Death of Federico Arcos

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The death of Federico Arcos

18 July 1920 – 26 May 2015

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I am writing to people who will gather at the Cass Café in Detroit, Michigan on Sunday, 19 July 2015 to commemorate and honor Federico Arcos.

I remember Federico as a friend, a compañero, a philosopher, a fellow anarchist, a fellow poet, a social activist in the here and now, and a multi-dimensional autodidact.

Federico grew up in the old CNT districts of Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s.  He was a member of Los Quijotes del Ideal in the Barrio de Gracia in revolutionary Barcelona in 1937.

However, unlike many of the Iberian anarchists who survived the Spanish Civil War and the total fascist oppression which followed it, Federico did not spend ALL of his time grieving for loss and grieving for the horror of the Spanish tragedy.  He understood that the struggle for freedom is a permanent struggle.  It is a struggle in the here and now.  Thus he did not hesitate to involve himself with the New Left anarchists of the generation of the 1960s and 1970s, my own generation.

Forced out of Spain, Federico worked much of his life in a Ford factory in Windsor, Ontario.  He was a loyal and respected rank-and-file union comrade, participating in the historic 110-day Canadian Auto Workers strike in Windsor in 1955.  He was also a behind-the-scenes theoretician and supporter of the anarchosyndicalist-involved MEI strike in Duluth, Minnesota, and its twin-strike, a point-of-production sympathy strike, in Mezzomerico and Novara, Italy, during 1999-2000.  Federico was a true compañero.  He never failed to give us aid.  He never failed to answer our questions.  He never failed to calm and balance our jitters.  He never failed to give us thoughtful advice.  Federico understood the true meaning of the word SOLIDARITY.

Federico loved poetry.  He was a true anarchist autodidact.  He could quote large amounts of poetry by heart.  Indeed, he believed in the power of the word, just as he believed in the power of freedom.  As a poet myself, I was especially thrilled by his meditations on the human condition.  I was also thrilled by Federico's own life, a life of meaningful dedication.

In freedom,

Séamas Cain,

for SYNDICALIST ACTION,

Duluth, Minnesota

Controversial review by Sam King

NOBODY has written about the Spanish Civil War quite like Paul Preston. He is the 'go to' historian in both English and Spanish.  Preston’s ‘The Spanish Civil War’ is already the definitive book for any antifascist who wants to understand the tragedy that was the fall of Spanish Republic. Throughout his substantial cannon of work he has eloquently portrayed the sacrifices that men and women from across the world made to fight Franco’s brutal fascist regime and the shadowy and sinister support he received from Hitler and Mussolini, that was criminally ignored by the rest of Europe.





‘The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain’ is Preston’s tour de force and possibly even surpasses his unparalleled biography of Franco to become his most important contribution to our understanding of 20th century Spain. As ever, Preston has sought to re tell the events, massacres and heroism through the eyes and memories of the lives of those who suffered most. The tragic tales of men and women who took up arms against a military machine that wanted to crush all vestiges of democracy, humanity and secularism.





The primary premise of this 700 page work is that Franco’s belief in a Jewish-Masonic-Bolshevik conspiracy resulted in a conscious and systematic attempt to eradicate all Republicans. Preston places the figure of murdered Republicans as high as 200,000 which certainly justifies his use of the term Holocaust. Franco’s fanaticism even allowed the Nazis to test drop their bombs on the Spanish people. To its shame, the outside world refused to come to their aid.





Over the many years that Preston has written on Spain, he was always drawn the conclusion that those that followed the ‘Popular Front’, an undertaking to defeat fascism before undertaking a revolution was the correct line.  Perhaps because of this Anarchists will enjoy this book the least as Preston makes it clear that the Anarchist CNT were as anti the Republic as the fascists, viewing it as a bourgeoisie government.  Their continual attempts to destabilise the Republic played right into the hands of the right wing.





A large section of the book is given over to Preston’s meticulous research, testament that he has laboured harder and more thoroughly than others that may draw their own or different conclusions. It is often said that in wars, the victors get to write the history. It is the case that of the Spanish Civil War, the victors’ have nothing palatable worth remembering, celebrating or commemorating.  Preston has often said that he has spent his life fighting Franco.  Those who continue to try and apologise for Franco now have their work really cut out as The Spanish Holocaust unquestionably delivers a blow to Franco’s reputation that it will be hard to overcome.

Garrick Club maintains ban on women members!

The recent vote by members of the Garrick Club not to admit women to membership, has led to some members threatening to resign over the issue. The motion in favour of women, which was proposed by the former Labour maverick MP Bob Marshall-Andrews, was supported by actors such as Stephen Fry, Damian Lewis and Hugh Bonneville. 

Some of those who voted against women members, claimed that it would have been awkward to admit them because women's toilets would have had to be built. One member even claimed that women were unsuitable because they were not good at remembering jokes. Another member said that he had been undecided about how to vote, adding: "I'm a huge supporter of all things anti-racist, non-gender, anti-ageist, but why shouldn't we have one or two places where chaps can get together." And why not! one might ask?

It may surprise some people to know that in spite of all the laws concerning equality in Britain, clubs that only admit men, are not illegal. And there seems to be a perfectly good reason for this. The 2010 'Equality Act' ruled out making these clubs illegal for the simple reason, that to do so, it would have been necessary to have made such things as women only swimming clubs and ladies fitness clubs, also illegal. 

Why the decision to refuse to admit women as members of the Garrick Club should have been so controversial, is fascinating in itself, simply because, it is known that women only clubs are becoming increasing popular and nobody seems to be objecting to this. In London, there is 'GRACE' a women's only club in Belgravia, 'The University Women's Club' in Audley Square and the 'Trouble Club' in Soho.

Objections have been raised by women within the legal profession towards a club that welcomes so many male QCs and judges, yet bars women. Baroness Hale, Britain’s most senior female judge, the first and only woman among 12 supreme court judges (several of whom are Garrick club members), has expressed outrage at the club’s continued exclusion of women. 

“I regard it as quite shocking that so many of my colleagues belong to the Garrick, but they don’t see what all the fuss is about,” she told a law diversity forum. She said judges “should be committed to the principle of equality for all”.

Those of us who are old enough, will well remember those halcyon days of gentleman's tap rooms and vaults which were strictly off limits to women. In those days, it was thought that ladies might well be offended by obscene language so they were put in the snug or best room. Nowadays, it is unlikely that many women, or to be exact, heavily tattooed 'ladettes', will be put off by expletives, simply because they can swear like troopers. 

For many, women's liberation has become an excuse to ape the worst excesses of their male counterparts - the 'LAGER LOUT'. It is now de rigueur to engage in heavy boozing sessions, urinate in the street, curse and swear and engage in fisticuffs. Standards in English life have deteriorated so much in recent years that hussies of this  type, are now a common sight on the streets of England on  a Friday and Saturday evening.

Only recently, I had cause to rebuke a sharp-tongued women or more accurately, an old crone, for interrupting me while I was in conversation with a friend while having a pint. Although she was told politely, not to interrupt, while I was talking, she railed at me, vituperating and snarling, screaming passionately:  "You f...... ignorant c...", as the loose flesh on her neck, shook like a cocks' wattles. This incident occurred, not in some louche drinking den, but in, of all places, a Conservative club in the north of England. 

It was the Roman playwright, Terence, who told us: "We all grow worse if we are given too much license." Fortunately, women of this type are unlikely to become members of the Garrick Club owing to the English caste system, or to mingle with the likes of Baroness Hale or Stephen Fry, in spite of the principle of equality for all. Never the less, one does feel some sympathy with Garrick Club members who have made a stand against barmy political correctness. Who for God's sake, would want to be assailed with impertinences from an irate female judge or to be subjected to some kind of female inquisition, while you drink your mulled claret.

UN Independent Commission of Inquiry (Gaza)!

 WE are publishing below a recent bulletin from 'No-Deportations' concerning GAZA:

'Today (08/07/2015) marks a year since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, a conflict that lasted 51 days, claimed 2,251 lives, including the lives of 551 children, displaced more than half a million people, and destroyed 77 health facilities and 261 schools. Each day, an average of 680 tank and artillery shells pummelled the densely populated areas of Gaza, leaving barely anywhere safe. Although the report recognises that Israel issued warnings to people to evacuate, there was often nowhere for them to evacuate to and no means of escaping the conflict zone.

'Gaza is a tiny strip of land, covering just 139 square miles. If we bear in mind that west Yorkshire alone covers 780 square miles, it gives us some perspective of just how small Gaza is, yet 1.8 million Palestinians live in what is increasingly becoming a densely populated open-air prison, and they have nowhere to go. In 2012 the World Bank published a report, "Gaza 2020", which claimed that Gaza would become uninhabitable by 2020 as a result of the blockade, an increase in population size, and insufficient access to clean drinking water, electricity, and health and education services. After last year's devastation, Gaza has reached 2020 five years ahead of schedule.

'Currently, 860,000 Palestinians in Gaza survive on UNRWA food parcels. In addition to the destruction of health facilities, schools and homes, there has been massive disruption of water supplies, sewage disposal and electricity supplies, and they have not yet been repaired. One year on, not one of the 8,377 homes that were totally destroyed in the conflict has been rebuilt, and repairs have been carried out on only 5% of the 23,597 homes that were partially destroyed.

'Much of the aid pledged at last year's Cairo conference for reconstruction in Gaza has not yet materialised, and I hope that the Minister can update us about the UK's contribution. The UN requested $720 million, but it has received only about $210 million. UNRWA faces a severe funding crisis, as it has a deficit of $100 million, which of course is having a serious impact on its ability to deliver essential humanitarian aid.'

Read more: House of Commons: 8 July 2015 : Column 117WH"

David Cameron link to blacklist arrest - trial starts this Thursday‏!

 We are publishing below a recent briefing from the Blacklist Support Group:

"For over 6 years campaigners have called for the jail sentences for those directors of multinational companies responsible for the construction industry blacklist conspiracy. To date, not a single senior manager has even been interviewed by the police or disciplined by their employer. But when the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) dared to protest about safety concerns on Crossrail and the ongoing blacklisting of union activists on the publicly funded project, Dave Smith (BSG secretary) was arrested. 

 His trial starts on Thursday 23rd July

City of London Magistrates Court 

1 Queen Victoria Street

(Next to Bank tube station)  

Smith is charged with unlawful obstruction of the highway, when along with 40 other protesters, he stopped traffic on Park Lane outside a Construction News Awards ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel in March this year. 

 Police notebooks disclosed as evidence to Guney, Clark & Ryan (GCR) solicitors indicate a link between David Cameron and the arrest. 

 Smith is a leading campaigners against the blacklisting of union members in the building industry and as co-author of the recently published book,'Blacklisted: the secret war between big business and union activists' has exposed the role of undercover police spying on trade unions http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/ 

 Smith has repeatedly claimed that both he and the BSG continue to be spied on by undercover police because of their campaigning activities. The BSG is one of the groups that has made submissions to the Pitchford public inquiry into undercover policing recently set up by Teresa May - see link: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-f734-Justice-at-last-for-spied-on-workers,-or-another-cover-up#.Va4NfflVikp

 The Metropolitan Police have refused to supply Smith with a copy of his police file claiming 'national security' and 'ongoing investigations' as the reasons. FOI requests in relation to police spying on the BSG receive the response that the Met can 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' whether surveillance is ongoing. Yet, Police Notebooks disclosed as evidence for Thursday's trial state that the Met Police had intelligence about the demonstrators before the protest took place. Several police notebooks also refer to receiving instructions at a briefing delivered by superior officers about David Cameron in relation to the protest. Full details will be disclosed during witness evidence at the trial. 

 Dave Smith commented:

"It seems that its one law for big business and another law for the rest of us. Multinationals and the secret police can conspire against trade unions and destroy evidence that would be used in court cases, and nothing happens. But if we dare to protest about the human rights scandal, we get arrested. At a time when the Tories are attacking trade unions and increasing state surveillance, this trial is about defending the democratic right to protest". 

 Witnesses have claimed that although 40 protesters blocked the road, that Smith was particularly targeted by the police and arrested within seconds of the demonstration moving into Park Lane. On the night of Smith's arrest, John McDonnell MP repeatedly tweeted "Police refuse to tell me where they're holding Dave Smith. Suspicious that he was the only one arrested at blacklist demo". 

John McDonnell MP is set to be a witness in the trial. 

 Smith is being represented by the barrister JC Townsend and the solicitor Liam Dunne from GCR, both are more used to appearing in human rights cases at the High Court rather than obstruction charges in a Magistrates Court.

 Liam Dunne, from Guney, Clark & Ryan solicitors commented, 

"We intend on vigorously defending, Mr. Smith’s attempts to draw attention to the nefarious practices of the various constructions firms who have egregiously mistreated thousands of construction workers. These workers risk their lives to complete the infrastructure projects upon which society and the economy depend.  Construction Workers are the engine of economic development and the “wealth creators” of our society. They should have their rights to a safe working environment and security of employment, safeguarded. This arrest was heavy handed and an unnecessary restriction on Mr. Smith’s right to protest under Article 11 of the Human Rights Act 1998".

 The court will also be shown video footage and time stamped photographs of the arrest taken by the grassroots media collective Reel News info@reelnews.co.uk

http://youtu.be/eLuP7iYDAfg

http://youtu.be/72i1oSHOh48

For press quotes:

Dave Smith blacklistsg@gmail.com 

Liam Dunne ldunne@guneyclarkryan.com

Notes:

Attached photo shows Dave Smith handcuffed inside the police van - Hi-Res versions available from Guy Smallman (NUJ) guy.smallman@btopenworld.com

Press photo opportunity outside the Court at 9am Thursday - there is also a large public gallery.

There is currently a High Court group litigation on the blacklisting scandal with around 700 blacklisted workers against 40 of the largest firms in the UK construction industry. The full trial is set for May 2016 and will last 10 weeks. "

Early Day Motion calls on Pitchford Inquiry to investigate police collusion in blacklisting of trade unionists!

1. 'Blacklisted' has been given a full book review in the Guardian by the investigative journalist Rob Evans. Please circulate on social media & to your contacts as a way of supporting the campaign.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2015/jul/09/blacklisted-the-secret-war-between-big-business-and-union-activists-a-book-review?CMP=share_btn_tw

2. Tolpuddle Week 

Tuesday 14th July 

10am Blacklisting High Court trial continues

Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand

6pm TUCG Tolpuddle Seminar

Jubilee Room, Houses of Parliament 

Speakers include John McDonnell MP, Mark Serwotka (PCS), Michelle Stanistreet (NUJ),Steve  Gillan (POA), Christine Blower (NUT), Natalie Bennet (Green), Dave Smith (BSG)

Sat 18th July (10:30am)

Tolpuddle Festival blacklisting session with Phil Chamberlain 

3. Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing - possible announcement this week

Have you contacted your MP to ask them to support the Early Day Motion #263 ? 

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/263

Death of Bill Hunter. Obituary by Martin Ralph.

"This is a message to the many comrades and friends who knew Bill Hunter. 

The heart of a great fighter stopped on 9 July 2015, he was 95 years old. He had a fall early in the morning and was taken to hospital. They diagnosed a brain haemorrhage which had caused him to go into a coma from which he never recovered.

He had recently moved into care accommodation, leaving the flat he had lived in since coming back from Argentina in the early 1990s.

 

Our feelings go to his family Ritchie and Sue and David and his extended family of grand and great-grand daughters and sons.

We will send further comments over the weekend but Margaret and I wanted to send this message to as many comrades and friends that we can.  Please pass this message on to anyone who knew Bill that we might have missed.

We salute the long life of a great Marxist and Trotskyist, who joined the movement before Trotsky was killed on Stalin's order.

When Bill was 90 years old he very much wanted to mark the occasion in celebration of his life as a Trotskyist. Even as his memory faded, his deep conviction for the struggle, his humour, his spirit and his faith in the working class never wavered.

Bill was a great writer, speaker, propagandist and agitator and our memories of the many battles that he waged, that we know about, come flooding back at this moment.

We know our embrace and salute of this comrade only has meaning if we continue the fight he gave  his entire life to, that is the struggle for working class power and international socialism. And of course he will continue to live inside our struggles and us."

Long live the struggle for socialism

Long live the International Workers league

Margaret and Martin 

Will Labour Suspend Mr Danczuk?

by Les May

If the story in the 'Mail on Sunday' about Simon Danczuk's 2008 holiday in Spain with now estranged wife Karen proves anything it is that since his arrival in Rochdale he has created at lot of enemies and some of them have finally caught up with him.


To many people in Rochdale these stories are not new.  They have been circulating as e-mails and as accounts on the World Wide Web for some years.  What is new is that the witnesses to both the fallout from whatever happened between the couple and the attempted 'cover up' by the Labour Party, have been prepared to go on record and make statements to the MoS about what they saw, heard and did.


My experience of putting questions to Mr Danczuk is that he shrugs them off and refuses to answer, and I have not doubt he will do the same with the MoS story. But there are two organisations which cannot afford to ignore it. The first is the Labour Party which will lose all credibility if it tries to treat this story as just another, 'Daily Mail hatchet job on Labour'.


If there is one thing everyone knows about acting leader Harriet Harman, (she of the pink van), it is that she is forever trumpeting Labour's support for 'women's issues'. Well here is her chance to prove it. At the very least Harriet Harman has to suspend Mr Danczuk temporarily until a new investigation into what happened between the couple in Spain and subsequently, which takes into account both the statements made by Karen Danczuk's family to the MoS and the copies of texts sent by Karen to her family. If she feels reluctant to act upon what is after all as yet only an allegation, albeit a well supported one, she need look no further than Mr Danczuk's own record. 


A Huffington Post article of June 22nd this year said 'Labour MP Simon Danczuk has accused his party of failing to act “quickly and efficiently” after he urged Ed Miliband to remove Lord Janner last year after police revealed historic sex abuse allegations'.  As Leicestershire police were unable to confirm that they were investigating Janner with a view to bringing charges this did not happen. But it did not stop Mr Danczuk milking it for publicity.


Ms Harman also has to investigate, and make public, the actions of Anna Hutchinson, the North-West regional director of the Labour Party who contacted Martin Burke, Karen's father, after he made a complaint to the chairman of Rochdale constituency Labour party about the incident in Spain. If Mr Burke's claims are true, and I have no reason to doubt them, then Ms Hutchinson 'blackmailed' Mr Burke into dropping his complaint by threatening that his son Steven would be prosecuted for an offence falling under the Data Protection Act. This looks very much like an attempt at a 'cover up'.


Given that Mr Danczuk has made his name by claiming that the activities of Cyril Smith and others were 'covered up' by people in high places, there is a certain irony that the same sort of accusations are now being levelled at the Labour party. The second organisation is the Greater Manchester Police service.  The MoS article quotes Karen Danczuk's mother Sue as saying, ‘On the phone, she told me he’d attacked her.  Yet the day after she got home, she was going on about how it was lies.' As with Karen's father Martin I can see no reason to doubt these claims and this rapid change of story surely casts some doubt upon Mrs Danczuk's credibility as a witness.


Either Mr Danczuk did 'attack' her and she changed her story after she got home or she massively exaggerated to her family the nature of the 'argument' the couple had had.  Whatever happened it is difficult to explain why a woman with small children found herself at an airport that was closed for the night with little or no money and no tickets to get home.  In February Mrs Danczuk claimed she had been abused in the family home by an 'older family friend'.  By early March the claim had become that it was her older brother Michael who had 'raped her hundreds of times'.  Michael was subsequently arrested and has been bailed twice.  Two women who Michael had known in the past came forward to press further claims against him.  Whether they were prompted to do so by a third party is unknown. At some time in the not too distant future someone at GMP has the unenviable task of deciding whether charges will be brought against Michael against a background of doubt about whether Mrs Danczuk has proved to be an entirely reliable witness with regard to what really happened in Spain in 2008.


In the past I have been critical of what I call the 'Posh Women's Tendency' in the Labour party.  But on this occasion I hope they will show their mettle and press Harriet to suspend Mr Danczuk from the party. After all she showed no such inhibitions in calling for the BBC to sack Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson because she objected to a word he had used.


Les May http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3157459/Disturbing-questions-Simon-Danczuk-crusades-against-abuse
html http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/06/22/simon-danczuk-urged-ed-miliband-to-axe-janner_n_7639938.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/harriet-harman-calls-on-bbc-to-sack-jeremy-clarkson-9319032.html

Karen Danczuk Shown Door in Marriage Mess

AS things start to come out about the strange theatrical marriage of Mr. & Mrs. Danczuk, it is today reported in the Daily Mail that Simon Danczuk MP for Rochdale, has dismissed his wife, Karen, from her £20,000 a year job as secretary in his office. Over the weekend more stories in the dramatic life of the Danczuks emerged, with the historic evidence of what happened during a visit to Alicante before he was elected in 2010. Northern Voices has known for some time of the allegations of a violent rompus between the Simon Danczuk and the then Karen Burke in Alicante. Yesterday, The Mail on Sunday revealed disturbing new details of that event – and of contemporary statements about it drawn up for a secretive Labour Party inquiry. According to the The Mail on Sunday it is now alleged that although he was apparently provoked, Mr Danczuk not only abandoned but physically assaulted his partner while on holiday in Alicante. Mr Danczuk has always denied the row became violent, and that he assaulted Karen. Afterwards, while admitting that there had been a row they patched things up, and she now also denies the claims of an assault. She told Rochdale Online that she was distressed by the accusation, describing it as ‘very offensive’. And Mr Danczuk slammed the allegations as ‘vicious mischief making’, adding that they were ‘totally untrue and absolute nonsense’. Mr Danczuk declined to comment on the claims when contacted by MailOnline. He has not spoken of his separation since damning accusations that his wife tried to set him up in a honeytrap plot with a Liverpudlian lapdancer emerged yesterday. Steve Bennett, who lives near the couple's family home in Rochdale, told The Sunday Mirror that Karen wanted the 'stunning' woman to seduce her husband in a bar near his Westminster flat to give her an excuse to get out of their 'loveless' marriage.

'LEFT' with Egg on its Face!

LAST night, at a demo outside Boots on Market Street, Manchester a speaker from Manchester TUC claimed that he thought that  George Osbourne might have cut his intended attacks on the British working class in his budget, because of the mass demo last month by the Peoples Assembly in London.  Last night's Manchester demo was planned as part of a nationwide protest against the Tory government's budget.


In a statement put out earlier the People's Assembly declared:

'Across Europe people are rejecting austerity, and the best thing that we can do here in Britain is make sure the Tory government faces the largest opposition possible.  George Osbourne is planning a further £12bn in cuts to our services.  Join us this Wednesday to protest against the emergency budget and say OXI TO OSBOURNE!'

Meanwhile, cunning George Osbourne installed what he called 'a living wage' of at least £7.20 an hour for over 25s from next April.   Mr. Osbourne said:

'We want to go from a low-wage, high-tax, high-welfare economy, to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.'

This morning, the Morning Star called this a 'LIVING WAGE RUSE EXPOSED', and argued in a leading article that 'Osbourne's promises woefully short of minimum to live'.

Yet, is it not a bit of a poor do for trade unionism when the government of the day, a Tory government indeed, has to call on the bosses to pay more?

Does this not suggest that the British trade unions are failing in their job to increase wages?

The whole notion of a state imposed 'minimum wage' or 'living wage' is clearly a symptom of the failure of the unions in this country to drive up wages themselves.

This was not the case when in the 1960s and 1970s there was a solid shop steward movement in the country, and when the rank and file membership had more control of the situation.  Then there was no need for a state imposed minimum wage, and such a thing was only to be found in countries which at that time had smaller trade union movements like France.  Today, the British trade union movement is a feeble shadow of its former self.

Call for Pitchford Enquiry to look at police spies

MPs have called for the Pitchford inquiry into the failures of undercover policing to cover spying on trade unions. Teresa May is set to announce the full Terms of Reference for the Pitchford Inquiry next week. The full text of Early Day Motion #263 submitted by John McDonnell MP is below:

'That this House remains deeply concerned about the extent and conduct of undercover police surveillance and the use of covert human intelligence sources; deeply regrets the distress caused to women by undercover officers forming intimate relationships and even fathering children with them; is concerned that police surveillance extended to covert monitoring of anti-racist and family justice campaigns, together with other civil society and political groups; is shocked by the revelations of Peter Francis, former member of the Metropolitan Police Force's Special Demonstration Squad, in relation to the unit's covert state surveillance of trade unions and their members, including Unison, the Fire Brigades Union, the Communication Workers Union, the National Union of Teachers and the construction workers union UCATT; commends the ongoing campaign of the National Union of Journalists over the surveillance of union members; welcomes the inquiry to be conducted by Lord Justice Pitchford into covert police surveillance; and calls on the terms of reference of the inquiry to include an investigation into the practice of covert surveillance of lawful trade union activities.'

Link to EDM 263 http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/263

John McDonnell MP has been at the forefront of exposing the role of undercover police spying on and colluding with the blacklisting of trade unions. He commented:

'Thousands of innocent trade unionists and their families have suffered at the hands of blacklisting companies. They deserve a thorough and open inquiry to bring out the truth of how they were victimised and harmed by blacklisting.'

The Blacklist Support Group (BSG) has led the campaign to expose the role of the police spying colluding with blacklisting union members and has made a formal submission to the Home Office with suggested Terms of Reference for the Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing, calling for the judge led inquiry to investigate police surveillance of trade union members. The Pitchford Inquiry was set up by Teresa May before the General Election following the revelations that undercover police units spied on the Stephen Lawrence family and had long term sexual relationships with women activists they were spying on. BSG are being legally represented by the prominent human rights solicitor Imran Khan, who has supported the blacklisted construction workers since presenting an IPCC complaint about the police collusion in blacklisting back in 2012. Imran Khan is also representing Doreen Lawrence in the Pitchford Inquiry. 

Dave Smith, BSG secretary and co-author of the book 'Blacklisted' that exposes the blacklisting conspiracy commented:

'There are secret political police units in the UK that spy on anyone they consider to be a "domestic extremist". In reality, that means trade unions, environmental activists, anti-racist campaigns and even the families of murder victims who dare to criticise the police, all of which are perfectly legal within a democratic society. The Pitchford inquiry must investigate why the police have been spying on trade unions and why they have been exchanging information with multinational companies. Any pressure put on by politicians and trade unions is extremely welcome. BSG applaud the EDM and call on all MPs concerned about human rights to sign it.' 

Imran Khan commented:

'It is extremely sad to note that it often takes many years, grave injustices and tenacious individuals to uncover discreditable conduct in society. Those involved in the BSG have been bearing the brunt of severe injustices for a long time. Their hardship in doing so has not diminished their tenacity in seeking to throw light on this most murky of worlds. The Public Inquiry to be chaired by Lord Justice Pitchford will give the BSG the opportunity to not only uncover what happened to them but also ensure that the general public finally hears what went on and that the conduct complained of never happens again.'

Proposed Terms of Reference for the Public Inquiry into Undercover policing from the Blacklist Support Group:

 

To inquire into and make recommendations as to the role, conduct and governance of the police service and her majesty’s Government in the establishment and deployment of undercover and covert operations, with specific regard to the Special Demonstration Squad, National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit and any other similar units in the police and in particular, to consider: 

• The surveillance of trade union activists and trade union supported campaigns;
• The provision of information by the police, whether directly or indirectly, of information contained on databases they have access to, to businesses about prospective employees;
• The collusion, specifically with the Economic League and the Consulting Association and any other similar organisations, in the blacklisting of trade union members;
• The outsourcing of state surveillance operations to private contractors;
• The level and degree of political oversight into the above operations;
• The extent to which the police were assisted in the above operations by the security services;
• The circumstances of, and the reasons for, the loss, destruction and /or unavailability of documentation with regard to the matters above.

The Inquiry will also consider how to fulfill the objectives set out in these Terms of Reference by considering, in particular, the:

• Extent and degree of protection from prosecution, under the Official Secrets Act or any other relevant legislation, of any witnesses giving information / evidence including whistleblowers;
• Extent and degree to which the police's stated position of 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' affects a transparent and thorough investigation into the matters set out above.' 

Steve Hedley, Assistant General Secretary RMT, who was blacklisted by the Consulting Association and targeted by undercover Special Demonstration Squad officer Mark Jenner commented:

'The police and big business has spied on me and other union activists for decades, for nothing more than standing up for rights of our fellow workers. The undercover cop Mark Jenner targeted me for a number of years in the late 1990s and even stayed at my mum's house! The sooner this anti-democratic scandal at the heart of the British state is exposed the better.' 

Greeks Vote 'No'!

LAST weekend, the International New York Times' journalist Susanne Daley wrote:

'Just who is financing the the “yes” ads is unclear, according to Christos Xanethakis, media editor for Newpost.gr, who said the major opposition parties in favour of a “yes” have no money.'

 

Media coverage also appeared to be bias in favour of the 'yes' campaign with coverage of the 'no' rally by the six main stations in Greece had been 8 minutes compared to 46 minutes for the 'yes' rally. 

 

A leading editorial in the Financial Times, describing '[t]he logic (of Alexis Tsiparas the Greek prime minister) grew wonkier ever since the programme expired on Tuesday evening and Athens defaulted to the IMF', went on last Saturday to declare:

'The episode [the referendum] underlines Syriza's incompetence and untrustworthiness as much as its ideology.'

 

This is not a universal view among economists and financial pundits, however, the distinguished U.S. economist, Paul Krugman, last Tuesday in the New York Times argued:

'Don't be taken in by claims that the troika's ultimatum are just technocrats explaining to the ignorant Greeks what must be done. These supposed technocrats are in fact fantasists who have disregarded everything we know about macroeconomics, and have been wrong every step of the way.  This isn't about analysis, it's about power – the power of the creditors to pull the plug on the Greek economy...'

 

Since Mr.Krugman wrote these words and despite the threats and challenges, the Greek people on Sunday delivered a resounding 'no' vote last Sunday.  Which represents a victory for the Greek Prime Minister Alexisis, who had pushed for a 'no' vote as a way of giving him more negotiating power in dealing with the creditors who clearly want to set the terms and impose more austerity on the Greek people. 

 

Krugman writes elsewhere last weekend of the claims of the European officials that they have brought a 'recovery' in Spain but that 'success [in Spain], European-style means an unemployment rate that is still almost 23% and real income per capita that is still down 7% from its pre-crisis level.'  Portugal also obeyed the E.U. Demands and is, according to Krugman, some '6% poorer than it used to be.'

 

Finland is a model of virtue by European standards with sound finances and a good credit rating allowing it to borrow money at a low rate of interest.  Yet, Finland is in its eighth year of a slump cutting real gross domestic product to per capita by 10% and this shows no sign of ending. 

 

Mr. Krugman explains:  'What all these countries have in economies have in common, however, is that by joining the eurozone they put themselves into an economic straightjacket.'  Had they not done so they could have easily devalued their currencies, making their exports more competitive.  Inside the euro-zone they have no currencies to devalue hence their problem.

 

It seems that the only way out of the current situation, short of doing away with the euro, is for the creditors to exercise a more flexible and relaxed approach towards debt.  Not so easy given that many politicians demand more discipline of countries like Greece and Spain.  That way lies more suffering and misery. 

 

Krugman puts it more forcefully:  '... you should be even more afraid of the consequences of a “yes” [vote] because in that case we do know what comes next – more austerity, more disasters and eventually a crisis much worse than anything we've seen so far.'

Gagging the Spaniards!

PROTESTS against Government imposed austerity cuts have been strongest in Spain, where the occupy movement began with the with the youth-led movement calling itself the 'indignanties' which occupied Madrid's main square in 2011, before Occupy Wall Street got off the ground.

 

From Wednesday the 1^st, July, such  demonstrations will be illegal and demonstrators could individually face fines of up to 600,000 euros, or about £500,000.  Human rights organisations have described this new gagging law as an anti-democratic response to the social discontent resulting from the financial crisis and the record unemployment.

 

The new law bans any kind of amateur video footage that has increasingly been used to expose police tactics and which showed police beating protesters in the Basque country last month.

 

Judith Sunderland, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, has said the new law represents 'a direct threat to the rights to meet peacefully and freedom of speech in Spain.'

 

A campaign against the new gagging law called 'No somos Delitos'  (We are not a Crime) is now up and running.

Councillor Shefali Ahmed joins Tories

Councillor Ashley Dearnley and Councillor Shefali Ahmed

    

Councillor Shefali Ahmed above  has kindly contacted Northern Voices, to bring us

up-to-date with the current make up of the Rochdale Council.  The report

below given to the website Rochdale Online is self explanatory:

MY decision came after taking a number of key factors into consideration:
'Firstly, I truly believe that the party nationally and locally are trying to implement policies and legislation which will give people a better quality of life. Furthermore they have provided opportunities for a better education for our young people, as well as having a long-term plan and structure in place for a better economy.

'I believe to implement an effective, positive and constructive change in Rochdale, we need to elect the right individuals on to the council, people who are passionate about the borough and its constituents. We need elected members [councillors], who prioritise the needs and wellbeing of the people, as well as bringing with them a wealth of skills, experience and ideas.

'Our Conservative group leader, Councillor Ashley Dearnley is a very fair, hardworking and passionate person, who has been a councillor for 32 years in the borough and the group leader for 20 years. He has also held many executive positions on the Council, as well as being the Mayor of the Borough of Rochdale.  I feel privileged to be a member of his group under such a great leader.'

Councillor Ahmed was previously a member of the Labour Party before leaving the party in 2014 with husband Farooq Ahmed. She then formed her own party with her husband, Rochdale First.

Councillor Ashley Dearnley, Conservative Group Leader said:
'Me and the group on the council are delighted to welcome Councillor Shefali Farooq Ahmed as a member of the Conservative Group.

'Shefali has been a hardworking member of the council for a number of years, always putting the interests of the Borough and her constituents first. She is a first-class councillor and will be a real asset to the group and party.'


Northern Voices' Note: 
What is not explained in the account above is what will now happen with the Rochdale First Party Shefali formed with her husband in 2014. 


For more go to rochdaleonline org.

Solution to historical isolation of Freedom Friends

CHRIS Draper and his colleagues deserve the congratulations of all anarchists for their achievement in rejuvenating the ‘Friends of Freedom Press’.  Of course, the mistakes of the past will still need to be revisited, to ensure that they are adequately examined and lessons learned.  However, the focus of attention is now the new group of Friends and the challenges that they face.  Evidently, the new group is not short of problems to resolve.  Indeed, there are so many problems to resolve that the group will need to prioritize them. 

One problem to be resolved is the regrettable historical isolation from anarchism of the previous ‘Friends of Freedom Press’.  The new group can begin to resolve this problem by acknowledging and inviting feedback from other anarchists.  Unfortunately neither of these tasks can be undertaken though the pages of ‘Freedom’ newspaper.  However, the unavailability of this channel of communication should not prevent the new group from creating and maintaining an alternative channel to acknowledge and invite feedback from other anarchists.   

I will resist the temptation of suggesting which problems the new group should prioritize, and the order in which it should prioritize them, because any such suggestion might so easily be inappropriate.  Instead, I express the hope that the new group will be able to count upon receiving all the support possible, as and when the group might want it.  Which brings me to a practical possibility.  Perhaps the new group might welcome the facility of drawing upon a resource pool of anarchists to be available whenever particular types of support could be useful. 

If any of the ‘Friends of Freedom Press’ finds this possibility potentially helpful, I would be very happy to explain my ideas about creating such a resource pool.  

John Desmond

5th July 2015

Blacklist News: July 2015

1. High Court

The next dates for the High Court group litigation is set for 14th July - it will be a very busy schedule covering disclosure of documents, destroyed evidence, expert witnesses etc.. If all items are not finished, the hearing will carry over into the 15th July. 

2. Pitchford public inquiry into undercover policing

BSG have sent an official submission to the Home Office regarding the remit for the upcoming Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing. We called for there to be a full investigation into undercover police infiltration of unions to spy on activists. Teresa May is expected to announce the full scope of the inquiry sometime in mid-July. 

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2015/jun/30/trade-unionists-call-for-public-inquiry-to-examine-claims-that-police-spied-on-them

http://rt.com/uk/270676-trade-unions-police-spying/

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-f936-MET-SILENT-ON-BLACKLIST-SPY#.VZUgYvlViko

3. Teeside #PayTheRate Protests

The ongoing SITA dispute in Teeside is still attracting 100s of workers to weekly early morning protests. Last week, scores of activists turned up unannounced at the Liverpool offices of the MRWA to press their point home. Keep up the good work brothers & sisters - you are leading the fightback against the attacks on our terms & conditions. 

For more info and updates about the latest actions follow Teeside Construction Activists on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teesside-Construction-Activists/429641457200160?fref=nf

4. Blacklisting events - Dates for the Diary in July :

Thu 2nd (6:30pm) - Defend Our Unions, ULU

Sat 4th (all day) - National Shop Stewards Conference - Conway Hall, Holborn

Thu 9th (6:30pm) - Blacklisted book event - Black Pig, Tunbridge Wells, Kent - with Helen Clifford

Fri 10th (5:30pm) - Durham Miners Gala Education 4 Action event - NUM Offices, Redhills - in association with People's Bookshop 

Sat 11th (2pm) - Blacklisted workers filmed discussion, London - in association with film maker Lucy Parker - please contact BSG ASAP if you are interested in attending.  

Tue 14th (10am) - High Court blacklisting trial case management hearing

Tue 14th (6:30pm) - TUCG Tolpuddle Seminar - Jubilee Room, Houses of Parliament - with MPs & Gen Secs www.tucg.org.uk 

Wed 15th (10am) - High Court day 2 (tbc)

Wed 15th (7pm) - Hackney TUC

Sat 18th - Tolpuddle Festival 

Thu 23rd - Dave Smith arrest trial - City of London Magistrates Court  

https://www.facebook.com/Education4ActionTheStruggleforJustice

http://englandevents.co.uk/durham-book-launch-dave-smiths-blacklisted-the-secret-war/303066

5. Get Carillion out of Liverpool

BSG are working with Spirit of Shankly supporters group in Liverpool FC about the contract given to blacklisting firm Carillion to redevelop the Anfield stadium. 

BSG are also involved in ongoing meetings with Trust operating New Royal Liverpool Hospital that has also awarded a contract to Carillion. 

Watch this space - this could get very big. 

6. Blacklist Support Group at Glastonbury Festival

BSG were at Glastonbury Festival appearing at Leftfield stage, Speakers Forum in the Green Futures Field and the Reel News installation in Shangri-La. Phil Chamberlain, Tom Fowler, Martin Smith, Shaun Dey, Merrick Badger, Dave Smith were flying the flag. All the photos are on social media 

7. Other Blacklisting news items: 

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ Gen Sec review in the Morning Star: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7520-Intimidation-on-an-industrial-scale

http://www.ardrossanherald.com/news/roundup/articles/2015/06/26/537153-north-ayrshire-council-to-call-for-inquiry-into-construction-worker-blacklisting/

Join Blacklist Support Group on FaceBook or follow @daveblacklist on Twitter for the most up to date news as it breaks 

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/

Colin Ward, Class Struggle & Everyday Life

Approaches to Our Philosophical Enterprise

 

HOW do the methods of those of us who are the anarchist critics of the current collective in control of Freedom Press, differ from theirs in reality?  We critics of those who may now portray themselves as the 'anarchist mainstream', are indeed a mixed bunch:  from historians, anthropologists, sociologists, to trade unionists; teachers; electricians; a former bin-man; social workers; a retired make-up artist; peace activists; university lecturers; the editor of Northern Voices and the editor of Anarchist Voices, some of us who would identify with 'class struggle', others who wouldn't.  Within the realm of contemporary anarchism the prolific writer Colin Ward has been utilised by some of us to distinguish our distinctive position and methodology, from those who circumstances have brought us into conflict.

 

Our approach, so far as I understand it, and others among us may have a different view, is one of grappling with the problems of everyday life from within, while I feel those who would see it differently would want to impose a set of values on society from outside.  The ethnomethodologists used to disparagingly dismiss this approach as the 'cookbook method' of seeking inert recipes to force into place. 

 

To give justice to the Freedom Collective* and people like Nick Heath of A.F. and Iain McKay of Black Flag, let  me readily admit that their position is common in the Western tradition of thought, and Raymond Plant in his book 'Modern Political Thought', wrote:

'Plato reflected... on the confusions and contradictions of conventional morality in Athens and felt compelled by that confusion to seek a form of society in which humans could properly flourish on the basis of a set of values which transcended the everyday world, the Forms and Ideas.  These to be known only to the philosopher.  The task of political theory there was to redeem the everyday world by leaving it behind and identifying a set of values which could found society on a different and more secure basis.'

 

This seemingly is the approach of most Marxists today, and some anarchists like McKay and Heath, who broadly speaking adopt the same idea of how to transform societies.  Michael Walzer has argued in his book 'Sphere of Justice' that this approach can't be the foundation for practical reasoning about values, and he offers us the two contrasting viewpoints:

'One way to begin the philosophical enterprise – perhaps the original way – is to walk out of the cave, leave the city, climb the mountain, fashion for oneself (what can never be fashioned by ordinary men and women) an objective and universal standpoint....  But I mean to stand in the cave, in the city, on the ground.  Another way of doing philosophy is to interpret to one's fellow citizens the world of meanings that we share.  Justice and equality can conceivably be worked out as philosophical artifacts, but a just or egalitarian society cannot be.  If such a society isn't already here – hidden as it were, in our concepts and categories – we shall never know it concretely or realise it in fact.'

 

This last sentence could well have been written by the distinguished anarchist writer (formerly one of the Friends of Freedom Press**) Colin Ward.  It seems to some of us that the theoreticians who are now dominating on the left, and among the contemporary anarchists, do not accept that we don't need yet another set of values to buck-up society, but rather, we need to throw into relief the values and local knowledge that are already embedded inside our localised way of life.  It is our dedication to the work of being embedded inside the ethos of the everyday that distinguishes our methodology and concern for social transformation from that of those who, even though they may call themselves 'anarchists', would try to impose an inert set of values upon society.


*    The day-to-day managers of Freedom Press.
**  The trustees of Freedom Press.