was getting an ‘obscene amount of money’. She believes that councillor’s allowance should be on a fixed ratio vis-à-vis council workers wages and salaries.

A questioner asked the candidates if they agreed that volunteering should stay voluntary and asked if the voluntary sector should be participating in the Government’s workfare (work-for-your-dole) schemes.  

Ms Hughes said that she was against workfare and was a member of Boycott Workfare. She thought people should be paid a decent wage for a decent day’s work. The UKIP candidate said his party didn’t believe in workfare. (UKIP have branded claimants a ‘parasitic underclass of scroungers’ and have plans to stop them buying tobacco and alcohol). Ms Reyner said that she didn’t want to bring back the work-house and opposed workfare (which the last Labour government introduced with their work-for-your dole schemes). She favours more apprenticeships as a way of getting people back to work.

Another questioner asked -  “If elected would your government remove the market principle from the NHS?” 

The Green Party candidate said yes. The Labour candidate said her party would repeal the Health & Social Care Bill. The UKIP candidate said his party would remove car-parking charges and was against the privatization of the NHS.

From the floor, another questioner asked: “Do you agree with Nigel Farage (UKIP leader) that the NHS should be replaced with an American style health system? Bungling Morris, denied that Farage had ever said this, whereupon, the questioner offered to show him where the quote had come from.  Ms. Reyner then said that both the leader and deputy leader of UKIP had said they wanted to privatize the NHS.

All three candidates were asked about their views of Europe. Ms Rayner said that she was pro-Europe but it needed reform. “I don’t believe immigrants come here just for housing and benefits. We’ve been enriched by Europe. It would cost us £6.5 billion if we came out of Europe.” Ms. Hughes said that it was Green Party policy to stay in Europe but the party favoured a referendum. “Immigration is positive. The NHS would not be what it is without immigrant workers.” Mr Jackson said that UKIP wanted a referendum. “We have an Islanders mentality”, said gaffe prone Morris, “I think we should come out of Europe.”

A questioner asked: “What do you think of fracking in Tameside, even if Tameside Council supports it?” 

Ms. Hughes said that the Green Party was against fracking. “You wont be able to insure your house if it is near to fracking. Fracking leads to pollution. Fracking is being rolled back in America.” The UKIP candidate said that his party were in favour of fracking. Ms Reyner said that Labour was not entirely against fracking but that it must be safe and the decision should be taken locally.  “I’m not going to rule fracking out.”

The outcome of the Parliamentary elections in Tameside next month, is probably a foregone conclusion even though Jonathan Reynolds is defending a 2,700 majority in Stalybridge. Labour has held all three seats for as long as I can remember.

Although UKIP have gained support from the blue-collar, male, working-class former Labour voter in the North, who struggle financially, and feel left behind and alienated from the political class, they are unlikely to get elected in Tameside. UKIP has virtually no support among the financially secure and the thirty-and-forty age group of university graduates. Support for UKIP is also weak among women, white-collar professionals and the young.

The Green Party, who will probably struggle to retain their deposits in the Tameside elections 2015, do have some good policies such as the citizens basic income, renationalisation of railways, a living wage, a wealth tax, and a maximum pay ratio (no executive should receive more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid worker). However, these policies tend to get overshadowed by wackier policies like banning sporting events such as the Grand National and dog racing.

George Julian Harney: Radical Chartist

Hegel vs Wittgenstein's approach 

DAVID Goodway gave a talk on Saturday the 7th, February 2014, at the Peoples' History Museum on George Julian Harney, one of the leading Chartists.  He was introducing the book that he edited and published in 2014, and was entitled 'The Chartists Were Right' on Mr. Harney's contributions to the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, which is the first selection of Harney's journalism to be published.  Mr. Goodway taught sociology, history and Victorian studies to mainly adult students at the University of Leeds.  His first book had been London Chartism, 1838-1848 (1982).  Elsewhere Mr. Goodway has written mostly on anarchism and libertarian socialism.

David Goodway gave a brief history of Chartism and the general background of the times mentioning the Newport uprising, as well as other attempted uprisings in Dewsbury and Sheffield, and later in Manchester and Birmingham; the 1832 strike in Stalybridge; the murder of a policeman in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1848.  He insisted that there had been no link or continuity with the labour movement and that ultimately Chartism had been replaced by trade unionism.  He posed the question as to why Chartism failed after some 50 years of agitation.  He didn't seem to answer this precisely, but pointed out that the demand for the Charter was for more specific reasons to do with the New Poor Law, and also concerns about the factory system and it had been confronted by an alliance of the propertied classes. 

The main intellectual influence on Harney was the Irishman Bronterre O'Brien, the editor the Poor Man's Guardian, who was an enthusiast for the French Revolution identifying with Robespierre.  Harney was more drawn to Marat and often signed himself 'L'Ami du Peuple' (Friend of the People).  In April 1839, he wrote for the London Democrat, but during his travels in the north of England he was seen as one of the foremost spokesmen of physical-force Chartism, and in May 1839, soon after the Convention moved to Birmingham, a warrant was issued for his arrest for a seditious speech he was reputed to have made there.  He was arrested at Bedlington in July, and held for a time at Warwick Gaol, but in April 1840 the case was dropped, because his speech had not been properly witnessed.    

He was appointed Northern Star correspondent for Sheffield and later became its sub-editor in July 1843 when O'Connor,  its proprietor, dismissed the Rev. William Hill and replaced him with Joshua Hobson.  Hobson started to give Harney a free hand.  By the time he was formally appointed editor in October 1845 Harney had already taken-over as editor in practice.  From then on through the 1850s his influence was at its height as although O'Conner was the proprietor of the Northern Star, to begin with he gave Harney editorial independence.   

In the 1840s, the Northern Star was based in Leeds, and Friedrich Engels had visited there in 1843 when he met Harney and they became lifelong friends,  Engels was to write:

'We kept in touch with the revolutionary section of the English Chartists through Julian Harney, the editor of the movement's central organ, the Northern Star, to which I was a contributor.'

Engels thought Harney should push himself into the Chartist leadership over O'Connor but Harney disagreed responding:

'A popular leader should be possessed of magnificent bodily appearance, an iron frame, eloquence, or at least a ready fluency of tongue.  I have none of these.  O'C. has them all – at least in degree. ...'

Then very perceptively Harney argued that the qualities that Engels claimed for Harney were, in fact, in English terms defects:

'...the very qualities you (Engels) give me the credit of possessing, and which you emphatically sum up in the sentence “You are the only Englishman who is really free of all prejudices that distinguish the Englishman from the Continental man” are sufficient of themselves to prevent my being a leader.' 

Goodway writes that 'Harney, a Londoner and indeed a proletarian, was then insufficiently English in outlook, whereas O'Connor, who belonged to the Irish gentry, exerted a mesmeric appeal on the English working class, many whom were, of course, either Irish-born or of Irish origin.' 

Harney fell out with Marx and Engels over the issue of social inclusiveness which Harney proclaimed:  'I stay not to enquire whether they were of the aristocratic [sic], bourgeoisie, or the proletariat.  Enough for me that they were men of earnest convictions, which they maintained through every kind of adversity, including bonds, exile, and to death.' 

Essentially Marx and Engels were Hegelians or some may say 'monomaniacs', while Harney's writings in his publications were as Mr. Goodway says: 'vigorously polymathic, ranging across literature, contemporary politics and world history of all periods.'   

Wittgenstein wrote:

'Hegel seems to me to be always wanting to say that things which look different are really the same...  Whereas my interest is in showing that things which look the same are really different.' 

George Julian Harney in his editorship of the Northern Star was not engaged in producing a mono-maniac tract for Marxists, hence David Goodway was able to say that  the Northern Star sold well and was 'not boring' and was definitely 'not a sectarian paper'.  Basically Harney, according to Mr. Goodway, was all for inclusiveness while 'Marx and Engels couldn't stomach that'.  Mr. Goodway also insisted that the Chartists were in no way 'Socialists' and that no direct line could be drawn between the Chartist movement and the formation of the Labour Party at the end of the 19^th Century.  O'Connor believed in peasant proprietors, according to Goodway; and when I asked if this meant he was more in the tradition of the Frenchman Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mr Goodway agreed with me on this. 

Men, Massacres & Monuments

 

Image of James Keogh by Clifford Harper on N.V.13

AROUND 2008, Tameside Trade Union Council applied for a blue plaque for James Keogh, an Ashton-under-Lyne lad who was killed in action fighting with the International Brigade for freedom and democracy in the Spanish Civil War 1936-39. This initial nomination was rejected by the Arts & Events committee of Tameside MBC on the grounds that Mr. Keogh's contribution may not have been unique, and that there may have been other local people who fought in Spain. It turned out that there had been a number of others but that James Keogh was the only one, so far as we know, who was actually killed in action. The research involved in finding out about Mr. Keogh, who died in March 1938 near Calaceite in the northern Spanish province of Aragón, and investigating the other residents of Ashton who went to Spain, was onerous and it was not until 25th November 2011 that a Blue Plaque was unveiled to James at Ashton-under-Lyne library. This followed a long campaign by Tameside TUC, and his family for recognition; this despite the fact that Mr. Keogh fitted all the criteria.                                                                                                

                                                                                                              
In contrast, Rochdale Council wasted no time in awarding a blue plaque to Sir Cyril Smith, the former Rochdale MP 1972-92, after he died in 2010: his blue plaque was erected outside Rochdale Town Hall in October 2011, even though it turned out that he didn't fit the criteria set down by English Heritage having been dead for just over a year. The person responsible at that time in the Rochdale Tourist Bureau, when asked, told Northern Voices that the town didn't need to meet the criteria suggested by English Heritage. Of course, it was revealed in November 2012 that Cyril Smith was very unique by any standards of human conduct, and that he had molested young lads in the 20th century on a significanr scale. Now four empty screw holes is all that remains in the grey stone wall of Rochdale Town Hall, where the commemorate blue plaque to Sir Cyril was once affixed. Fear of vandalism was the reason given by the Council Leader, Colin Lambert, for the removal of the plaque, and yet, I understand that a picture of Cyril still adorns' the inner walls of the Town Hall and that there is still a 'Sir Cyril Smith Room' within to remember the great man.

This business of commemorating significant figures, men or women, is tricky.   Last Saturday's Spanish paper El Pais had an acticle reporting on a meeting this month at 26, Kutuzuvski Avenue in Moscow, at which an event took place with the motive of remounting a plaque to commemorate Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев, IPA: [lʲɪɐˈnʲid ɪlʲˈjitɕ ˈbrʲeʐnʲɪf] who led the Soviet Union for 18 years till his death in 1982.  The original plaque had been taken down in 1991.  The ceremony, according to El Pais, was 'solemn' and took place 'thanks to the inniative of one of the most polemical deputies in the State Duma (Russian Parliament) Alexandr Jinshtein'.  There is also talk of reinstalling a statute of Felix Dzherzhinski, founder of the Checa, the organisation that preceeded the KGB (Soviet Secret Police outfit):  this statue of huge dimensions, was originally pulled down, El Pais reports, 'by a furious mulitude  in 1991 when it adorned the Lubianka Square in front of the headquarters of the secret police' - today it can be viewed in an exhibion at a museum of sculptures.  El Pais further reports that the Russian President Putin at a press conference recently said that he didn't see much difference 'between Stalin and Cromwell'. 

Meanwhile, it seems that before the edifice of the KGB in a nearby garden there now stands a simple monument, which El Pais says is 'much more simple:  a stone commemorative of the Solovki concentration camp, in the north of Russia, in rememberance of the 11 million people who died during the years of the Soviet Terror'. 

Anti-Workfare Protest in Ashton-under-Lyne

TODAY some 20 protesters demonstrated outside Ashton Job Centre calling on customers to 'BOYCOTT WORKFARE'. The response of the cliants was mostly sympathetic, but the management called the police who tried to keep order in the street outside as people handed out leaflets insisting that there be 'No Work for Dole - Only Work for pay'. This action was supported by the Tameside Unemployed Workers Alliance, Tameside Trade Union Council (TUC) and the Manchester Peoples Alliance. A loud hailer was employed to castigate the staff of the job centre for supporting the 'forced labour' policy of the current government and banners were raised. The leaflet declares: 'The DWP continues to refuse to publish the names of charities and businesses where tens of thousands of unemployed people are being made to work without pay.' It seems that already Wetherspoons, Argos, Shoezone, The Red Cross, and Superdrug have dropped out of the scheme since the begining of this year. At one point a crowd of young sympathisers congregated across the street to shout their support for the protest. Because of the success of this event it is likely that the will be other such protests. Visit Boycott Workfare www.boycottworkfare.org

Demonstrators clash in Ashton memorial gardens!

Last Saturday around 100 racial bigots from an organisation called the 'North West Infidels', a nationalist splinter group from the English Defence League (EDL), marched through Ashton-under-Lyne to the cenotaph in St Michael's Square. They were confronted by around 30 anti-fascist protestors from Tameside Unite Against Fascism (TUAF).

Although this was an highly organised affair with each group being given a police liaison officer, there were clashes between individuals from each of the rival groups, when some people broke ranks and stormed towards the cenotaph. The police were seen to detain a number of people.

Ashton-under-Lyne has become a focal point for the far-right since the EDL marched through Hyde in February. The EDL march, followed an earlier incident where two white youths were attacked by Asian youths. Takeaway worker, Ali Haydor, aged 21, was subsequently jailed for two-years for assault. The marches in Ashton, are supposedly a response to an alleged racial incident involving Asian and white youths that took place last month.

Before the march to the cenotaph in St. Michael's Square, members of TUAF had been told by a senior council officer from Tameside Council that they could not leaflet on the market ground. This kind of heavy handed attitude is fairly typical from the Labour run council in Tameside. The Electoral Reform Society, recently stated that Tameside was in danger of becoming a one party state like North Korea, because of the lack of democracy in the borough.

EDL March in Ashton-under-Lyne! Are Tameside Council censoring the local news?

FOUR people were arrested when the far-right group the English Defence League (EDL), marched through the streets of Ashton-under-Lyne, over two weeks ago.

This is the second time this year that the EDL have marched in Tameside. In February, around 600 hate-filled louts from the EDL, marched through Hyde after two white teenagers where attacked by Asian youths. Daniel Stringer-Prince, aged 17, sustained a fractured skull. Eleven people were arrested for minor public order offences following the demonstration.  Takeaway worker, Ali Haydor, aged 21, was subsequently jailed for two-years for assault.

Although the march that took place on 15 June, received some coverage in the local press, there was no explanation as to why the EDL had decided to march through Ashton-under-Lyne. According to a statements made by the EDL, they were responding to an alleged 'unprovoked attack' by two Asian youths on a group of white teenagers who were waiting at a local bus stop. A video that was put on facebook, which shows two Asian teenagers fighting with white youths, was later taken down. 

Although there was a heavy police presence in the town earlier in the week and the police were seen chasing youths through the streets of Ashton, Tameside Council denied there had been any disorder and issued  a statement on Twitter saying:
'Rumours circulating tonight about alleged fighting in Ashton  town centre. These reports are inaccurate, there has been no disorder'

When Northern Voices (NV) contacted Greater Manchester Police (GMP) for a comment, we were intially told that there had been no incident and that reports of an incident, had been an 'urban myth' put out on the social media. However, we were later told in a statement by the GMP:

'We are aware of the rumours on social media. A number of youths gathered in the town centre (Wed 12 June) but there was no disorder or violence. A small number of teenagers were arrested for minor public order offences. We believe this is linked to an incident that took place in Ashton on Saturday 8 June 2013, involving two groups of school children. A third party reported this to the police and they believed it to be racially motivated. A 14-year-old boy was arrested in connection with this and has been released on police bail. Enquries are ongoing and we will be speaking to both sets of youth to establish the circumstances that led up to the gathering.'

GMP told NV that over the next few evenings, there would be an increased police presence in Ashton town centre to reassure the public and to provide a deterrent to any potential trouble makers. GMP said that they believed the same individuals were responsible but both cases were isolated and added:
'
We take every allegation of racial abuse very seriously whether this comes from a third party or not, and this incident is no different. What is not clear is who racially abused who, if at all. Those arrested are from a range of community backgrounds and are all school children, none of who suffered any physical injury....'

In 2008, the satirical magazine 'Private Eye', in its column 'Rotten Boroughs', claimed that Tameside Council were censoring the local news and was holding regular meetings with newspaper editors through the 'Community Cohesion Parnership' to stop 'sensationalist reporting' that might add to rising community tensions. The source for this information was a document published by the Department of Communities and Local Government, (See NV10). Although Tameside Council denied that it censored media reports and claimed they were unable to confirm who wrote the report from Tameside, we wrote to the Department in October 2009. They confirmed that the information had been supplied by Tameside Council and had been written by Steven Pleasant, the then Assistant C.E.O. of Tameside Council, (See NV11).

Although this kind of cesnorship or news management may be being undertaken with the best of intentions, it nevertheless, sets a dangerous precedent in any democracy where the media is supposed to hold politicians to account. It  can also be counter productive by playing into the hands of groups on the far-right who claim that certain racial attacks are being covered up.

This Saturday a march is taking place in Ashton-under-Lyne organised by North West Infidels. Members of 'Unite Against Fascism' are meeting outside Ashton market hall at 11.30 am and have asked for supporters to bring placards and banners.