North West TUC Snubs Peterloo Rally over Chris Williamson MP!

Rally in Albert Square - Photo: Mark Rowe/FB

LAST SUNDAY more than 1000 people came to Albert Square, Manchester, to support the 'March for Democracy' which was organised to mark the 200 years since the Peterloo massacre on 16th August 1819.  Many of the people who came to support the event had marched from surrounding towns such as Wigan and Bolton.   The proposals of the March for Democracy, included the Chartists demand for annual parliaments and the abolition of the House of Lords.   

Among the key speakers who addressed the rally, was Chris Williamson MP, the Member of Parliament for Derby North, who was suspended by the Labour Party, readmitted, and then suspended again, following complaints from the Board of Deputies of British Jews who called his readmission to the Labour Party 'an utter disgrace'.  In June, Amanda Bowman, the Board of Deputies Vice President, said:     
'This is an utter disgrace. Despite years of baiting the Jewish community - calling antisemitism allegations 'proxy wars and bullshit', actively supporting people suspended and expelled from the party for antisemitism, attacking the Board of Deputies on the day of the Pittsburgh attack, and saying the Labour has been 'too apologetic' over antisemitism, Chris Williamson has reportedly been readmitted to the Labour Party. This is yet more damning evidence for the EHRC's inquiry into antisemitism in the Labour Party.' 

There are many people who feel quite sympathetic towards Chris Williamson. They believe that he, along with others, are the victims of a witch-hunt and that the charges of anti-Semitism are both spurious and aimed at supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. They argue that the term 'anti-Semitism has been 'weaponised' and is being used as a device to undermine political opponents and those who oppose Israel's policies towards the Palestinians. Likewise, they argue that merely expressing an opinion, however unpalatable one finds it, doesn't necessarily amount to anti-Semitism.


It wasn't altogether certain that Chris Williamson would be invited to address the rally on Sunday. Just over a week ago, Williamson was forced to address a crowd of supporters in Regency Square, Brighton, after an orchestrated and thuggish campaign led to bookings being cancelled at venues because staff claimed that they had received threatening and intimidating phone calls. Similar tactics have been deployed in other areas to stop Williamson having a platform.


Among those who wanted to stop Williamson speaking in Manchester on Sunday, was Steve Hall, the Chair of the Greater Manchester County Association of TUC's (GMATUC's).  Last Wednesday, Hall told a meeting at the Friends Meeting House in Manchester, that though he didn't believe Williamson was an anti-Semite, his presence at the rally would be a distraction as the attention would be focused on him and not on the rally and the reasons for it. A majority at the meeting disagreed and Williamson was invited.


Two days later, Jay McKenna, Acting Regional Secretary of the North West TUC, wrote to the Secretary of GMATUC's Stefan Cholewka, informing him that the NW TUC would not be supporting the event because of the presence of Chris Williamson.  Although he didn't say why Williamson was objectionable, he wrote:


'the late addition of Chris Williamson to the speaking line up has raised concerns. It brings unnecessary attention and is diversionary from the event that we have agreed to support as a TUC...  Given that there is no planned change to the line up, I am letting you know that the TUC North West will not be accepting our speaking lot and will be unable to support the event moving forward. We believe that the changes would have the potential to bring the TUC and others into disrepute... The event was an opportunity to commemorate an important anniversary in our movements history. This has unfortunately overshadowed that and risks damaging relationships between many in the region.'


Unlike the Chair of the GMATUC's who appears to have toed the official line of the NW TUC regarding Chris Williamson, Stefan Cholewka, the Secretary of GMATUC's told McKenna:
'
The fact that you cannot spell out clearly and articulately the reasons or give any explanation for your objection to Chris Williamson MP speaking, speaks volumes. The fact that you cannot even reference Chris Williamson in your letter as a Labour Member of Parliament is a disgrace.  You also seem to think that you can override the democratic decision of the lead body across Greater Manchester that has been building this event over the last 18 months. Today is the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre and all you can do is send an email about a socialist MP speaking at a rally to remember the dead and murdered working-class victims by the state.  Your place in history is assured as the writer of the most irrelevant letter of 2014.'


The Peterloo march and rally that took place on Sunday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre in August 1812, was billed as the 'March for Democracy'.  Yet if democracy means anything, then it means the right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression which is understood to be fundamental in any  democracy.  The attempt to 'No Platform' Chris Williamson, to deny him a platform to speak at the Peterloo rally, is the sort of filthy censorship that is becoming all too commonplace  in today's Britain.


Helen Steel, the activist who with Dave Morris, took on the Corporate giant McDonald's in the now famous McLibel trial, was recently chucked off a mass trespass on the moors because she was told that others felt 'unsafe' to be close to someone with her views. Ms Steel has been attacked because she has expressed the view that to be of the female sex is a question of 'basic biology' and that to self-identify as a woman is not the same as being born a woman. Most people would find this common sense and yet, the academic and feminist Germaine Greer, has been 'No-Platformed' by university students for expressing similar views.


Similarly, people who criticise Israel as a 'racist endeavour' and an apartheid state or speak out against the murder of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators, are now accused of anti-Semitism.  In the summer of 2018, the Board of Deputies supported the massacre of over 200 unarmed demonstrators in Gaza and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has stated that Israel is not a country of all its citizens but a nation-state of the Jewish nation.


It is well documented that the state of Israel as a foreign power does meddle in British politics. Two years ago, Al Jazeera's programme 'The Lobby', revealed how an agent operating out of the Israeli Embassy in London, had discussed how to bring down Sir Alan Duncan, the then Deputy Foreign Secretary, because he had supported Palestinian statehood and had compared Israeli attitudes towards the Palestinians as akin to apartheid in South Africa. Alan Duncan is not the only politician the Zionist want to bring down, Jeremy Corbyn is also on the list and Chris Williamson.


If one does believe in democracy then you must believe in the right of free speech.  What we are seeing today in Britain with bans, proscriptions, and politically correct censorship mainly by the life-style left, and social liberals, is a form of creeping and subtle totalitarianism that must be resisted.  To submit, would be like allowing the inmates to take over the mental asylum.  The Labouring classes who attended the rally in St Peter's Field, Manchester in August 1819, would have recognised this only too well, unlike some of today's trade unionists.

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Dear

Stefan and Step

hen

I am writing to you regarding the Peterloo March & Rally taking place in Manchester this

Sunday.

When our annual

conference passed the GMATUC motion in March, calling for support

for th

e event, ourselves and our regional council were looking forward to working

together to have an inclusive and important commemorative event. That has been

evident in the support, finan

cial and physical, from ourselves and affiliates.

However, the late add

ition of Chris Williamson to the speaking line up has raised

concerns. It brings unnecessary attention and is diversionary from the event that we

have agreed to support as a TUC.

I’v

e contacted you a number omes this week, to express these concerns

nd seek a

change. I’ve said that if the speaking line up remains as it is, then we would have to

consider our support. I understand that affiliate unions in the region have done simila

r.

Given that there is no planned change to the line

-

up, I am letting y

ou know that the TUC

North West will not be accepting our speaking slot and will be unable to support the

event moving forward. We believe that th
e changes would have the potential to

bring

the TUC and others into disrepute.

Dear

Stefan and Step

hen

I am writing to you regarding the Peterloo March & Rally taking place in Manchester this

Sunday.

When our annual

conference passed the GMATUC motion in March, calling for support

for th

e event, ourselves and our regional council were looking forward to working

together to have an inclusive and important commemorative event. That has been

evident in the support, finan

cial and physical, from ourselves and affiliates.

However, the late add

ition of Chris Williamson to the speaking line up has raised

concerns. It brings unnecessary attention and is diversionary from the event that we

have agreed to support as a TUC.

I’v

e contacted you a numbesss

nd seek a

change. I’ve said that if the speaking line up remains as it is, then we would have to

consider our support. I understand that affiliate unions in the region have done simila

r.

Given that there is no planned change to the line

-

up, I am letting y

ou know that the TUC

North West will not be accepting our speaking slot and will be unable to support the

event moving forward. We believe that t
he Ichanges would have the potential to

bring

the TUC and others into disrepute.

Peterloo Bi-Centenary March and Rally - Sunday 18 August 2019

On Sunday 18th August the Peterloo Commemorative March and Rally will take place.  This will be the bi-centennial of the Peterloo massacre, one of the most significant events of the labour movements struggle both politically and industrially. Marches are taking place from ten points around the Greater Manchester and Lancashire areas recreating the marches that took place in 1819.

If you are up to marching the full distance from Bolton to Albert Square, Manchester, in the footsteps of those who marched in 1819 then here is the itinerary of this year's commemorative March from Bolton Socialist Club.

8.30 am
Leave from Bolton Socialist Club Wood Street. 
9.45 am ( 3.6 miles)  
Moss Rose pub at Kearsley. 
10.50 am (7.1 miles)
Henry Boddinton pub at Swinton.
11.50 (9.7 miles)
Salford Crescent Station.12.50pm  (11.4 miles)
Arrive Albert Square, Manchester.1.00 pm - Commemoration begins


The event is Family Friendly. If you are interested, people can join at any of the stopping points indicated in bold.  I would be grateful if people could let the organisers know in advance if you intend to join the march by texting 08756 466 070, or by emailing: chris_chilton@hotmail.com.  Details of the gathering points can also be found at http://www.peterloodemocracy.com/map-of-march/4594637561 

Helen is a feminist who holds beliefs based on basic biology

Backing Helen Steel

Letter

Cath Bann, Rikki Blue, Beatrix Campbell, Kate Evans, Simon Fairlie, Peter Le Mare, Rebecca Lush, Dave Morris, Diana Shelley, Theo Simon, Jo Wilding and 363 others

Last weekend [10–13 May], Helen Steel was forced off a protest walk across moors at a camp organised by the Land Justice Network. This happened not because of anything that Helen had done or said at the actual camp, but because individuals objected to views she had previously expressed regarding the impact of gender identity theory on women’s rights. She was told that a decision had been made prior to the camp starting that she would not be welcome.

Although Helen had been at the camp from the first day, she was only told she wasn’t welcome after the ‘action’ ramble had left the camp – leaving her to walk back across the moor alone. Fortunately two comrades walked in solidarity with her, one of them (like Helen) a founder member of the Land Justice Network.

Whether calculated or not, the impact of this treatment was to give a very public and demeaning punishment to someone who has voiced opinions which differ from those of the activists who inflicted it.

None of the small subset of the organisers who were involved in making this decision were prepared to either publicly explain themselves or to give Helen a right of response.

There were others on the site who shared opinions similar to Helen’s who were not asked to leave.

The claimed justification for treating Helen so shabbily was that she is a hateful transphobic bigot. We do not believe that Helen is a bigot.

Helen is a feminist who holds beliefs based on basic biology, that humans are a dimorphic species and it is not possible to biologically change sex. Her view prioritises objective facts above personal subjective feelings when looking at how we should try to change society and dismantle oppressive social constructs such as gender stereotypes.

This was the third time that Helen has been threatened or evicted from political events in this way and others have received similar treatment.

The idea that questioning gender identity theory amounts to bigotry and ‘hatred’ of trans people is justifying the exclusion of people from the movement. The effect of this is that many are afraid to express an opinion on the issue or even to ask any questions about it, and the end result is that most do not understand different perspectives on the issue.

Progressive movements are supposed to work on the basis of mass participation; it is only through the honest exchange of views and varied life experiences that we are able to understand the implications of power dynamics, policies and laws and able to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected.

It is out of order to single out one individual to be excommunicated, hounded, physically assaulted and humiliated for views which many other progressive people in our radical networks share. No comrade deserves to be treated so shabbily, much less comrades whose commitment to social justice is undoubted and who have suffered so many attacks from both corporate and state power.

This has to stop. It is time to make up your mind. Do you really think Helen Steel is a bigot?

Even if we disagree with some of her views, wouldn’t you agree that her motivation is not hatred, but her experiences of sexism and wanting to dismantle it?

Maybe you need to look into the issues and do some reading and thinking before you can decide. Fair enough. But now is the time to do this.

As we’ve said many times before – an attack on one is an attack on all.

If you don’t think Helen is a bigot then you must acknowledge that the way she is being treated by people in our movement is wrong.

We need to talk about this. It is time to speak up.
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews3272

Editor Response: 

PN did ask the Land Justice Network for a response, but none had been received by the time of going to press.

Peterloo March & Rally

16th August 2019
Dear Stefan and Stephen
I am writing to you regarding the Peterloo March & Rally taking place in Manchester this
Sunday.
When our annual conference passed the GMATUC motion in March, calling for support
for the event, ourselves and our regional council were looking forward to working
together to have an inclusive and important commemorative event. That has been
evident in the support, financial and physical, from ourselves and affiliates.
However, the late addition of Chris Williamson to the speaking line up has raised
concerns. It brings unnecessary attention and is diversionary from the event that we
have agreed to support as a TUC.
I’ve contacted you a number of times this week, to express these concerns and seek a
change. I’ve said that if the speaking line up remains as it is, then we would have to
consider our support. I understand that affiliate unions in the region have done similar.
Given that there is no planned change to the line-up, I am letting you know that the TUC
North West will not be accepting our speaking slot and will be unable to support the
event moving forward. We believe that the changes would have the potential to bring
the TUC and others into disrepute.
This is regretful. The event was an opportunity to commemorate an important
anniversary in our movements history. This has unfortunately overshadowed that and
risks damaging relationships between many in the region.
Yours sincerely

 ay McKennaActing Regional Secretary
TUC
0151 482 2710JMcKenna@tuc.org

ASHTON & STALYBRIDGE BUS SERVICES TO BE SLASHED!

Andy Burnham - Mayor of Greater Manchester

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is up for election next year. Despite promising to reform bus services in Greater Manchester, fares have increased and services are being cut. Many areas are losing bus services as bus operators concentrate on the most profitable routes and cut those that are less profitable. It has been reported that bus services in the Tameside area are to be slashed under new proposals.

From the 2^nd September 2019, Stagecoach Manchester will be taking over the 389 route after a ten-year gap. If you think they are going to restore its link with Stockport or Marple then think again.

Under current plans the 389 route is set to be curtailed. Currently, First Greater Manchester’s journeys terminate at Hyde bus station, whereas MCT Travel’s journeys continue all the way to Gee Cross.

The new version of 389 route will run from Ashton-under-Lyne to Dukinfield as per its present route up to Fir Tree Lane. Thereafter, it will continue to Lyne Edge Road and Yew Tree Lane. Then it will return to Ashton-under-Lyne via Cheetham Hill Road as a single clockwise loop.

Last bus passengers hoping to travel from Ashton or Stalybridge and hoping to get to Hyde on the 389, are going to be disappointed because it ain’t going there. They will have to get a taxi or walk or get the last 330 bus from Ashton bus station. Already, the last 343 bus leaves Stalybridge at 1845, and the fastest way of getting to Hyde would be in a taxi or a Northern train to Ashton-under-Lyne and then a 330 bus.

As for the other savage cut to Stalybridge’s bus services, the 236 will be losing its Sunday service. Therefore, on Sundays and Bank Holidays, a section between Dinting Vale Industrial Estate and The Gun Inn (via Woolley Bridge) will be a Bus Free Zone.

*Thanks to Stuart Valentine for providing information on Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes from September 2019.

Democracy & the anarchists

by Brian Bamford

REVIEWING a recent interview involving the academic Ruth Kinna, the critic Les May asks on this blog about the way she tackles the question about the attitudes of English anarchists to democracy. Here Les May suggests that she hesitated and appeared to stumble when the interviewer asked her whether anarchists believed in democracy.   Mr. May puts this down to the abysmal way in which some modern anarchists have handled themselves when confronted with political, moral and intellectual differences.  He probably has in mind people being roughed-up, shoved around and sent packing at anarchist  book fairs and other events.  The list is long but the recent exclusions of Helen Steel has excited interest, and not just on Mums Net.  This raised another issue: the crude hierarchical nature of the anarchist's methodology in so far as some of them seem more than willing to defend minor celebrities like Ms. Steel but hold back from backing 'lesser' figures who fall foul on some political point of order.

At the Liverpool Anarchist Book fair last year, where a blacklist was in operation and tolerated, even by Milan Rai, the editor of Peace News failed to give his full backing to people who were blacklisted there.  Mr. Rai who accepts that the practice of a blacklist was unfair in Liverpool, non-the-less he didn't let it get in the way or prevent him from doing his own book promotion at the same event.  Political expediency seems to be name of the game among the political libertarians of all shapes and sizes.  Moral compass, it seems, takes a back seat.at all levels among the English, particularly when it gets in the way of business.  The New from Nowhere set who were organising the Liverpool Bookfair, were more worried about losing business through the bad publicity that ensued than upholding any moral standards.

Les May writes:  'Democracy isn’t just about voting, it’s also about how we treat people we disagree with.'

What is democracy, we might ask?

The book 'School for Dictators' by the Italian novelist Ignazio Silone, has a character called Thomas: the Cynic who declares:  'Democracy is universal sufferage plus certain conditions.  The Greeks who were the first to experience it, [and] described four of them as follows: isonomia, or equality of rights before the law; liberty (which is a word plain enough in itself); isocratia or political equality; and isegoria, or freedom of speech.'

Mr. May asks:  'Why is it that people who claim to follow a political philosophy which extols personal freedom, trust in the individual, working for the collective good and personal responsibility, so often turn out to be authoritarian when they band together in groups?'

What maybe puzzling Mr. May, who has been around the English anarchists at least since the Freedom Anarchist Ball in the early 1960s, is that some anarchists today are actively repressing others and trying to prevent them presenting alternative viewpoints.  


But it is not only Milan Rai at Peace News who has fallen short and failed to be consistent in his stand against the persistent censorship, bullying and gagging among the adherents of anarchism in this country.  Pensioned-off academics like David Goodway and Peter Marshall who wrote 'Demanding the Impossible:  A History of Anarchism', both sit on a committee 'Friends of Freedom Press' which oversees a blacklist which named several northern anarchists.  This blacklist was compiled by a Freedom incomer from East Anglia Simon Saunders who also works as a hack for the Morning Star.

As Les May writes in his article:   'There’s no shortage of examples of such authoritarian behaviour which have been recorded on the Northern Voices blog, some in recent weeks.   Why do they do it?'

We live in troubling times in which politics on all fronts in this country has now been generally discredited by a degree of intolerance.  It is surprising that in some respects it is at its worst among the anarchists and among the readers at book fairs.  

*******

Why Are Anarchist Groups Authoritarian?

by Les May

QUITE by chance I saw part of the interview with Professor Ruth Kinna who is a professor of Political Theory at Loughborough University.  She was being asked about her new book ‘The Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of Anarchism’.  In a short article I wrote in May ‘Just Pick Up The Litter’ I briefly explained that, along with Marxism, as a political philosophy, I think it’s a dead duck, though for diametrically opposite reasons.  That does not mean that the ideas it embodies have no place in our present day discourse and actions.

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2019/05/just-pick-up-litter.html

Kinna did a good job of explaining what some contemporary anarchists mean by it, but I was a bit troubled when she appeared to stumble a little when the interviewer asked whether its adherents believed in democracy.   She did not seem to give a hundred percent assurance that that is the case.  Democracy isn’t just about voting, it’s also about how we treat people we disagree with.  Her hesitancy set me wondering.

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-people-have-spoken.html

Why is it that people who claim to follow a political philosophy which extols personal freedom, trust in the individual, working for the collective good and personal responsibility, so often turn out to be authoritarian when they band together in groups?  How can they claim to be free themselves if they object, sometimes violently, when others express a view different from their own?

There’s no shortage of examples of such authoritarian behaviour which have been recorded on the Northern Voices blog, some in recent weeks:  see below for a few instances* .  Why do they do it?

You will find details of Ruth Kinna’s book at

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/300/300055/the-government-of-no-one/9780241396551.html

*  northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2016/07/pensioner-attacked-at-anarchist-hq.html

*  fiveleavespublications.blogspot.com/2012/10/salad-cream-days.html

*  northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2017/06/freedoms-metropolitan-bubble-bursts.html

***********

NOT the Page 3 Girl!- 'Shit Wigs & Steroids'

For years Northern Voices has had its flatterers at 

Freedom Press, who have claimed we represent 'The Sun'

of the North.  Today we have pleasure in publishing

our first 'NOT the Page 3 Girl', and we know those

sleek Southerners who love us will be delighted. 

The NV Editors 

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