TAMESIDE TWEETS OR TWITS?

LAST week Tameside Councillors were daggers drawn in the wake of the Carillion affair.  The Tory Doreen Dickenson wrote on Twitter:

Doreen Dickinson‏ @DorDic1 Jan 17

'Nobody is friendlier with Carillion than Tameside MBC Labour controlled for 39 yrs.'

To which Councillor Ryan for the Labour administration made a remarkable retorted:  
'Tameside Council has had NO direct contracts with Carillion'

Weasel Words

Those of us who have read the responses of the Consulting Association administrator Ian Kerr, will remember his reply to a question at the Scottish Affairs Select Committee about his links to the Security Services.  Mr Kerr, who had previously pleaded guilty at Knutsford Crown Court to managing an illegal data base or blacklist, said; 'We had no direct contacts' (or words to that effect).  When he was then asked 'did you have any indirect contacts with the Security Services', the Chairman intervened and that query was never answered.  Mr Kerr's methods of blacklisting building workers were described in a recent book by Professor Rhidri Jeffreys-Jones* as 'effective but primitive'.

The methods of the former boss of Tameside MBC, Kieran Quinn and the Labour Council can be clearly seen as more sophisticated, and because he was a Labour coucillor and a trade unionist he could get away with murder forming cosy relationships with companies like Carillion.

The current protestations of the Tameside Labour councillors he has left behind following his well timed exit on Christmas Day, leaves them sounding like the chorus in a Comic Opera

******

 *  'WE KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU - The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America', published by Oxford University Press

Whistle-blower's View on Blacklisted 'Friends'

ALAN WAINWRIGHT QUESTIONS LOYALTY OF LABOUR POLITICIANS

ON Sunday the 26th, June 2016, three days after referendum day, the former blacklister Alan Wainwright posted the post below entitled 'John McDonell - NO FRIEND OF THE BLACKLISTED'. 

Mr. Wainwright later became the principal whistle-blower who opened-up the whole tyranny of blacklisting in the British building trade, which went on for generations  The Consulting Association offices in Drotwich were later raided by the Information Commissioner, and its facilitator Ian Kerr, now deceased, pleaded guilty at Knutsford Crown Court to operating an illegal data-base or blacklist.  Without the help on Mr. Wainwright the revelations that later led to the exposure of the blacklist would not have become apparent.   

Because Alan Wainwright is such a key figure in the campaign against the blacklist Northern Voices believes he deserves to be listened to.  Therefore we publish what he has to say here without comment.  Our readers must make their own judgements about what he has to say here:

Sunday, 26 June 2016

JOHN McDONNELL - NO FRIEND OF THE BLACKLISTED

Many many politicians have failed the blacklisted workers over the last eleven years. You would expect this from Tory MP's, but for me, it is the many Labour MP's I have contacted for help over this time who should hang their heads in shame for their total inaction on this matter.

A recent addition to this list is the (soon to be fired) shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. It is public knowledge that I have recently brought legal proceedings against over thirty companies and recruitment agencies for breach of the new 2010 blacklisting regulations, but he is supposedly "too busy" to even re-tweet my appeal page, let alone do anything else to help this current campaign.

He has been fully briefed on the new legal claims in a briefing document drafted by myself and my legal advisor, but has chosen to join both Unite and Ucatt in their blatant refusal to help (let alone even mention) my current campaign.

I have had some difficulty in trying to understand why someone who professes to be such a huge supporter of the blacklisted workers would be so reluctant to help with the new campaign. One that if successful could ultimately lead to the full Public Inquiry we so desperately need.

He is however not too busy to turn up for photograph opportunities with compensated blacklisted workers outside the Royal Courts of Justice or to attend the video shoot of the excellent new Blacklist No1 song.

The current response from John and his team is that he is simply too busy to help in any way. Not even a re-tweet. So why would he be so reluctant to help a leading blacklisting campaigner with such a credible record in this matter? The answer lies in his relationship with Unite.

It is no secret that I have been outspoken about the role of Unite in the blacklisting, including the complicity of their senior officials as a source of information on many of the blacklist files and their deliberate cover up of my evidence back in 2005/2006 to protect the millions they were receiving from the construction companies.

I have it on very good authority that Unite's deal with the construction companies to settle the High Court litigation was made last November, despite their rhetoric to fight to the death in the run up to the trial in May.

A simple electoral commission search reveals that Unite paid Jeremy Corbyn (in addition to the money they donate to the Labour Party) £130,000 in the last twelve months to assist his campaign. John McDonnell was Jeremy Corbyn's campaign manager.

So while Unite profess to be a friend of the blacklisted workers, their money and it's control over whoever they donate to always has the final say.