Council houses named after Matchgirls Strike leader - Sarah Chapman

 
Hat tip picture Tower Hamlets Council and report Ali G and article by East London Advertiser (note campaign in Newham to protect the grave site of Sarah Chapman in Manor Park Cemetery. - https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2020/03/visiting-grave-of-matchgirl-strike.html)

"Members of Sarah Chapman's family attended the name unveiling, along with Bow West councillors Asma Begum and Val Whitehead

A housing development being built in Bow has been named in honour of one of the leaders of the Matchgirls Strike.

Nine council homes and a community facility are to be named Sarah Chapman House.

Sarah, who lived in the East End all her life, worked at the Bryant and May factory as a teenager and played a key role in the 1888 strike action over working conditions.

Around 1,400 girls and women marched out of the factory on July 5, according to the East End Women's Museum.

Sarah became a member of the strike committee, which met with Bryant and May directors and whose demands were agreed to.

She then became the first Trade Union Congress (TUC) representative of the Match Makers' Union.

Her name was put forward for the Bow West project by resident Colum McGinley.

Colum joined members of Sarah's family to reveal the name of the development, which will be complete next May.

Sarah's grandson Ken Dearman said he was thrilled there would be a "fitting memorial" to his grandmother.

Her great granddaughter Carol Watts added: “How pleased we are, as a family, that Sarah is being honoured for her contributions to the Matchgirls Strike with the naming of this new community facility and affordable housing."

The development will provide five three-bedroom, three two-bed and one one-bed council homes, as well as the community facility on the ground floor and cycle storage.

Work began last March after planning permission was granted in 2019.

Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs said: “It’s fitting that we are naming these new council homes after Sarah Chapman to allow her name to live on.

"The Matchgirls Strike of 1888 was a poignant movement of strike action within Tower Hamlets and its important stories like this can be continued to be told.

“The delivery of these new council homes and community facility will benefit local residents in Bow West which I’m sure Sarah would be delighted about today.”

Cllr Danny Hassell, cabinet member for housing, added: “The story of Sarah Chapman will never be forgotten within this area of Tower Hamlets.

"The naming of this development acts as a reminder to the historic legacy she has left."

To the Memory of Levellers Private Biggs & Piggen - Shot 18 September 1649

I was recently sightseeing in historic Oxford when I came across this plaque in Gloucester Green. I have heard of the execution by Cromwell of Levellers at Burford and have long meant to visit the church but I have never heard of this incident nor can I find much further information on it. 

I wonder if Private Biggs is any relation of Tower Hamlets Mayor, John Biggs? Anyone know?

Tomorrow is election day in Tower Hamlets!

"Do you have any spare time tomorrow? If so come and join us in Tower Hamlets to get Labour voters out to vote for John Biggs as the new Mayor. 

We've got two sessions: 1pm and 5.30pm at Stratford station (5.30pm meeting John outside the station near the station sign).

Both group's will be heading to West Ham's campaign base for the day - 23 Celtic Street, E14 6QB (near Langdon Park DLR) where we'll be met by Richard (078724 17288).

If you're can't make either of those times you can turn up to Celtic St campaign base any time between 7am and 9pm - they'll be pleased to see you.

Happy campaigning...

Julianne Marriott
Vice Chair
West Ham Labour party"

West Ham "on the knocker" for John Biggs

Picture collage from yesterday of West Hammers (and a East Ham comrade) "on the knocker" for John Biggs as Labour Mayor for Tower Hamlets.

West Ham Labour Chair, Charlene McLean, led our team "assisted" by her campaign hardened 9 month old baby daughter, Esme (definite future Young Pioneer and Woodcraft folk member).

A positive canvass for John and Labour, although many people were away since this was a Bank holiday weekend. I came across some very negative comments about the Executive Mayoral system but was able to reassure people that in the hands of a honest, decent and principled candidate such as John Biggs, they have nothing to worry about.

Rain eventually stopped play. I had some interesting but confusing interactions on twitter trying to direct West Ham activists to join our team. Twitter is all well and good but a mobile telephone call is probably still best in these circumstances.

West Ham CLP London Mayor Nomination meeting - 28 May

Labour’s London Mayor Nomination - 28 May 2015

I would like to invite you to West Ham Labour party’s all-member meeting on 28 May where we will decide whether to nominate candidates to stand for London Mayor.

After we’ve finished making nominations we hope you will stay and join us for a social event. We'll be weloming new members, thanking everyone for all their work over the election campaign and celebrating Lyn Brown's re-election and our win in Ilford North. Please do bring food or drink to share with other members.

Where and when?

When: 8pm on Thursday 28 May
Where: Vicarage Lane Community Centre, Govier Close, London E15 4HW
What will happen at the meeting?

A list of people that have applied to become Labour’s candidate for the Mayor should be available shortly. If you want to ensure the meeting considers a particular candidate, please come ready to propose or second that candidate at the beginning of the meeting. All West Ham members will have a chance to discuss the merits of each candidate before we all vote on whether to nominate anyone at all or whether to nominate one or two people (we have to nominate at least one woman). The Labour Party will then shortlist candidates that West Ham and other London Constituency Labour Parties have nominated. Those shortlisted candidates will then speak at hustings across London that party members and supporters can attend. Voting on this (and the Leader of the Labour party) will open in mid-August and will be announced 12 September.

GC - delegates will meet at 7.30 as usual but at Vicarage Lane on Thursday 28 May before nomination meeting.

Tower Hamlets by election - Sat 23 May

We'll be meeting at Stratford station (at the ticket barrier/sign) at 10.30am on Saturday to head over to help Tower Hamlets (John Gray is lead).

If you can't make that time please just turn up at Tower Hamlets Labour Party office (349 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9RA, nr Bethnal Green station) anytime between 10-4pm this Saturday or Sunday. You can also see when they have sessions during the week here. They'll be grateful for any time you can spare.

I hope to see you at the nomination meeting. If you have any questions please email WestHamLabour@gmail.com.

Best wishes

Charlene

Charlene McLean
Chair - West Ham CLP

Ken Livingstone in Green Street as Sikh's celebrate New Year

Yesterday afternoon Labour Mayor Candidate Ken Livingstone was in Newham for the annual march by Sikh's to celebrate "Vaisakhi" their New Year.

Ken seen here (centre) with East Ham MP Stephen Timms was also accompanied by  Assembly candidate John Biggs and Unmesh Desai. Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales and West Ham MP Lyn Brown were also present.

There were thousands of people in the procession and lining the streets. The rain held off and there was even sunshine. It was very colourful with drums and music. Food and drink given out for free. Ken was mobbed by well wishers and supporters.

The 4 Johns, Eve & Gloria tackle the BNP

This morning there was a TULO day of action across London in support of Labour Party candidates in the forthcoming Assembly and the Mayor elections. In our London Assembly constituency, City & East, trade unionists were asked to go and help out with canvassing and leafleting in the Gooshays council by-election in Havering, East London.

Picture to right is of TULO activists John 1, Gloria Hanson (also UNISON London Regional Convener), John 2 (Biggs – London Assembly member for City & East), Eve Cornell (top Labour Candidate for the by-election) and John 3. John 4 was of course taking the picture. Peter (who works for Margaret Hodge MP) was leading the team. However, out of the 7 of us, 4 were called John – is this some sort of record?

This is an intriguing by-election. There was a BNP and two Tory Councillors in the ward. The useless BNP Councillor has just given up and resigned after only 2 years. No doubt there is some sort of court appearance pending. At the last election there was a “dead heat” between Eve and a Tory. The returning officer had to toss a coin to decide the result. Unfortunately (for the residents of Goodshays) Eve lost the toss.

According to the local organiser there were about 30 people that day working the ward. I know that Amarjit Singh from Tessa was also leading a TULO team at the same time but we didn’t bump into them.

There was no sign of any BNP canvassers, only 2 Tory leafleters led by their local MP Angela Watkinson, who had a polite chat with Eve.

The ward was a GLC estate now managed by “Havering Homes”. Mostly terraced or semi-detached houses. It appears to be a well run and decent estate. Very little graffiti, no obvious abandoned cars, fridges/mattresses in gardens etc. Lots of green spaces and parks. The local kids seemed pretty relaxed and content. Many of the homes appear to have been bought under “right to buy”. I have no doubt that there are problems but it did not seem to me to be the sort of area were the BNP would thrive? Going by all the vans with local logos there are lots of self-employed trades people and contractors living on the estate.

I appreciate that people do not normally admit to voting BNP (the shame?) but no-one I canvassed said they would vote BNP. It was encouragingly solid Labour. Eve was a poplar and well known candidate. We even had one elderly couple who said that until recently they use to be life long conservatives but now they are getting old they now vote Labour (think about it).

The only hassle I had was from one bloke on his doorstep who announced that he supported UKIP and started wittering on about “stealth taxes”. He was okay, but Eve came over and rescued me, and even got him to sign our petition against the closure of the local post office. As we went off Eve said he was actually a BNP supporter who had in the past been given an Anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) against him for causing problems on the estate. No surprise there then.

The by-election is on 20 March 2008. Canvassers meet up normally 6.30pm each evening at the Harold Hill Community Centre, Gooshays Drive, Romford, Essex RM3 9LB (TFL website) email rob_chapmanatnewdotlabourdotorgdotuk to confirm before you turn up to help.

Check out the “Hope Not Hate” website to find out the latest on the Nazi campaigns in London and the rest of the Country.

Tories want £4 million cut to London Police & Fire Brigade

"Tories on the London Assembly have announced they would cut £4 million from London's Fire Service to save tax payers just 14p a week.

Their proposals leave most of the Mayor's budget in tact and show there is only one party setting the agenda for London.

John Biggs, Labour's Assembly budget spokesman, said, "For the last four years City Hall has been full of Tory hot air as they huff and puff about our 'over-spending, wasteful Mayor'. So why have they accepted 90% of his budget? Where are their fresh policies for the future of London? Their proposal for a £4 million cut to London's Fire Service will put Londoners - especially older Londoners - at risk for the sake of saving them 14p."

"There will be a clear choice for Londoners in May: continuing investment in public transport, police and the fire service alongside free travel for the young, disabled and elderly, more affordable housing and action on climate change OR a 14p weekly council tax saving, cuts to our emergency services and not a single new policy to speak of."

After eight years in opposition, London's voters will expect more than the same old tired promises on tax. The Conservatives have shown they have neither the the ability nor the imagination to run our city.

"Commenting on the Tories' proposal to cut community and home safety fire services - relied on by the elderly and those on low incomes Assembly Member Val Shawcross, who chairs London's Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) said, "Be in no doubt, the cuts proposed by the Conservatives would put Londoners at risk. At a time when the Authority's budget is already stretched, the Tories want to impose cuts. The Authority has already voted against their dangerous proposals."

"The Conservative amendment to the Mayor's budget proposes a £10 million cut in the grant provided to the Met by the GLA for additional officers and equipment and almost £4 million from the Fire Authority's budget)

(press release from GLA Labour group.)

Explaining Tory “Dog Whistle” Politics in London

Last night, we had as our guest speaker at Labour Party General Committee (GC), London Assembly member, John Biggs. John represents “City & East” consistency which is made up of the City of London, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking & Dagenham. Some points from his address I thought were important (my interpretation): –

With regard to the current allegations made against the Mayor, Ken Livingstone. John pointed out he is the deputy Chair of the London Development Agency (LDA) which is at the centre of (what I believe to be largely malicious) allegations made by the Tory “Evening Standard”.

There has been more than 600 projects funded by the LDA. Given the “challenging” nature of many of these schemes it is inevitable that some will fail. Such project’s takes up less than 1% of its funding.

The allegations are in reality what are called “Dog Whistle politics” as practiced by conservatives in Australia. It is no coincidence that the current allegations are mainly against black led projects and leaders. This is in order to polarise white voters and frighten them into not voting for Labour.

Recorded crime has gone down in London. More needs to be done. But one obvious reason for this reduction is the increase in the numbers of Police and the introduction of dedicated teams of regular Police and Community Support Officers in every London ward. While this reduction is due in part to the work of a London Mayor and assembly members. However, it is also due to a partnership between the Police and local Councils and their communities.

In London we have a number of very large, single deck “bendy buses”. The Bendy bus service 25, which goes though much of East London, is one of the busiest routes in London with 22 million passenger journeys per year. Buses are a “bread and butter” issue since many low paid workers cannot afford to travel on the tube or railway. There are problems on “bendy buses” with fare evasion, anti-social behaviour and overcrowding. However, there are number of sensible initiatives to tackle these problems. Such random spot checks on a whole bus by the Police and fare inspectors.

John talked about the various significant environmental issues being tackled by the Mayor and the GLA. He also acknowledged that he had always argued for greater powers for the Labour assembly over scrutiny of the Mayor, but the government had disagreed.

He concluded by re-instating that we need to maximise the Labour vote in London on May 1 to keep Ken as Mayor; Stop the BNP gaining a seat and send a national message to smug Cameron and the Tories that they will be beaten.

We also later had a lively Parliamentary report and Q&A with our MP Lyn Brown.

Hope Not Hate in 2008: Beating the BNP in London

After work yesterday I went to a Searchlight meeting at the House of Commons, held on “Beating the BNP in London”. Frank Dobson MP chaired, speakers included Jon Cruddas MP, Megan Dobney (SETUC) and Nick Lowles (Searchlight). As you would expect there was a good attendance and range of people present.

Afterwards I went to a West Ham Labour Party Campaign meeting, where we had invited our “City & East” London Assembly member John Biggs, to talk to us about campaign issues. The BNP came up as well since Barking and Dagenham is also in “City & East” constituency (City of London, Tower Hamlets and Newham).

There is a real risk that the BNP will win seats in the London Assembly. Last time they got 4.8% of the vote and under the PR list system they only needed 5% to get a seat. If they get 8% they could get 2 seats, 11% 3 seats. The BNP themselves are predicting 3 seats. In the last GLA election 2004 which was held at the same time as the European election, the UK Independence Party got 8.2% and 2 seats. Since then UKIP has collapsed and it is likely that the BNP will get some of their votes. Hopefully these sobering facts will concentrate minds.

Backing Ken Livingstone for London Mayor 2008

The London Labour Party has launched a website for the re-election of London Mayor Ken Livingstone. So far the website.

KenLivingstone.com only has a request for donations and to "sign-on" box to enable activists to sign up for email alerts. More to follow.

“Ken Livingstone is committed to securing the long-term success of our capital, making sure that every Londoner is able participate in that success – and protecting our environment so that London's success is sustainable.

We'll be campaigning hard to ensure that London remains on the right course and that Londoners understand the choices they'll face in the election for Mayor on 1 May 2008”.

During the election campaign I will also be doing my best to encourage trade unionists to support Ken and the excellent existing Labour GLA member for City and East, John Biggs, as well as looking to increase the Labour vote and turnout, not least in order to prevent the BNP from getting a seat.

Interestingly Galloway has indicated that he will stand for the GLA as well this year! Should be fun. Email Hat tip to AG

Next Labour MP for Bethnal Green & Bow speaks to local UNISON Labour Link

Rushanara Ali, the Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green & Bow (BG&B) was the guest speaker at our Tower Hamlets branch UNISON Labour Link meeting. Cuckoo George Galloway, has “promised” not to stand in BG&B at the next election since he knows he will lose.

Rushanara spoke about local and national issues then we had informal but wide ranging “question and answers”. Some of the points we discussed with Rushanara were: -

A major local issue was the recent collapse of “1st Solutions” a money transfer service to Bangladesh from the UK. It would appear that many people all over Britain who thought they were sending money to their families may have lost everything. Incredibly it seems that such services are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

We also discussed the London Living Wage campaign. This campaign which is supported by London Mayor Ken Livingston, wants a higher minimum wage for London (currently £7.20 per hour) to take into account the higher costs of living in the Capital. Labour Boroughs want to make sure that all their directly employed workers and sub-contractors have this amount but are worried that if they specify a living wage in any tenders without specific legal authority, they could be sued by whoever failed to be awarded the contract. This could be challenged if the Labour Boroughs worked together.

We also talked about working together to lobby the government about re-introducing a “Fair Wages Clause” which was done away by Thatcher. This clause use to state that if any public service was privatised then new starters would still be paid the same amount as if they remained in the public sector. This would benefit low paid workers who work in privatised services nationally and not just in London.

Tomorrow I am off to UNISON Labour Link Forum in Manchester. Our branch has had its motion on the Living Wage supported by London Labour Link Forum. I hope it will be adopted by the National Forum then we can take it hopefully to the Labour Party Conference later this year.

The GLA elections next year and in particular practical support for Ken and our local hard working GLA member, John Biggs, was agreed. Also the local by-election in Shadwell following the resignation of the Respect Councillor. For the next few weeks the priority will be canvassing in the Ealing Southall Parliamentary by-election (Sedgefield is a bit too far)

Also at meeting we unanimously nominated Rachel Voller, to be the London UNISON National Labour Link committee member. Rachel is a nurse at UCL hospital and has been an excellent Labour Link rep for London.

Bow Boys

Ayub has already posted this picture of Candidates outside last night’s selection meeting. However, “extracting the michael” slightly. It reminds me somewhat of the famous Peter Sellers “lift gag”. Right to left John Biggs (London Assembly member GMB), Cllr Ayub Korom Ali (UNISON nominee), Cllr Alex Heslop (UNISON), Mohamed Munaf Zina Zeena, David Edgar (T&G), a local member whose name I did not catch (who said that he had been visited at his home by 31 candidates so far!) and Dr. Hasanat M. Husain MBE.

Dan McCurry and Abdus Shukur were the only other candidates that I remember seeing. There are, I think, 3 more selection meetings. Bow West meets 7pm tonight at St Paul’s, Stephens Road, E3.

Labour CLP TULO training with Assembly members

On Saturday, Labour Party "Trade Union Liaison Officers" (TULO), from all over London met up at a training event with Labour Greater London Assembly members John Biggs, Valerie Shawcross and Murad Qureshi (see pic with UNISON members Louise Couling and Fazlul Chowdhury). There were speakers from London Labour Party regional office and London Labour Board. The event was organised by London TULO and there were trade union CLP officers from all parts of London present. All of whom were Labour Party members who are also trade union affiliates to individual London Constituencies. There were trade union members from Amicus, ASLEF, CWU, GMB, MU, TGWU, TSSA, UCATT, UNISON and USDAW.

It may be helpful to explain that in London, the Labour Party (usually) organises around Parliamentary Constituencies (CLP). In each CLP there should be a Trade Union Liaison Officer(CLP TULO), who is elected by the trade union affiliates to that CLP. Rather confusingly, there is also Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (national TULO) which is the national body representing Labour Party Trade Union affiliates.

After speakers, there was a Q&A, followed by workshops. One of the main aims of the event was how as trade union affiliates we were going to support the Party in the GLA elections next year and in particular defeat the BNP.

I thought the event was a huge success and very encouraging. Trade unions have been a traditional source of finance for the Party. However, its organisational potential for electoral campaigning has not been fully utilised in recent times. Future training sessions have been planned. Watch this space.