More brouhaha about Flag Flying in Tameside!

Stalybridge Labour Club

A KEEN eyed vexillogist and Northern Voices reader, recently sent us this picture of the rainbow (gay) flag blowing proudly in the wind atop the flag pole of Stalybridge Labour Club. 

The art historian and journalist, Brian Sewell, expressed the view in July 2011 that the lives of many Mancunians were haplessly intertwined with transvestites, transsexuals, teenage lesbians and a horde of homosexuals across the range, because Manchester is known for being one of the most LGBT friendly cities in the UK. The gay art critic, asked:   'Is Manchester now the Sodom of the North?  Where once we had no gaiety at all, we now perhaps, have rather too much.'

In May this year, Cllr Leigh Drennan became the first openly gay Mayor of Tameside.   Two other boroughs in the region, have had an openly gay Mayor - Bury and Manchester.  Among the Mayor's charities this year, will be the 'LGBT Foundation'.   In his year as Mayor, Drennan has said that he hopes he can help to raise awareness of the issues LGBT people face and help people overcome prejudice.

In recent years, the subject of flags and their symbolism, is something that has given rise to much brouhaha and consternation in Tameside.  In March 2018, two Tameside Conservatives, Cllr Doreen Dickenson and Liam Billington, saw red when an hammer and Sickle flag was run up the same Labour club flagpole. The Communist Party flag had been put there, by friends and family,  following the funeral of Rodney (Rod) McCord, a communist and local health campaigner who had died in March 2018.

Their complaint went viral and caused a furore on social media.  The two low-life Tories, shamelessly tried to make political capital out of Mr McCord's death and the flag incident, by linking it to the poisonings of Yulia and Sergei Skripal, allegedly by the Russian state.  It was also alleged that the manager of Stalybridge Labour Club had received death threats and that one of Mr McCord's sons Danny, had been contacted by someone working in the office of Jeremy Corbyn, demanding that the flag be taken down immediately.

In January 2019, a row erupted when the landlord of the Sportsman pub in Hyde, was told by a Greater Manchester Licensing Officer working for Tameside Council, to take down a flag with an iconic image of the famous revolutionary, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.  The landlord, Geoff Oliver, and his Cuban-born wife Maria, had run the pub and restaurant El Cuba Libre for the last five years.  The flag had been on display on-and-off at the pub for the past five years and wasn't removed from public view.  It has been rumoured that a certain Tameside Tory may have been behind this complaint involving the landlord of the Sportsman pub.

We are not aware that there has been any objections to the rainbow flag. Nowadays, LGBT issues and identity politics have supplanted class politics and have become something required by etiquette and current fashion. There is an obvious and inherent danger with all of this.  The massive attention paid to issues such as Brexit and identity politics, has utterly distracted attention away from the real issues and problems of the world such as, economic inequality, social class, poverty, injustice, capitalist greed and wars, and has divided much of the British left. It has also alienated many people from becoming involved with left-wing politics because of its now farcical nature.

Curiously, the landlord of the Sportsman pub who refused to withdraw the Cuban flag from public view, had his license amended by Tameside's licensing panel when it came up for review. From being allowed to keep serving until 2:00 am in the morning, this was restricted to the witching hour of midnight.  However, we understand from sources, that Stalybridge Labour Club - now privately owned - and which suffers from a lack of customers, has had its licensing hours increased and can now serve until 3:00 in the morning. 

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Tameside Council accused of political censorship over 'Che' poster!

Geoff Oliver and wife Maria who run El Cuba Libre

AS we recently reported, a furious row over civil liberties in Tameside, has erupted after a Greater Manchester GMP licensing officer, last Friday, visited the Sportsman Pub in Hyde, demanding that the pub landlord, Geoff Oliver, remove from his pub window a Cuban flag with the image of the Cuban revolutionary, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara emblazoned across it.  The pub provides Cuban food in its restaurant known as 'El Cuba libre', which is run by the landlord and his wife Maria, known as Cangui, who is from Cuba.

Although the landlord says that the flag has been on display at the pub on and off for five years, he says that the GMP licensing officer told him to remove it and warned that there could be serious consequences if he refused to do so, warning him that it could be recorded as a crime.

Mr Oliver told the Morning Star newspaper that he was woken up last Friday morning, by the local police licensing officer, who told him that complaints had been received about him displaying a photograph of a 'terrorist' in his pub front window.  He says that he was told that he could display the flag inside the pub but not from the front window and that if he didn't remove it, the officer would submit a crime report that could lead to a formal criminal investigation.

Guevara, is an iconic figure and a role model for  many revolutionaries on the left and was part of the 26th July Movement that launched a rebellion to overthrow the former Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista, that led to the Cuban revolution in 1959 and a Communist government led by the former president of Cuba, Fidel Castro.

Geoff, 65, from Glossop, has described the incident as attempted 'political censorship' and has refused to take down the poster. He told a local newspaper:

'I just find it unbelievable.  Every day people including many of our customers, walk round with Che Guevara's image on their T-shirts and other memorabilia. In Cuba, he's a national hero and one of the founding fathers...'

Dai Morgan, a regular in the pub, said:  'This is a disgraceful attack on free speech and no laughing matter. Who is this shocking ignoramus. Che stands with Mandela as one of the great fighters for freedom in the 20th century.'

A source told the Manchester Evening News (MEN), that the licensing officer had merely paid a visit to the pub on behalf of Tameside Council to make the landlord aware of the complaint and to 'ask if he would consider taking it down.'   According to the MEN, both Greater Manchester Police and Tameside Council declined to comment.

This type of incident is not unusual in the UK, in spite of the fact that Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, guarantees the right of freedom of expression. In 2010, David Hoffman, a photojournalist, from Bow in East London, was threatened with arrest if he did not remove from his front window a poster that said 'David Cameron is a Wanker!'   In 2012, he received an apology and compensation from the police after they admitted it had been unlawful to insist that he remove the poster from his window and that this and other illegal actions by the police on the day, had amounted to 'unlawful interference with his Article 10 right to freedom of expression.'   Mr Hoffman, later displayed the letter of apology from the police in his front window, along with another poster that read -  'David Cameron is still a Wanker!'

Hyde pub landlord refuses to take down picture of 'Che Guevara'!

POLICE in Greater Manchester have told a pub to take down its picture of Che Guevara, a landlord has alleged.

Geoff Oliver, who owns The Sportsman in Hyde, claimed at the weekend that he may face a criminal investigation for displaying a photo of the revolutionary in his pub window.

Mr Oliver told the Star that he was woken up on Friday morning by the local police licensing officer, who told him that complaints had been received about him displaying a photograph of a 'terrorist'.

The officer assured Mr Oliver that he could display the picture of Che inside the establishment, but warned that if he did not take it down from the window, he would be obliged to submit a report of the crime. This would then lead to a formal criminal investigation.

Mr Oliver, who also runs the Cuba Libre restaurant in the pub, told the Star that he would not be taking down the image of Che.

He also said that he felt there was a 'degree of intimidation' behind the request, and speculated as to whether it was related to the pub’s imminent licensing review.

Dai Morgan, a regular at The Sportsman and the Cuba Libre, said: 'This is a disgraceful attack on free speech and no laughing matter.

'Who is this shocking ignoramus? Che stands with Mandela as one of the great fighters for freedom of the 20th century.'

Source: Morning Star, Sunday, 23rd December 2018

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Editor: In 2010, the police forcibly entered the home of David Hoffman, a photojournalist, who was handcuffed and restrained. They entered his home, in Bow, East London, to force him to take down a poster in his window saying "David Cameron is a Wanker.". They were acting they said, following a complaint from a neighbour and enforcing the 'Public Order Act'. In 2012, he was awarded compensations]by the police (four figures) and an apology. Click on link:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/may/11/david-cameron-poster-police