LANCASHIRE RE-UNITED?

For a New Lancashire County-Region

WHILE our Yorkshire neighbours are building up momentum for a ‘One Yorkshire’ region, Lancashire is lagging behind. This paper argues for a re-united Lancashire, with its own democratically-elected assembly, based in part on its historic boundaries but looking to the future for a dynamic and inclusive county-region that could be at the forefront of a green industrial revolution. As well as a new county-region body to replace the mish-mash of unelected regional bodies and mayors with little accountability, a re-united Lancashire also needs strong local government working co-operatively with the communities it serves and a vibrant economy that is locally based.

Back in 1895, Bolton writer Allen Clarke said: “I would like to see Lancashire a cluster of towns and villages, each fixed solid on its own agricultural and industrial base, doing its own spinning and weaving; with its theatre, gymnasium, schools, libraries, baths and all things necessary for body and soul. Supposing the energy, time and talent that have been given to manufacture and manufacturing inventions had been given to agriculture and agricultural inventions, would not there have been as wonderful results in food production as there have been in cotton goods production?”

(Allen Clarke, 1895, slightly adapted)

THAT was Allen Clarke, the Lancashire journalist, philosopher and novelist writing in 1895. Utopian? Perhaps (we need our utopian visions!) but there’s an element of realism there too. He recognised that capitalism had unleashed enormously powerful productive forces, but not necessarily with the best results. What Clarke was saying over a century ago is being said by many green activists and thinkers today and was what Gandhi preached in his own time. Humanity has the resources and skills to create a better world, for everyone; the consequences of not trying are worsening climate change and all that follows from it.

Clarke looked forward to a Lancashire that was a greener, more self-sufficient place – within a co-operative rather than a capitalist system. Now, as we struggle to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, is the time to think differently about the world we live in. This paper is about what Lancashire could look like in the next twenty years – by which I mean the ‘historic’ Lancashire, including Greater Manchester and much of Merseyside. But this is not about looking backward – it’s about creating a progressive and inclusive vision for a re-united Lancashire ‘county-region’ within a prosperous North and a Federal Britain. A Lancashire Co-operative Commonwealth.

The STATE of the COUNTY

THE Lancashire of Allen Clarke’s day has changed in so many ways. In the towns, gone are the mills and mill chimneys with their attendant pollution and poor working conditions inside the factory walls. But we have also lost some of the civic pride and buoyancy of the great Lancashire boroughs including Clarke’s beloved Bolton. ‘Lancashire’ itself has been split and divided in what was a travesty of democracy. No wonder there is a very worrying degree of despondency and cynicism within these towns that ‘nothing can be done’ and we are powerless. It becomes easy to blame scapegoats, be they immigrants, asylum seekers, politicians or whoever.

Lancashire has yet to find a new role that can build on its past achievements, without just being a dull collection of retail parks, charity shops and sprawling suburbia, nor indeed a heritage theme park. We have many successful businesses and a thriving academic sector with great universities, some world-class, in many towns and cities; there is the potential for that to spin-off into new industries and services that are world-leaders.

Manchester has emerged as a dynamic regional centre, though many of the once-thriving towns surrounding it are in a parlous state. This has got to change and consigning towns like Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale and Bury to the role of commuter suburbs is not acceptable. Instead of the centralised ‘city-region’ we need a more decentralised and collaborative ‘county-region’.

There is a disconnect between urban and rural, with tourist ‘honeypots’ around Lancashire and areas like the Ribble Valley and Trough of Bowland besieged by traffic from towns and cities and homes for local people made unaffordable by urban dwellers buying up second homes – a process accelerated by Covid-19.

The County that was Stolen

ALLEN CLARKE’s Lancashire has been shrunk by an undemocratic diktat in the 1970s. Nobody asked the people of Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, Wigan and other towns if they wanted to be part of ‘Greater Manchester’. We have an elected mayor but without the democratic oversight of an elected council – which at least the original Greater Manchester Council had, before it was abolished by Mrs Thatcher in 1986. Something else we weren’t asked about. Now, in 2020, some politicians are talking about further municipal vandalism with the destruction of the remaining ‘Lancashire’ county council and three ‘super’ councils replacing it and the existing districts. Talk about making a bad job even worse. In Cumbria, there is talk of creating one single unitary authority; this would mean the death of ‘local’ government.

Allen Clarke was a strong believer in municipal reform and backed The Municipal Reform League, formed in Lancashire in the early 1900s. There’s a need for something like that but on a bigger scale, addressing the huge democratic deficit in the English regions, particularly the North, as well as the loss of power by local government. We need a ‘Campaign for Northern Democracy’ that can involve Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria and the North-East as friendly allies and partners.

Samuel Compston of Rossendale, a radical Liberal of the old school, spoke of the virtue of ‘county clanship, in no narrow sense’. He was on to something and his words were carefully chosen. Regional or county pride does not pre-suppose antipathy to other regions and nations, and it needs to include everyone within the region. But it requires a democratic voice, not just one person elected every few years as ‘mayor’, nor a collection of local authority leaders whose prime loyalty is to their own council ward.

Yorkshire has been quicker off the mark and the Campaign for a Yorkshire Parliament has won wide cross-party support; the Yorkshire Party has made several local gains. The Yorkshire-based ‘Same Skies Collective’ has developed some fresh new ways of thinking about regionalism.

Here, there’s a ‘Friends of Real Lancashire’ but the issue needs a higher profile and cross-party support. A reformed Lancashire that includes Greater Manchester and Merseyside makes sense as an economic unit but also chimes with people’s identities – in a way that artificial ‘city regions’ never will.

‘Greater Manchester’ has reduced the once proudly-independent county boroughs to the status of satellites - commuter suburbs of Manchester (or ‘Manctopia’ as it was described in an excellent TV programme recently). Nearly 50 years on from the creation of ‘Greater Manchester’ our ‘city region’ still has precious little legitimacy and if there was a referendum tomorrow on being part of Lancashire or ‘Greater Manchester’ I have little doubt about the result.

A Democratic New Lancashire

REGIONAL democracy must be the next big jump for our political system with regional assemblies, elected proportionately, taking real powers out of Westminster and Whitehall, backed up by strong well-resourced local government which has the right scale (not too big!).

In England, we haven’t grasped the distinction between the national, regional and local, with cack-handed attempts to combine the regional and local (witness current attempts to create a unitary authority for all of Cumbria and three huge ‘local’ authorities covering all Lancashire). The latter are neither sufficiently ‘strategic’ to be effective regional bodies, and anything but ‘local’. Cumbria itself is big enough to be a county-region but still needs effective local government beneath it.

We need to get power out of the centre – Westminster/Whitehall – and give country-regions such as Lancashire real powers (see below) complemented by local government which really is ‘local’ and relates to historic, ‘felt’ identities which make economic and political sense.

Parameters and Powers

A RE-CONSTITUTED Lancashire county-region should include much of what once constituted Lancashire with the additions of parts of historic Cheshire to the south (Stockport, Tameside and Trafford in Greater Manchester). The historic ‘Lancashire north of the Sands’ really makes more sense within a Cumbria county-region that works closely with its Lancashire sister. This provides a county-region of significant size able to wield economic clout without being too large (which a region of ‘The North’ would be, both in population and geographical scale). Crucially, it would reflect people’s identities.

A major failure of the attempts to create regional assemblies during the Blair Government was their obvious lack of powers, prompting the successful attempts by the advocates of the centralised status quo to label them as expensive ‘white elephants’. While on one hand it makes sense for a new county-region to evolve gradually in terms of the powers and responsibilities it has, it must be able to demonstrate a clear reason to exist from the start. That means taking over responsibility for many of the areas which Wales and Scotland already have. It should include tax-raising powers.

The county-region should be empowered to support economic development across its area, investing in emerging industries, research and marketing. The ‘Lancashire Enterprises’ of the 1980s, stimulated and overseen by Lancashire County Council, would be a good model to start with. Part of its role should be to encourage new social enterprises and encourage greater employee and community involvement in large enterprises.

For transport, a ‘Transport for Lancashire’ should be created to take over the powers of existing transport authorities, as well as the ineffective Transport for the North. There should be close collaboration between sister bodies in Yorkshire, Cumbria, the North-east, and the Midlands, with formation of joint bodies to develop inter-regional links.

Another regular canard against regional government is that it creates ‘more politicians’ - ’Jobs for the boys’, another effective line of attack against the idea of a North-East Assembly in 2004.

It depends how you look at that. Regional devolution must include reducing the number of MPs at Westminster, as their functions transfer to the county-region. The same goes for the civil servants. Some powers that are currently devolved, but with little democratic scrutiny (transport health, etc.) would simply come under the democratically-elected county-region, with members elected by a proportional voting system.

Localising Local Government

ONE of the most disastrous decisions of local government reform in the 70s was the destruction of small, usually highly efficient, local councils. Medium-sized towns, such as Darwen, Heywood, Farnworth, Radcliffe and others often ran their own services, built good quality housing and underpinned a very strong sense of civic pride. They were ruthlessly destroyed in the spurious cause that ‘big is better’ and the knee-jerk approach of far too many bureaucrats to centralise as much as possible. Can anyone honestly say that these medium-sized towns have benefitted from the changes imposed on them in the 70s?

Within a Lancashire ‘county-region’ local government should be based on smaller but empowered and well-resourced units that reflect people’s identities – the Darwens, Athertons, Radcliffes as well as larger towns such as Oldham, Burnley, Blackburn and Blackpool.

These smaller but more powerful local councils should co-operate with their neighbouring communities on issues of mutual concern within a Lancashire county-region – a ‘co-operative commonwealth’ as argued below.

Having vibrant town as well as city centres must be a major element of the county-region. This means having a vision for town centres which offer something that the mega-stores don’t offer: a sense of conviviality and sociability. The arts have a key role to play – small galleries, larger public facilities including theatres and annual festivals (Bolton’s Film Festival is a good example) can help revive town centres and give them a new role.

Some Lancashire towns have been successful in developing niche manufacturing which offer highly skilled, well-paid jobs – but there’s a need for much more, working in partnership with the higher education sector. The ‘Preston Model’ should be rolled out to other similar-sized towns and cities to encourage much more local procurement and business support. It all needs sensitive encouragement which should come from re-structured and empowered local councils working within a collaborative framework provided by the county-region’s Lancashire Enterprises, as part of ‘The Lancashire Co-operative Commonwealth’.

A new Lancashire industrial revolution

ALLEN Clarke’s prophecy in Effects of the Factory System in (1895) that the cotton industry was doomed has finally come to be. Most of the Bolton mills that you could once see from the moors above Bolton, described so vividly in his Moorlands and Memories (1920), have been demolished. A few have survived but many are in poor condition, with only the prospect of demolition ahead of them unless something is done. The University of Bolton has had the sense to re-use some old mill buildings as part of its campus.

Yet most of the surviving Lancashire mills, perhaps with the exception of Manchester’s Ancoats, don’t have the wonderful mix of creative industries, office space and living accommodation that has been achieved with some of the mills in Yorkshire. At Saltaire, Salt’s Mill is perhaps the finest example, though rivalled by the Dean Clough Mills in Halifax. More should be done to protect our Lancashire mills and find good uses for them. Why should Yorkshire have all the fun?

Allen Clarke would have loved the idea of putting the mill buildings to better use - as places to live, but also as office and art space, recreational centres and performance areas. How about mill roof gardens? There’d be no shortage of space, with room to grow fruit and veg. Time for the ‘Incredible Edible Mill’!

We also need to build new, inspirational buildings that can take their place alongside the fine architecture bequeathed us by past generations. We need a vision, at least as radical as that of the Bolton landscape architect T.H. Mawson, of what our towns and cities should look like in the next 20 years, not what developers think is ‘good enough’ for us and makes the quickest return for them. We need some new Lord Leverhulmes, women and men of vision, able to work collaboratively and creatively.

Lancashire needs to be at the forefront, once again, of an industrial revolution – but this time a green revolution which benefits the many and not the few...

Sharing the same Skies: the countryside for everyone

ALONGSIDE a vibrant urban society, economy and culture, we need to make the best of our countryside, the ‘green lungs’ that make Lancashire so special. At its best, it can compete with the Lakes and the Peak District in terms of scenic beauty and is relatively well served with vibrant shops and smaller towns. It’s a huge asset in attracting talent into the region as a place to live and work.

Yet public transport access to the countryside is nothing like as good as it ought to be. Some of the most attractive areas have little or no bus services, or they don’t operate on Sundays – just when people need them. Places like Rivington, Pendle and Holcombe – let alone the Ribble Valley and Pendle - can be heaving with cars and motor bikes at weekends. At the same time, many stations that gave walkers access to the countryside, have closed.

Never mind HS2, let’s rebuild a world-class local transport network. For a fraction of the cost of that high-speed white elephant, we could have a network of modern, zero-emission trams and buses serving town and country, feeding in to a core rail network. If we look at the examples of Germany, Switzerland and Austria their popular rural areas typically have either frequent train services or rural trams connecting from the larger urban centres.

One of the few bright spots during the coronavirus outbreak has been the remarkable growth in cycling. Clarke and his friends Johnston and Wild would be delighted. Quiet roads, good weather and time on your hands was the ideal combination. Cycle shops have enjoyed a boon. I hope this renewed interest in cycling will survive, particularly if the Government puts its money where its mouth is and provides funding to expand cycle facilities in both town and country.

People will still use their car to get out into the countryside and that needs to be managed and provided for. Car parks can be ugly, but so can cars parked alongside verges. The more alternatives there are available, the less likely we are to assume that the only way to enjoy the countryside is by that form of transport which does most to disfigure it.

Why not copy the example of some of the national parks in the United States, which prohibit car access to the most sensitive areas? If you get there by car, leave it in a ‘parking lot’ and either walk, get on a local bus or hire a bike. It could work in some of our national parks including the Lakes and popular visitor locations such as Rivington and the Pendle Forest. The exciting plans for a ‘South Pennines’ regional park could include sensitive measures to restrict visitors’ car access and promote use of public transport, cycling and walking.

Allen Clarke want to see a new ‘agricultural revolution’ in Lancashire, and that’s still relevant. Much of Lancashire has a highly productive agricultural sector and we need to guard against precious agricultural land being lost to development. We need to do much more to feed our own people and not be dependent on imported foods. The ‘incredible edible’ model, of small-scale food production within towns was invented here in Lancashire and needs to be rolled out in every town and village.

Beyond a boundary: a Red Rose Co-operative Commonwealth?

THE future of England should be about county-regions co-operating with empowered, but geographically smaller, local councils. There should be strong encouragement to co-operate on issues when it makes sense, and to share resources and specialist staff. That co-operation should extend further, across the North. Why not a ‘Northern Federation’ of regions – Lancashire, Yorkshire, the North-East and Cumbria, collaborating on issues of joint concern, such as strategic transport links and academic co-operation? As the late Jo Cox (a committed regionalist) said, “we have far more in common than what divides us.”

Good, democratic governance must be about addressing inequality, jobs, the environment, health, education and having a thriving and diverse cultural sector. Allen Clarke’s vision in 1895, of locally-based and socially-owned units of production make sense in a modern digital age, co-operating as equals with partners across the globe.

His idea of a ‘co-operative commonwealth’ could certainly work at a Lancashire level; after all, it’s where co-operation began. Allen Clarke, with and his radical friends Solomon Partington, the co-operator and feminist Sarah Reddish and Samuel Compston looking over his shoulder, would have said “what are you waiting for?”

And we can’t wait. The coronavirus pandemic has focused people’s minds on the dysfunctional way we have lived our lives. An even bigger threat is climate change which requires re-thinking every aspect of how we live, travel, work and play.

Now is the time to create Allen Clarke’s vision of a ‘Lancashire Co-operative Commonwealth’ that can, in the words of Clarke’s heroine, Rose Hilton – get agate with the job of “washing the smoky dust off the petals of the red rose” and create a county-region that is fit for the 21st century. A Lancashire re-united.

Lancashire Day, November 27th 2020

See facebook group #LancashireUnited and www.lancashireloominary.co.uk

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Ombudsman slams Tameside Council's 'top-up'!

 Criticism of council for ‘forcing’ resident to pay unlawful care home top-up

By Rachel Carter on October 3, 2014 in Adults, Residential care

A care home resident was forced to pay an unlawful top-up fee after Tameside Council made changes to the fees it paid her home, a Local Government Ombudsman investigation has found.

THE investigation, whose findings have been strongly disputed by the council, was launched after a man complained that his mother had had to pay additional costs for her care after the authority cut the fee it paid her home.
The woman, Mrs Y, who had dementia, moved into the care home in October 2010, in a placement arranged by the council. Under the contract, the authority was responsible for meeting the weekly fees of £470.70 a week, incorporating a £381.70 basic fee, £30 for an en-suite bathroom, £9 for a larger room and a £50 quality premium for the home. Mrs Y made an assessed contribution of £113.20.
In 2012, Tameside reviewed the rates it paid for residential and nursing care placements and decided to introduce a new quality framework for homes to address an oversupply of beds in the borough. Under the framework, care homes providing a high quality of care received an enhanced payment from the council.
Mrs Y’s care home was not admitted onto the quality framework, meaning it could charge council-funded residents what it chose. However, the council also reduced the fees it paid for her care to £382, from March 2013. The council told Mrs Y’s son, Mr X, that, as the home had maintained the same fee of £470.70 he would have to make up the £88.70 shortfall as a top-up payment – but as he did not have these funds he began paying the top-up from his mother’s savings from March 2013 and informed the council of this fact.
Though Mr X believed it was not in his mother’s best interests to move from the home, he asked the council to assess the risk of moving her to another home. However, the council said it would only reassess her needs if it had been decided that she should move, and Mr X appeared unwilling to consider this.
Failure to follow law
The ombudsman, Jane Martin, found that the council had failed to act in accordance with the law and government guidance on choice of residential accommodation arranged under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948.
The guidance states that a resident may only top-up their council’s fee if they have a deferred payments agreement or are subject to the 12-week property disregard, otherwise any top-up must be made by a third party. Neither condition applied to Mrs Y, but the top-up came out of her resources.
Also, Martin pointed to the fact that a top-up requires the agreement of all parties, but said it had been “effectively forced” on the family, as Mr X felt there was no option but to make the top-up because of the risks of moving his mother to another home.
The ombudsman also said the council was at fault for not reassessing Mrs Y’s finances after changing her care fees, to check willingness and ability to meet the new costs.
The report also said the council failed to adhere to the terms of the contract governing Mrs Y’s care, which contained a “legitimate and reasonable expectation” that the council would meet the contractual fees agreed on admission unless there was a change in her needs.
Mrs Y died in March of this year.
‘Significant injustice’
The ombudsman said that Mrs Y and Mr X had suffered a “significant injustice” because of the council’s actions, and recommended that it:

• reimburse Mrs Y’s estate for the full amount of the third-party top-ups that have been made;
• provide Mr X with a full written apology;
• pay Mr X £250 to recognise his time and trouble in pursuing the complaint.
  

The ombudsman’s report also suggested that a further 160 residents may have been affected by the council’s changes to care commissioning, as they were resident in homes that were not admitted on to the council’s quality framework.
But Tameside council strongly disputed the findings and “categorically denied” that it failed to act in accordance with the law. A spokesperson for the council said that the report was fundamentally flawed and raised questions about whether the ombudsman herself had “unlawfully exceeded” her powers.
The spokesperson said: “The council reviewed its commissioning arrangements to ensure that only those homes that offered the highest standard of care get paid a quality premium rate. This was not about cost cutting.
“Tameside council continues to pay one of the highest care and nursing fees across the North West of England to support the most vulnerable in our community.  The purpose of this change, made in 2012, was to raise and maintain the quality of care in Tameside care homes whilst ensuring they remained financially sustainable.”

Claims rejected by council

The council also rejected the ombudsman’s claim that 160 other residents may have been affected. “This is inaccurate as the information provided by the council makes clear that the number at its highest is no more than 10, who we are in the process of writing to directly,” said the spokesperson.
“As the majority are in the same home, it is important this is kept in proportion, and that the poorer quality homes do not, as a result of this finding, believe they have been given the green light to charge what they like.”
Speaking in response to the case, Janet Morrison, chief executive of charity Independent Age, which campaigns strongly against the wrongful use of top-ups, said: “Too many families now find themselves paying top-up payments, sometimes amounting to be hundreds of pounds a week, for essential care. The root cause of this problem is a residential care system that is chronically under-funded.
“Families are increasingly having to subsidise local councils to meet the costs of care it is really the responsibility of councils to meet, so we need the government to protect people from paying unfair ‘top-ups’ as part of the shake-up of the rules from April 2015.”

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Recycling centres & tips in Manchester to close

The centres will remain closed ‘until further notice’ - 

Recycle for Greater Manchester announced

It means that places like recycling centres will not remain open.
An announcement was made on the Recycle for Greater Manchester website.
It read: “Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement on March 23, all Recycling Centres are closed until further notice. Please stay at home.”

Residents are urged to check their local council’s website for up to date information about how the announcement would impact collections from homes.

Manchester

According to the Manchester City Council website, food and garden recycling bins will be collected every two weeks instead of every week. All other collections remain unaffected.

Bolton

A post on the Bolton Council website says: “At this stage priority will be given to the collection of grey bins, food waste containers and green bins. Recycling bins will be emptied where possible so please continue to present all bins on the appropriate collection day. If your bins are not emptied please take them back onto your property until your next scheduled collection day, as we will not be able to return for any that have not been emptied.”

Bury

The Bury Council website says they are ‘unable to carry out as many collections as usual’.
It says: “Brown bin collections are cancelled this week (23-27 March) and next (30 March to 3 April) while we prioritise emptying grey, green and blue bins instead.”

Oldham

The Oldham Council website asks residents not to place any garden waste out for collection. They are urged to use green bins and caddies for food waste only.
The website adds: “Place all bins out for collection as normal. Should we not collect your bin on its scheduled collection day please take it back onto your property and put it out again on your next collection day.”

Rochdale

People in Rochdale are being urged to put out their bins as normal. “If we’re not able to collect your bin on its scheduled collection day please take it back onto your property and put it out again on your next collection day”, the website says.

Stockport

People in Stockport should put their bins out as normal.

Tameside

For information, visit https://public.tameside.gov.uk/forms/bin-dates.asp

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MCT BUSES GOES BUST! TAMESIDE BUS SERVICES AT RISK!

Manchester Community Transport

BREAKING NEWS:

Less than a year after FirstGroup’s Tamexit in September 2019, the departure ofanother company will see more upheaval for Tameside’s bus users.

On their website, MCT Travel, also known as Manchester Community Transport, announced that it is proposing to cease operations in late April. The company, rescued from closure in 2017 by joining the HCT Group, have cited “mounting losses” and “difficult trading conditions” as a factor in their withdrawal.

Manchester Community Transport’s existence predates FirstGroup and Arriva. They started out as Wythenshawe Mobile in 1980, after receiving Urban Aid funding. The company adopted its present name, Manchester Community Transport in 2005.

The Community Interest Company runs a sizeable number of TfGM tendered services in Tameside and Oldham. In all, 38 routes with a fleet of 67 vehicles. Many of which serve areas that would otherwise be bus deserts. The company expanded after the purchase of Maytree Travel’s routes, going beyond their South Manchester roots.

READ MORE

Source Stuart Valentine: East of the M60

Councillor Cooney cops-out of climate change

by changing the subject!

Councillor Ged Cooney

IN a sickly outburst at a Council meeting last Tuesday, Tameside Cllr. Ged Cooney, who represents Droylsden West and is vice-chair of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, chose to use the fact that an ugly building on Manchester Road, Droylsden, that is being now used as a venue for the Pension Fund, had been dedicated in 2015 to a guardsman who died in a landmine blast in Afghanistan in 2007, to dodge his own responsibility for the fund's long-term investments in dirty carbon fuels.

When the new headquarters in Droyslden of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund was dedicated in 2015, Councillor Kieran Quinn said:  'By honouring Tony in this way as a member of our armed forces I believe we are honouring all our fallen heroes.'

What is disgusting is why the bosses of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund should now be using a fallen hero to excuse their own climate abuse and to distract attention from their unsavoury dirty investments.  At the same Council meeting Cllr. Cooney, Cabinet member for housing, planning and employment, had to defend Tameside Council's outsourcing partnership with the now disgraced outfit Carillion PLC.    

At last week's meeting, Tory Cllr. Liam Billington put an awkward question of Cllr. Cooney about Tameside Labour Council's historic partnership with Carillion with the previous council leader, Cllr. Quinn bragging about his close relationship with the dedicated blacklister almost to the point of the company's final collapse.  

In reply Cllr. Cooney blustered-on about it being difficult of finding an outsourcing company which hadn't been implicated in blacklisting, and he mentioned Laing O'Rourke, which in May 2016, together with Carillion were among eight companies that apologised for blacklisting building workers.  Labour Cllr. Quinn knew about this at the time, because I as Secretary of Tameside TUC wrote to him about it in August 2011.   Of course I didn't get a reply then or later, because Quinn and the then Labour council were happy to continue doing business despite the squalid existence of the unsavoury blacklist.

The real issue now is will Cllr. Cooney, his councillor leader Brenda Warrington, and his other Labour colleagues now turnover a new leaf?

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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.

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Library users give big Thumbs Down to OPEN+

Historic Ashton Central Library - Closed February 2019

NORTHERN VOICES has learned that the findings of a survey, 'Open Libraries Plus, Evolution And Review', which  closed on 5th February 2018, was not made public by Tameside Council despite the council having a policy of 'Engagement' - "the continuous conversation with and involvement of stakeholders and residents" and its 'Big Conversation'.

The survey which was undertaken over a four week period from 9 January 2018  to 5 February 2018, by Tameside Libraries into 'Open +' - their unstaffed, do-it-yourself library system - was intended to assess how the system was working and public attitudes towards it. The new library system was rolled out across eight libraries in 2018.  Although Tameside Libraries have stated:

"The purpose of collecting the information was to assist officers in understanding people's views of using Open+, it was not necessary to put this in the public realm", it is clear from reading the survey, and the comments made by those  who participated in it,  that the vast majority of people have expressed dissatisfaction with unstaffed libraries in Tameside, and are highly critical of it.  Despite what the library service say, they seem to have just buried bad news.

Some 145 people responded to the survey, but when asked how many questionnaires had been distributed, Tameside Libraries were unable to answer the question. When asked which library people used most often, Stalybridge was the most used library in Tameside, followed by Hyde, Dukinfield, Droylsden, Denton and central library in Ashton-under-Lyne. 

When asked during which hours do you normally use the library, only 19 people (13.38%), out of 142 responses, said they used the library during Open+ hours.  57 said they used it during staffed hours and 66 during both staffed and Open+ hours. 

Tameside Libraries were keen to stress that the responses to the survey did not represent the total users of Open+ only the ones that completed the survey, adding:  "66 survey responders also indicated that they used the library in both staffed and Open+ mode."

A question about how helpful the induction by library staff to Open+ was, elicited 79 responses with 66 skipping the question. 42 (53.16%) thought it very helpful and 10 (12.66%), unhelpful.  When asked why they found the induction helpful and how it could be made better, only 9 answered and 136 skipped the question.  Some of the comments left by respondents, were as follows:

"As always staff at Stalybridge brilliant."  "I feel that older generation was not informed.  They were told it was 'online and Facebook', but not many people that age access Facebook.  The older people have followed us into the library, they have been very confused.  I have spent more time explaining Open+ than doing my job teaching."  "Don't want unstaffed libraries."  "Libraries without people are merely shells."

When asked which library service people mainly used during Open+ hours, 71 answered and 74 skipped the question. 60 (84.51%), said they borrowed, returned or renewed items, paid charges and used self-service machines during Open + hours. 31 (43.66%), said they picked up or borrowed or reserved items and 14 (19.72%), said they used Open+ hours to use public computers and the scanner. Only 8 (11.27%), said they used Open+ hours to access Wifi. One respondent left the following comment:

"I cannot access Wifi. The computers have gone down on numerous occasions which has had a huge impact on my student who has (SE MS) needs."

The question "How easy have you found it to access the library during Open+ hours?" was answered by 73 and skipped by 72. 33 (45.21%) said very easy and 11 (15.07%) said it was difficult with ten (13.70%), saying very difficult. 29 (40.28%) said they had found the extended Open+ hours very useful and 13 (18.06%), not useful at all. 

When asked to say why they had found using Open+ useful, 47 answered the question and 98 skipped answering it. 21 (44.68%) said the library was quieter in Open+ hours. 34 (72.34%), thought there was more opportunity to use the library due to longer opening hours, and 20 (42.55%) thought the new times worked better around their lives. One respondent said:

"We have had numerous problems being locked out, being tailgated, being followed, being verbally abused. No internet. The only good thing about it are the staff, They are lovely and helpful." 

Another respondent said: "I do not like Open+, I much prefer to deal with human beings. When library users were asked (Question 9), "Are there any other comments you would like to make about Open+ or any suggestions for improvement, 53 answered and 92 skipped answering. Of the 53 responses the vast majority of responses (50), were negative. There are comments about personal safety: 

"We do not feel safe!",  "There has been no thought for personal safety, it's a crazy idea."  "I don't use the library much at all now.  Don't feel safe.  Thanks for excluding us from libraries now.  Not happy!" "Stalybridge library is only open till 7.00 because of gates, not good for me.  The library is ghostly when it is empty of customers. You should have at least one person here.  I feel vulnerable..." "I don't want to go into an empty building with no life.  Not to mention the safety aspect too."  "I was tailgated despite challenging person." "Takes some getting used to, to be alone in a public space in the evening.  I do not linger like I would during staffed hours..."  "I am very concerned about personal safety when using the library when it is unstaffed."   "As a female I feel uncomfortable attending the library during unmanned hours."

Although Tameside libraries have said that they don't consider female library users to be at risk during Open+ hours they have also said that they consider children under 16 to be at risk, even with live CCTV monitoring.  Therefore, they have to be accompanied by an adult during Open+ hours. Tameside libraries also say: "Men are more likely to use an unsupervised library building than females" (Report to Executive Cabinet 14/12/2016) but they don't say why they feel this is the case. However, there is recognition that some people may feel unsafe during Open+ hours. Tameside's active library users are predominately female (59.8%), and it is likely that many of the above comments about fears for safety, reflect the views of female library users.

Though several respondents expressed positive views about Open+ "The new hours work brilliant for me. I visited last week during Open+ hours and found the library empty and quiet..." others wanted to see more staff in libraries and felt that libraries should be an opportunity for human contact and interaction, "It is far better to deal with humans (librarians) rather than machines", said one respondent. Some respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the technology that was sometimes faulty. 

The survey findings which are consistent with other previous surveys, show that library users are predominately from a white background with (90.9%) identifying as such. They are also largely female - 16,193 active library users. Overall, there are 27,079 active library users. Tameside's  population is predominately white. The largest BME group  in Tameside are Asian/Asian British (8.94%). As of 30/11/2018, 3,074 female library users had registered for Open+ and 1,784 male library users. Tameside Libraries also pointed out that 79 library users had declined to indicate whether they were male or female. 

The former leader of Tameside Council, Kieran Quinn, when launching the 'Big Conversation', said: "It's not about withdrawing services, its about redesigning services." The council closed fived libraries in 2012, following a comprehensive review. Staff were cut and hours were reduced at the remaining eight libraries. There were originally 22 libraries in Tameside ( a reduction of 64%) and most of these were closed well before the CONDEM government in 2010, introduced austerity measures. Not only have hours and staff been cut, but also publications. In 1983, Ashton reference library had 130 magazine publications and this was down to about 30 in 2016. I recently visited Ashton reference library and asked to see a copy of the reference book 'Who's Who'. I was told it was in the cellar and that the library hadn't updated it since 2015. This is what Tameside Council call libraries fit for the 21st century. What we're witnessing with Open+ is the dissolution of the Libraries in Tameside by a Labour council that doesn't read books and is as thick as a book end.

************

CARILLION: Tale of Two Towns

ROCHDALE & TAMESIDE COUNCILS

LAST January, when it collapsed CARILLION had an ongoing contract with Rochdale council to provide around £17m in facilities management in a contract which required them to build a further 12 new schools.

At that time in a statement, Rochdale Council said: “We have been in discussions with key organisations since late in 2017, following the profits warning issued by Carillion. We have been preparing for such a possibility through the development of contingency plans.
"We are working closely with relevant schools to make sure disruption is avoided and we welcome the reassurance offered by the government today that public services will be protected.
"We recognise that this is a difficult and unsettling time for organisations working with the company and in particular for the employees of Carillion and offer our thanks for their continued commitment.”

Tameside schools

At the same time Tameside MBC which under its Labour controlled council had long been up the backside of the now disgraced company, Carillion, was involved in building five secondary schools - Isca, St Peters, St Lukes, St James and West Exe and all were completed by 2006.

But up to stage Carillion had also provided services including cleaning, catering, building and grounds maintenance for the PFI scheme.

A spokesman from Tameside council said:  
“At present we are in the business continuity phase and it is reassuring to be able to report that services provided by Carillion staff are operating as normal – all buildings are open for staff and the public, all school catering is in place and all ancillary services such as cleaning are operating.

“Tameside council and its partners in the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) are drawing up plans to ensure this remains the case going forward.

**********

Interserve & the 'living will'

by Brian Bamford

LAST February, the journalist for Forbes magazine Francis Coppola wrote: 

'Interserve is experiencing severe cash flow problems, mainly due to its waste management business on which it has been taking heavy losses for some time.  In 2016, it decided to exit from this business, and it is now taking on no more work in this sector.  But it is still running down a bunch of contracts on which cash outflows are significantly exceeding inflows.  Seeing these contracts through to completion is raising Interserve’s short-term borrowing requirement, forcing it to seek additional funding from banks.'

  

At that time there were suggestions that INTERSERVE may be another Carillion, which had collapsed in January.  Two days ago it was reported that Interserve has agreed to provide the government with a back-up plan or will to avoid a Carillion style carnage in event of it going under.

On Monday, David Lidington, minister for the Cabinet Office, announced that key government suppliers are being asked to draw up so-called 'living wills' to ensure public services continue without severe interruption after company failure.

It is worth noting that Interserve has offices in Tameside and in Rochdale on Livsey Street, where it manages healthcare appointments. 

Lasr week 'Building magazine' reported:  'Worries that Interserve could be facing more losses on another botched energy-from-waste scheme have sent its stock plummeting 30% since Friday.'

Construction Inquirer is now reporting that faced with the current problems a recent plan from Interserve is expected to include a debt for equity swap or rights issue, although the latter would be a challenge after recent share price falls.

Watch this space!

********

Collapse of Carillion keenly felt in Tameside

by Brian Bamford
NORTHERN VOICES has covered story of the Carillion collapse extensively, and based on reports in the Financial Times and Construction News, had been warning of the dangers for the best part of a year before the collapse happened.  

The trade union body, Tameside Trade Union Council, had been asking for explanations of Tameside Metropolitan Council's close involvement and partnership with the backlisting  company Carillion since August 2011.  Reply came there none!

For years before the crisis the Labour leader of Tameside MBC, Kieran Quinn, continually ignored all the concerns expressed from Tameside Trade's Council and Northern Voices.  Indeed shortly before his sudden death he called for more collaboration.

*********

THE disastrous collapse of construction giant Carillion in January hit the headlines and sent shock waves throughout the country.

Building work ground to a halt across the country.

Sites were mothballed and the future of £1bn-worth of projects was placed in jeopardy.
Nowhere in Greater Manchester has the impact of the firm's demise been more keenly felt than in Tameside .

From CCTV upgrades and making public spaces safe from terror, to improved playgrounds and a proposed children’s home, a string of vital local services could all end up becoming collateral damage in the wake of Carillion’s downfall.

All face being sacrificed to foot the scandal’s unexpected bill.

The extra millions it has already cost to get projects back on track are set to have wide-reaching ramifications for the 220,000 people who live and work in the borough.

 https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/collapse-carillion-devastated-tameside-scandal-15263055

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.

********

Continuing Nepotism on Tameside Council

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%.

*****

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.

********

Mancunian One-Party States?

  "Supermajority Problem Councils"

TODAY, the Liberal Democrats at their Autumn Conference in Brighton passed a motion attempting to deal with what they call 'supermajority problem councils', such as Manchester's virtual one-party state.

The motion called for Single Transferable Vote at all local elections and for all council meetings to be streamed live on the internet - a recent source of great controversy in Manchester when leader Richard Leese twice banned opposition questions about a councillor under police investigation and the live streaming was mysteriously pulled off air.

The LibDem 'Power for People and Communities' motion gave councillors the right to hold service providers to account, strengthen transparency and planning rules and abolish Police and Crime Commissioners.

In 2014, Manchester Council became a total one-party state with every one of the 96 councillors being Labour, and with many branding it 'unhealthy'.  Liberal Democrats have since made a comeback with former Manchester Withington MP John Leech leading the opposition.

 The LibDems say that this policy proposal will strengthen scrutiny on councils like Manchester, disabling them from becoming a one-party state and ensuring council meetings are always publicly viewable. 

Liberal Democrat Communities Spokesperson Greg Stanton said:

'Manchester is a textbook case of what happens when a party gets a super majority elected under an outdated electoral system; opposition questions are banned, live-streams mysteriously stop working, contractors are not held to account, decisions made behind closed doors and everyone passes the buck.
'I'm delighted this motion has passed and will lay the foundation to tackling supermajority problem councils like Manchester.'

This decision specifically referred to Manchester City but it could also be applied to other councils in the Greater Manchester area such as Rochdale and Tameside.. 

*******

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 TUC joins THE ORWELL SOCIETY

North West trade unionists merge with poet of common decency
by Brian Bamford

THIS year, Tameside Trade Union Council [TUC] in Greater Manchester became the first corporate affiliate of the ORWELL SOCIETY.  This SOCIETY is dedicated to the understanding and appreciation of George Orwell's life and work as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.

The Society is a registered charity in the UK and it aims to keep the study of Orwell alive through its educational activities.  The Orwell Society is without political affiliation,and was founded in 2011, and though it is based in the UK its membership is worldwide.  George Orwell (the pen-name for Eric Blair; 1903-1950), was the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The Society's intention is to embrace a grasp of Orwell's life and writings, from his literary criticism to his diaries, and from his political writings to his poetry. . 

Last Friday, the President of Tameside, Derek Pattison, announcing this said:  'In an Age of Post Truth, Fake News, and Alternative Facts, we need George Orwell's guidance more than ever.'  

When I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Orwell Society on the 28th, April this year, I spoke to Richard Blair, the son of George Orwell, and to Quintin Kopp, the son of George Kopp Orwell's commander as captain in the general staff of the 45th Mixed Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army.  Both were anxious to get more participation in the Society from trade unionists such as ourselves.

Since Tameside TUC  first published our booklet commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War in 2006, and followed this up with the unveiling of a blue plaque for James Keogh in 2011 who died fighting with the republicans in the Spanish Civil War, this trade union council has had a special interest in both George Orwell and his experiences of the Spanish Civil War.

Malcolm Muggeridge in his essay 'A Knight of the Woeful Countenance' wrote about this:
'I FIRST became aware of the existence of George Orwell in the middle thirties when I read some articles of his on the Spanish Civil War which appeared in the New English Weekly, a publication founded by A.R. Orage to expound the principles of Social Credit.  They provided the basis for Homage to Catalonia, one of his best books.  These articles made a great impression on me.  I liked their clear, simple style, and the obvious honesty of purpose which informed them,  They touched a chord of personal sympathy, too.  I saw in Orwell's strong reaction to the villainies of Communist apparat in Spain a compatible experience to my own disgust some years previously with the Soviet regime and its fawning admirers among the intelligentsia of the West as a result of a stint as Moscow correspondent of the Manchester Guardian....'

When we at Tameside TUC began to produce and publish a balanced account of the Spanish Civil War  in 2006, we were confronted with resistance from some elements within the more narrow-minded political left of the trade union movement in Greater Manchester.   These people deliberately tried to stiffle our efforts and those of other local trade unionists to bring about publication.  Both Orwell and Muggeridge had had difficultes getting their articles published by the so-called progressive publishers like Kingsley Martin at the New Statesman and C.P. Scott at the Manchester Guardian, and perhaps even more absurd, was the Victor Gollancz rejection of Animal Farm.

Muggeridge relates how when Orwell and he were lunching together in a Greek restaurant in Percy Street, Orwell asked if he would mind changing places?  When Muggeridge asked him why?  Orwell just said 'he just couldn't bear to look at Kingsley Martin's corrupt face, which, as Kingsley was lunching at an adjoining table, was unavoidable from where he had been sitting before.'

I feel much the same when I am forced to gaze into the faces of Ronald Marsden and his friend Mike Luft of the International Brigade Memorial Trust:  two people who did their utmost to undermine the production of the Tameside TUC memorial booklet about the Spanish Civil War.

******

Blacklist Support Group progress report:

Roy Benthan reports:

'Cheers for the heads up there Brian.  It [the Tameside MBC's broken model] looks like a carbon copy of our predicament here on Merseyside and i will be using your broken model when the time arises' 👍

Blacklist Support Group update - 6th March 2018. 

1. Model Blacklisting working group resolution which can be presented to all Constituency Labour Parties (CPL) passed at Liverpool Wavertree Constitutuency Labour Party last month. 

Model resolution (please amend as required):

This Constituency Labour Party notes Liverpool City Council’s ill-fated relationship with two of the most prolific Consulting Association blacklisters - namely Carillion and Laing O’Rourke, which has been brought into even sharper focus by the recent collapse of Carillion.

The CLP shares the Blacklist Support Group’s dismay that these rogue contractors have been securing public contracts within our city, thereby rendering the Cabinet's motion, passed in 2013, meaningless. It also contravenes the ethos of the document referred to as the 'Workers Charter'

The CLP therefore resolves to remind the Council that blacklisting was and still is an unacceptable practice, which cannot be condoned. We therefore urge that those companies who were members of the clandestine organisation, the Consulting Association, and any others found to be engaging in blacklisting, be removed forthwith from the approved list for future construction work procured by the Council.

Since these discredited contractors have continued to be awarded work in the city, this CLP calls for a working group to be set up, comprising two elected members of the Blacklist Support Group and the appropriate cabinet council members, to monitor this process of disengagement.

Roy Bentham, blacklisted carpenter from Liverpool and BSG joint secretary noted:

It’s a groundbreaking motion which sailed through a vote our CLP and it recognised the need for change within planning and the procurement processes. Carillion was a Grenfell moment within the construction industry and we can act as a vanguard against unethical companies with this resolution. 

The old model was broken and we need to face upto that.. Its now up to us fix it with the firm implementation of the workers charter. There can be no other way". 

http://www.left-horizons.co.uk/index.php?section=10&page=216

2. Spycops - Serious concern over ongoing delaying tactics at inquiry into undercover political policing 

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2018/02/14/which-justice-campaigns-spied-on/

3. Was my friend an undercover police officer? 

Shocking revelations here too

http://undercoverresearch.net/1260-2/

4. Mark Constantine introduced our session at the Lush Summit 2018 by saying, “Spycops is THE most important campaign in the UK today”

5. BSG out in force with banners and showing support for the Keep NHS public day on Saturday 3rd March and RMT train drivers strike too 

6. Big feature article on John McDonnell in the FT on Friday 1st March. Both joint secretary’s Dave Smith and Roy Bentham contributed to the article of one of our founder members. 

McDonnell lists his hobby in Who’s Who as “fermenting the downfall of capitalism”. 

"Our objectives are socialist. That means an irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people,” he explains. 

Dave Smith, head of the Blacklist Support Group, says he would often encounter McDonnell at a picket at 6.30am:  “When no one else was prepared to talk to us he was there . . . representing working people fighting for justice.”

Royston Bentham, a blacklisted construction worker from Liverpool, says McDonnell sometimes visits Anfield:  “People come over all the time and shake his hand and chant his name in the pub . . . he has been through the bad times in the Labour Party and is now on the cusp of something big.”

https://amp.ft.com/content/d9c2b1be-1c10-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6?__twitter_impression=true

7. BSG member Jack Fawbert scribes another brilliant piece on his Blacklisting experiences here 

http://www.left-horizons.co.uk/index.php?section=10&page=204

8. Mears dispute has been won by the brothers and sisters emphatically up in Manchester. 

We send our solidarity upto the Nw on a magnificent victory 

http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/mears-settles-manchester-dispute

9. And finally we stand shoulder to shoulder with our UCU comrades striking for pay and pensions in education and the Crossrail electricians in dispute with Balfour Beatty. They have our full support in their struggles.. 

http://shopstewards.net/2018/02/4802/

In solidarity 

Roy Bentham