THE BLACKLIST & LABOUR MANIFESTO

Page 48 of the Labour Manifesto:

"We will establish public inquiries into historical injustices including blacklisting and Orgreave, and ensure the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry has the confidence of all those affected, especially the bereaved families and survivors. We will also consider a public inquiry in the case of Zane Gbangbola.

We will require judicial warrants for undercover operations and retain the Mitting Inquiry into undercover policing.

We will release all papers on the Shrewsbury 24 trials and 37 Cammell Laird shipyard workers and introduce a Public Accountability Bill".

Blacklist Support Group are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder on shared platforms for more than 10 years with campaigners fighting for justice for Orgreave, Grenfell, Zane Gbangbola, victims of undercover political policing, the Shrewsbury Pickets and Cammell Laird ship workers.  We have demanded and fought for a public inquiry for over a decade - its is our campaigning that has led to this manifesto commitment. We therefore whole heartedly support this pledge towards getting the truth we, and other working class miscarriages of justice, deserve.  But working people should never place dewy eyed trust in politicians, lawyers or union leaders to solve our problems for us; continuing to build a movement remains essential.  

Full manifesto available to view here: https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/

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

Orgreave Campaign & Dave Douglass pamphlet

Friends,

When Barbara Jackson of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, spoke recently at the AGM of Bridgwater Trades Union Council in Somerset, she was presented with a pamphlet, written by Dave Douglass, which commemorates the replication of the famous old Follonsby (Wardley) Lodge Banner, with portraits of Geordie Harvey, James Connolly, AJ Cook, and Keir Hardie.

Hope this short tribute is of interest!

https://youtu.be/GjR2xdEuU5s

Dave Chapple,

Secretary,

Bridgwater TUC.

‘Don’t Ask - Tell Them What You’re Entitled To!"

The leading human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC accused the new home secretary of being ‘duplicitous, so far’ following a recent meeting with the Orgreave campaigners. Earlier this month of delegation of former miners met with Amber Rudd calling for an inquiry into a ‘smear campaign’ to expedite politically motivated prosecutions in 1984.

The barrister, who acted for the Hillsborough families at the recent inquest, said the meeting was ‘courteous’ but ‘non-committal’, however the following day the Home Office told the press that a lawyer-led review was likely to be the outcome as opposed to a full blown judicial Inquiry. But Mansfield added: ‘If they shut the door then we open it again.’

The QC was speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour conference in Liverpool organised by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers. The event was entitled ‘The state and political policing: Hillsborough, Orgreave and Shrewsbury 24’.

Read more: Siobhan Taylor-Ward, Justice Gap, http://tinyurl.com/hujb4bf

Inquiry into police clash with miners

THE Government is about to announce an inquiry into police conduct at the so-called Battle of Orgreave in 1984, it has been reported.

The witnesses at Orgreave  have always insisted that the South Yorkshire Police orchestrated a pitched battle between striking miners and officers at the town’s coking plant.  At the time in 1984, the media tended to portray the miners as aggressors rather than the police.

But since the more recent findings over the Hillsborough disaster, which took place five years later in the same police force area, there have been allegations suggesting the evidence against the miners was 'falsified'. 

Now the Home Secretary is said to be considering what precise format the inquiry will take.

Reports suggest mounted police charged the crowd in response to some missiles being thrown. Labour MP Tristram Hunt, a historian, has previously described the episode as 'legalised state violence'.   Altogether 95 miners were charged with offences following the clashes, but their trial collapsed.

Orgreave Truth at Stockport TUC

21st September 7.30 pm

Open Meeting All welcome

Stockport Labour Club

2 Lloyd St, Stockport SK4 1QP

STOCKPORT TRADES COUNCIL 

No Justice, No peace

Barbara Jackson, secretary of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) is coming to Stockport to talk about the pickets at the now infamous coking plant which provided fuel for Britain’s steel industry.

Miners, many in shorts and stripped to the waist in the hot summer sun, were unaware of the carnage to come — vicious and unprovoked police violence which turned the countryside into a battlefield.

Launched in November 2012, OTJC wants an independent public inquiry into what happened at Orgreave. It wants the police and the government called to account.

We will be showing the film 'Battle for Orgreave' made in 1985 by Yvette Vanson , part reconstruction and part original footage.

Sean Taylor & the Blacklist Anthem

SEAN Taylor, the critically acclaimed singer songwriter has written a campaign song for the Blacklist Support Group that is set to become an anthem for our movement.  

Blacklist Number 1 - Sean Taylor 

Available as a download single from 3rd June (video & remixes coming soon) 

Sean Taylor explained his reasons for writing the song:

'The Blacklisting campaign stands alongside Hillsborough, Orgreave and Bloody Sunday. The song is an act of solidarity and resistance.

Plus Dave kept hassling me.'

Dave Smith, secretary Blacklist Support Group gushed:

'In decades from now Blacklist Number 1 will be part of the standard repertoire for protest singers. The song is about the blacklisting scandal in the UK construction industry but it will quickly become an anthem wherever workers are victimised for standing up for their rights. Expect to hear the instantly sing-along chorus on picketlines from the US and Australia to South Africa. It'd make a great soundtrack in a film. 

Blacklist Support Group are privileged that such talented world class music professionals have been prepared to support our fight for justice. Thank you and take a bow.'

Written & Performed by Sean Taylor http://www.seantaylorsongs.com/

Produced by Gerry Diver at Tunehouse Studio in London http://www.gerrydiver.com/

Mastered by the legendary Mark Hallman in Austin, Texas http://congresshouse.com/mark-hallman/

Video by Shaun Dey, Reel News http://reelnews.co.uk/

Artwork by blacklisted construction worker Stewart Hume 

All rights & proceeds to Blacklist Support Group http://www.hazards.org/blacklistblog/

Sean Taylor appears on stages around the world including the iconic Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury Festival. The singer songwriter's music regularly appears on radio, where his haunting guitar sound (reminiscent of John Martyn) has been championed by Bob Harris on Radio 2. In 2013, Sean released a blues version of You'll Never Walk Alone in support of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. 

The official music video for Blacklist Number 1 has been produced by Shaun Dey from the video activist collective Reel News previously responsible for videos for bands such as Alabama 3 and DC Ruts. Shaun's activist reportage of the blacklisting scandal has been shown at the V&A, Banksy's Dismaland and Shangri-La at Glastonbury Festival. 

Journalists and DJs - please contact BSG or Sean Taylor for pre-release review copies.

Open-up on Orgreave!

THE Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has asked that the new interim chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, Dave Jones, open up the force's archives into the police action at the Orgreave coking plant during the 1984 miners' strike .

The challenge from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign came the day after Dave Jones marked the moment he took over temporary control of the South Yorkshire force by offering to listen to the activists, as well as families of the 96 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster.

The Yorkshire Post news correspondent, Mark Casci, reported today: 

'Campaign secretary Barbara Jackson said they will take up Mr Jones's offer but said they did not want it to be a "token gesture".  Mrs Jackson said they want the chief constable to intervene in their legal bid to push Home Secretary Theresa May to hold a public inquiry into the events at Orgreave 32 years ago. '

This call from campaigners comes on the heals of the findings in the Hillsborough inquest last week which found that the South Yorkshire Police had lied and fabricated evidence.

The events of the 'Battle of Orgreave' came to symbolise the 1984 Miner's strike.   It took place at a coking plant on the borders of Rotherham and Sheffield, when large numbers of pickets were confronted by around 6,000 police from all around the UK.

A total of 95 miners were charged following the disturbances but their trial collapsed.

John McDonnell Backs Protest Against Carillion!

Blacklist Support Group join forces with Hillsborough, Shrewsbury Pickets and Orgreave campaigners to fight against Carillion at Anfield stadium. 
Great work by Roy Bentham - Great video by Reel News has just gone over 2,000 views on Facebook within 2 hours of being posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaAWgZDdvKY

Football is a working class game. Big business and the police have conspired against football fans at Hillsborough, miners at Orgreave and construction workers at Shrewsbury. That is why all these campaigners have all come together to throw the blacklist firm, Carillion out of Liverpool Football Club. Let's kick all the blacklisting firms out of football, starting with Carillion at Anfield.
Support the justice campaigns - circulate this to all your contacts and post on Twitter & Facebook  

Blacklist Support Group

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

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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