Farewell to Harry Ratner, but his legacy lives on

Harry Ratner, who died recently at his home in Derbyshire, must have been one of the few surviving members of a generation that came to revolutionary politics in the 1930s, and one who never sold out for selfish ambition nor, despite disillusion in dogmas and leaders, lost his faith in human beings or a socialist future.

Born in London in 1919, the son of a Jewish immigrant father who precariously tried his hand in various business ventures, his mother a French officer's daughter, young Harry was good at science and dreamed of serving humanity through medicine, or of what seemed like a new life of genuine communism that he heard about on the kibbutz in Palestine. But already at 16 he set out on the path that would be his for the rest of his life, joining the working class and the fight for socialism.

Though never so far as I can see aspiring to be a leading figure in the movement or possessing the kind of ego that the movement regrettably sometimes fosters and accepts in leadership, Harry had the intellect to think about issues and what we were doing, as well the dedication, honesty and integrity the movement needs if it is to be sustained, let alone to get anywhere.

I first met Harry in Manchester when I was about 16 myself, and though we did not remain in touch for long, he did have a lasting influence.

It was in 1959, the Socialist Labour League had just been formed that year, and already come in for witch-hunting attacks from two national newspapers, as well as denunciation in leaflets from the notorious employer-funded Economic League. The late Empire News, a Sunday paper which we had delivered on Saturday night so my parents could check their football coupons, carried a front-page story about Trotskyists plotting to ruin Britain with strikes and bring about a revolution. It said they had infiltrated the unions and the Labour Party, and had a newspaper called the Newsletter.


I'd heard of Trotsky as a leader of the Russian Revolution. As a matter of fact someone had even mentioned his name in our house several years earlier when the grown-ups were discussing  unpleasant events in the Soviet Union. And Mr.Rosenfelt, a friend of my parents, had said approvingly "Ah, now Trotsky was a real communist."  Which had stuck in my mind as interesting.

But a Trotskyist movement in Britain? Was it true? And could I agree with the nefarious methods it was using in industry - assuming one believed what was said in that Sunday newspaper?

One weekend, a friend at school persuaded me to go with him to a big CND rally. It was really big, the Free Trade Hall was crammed full, I think it was the one where Konni Zilliacus and the Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg were speaking. I don't remember what either of them said. But outside the hall as we'd waited to file in I saw a bloke in a cloth cap and raincoat,  selling The Newsletter. Naturally, 1 stepped over to buy a copy. That was my first encounter with Harry Ratner and with Marxism.

Some younger people with him sold me a Keep Left, and gave me a leaflet for a meeting the following week called "Youth Must Organise!". Before long I was actively involved, helping set up a Young Socialists branch, selling papers at the docks, and attending classes which Harry Ratner took on Marx' s Capital.  Harry patiently explained the theory of surplus value, and illustrated the workings of the system from his own experience - he was a shop steward in a textile engineering factory.  

Once, chatting over a coffee, Harry asked me about my background and what had brought me to Trotskyism. It never occurred to me, at 17, to ask about his life. Not till his book Reluctant Revolutionary came out did I learn that, like me, Harry Ratner had been a member of the Zionist youth movement Habonim, before he joined the Labour League of Youth, in Willesden, north west London. By an ironic twist, it was in Willesden, in 1964, that I was expelled from the Labour Party as it purged the Young Socialists.

A few years before I had attended my Labour Party ward meeting in Mandley Park, Salford, when the Party was expelling Harry Ratner, in its purge of Trotskyists. Not allowed into the meeting to defend his self, Harry would probably not have been surprised that the person who spoke against him was a Labour councillor who doubled as a leading Stalinist.

As he recounts in his book, talking about holding street corner meetings in London's East End in the 1930s, "One evening we would be attacked by the fascists as 'dirty Reds' and told to 'Get back to Russia', the next evening we would be attacked by Communist Party members as 'bloody fascists'."

The Labour League of Youth was divided between Stalinists, led by Ted (later Lord) Willis, and a smaller number inclined towards Trotskyism. Joining the latter faction, Harry met and worked with a young man called Gerry Healy, who was to have an important influence on his life and on mine. There is an amusing account in the early pages of Reluctant Revolutionary of their adventures out whitewashing slogans in Paddington at night. Later on, Harry was less amused by Healy's way of handling dissent, even when they were on the same side in some of the Fourth International's factional disputes.

Most telling, perhaps, is Harry's account of what might seem to some a trivial incident in the 1950s, when Healy bawled quite unnecessarily at a cafe waitress, and Harry thought to himself, "If Gerry is like this now what would he be like if we had power?"  Notwithstanding the unlikeliness of that contingency, such insights, if shared and talked about early on might have saved a lot of trouble.

Not that Harry Ratner, for all his mild and modest manner, was any milksop. Having gone to visit his mother in France in 1938, he heard poet Andre Breton, hitch-hiked through the country talking to youth, and witnessed the end of the Popular Front and the Third Republic. Helping the Trotskyists Raymond Molinier and Pierre Frank escape as France fell, he was later arrested himself in London for sheltering Frank in his flat.

  During the Blitz young Ratner was involved in another kind of shelter, and Underground movement, when Londoners took refuge in the tube stations, and he found himself on a shelterers' committee with  a young Communist Party member, of later comedy acting fame, Alfie Bass.

Called up in 1941, Harry was drafted into the Pioneers Corps, with other misfits, including refugees and Spanish Republicans. He was involved in the Sicily and Normandy Landings, and the next time he turned up at his mother's flat in Paris he surprised her by arriving in British uniform, having hitched a lift with a Free French unit. He was able to report the liberation of Paris for the Socialist Appeal. But the defeat of Hitler's fascism was not the end of the struggle, it was a new beginning, as seen in the civil war in Greece, the strikes cum mutiny that were to come in the British forces in India in 1946, or the use of British troops against strikers in Belgium which Harry also reported for Socialist Appeal.

It was while he was on leave in 1942 that a different kind of event affected Harry's life. Going rambling with a pal in Derbyshire, he met Olive, who was to be his lifelong companion. She was bringing up a child and working in a laundry, where she led a strike. Having committed himself to the working class politically, Harry married into it. Olive initiated him into such important cultural matters as saving the best china for visitors. In his book he credits her with anchoring him in
real life and human relations.


Demobbed after the war, Harry found a job in a Manchester engineering works, then went on from pushing a broom to 'semi-skilled' status (to be classed as skilled you had to have served an apprenticeship).  Though his way wasn't always easy, what with blacklisting and hostile bureaucacy, he became shop steward, works convenor, and AEU branch president.

He was involved in the factional disputes which rent the Trotskyist movement, over eastern Europe, Korea and the Labour party, as well as leading industrial struggles. He worked full time for the
Trotskyist movement in 1957, when it won to its side many disillusioned Communist Party members, such as Peter Fryer, who had been the Daily Worker's reporter in Budapest when Russian tanks invaded.

Having had a bellyful of bureaucratic Stalinism -his despatches from Hungary were suppressed and he was expelled from the Communist Party, - Fryer soon found Healy's bullying regime more than he could stomach, and this talented journalist was lost to the paper he started. But he never went over to the Right. After pioneer work on British Black history, Peter Fryer became a columnist for Workers Press after Healy's downfall, and he provided the Introduction to Harry Ratner's book.

Harry Ratner soldiered on, and contributed something to the education of younger comrades such as me, as well as helping the Socialist Labour League (SLL) establish itself for a time as a serious alternative to the Communist Party's leadership among trade union militants. He seems to have become pessimistic at a time when as a newcomer I was excited by the apprentices' and seafarers strikes. Maybe this was due to the difference in our ages, or maybe it was his experience with the SLL's increasingly narrow and repressive leadership, dishonest and sectarian, imposing changes of line.

Besides his disillusion with the gap between the Party's perspective and the real situation and mood in the working class, at a particular time, Harry Ratner makes an important point in Reluctant Revolutionary about a constant tendency for hyperactivity to isolate members from the very working class which they are supposedly trying to influence. Indeed my later experience was that the leadership seemed to want to break members' ties and relationships deliberately, just like a religious cult.

Not only was any kind of cultural or social life frowned upon, but as the WRP deteriorated comrades who became involved in struggles or took their trade union responsibilities seriously could find themselves in conflict with whatever meaningless "party tasks" were supposedly necessitated by the "revolutionary situation". (So "revolutionary" that half the party's members only existed on paper and more than half the branches never met).

 Harry Ratner left the organisation for which he had done so much work, and came to question many of the ideas in which he had believed. But he never abandoned his loyalty to the cause of the oppressed or his honesty. The written work he has left is well worth reading, not just for his account of the past, but because he raises questions and issues which we continue to face. He has passed on the baton.   

• His funeral will take place on Thursday 7th November at Markeaton Crematorium, Main Chapel at 2.00pm.  As was his wish there will be a non-religious celebration of his life. His wife, Olive has asked that in lieu of flowers, a donation can be made, if you choose, to Breast Cancer Awareness. Donations can be made through the undertakers. A.W. Lymn at the Ilkeston office, 01159 444 121 where Scot will take your call. Or at Markeaton on the day.

      
Some writings by Harry Ratner

Following in young Fred's Footsteps

SOME of the country's most popular museums are endangered by spending cuts. Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) , Bradford's National Media Museum and the National Railway Museum in York could close, according to the Science Museum Group (SMG), which also runs the Science Museum in London. It has announced that a further 10% cut in government funding would leave it with "little choice" but to close one of the museums.

Council leaders in 11 local authorities have written to Chancellor George Osborne  The council leaders said they were "equally concerned" about potential cuts at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield, whose funding is contracted through SMG.

Councils  said visitors to the National Media Museum contributed about £24m a year to the local economy, and the National Railway Museum brought in £40-50m. Visitors to the Museum of Science and Industry provided about £28m to the local economy.

Friends in the North West say they make a point of taking their children to the MOSI for both pleasure and instruction. The museum's hands on gadgets and displays make it an especial favourite with kids. 

That the threatened museums are in the North, where so much of  science and industry was developed, but which has also born so much of the brunt of industrial decline and austerity, has not gone unnoticed. Even the Archbishop of York has said something about it.
Archbishop condemns threat to museums.

As though to rub insult into injury, news of the theat to these valued assets comes with reports that Prime Minister David Cameron favours the building of a £15 million museum dedicated to Margaret Thatcher, whose disdain for industry and the North, and hatred for the workers has been more than reciprocated. At least two popular petitions for the museums are circulating, one of them explicitly saying that money should not be going to the Thatcher museum.
 
 Petition to save the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI)

Against public money for Thatcher museum

I must confess I have not yet visited the three museums, though I hope to remedy the omission. The MOSI was built long after I left Manchester. It stands on what was once the site of the world's first
railway station, Manchester Liverpool Road, opened on September 15, 1830, for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Sadly, this line also saw the scene of the world's first recorded fatal railway accident, when Liverpool MP William Huskisson,  who had travelled for the opening ceremony was knocked down by Stephenson's Rocket at Parkside.

This must have been a great disappointment to the crowd of mill workers and colliers who had come out not only to see the trains but to throw bricks and whatever else was to hand at the carriage carrying the main guest, the Prime Minister, Duke of Wellington. The Iron Duke wisely decided to stay in his carriage and return to Liverpool without setting foot in Manchester. I don't suppose this is the kind of history that Mr.Gove wants taught in the national curriculum. Who knows, it might even give us ideas.

I did go down to Castlefield area with a schoolmate one Saturday in search of an earlier bit of history, the remains of part of the Roman wall of  Mancunium. We found it under the railway arches at the back of a builders' yard near Knott Mill. Knott Mill station, now Deansgate, opened on July 30, 1849, as part of the Manchester to Altringham line. That began from Oxford Road station, which I knew before it was modernised. On another of my urban strolls, after I had become "political", I came to look at the hollow south of the station. There where the River Medlock now runs underground was once the neighbourhood dubbed "Little Ireland", and described in Friedrich Engel's The Condition of the Working Class in England , first published in 1844. 

"....the most horrible spot...lies on the Manchester side, immediately south-west of Oxford Road, and is known as Little Ireland. In a rather deep hole, in a curve of the Medlock and surrounded on all four sides by tall factories and high embankments, covered with buildings, stand two groups of about two hundred cottages, built chiefly back to back, in which live about four thousand human beings, most of them Irish. The cottages are old, dirty, and of the smallest sort, the streets uneven, fallen into ruts and in part without drains or pavement; masses of refuse, offal and sickening filth lie among standing pools in all directions; the atmosphere is poisoned by the effluvia from these, and laden and darkened by the smoke of a dozen tall factory chimneys..."

Chorlton on Medlock and "Little Ireland"


I remember when Salford council decided to name a block of flats after Engels, the local Tories made a fuss, though it was pointed out to them that Fred was a respected local businessman, and we might add that he joined the militia and even rode to hounds.

Anyway I see the ten story block in Eccles has been refurbished, and Engels seems now to be established in local histories.

Young Fred Engels had been sent to Manchester to look after his father's mill and probably to keep him out of trouble. Here he discovered the English -and Irish -working class. Engels and his friend Marx did not have to invent the class struggle, that was already happening. They just had to realise its historical significance. Two years before The Condition of the Working Class in England appeared and six years before the Communist Manifesto, a general strike which began among the Staffordshire colliers had spread across the North West, and Manchester was naturally an important centre.

 August 11, 1842 At 6.30am a crowd of over 10,000, many of whom, it was noted, were women, assembled in Granby Row Fields. The main speaker was Christopher Doyle who urged the strikers not to return to work until their demands had been met. As he was speaking the Mayor Mr Neil and a number of magistrates rode up to the cart and told them that the meeting was illegal and must disperse. The Riot Act was then read and one hundred soldiers appeared, fully armed and with two six pound artillery pieces. The crowd fled but there was no violence or casualties. Companies of soldiers were then stationed in Hunt Street, on Oxford Road near Little Ireland, and also opposite Esdaile’s Buildings.

A meeting took place at the Carpenter Hall attended by mechanics, engineers, millwrights, moulders and smiths which passed resolutions in favour of the People’s Charter which they declared “contains the elements of justice and prosperity and we pledge ourselves never to relinquish our demands until that document becomes a legislative enactment”. They also pledged not to return to work “until the decision of the trades of Manchester be ascertained.”

During the morning thousands of workers marched from Ashton and Stalybridge to Rochdale and brought out most of the mills and factories. A mass meeting passed a resolution declaring that they would not resume work until they had obtained a fair price for a fair day’s labour. They then marched to Heywood and turned out the mills and factories there.

...........

Friday 12 August
There was a meeting of various trades and mill hands at the Fustian Cutters room, 70 Tib Street at 10am which passed two resolutions, one declaring that the strike was for the Charter and the other declaring that the operatives offer themselves as “conservators of the public peace”.
The mechanics met at Carpenters’ Hall at 2pm where they heard reports from delegates from Lancashire and Yorkshire on the situation in their trades and their attitude to the strike. The conference concluded by passing a resolution which stated “that the only remedy for the present alarming distress and widespread destitution is the immediate and unmutilated adoption and carrying into law of the document known as the People’s Charter, that this meeting recommends the people of all trades and callings forthwith cease work until the above document becomes the law of the land.”

Saturday 13 August
The weekly Manchester Guardian, published on Saturday, carried an editorial which practically frothed at the mouth:

“…we have seen the resolutions passed at the meeting of delegates at the Sherwood Inn and the Carpenters’ Hall yesterday. To us, who well knew the real objects of the agitators, these resolutions convey no information. But to parties who have hitherto, either wilfully or ignorantly, shut their eyes to the truth, we recommend a perusal of the resolutions; and especially the second, recommending that the present forced cessation of work shall be continued until what is called “the charter” becomes the law of the land. Disguise it as we may the present movement is rising against the government and the law. Call it by what name we please, IT IS REALLY AN INSURRECTION.” (The Manchester Guardian 13 August 1842)

http://radicalmanchester.wordpress.com/tag/little-ireland/ 


To come back up to date, a film on the Condition of the Working Class is due to get what I think is its first London screening on Thursday evening at Congress House, courtesy of the Southern and Eastern Regions of the TUC (SERTUC). I think there will be refreshments, though I cannot confirm the rumour that Sir Brendan Barber will be standing the drinks.

Here's the info:

SERTUC FILM CLUB - FREE ADMISSION Screening + Director Q&A

A new documentary feature film by Michael Wayne & Deirdre O'Neill
- THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASS
Runtime: 82 mins

Everything changes and yet everything stays the same. 1844: Friedrich Engels writes his book 'The Condition of the Working Class in England', a classic denunciation of the appalling living conditions for working people living at the heart of the industrial revolution in Manchester, England.  In 2012: a group of working class people from Manchester and Salford have the job of devising a theatrical show from scratch based on their own experiences and Engels' book. They have 8 weeks before their first performance. The Condition of the Working Class follows the process from the first rehearsal to first night and situates their struggle to get the show on stage in the context of the daily struggles of working people facing economic crisis and austerity politics.

Review: http://vimeo.com/66049819


Thursday 20 June, 7- 9.30pm


   TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
(nearest tube Tottenham Court Road)

FREE ADMISSION    Booking essential

BOOKINGS:             sertucevents@tuc.org.uk or 020 7467 1220

According to Film International, "This is not a film. It is rehearsal for revolution".

 Sounds like the Guardian back in 1842!


Also of interest:
  Digging out Engels club

Canada in the Dock

WARNING SIGNS New badge alerts to Asbestos danger,
and (below) calcified Pleural Plaque, such as appear in
the lungs of people exposed to asbestos, and are
frequntly sign of mesothelioma to come.

ASBESTOS is one of those things we nowadays know is dangerous
(though some journalists purport to doubt it, I'd be curious to see whether they'd expose themselves to the risk to prove their point). Most of us probably assume that THEY (governments and people with responsibilty generally) are doing whatever they can to remove the danger.

On that we'd be mistaken.

At events last week for Mesothelioma Day, like the one I attended in London, we heard about people left exposed to the risk and often working without adequate protective gear, in countries like India and China. Canada was given a special mention, as a developed country whose government has taken steps against asbestos use at home but is willingly exporting the material.

On June 29, just one week before Action Mesothelioma Day (AMD) the Quebec Government announced that funding of $58 million had been provided for businessmen developing a new asbestos underground mine in the town of Asbestos, Quebec.

It so happened that organisers of the AMD event in MANCHESTER had invited Canadian Ban Asbestos Campaigner Kathleen Ruff to speak ( that is her in the centre of this clearly well-attended Manchester meeting). Kathleen explained the background to the Quebec provincial authorities' decision to hand over taxpayers' money for the asbestos scheme. Jason Addy reported that most of the delegates in Manchester were shocked by the news that the Province of Quebec was providing the bulk of the money for developing and operating the new mine. “It was interesting to see,” he said “how the initial response of surprise quickly became outrage as Kathleen explained the political machinations and financial tactics of Canadian asbestos stakeholders like Bernard Coulombe and Baljit Chadha.”

Knowing that most of Britain's asbestos fatalities had been exposed to Canadian asbestos, the people in Manchester were appalled at the thought that the lives of millions of people in developing countries would be endangered by Canadian asbestos for generations to come.

In LIVERPOOL, Laurie Kazan-Allen told the AMD meeting of the Cheshire and Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Groups that Canada had run out of asbestos. " Instead of letting this toxic industry die a natural death, government funds have been injected into a financially-suspect and morally bankrupt scheme to construct new mining facilities in Quebec.” Naming names, she showed a photograph of Baljit Chadha, the man heading up the international consortium backing the Jeffrey Mine project and said:

“Let me conclude my remarks today by sending a message to Canada's asbestos businessmen; and I mean you Baljit Chadha and your investors, all of whom prefer to remain in the shadows. Be warned and be on your guard; the people of Merseyside and Cheshire are not done with you. We are as one when we say we will not allow you to profit while others die. You may have convinced Quebec's asbestos cabal to fund your dastardly project but that was just the first battle. The war over the new Jeffrey Asbestos Mine continues. This is NOT over!”

As a Salford lad with friends among the Liverpool dockers I know the amount of trade the North West used to have with Canada; and the strength the dockers used to have to act on behalf of working people on matters of principal, let alone when facing dangerous cargoes. We might reflect on how far we have all been set back by the way that strength was undermined. Hopefully my union, and the people of Merseyside and Cheshire, will see the advantage of muscle being regained.

As it is, our ability to act even through legal channels is being attacked. Once again we can see the link between health and safety and our democratic rights. As Laurie Kazan-Allen explains:

"From the discussions in Liverpool, it was crystal clear how important the assistance provided by teams at the Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Group and the Cheshire Asbestos Victim Support Group had been to asbestos sufferers. Unfortunately, the existence of these and other UK groups has been put in jeopardy by impending reforms under The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. With the country's asbestos epidemic in full swing, all attempts to curtail the essential work of these groups must be strenuously resisted."

Reports on AMD from:

http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-amd-2012.php

Taking the High Ground

TRESPASSING. Some called them "hooligans" but today their action is celebrated. (right) Benny Rothman, one of those who went to jail for our freedom.

TODAY is the 80th anniversary of a working class battle that took place not in the mills or the streets, and not in the collieries underground, but high in the Peak District where folk sought escape at weekends; and it helped win a freedom for all to roam which may yet be threatened again.

For young people from Manchester, Sheffield and other towns, the bleak moorlands offered an escape at weekends from crowded streets, factory smoke and grime, a chance to feel free and breath lungfulls of fresh air. But here too they encountered the laws of private property and privilege. Though uncultivated and often boggy, large areas of the dark peak on the millstone grit were private, and reserved so rich men could get in a fortnight's grouse shooting.

Efforts to extend access to the moors had not got far. There were only 12 legal paths, and only one per cent of the Peak lands open to walkers. Step off the main track and you could face gamekeepers with sticks and dogs, and even guns.

It was after some ramblers had been turned off Bleaklow, near Glossop, by gamekeepers, one day in the early Spring of 1932, that they decided on some action. They were members of the British Workers' Sport Federation, a Communist Party-inspired organisation started in 1928. Among the Manchester activists was a keen young walker and cyclist from Cheetham Hill, the son of Jewish immigrants from Romania, Bernard, or as he was better known, Benny Rothman.

Born in 1911. Benny was forced to leave school early after his dad died, and he obtained a job as an errand lad with a motor firm. But in the evenings he studied geography and economics, and at weekends when he could he made for the hills, though when he joined the Young Communist League (YCL) an increasing amount of his time and energy began to be taken up with political meetings and selling Challenge or the Daily Worker.

What Benny and his pals decided was that they would not try to sneak up on to the moors to dodge the keepers, but turn up in force to make their point, having announced their intentions beforehand. The target for this Mass Trespass would be Kinder Scout, a moorland plateau part of which rises 636 metres (2,087 ft) above sea level, being the highest point in the Peak District, and in Derbyshire. It was the property of the Duke of Devonshire.

On the morning of Sunday, April 24, 1932, police were watching every railway station between Manchester and Hayfield, but Benny and his mates evaded them by coming on their bikes. About 400 ramblers gathered in a disused quarry at Bowden Bridge, above Hayfield, where after a rousing speech from Benny they set off, singing, towards William Clough, and the scramble on to Kinder's plateau.

This brought them face to face with the Duke of Devonshire's gamekeepers. There was a scuffle, and one of the keepers was slightly injured, but the ramblers managed to press on. On Kinder they met up with a contingent of 30 from Sheffield, who had come up that morning from Edale. There was a stop for tea, and an accompanying Guardian reporter noted "The trespassers were urged not to leave any litter about, and to their credit it must be said they were particularly neat in this matter". Of course. They appreciated and cared for the countryside. After a brief victory meeting, the two groups set off to retrace their steps, the Sheffield trespassers back to Edale and the Manchester contingent to Hayfield.

As they neared the village, the Manchester ramblers were met by a police inspector in a car, who suggested they follow him, and so they formed up into column and marched into Hayfield led by the police car. It was not until they were right into the village that they were stopped by more police, and then police officers accompanied by a gamekeeper began moving among them making arrests. Five of them were taken to the police station and detained. Another man had been taken earlier. The day after the trespass, Rothman and the others were charged at New Mills Police Court with unlawful assembly and breach of the peace.

Pleading not guilty, they were remanded to be tried at Derby Assizes – 60 miles from their homes – in July 1932. The jury at their trial was drawn from Derbyshire's establishment, with landowners and brigadier generals. The judge drew their attention to those defendents with "foreign"-sounding names and origins. All were found guilty and received custodial sentences. Benny did four months in Leicester jail, after which for some time he could not get employment.

Respectable bodies like the Manchester Ramblers' Federation and the Stockport Holiday Fellowship had said they would have nothing to do with these "hooligans", but within weeks of the Kinder Scout trespass some 10,000 ramblers rallied in the Winnats Pass, near Castleton, demanding access to the moorlands. Around the country there was wide sympathy and support for the young men who had gone to jail for the cause.

Returning to Manchester, Benny Rothman resumed his political and trade union work. He took part in the mobilisation to combat Oswald Mosley's fascists. He eventually got a job at the Avro aircraft factory, ironically as Alliott Verdon Roe its founder was a supporter of Mosley, and though this did not last, he was able to move on to the giant Metrovicks plant in Trafford Park, where he was active in the Amalgamated Engineering Union. During the war he was rejected for the army because he was in a reserved occupation.

After the war, and 17 years after the Mass Trespass, the Labour government brought in the Access to the Countryside Act (1949). The Peak District was the first area to be designated a National Park, and access agreements were negotiated with landowners for Bleaklow and Kinder Scout.

Growing up in Manchester, I was able to enjoy walks in the Peak District, and went up Bleaklow and Kinder Scout with friends while a teenager, little aware of the young men of an earlier generation who had gone to prison for my right to roam those hills freely. But I did later hear a song called The Manchester Rambler: "I may be a wage slave on Monday, but I am a free man on Sunday". The author had been a YCLer from Salford called Jimmy Miller who took part in the Trespass, but was to be better-known to us as Ewan MacColl.

In April 1982, there was a rally to mark the 50th anniversary of the Mass Trespass, and Benny Rothman was invited to unveil a commemorative plaque in Bowden Bridge quarry. That year he also produced a little book on the trespass "... because I believe that the Mass Trespass is too important to be dismissed either as youthful folly, or as a political stunt."

Benny died in 2002, but his book on the Kinder Trespass is to be republished this year. Various events are happening as part of the Kinder 80 Festival opening today April 24, at Edale. Benny Rothman's son Professor Harry Rothman, himself the author of Murderous Providence, which is about the environment, will be travelling from Wales, joined by Jan Gillett from Warwickshire, the son of Tona Gillett, a student who was only there to observe the incident but was imprisoned for two months. Singer and broadcaster Mike Harding, a past president of the Ramblers Association, will also be there.

Chairman of the Kinder 80 committee Roly Smith commented: “The 1932 Mass Trespass was an iconic event not only for freedom to roam legislation, finally achieved by the CROW Act of 2000, but as a catalyst towards the creation of our National Parks, of which the Peak District was the first in 1951".

As the Trespass of 1932 is remembered, there are warnings that new planning laws and the relentless drive for private profit are bringing renewed danger to our open spaces and the right to enjoy them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/23/peak-district-mass-trespass-planning-laws?INTCMP=SRCH

http://kindertrespass.com/index.asp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/17/kinder-scout-mass-trespass-anniversary

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/118139

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-17783987

The Working Class Movement Library in Salford, which holds Benny Rothman's papers, is holding a Twitter event, whatever that is!
http://menmedia.co.uk/salfordadvertiser/news/s/1491518_take-to-twitter-to-remember-kinder-scout-mass-trespass

Democracy? You can't do that there 'ere!

SOME time ago I heard a fascinating programme on BBC Radio Four talking about the way our lives were being affected by what used to be public space becoming private. In Basingstoke when the Salvation Army turned up at their usual spot to shake tambourines and sing in praise of the Lord they were met by uniformed security guards acting for the landlords, who had orders to stop any political or religious gathering on the corner that had become their property.

In Milton Keynes I think it was that a man who said he used to be able to nip across the town centre to his grans now faced a bus trip because the precinct was shut on Sunday. Other people spoke of having to scramble down a slope and cross a motorway if they did not want a circuitous journey.

Bad planning and private property between them have a lot to answer for, and though I guess we have all come across such problems, I don't recall much discussion about it. But now I see a case that has occurred which directly shows the conflict between democracy and property. It's in my (dirty) old town, and involves the BBC itself since they moved there.

Thanks to Salford trades union council sister Kate Richardson for sharing this item from the Salford Star with us:

Star date: 19th April 2012

A Salford Star Exclusive

ELECTION CANDIDATE BARRED FROM DISTRIBUTING LEAFLETS

Ordsall local election candidate, George Tapp, was yesterday banned from handing out his leaflets to BBC workers at MediaCityUK which is within the Ordsall ward.

Tapp has also been stopped from handing out leaflets by the new Morrison store across Trafford Road where the streets have now been privatised. Is Salford, home of the BBC, now becoming a democracy free zone?

Full story here…

The BBC has been pointing out how it wants to engage with Salford's local community. So yesterday Ordsall local election anti-cuts candidate, George Tapp, and his agent Paul Gerrard, went to Media City, to the main piazza paid for almost entirely with public money (see here), to try and win the votes of BBC workers…

…But within three minutes of handing out their first leaflets the pair were summoned by security and taken to The Greenhouse to be told by Tony Chebrika, head of security at Media City, that their activity was not allowed on land owned by Peel Holdings.

Having been told by Gerrard that Tapp was an official candidate in the Ordsall ward which covered Media City, Chebrika stated that "the bottom line is that we don't allow leafleting or anything for any cause, or anything like that – we're more than happy for you to stand on the boundaries of the site."

When George Tapp pointed out that Salford people had paid for the `public space', Chebrika added "It's too political for me, I'm sorry, I'm just a security guard… at the end of the day the land owner is Peel Holdings and it's private property and they've decided they don't allow leafleting."

Late last year, official trade union pickets outside the University of Salford's new campus on the 30th November Day of Action were also thrown off the Media City site (see here). Meanwhile, last week the story broke that Peel Holdings security at Media City had been offering BBC workers `escorts' to their cars and tram stops.

It all seems to be an attempt to put a bubble around BBC workers, to shelter them from Salford people and events, whether they want it or not.

"The BBC is supposed to be a bastion of democracy, it's supposed to be about current affairs and there'll be through-the-night coverage of the elections" Paul Gerrard comments "Yet you can't give out a leaflet that belongs to the BBC workers."

And George Tapp points to the irony of the huge Media City BBC screens showing what is happening in Syria… "You've got people all over the world fighting for democracy, I think we'd better start in Salford. Trying to get the message over has gone in Salford."

What has happened to George Tapp and others at Media City is a reflection of the privatisation of public spaces and streets that is going on all around Salford.

Meanwhile, across Trafford Road, outside the new Morrisons supermarket in Ordsall, and around new housing build by developer LPC Living, George Tapp and Paul Gerrard were also told they couldn't hand out leaflets or set up a stall to tell people about the policies of their TUSC (Trade Union Socialist Coalition) Against Cuts party as they were on private land.

"I didn't even know this street had been privatised" says George Tapp "These companies are certainly not interested in the democratic rights of the people of Salford."

The anti-cuts party had been running its stall for weeks on the `boulevard' outside Morrisons when a couple of weeks ago security guards approached its supporters and told them it was private property.

"We'd never had any complaints from Morrisons or members of the public but they said we couldn't set up our stall or give out leaflets" says Paul Gerrard "They gave us LPC's number and I rang them but was told it was nothing to do with them and to get in touch with the management company, Savills. I sent them a polite e-mail request and was sent a curt reply saying not to show up on any part of the Morrisons' shopping area. He didn't give any further explanation."

The Salford Star has also e-mailed Savills asking reasons why permission for a genuine local election candidate to give out leaflets was refused and we are waiting for a reply.

"Basically it's because half of Salford has been sold off to private developers and streets that people think are public streets aren't" says Paul Gerrard "While you can drive on them and walk on them, you can't do political activity, especially if the company that owns them object to what you're saying - like `tax the rich', `nationalise the banks' and things like that."

George Tapp has found it impossible to campaign around virtually all the new flats in Ordsall and Media City as sections of Salford become gated off.

"We go to the high rise blocks and are told we cannot leaflet, we cannot campaign, and those people are being deprived of any information from our party" he says "Unless you're a millionaires' party where you can send things by post our message isn't getting across. You expect it in regimes like Syria, not in Salford."

Ironically, the security guards who told George Tapp and Paul Gerrard that they couldn't give out leaflets on the public piazza outside the BBC wore jackets emblazoned with the slogan `Our City, Your City, MediaCityUK'…

* George Tapp is the Ordsall candidate for the Socialist Party: TUSC Against Cuts. Other candidates standing in Ordsall are Ray Mashiter (Labour), Kate Middleton (Liberal Democrats) and David Morgan (Conservative)'.

http://www.salfordstar.com/

Kate was wondering earlier whether this would make the evening's BBC TV news. Not if it's anything like the selective news coverage we see in London which left out those disabled people chained across the road by Trafalgar Square.

And though there's no shortage of freesheets cluttering up London, we have nothing here as outspokenly independent as the Salford Star.

"It will be all right by the Olympics" . Mayor Boris faces Concrete Problems

CYCLISTS were staging a road safety protest by Kings Cross yesterday evening. If they caused any disruption to traffic, motorists may not have noticed. At least not those trying to get in or out of the capital to the west, where five-mile long tailbacks were tending to gridlock, and all due to closure of the main artery linking London with Heathrow and the West.

On TV we saw Transport for London officers answering questions, but in a year that sees both mayoral elections and London hosting the Olympics, we were bound to hear in other reports from Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson:

Hammersmith Flyover 'will reopen before Olympics start'

The mayor of London's office has said it will know in a week whether the Hammersmith Flyover in west London can be reopened to traffic while critical repairs are carried out to strengthen it.

It gave assurances that the A4 route would be in full working order by the time the Olympics start on 27 July.

Boris Johnson said it would not be shut "one day longer than necessary".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16440285

Boris Johnson took charge of the crisis on the Hammersmith flyover today as it emerged that the bridge could partially reopen to traffic within three weeks.

Mr Johnson visited the west London flyover and said he wanted to reassure drivers "suffering traffic hell" that he is doing everything in his power to ensure it is open again as soon as possible.

Transport for London today admitted that the crisis on the flyover was continuing and said it would be at least another week before engineers can decide whether the bridge is strong enough to support even light traffic.

But sources today told the Standard there are hopes the flyover can be at least partially reopened within two to three weeks. The Mayor gave his assurance that it would be fully reopened in time for the Olympics.

The 50-year-old flyover, which carries the A4 over the centre of Hammersmith, was shut suddenly on December 23 when steel cables were found to have been corroded by salt water from grit laid during successive winters.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-24025913-boris-pledges-to-sort-flyover-crisis.do

The Hammersmith flyover was completed in 1962. According to Wikipedia, " it was one of the first examples of an elevated road employing reinforced concrete balanced cantilever beam supports with a single central column. The deck spine and wings are of hollow prestressed concrete design, with each span being tensioned by longitudinal tendons (four clusters, each of sixteen 29mm steel cables). The flyover was designed by G. Maunsell & Partners, Consulting Engineers, led by Peter Wroth.

Marples, Ridgway and Partners, a Westminster-based civil engineering contractor, built the flyover at a cost of £1.3 million. The then Conservative Transport Minister Ernest Marples had been a Marples, Ridgway shareholder. To avoid a conflict of interest Marples undertook to sell his controlling shareholder interest in the company as soon as he became Minister of Transport in October 1959, although there was a purchaser's requirement that he buy back the shares after he ceased to hold office, at the price paid, should the purchaser so require."

I'm no enginer, but it sounds to me like the bridge is actually built employing the technique of post-stressed concrete, whereby cables are tightened within the concrete after it is laid. Back in the early 1970s I was sharing a house up North with a couple of friends, one of whom was employed as a technician on motorway construction. One day Steve came home not his usual carefree self, and told us that he had been testing the grout, a mixture of cement and sand in water, that was used to surround cables embedded in concrete, in order to seal them from the elements. Finding a batch that was not of the proper consistency - I think it was meant to be cement-rich - he had reported this, only to be told to let it go.

Steve explained that if the cables were not properly grouted and sealed, rainwater permeating through the concrete would cause them to rust, and you might eventually have lumps of loosened masonry from bridges falling down on to the motorway.

I told him somewhat naievely that he ought to go to the press with his story. He replied that if he did that "it would be the end of my career in civil engineering and construction". He was probably right. He won't mind me telling his story now, as last thing I heard he had gone into teaching instead.

In the case of the Hammersmith flyover however, there has been an anonymous whistleblower, who contacted the Hammersmith and Fulham Chronicle to tell them the flyover was unsafe, on December 14. While the most that Transport for London would admit was that it needed some repairs, the Chronicle’s source insists the:

post tensioned strands are severely corroded and in some cases completely severed… these temporary solutions [TfL] are considering involve temporary propping which any structural engineer with half a brain will tell you is almost impossible to do correctly with a structure of this kind. It’s not a question of whether the structure will collapse, it’s a matter of when

http://londonist.com/2011/12/hammersmith-flyover-is-unsafe.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16316283

It is reported that the original design of the flyover provided for under-floor heating to keep the surface ice free in Winter. But instead the authorities have relied on putting down grit and salt. (which is more than some London roads have enjoyed !) This has resulted in saltwater seeping down which is far more corrosive to the cables.

The flyover was closed on the 23rd December 2011 after structural defects were discovered, Transport for London estimated that repairs would last until at least January 2012. Well it is January 10, and the flyover is still closed, causing chaos both to commuters and commercial road transport. If it reopens within a few weeks heavy vehicles may still be prohibited from using it.

Mayor Boris Johnson has only promised it will be alright by the Olympics. He may be hoping to take credit, but have to back away from taking responsibility if the problem proves as bad as some fear. Meanwhile, London bus drivers are hoping to tackle Boris over another pressing issue when he visits Hendon next week. They have no toilet facilities at Brent Cross. Of this more anon. Perhaps he'll promise they'll be opened before the Olympics. Boris is good at taking the piss.

A long way from Levenshulme to Liechtenstein

MENTION of Marples Ridgway will bring back memories of Ernie - not the fastest milkman in the West but a Tory minister with that touch of cheek that is supposed to entertain the electorate.

Ernest Marples had a respectable enough background. He was born in Levenshulme, Manchester, in 1907. His father was an engineering charge-hand and Labour supporter, and his mother worked in a local hat factory. Marples attended Victoria Park Council School and won a scholarship to Stretford Grammar, he even became involved in the Labour movement. He was selling fags and sweets to football crowds by the time he was 14, and playing football himself in a YMCA team.

He worked variously as a miner, a postman, and accountant and a chef, but it may have been the army that started him on the wrong path. Commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1941, he rose to Captain before he was dischargd on medical grounds in 1944. That year he joined the Conservative Party, and in 1945 he was elected to MP for Wallasey In 1951 Winston Churchill appointed him a junior minister, and he remained a minister under Harold MacMillan and Sir Alec Douglas Home.

In 1957 Harold Macmillan appointed Marples Postmaster General, and as the telephone system was controlled by the GPO in those days, Ernest Marples was able to take credit for the introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD), which gradually replaced the need for phone operators. On 2 June 1957 Marples started the first draw for the new Premium Bonds. The equipment housed at Lytham St.Annes was also called ‘ERNIE’ to represent ‘Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment’,,

Macmillan made him Minister of Transport in 14 October 1959, and Marples remained in this post after Alec Douglas-Home succeeded Macmillan as Prime Minister in 1963 and until the Conservatives lost the general election on 16 October 1964.

As Minister of Transport, Marples oversaw the introduction of parking meters and the provisional driving licence. The 1960 Road Traffic Act brought the MOT test, yellow lines and traffic wardens,

It was Ernest Marples who appointed Dr Richard Beeching as chairman of British Rail The Beeching Report ;in 1963 recommended closure of a further 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of the remaining 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of Britain's railways, and closure of approach routes, which was made up for by motorway expansion and more work for Marples Ridgway.

Marples had set up this company with Reginald Ridgway in 1948. Although it began small it grew with contracts for powers stations and roads in Britain and abroad. When he became a junior minister in 1951 Marples resigned his directorship of Marples, Ridgway to avoid a conflict of interest. When he was made Minister of Transport in October 1959, Marples further undertook to sell his shareholding in the company to avoid a conflict of interest. However, there was a purchaser's requirement to sell the shares back to Maples after he ceased to hold office, at the original price, if Maples wished this. The purchaser was later revealed to be Marples' own wife.

In 1959 Marples authorised the first section of the M1 motorway, Britain's first inter-city motorway, between London and Nottingham. Marples, Ridgway was given the contract. Marples, Ridgway built the Hammersmith Flyover in London at a cost of £1.3 million, immediately followed by building the Chiswick Flyover.

When Lord Denning investigated the security aspects of the Profumo Affair in 1963, and the rumoured affair between the Minister of Defence, Duncan Sandys, and the Duchess of Argyll, he confirmed to Macmillan that a rumours that Ernest Marples was in the habit of using prostitutes appeared to be true. The story was suppressed and did not appear in Denning's final report.

In 1974 Marples was elevated to the peerage, and his wife Ruth Dodson became Lady Marples.

Early in 1975 Lord Marples suddenly fled to Monaco. Among journalists who investigated his unexpected flight was Daily Mirror editor Richard Stott:

"In the early 70s ... he tried to fight off a revaluation of his assets which would undoubtedly cost him dear ... So Marples decided he had to go and hatched a plot to remove £2 million from Britain through his Liechtenstein company ... there was nothing for it but to cut and run, which Marples did just before the tax year of 1975. He left by the night ferry with his belongings crammed into tea chests, leaving the floors of his home in Belgravia littered with discarded clothes and possessions ... He claimed he had been asked to pay nearly 30 years' overdue tax ... The Treasury froze his assets in Britain for the next ten years. By then most of them were safely in Monaco and Liechtenstein."

As well as being wanted for tax fraud, one source alleges that Marples was being sued in Britain by tenants of his slum properties and by former employees. He never returned to Britain, living the remainder of his life at his Fleurie Beaujolais château and vineyard in France. He died in 1978.

He is buried in Southern cemetery, Manchester.

Info.from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Marples

Raising consciousness and solidarity

BAHRAINIS at London May Day rally.
Now Manchester is centre of solidarity.

WITH scenes of police brutality in Egypt, the continuing death toll in Syria, and Israeli forces attacking the funeral procession of someone they had killed earlier, we can see why some people have said despondently that the euphoria of the "Arab Spring" has been succeeded by a Middle Eastern Winter.

But if we are looking for rays of light, one is that the people are plainly not giving up, nor going away, not even when the surely desperate forces of "order" have to drag women by their hair from Tahrir Square.

Another is that there is a movement of support and solidarity sprouting, more aware and conscious than anything we saw in the anti-war movement, maybe because it is centred on people with first-hand knowledge of the struggles because they and their families are directly involved. Refugees and exiles, from being merely people we ought to help, can help us know the score, the better to understand and fight the policies and regimes our governments are supporting.

Here's a report about Bahrain, and the arrest, physical violence and ill-treatment practiced against human rights defender Zainab AlKhawaj:

" We are deeply concerned about her safety after seeing the violence that she was subject to during arrest. Zainab Al-Khawaja is a 28-years-old member of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, famous human rights blogger as @angryarabia and a mother of 2-years-old girl from Bahrain.

"On 15 December 2011, Zainab was arrested by Bahraini security forces from a roundabout on Budaiya highway, west of capital city Manama where she was taking part in a peaceful-sit-in-protest. The security forces responded with firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protest, while Zainab continued the sit-in before the police moved in to rough her up. She was arrested, handcuffed, assaulted and punched in her back by the police officer as she was forcibly dragged off into custody. She, as well as another woman Masooma Al-Sayed were then taken to the police station.

"Zainab is a mother of a two-year-old child, whose husband Wafi Al-Majed is in prison along with her father, Bahrain’s most prominent political activist and human rights defender, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who was imprisoned for life in June by special military court. Zainab faces grave danger and is at risk of being tortured, as the regime has systematically attacked human rights defenders, health workers and professionals who are speaking up against the repression and human rights abuses.

"We condemn ill-treatment of Zainab Al-Khawaja in public in the strongest possible terms, and arbitrary detention and demand the authorities to release her and Masooma Al-Sayed immediately and unconditionally. We ask all concerned people to take immediate and urgent action in support of Zainab Al-Khawaja and Masooma Al-Sayed. Zainab Al-Khawaja and Masooma AlSayed are to be detained for seven days.

"According to their lawyer:
Masooma Alsayed was kicked in her leg and is now limping, was not seen by doctor
Zainab when arrested had something sprayed in her eyes and was unable to see for approx an hour. Zainab in police station was beaten on head, arms and legs, as she was unable to see
Zainab recognized the voice of the policewoman who beat her, but the prosecutor refused to write it down. When her lawyer attempted to show the prosecutor video of the arrest, he refused to see it. A policewoman came in with bandaged arm claiming Masooma and Zainab hit her.

Zainab refused to sign statement unless policewoman's name was taken who hit her. The prosecutor got angry and made everyone leave the room, awaiting decision.

The moment Zainab was arrested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Zdk98x9TM

http://www.rapar.org.uk/bahrain-solidarity-campaign.html

This information from Bahrain was relayed to us via Manchester, where there is a Bahraini people's solidarity campaign that has demonstrated with support from health workers and other local trades unionists and students against a Bahraini business conference, and in support of Bahraini doctors and nurses who were brutally attacked by the regime there.

At the weekend there was a conference in Manchester about the struggle for freedom and equality in Bahrain, addressed by among others, Tony Lloyd MP who is chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party. (Just for the record we note that Manchester Central MP Lloyd did vote against the Blair government on Iraq, and on the renewal of Trident.) This conference "In support of the Bahraini revolution" was made possible with the help of the refugee rights and political asylum research group RAPAR which says it will work with rather than merely for its clients, and has been assisting Bahraini students whose funds were stopped by their government.

As a Mancunian "exile" who grew up proud of Peterloo and the Chartists, and the area's historic lnks with colonial and Irish freedom and anti-Apartheid struggles , I award full marks to those who are maintaining the tradition in today's world! And best wishes to the Bahraini freedom struggle!


http://www.rapar.org.uk/bahrain-solidarity-campaign.html

http://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2011/10/15/bahrain-manchester-protest-highlights-medics-plight/

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=26378

And Iraq - Kurdistan

Meanwhile, and to set aside the mutual back-slapping between allies that has accompanied the US withdrawal from Iraq, here's a friend on Facebook posting pictures of an event that happened in London recently:

"On the occasion of International Human Rights Day our group Freedom Umbrella: Action for Kurdistan organised a seminar in UK parliament on the violation of human rights in Kurdistan. The seminar was hosted by Labour MP John McDonnell the speakers included Asos Hardi from Awene Newspaper in Kurdistan, Bashdar Ali Journliat and brother of journalist Sardasht Osman who was assassinated last year for criticizing the Kurdish authorities, Houzan Mahmoud from Organisaiton of Women’s freedom in Iraq and Mufid Abdullah journalist also editor of Kurdistan Tribune website. The seminar was chaired by Gona Saeed from Freedom Umbrella".

To which an Iraqi woman solidarity activist has commented:

"Great work Houzan, to have this meeting in parliament at this crucial time when the US/UK are congratulating themselves on what they have done to Iraq! The Kurdish region is often referred to by lobbies like 'Labour Friends of Iraq' as a shining example of people who benefited from the invasion and are living in democracy! Corruption, nepotism and lack of accountability are the main ills in Iraq today!"

To which Houzan Mahmoud replies:
"Thank you dear friend, well the so called Labour Friends of Iraq are standing with dictators not with the workers of Kurdistan. We know what is going on that's why we are hosting such meetings to make these issues known. best wishes".

To which I concur.

May Day and memories of the "remarkable scenes in Bexley Square"

IT'S May Day, the International Workers' Day tomorrow, and there's a march in London assembling 12 noon at Clerkenwell Green and marching to a rally in Trafalgar Square. Despite the convenience of May 1st the traditional date falling on a Sunday this year. there've been variations either side, with a march in Newcastle today and Croydon holding an event at Ruskin House this evening.

Edinburgh has to wait till next Saturday for a people's festival. although the Scottish Socialist Party got in cheekily with a republican march down the Royal Mile yesterday, the same day Royalist half-wits and daft American tourists were watching that wedding, and the Metropolitan Police had locked up anyone here they suspected might fart during the ceremony.

Manchester also has a May Day march tomorrow, but in my home town Salford the trades union council, together with Salford Against the Cuts, is holding a May Day rally on Monday, in Bexley Square at 2pm, and also bringing forward the commemoration of a historic event whose 80th. anniversary falls later this year.

I first read about it in Walter Greenwood's novel 'Love On the Dole'.

It was the Battle of Bexley Square.

The background was the world slump ushered in by the Wall Street crash in October 1929. Then as now the reverberations crossed the Atlantic. By the end of 1930 Britain had 2.3 million registered unemployed. This did not cover the many women, for instance, who did not bother to sign on.

The Labour government stuck to capitalist economics, and the most conservative ones at that, and was persuaded to bring in stringent cuts in public expenditure. Unemployment Benefit was to be cut by ten percent and it was also recommended that Health Care, Maternity and Child Welfare grants should be reduced. But the Cabinet was divided and a split rapidly developed. On August, 23 1931, Ramsey MacDonald, Jimmy Thomas and Philip Snowden, determined to do what they thought necessary at the expense of their working class supporters, deserted the Labour Party, joining with Tories and Liberals to form a National Government.

In the 1929 General Election Labour polled over six and a half million votes and only returned fifty two members to Parliament. The Tories, standing on the policy of a National Government, with MacDonald as Prime Minister, received double the votes and won four hundred and seventy one seats.

Under Macdonald, the newly formed National Government cut the pay of civil servants, teachers and other public employees including the Armed Forces. When Sir Austin Chamberlain announced a shilling a day reduction in the pay of naval ratings there was a strike by sailors based in Scotland - the Invergordon mutiny. The government backed off, but pursued supposed ringleaders.

Unemployment Benefit was cut, however. A single man's benefit was reduced from 18/- (90p) a week to 15/3d (about 77p). In addition, the Means Test was brought in at the beginning of September. If someone in your family was still working, or if you possessed something that you should be able to sell - a piano or item of furniture - then you could be told you didn't need the dole. Thousands of people were struck off Benefit, causing bitter poverty in working class districts. There were many suicides, and many people suffered hunger and malnutrition. Working class women particularly often went without to feed their men.

Later, at the end of the 1930s when the country got ready for another war, army recruiting officers complained at the poor condition of potential recruits.

Even in times of full employment, many Salford workers were on low pay, and lived in deplorable conditions. Walter Greenwood described the smoke curling down from factory chimneys on " jungles of tiny houses cramped and huddled together, the cradles of generations of the future. Places where men and women are born, live, love and die and pay preposterous rents for the privilege of calling the grimy houses 'homes'."

In St Matthias Ward, which lies in the valley of the Irwell and climbs up to higher ground, the Medical Officer of Health in 1929 found that 525 out of 3,361 houses suffered from insufficient light and ventilation. Out of 950 houses in the ward in 1929 the following lacked normal amenities:

94 houses were without a yard 47 houses shared a yard

67 houses had to use a water tap outside 26 houses had to share a water tap

33 houses had no sink

152 houses had no boilers at all

28 houses had boilers which were unfit for use 15 houses had to share a boiler

129 houses had to share a water closet

In one group of eight houses, they were told 14 adults and their 23 children of all ages had to share two water closets.

In 1930, unemployment in .Salford had shot up to one in four being registered out of work. By 1931, it was almost one third of the adult population and conditions were grim.

The National Unemployed Workers' Movement had been formed in 1921. It was led by Wal Hannington, a toolmaker and communist. Branches were organised throughout the country and officers were trained to represent the members before Courts of Appeal and Boards of Assessors. Both local and national hunger marches were organised and deputations arranged to the authorities concerned with unemployment and relief Although many Trade Unions and the Labour Party leaders viewed the NUWM with disfavour, it won widespread support among the rank and file of the movement.

In 1931 the NUWM Salford branch was growing. Its speakers would address the dole queues outside the Labour Exchanges, or organised meetings on crofts. The NUWM branch itself met in the Workers Arts Club at Hyndman Hall. As well as what was happening to them, the members discussed the wider political picture, and the possibility of a different, socialist future. They resisted demoralisation, maintaining their solidarity and self-respect.

In 'Love on the Dole', Greenwood describes the shock of the Means Test, when a worker is refused dole, and demands to see the manager. The Manager ordered a clerk to look up the man's particulars; the clerk handed over some documents after a search in a filing cabinet. His superior, after perusing some notes written upon the forms, looked at the applicant and said: 'You've a couple of sons living with you who are working, haven't you?'

'Aye,' the man answered: 'One's earning twenty-five bob an't'other a couple 0' quid, when they work a full week. An' the eldest he's ... .'

'In view of this fact,' the manager interrupted: 'The public Assistance Committee have ruled your household's aggregate income sufficient for your needs; therefore your claim for transitional benefit is disallowed.' He turned from the man to glance interrogatively at Harry.

The man flushed: 'The swine,' he shouted: 'Th' eldest lad's gettin wed .... 'as 'e to keep me an' the old woman?' raising his fist: 'I'll ... .' But the attendant policeman collared him and propelled him outside, roughly, ignoring his loud protestations.

The Salford Branch of the NUWM decided to organise a demonstration on October 1, 1931. They wrote to the city councilors and the mayor announcing their intention of presenting their demands.

Jimmy Miller, a mechanic who was also involved, recalled:

"For the ten days before that we were out every night advertising the demo. Our publicity methods were cheap and effective. All we needed was a good supply of bluemould, the porous chalk-like substance which housewives used to brighten up their window sills and doorsteps. It is useful stuff for chalking slogans and announcements on walls." Miller became better known in later years as folk singer Ewan McColl. Although he moved from Salford he remembered it in his song "Dirty Old Town".

There was a good response from the unemployed. When October 1 arrived, "a dull grey day", a big crowd gathered on the croft outside Hyndman Hall, in Liverpool Street. They were bitter about the Means Test, and at the strong police presence, but elated as each new group arrived to swell their crowd. They cheered the speakers, roaring approval for their demands, and raising hands in support.

They set off for Bexley Square, where the council was meeting in Salford town hall. Police flanked them on either side.

DOWN! DOWN WITH THE NATIONAL STARVATION GOVERNMENT!

DOWN! DOWN! DOWN WITH THE CUTS!

DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! WITH THE MEANS TEST!

At the cross roads there came the first brush the Police, who threw a cordon across the road to divert the march. Wilf Gray recalls: "We went through them like a knife through soft putty. I remember my head going down as if in a rugby scrum. With the pressure from our comrades behind, we pushed them to one side quite easily."

As they neared the town hall, the crowd grew thicker.

When the head of the demonstration was half way down Chapel Street there took place what the press described as:

"remarkable scenes in Bexley Square outside Salford Town Hall after a big demonstration numbering several thousands, organised by the National Unemployed Workers' Movement arrived to protest against the proposed cuts in poor law relief which the Council were considering."

Wilf Gray' says:

"It was a disciplined, well marshalled demonstration under complete control of the organisers .... Morale was high and at no time was there any reason for the brutal police attack on the marchers which took place when we reached Bexley Square. The deputation was in the process of presenting themselves when the deliberately planned attack took place. I remember hearing a shout and turning to look back I saw police charging with their batons. They had been lying in wait for our arrival. The whole thing had been planned."

Bexley Square had been cordoned off and when the deputation asked to be to gain access to the Town Hall, the policeman approached signed to the four constables and the inspector who had headed the procession. They turned their backs on the delegation and faced the Square.

"Orders passed. Mounted Police appeared at the trot, and, on a sudden, a swarm of plain-clothes men descended from nowhere and began to snatch the placards from the hands of the demonstrators, flinging them to the ground and trampling them underfoot."

Jimmy Miller remembered:

"All around was a crush of shouting, bellowing, screaming, angry and bewildered men and women. They were pushing, pulling, trying to avoid the swinging batons of the police and the terrifYing hooves of the horses. Some desperately tried to shove their way out of the ambush while others pushed forward."

Te Square became a battlefield:

"A note of fierce hatred, deep and vengeful" was heard as the marchers broke through the barricades. Alex Armstrong passed by holding his large brass bell above his head like a Town Crier. There was a lull for a few moments and then, from behind the Town Hall dozens of mounted police suddenly appeared followed by foot police brandishing their clubs. They charged and the first engagement was fierce. But when the police tasted blood, they started lashing out at anyone in their path."

After a moment or two, the fear of the horses vanished and the crowd began to fight back. "Here a mounted cop is pulled from his horse and there a constable is deprived of his baton." But training counted. The unemployed had no strategy for such an engagement. They fought as individuals, "unarmed individuals against a disciplined armed force trained to fight as a squad."

There was another factor which militated against the demonstrators. They were aware that the law of the land is on the side of the police who could bash people around and get away with it. But if anyone of the crowd was caught bashing one of them, they would "land up in the nick as surely as night follows day"

As the unemployed struggled-to-carry out their aim of breaching the barricades to enter Bexley Square, police horses loomed over "gigantic, eyes rolling, nostrils flared. The smell of the horse sweat mingled with the smell of our fear". A policeman leaned out of his saddle to give an impetus to the swing of his truncheon. The blow lands with a dull thud across the shoulders of a skinny man in an old raincoat." He crumbled and sank to the ground,

There was a sudden increase in the noise and many voices took up the cry, "The deputation! They've arrested the deputation'" On this news, there was a surge of activity and the crowd moved forward to the edge of the Square. By that time, squads of police were dragging arrested marchers across the Square towards the waiting riot wagons.

As the demonstrators fought back and the police plied their boots and truncheons, a cry went up, "Down with the cossacks'" A dozen men leapt over the barricade and raced towards the battling groups. Two of them were struck down by the mounted police and the others were surrounded by squads of foot police who forced them to the ground. One of the marchers was bleeding profusely from the head and appeared to be unconscious. A young policemen grabbed hold of him and started dragging him along the ground."

The demonstrators, having gone to protest against what they considered to be a gross injustice and to present a petition to their elected representatives, had found themselves forced to fight against a well-fed and trained army. The police, naturally, alleged that the marchers attacked them first. However the revolt of the unemployed in Salford was not an isolated event. Huge demonstrations took place throughout the country and the role of the police in repressing the workers assumed a similarity which pointed to a national policy.

http://libcom.org/history/battle-bexley-square-salford-unemployed-workers-demonstration-1st-october-1931

http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=961

I grew up in the Salford of the 1950s, when we thought mass unemployment was a thing of the past, though slum housing was still all too present. My parents, who had begun their courting when they met while signing on at the labour exchange, identified their young lives with Greenwood's Love on the Dole,

, which was made into a wartime film and a post-war radio play. They told me about the Means Test, just as they had told me about the Peterloo Massacre, but I don't remember them telling me about the battle of Bexley Square, even when my Dad took me for a work round that way. I guess like others of their generation they hoped we would never have to go through such things.

Now that we know better, when global economic crisis, cuts, unemployment and police violence are once again with us, I am glad to see the Salford trades union council and local anti-cuts activists taking responsibility for making sure a new generation can learn about this past.

Safety Rep in the Frontline at Fujitsu

ISSUES RESOLVED -SEE BOTTOM STOP PRESS! WORKERS at Fujtsu in Manchester are mobilising support for Phil Tepper, a UNITE member and, they say, well-respected safety representative whom the company has charged with gross misconduct. There will be a rally to back Phil Tepper when the union rep faces a hearing on Friday, which could result in his dismissal.

The Unite members say the charge against this brother entirely arises from his work as a safety rep, investigating complaints of work-related stress raised by members. "This victimisation threatens the ability of any rep to deal with any issue on behalf of any employee" says the Unite Fujitsu website.

Fujitsu is an important focus for today's trade unionism, showing it can organise in the new information-based industries with their young and relatively well-educated workforce. The Japanese owned company, providing IT services and support to industry and government, employs over 12,000 people in the UK, plus a couple of thousand temporary staff and contractors. The engineering and scientific union Amicus, now part of Unite, waged a successful fight for recognition four years ago, and has since sought ways to organise and represent agency staff. Phil Tepper has worked for over 40 years for Fujitsu, and been a highly regarded workplace and safety rep for fellow-workers for over a decade, his union colleagues say. They accuse the company of making groundless allegations against him now, despite knowing that Phil is undergoing cancer treatment. The extra stress could adversely affect his illness. The background to the current row is that two members in a department of about 30 people had complained of work-related stress and suffered long periods of sickness absence. The Health and Safety Executive has “Management Standards for work related stress” and a set of tools for measuring and identifying the root causes of work-related stress. These include an “indicator tool”, which is basically an anonymous survey.

Fujitsu’s own guidelines on stress refer to the management standards, though Unite says it is not aware of the company carrying out stress risk assessments (as it should under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations) to protect staff, either generally or in this case. Union reps supplemented the survey with four additional questions and agreed that Phil should send it out on behalf of the Safety Reps. Phil sent it out to all the team, including the managers. Neither Phil, Unite or the survey made any accusations against anyone, or ask anyone to do anything other than return the survey and encourage others to do likewise. Phil pointed out that if team members felt there were no problems, the survey would show that.

One of the team members who had raised a complaint about stress and bullying has recently been charged with gross misconduct on unrelated grounds and summarily dismissed. The union believe this decision is grossly unfair and the member is appealing against it with their support.

When the survey went out on Friday 11th March, a number of employees responded to Phil, who replied politely and professionally in each case. Phil then received an email from a senior individual in HR warning of “potential serious adverse consequences for you personally and Unite generally”, but giving no indication of what the company thought Phil had done wrong.

UNITE tried to defuse the situation with a letter on March 16, pointing out that Phil was acting entirely in accordance with his role under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, Regulation 4, “to investigate complaints by any employee he represents relating to that employee’s health, safety and welfare at work”, but nonetheless offering an apology if anyone had taken offence.

On Friday March 25 the company sent Phil, who was on annual leave, an invitation to a disciplinary hearing with a charge of gross misconduct. The central allegation was that Phil issued the survey “with the intention of inciting a campaign of bullying, harassment and victimisation” against one particular manager, though no evidence has been provided of any such campaign or of any such intention.

Unite members point out that normally allegations of "bullying etc" would be investigated first before any charges were made. They are concerned that the decision in these case to proceed against Phil Tepper seems to have been taken at the highest level. The union has asked for discussions with tghe company, and suggested involving the Arbitration, Conciliation and Advice Service, ACAS. But with the disciplinary hearing due on Friday, Unite feels it has no option but to actively defend its member. A petition is going round Fujitsu to defend Phil Tepper, and there's to be a rally at 8am on Friday outside the front of Fujitsu at Central Park, Northampton Road, Manchester M40 5BP. If the hearing goes ahead supporters will gather outside at 1.55pm. Unite is asking for people prepared to act as witnesses for Phil Tepper, but it also warns that it is balloting for industrial action if the company victimises him. http://www.ourunion.org.uk/news/top.html

stop press!

Defend Phil Tepper - RESOLVED Following discussions, all issues in relation to both Phil Tepper and the member who had been dismissed have now been resolved. As a result, the protests planned for tomorrow (Friday 1st April) are cancelled and all other activities for the campaign over Phil’s case should cease. Phil would like to express his gratitude for all the kind messages he has received.