John Mac retires as Branch Secretary of UNISON Tower Hamlets LG branch

I was sent this link to the latest "Tower Power" newsletter by retired Tower Hamlets Housing UNISON comrade (Montrose Matty). John Mac was the branch chair for most of the time I was a member of the branch and my first job in Tower Hamlets was in 1993 at the Columbia Road One Stop Shop in Bethnal Green, where I was a estate officer and John did housing benefits. 

Later I moved to Bow as a Housing officer and became active in the union and was an Assistant Branch Secretary (as well as various other roles such as Labour Link officer, health & safety and treasurer)

Now, those who know us recognise that John Mac and I did not always see "eye to eye" on a number of things, including the need to have an imminent revolution and that revolution is likely to start any time soon in Tower Hamlets Local Government. But I have always accepted that I might be wrong.

However, John was an excellent union case worker and despite our differences we almost always had a polite and good humoured relationship. We worked together during the 1999 month long (successful) Tower Hamlets housing strike, we went on a three peaks walking challenge together and  had a beer in a House of Commons bar, bought by the then, local MP Jim Fitzpatrick. 

I wish John and his partner Phoebe, all the best in their retirement and will miss our sparing in  London regional council and National Delegate conference. 

As Soon As This Pub Closes...

One of the many reasons why we have never had a real Revolution in this Country since 1649 despite the weird and wonderful selling newspapers outside Tesco's.

Hat tip singer Alex Glasgow who also sang one my favourites "When The Boat Comes In". Brilliant.

July 4: Happy Birthday British Revolution (and 122nd anniversary of election Keir Hardie as first Labour MP)

The 4th July is a special day on both sides of the pond. Today is celebrated as "Independence Day" in the USA.

The American War of Independence (1775-1783) was of course the only successful "British revolution" there has ever been. In the beginning at least the "rebels" thought of themselves as British, fighting for their traditional rights against a despotic monarchy.

To my right is the first version of the American flag.

It was also on 4 July 1892 that the first independent Labour MP, Keir Hardie was elected for West Ham South.

Picture is from a tour of Stratford Town hall organised by West Ham Labour Party on July 4th 2012 to mark the occasion.

The count and declaration was held at the Hall in 1892.  

A Modest Proposal on Cults, Trots, Socialist Unity, the Great Day and LaLa-ism

Since this is the season of goodwill to all I checked out the Socialist Unity website to see the latest brother and sisterhood back stabbing, infighting, petty point scoring, abuse and general hatred. I was not disappointed. The reader comments are just amazing.

While the SWP are busy as usual ritually expelling “traitors” in advance of their annual conference, I was surprised at the post by SU editor Andy Newman  “THE “ALLIANCE FOR WORKERS LIBERTY” – THE DYNAMICS OF A MALIGNANT CULT

I must admit to wondering why Andy has picked on the AWL? Who in my perhaps limited contact so far, have not appeared to be as narrow and dogmatic as the other various Heinz 57 Trotskyite/Anarchist sects?  However, I think that this is actually all just a bit of a red herring (no pun intended).

Since surely all of the “ultra left” are by definition going to be in some form of a cult since they all profess to be “revolutionaries”.  If you think the world is so horrible you need revolutionary change, then you are going to have to have some sort of tight discipline and control to try and bring it about?

The real problem is not that they are “cults” or that they are “revolutionaries”.  Good luck to them if that is what they believe (dare I say, it’s a free country!). The real problem is that they think that by their actions they can bring about “the Revolution” in this country sometime soon.

How on earth can anyone honestly think there any practical likelihood of there being any sort of a revolution in this country?

Now, I want radical change in our society. But all my adult life I have seen articles and posters advertising meetings that proclaim the “great day of the revolution” is just around the corner. What complete and utter rubbish.

The idea that if the unions were just more militant, organised more demos, occupied some phone box and took more strike action, then the masses would come to their senses and storm Buckingham Place is just fantasy and indulgent politics. There was more chance of the Mayan prophesies happening.

Since 2007 there has been an open goal due to the economic crisis and there is not the slightest interest whatsoever in revolutionary class politics. 

This is not about the “politics”. I am a fully paid up believer in reformism, parliamentary democracy, rule of law, equality in all aspects, strong trade unions and a genuine mixed economy. Yet I will work with anyone who may completely disagree with me in the long run but will sees the sense in unity to bring about common and achievable immediate goals.

There cannot in my view be any unity with those who think that their primary purpose is to bring about something (the Great Day) that is silly, ridiculous and laughable. Everything they do is driven by this obsession. So we cannot trust them nor their many and competing “Fronts”. We also cannot work with those who will do what they are told by their central committees regardless of what they believe in or were elected to do.   

My father believed that communism in this country was inevitable, but he thought it would not happen in his lifetime nor for many generations. In the meanwhile he would support the Labour Party and work with others such as the Communist Party of the time, in the interests of working class people.  While they and others may believe in revolution, they are realistic about the prospects and will not sell out the interests of working people to satisfy nonsensical dogma.

So my New Year 2012 Modest Proposal is - we can have a socialist unity of sorts.  But not with LaLa-ism

Bella Ciao Syria

On Thursday I went to my Labour Party ward meeting. Afterwards I was speaking to a longstanding member who I hadn't realised was originally from Syria. He spoke about his distress about the massacres and slaughter that is happening in his homeland. Every day he receives emails and graphic videos with shocking images and news. At my request he sent me information and a link to a Google News Group on Syria.

I clicked on its Youtube links and was pretty horrified at what I saw. Dozens of different amateur videos showing countless people being shot, dying and dead in large pools of blood. Crying relatives and friends risking their own lives to pick up up bodies and the wounded being shot at themselves. Shaky Pictures of unidentified gunmen with telescopic rifles on the roof tops of tower blocks. Tanks firing at crowds of fleeing and unarmed civilians. Warning: this link is very, very graphic. Mainstream media just cannot show these pictures. Simply and utterly dreadful. Words (for once) fail me.

Hat-tip for Youtube video above to TheTollundWoman (not graphic)

When Wales saved Britain from Revolution

Last Bank Holiday weekend in the Tardis like “Royal Oak Inn” Fishgard, South Wales I spied a poster claiming that Wales (and Welsh women in particular!) had saved Britain from “revolution”.

This very same “pub” was indeed the site of surrender negotiations between French officers and those from the much smaller local Welsh militia and yeomanry following the last invasion of Britain in February 1797. When 1400 well armed Revolutionary troops under direct orders from the Paris Directory were sent to spark a Welsh uprising and to try and size Liverpool then London.

“The working classes were to be encouraged to rebel; Britain’s trade was to be dislocated and French prisoners of war liberated, causing such chaos as to make the invasion of Britain possible”

The French were initially planning to invade Ireland with 15,000 troops (which didn’t take place) and while they intended this attack at Wales (or Bristol) to be part of a diversionary attack they also hoped that there would start a revolution amongst the local population.

On 22 February 1797 4 French warships landed “17 boatloads of troops, 47 barrels of powder, 50 tons of cartridges and grenades and 2,000 stands of arms”. You can walk the 3 miles from Fishguard to the invasion point at Carreg Wastad which is all simply stunningly beautiful. There is a memorial to the invasion on the headland (see picture of moi). Last week it was entirely peaceful with the only excitement being a family of grey seals basking on the rocks in the sunshine.

There was no opposition to the landing and the French quickly seized strong defensive points from which it would have been very difficult to dislodge them. However, the expected “Revolution” never happened? Instead of supporting or even joining the revolutionary troops there was a series of bitter and bloody skirmishes between them and local Welsh inhabitants.

This was a dangerous time for the British government of the time. Later that year the Royal Navy mutinied twice and the news of the invasion caused a run on the Bank of England which forced them to suspend the payment of gold and instead they issued £1 bank notes for the first time!

Despite income disparity being far worse in this part of Wales than anywhere else in Britain and Ireland and the relatively recent Pembrokeshire bread riots there appeared to be no support locally for  “revolution”. The French hardly helped matters with many of their troops getting drunk, ransacking and burning local farms and churches (see the picture of Llandwna Church which had its papers and bibles burnt) while trying to “live off the land”.

In other parts of Europe the invading French revolutionary armies had been welcomed as liberators. Not so in Wales? There is probably a mass of reasons for this apart from a xenophobic fear of French Johnny foreigner. The rise of religious non conformity in Wales may have given the revolutionaries hope but most dissenters were probably at the time more keen than most to prove their loyalty to the Crown for fairly obvious reasons. Of course the patriotic conservatism (with a small c) of the British working class is one of its most enduring and defining features. At the end there are accounts of hundreds of locals turning up to fight the invader (as with their descendants in 1940) armed with primitive farm weapons.

There are two further stories that I love about this moment in our history. Firstly it seems that one of the reasons for the French surrender was “There is strong evidence that the French were deceived by the appearance in the neighbourhood of large numbers of local womenfolk wearing the traditional dress of red shawls and black hats, which at a distance resembled infantry uniforms”. It is clear that the French for whatever reason actually surrendered to vastly inferior number of troops. Secondly “The heroine of the hour” Jemima Nicholas, (see picture) who with her pitchfork, went out single-handedly into the fields around Fishguard and rounded up 12 French soldiers and 'persuaded' them to return with her to town where she locked them inside St Mary's Church.

Apart from the history lesson Pembrokeshire is just breath taking countryside, with superb coastal and hill walks - well worth a visit.

Iran's Revolution is still devouring its Children

The murder and shooting of unarmed civilian protesters in Iran recently is shocking on a number of levels. The bravery of these protesters who face the regimes fascistic militia's with their bullets and batons is very humbling.

It can make politics in the UK appear to be quite petty.

While the failure of those who pretend to oppose all tyranny and dictatorships to meaningfully protest at the killing is pretty telling. Obviously some of them don't want to put in danger any payments for official Iranian media appearances.

The consensus seems to be that the regime's days are numbered but no one can give an exact date.

I think most ordinary Iranians will be saying sooner than later please.

NB Stroppyblog is one of the Left exceptions and has linked to Youtube on this. Note the comment made by some moron on her post that the protestors are "Imperialism's useful idiots".

Happy Birthday America – The Revolutionary British Republic

Once again I am wishing all my American cousins a very happy Independence Day while thinking that this celebration should also be important on this side of the pond.

Since “Today is the day when the British freed themselves from a despotic monarchy and declared Independence. Unfortunately, they were unable to liberate their homeland of the British Isles, but those Britons willing to stand up to a tyrannical king went on to become “Americans” and created a world superpower, invented the corndog, and gave the world Bob Dylan”.

Hat-tip thingy to last year’s Harry’s Place and this post.

The Revolution Devours its Children

Iran: The "cradle of civilisation" and its ignorant moron of a President. Someone who insults its people not only by his blatant electoral fraud but who deliberately kills his countries children to keep in power.

Hat-tip thingy

The Last British Revolution – Happy Birthday America

Thanks to Harry’s Place for reminding us all “across the pond” that July 4th should be celebrated in these parts as well!

“Today is the day when the British freed themselves from a despotic monarchy and declared independence.

Unfortunately, they were unable to liberate their homeland of the British Isles, but those Britons willing to stand up to a tyrannical king went on to become “Americans” and created a world superpower, invented the corndog, and gave the world Bob Dylan”.

Tonight, by co-incidence, the Mrs. and I enjoyed a feast of Burgers (venison – low fat), Fries ( Tesco finest oven baked chips) and Baked Beans (Heinz - of course) washed down by loads of cold Beer (okay, okay - actually glasses of Jacobs Creek).

Happy Birthday to all our Revolutionary American Cousins!

The picture above is considered to be the first flag of the United States, the “Grand Union” or “Continental Colours” (properly spelt of course) flag that was in use 1775-1777.