Three Score Years And Ten

The Communist Manifesto - From Marx to Groucho

2012-02-01T16:55:00.003Z

Education, Education, Education

2012-01-26T15:47:00.001Z

This link shows the need not only for a commitment to improving education at school, but it also illustrates the case for adult and continuing education for both late developers and others who need further chances. Adult and continuing education was something I was grateful for over 50 years ago. We could learn from those days. There is no reason why adults should be at the back of the queue.

Philosophy for All

2012-01-25T18:12:00.003Z

Brazil leads the way - see here .

Hat Tip - Normblog .

Needed - A Left Turn

2012-01-23T18:23:00.002Z

Following the serious economic downturn of September 2008, I advocated the following economic, social and political programme. It is still what is needed. It would be good to see a Labour Party which proposed it. Dream on.

To Increase Economic Demand

1. Increase Pensions and other Benefits.

2. Increase Expenditure on Social Provisions in areas such as Health, Social Welfare and Education.

3. Finance a Council House Building Programme.

4. Take over houses that have been repossessed and rent these out to their former occupants.

5. Raise the Income Tax Threshold, without allowing the wealthy to benefit from this.

To Pay For This Programme

A. A Wealth Tax.

B. Windfall Taxes on Super Profits and Bonuses.

C. Raise Income Tax on the Top Earners.

D. Corporation Tax Increases.

E. Work also for International Taxes on currency and other forms of speculation. With the proceeds being used to overcome third world poverty.

Parliamentary Pitmen Politicians

2012-01-20T20:21:00.002Z

PITMEN POLITICIANS - The Agenda.

1. Explain the Handout. (Maps and Details).
2. Set the Scene via James Haslam. (Above).
3. The Twin Pillars – Haslam and Harvey.
4. Liberal Hard Liners – Hancock and Kenyon.
5. Labour but Defeated – 1914 Martin, 1918 Hall & Lee.
6. Turning the Tide – 1922 Lee, followed by White.
7. The Strange Case of Clay Cross – until Neal.
8. The Four I Knew – Swain, Varley, Skinner and Ellis.
9. Conclusion – Land, to Capital, to Labour. What Now?

James Haslam (above) was the first of eleven pitmen to become an MP in North Derbyshire, when he was elected to represent Chesterfield in 1906. It started a tradition which lasts to this day under Dennis Skinner, the MP for Bolsover. How did these pitmen politicians emerge and did they achieve what they set out to do? This is the topic which I will be covering at the following meeting.

Organisers....Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Labour History Society

Topic...........Parliamentary Pitmen Politicians of North Derbyshire

Speaker.......Harry Barnes (former MP for North East Derbyshire)

Date............Saturday 21st January 2012

Time...........2 pm (doors open at 1.30)

Venue.........Chesterfield Labour Club, Saltergate, Chesterfield

(See here for a related item.)

Frank Cook

2012-01-13T11:15:00.005Z

I was sorry to hear of the death of Frank Cook. He was the Labour MP for Stockton from 1983 to 2010. Although I had met him briefly beforehand, I came to know him well once I was myself elected to the Commons in 1987. He could regularly be found undertaking his Constituency work in the Commons Library and it was there in my first week in the Commons that he introduced me to the mysteries of "Early Day Motions", showing me how MPs could use them as a campaigning device. It was a lesson which I never forgot.

Although he had a clear sense of humour, he was a seriously minded politician. We invariably discussed issues when our path's crossed. I had at one time worked as a railway clerk at Stockton and originated from the North East, so what was happening in his area interested me. He regularly contributed to debates in the Commons and was an MP worth listening to.

During the parliamentary expenses scandal he was dealt with really badly by the media. On a slow news day on a Sunday, news programmes led with the story that he had tried to reclaim £5 which he had reimbursed to an assistant who had donated the amount during a service at Stockton Parish Church. Yet it was a non-story as the Fees Office had rejected his claim and Frank clearly explained how the claim had all been a mistake. That ever since the matter has been used by some to blacken Frank's character is a terrible shame.

I prefer to remember him as a dedicated MP who delivered on behalf of his constituents and worked well and hard on wider issues, developing a specific expertise on defence matters.

Both Stockton and the Commons were better places from his 27 years as an MP and that is how he should be remembered.

Needed Wealth, Inheritance and Tobin Taxes

2012-01-03T16:58:00.003Z

The German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) has demanded that Germany’s richest citizens help with the countries debt crisis and tax burden, instead of it falling on working people. They have pressed for wealth, inheritance and tobin taxes. We need the same call from Labour Movements elsewhere - especially here. See this.

(Photo) Micheal Summers, President of the DGB puts the case to Angela Merkel at a Press Conference.

HAT TIP : Left Foot Forward.

The Mass Murders In Baghdad

2011-12-23T15:46:00.003Z

Statement of the Political Bureau of the Iraqi Communist Party:

More innocent victims and bloodshed are the price

of policies of ruling political blocs and their infighting

Our people have once again paid the price for the crimes of terrorists who exploit the unprincipled power grab of political leaders and their infighting. Baghdad and its inhabitants have been terrorized by a series of cowardly bombings that have targeted several areas of the capital today, killing and wounding hundreds of innocent people, in addition to considerable material damage inflicted on the houses of citizens, their shops and other property. These criminal acts, carried out by the remnants of the former regime and their allies, remnants of Al Qaeda and other religious extremists - the enemies of the people, freedom and democracy - have been timed to coincide with the precarious conditions experienced by our country as a result of the grave crisis which the political and security situation has descended to during the past few days, and the intensifying conflict between the leaders of the Iraqiya bloc and the Rule of Law bloc, which has taken a dangerous new turn.

Iraqi patriotic forces, along with millions of our people and also the Iraqi Communist Party, have for years been warning the leaders of the ruling political blocs to stop playing with fire, disregarding the fate of the homeland and the blood of its citizens, and sacrificing them on the altar of their narrow differences and selfishness and their endless fight over the spoils of power.

The Iraqi Communist Party, while condemning the crime that has taken place today 22nd December, and calling for firm punishment of the criminal perpetrators, holds the leaders of the competing political blocs responsible for the deterioration and bloody breaches of security that have occurred this morning in the streets and areas of Baghdad. It also appeals to everyone to heed the voice of reason and rise to the challenge of the grave events that no longer only threaten the fate of the political process, but also threaten the fate of the Iraqi people and homeland and their future. We call upon the masses of our people and the conscious forces to close their ranks and support the armed and security forces in tracking down the terrorist criminals.

These serious developments stress the importance of responding to the sincere calls, and the urgent need, for an all-inclusive National Conference that encompasses all the forces and parties involved in the political process. The convening of this conference should be expedited in order to put an end to the continuous deterioration experienced by the country, and to ensure that it is led to safety through the national program of action that is binding on all.

The danger threatening the country is escalating and there is no time to waste.

We express our sympathy to the families of the victims and our sincere wishes for the recovery of the wounded and injured.

HAT TIP - Iraqi Letter

Chartism and the Suffragettes

2011-12-16T20:21:00.000Z

The Suffragettes and the Chartists shown on these two photographs were involved in mass campaigns which finally led on to a full franchise in the United Kingdom. But the electoral register has now been seriously corrupted. The Electoral Commission's latest report shows that no less than six million people are currently missing from our electoral registers: 17.7 per cent of the eligable electorate. It is a democratic disgrace - and has been gathering momentum for well over 20 years - boosted under the operation of the Poll Tax. We need to force this issue to the top of the political agenda. A combination of modern Chartists and Suffragettes would help. (Also see the links here.)

The Death Of The Franchise

2011-12-14T17:56:00.000Z

The latest Report of the Electoral Commission shows that there are now six million people missing from electoral registers. The numbers of missing voters are especially high amongst the young, ethnic minorities, the poor and the mobile/rootless. One consequence is that the electoral boundaries which are currently being redrawn will be massively distorted as those missing from registers are not evenly spread throughout society. Overall, it will fiddle election results - disenfranchising many of those most in need.

This is the BBC's coverage of the Report : it provides a link to the full report itself.

What is needed to overcome this democratic disgrace is a proactive registration system which uses modern technology to track people and provide for full and regular canvassing by registration officials. To ensure that young people who have just attained registration rights are not excluded, the voting age should be dropped to 16 and the initial registrations should take place via their schools whilst they are still 15. The sale of electoral registers to commercial interests should be banned, as some people avoid registration to hide their details from those who are, say, pursuing them for debt re-payments.

In the 1992-93 Parliamentary Session, I ran a Private Members Bill which attempted to tackle the above problem. I had the support of the then Labour Leader, the late John Smith; whilst even Tony Blair as Shadow Home Secretary pressed for its support. But it was defeated by the Conservative Government. My proposals were stimulated by the negative impact which the Poll Tax had had on electoral registration. Technology has been transformed in the past 20 years, so the details of my proposals now need to be brought up to date. Nor at this initial stage had I seen the relevance of "votes at 16" to my proposals.

I went on to press the issue regularly in other legislative attempts; especially in the 1999-2000 Parliamentary Session, when I put up a stream of what I saw as "improving amendments" to what became Labour's Representation of the People's Act. The Act did, however, introduce a weak version of one of my proposals which was for Rolling Electoral Registration. This allows people to transfer their registration to their new residence when they move, rather than having to wait until a full new register is being constructed. The measure has only ever had a slight impact on the safeguarding of electoral registration. It is swept aside by other factors.

The Labour Frontbench needs to pick up the issue and act (in a modern setting) upon the type of principles I started to propound almost 20 years ago.

Whilst democracy requires much more than a system of one person one vote, it must be based on that principle.

Facts For Socialists

2011-12-11T10:36:00.002Z

See this important article.

Hat tip : David Connolly.

How To Turn This Map Red

2011-11-26T12:22:00.000Z

Democratic Socialists should think in terms of campaigning for a social, democratic and federal Europe.

Germany also has an internal federal structure, with Landers. A Federal Europe would require it to operate within a three tier structure in which democratic parliaments operated at its regional, national and federal levels. A similar constitutional pattern is appropriate for both social and democratic reasons within Britain. Our third tier could appropriately be based on the present devolved facilities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Whilst a pattern for England could be based on the North-South divide, which rests upon clear social and political distinctions.

The federated structure would, however, enable voters to concentrate on their overall common concerns at both federal and national levels, as well as their seeking to further their regional well-being. There needs, of course, to be careful thought given to the powers and authority which is appropriate to each of the three tiers. But at the top federal level itself, the operation of a democratically controlled common currency then becomes a priority; as does the move to a common language being taught in all schools.

We should aim for a pattern in Europe which could, in time, commend itself for wider use across the world. Short term campaigning on improving arrangements within the European Union should always have the above wider objectives in mind.

Labour : Whose Side Are You On?

2011-11-20T19:14:00.003Z

On This

The Politics of Education

2011-11-14T14:00:00.011Z

The following includes two quotes from the important book opposite.

(1). Our formal education system was founded on the notion of equipping people for work.

Foster's Education Act of 1870 (which needed to be activated by local bodies) catered for 5 to12 year olds and was directed at helping to turn them into more effective hired hands. It basically established a capitalist system of education.

Yet other values gradually emerged within and upon this formal system, to humanise it somewhat.

Within the system, some teachers and pupils began to ask the awkward question “Why”? Why should we do x? Why should we accept that z follows from y? And even, why should we take anything for granted?. Whilst the forces for conformity were powerful, the intellects key weapon of “why?” kept finding its way forward and partially helped to adjust the formal educational system.

Outside influences also came to impinged themselves upon the formal educational system. Working Class adults had for a long time educated themselves in what is known as the Autodidactic tradition (1) and had united together in ventures such as the 1842 Sheffield People's College (2) and had established collective facilities such as reading rooms for and by miners in the North East in 1850 (3). When school education spread from 1870, elements of the working class then pressed individually and collectively for improved education for their children.

The long term impact of such pressures came to their highest fruition with moves to full employment, a welfare state and forms of public ownership around the time of the ending of the second world war. A mixed model of education began to emerge alongside that of a mixed economy. For a period it seemed to open up the possibility of a vastly improved democratic model of education. But when a period of consensus politics emerged, further significant educational progress was somewhat placed on hold. Then from Thatcherism onwards, we have seen the earlier hopes dashed and (as with economics and social welfare) a dramatic shift back to the capitalist model. Today's difference being that modern capitalism needs numbers of people to have modern skills to handle a new and ever changing technology– even though many modern equivalents of the earlier wage-slaves end up working in inhibiting call centres and there equivalent, rather than in mines and factories. Many more (including the young) become long term unemployed.

(2). What then should we look for in an alternative democratic socialist model of education - even though we need to recognise that its very achievement will also require many other economic and social changes to be taking place at the same time? Here we need to recognise that the very ideas we carry in our minds are the key to wider social change.

First : Facilities and opportunities for Individual Self-fulfilment.

It is a characteristic of humanity that it developed intelligence as an evolutionary characteristic to ensure our well-being and survival. There is no end to our intellectual endeavour if it is encouraged and not destroyed.

Secondly : Avenues for our Collective Well-being and Advancement.

Democracy itself needs much more than a universal franchise and periodic elections (as important as these are). It needs a widespread interest in the search for the means by which we can build and maintain a fair and just society.

Thirdly : Everyone is shaped and influenced by their environment and experiences.

But too many of today's influences via the media, advertising and commercial values have undermined the previous mixed economy of formal and informal educational values. We need to work for an overall environment in which questioning, enquiry and the quest for understandings are to the fore. This has consequences for the quality of life, which goes well beyond an intelligent interest in political activity (important as this is).

Fourthly : Education should be for life.

People should have ready access to formal and informal educational avenues outside of their basic years at school or as college or university students. Minds that settle have died.

Fifthly : The stress on all the above forms of education, does not ignore the need to equip people for work.

But it does go way beyond such a concern. Not only can skills-training be part of a wider educational system, but those who are drawn into intellectual pursuits will find there is a spin off when they approach the world of employment. For intelligent people are well equipped to learn new and passing skills in what is a highly technological and changing age.

Finally : Democratic Socialist Education will only fulfil its potential if it recognises that nothing can ever be known with absolute certainty outside of claims of an analytic or tautological nature.

Whether people involve themselves in investigations in the areas of the arts, social studies or the sciences, they need to be aware that the person who only knows their own side of the case, knows little of that. We need to understand counter-ideas and to engage with them intellectually. The sciences are the area which are normally perceived as being able to supply us with the greatest reliability. Yet some of the scientific certainties that seemed to have been discovered by Newton were later replaced by the ideas of Einstein. And now some of Einstein's established ideas are being challenged by serious scientists. The reason that doubt is healthy in both education and life is that if we ever drop the question “why?” from our investigations we become intellectually inert.

Footnotes -

See Jonathan Rose “The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes” (Yale Nota Bene, 2002. The following quotes are from his book.
"The Sheffield People's College, founded in 1842, was governed democratically by its students: in 1849 the President was a shoemaker. The College taught geography, history, modern languages, Latin, Greek, science, and philosophy, and students were encouraged to discuss politics. Thanks to the People's College, observed one radical artisan, 'There is a peculiarity in the town of Sheffield above all others I have noticed: in that town, all classes of labourers dare to speak the truth that is within them, ay, and labour while they think' .” (p 190).
“Around 1850, nineteen out of fifty-four collieries in Northumberland and Durham had some kind of library or reading room.” (p 238).

Electoral Registration Problems

2011-11-04T09:48:00.000Z

The Commons Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform has just published this important report on individual voter registration. It is summerized here by the BBC as well as on the Parliamentary web-site.

My own assessment of wider electoral registration problems can be found here.

You, Me and the ILP

2011-10-31T17:12:00.009Z

Independent Labour Publications (ILP) is an educational trust, publishing house and pressure group committed to democratic socialism and the success of a democratic socialist Labour Party. The ILP was formed in 1893 as the Independent Labour Party (by Keir Hardie and others - his portrait appears above), which then became a co-founder of the Labour Party at the beginning of the 20th century.

Today it remains committed to Labour's aim of creating 'a society for the many, not the few' and seeks to engage with others in discussing how this vision can be turned into reality.

The statement below was drafted by the ILP’s National Administrative Council and received broad endorsement from ILP members and Friends at the ILP Weekend School in Scarborough on 7/8 May 2011. I was one of those present at Scarborough and the statement expresses an approach to politics which I share.

You can contact the ILP at info@independentlabour.org.ukThey welcome contributions to their website as well as comments on the articles they post. If you’d like to contribute please send submissions or ideas for articles to editor@independentlabour.org.uk

The ILP: Our Politics

The ILP comes from a long tradition of organisations on the left of the political spectrum that have sought collective solutions to the inequalities and destructiveness caused by capitalism. We seek to continue that tradition today, to extend cooperative solutions to human problems by democratic means.

In seeking social justice and equality, a broader and deeper democracy, and more co-operative and mutually supportive ways of living, we set our sights high. We believe it is possible to improve the quality of life for many, not just the few; that a humane society is possible. We want to widen the recognition that human society is based upon our interdependence. We are not isolated individuals, communities or states but mutually dependent on each other for our futures.

But in aiming to create a good society, the left faces challenges as formidable today as at any time in its history. We recognise that we are embarking on a lengthy journey.

Ours is a damaged society where political disenchantment is tangible – and quite understandable. Both at home and globally, too many lives are governed and wasted by poverty, inequality and deprivation, or by fear and insecurity, or bigotry. While many are governed by the mindless pursuit of materialism, others turn to religious or nationalistic zealotry. None of this is simply due to fate. Instead it is the outcome of how our world is organised, a product, ultimately, of political choices.

We cannot embark on this journey too soon. Humanity is approaching a crossroads. The actions taken and the choices made in the coming years are likely to be of great significance not only to us but to future generations. To create a sustainable society will, of necessity, demand curbing and controlling those forces that propel us towards environmental catastrophe. It will be vital to overcome the sense of powerlessness that so many people feel, both in their own lives and about the wider world, not least because it can lead to desperate and destructive reactions, political and personal.

Broad political and moral movements for change are key elements in this process. But we also need a progressive political party or parties to enact wide-ranging reforms, and progress will depend on alliances and sometimes tensions between these two. Incremental gains along the way can highlight both what is possible and how people can become part of a process of change.

The context

Writing about contemporary western society, the historian Tony Judt sums up his view this way: “Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue of the pursuit of material self-interest; indeed, this very pursuit now constitutes what remains of our collective purpose. We know what things cost but have no idea of what they are worth…”

“Much of what seems ‘natural’ today,” he says, “dates from the 1980s: the obsession with wealth creation, the cult of privatization and the private sector, the growing disparities of rich and poor. And above all, the rhetoric which accompanies these: uncritical admiration for unfettered markets, disdain for the public sector, the delusion of endless growth.”

His comments are particularly applicable to Britain today. We face a Conservative-led coalition government which, in flagrant disregard for its election pledges, is hell bent on a brutal programme of public sector cuts. It combines this with promises to build the ‘big society’ and to ‘free’ people from the state. It doesn’t promise freedom from the market. Indeed, the government hopes the private sector will be able to mop up the large numbers made unemployed by the cuts. The poor, women in particular, public sector workers and students form the new front line in the coming conflicts over cuts.

But this programme of attacks on public, collective provision has not come out of the blue. Rather, it continues more than three decades in which the free market has been promoted over state intervention. After 1979, the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher embarked on a programme of radical change, restructuring the post-war welfare state, diminishing the power of working people, and expanding free enterprise, in particular by loosening controls over banking and finance.

The new Labour project was the product of successive election defeats and the deep desire of many to get the Tories out of office, regardless of the political cost to traditional left politics. To win power in 1997, Labour largely accommodated itself to this neo-liberal framework. While committed to some redistribution of wealth, it relied on taxes from a deregulated and rampant financial service sector to fund the expansion of state expenditure. Labour often devalued the public sector even while it further centralised state power. It continued down the path of privatisation, creating markets within public services on an unprecedented scale. Yet, after promising ‘no return to boom or bust’, the Labour government used the state to bale out the banking and financial sectors when economic meltdown was imminent.

Despite the use of taxpayers’ money and despite the crisis, the Labour government, and the left more generally, failed to present a credible narrative for progressive change. Instead, new Labour paved the way for many of the Tory policies that are now unfolding – in the economy, in the NHS and in education. The result is a Tory-led government intent on the wholesale subordination of public provision to the market and private sector.

Capitalism, markets and democracy

This Tory programme reinforces the natural tendencies within capitalism. For ours is a capitalist society and the logic of capitalism is to turn everything into commodities to be bought and sold in the market. It is a system that violates our humanity and the environment; it devalues and debases human beings and social life. Unregulated, it destroys all in the pursuit of material gain, whether families or forests. While we recognise the historic advances in human development brought, to some, by capitalist development, in terms of life expectancy and material well-being, we also recognise that these come at a colossal price, paid in inequality, social upheaval, political oppression and environmental destruction.

More recently, we have seen the ruin that modern banking and finance leave in their wake, leaving others who can ill-afford it to pay a huge price for decades to come. This should not come as a surprise. By their very nature, unfettered market forces lead to excess, encouraging greed and selfishness at the expense of others, putting possessive individualism before collective endeavour. Capitalism corrodes and corrupts, eating away at our social fabric.

The basic character of capitalism cannot change. It is defined by the pursuit of profit at the expense of collective social needs. Its agents will always balk at ‘red tape’ and attempts to restrict their freedom of action. They will always complain of ruination when they do not get their way, as the employers did in the 19th century when the long working day was restricted. They will always threaten to up sticks and find places where their actions can go unchecked. They will always seek to exploit cheap labour across the globe, and to divide and rule, and use their vast resources to cut corners and bypass democracy. They will always seek to avoid paying taxes.

Markets can be very creative but they have a destructive, dark side. Markets in the capitalist economy are capable of doing great damage because, put simply, people are subordinated to the pursuit of profit.

Moreover, there is a fundamental conflict between capitalism and democratic society. Never has this been more obvious than in the wake of the financial crisis. Despite colossal bale-outs by democratic governments and the enormous human costs of the crisis, our political options are still subordinated to the interests of the bankers. As Doreen Massey wrote: “The judgement of ‘the markets’ hangs over everything, setting the parameters within which political debate can operate.”

Having said this, we do accept that markets in some shape or form are necessary to how a democratic society operates – the evidence of Communist societies in the 20th century suggests as much. But a more democratic society would subordinate markets to the collective, democratic interests of the country; in our society, it is democracy that is subordinated.

The conditions in which markets are allowed to operate should always be closely monitored and carefully regulated. In some social democratic systems – in Scandinavian countries and some other western European countries at various times – restrictions on markets have delivered real benefits such as reduced inequality, greater social provision and fairer distributions of wealth and opportunity. They show some of the direction in which we want to move, not a utopian end point. But these gains are always fragile and are easily undermined, especially at times of economic crisis. They require more active support and defence than top-down social democratic systems have typically encouraged.

Some areas of life should be removed from the influences of private profit entirely – health, education and public transport, for example. In part, this means defending the role of the state in regulating the market, redistributing resources, coordinating public services and ensuring the needs of all members of a community are met.

The Tories characterise the state as overbearing, all-powerful and interfering – and at times parts of the public sector have been too inflexible and unresponsive to people’s needs. But the state in a democratic society is the means by which we collectively provide for our needs, and those of each other, out of our common wealth. It is our protection against the free market.

Yet the Tories’ goal is to marketise the public sector and shrink the state. We need vigilance and a democratic culture to counter their destructive aims and the destructive tendencies of free markets. This will have to be undertaken at several levels – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. It will also involve more democratic, co-operative ways of organising business and production.

In fact, while capitalism exists, a struggle has to continue. The battle may ebb and flow in different directions. This is why it is vital movements and progressive parties counter capitalist values with social values based on human relationships and a respect for the natural world. Of course this is not to deny that we also need vigilance and a democratic culture to prevent excesses by the state.

Our recent history has seen us move in the wrong direction, creating in the words of Paul Mason, BBC economics editor, an “abrasive, selfish, unequal society”. Indeed, as the academic Edward Skidelsky wrote, “…economics and its jargon have penetrated every corner of social life… Doctors, priests and scientists are lumped together as ‘service providers’ … school teachers are urged to ‘add value’ to their pupils’…” And as the centre-left group Compass pointed out, even childhood has become commodified. The current attacks on public provision will, according to academic John Gray, “leave people more exposed to the turbulence of world markets than they have been for generations. Inevitably they will seek protection.” We agree and believe it is time to change direction.

Political parties and Labour’s role

The ILP started life as a political party in 1893 as a reaction to harsh working conditions and the widespread poverty that unregulated capitalism brought to Britain. The perspective of the ILP has inevitably changed and developed as the world about us has changed and developed, but our essential humanitarian concerns have remained. We hold fast to the ethics and principles relating to care and compassion, fellowship and fraternity, mutuality and cooperation, social, political and economic equity, and democracy, which constitute the foundation of our politics.

We believe there is a need for a plurality of political movements, experiments in alternative ways of organising society, and for cooperative and democratic businesses. Indeed, it is to be hoped that protests against the current cuts will galvanise into a broad movement. But we also recognise that there is a continuing need for political parties.

Sooner or later any campaign or movement for change in society has to deal with the process of government, how collective decisions, whether national or local, are made and upheld. Actions by national governments have a vital and potentially crucial role in addressing many of the problems we face, whether nationally or, by acting collectively, internationally.

In Britain, that means we have to engage with the Labour Party. While many on the left wish to avoid the Labour Party, to denounce or live outside it, we think this is a cul-de-sac. Any attempt to progress radical change will have to go through a social democratic agency.

However, we have no illusions about the current political and organisational state of the party, about the corrosive effects of new Labour’s dominance over 16 years. Now is a time for the Labour Party to reflect upon its record in office, to see whether it can present a credible narrative for progressive change. It has a long distance to travel to win back public trust. There is much debate in and around the party, by the left and centre-left, which is showing clear signs of creative thinking about how the party and its politics might be transformed for the better.

We see ourselves as part of that process. We want to encourage Labour to reinvent itself as a more radical party, to democratise itself and to make party membership matter in ways that it has not done for decades. However, unlike many on the centre-left, we are sceptical of the notion that there is a ready-made progressive majority in the country waiting to be led. Unfortunately, we have further to go than that – the foundations of a progressive majority still have to be built.

The extent to which Labour’s politics can become imaginatively social democratic will therefore depend on the forces and movements that align with it, with the political space that they can create for Labour to become more radical and yet electable. It also means that Labour has to do its part – defending, supporting and encouraging those involved in campaigns up and down the country, and leading them too. The challenge this presents should not be underestimated, but it has to be faced.

The future left

It should be said that the left bears much of the responsibility for its failure to offer a credible politics for our times. True, it has faced a barrage of opposition from various vested interests, not least in the media. But it is also true that while it has fought many a good fight, it has not been at its best when offering pathways to a better society.

Many have abandoned any hope of a changed world and surrendered to the the politics of the present and the next election. Others promise a glorious dawn in some unimaginable future with no sense of how to get there. Between them, we need to find ways to be both practical and visionary at the same time.

Our political actions must also uphold the principles by which we stand. We believe that the character, actions and morality of political movements prefigure the change they will create. Social movements are a vital component of securing change but they have an obligation to act with morality, honesty and self-criticism.

The weakness of the left, and the dominance of market values today, means any progressive change in the short term will be hard won. But in lessening social inequalities, we may see a range of social improvements in society, in health, social solidarity, and general well-being. It will never be perfect, however. There will always be arguments and conflicts and, in a society based on democracy, that is absolutely necessary. The imposition of harmony from above is the road to dictatorship and not one we should ever contemplate. While people deserve respect, no-one and no organisation is above criticism.

Living democracy is a lively business; controlling capital is a constant process. One thing is certain, if we look at the world as it is then we can surely do better than this. We should certainly try to. And, along the way, perhaps we can rebuild the kind of movement which, as well as fighting for a better world, conveys the collective joy, humour and warmth which helped sustain earlier generations of socialists.

Labour's 2011 Five Point Pledge Card

2011-10-31T12:09:00.003Z

For Labour's Five Point Programme for Jobs see here.

Hat Tip : Grahame Morris.

Why The Economy Has Gone Wonga

2011-10-28T12:30:00.004+01:00

Yesterday's 'Independent' reported that Adrian Beecroft, the author of the report proposing the scrapping of unfair dismissal legislation "chairs Dawn Capital, whose portfolio includes Wonga.com which offers short term loans to tide people over until their next pay cheque. A recent probe by the consumer watchdog 'Which?' found it quoted £36.72 interest on a 30 day loan of £100 - equivalent to a 4,394 per cent annual interest rate."

You couldn't make it up - could you?

Wonga.com sponsored the above Blackpool team in last year's Premiership. Which is a pity as there was much to admire about the Blackpool team's season. I saw them play three times.

Hat Tip - David Connolly

Still Needed - A Full Franchise

2011-10-23T12:05:00.002+01:00

In addition to the three and a half million people who are missing from electoral registers as assessed by the Electoral Commission prior to the last General Election, there are many additional problems about the accuracy of existing registrations - let alone the mass problems that would arise from current Government proposals to make registration a purely voluntary matter.

How accurate are the forms which are currently returned to electoral registration officers? How many people just confirm the information sent to them on the registration forms either in error or to hide the details of all the qualifying residents within a household - a habit which was given a boost by the poll tax and has not died out. There are also shortcomings in the range of people who are entitled to register. Surely anyone who is established as a resident in the UK should be entitled to be enfranchised as they are subject to the nation's legal requirements as established by Parliament, including taxation - what of "no taxation without representation?" The only limits on enfranchisement should be (a) a qualifying age and (b) a carefully monitored exclusion of those with a very serious mental impairment. Yet residents from overseas are only currently entitled to registration if they come from Commonwealth nations or the Republic of Ireland. Why not others?

A proactive electoral registration system needs putting into operation. It would help if the vote was given to 16 year olds. Whilst "attainers" at 15, they could first be registered via their schools. This would make them easier to be tracked for registration purposes later in life. Regular canvassing should also take place by electoral registration officers to gain more accurate registration. Then modern technology could be used by electoral registration officers to help in the compiling of registers and to make effective use of the provisions of the Rolling Registration system - i.e. to see that names are placed on the relevant registers as people move their residence within a mobile society. This would also end the dubious need to allow some people to have their names appearing on more then one register.

Tom Paine and the Chartists (with the important addition of the Suffragettes) knew the significance of the franchise. A full franchise was thought finally to have been achieved in the UK in 1928, but we have allowed it to wither on the vine. Establishing a full franchise should be a priority for all democrats and especially for democratic socialists who have a special belief in the importance of social equality.

When I was an MP I sort to tackle the matter via a Private Members Bill in the 1992-3 session and became involved with a body called "Full Franchise". Then I pushed various Ten Minute Rule Bills and amendments to legislation, especially to what became the 2000 Representation of the People's Act. But the only success I can claim (as the Government took it up) was the initial and perfectly inadequate provisions on Rolling Electoral Registration. Since those times information technology has bounded forth and the hopes contained in my proposals could be considerably polished and advanced.

Labour should be pressed to take these matters on board. Ideologically they don't need even to frighten middle England by saying that it is a socialist measure. If they need a vested interest before they can take up a principle, then a full franchise would lead to a future redrawing of constituency boundaries. This time in Labour's favour. For the Electoral Commission shows that those who are missing from the registers are a high percentage of the poor, ethnic minorities, the young and the highly mobile such as those in bed-sitter land. The only problem for Labour is that it would have to start paying serious attention to the well-being of these categories.

Added 5 November - Professor Iain McLean of Oxford University, told the Guardian in May 2010: “…to move straight to individual registration risks moving straight to mass disenfranchisement of the young, the urban, the mobile and ethnic minority voters. The rot dates back to Margaret Thatcher’s disastrous decision to make the electoral register a source of the poll tax register. It is also a source of jury lists. In the late 1980s, millions of people looked at the costs and benefits of being on the register, and rationally decided to disappear. They are not yet back, nor are their sons and daughters … At worst, a move to immediate individual registration could make Britain in 2011 like Florida in 2000.” Hat Tip - Grahame Morris MP.

A Death Of Party Democracy

2011-10-20T15:31:00.018+01:00

Peter Hain, Chair of Labour's National Policy Forum and Guru of "Refounding Labour". Architect of this death of Labour Party Democracy. At one time he claimed he was a "libertarian socialist", but is now neither. And to think that some 5 years ago, I argued that he should stand for the leadership of the Labour Party. Well even at my age, you can live and learn.

Mass Changes Made To The Rules Of The Labour Party.

I was not present at the Labour Party Conference, but it seems to have carried out a mass of changes to its rules on the basis of only one card vote which was carried with a Yes vote of 93.9% (88.3% of CLPs and 99.5% of affiliates). Given the wide ranging complexity of the changes concerned (even though many were mundane), these are percentage votes which are normally associated with totalitarian or whipped structures.

My understanding is that the amendments were made on the back of a last minute report entitled “Refounding Labour to win – a party for the new generation”. This was a 39 page report which appeared in a pack containing a total of some 100 pages which delegates were only first able to collect on the opening day of Conference, when the rule changes were themselves about to be voted upon.

The rule changes were based upon 40 sets of recommendations made in the above “Refounding Labour to win” document. On a rough count, there were no less than 138 separate points contained in the 40 sets of recommendations.

A further key 100 page book entitled “Labour Party rule book – including Refounding Labour amendments” was also made available on the day and in the run up to the vote. Between a fifth and a quarter of what are now the old rules of the Labour Party appeared in red with lines through them. It was being proposed that these should be replaced by lengthy sections which appeared in purple. Perhaps the colouring had an ideological significance. I doubt whether many delegates had the opportunity to digest the relevant documents which had just been made available to them. As they covered some 200 pages, how could anyone engage in an assessment of what was being proposed when they needed also to be in the Conference itself to keep an eye on developments?

Ignoring what seem to me to be minor and repeat changes, I give below a bare-bones summary of the main changes in this new rule book. I have truncated these into 22 items and may well have missed matters of importance – yet unlike delegates needing to vote, I have spent a few days looking at the key documents. At the close of my summary, I also add a three point NEC Statement which was issued to clarify or adjust what was put to the delegates.

It should be noted that (1) although many changes were given justification on the grounds that they arose from a consultation procedure within the Party about “Refounding Labour”, many of the proposals had never appeared in the earlier consultative documents relating to this process and the ordinary membership of the Labour Party had had no means of knowing they were on the cards, (2) as a matter of natural justice and internal party democracy, all the proposed rule changes should have been circulated well in advance of Conference to CLPs and affiliated bodies to enable them to mandate their Conference delegates, and (3) the matters placed before Conference were so huge that they should have been put off to a special Conference; this could also have allowed amendments to the rules changes to have been considered.

I don't object to losing a vote, but I do object to being disenfranchised. It is even worse when I am disenfranchised as part of a procedure that seems to help guarantee my future disenfranchisement.

It should also be noted that we are not at the end of the above “Refounding Labour” procedure. The NEC Statement given at the close of my summary, states that these consultations will now continue until March 2012. We need to push for democratic procedures this time round; including the clearing up of what happened at this Conference. For a start, we need to know exactly what ideas were submitted to the supposed consultation by the much maligned rank and file. For the style of the claims in “Refounding Labour to win” are merely that earlier consultations had given “widespread support” to x, “throughout the submissions” y was clear and “an extensive number of the submissions highlighted” z. Yet none of the x,y and z's came out of any of the six consultative, Party and Labour Discussion Group meetings I attended. So excuse my scepticism. It would be appropriate for us to be provided with hard evidence of what came out of such meetings.

I will not pass judgement at this stage on the nature of the changes which are summarized below. But I do contest their democratic legitimacy. My case is that non-democratic procedures were followed and the rights of the membership were violated.

Addition 21 October : Ann Black of the NEC states " Policy-making seems to have moved not only beyond the NEC but beyond the national policy forum and conference." See the rest of her revealing report here.

Summary

p 1. OBJECTIVES - “the party will bring together members and supporters”.

p 2. FINANCIAL SCHEME – this spells out accountancy arrangements for CLPs and others.(See also pp 99-100 below).

p 4. PARTY LEADER – gives the leader additional powers and responsibilities.

p 10. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS – includes reduced rates for new members from affiliated Trade Unions and a minimum allocation to CLPs of £1.50 per member.

p 12. CONFERENCE DELEGATES – 6 added from the Association of Councillors (ALC) and 2 from Young Labour (YL).

p 14. CONTEMPORARY MOTIONS TO CONFERENCE – can now be up to 250 words. Nominating and voting rights are spelt out.

p 17. LEADER OF THE SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY – gives the procedure for his or her election.

p 18. PROCEDURE FOR FILLING NEC VACANCIES – this relates to posts which are appointed by Conference on a two yearly basis.

p 19. NATIONAL POLICY FORUM – additions to its membership.(These changes are minor, yet the “Refounding Labour to win” document devotes four pages to the NPF. It is supportive of its role, whilst wishing to develop it. This gives a hint of the shape of things to come.)

pp 21-22. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ELECTED MEMBERS – a new clause II relates to all elected representatives. The NEC can introduce candidates contracts and there will be a 2% levy on their salaries and on set personal allowances, including all payments resulting from elected office and on salaried positions in the Lords.

p 23 and pp 69-82. SELECTION OF WESTMINISTER PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES – covers new arrangements arising from the current Boundary Commission's proposals for the redrawing of parliamentary boundaries.

p 26. DISCIPLINARY RULES FOR CLPs – relates to those who operate in a CLP which has no Executive Committee.

pp 29-35 and pp 97-98. CHANGES TO THE RULES OF CLPs – These are wide-ranging and allow CLPs to “adopt any method of organisation currently approved by the NEC” whether delegate structures or all member meetings. The changes available include establishment of workplace branches and forums for interest groups. Whilst "The annual meeting should no normally be held before May in any year" and a “team of officers and coordinators, together with the parliamentary candidate and/or member of Parliament and the campaign co-ordinator, shall provide a strategic lead to the development of the Party in the constituency” (p 33).

p 36. ARRANGEMENTS WHERE CONSTITUENCY AND DISTRICT/COUNTY BOUNDARIES ARE COTERMINOUS – these are deleted. (Some of us were looking forward to the convenience of joint CLP and District Meetings in NE Derbyshire which has arisen under the Boundary Commission's proposals, but now these are ruled out.)

p 37. RULES FOR BRANCHES – This includes “to provide an opportunity for members to participate in the activities of the Labour Party within its area with the approval of the Executive Committee of the CLP and in line with the development action plan; to play their part in the Party's policy-making processes; to work together to run effective election and issue-based campaigns; to maximise the Party's engagement with organisations and individuals in the branch area and join with them in working for social justice. Work to meet these objectives shall always have high priority in the branches plans and meetings.”

p 45-46. YOUNG LABOUR - given Regional Representation and additions to its National Committee.

p 47-50. LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEES – are replaced by “Local Campaign Forums” with the NEC given the role of providing guidance on model structures. The membership of the LCF shall be focused around campaign delivery, the recruitment and selection of candidates and the development of opportunities for wider engagement with council issues.”

p 52. RULES FOR LOCAL LABOUR GROUPS ON PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES - “Members of the Labour Group shall pay an annual levy to the Labour Party of 2% of their total income from the Council and joint body sources....For the purpose of effective and vibrant electoral organisation , members of the Labour Group shall pay an annual contribution of a recommended minimum of 5% of their total income from council and joint body sources.”

p 60. MODEL STANDING ORDERS FOR PARTY UNITS – in certain circumstances people resident in an area but who are not on the electoral register can be delegates. Plans for campaigning on local issues and strengthening links with members, affiliates, supporters and communal groups will be central to all business.

p 83- 89. PROCEDURES FOR THE SELECTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT CANDIDATES - “The timetable should be set so that, as far as possible, candidates are selected six months in advance of the election (12 months where the council elects on a two or four yearly cycle)” An LCF may apply to the NEC to pilot new or innovative procedures.”

pp 99-100. MINIMUM GUARANTEE OF SUPPORT TO CLPs - “Every CLP will receive a cash payment based on the number of paid up members in that CLP....A minimum payment to every CLP and no national deductions.”

NEC Statement - Refounding Labour.

(A) Electoral College - Leadership Elections.

1. Registered Supporters.

It is our aspiration to extend the reach of our party by registering people who are Labour supporters as the first step towards turning them into full members. As a sign of our willingness to embrace a wider span of Labour supporters, we will create a new section for Registered Supporters within the Electoral College for electing the leader of the party. In so doing we are clear that the existing sections of the College should retain the primary shares of the College. Hence three key principles will underpin NEC procedural guidelines regarding the leadership election:

1. The Registered Supporters section of the Electoral College shall only come into being when there are more than 50,000 supporters registered with the party;

2. The supporters section shall, subject to point 3, constitute between 3% and 10% of the Electoral College, and shall never constitute more than 10%;

3. A member's vote shall always be worth more than a registered supporter's vote.

So the Electoral College for future leadership elections shall be comprised of:

- Affiliates

- Party Members

- Supporters (maximum of 10%)

- PLP/EPLP

(B) Multiple Voting.

Clear expressions of concern have been made about the ability of party members to cast multiple votes; particularly in respect of MPs and MEPs who already have the ability to nominate candidates in addition to having their own section in the Electoral College. Other multiple votes exist within the affiliate section and submissions voiced support for the universal application of "one member one vote" in this section. It is therefore proposed that MPs and MEPs should be restricted to just one vote in their own section and not permitted to cast any ballots in any other sections. It is also proposed that affiliated members shall cast no more than one vote in the affiliates section.

Discussions during this consultation have focussed on the need to make a reformed policy making system more accessible and responsive to Party members, with a fresh empowered annual Conference with even greater democracy. We are determined to take a new approach to policy making which meets those objectives and will take more time to develop the details. The NEC therefore agrees to further consult between now and the end of March 2012 on how to make the policy and decision making processes more dynamic, open, and democratic with a view to taking forward proposals to the NEC next spring, ahead of Conference.

The Birth Of Easington Colliery.

2011-10-12T16:49:00.003+01:00

This photo was taken at Easington Colliery around 1902, some three years after the start of the sinking of the pit. The single storey huts in a terrace on the right were known as "Sinkers' Hut" and were for the families of those working on the sinking of the pit. There were 36 huts in all, in two rows. In numbers of cases these were also occupied by lodgers, who also worked as sinkers. The dirt track which a number of people are standing on is Seaside Lane. It ran for a mile and a quarter inland to an ancient settlement which became known as Easington Village and whose detailed history (in contrast to the Colliery area) goes back to Anglo - Saxon times. The handful of terraced houses on the left are probably the start of a large estate of similar permanent houses for miners. The huts on the right were later replaced by similar housing. Some 700 yards to the back of the photographer are cliffs leading down to the beach and the sea. The pit seams would eventually operate both under the bed of the North Sea and inland.

Under the title "The Birth Of Easington Colliery", a 6,000 word article of mine has recently been published in the Journal of the North East Labour History Society,Volume 42 (2011). The article covers the period from 1899 when efforts were first made to sink the pit, until 1911 when the local Miners' Lodge was finally established. In that time, the population around the immediate mining area grew from less than 50 people to almost 800. However, the bulk of the newcomers arrived only from 1909, when technical problems in the sinking the pit had been overcome. The first coal was drawn in 1910.

1899-1911 was very much a pioneering period for Easington Colliery. In the following 20 years its territory expanded and its population peaked at around 10,000.

I am now researching a follow-up article for the period 1912-26, which contains a series of dramatic events within a period of rapid growth. These include the Minimum Wage Strike of 1912, unofficial strikes, the impact of the First World War, the 1918-19 Influenza Epidemic, a start of Labour Politics via a local Branch of the Independent Labour Party, a significant Methodist leadership of the Lodge, Jack Lawson being the unsuccessful Labour Candidate in 1918, the impact of the Sankey Commission's Report, the 1921 Lock Out, Sidney Webb as the successful Labour Candidate from 1922, whilst Beatrice Webb organised the local Women's Section, ending with the General Strike and Lock-Out of 1926. It was also in 1912 that my paternal Grandparents and their established family of seven children settled firmly at Easington and were solidly part of the period I am now researching.

From "Dronfield Blather" on Labour's Conference

2011-09-22T14:37:00.003+01:00

Labour's Conference Agenda

The BBC has published this agenda for the Labour Party Conference.

The three consultations which we have been trying to track on Dronfield Blather will be dealt with under the following brisk timetable.

14.00 Sunday 25th September - Conferences Opens. Then after the normal wide range of introductory sessions, Lim Bryne will give a Report about the Policy Review - this was our submission. Then as the final item of the day Peter Hain will Report on the two other Consultations on which decisions are likely to be made (1) The National Policy Forum Report and (2) Refounding Labour - this thread trawls back on these (logically you need to start at the end and work your way back to the top.) There will probably later be a single card vote to push these two through. That is virtually it comrades. Then at 16.15 on Monday 26th, Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th; there will be a set of brief Policy Seminars. The final one ends at 17.00, but we are not told how long the others last. These will probably relate to the areas covered in Lim Bryne's Sunday Report.

That is all. Now you see it. Now you don't.

Labour's Confusing Conference

2011-09-22T09:56:00.001+01:00

With three days notice for blog watcher's, this seems to be what will be put to the coming Labour Party Conference. But you don't have to agree with it - or with the process under which it has been pursued.

Labour's Consultative Insult

2011-09-19T15:22:00.003+01:00

This is Ann Black's take on the current consultative mess in the Labour Party.

There is only one Peter Kenyon

2011-09-18T18:06:00.003+01:00

But I wish there we more - see here.

Email to members of Labour's NEC at 13.38 today.

2011-09-17T17:19:00.003+01:00

To all members

Dear ....

As you know, final recommendations arising from the Refounding Labour consultation will be going to the NEC next Tuesday, ahead of consideration by the Annual Conference in Liverpool.

Peter Hain promised to keep you up to date with developments and wanted me to provide you with a summary of the some of the recommendations agreed by the recent Organisation Committee, and which will be discussed by the NEC next Tuesday.

The Committee is acutely aware that delegates will be receiving the final recommendations for consideration quite close to Conference, and was therefore keen for these initial conclusions to be communicated now.

The Committee agreed in principle that rules changes will be proposed in the following areas:

Purpose and objects

Clause I concerning the party's objects will be updated, giving greater emphasis to Labour's role in local communities.

Rights and responsibilities

Rights and responsibilities of the party leader will be defined for the first time, including control over appointments to the Shadow Cabinet.
Rights and responsibilities of Labour candidates and elected representatives will be defined, and provisions made for the use of model contracts.
Rights and responsibilities of elected members of the Parliamentary Labour Party will be defined, including the right to be consulted on any positions taken by the leadership in the context of a hung Parliament.
The ALC subscription will be abolished and councillors will instead, in line with other Labour representatives, pay a 2 per cent levy on total income arising from their elected role.

Enabling structures

Local Government Committees will be replaced by Local Campaign Forums (LCF), which will allow for local adaptation and different models of structure and membership. LCFs may apply to the NEC to pilot new and innovative procedures for selections. CLPs will be free to adopt different models of organisation to suit local circumstances, with certain common features, to allow joint working across constituency and geographical boundaries. There will be a new model of CLP finances to help redistribute resources more equally, and lift struggling CLPs out of debt.

Encouraging recruitment

The minimum age for becoming an individual member of the party will be lowered from 15 to 14 years old. There will be a lower local join rate for new members, to encourage recruitment.

Policy making

We will open up the process to ensure a greater voice for members in a system that is more transparent and accountable, and which reaches out to the public. We will create a process that ensures the voices of young members, women, BAME, disabled, LGBT and other under-represented members are heard in policy development. One representative from Labour International will be added to the membership of the NPF; and a textual omission regarding the Northern Ireland CLP, which already has one representative, will be corrected.

A bigger voice for councillors

The Leader of the LGA shall have the right to attend meetings of the political Shadow Cabinet when in opposition and the political Cabinet when in government. There will be better services provided for our councillors with a new website and enhanced online facilities, more training, design support for templates, and increased support for all Labour groups, large and small.

Full details of the actual textual rule book changes arising from these points will be sent to you as soon as the NEC has agreed the final recommendations to be put to Conference. The above recommendations do not represent the full extent of the changes likely to be proposed from Refounding Labour, and further issues are currently under consideration.

In addition, a number of reforms that do not require rule changes, such as new and improved technology for communication across the party, will also be proposed as part of the overall Refounding Labour package, and we will endeavour to ensure that you receive details of the final recommendations as soon as possible.

I hope this information is helpful and I will be in touch with further updates in due course.

Yours sincerely

Ray Collins

General Secretary

The Derbyshire Miners

2011-09-11T15:57:00.000+01:00

The photograph was taken in 1983 and it shows a class from a Sheffield University Course for Derbyshire Miners' which was held at the Workers" Educational Association, Hurst House, Abercrombie Street, Chesterfield. Over three year's the students obtained 120 days paid release from work to study industrial relations, economics and politics. (See the final item below).

Ashes & Diamonds Exhibition

A tribute to the Mining Industry and those who fought to defend it by Darren Coffield at Hurst House, Abercrombie Street, Chesterfield

September 19th to 23rd : 10am to 4pm

Official Opening 12.30pm Monday 19 September by John Burrows,
(Leader Chesterfield Borough Council and ex NUM Official)

For examples of Coffield's work see - here and here.

September 20th at 7pm

Derbyshire NUM Day Release Reunion and Discussion with former lecturers Harry Barnes & Bob Heath.

Three Week's To Save The Labour Party - From Zero Democracy

2011-09-05T18:04:00.001+01:00

It seems that the blame for Labour's heavy electoral defeat has at last been determined. It was not the fault of New Labour nor of its leadership - nor even of the economic collapse. The fault rested clearly on the persistent failures of the activists amongst its membership. After all they attended closed local meetings. They told delegates to Constituency Meetings what to do. They organised all that unsuccessful local electoral activity. And they went out on the doorstep and frightened the public.

As it is impossible to get those who attend Labour Party Branch Meetings to mend their ways, it would clearly be counter-productive to ask them to agree with the reforms which are necessary to transform the current state of affairs. So instead, the necessary changes will only be unveiled within the next three weeks and just prior to the coming Labour Party Conference. This gives a chance for the Party Structure to be transformed in one fell swoop on a take-it-or-leave it basis. For as a Labour Party spokesperson said to the Guardian "We want to give more influence to party members" but only "if they open up". This is to be done (a) by training and drafting in some three or four constituency organisers to each Constituency Labour Party, (b) under the guidance of the body "Movement for Change" (which most of these non with-it, individual Labour Party card carrying members aren't even aware exists), (c) opening up Branch meetings to non-members and (d) getting all Labour Candidates to sign bits of paper to say that they will be good boys and girls if they get elected.

There is only one danger about this reform package not winning the day. The Guardian has revealed what is happening to all those Guardian reading geeks who go to Labour Party Branch Meetings. They have suddenly been alerted to the fact that they now have three weeks to mobilise to stop such changes. And what is left of inner-party democracy within the Labour Party could now turn very nasty - I hope.

On Your Marx

2011-09-04T11:03:00.001+01:00

In a ten minute talk on Radio 4, John Gray made an important contribution about Marx's analysis and its relevance to the contemporary nature of capitalism. The full script of the talk is available here , where for the time being a link can also be found to the iPod version of the talk itself. It is not to be missed.

Shack's Back

2011-09-01T14:58:00.001+01:00

Here are links to snippets from six football matches involving Sunderland in 1955-6, during the days of the great Len Shackleton. I missed them all, due to the fact that I was undertaking my National Service in Iraq. But now after 55 years I get to see them, including the famous 6th Round FA Cup tie between Newcastle and Sunderland. Everything comes to he who waits. As Len Shackleton said "I'm not biased when it comes to Newcastle, I'm not bothered who beats them!" - especially when it is Sunderland. Here you can hear him being interviewed.

Michael Foot : from "Suicide Note" to Salvation?

2011-08-31T13:08:00.000+01:00

Gerald Kaufman's claim that Labour's 1983 General Election Manifesto was "the longest suicide note in history" has helped to fuel the impression that Labour's subsequent disastrous election result rested primarily on the shoulders of its policy proposals. To this, is normally added the argument that Michael Foot looked like Worzel Gummidge, which in a television era helped to destroy Labour's popular image.

The above crude analysis conveniently ignores two major alternative explanations for Labour's drubbing.

(1) In 1981, the Labour Party suffered a massive split with the defection of the "Gang of Four" and the formation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) under the leadership of Roy Jenkins. As it takes two to tango, the blame for Labour's split can not be laid exclusively (or even mainly) on the shoulders of its leftward move. Jenkins and company made the break, refusing to accept the legitimacy of Labour Party Conference decisions. In the 1983 General Election the combined Labour and SPD vote was almost exactly the same as that which an undivided Labour Party had achieved in October 1974 when it won an election under Harold Wilson's leadership. A united Labour Party in 1983 could have achieved something similar.

(2) Prior to the split and then the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falklands, plus Margaret Thatcher's popularist response, Michael Foot had been ahead of her in the public opinion polls. So much so at one time, that Thatcher was seen as being the most unpopular Prime Minister in British history. But the Falkland Factor (added to the split) was played out to her considerable political advantage.

It is also a paradox that Michael Foot was seen to have had a bad television image, for back in the 1950s he had been a popular and regular television performer in discussion programmes. But by the 1980s, television had become an avenue for those with a simplistic style, rather than those with great oratorical skills, passion, intellect and feeling.

See this article by Jon Williams which stresses the contemporary relevance of the much maligned 1983 manifesto. It is likely to turn out to be far more important for the modern Labour Party than anything that is likely to emerge from its current policy reviews.

Iraq In Crisis - Again

2011-08-29T18:35:00.003+01:00

In the spring of 2011, Iraq witnessed major protests across the country. See this article, which addresses the causes of these demonstrations. It also discusses the obstacles toward forming a stable government and the nature of sectarianism and government corruption. Finally, it gives its consideration to the implications for U.S. policy.

State Interference With Political Parties : Iraqi Style

2011-08-29T14:14:00.004+01:00

See here.

Well Written, Well Argued and Correct

2011-08-23T18:19:00.001+01:00

There is a fine article on the socio-economic background to this month's riots in England on page ten of today's "Morning Star" by Martin O'Donnell. It has been edited in the version on the Morning Star's Web-Site, but it is still worth reading - see here.

The Pitmen's Requiem

2011-08-21T20:11:00.005+01:00

Perhaps as you get older, your total experience has accumulated to such an extent that your world seems to get more inter-related and condensed. This may be why since I recently reached 75, I have identified so closely with two books I have read. The first of these, I reviewed here. It deals with a book that was first published before I was born. The second book was only published last year and I feel that it was written especially for me - although I may not be alone in this thought. The book is "The Pitmen's Requiem" (Northumbria Press 2010) by Peter Crookson.

The starting point of Crookson's book might not only seem to be of general relevance to myself, as its theme will appeal to many. Crookson sets out to write a biography of Robert Saint who wrote the music for the miners' brass band hymn "Gresford" - which can be listened to via this link. I, like numerous others, feel a special attachment to this music. I recently heard it played at a telling occasion at the cemetery at Easington Colliery on the 60th anniversary of its major pit disaster. I have since heard it played at the Durham Miners' Big Meeting, which still continues a tradition started in 1871.

The tune was composed in memory of 256 men and boys who were killed in a massive explosion at Gresford Colliery near Wrexham in 1934. It is played after all mining disasters,their anniversaries and on most occasions when brass bands play a programme in past or present mining areas.

The tune was not, however, composed by a Welshman, but by a former coal miner in County Durham. Robert Saint was born in Hebburn on the south bank of the Tyne, in an area which was then part of County Durham. Between the ages of 14 and 27, Saint worked at Hebburn Colliery until it closed in 1932. He then spent two years on the dole in an era of deep economic depression; supplementing his small allowance by being a saxophone player in a local orchestra and also by giving piano lessons. He then moved on to work with the National Equine Defence League showing a special interest in the well-being of pit ponies.

Whilst Crookston writes a telling tale about Saint, he also ran into trouble in seeking to unearth research material. For working class people seldom hold onto written material about their lives. Crookston spells out the problem in a beautiful chapter entitled "No Shoebox in the Wardrobe". So the author then starts to ask a well selected group of people what "Gresford" means to them and then gets them to elaborate about their own experiences of the Durham and Northumberland Coalfields. It is a formula of genius.

I mention five sets of these people below, as I see myself as having some forms of link with them.

(1) I was in the same class as Cecil Peacock in the Infant and Junior Schools at Easington Colliery. After the recent service of remembrance for the 60th anniversary of the Colliery's pit disaster, I reminded him that for a period when we were at school we were taken out of play periods so that he could help me to improve my spelling. Cecil became on expert on brass bands, "Gresford" and music in general; becoming the administrator for musical education for the Durham County Council. He started his working life as an electrician at the local pit and appreciated something which I never knew. He tells us that the explosion at Easington Colliery which killed 81 miners and then two rescue workers, occured at an underground spot almost two miles inland from the beach. I knew that the pit's operations went out under the north sea and had assumed that that was it; even though my own father was in the pit in a safe seam at the time of the explosion. In fact I was so astonished by Cecil's claim that I checked it out. I could find nothing in the official report of the disaster: but Mary Bell, a local historian and writer, tells me the following - "The explosion was inland where Cecil pointed out. I have a record of a rescue worker from Murton. He told me that he was working down the inland pit at Murton at the time and he was very near the disaster area. He felt although he had to go by lorry to Easington he wished he could have gone through the 'wall' and got there much quicker. Also people living up Canada (a district of Easington HB) said that sometimes they could hear when 'firing' was going on down the pit." On a school bus a few hours after the explosion, I passed what was a greyhound track above the point where the explosion took place. It has taken me 60 years to discover the significance of the spot.

(2) I have recently been in phone, postal and email contact with Heather Wood and she is also interviewed for Crookston's book. She chaired the organisation "Save Easington Area Mines" (SEAM) in 1984/5 and provides an important description of the role of women during the miners' strike of those years. She has recently written a book entitled "Fight To The Finish" (Northern Voices Community Projects, 2011) published about her late father, Gordon MacPherson who worked at the pit at Easington. Luckily Heather (and her mother) have kept the equivalent of "a shoebox in the wardrobe" and her book includes poems and stories by her father. He had a keen sense of humour, which he used for serious purposes.

(3) Additionally, I have been in touch by phone and correspondence with Alan Cummings who was Easington Colliery's Lodge Secretary when both the 1984/5 strike took place and the pit was closed in 1993. He still continues with his duties today, covering compensation cases and keeping Easington's mining tradition alive. Easington was as united during the period of the long drawn out conflict as any other colliery in the country. Cumming's gives a gripping account of those tough days.

(4) Tony Benn is also interviewed, for he selected Gresford as a tune when he was on Desert Island Discs and because he is a regular at the Durham Miners' Gala. You can hear him speaking for himself on these matters on the second video shown via this link. My connections with Tony have been substantial. Not only were we members of the Socialist Campaign Group in the Commons, but the Constituency I represented lapped around Tony's in Chesterfield in a "C" shape. In fact, Chesterfield was our common meeting ground via the Derbyshire Miners' Offices. For the area I represented had a very similar mining tradition to that of the Durham Coalfield.

(5) Crookston also interviews Arthur and Vera Bartholomew from their home in Byron Street at Easington Colliery. Although I know neither of these, I knew Byron Street well. My first girl friend lived there. Her father had been killed in the 1951 pit disaster. Arthur Bartholomew was 92 at the time of the interview and has a memory going back to his starting work in the pit at Dawdon Colliery (two miles north of Easington) at the age of 14. He was fore-overman at Easington at the time of the explosion, which was also the job held by my former girl friend's father.

There are many other elements of Crookston's book which I identify with. He takes a walk down the main street at Easington - Seaside lane. The strangers he passes are very friendly. In retirement my father walked down the length of most of Seaside Lane on almost a daily basis, enjoying the banter. But Crookston's is also depressed by the dereliction of closed shops and the abandoned Junior and Infant Schools which has had preservation orders placed on them. One of these schools was the scene of the count for Manny Shinwell's dramatic electoral victory over Ramsay MacDonald in 1935, but even Cecil Peacock now wants it to be demolished. Yet I remember the Seaside Lane of the post-war years with affection. For its main stretch, one side of Seaside Lane was dominated by a row of private shops, with a mix of two cinemas, a club, a pub, a barbers, a billiard hall, the functioning infant and junior schools and the Co-op. Then it reached the block of colliery houses. The other side of the Lane had some of Easington's posher houses, a doctor's surgery, well kept allotments near the waterworks, two Methodist chapels (a third for the Wesleyan's by then being used as a warehouse), churches for the Anglicans and the Pentecostals, an opening leading to the Miners' Welfare and to the Welfare Grounds with its football pitches, bowling greens, tennis courts and a cricket pitch; then at the bottom Walter Wilson's and Byron Street. (There are some enthralling poems by Roy Sanderson and Mary Bell about Easington. These contrast my own past experiences with Crookston's modern ones. I am unable to provide the link to these at the moment, but will add them sometime if I can.)

I was, no doubt. biased. But I felt that Easington was a cut above other Colliery areas. Inland pits often had ugly pit heaps and their coal dust to contend with, but Easington dumped its waste out of immediate sight, into the sea. It ruined the beach, but did not effect daily life. Nowadays the beach has been cleaned up; but the communal provisions have massively declined.

I am mistaken if I am giving the impression that Peter Crookston's book is mainly about Easington. Its central theme is about "Gresford" and its composer who was based in the Tyneside area, which I never even travelled to before I was 12 or so. I have homed in on the bits I relate to. Some of this now takes me into the areas close to Easington.

Peter Lee, an earlier leader of the Durham Miners is dealt with. He became the first Labour Leader of the Durham County Council in 1919 and had a new post-war town near Easington named after him. I knew Peterlee in its early days well. My grandmother, Uncle, Aunt (and her family) were amongst its early occupants. Following on from my becoming Secretary of the Easington Colliery Branch of the Labour Party, I became Secretary of the Peterlee and District Fabian Society. Although our monthly meetings were held in Peterlee, our biggest event was a day school held at Easington Secondary Modern School with 78 people attending.

Crookston takes us to coastal Collieries close to Easington, including Seaham where I started work as a railway clerk. Horden where I next worked at their railway station and Dawdon where as a young teenager I fixed up a football match and John Fickling on our side scored from his own half on a full sized pitch. But above all, Crookston takes us in and out of the inland area of Shotton Colliery, where my wife comes from. Her father was an onsetter at the local pit, with its pit heap almost spilling out onto its Front Street. It was described in J.B. Priestley's "English Journeys" in 1932. Invariably, Crookston has a chapter entitled "The People Priestley Admired" - although the references here are again to Tyneside.

Even when we return to the story of the man who composed "Gresford", I am still sent off to my own recollections. In a chapter entitled "Lament for a Vanished Culture". Crookston writes of his father and Robert Saint in deep conversation about the writings of Robbie Burns in 1948. This leads to a description of miners' home libaries and the self-taught tradition. Numbers of miners in the tradition of the autodidact, built up their own serious libraries. One collection of works stressed by Crookston is the Odhams Press "Home University Library". To this he could have added the Odham's Press "British Encylopedia." Next to my computer, I hold 24 hard book volumes of these two Odham's collections. They were the prize possession of my Uncle Bill (William Gray) who worked from the age of 14 to 65 in the pits; first at Sunniside in the south-west Durham Coalfield, then at Easington.

The fact that Peter Crookston hits all the right cords with me is that he is a skilled writer from a Great Northern Coalfield's background. It is also deeply significant that we were both born in 1936 and then each left the north-east in 1963. We are both at a time of life when we want to know more about our roots. Not in the sense of "Who Do You Think You Are?", but in the sense of what immediately shaped our early life.

Easington Village Rovers 1930-1

2011-08-14T20:24:00.002+01:00

When Will Labour Get Tough With The Causes Of Crime?

2011-08-11T14:00:00.007+01:00

On 10 March Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper (above) said that Labour was still commited to Tony Blair's pledge to be "'tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime". From yesterday's debates in the Commons, we can see that the Labour Leadership is still fully committed to the first part of this formula, yet has no analysis which is related to the second part - apart from seeking an enquiry which would look at the causes of the riots. This was also Blair's own style of approach.

What evidence would Labour present to the enquiry it is seeking ?

Does Yvette not see that Thatcherism, New Labourism and now the Coalition have facilitated the destruction of the social bond in community after community. There has been the closing of traditional industries, without action being taken to at least temporally preserve what was possible whilst also instigating alternative provisions so that established social relationships could be maintained. Monetarism and then a flight into the arms of the financial institutions, helped to bury what had been achieved following nearly 200 years of struggle which resulted in the high hopes seen in the building of the Welfare State. Instead, commercial values have been allowed to dominate society, so that some can make a quick fortune whilst others are shaped into becoming consumers burdening themselves with debt as they become addicted to sales pitch after sales pitch. Worse still the unemployed and those otherwise deprived, are themselves pushed into accepting these false norms. Education has moved to training people to serve commercial operations, rather than opening up people's minds so that they participate in thoughtful ways to pressing for the building of a better world.

Scawl down here to see what Yvette both said and did not say. I am disappointed that she did not grasp even part of the nettle. The fact that she is probably one of the more caring Labour frontbenchers, just shows the shallow nature of modern Labourism. In today's desperate circumstances we obviously need to be tough on the rioting criminals, but we can't start to eliminate their mind-set unless we tackle far wider and deeper questions. If Labour does not now re-establish its abandoned democratic socialist principles, then it is hard to see if it will ever come up with the necessary responses to our problems. Or has Ed Miliband just dipped his toe into the water by saying that his party had failed to tackle inequality and had not paid enough attention to morality.

Food For Serious Thought

2011-08-10T18:15:00.001+01:00

If you wish to give serious thought to our own and the wider world's current social, economic and political problems, the BBC 4 programmes which can be accessed via this link provides a valuable starting point. But beware, the first programme is likely to be removed from the link just after midnight on 14 August.

Lib-Dem Sensation

2011-08-06T12:48:00.002+01:00

Vince Cable, Steve Webb and Simon Hughes have all come out in favour of the Government supporting the Robin Hood Tax. (OK, it was 10 years ago and was then known as the Tobin Tax - see here , but now that I have reminded them of their commitment by email we can expect their resignation from their Government links at any time!)

Tackling The Current Economic Crisis

2011-08-06T10:25:00.004+01:00

The following quotation is taken from an important item published today by Simon Chouffort on "Left Foot Forward". He advocates the use of the Robin Hood Tax as a means of tackling the current international financial crisis. The Robin Hood Tax is a variant of the Tobin Tax, which I spent a lot of time advocating at one time in parliament, as indicated in the above photo taken when Gordon Brown was at the Treasury. Here is one example. (See also the label in the bottom left hand corner).

"One policy option being discussed in Europe is the idea of a Financial Transaction Tax, known popularly in many countries as a ‘Robin Hood Tax’. A tiny tax would be levied on each stock, bond, derivative or currency transaction. It would target financial institutions’ ‘casino’ style trading that helped precipitate the economic crisis and is capable of raising hundreds of billions of euros a year. It could help support those who have been hardest hit by the financial crisis both in Europe and around the world.

France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium are among the countries to publicly support it. Both the European Parliament and Commission are actively seeking its implementation. Nicolas Sarkozy has made it one of his priority issues for France’s Presidency of the G20. It’s increasingly viewed as the most robust and simple way to ensure that the financial (sector?) pays a fair contribution for its part in the economic crisis. Over 40 have already been implemented around the world and concerns about the feasibility have been shown by the IMF, European Commission and others to be overblown.

As Europe moves ahead and grapples once again with the might of the financial sector, the UK Government should deliver on its claim that ‘we are all in this together’, support their efforts and prove that it is capable of bringing the financial sector back under control."

Ed Milband and Ed Balls should take note.

In Jack's Shadow

2011-08-02T23:38:00.007+01:00

Photo of the 1945 Labour Cabinet. Jack Lawson of the War Office is fourth from the right in the back row. The following (highly personal) review of his autobiography is over 3,000 words long.

Jack Lawson lived from 1881 to 1965 and wrote his autobiography entitled "A Man's Life" in 1932, adding a fresh chapter covering the intervening events in 1944. Although he achieved far more in his life than I have and he experienced infinitely harsher circumstances, a surprising number of events occurred to him which I can identify with. The biggest differences between us is that he was born more than half a century before me and worked for 30 years in the pits, starting at the age of 12. These are huge differences between us. They should always be borne in mind in what I say below.

Jack was born in the mining Village of Kells near Whitehaven on the western coast of Cumberland, whilst I was born at Easington Colliery on the opposing eastern coast in County Durham. My paternal grandfather was, however, born only ten years before Jack in a Cumberland mining community, but it was 30 miles inland from Kells. Both Jack and my grandfather later moved with their parents to the Durham Coalfield, where they both started work at 12.

Jack started work at Boldon Colliery, which was situated less than four miles north west of Monkwearmouth Colliery in Sunderland where my grandfather's own dad suffered a fatal accident from a fall of stone in 1907. Sunderland's football ground is now built on top of the former Monkwearmouth pit and at one time my wife worked for a firm situated just a couple of streets away from that colliery. My grandfather also lived in differing houses in the vicinity of what was then Sunderland's ground at Roker Park, with my father being born in one of these houses (next to a pawnbrokers) in 1909.

Reflecting upon the many mining families who settled in the Durham Coalfield and who had come from far and wide to settle in County Durham, Jack states that there " is only one dialect now, and only Durham people. The melting pot process is complete" (p 43). This description solidly applied to Easington Colliery where my grandparents and their established family finally settled permanently in 1912, just a year after the pit went into full production.

Jack also says that at Boldon, he "lived in the isolation of a colliery" (p51). This was before the days of public transport and also describes early life at Easington. My father was brought into that community when he was three years old and remained solidly part of it for the next 83 years of his life.

He adds that most "miners have had experiences which makes one feel that it is only by a 'miracle' that they are alive" (p 61). My own father's miracle occurred in 1951 when he was working in the local pit when 81 men (and then three rescue workers) were killed. His miracle being that he was working in a different seam from the explosion. Yet at home we did not know he was safe until he returned.

Jack became a Methodist lay preacher and he provides a telling description of what he saw as the impact of Methodism in the Durham Coalfield in the early years of the 19th Century. "Their hymns and sermons may have been of another world, but the first fighters and speakers for unions, Co-op Societies, political freedom and improved conditions, were Methodist preachers" (p 69). I also listened to Methodist sermons at least twice (then over three times) a week between the ages of 12 and 18. My mother had been brought up as a Methodist in the mining community of Sunniside in South West Durham and initially sent me to the Sunday School at the Easington Bourne Methodist Chapel. She continued to attend the Methodist services until prevented by dementia in her old age, whilst I deviated during my National Service and came to reject notions of the "other world". But I sort to retain the moral and political prescriptions which Jack highlights. In a chapter entitled "Little Bethel" (pp 67-74), he gives a classical exposition of the claim that British Socialism was shaped by Methodism rather than Marxism. It was not for several years after I had lost my links with Methodism that I first seriously examined any of Marx's writings.

In 1904 a Branch of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at Boldon and Jack became an activist, undertaking equivalent tasks to those he undertook as a Lay Preacher around the area's Chapels, now using a soap box to supplement the pulpit. He was 22 when the ILP Branch was founded. Labour did not set up an individual membership structure until 1918. My equivalent was to join the Labour Party in Easington Colliery at the age of 21, after returning from my period of National Service. I was no speaker, so instead I became Secretary of the Local Branch of the Labour Party, where I persuaded them to invite speakers - for now that I was an atheist I missed listening to socialist sermons. It was to be a further 17 years before I also joined the ILP, although it had just changed its name and some of its practices by becoming a publications organisation - Independent Labour Publications. I have retained links with them ever since then.

At an early stage, Jack became an avid reader and collector of serious works of literature. In Jonathan Rose's fine book "The Intellectual Life of the British Working Class" (Yale Nota Bene, 2002), Jack is recognised as being a leading example of the autodidactic tradition. Jack had a depth and commitment to books which went way beyond my own, but I stumbled forward. Up to 12, I had got by reading comics, the local football papers, the Daily Herald and my maternal Grandmother's News Chronicle. But then our teacher at the Secondary Modern School took us into the school library and told us to borrow a book and read it, I choose "Mr. Standfast" by John Buchan and was hooked. I still hold 16 of Buchan's books, most of which were purchased in the Everyman Edition at 4s 6d (now 22 and a half pence). I am, therefore, pleased to see that a quote from Buchan is used on a cover of an edition of Jack's book saying that " 'A Man's Life' should be read by everyone". When I moved beyond Buchan, I came to purchase the Penguin editions of the plays of George Bernard Shaw with their long prefaces as well as a random selection of easier-to-read books by authors such as Conan Doyle. I was slowly moving forth, but none of this matched the depth and scope of Jack's reading as a young man. He tells us how he used "orange- boxes painted, with brown paper covering, tastefully cut at the edges" (p 81) to hold his many books. Having failed my eleven plus, then fluffed the key "O" levels of Maths and English Language and even having dropped-out of the piano lessons my mother sent me to (although she had bought a second-hand upright piano), she became keen to encourage my gradual interest in books. She was keen that I would do things that meant I would not need to go down the pit. So she bought me a bookcase and I then succeeded in upsetting the wife of the Methodist Sunday School Superintendent by placing a photo of GBS on top of it. It was the shape of things to come. A bookcase would have indeed been a luxury for Jack. Our four roomed colliery house met the needs of my father, mother and myself as an only child. A similar four room house had to be shared by Jack's parents and their ten children. Orange boxes full of classical literature are something which impress me in such a crowded environment.

Jack also "discovered a certain booksellers in Newcastle" (p 74) where he met "kindred souls from other parts of Northumberland and Durham" (p 75). I found the equivalent (or perhaps the same bookseller) in a Newcastle indoor market when I adopted the habit of visiting the town's Theatre Royal. On my 17th birthday, I bought a copy of "The Webbs and their Work" edited by Margaret Cole (London: Frederick Muller Ltd. 1949) which contains an article by Jack himself entitled "The Discovery of Sidney Webb". Jack tells us that in his efforts to find literature about Trade Unions a "steady, thoughtful, elderly miner said he thought a man called Sidney Webb had written a 'History of Trade Unionism'. There was not one to be found in the colliery, so it was ordered off of a bookseller in Newcastle" (p 187-8 of Margaret Cole's book). This was how how Jack discovered Sidney Webb, who was to become a fellow Durham County Labour MP and a fellow Government Minister in the First Minority Labour Government of 1924. Indeed Jack was to stand unsuccessfully for the Seaham Parliamentary Constituency (encompassing Easington) in 1918, which Sidney went on to win and to serve as their MP from 1922 to 1929.

Jack's love life was to have certain similarities with my own. In describing his first meeting with his future wife, he outlines an event at Boldon where "I met 'Her'. She lived in Sunderland, and was visiting friends in the colliery when I met her with a girl friend whom I knew" (pp 82-3). I first met Ann who became my wife in Sunderland itself where we both worked. A mother of a lad I worked with as a railway clerk worked in the office of a neighbouring store, with Ann. This led to my meeting "Her". Ann was herself from a mining background. her father was an onsetter at Shotton Colliery which is closer to Easington than either places are to Sunderland.

Methodist meetings and political meetings helped Jack and then myself to develop interests in speeches, discussions and adult education. Jack took the high road via Methodist pulpits, political platforms and then "a group of us ...started an adult school...long before the Workers' Educational Classes" (p 77). I took the low road of being an honorary secretary, first fixing up speakers for the Christian Endeavour at the Chapel, then when I dropped religion the secular equivalents through which I undertook similar tasks were the local Labour Party and the Peterlee and District Fabian Society. Speakers I arranged for the later included Mannie Shinwell MP and Sam Watson the Secretary of the Durham Miners Association, people whom Jack worked with closely. Sam being his protege. It must be remembered that Sam initially had a much more left-wing reputation than the one he later acquired.

Although he was 25 and married and faced major financial difficulties, Jack undertook two years full-time study in politics and economics at Ruskin College in Oxford in 1907. After selling their furniture, his wife found work in Oxford and he did some domestic work at the college (p 99). 53 years later at the age of 24, I also went to study at Ruskin College. But I had the great advantage of receiving funding from the Durham County Council on which Jack had served. I also had no marriage commitments, it being only between my first and second years at Ruskin when I met Ann. Jack discovered about the existence of Ruskin College when he talked about books and art to his marra, Jack Woodhead. When Jack mentioned John Ruskin, his mate told him about the College which bore Ruskin's name and encouraged Jack to contact them (pp 93-5). Jack undertook the College's correspondence course and then went into full-time study with them. Whilst my discovery of Ruskin College arose from my attending a Fabian Society School held there during an Easter vacation.

Although it wasn't preplanned, I came to use Ruskin College as a stepping stone into university. Jack's youngest brother Will did the same when he followed in Jack's footsteps. But Jack himself turned down the Principal Dennis Hird's offer to help him do the same. Jack returned to the pit at the close of his course and pursued his political and trade union commitments. He acted as voluntary election agent for Labour and for a miner at Jarrow in the 1910 elections. My equivalent was in North East Derbyshire in 1983, when I was agent to Ray Ellis who was President of the Derbyshire Miners. Jack was next elected as checkweighman at Alma Colliery in North West Durham. He tells us that "I soon discovered that my work as check-weighman was a mere detail and by no means my real work. I was their business man, watching closely and attending to every detail effecting their wages and conditions. I was adviser on domestic questions, lawyer and executor. So are all checkweighmen. Pit-craft first, spokesman in the office, much tested guide in meetings..." (p 114). It was the era in which Beatrice Webb came to call the Parliamentary Labour Party "the Party of Checkweighmen" (p 250, "Master and Servants" by Huw Beynon and Terry Austrin. London: River Oram Press, 1994).

Unlike me, Jack fought in a war, volunteering in 1916 and becoming a lead driver of mules in France; finally being demobbed in 1918. My own two years in the forces were mainly served in Basra in Iraq when I was called up for National Service. I was part of a Movements Unit where in contrast to the recent history of Iraq, I was lucky enough only once to hear a shot fired in anger when a prisoner escaped from a neighbouring Iraqi Army camp, but they missed him as he dived into the river. Jack's brother Will was, however, killed in France during the First World War. Will once having wrote home to say "This is not war: it is a permanent industry of death" (p 145).

Jack moved on to become the Labour MP for Chester-le-Street from 1919 to 1949. My equivalent was to be the Labour MP for North East Derbyshire from 1987 to 2005. But there were some major differences between us. He spoke from Labour's front benches during the minority Labour Governments of Ramsay MacDonald and then served in the Attlee Cabinet from 1945 to 1946. In 1949 he moved on to the Lords. I never rose to such dizzy heights. Jack's autobiography, however, skates over his parliamentary and governmental experiences. His focus is on his mining and mining family background.

He took the title of Baron Lawson of Beamish and also became Lord Lieutenant of Durham. These were unpaid positions and he was obliged to live on income support. But his title turned out to be an appropriate one, for after his death Beamish acquired a substantial Mining Museum, preserving memories of the Durham Mining tradition in a former coalfield where no pits have remained since the closure of Monkwearmouth Colliery in 1993.

Jack knew the Easington Colliery area well (its pit also closed in 1993). As mentioned previously, he was the unsuccessful Labour Candidate for the Seaham Constituency in 1918, when he perceptively (but unhelpfully in electoral terms) campaigned against reparations being placed upon Germany (p 154). In 1944 he addressed the St. John's Methodist Chapel on "My Travels to China" (p 13, "Methodism in Easington Colliery 1913-1963", a Jubilee Brochure). Unfortunately, I missed out on his talk as I was only eight at the time. But his Methodist, socialist and Durham Mining Association commitments are likely to have drawn him into Easington on many occasions.

Unfortunately, Jack's autobiographical coverage mainly peters out once he becomes a MP. The 1944 edition is 191 pages long, but the years between 1919 and 1944 are crammed into the last 31 pages. There is nothing at all on the 1926 General Strike nor on the 1931 economic collapse. And there is little on his electoral politics, nor on where his victories took him to. Yet if you wish to find out what Durham Big Meeting was like in its heyday, what a bitter fight between two miners was like when surrounded by fellow gamblers and (above all) what life was like for a closely knit mining family, then this is the book for you. For instance; after his brother is killed during the first world his mother searches out a treasured baby's toy and hands it to Jack's six year old daughter to give to his youngest child, saying "Take this home for your babby hinny. My babby's gone." (p 150). Then Jack's own eleven year old son Clive is killed following a bombing raid in 1941 (pp 184-7).

The appeal to me of Jack's book is not just that I also originate from a Durham mining community, but that I worked closely with miners from South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire for 21 years. Furthermore, I did this in a capacity which links in with one of Jack's commitments - working class adult education. I was a tutor on day-release classes for trade unionists run by the Sheffield University Extramural Department/Division of Continuing Education. The persistent core of these classes were for members of the Yorkshire and Derbyshire NUMs. Their interests were grounded (like Jacks') on their lives in their mining communities. Numbers moved on to study full-time in adult education colleges such as Ruskin. Many became, like Jack, avid readers of serious books. My big regret is that I never placed a copy of "A Man's Life" in the book boxes we took to these classes. It was crafted for exactly such a readership.

When I moved into the Commons after the joy of teaching as an equal in adult education, I became on MP for a Constituency with a similar tradition to Jack's Chester-le-Street. For 67 of the years between 1907 and 1987 my seat of North East Derbyshire had been represented by coal miners, the pattern was only cut into when the seat fell to opposing Liberals or the Conservatives. Three deep mined pits and a drift mine still remained in existence when I went to Westminster. Only the drift mine now survives, but I am thankful to have participated in three campaigns to prevent its closer. The consequences of the end of deep coal mining in North Derbyshire became a key concern on my agenda. I always tried to be accepted as something of a substitute miner.

For me, Jack's book strikes all the key cords. The thin coverage of his non-mining years does not really matter, as there are plenty of alternative works to turn to by professional historians. It is Jack at the coal-face which matters; whether down the pit, in the community or with his family.

Note : as second hand copies of Jack's small book cost £25, potential readers may wish to borrow it via the inter-library loan system. I did this for £1.50p.

Seek Justice For All

2011-07-29T16:10:00.002+01:00

Try here.

On Solidarity With Norway

2011-07-23T17:35:00.004+01:00

See this telling response from Owen Jones, the author of the exceptional "Chavs : The Demonization of the Working Class".

Three Score Years and Fifteen

2011-07-22T08:33:00.006+01:00

I have been running this blog for five years. It was established for me by my son, Stephen. After he set up an initial test item, he added a fresh item on 22 July 2006 and first showed it to me during my birthday party that day. It was my 70th birthday; hence the title of the blog which gets more dated as each year passes. From that date, this is also blog item number 600.

As I am 75 today, I now have plenty to do other than blogging.

Act To Defend Legal Aid For the Vulnerable

2011-07-13T17:07:00.002+01:00

Go to this.

A Reply To "The Partisan".

2011-07-08T17:28:00.007+01:00

The blog "The Partisan" (their symbol appears above) have placed an item in my comment box in the thread below this one. My reply quotes what they say in five sections, whilst responding to each in turn. Unfortunately, this makes the whole reply too long to go in my comment box. I have, therefore, used this thread for the reply.

(1) "For us, although MPs may well have not literally crossed a picket line, in terms of the spirit of the issue they did."

I accept that numbers of MPs who entered the Commons on 30 June by avenues other than St.Stephen's entrance may have known about the picket and some would be taking diversionary action. But I also see it as being highly likely that others used alternative entries because this was their usual practice and some of these may not have known that a picket was in operation elsewhere. Even if those who entered in ignorance later discovered that a picket existed, by then some of them could have already participated in parliamentary procedures.

(2) "We do also understand both that the list is incomplete, at the moment neither of us has the time or inclination to trawl through hours of BBC Parliament to identify other miscreants, and that some Labour MPs not in Parliament on Thursday may not have had the most noble socialist motives for this."

I hope that you will not abuse this information, but via the following link you will be able to discover (a) who spoke in the Commons that day, (b) who spoke in Westminster Hall and (c) who was present at Commons Committee Meetings. You don't have to trawl through the speeches on the floor of the Commons, as a list can be found as to who spoke - you can then click onto names to check to see if they said anything of importance. It is also possible to check on what was said in Westminster Hall and in Commons Committees, the later providing lists of those in attendance. See - http://www.parliament.uk/ I think that you should search out the contributions of those you have been criticising. Many of your strictures will hold, but you need to judge as to whether they hold for everyone you mention.

(3) "On the more substantive point, whilst we accept that there is a difference between the importance of Cryer's contribution and, for example, Barry "should we rename veal spring beef" Sheerman, there's still a pretty substantial problem here. Whilst it is obviously important that MPs pursue matters in Parliament, it strikes us that an unconditional principle has been violated (if it's unconditional, there should be no question of balancing it with a competing principle)."

Having joined numbers of picket lines in a supportive capacity in the past, I am aware of the importance of the principle involved. The principle is not, however, a categorical imperative. I am sure that the philosopher you later direct my attention to (if Kant had been alive today) would have recognised that it is a principle that is conditional and depends upon the circumstances in which pickets operate. For instance, although the example I now use is not applicable to any current British circumstances, it is theoretically possible for a Trade Union to put in place a picket based on furthering racist, sexist or other interests which are unacceptable to a socialist. This means that an acceptable picket line (as functions in the overwhelming number of cases which we can envisage) is still based on a conditional and not an unconditional principle. I am not, of course, claiming that the picket at St. Stephen's was involved in any such excess. I merely wish to establish the logical standing of the principle we are discussing.

(4) "It's also worth noting that the principle that MPs should work hard for their constituents is widely accepted (at least by the public); principles of unconditional solidarity are being made to appear anachronistic (the GMB, for example, suggested crossing picket lines was an issue of individual conscience, it isn't), this makes fidelity to this principle particularly vital at the moment."

I agree that attempts to uphold picketing rights are especially important in current circumstances. But as this means that bolstering this right is now even more important than it was at some time in the past, this further shows that the weight we give to picketing rights can be given a different stress in different circumstances and is , therefore, a conditional (yet highly important) principle.

(5) "The question on PCS tactics is an interesting one. What we'd suggest is that the Kantian distinction between the public use of reason (one can criticise taxes as much as one wants) and the private use of reason (one still has to pay them) applies here. One can criticise a union's tactics as much as one wants and try to influence them but once they are democratically agreed on one's bound as a socialist not to disrupt them."

Democracy is of great importance, but I do not think that it is the only basis on which the support for picketing should rest. For this would mean that in say, the absence, of a ballot for strike action then picketing would not then be justified. Yet no national ballot took place during the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, but there were still strong reasons for supporting the wide programme of picketing that operated. For the defeat of the Miners by the Thatcher Government would have (and did) lead to a serious collapse in the power and influence of both Trade Unions and the Working Class in general. Nevertheless I agree that it is important that Trade Unions should themselves be democratic organisations. But as democracy is important as part of the life blood of Trade Unionism, so it is important in society in general (although its needs extending). Democracy is important, for instance, in shaping both the activities and openings for MPs - avenues which again need to be extended. Hence (1) the rights of pickets and (2) the rights of MPs to be able to act on behalf of the interests of the electorate are two extremely important principles. When these two principles rubbed up against each other on 30 June, then they needed to be carefully weighed up against each other according to the circumstances of the time. Well intentioned democrats and socialists might come to different conclusions as to which principle was paramount that day and in which circumstances. Furthermore if say,Tom Watson and John Cryer can be excused for coming down on the side of making use of their parliamentary openings that day, it does not follow that everyone else should be excused. It is by a person's intentions that they should be judged. Moral judgements can be complex and often need careful thought, they can't all be devolved to principles we never given any further thought to.

Modifying A Picket Line

2011-07-06T13:53:00.000+01:00

During last Thursday's strike, the Public and Commercial Service (PCS) Trade Union ran what seems to have been a picket line outside at least one of the main entrances to the Commons. One of their justifications for doing this is that they have fellow members of the PCS who work in the parliament building. They may, however, also have been asking others not to cross their picket line, including Members of Parliament. This raises the question of what Labour MPs should have done when confronted by such a picket - especially those who reject Red Ed's criticisms of the strike.

On the day prior to the strike Ed Miliband failed to raise the issue of the dispute at Prime Ministers Questions, although it was the key matter of the day. This gave Cameron the chance to taunt Miliband by asking whether Labour MPs would cross picket lines outside Parliament and other public buildings, and a spokesman for the Labour leader is then reported as saying that Labour MPs "will be coming to work as normal"; although it is not clear as to how many Labour MPs picked up this response.

Labour MPs who spoke in the Commons that day have been criticised for crossing a picket line. No vote took place that day, so those who spoke have been the easiest people to target. But is this targeting justified? There are a number of problems to consider.

(1) MPs using their passes have nine or ten entrances into Parliament. Four of these are major and well used entrances. It must have happened on the odd occasion, but in the 18 years I was an MP I can not once remember arriving at the Commons for a day's work via the entrance shown on the above photo. So many MPs could have arrived in the Commons on the day of the strike without observing the pickets.

(2) Many of those who have avoided being targeted were either (a) present in the parliament building, but did not speak in the Commons or (b) never turned up to enter the building as it was likely that there was no three-line whip that day. A few might have joined the strikers in their constituencies. But, unfortunately these would be few and far between. Many would just be AOL for reasons that had nothing to do with the strike.

(3) A handful had important matters to pursue in the Commons on behalf of their constituents and/or in the wider public interest. This is the main reason that we have a Parliament and a democratic franchise fought for by movements such as those of the Chartists and the Suffragettes. This point still stands even though the Commons and the use of the franchise often fails to meet up to the standards they should.

This third category include (a) John Cryer who contributed fully and well to a debate which directly effected the interests of his constituents and whom is, I assume, a solid supporter of the strikers, (b) Louise Ellman who had obtained a debate organised to discuss the dismissal of employees at Liverpool Passport Office and (c) Tom Watson who pursued an urgent question on the acquisition of BSkyB - a matter whose considerable public importance can be seen in today's media coverage.

The problem this matter raises is how should we act when two important principles clash with one another. First, there is the principle that you should not cross a picket line. Then there is the principle that you should not place any form of impediment upon an MP entering the Commons - a principle which seems to me to have been of significance ever since we achieved a (more-or-less) universal franchise.

When two principles clash, we need to look for the best way around them. Most MPs who supported the strike could have been away from the Commons giving backing to the action. But being away from the Commons for the full day was not a reasonable option for John Cryer. We need more John Cryer's not fewer. I would, therefore, hope that MPs such as John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn who refused to cross the picket line, would now ask PCS (etc) to modify there tactic in future. If the Commons is picketed, the picket line should not be directed at stopping the entry of MPs; but should instead seek to gain support from MPs. A support which can always be delivered (in part) inside the Commons itself.

Here is how one person responded to a similar dilemma, although it is about entering Downing Street which seems to me to have a lessor democratic importance than the Commons should have. On 23rd February 1979 during the Winter of Discontent, the Secretary of State for Energy recorded in his diary "Pickets were standing at the end of Downing Street. One picket looked through my car window and asked if he could speak to me. The driver went on but I stopped him and got out. I assured (the pickets that) I was not going in to do their job or replace their work, and I went in. I sat down at the table outside the Cabinet Room and worked on my papers...." (Tony Benn).

How Ed Cut Us In Half

2011-06-28T20:30:00.002+01:00

See here.

Dear Andy Burnham

2011-06-18T12:19:00.002+01:00

This is a submission for the review of Labour's Education Policy for which Andy Burnham has the lead responsibility. In particular it is a response to a question he asks - "What knowledge and skills do the next generation need to be successful in the modern world?"

We should see "success" as something that will be achieved in a collective way. For if we encourage schoolchildren and young students to pursue selfish interests by using educational facilities mainly to compete for status, wealth, influence and power; then we undermine what education at its best can achieve. Education should have three main objectives. First of all to enable and encourage people to develop intelligent and expanding interests into the scientific, artistic, social and other problems which surround them. Secondly, it should enable people to make well intentioned and well thought out contributions to the way they feel society should function and operate. Thirdly, obtaining the changing skills and understandings which are often required in modern-day employment should be seen as something that is a valuable spin-off from the advancement of the first two objectives.

A sustainable future needs to be built upon the principles of equity, a concern for each others rights and freedoms. democratic participation and mutual respect. These are not values which educational provisions should try to force upon people; but they are values which are best advanced in circumstances of serious investigations and free and open debate.

Whilst children should require a firm grounding in the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic and need to be able to pursue their expanding interests in these, the second educational objective mentioned above for equipping people to play a full part in the operations of a democratic society is one which is now seldom recognised. This objective requires moves into the study at school of subjects such as history, geography, current affairs, literature and the arts. These provide a opening through which students can later move on to pursue subjects such as philosophy, sociology, psychology, economics, political studies, other social sciences and the arts.

The stress on the above areas is not intended to place a block upon those who choose to specialise in technical, scientific, industrial, business and related areas . It is just that we all benefit from there being a serious and questioning input into society from areas such as the humanities.

The education of children and young people is not, however, shaped only by their experience within schools, colleges and universities. Their understandings, interests and abilities are also significantly influenced by their experiences at home and in their communities; including the impact they draw from the media. Caring parents who themselves take an intelligent interest in the educational development of their children can be at the cutting edge of such influences.

Education, therefore, needs to be a life long experience; both for today's young people and for older people who can influence and encourage them. We, therefore, need to see significant developments taking place to enable people to move into informal and formal educational avenues. Whilst there is scope for encouraging and assisting the work of bodies such as the Workers' Educational Association, Trade Union Education Schemes, Adult Education Colleges and University of the 3rd Age (and also filling in the gap with a University of the 2nd Age - or a combined University for all these ages ); there is also a need for people to be able to move in and out of formal educational avenues throughout their lives. The avenue of Continuing and Life Long Learning has two major needs. First, it requires appropriate financial arrangements to be made; so that participants have entitlements to leave from their employment for study purposes and are not, thereby, financially handicapped. This requires the development of a system of Paid Educational Leave. Secondly, it requires forms of open access, where people are not deterred from pursuing their developing interests by an initial requirement to jump over a series of examination and qualification hurdles, especially in new areas of study.

There needs to be a recognition that the proper education of the young needs to be linked with serious forms of education for their seniors - especially as today's youngsters will themselves become seniors.

We all need to recognise that education offers us a major avenue for improving society. And whilst a proper commitment to the needed forms of educational provision may appear to be costly in the short run, they will prove to be the most cost effective way to build both a better society and a better world.

The communal and media influences which were mentioned earlier as being avenues which could come to impact in a positive way on the intellectual development of young people and others would (a) be shaped by the recommendations for improving educational facilities which are mentioned above, whilst in the meantime these avenues could themselves contribute to improved educational standards by (b) the establishment of close links between the Department of Education and bodies with communal and media responsibilities, for the development of programmes of action which fit in with the overall education approach suggested in this submission. This can be done without imposing governmental patterns in these areas, but by encouraging practices which begin to satisfy and encourage people's shared and growing educational aspirations.

Sorting Out The Labour Party

2011-06-16T09:52:00.004+01:00

Who needs Blue Labour, Purple Labour or GEER? See here and here instead.

Now Maliki Fails The Iraqi People

2011-06-11T18:33:00.003+01:00

On June 7, 2011 Prime Minister Maliki's 100-day deadline for reforming the government of Iraq expired, and his promise to make improvements turned out to have been hollow. In response, on June 10 demonstrations took place in nine cities in northern, central and southern Iraq. Protests occurred in Basra city, Hillah in Babil, Diwaniya in Qadisiyah, Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar, Najaf city, Kirkuk in Tamim, Mosul in Ninewa, and Karbala city.

For details, see this fine report by Musings on Iraq.

Clegg and Cameron in 1895

2011-06-09T20:09:00.003+01:00

Click onto the cartoon to enlarge it. Then turn to Dronfield Blather for the cartoons relevance to the Labour Party, which did not even exist when the cartoon first appeared in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) newspaper "Labour Leader" in 1895.

Egypt's Trade Unions Under Attack

2011-06-09T09:30:00.000+01:00

See here.

Hat Tip : Labour Start.

Many New MPs Feel Overburdened

2011-06-04T15:45:00.000+01:00

A Hansard Society survey finds that great numbers of the new intake of MPs find the demands of their new jobs to be too great a burden. This is a sign that parliament is clearly attracting many recruits for the wrong reasons and that selection procedures for candidates in winnable seats are deeply flawed.

Of course, there have never been any past halycon days. And once someone makes it to parliament, the influences and controls of the whips and the front benches can be corrupting. But new MPs should at least start out as seeing themselves as (a) playing important roles in the democratic process, (b) being in a position where they can help people who are in less fortunate circumstances and (c) as having acquired a privileged platform to press for their political ideals - should they have any.

It would help if those selecting candidates for winnable seats were on the look out for candidates who have a track record of serving others rather than serving themselves.

The Privatisation of the Labour Party

2011-06-03T11:46:00.004+01:00

See here.

Then here are more problems.

Hat tip : Jon Williams.

A Week In Which To Save The Labour Party

2011-06-02T09:34:00.003+01:00

A review of the Labour Party policy making process was launched at last year's Annual Conference of the Labour Party and a subsequent report will be presented for endorsement at this year's Annual Conference.

The deadline for submissions to the review is 10th June - in only eight days.

Submissions can be made either: - Via the Labour Party website at: members.labour.org.uk/pip - Or in writing to:
Review of Partnership into Power
Policy and Research Department
The Labour Party
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0HA

I intend to submit the following -

"Complex and convoluted systems undermine the operations of supposed democratic procedures. Democratic arrangements need to be straightforward and understood. The current "Partnership Into Power" system and the functions of the National Policy Forum are not understood by the bulk of Labour Party members who participate in Labour Party Branch and Constituency activities, serve on local councils and/or engage in local electoral activity. The current system is dismissed as being one of "smoke and mirrors". It should be abandoned.

In its place we require a clear structure for policy making, in which democratically run units of the Labour Party have a direct link into the activities of the National Executive Committee and into the decision-making procedures of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party".

If you would like to add your name to the above statement along with your Labour Party Branch and Constituency details, then please confirm this via the attached comment box within the next few days. An alternative is to send your own submission directly to the Labour Party.

Oil Workers' Struggle In Iraq

2011-06-01T09:45:00.002+01:00

See here.

60 years after the Easington Pit Disaster

2011-05-30T16:34:00.018+01:00

The above photograph was taken at Easington Colliery yesterday at a Ceremony of Remembrance held at the graves of miners who were killed in a local pit disaster 60 years ago. I was at the ceremony and at an earlier and packed Memorial Service held in the Parish Church, where the names of all those killed was read out. 81 were killed due to an explosion in the Duckbill District of the Five Quarter Seam and this was followed by the deaths of two of the rescue workers.

Another 895 men were working in other parts of the pit at the time and the official report into the disaster pointed out that if stone dusting had not taken place earlier then "the explosion might have acquired such violence that it would have spread beyond its actual confines and have caused one of the greatest disasters in mining history". Yet as it was, the explosion rushed through nine miles of roadway.

We all have our own way into the past. I was a 14 year old school boy and my father was in the pit when the explosion struck at 4.35am on 29 May 1951. He survived because he was working in a different seam to the one in which the explosion took place. He later helped with what he described as being "salvage work". The official report by the Chief Inspector of Mines states that tribute "must be paid to the large number of colliery workers who removed bodies, strengthened stoppings and cleared paths. Their work, though not so dangerous as that of the trained rescue teams, was arduous, unpleasant and not without strain, and I am glad to have the opportunity of recording sincere appreciation of their services". It was an overall experience which reinforced my father's loyalties. So yesterday I wore his old Durham NUM tie.

My father moved to Easington with his parents and five siblings when he was a three year old in 1912 just after coal was first drawn from its pit. He worked at the colliery between the ages of 14 and 65 and died in 1996 just three years after the pit was closed. Few people could have been so closely bound to its life as a mining colliery. The experience of its pit disaster happening roughly half-way through his life.

The photo of the young girl above comes from the this source.

Added 24 June : Also see here, here, here, here and here.

More Trade Union Repression In Iraq

2011-05-30T13:36:00.001+01:00

See here.

A Clause 4 Moment?

2011-05-24T15:00:00.030+01:00

The major problem with the Labour Party Consultative Document "Refounding Labour" is that it manages to put forward over a 100 questions on how the Labour Party should operate and function without ever raising the key question which should shape our approach to these bits and pieces : namely, what is the Labour Party supposed to be about? What is its purpose?

Yet there is a well known section of the Constitution of the Labour Party which deals with the paramount issue of what its very aims and values are - its famous Clause IV.

I can appreciate why the Labour Leadership would wish to avoid a re-run of the past disputes over reforming Clause IV, which were initially unsuccessfully instigated by Hugh Gaitskell and then successfully by Tony Blair. For if they had even mentioned the words "Clause 4" in their Consultative Document, then that would have been enough to stimulate an argument as to whether we should return to the original wording that was adopted in 1918 namely - "To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service." The publicity around the Labour Party itself re-opening this debate could have been used to damage Labour's standing. But perhaps our responses to the Consultative Document could be used to get the matter of aims and values back onto the agenda, yet we might be able to avoid any major damage from the media. Especially if we use the words of the original Clause IV as inspirational, rather than treating them as if they were the Holy Grail.

The current Clause IV appears below. What do you think of it as it stands?

Clause IV.
Aims and values

1. The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few; where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe and where we live together freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.

2. To these ends we work for:

A. A DYNAMIC ECONOMY, serving the public interest, in which the enterprise of the market and the rigour of competition are joined with the forces of partnership and co-operation to produce the wealth the nation needs and the opportunity for all to work and prosper with a thriving private sector and high-quality public services where those undertakings essential to the common good are either owned by the public or accountable to them
B. A JUST SOCIETY, which judges its strength by the condition of the weak as much as the strong, provides security against fear, and justice at work; which nurtures families, promotes equality of opportunity, and delivers people from the tyranny of poverty, prejudice and the abuse of power.
C. AN OPEN DEMOCRACY, in which government is held to account by the people, decisions are taken as far as practicable by the communities they affect and where fundamental human rights are guaranteed.
D. A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, which we protect, enhance and hold in trust for future generations.

3. Labour is committed to the defence and security of the British people and to co-operating in European institutions, the United Nations, the Commonwealth and other international bodies to secure peace, freedom, democracy, economic security and environmental protection for all.

4. Labour shall work in pursuit oft these aims with trade unions and co-operative societies and also with voluntary organisations, consumer groups and other representative bodies.

5. On the basis of these principles, Labour seeks the trust of the people to govern.

As a democratic socialist, I can live with much of the above. Sub-clause 1 appears on the front of Labour Party Membership Cards and is what many members may believe is the full Clause. But there are four more sub-clauses given above. The first section presses for each person to be given the chance to reach their own potential, rather than seeing people as benefiting by sharing and helping each other. But the overall phraseology is ambiguous enough to be given a general form of democratic socialist interpretation. And the meaning given to the sub-clause depends to some extent what then follows.

It is sub-clause 2a which is the major drawback for me. It encapsulates the New Labour approach which came to fail us both morally and electorally by 2010. Here the concept of the "Dynamic Economy" attempts to marry together the opposing forces of a mainly unrestrained free enterprise approach with that of the public well-being. Below I offer an alternative form of words in favour of advancing the alternative concept of a "Sustainable Economy".
In sub-clause 2b, I am also concerned about the commitment to promoting "equality of opportunity", a concept which creates the image of us being lined up on the starting line to race against each other, rather than our working together to form an egalitarian, participatory and sharing society. The notion of "social equality" seems to me to point us in a better direction.

My two proposed amendments are given below. Limiting the changes in the overall wording, whilst trying to get to the heart of the matter, seems to me to be a practical yet principled approach.

Proposed amendments.

A. Replace sub-clause 2a on “A Dynamic Economy” with the following -

“A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY, serving the public interest by operating through the principles of co-operation and participatory democracy, in which wealth and economic power are fairly shared.”

B. Amend sub-clause 2b on “A Just Society” as follows -
"Replace the words"equality of opportunity" with the words "social equality".

May Day In Baghdad

2011-05-17T13:10:00.004+01:00

See these photos.

Hat Tip - Iraqi Letter.

Level-headed Labour Lefties

2011-05-16T18:25:00.001+01:00

See here.

Refounding Labour : a summary of Labour's consultative document

2011-05-11T13:30:00.004+01:00

Keir Hardie is one of the primary founders of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and then of the Labour Party, of which the ILP was itself a part. Labour is now seeking to refound itself.

It is, therefore, appropriate that I should have recently returned from a week-end school run by the ILP (now Independent Labour Publications) where we discussed the "refounding" document which I summarise here.

Act Now To Defend Iraqi Trade Unions.

2011-05-10T17:27:00.004+01:00

See here.
More details from Brendan Barber.

The Benefits of Labour Party Membership

2011-05-09T14:19:00.004+01:00

See here.

Hat Tip : The Poor Mouth

Massive Swing from Lib Dems to Labour in Chesterfield

2011-05-06T20:24:00.000+01:00

Labour gained 23 seats from the Lib Dems in the Chesterfield Borough Council Elections, turning a 11-37 deficit into a 34-14 victory. The photo shows Councillor John Burrows the new leader of the council celebrating with his grandchildren Oliver and Jacob. On May Day he also made significant contributions to this meeting on Adult Education. Well done John and the Chesterfield Labour Party.

Death or Resurrection : the future of adult education

2011-04-30T19:02:00.004+01:00

See this important article by Peter Ryley for the May Day Meeting advertised on the thread below this one.

Important May Day Meeting In Chesterfield

2011-04-16T12:16:00.002+01:00

What Now For Adult Education? Lessons from the Derbyshire Miners.

A Discussion Meeting.

Speakers

Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield and Shadow Education Minister

John Burrows, Leader of the Labour Group on Chesterfield Borough Council.

Bob Heath, former Director of Studies for the Derbyshire Miners' Day Release Courses.

Time

1.30 pm (after the May Day March and Rally)

Date

2^nd May, 2011

Venue

Council Chamber of the North East Derbyshire District Council, Saltergate, Chesterfield (Entrance and car parking facilities via the back of the building)

ALL WELCOME

The Effect On Iraq

2011-03-30T19:48:00.005+01:00

Christopher Hitchen has produced an article entitled "The Iraq Effect : if Saddam Hussein was still in power, this year's Arab uprisings would never have happened". He does not appreciate that if Iraq had not been invaded in 2003, then Arab uprisings could well have taken place even earlier than they have, starting out in Iraq itself and not Tunisia.

Before the invasion, Saddam Hussein faced massive internal problems in Iraq, the nature of which which the Blair/Bush camp never properly recognised. Hussein was only clinging onto power and resorting to his terrible methods to do this. The economy was in a state of collapse, whilst Hussein grabbed what he could via his excessive use of crude state power. However, what was mainly clandestine opposition came from significant elements of three main sources – the Shia, the Kurds and those who believed in democracy. Of course, the later included Shia, Sunni, Kurdish and secular elements. This tradition's greatest expression was the mass rally in Baghdad on May Day 1959 attended by almost 10% of the Iraqi population pushing for democratic institutions. That such values still exist was shown in the immediate movement to set up the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions once the 2003 invasion took place. A movement supported by Iraqi Labour Movement activists, numbers of whom returned from exile. Those forming the IFTU were opposed to the invasion, but saw that they needed to act in line with their commitments to attempt to rescue Iraq and build a future. They weren't alone for there are wide forces who have since pressed for civil rights and the basic standards of life.

If without an invasion, Hussein had somehow managed to hold onto power until now, then what impact would recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have had in Iraq? Serious efforts by the groups I mention above would have arisen to seek to remove him from power and the international debate would have now been about what we would need to do to aid active opponents to Hussein’s regime. In fact if the invasion of Iraq in 2003 had never taken place, the first uprisings against extreme dictatorship could well have arisen in Iraq well before it was ever triggered in Tunisia. To deny this clear possibility is to fail to understand the people of Iraq.

Political Education and the Labour Party

2011-03-20T22:46:00.002Z

A Conference with the above title was held in Rotherham on Saturday. I suspect that a number of democratic socialists (but thankfully not all) were put off attending when they saw that it was organised by the local Rotherham MP Denis MacShane and that Gerald Kaufman and David Owen were key participants. For at first glance it looked like an anti-left stitch-up. And indeed this might have been part of its intention.

The title of the Conference refers to the General Elections which followed Ramsay MacDonald setting up a National Government, the Attlee Government running out of steam and Michael Foot becoming leader of the Labour Party. These elections led to Labour being in a minority position in parliament for three periods which each spanned between 13 and 14 years.

The implications behind the title being that to avoid such periods in the wilderness, Labour should have stuck behind Ramsay MacDonald, obtained a more dynamic leader than Attlee if Bevanism was to have been nipped in the bud, and just never ever have acquired Michael Foot as leader as he was a loser. The conclusion which is thought to follow from such an approach is that a right wing New Labour agenda is needed in current circumstances.

But as we had a seven hour day with only short breaks and contributions from a series of independently minded academics, Polly Toynbee and others, plus audience participation; other lessons emerged. In fact in the concluding comments of the day from Andrew Gamble a Professor of Politics at Cambridge, he pointed out that the most telling collapse of Labour support emerged in the 1970s and not in the three periods stressed in the title. He could have added that in the ten General Elections from 1974 the Labour vote has only twice topped the 40% mark, yet this level was comfortably surpassed in all the nine post-war elections which proceeded that date. Perhaps if all that talk in the Labour Movement in the early 70s about developing a Social Contact had actually led to the development of a social bond that would have moved us in the direction of sharing, decency and social equality, then our support would not have fallen below the 30% mark in 1983 and 2010.

We were in danger of being provided with a selective one sided diet of the left's failings, covering Jimmy Maxton, Nye Bevan, Michael Foot, past Communist Trade Union leaders, the Ban the Bomb movement, Tony Benn and Militant. But this would hardly amount to a serious analysis. An early contributor David Howell pointed out that Labour support in 1945 was particularly strong amongst first time voters, which covered all those who had not qualified to vote in the previous General Election which was then way back in 1935. This was a cohort of voters who went on to help sustain the Labour vote in numbers of other early post-war elections. The question this leads to is just where can we find such a cohort today who have a clear interest in sharing and equality? What about today's young voters who are concerned about Student Fees, the loss of the Educational Maintenance Allowance, a lack of jobs, a world facing massive shortages of essentials, the dangers of climate change and the horrors of third world poverty? If we bring the young on board on such issues we do more than gain a political advantage, we help to revitalise our own beliefs.

Any conference which provides scope for the dialectics of debate, soon moves out of the realm of political propaganda into that of much needed world of political education; something which invariably takes over when carefully expressed disputes and disagreements arise. Even the anti Michael Foot line which was pressed by Kaufman and Owen, provides scope for countervailing considerations. Just why in 1983 did Michael Foot's leadership produce the worst percentage turn out for Labour of any General Election since 1922? Was it all due to his unilateralism, his duffle coat and his left-wing credentials? What about the knock on consequences of Thatcher running a highly populist and successful military campaign over the Falklands, and then there was the massive rupture within the Labour Party which led to the formation of the SDP? David Owen was at the centre of the breakaway and bares a major share of that responsibility for that 1983 election result.

Around 15 speakers made contributions, numbers of whom had sufficient interest in the topic to join the rest of us in the audience over the seven hours. I have always believed that speakers should also be listeners. Even when Hestor Barron confined her remarks to the experience in Durham Mining Constituencies in the 1930s, my concentration did not drop. But then she was discussing the area of my roots and I have read her book on the Durham Coalfield at the time of the 1926 Strike.

The day revealed an important issue for Labour if it is ever to maintain its future and reach its potential. It needs political education, political education, political education. So it is all power to Denis MacShane's elbow. He may have helped to produce something that has more significance than anything he probably ever had in mind.

Libya in 2011 is not Iraq in 2003

2011-03-18T18:02:00.005Z

Iraqi Workers' Protest

Whilst I detested Saddam Hussein's Regime, I fully opposed the invasion of Iraq believing that it would produce the type of death, destruction and mayhem which followed. Furthermore, I would still have actively opposed an invasion even if a United Nations' Resolution had been adopted to legitimize it. The argument that Iraq could be invaded because Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction was nonsensical. Either he held no such weapons and the case (as it turned out) was false, or he held such weapons and attacking him would have been like prodding a mad dog with a stick. He would have used such weapons and the result would have been even worse than it was.

This did not mean that I felt that he should just have been left to his own devices. There was the strongest obligation upon the international labour movement to support clandestine forces in Iraq (and their supporters in exile) who were struggling for democracy and for trade union and other rights. Although in today's Iraq such pressures now have more open (but still imperfect) avenues of expression, we still need to provide our full backing for them. Not least because Saddam Hussein's anti-trade union laws still remain in existence.

If the invasion had not taken place and if Saddam Hussein and his sons had somehow held onto state power since then, then just imagine what the impact of the current situation in the Arab World would have been upon Iraq. There have already been demonstration in Iraq as a consequence of the protests across North Africa and the Middle East. These current actions in Iraq would have been deeper and more desperate if they had been directed against a contemporary Saddam Hussein.

What would we have done to come to the aid of democratic forces in Iraq in such circumstances? Would the type of United Nations' Resolution which has just been adopted over Libya (which excludes occupation) have been acceptable to people who thought as I did in 2003? I know that we can't control a conflict situation, nor fully restrain western military might from going over the top, nor stop western governments from having hidden agendas. But the option over Libya is to either sit back and give Gaddafi a free hand, or to back the United Nations and the Arab League. Doing the latter does not have to mean that we can't press against excesses by western powers. But democrats throughout the world have no influence over Gaddafi.

Libya in 2011 is not a repeat of Iraq in 2003. Nor might Iraq in 2011 have faced the same position as the one that was disasterously forced upon it in 2003. Circumstances do alter cases.

What Now For Adult Education? Lessons from Derbyshire's Miners.

2011-03-15T11:36:00.004Z

Some of the members of a group of Derbyshire Miners in 1960 who have just completed a three year Day Release Course. They are presenting miners' lamps to their tutors who are the men wearing glasses. On the left is Noel Williams of the Workers Education Association who taught economics and on the right is the politics tutor Royden Harrison from Sheffield University Extramural Department who was a leading Labour Historian and whose final book was to be "The Life and Times of Sidney and Beatrice Webb : 1858 to 1905 the Formative Years". From left to right, the students are Les Ralley who became a leading figure on both his local District and Parish Councils, a 27 year old Eric Varley who four years later was to embark upon his parliamentary career and became a Cabinet Minister, W. Whitaker, E. Lawrence presenting the lamps, E. Bradbury and N. Wade. The nature and significance of such courses is indicated below. A meeting is to be held on May Day in Chesterfield to discuss how far the tradition they were part of can be revitalised in modern circumstances. Details of the meeting appear at the close.

Under Bert Wynn who was Secretary of the Derbyshire Miners, a programme of Day Release Classes was established in 1952. These continued in operation for the next four decades, but finally ended as a consequence of the closure of the local pits. Miners attending studied subjects such as industrial relations, economics and politics.

A new class of 20 miners was established each year. They came to span a three year period and involved a total attendance of 120 days. The tutors on the courses came from the Sheffield University Extramural Department. The Derbyshire Miners having an agreement with the National Coal Board (NCB) to release their members from work to attend the classes.

Those attending required no prior educational qualifications; nor were any exams, tests nor marks ever provided. However, because the supply of places on the courses was always outstripped by the demand, selection conferences were held in the Miners Offices on Saltergate by the tutors where the applicants met together in discussion groups and participated in a note-taking exercise. A Saturday morning class also came to be run for those who it was felt would benefit from a preparatory development of their student skills; many of these miners moved onto the full Day Release Courses and made highly effective use of the abilities they had developed.

The miners on the courses also engaged in private study and produced a steady stream of written work. After their time on the courses, the participants went on to make a variety of uses of their studies. Some becoming more deeply involved in the work of the National Union of Mineworkers, other progressed through the NCB, numbers became involved in the work of the wider labour movement including those who became local councillors, whilst the late Eric Varley and Denis Skinner became local MPs, others moved into full-time studies at Adult Education Colleges and then often went on to obtain degrees at University before taking up posts such as social workers, educationalists and full-time trade union officials. Others remained in their established roles in their communities, taking their newly developed interests with them and also influencing communal developments.

I was lucky to be a tutor on the courses for 21 years from 1966, before becoming a local MP for a further 18 years. I have always claimed that the standard and seriousness of the investigations in the classes was more substantial than was the general run of my experiences in parliament. This is because serious adult education is about making well thought out judgements on complex issues, whilst parliamentary politics is too often about point scoring.

The pattern which was established in Derbyshire was pursued elsewhere. The Extramural Department were involved with similar courses in areas such as the South Yorkshire Coalfield, the Steel Industry, the railways, engineering and with Shop Stewards Courses which drew people together from differing firms.

It was not, however, just because of the decline of large industries mainly concentrated in the public sector, that such courses were ended. Another pattern of adult education (which had always had its own separate existence) took over but was manipulated under Margaret Thatcher. Unfortunately, it became a growing trend that was then pushed under New Labour. What remained of day-release work was often placed under the influence of employers, whose interests were to see their workers being trained to undertake tasks strictly relevant to their employment duties. More emphasis was placed upon adults attending courses in their own time, which would be carefully accredited to meet specific and limited purposes. Certification became the order of the day. The way for adults to progress via education came to be seen as requiring studies to be broken up into specific and limited modules and tested at each stage, so they could act as stepping stones (or some would say stumbling blocks) to higher qualifications. The scope for investigating key issues about life and society were restricted and were seen as secondary. The old form of equality and socialising between tutors and students, in which each learnt from the other, was seen as being unnecessary. Increasingly course fees were expected to cover the bulk of the provision of adult education.

It is not that there should be no room for some forms of today's dominant trend in adult education, but it should never have happened at the expense of the invaluable approach which the Derbyshire Miners had participated in and developed.

Nothing in life is, however, ever too late. Some of us have always attempted to replicate something of what used to be called the liberal education tradition by running and attending a variety of discussion groups. But it is now time to campaign for what was taken away from us. We are not alone in this.

Why not join us at the meeting advertised below? Former participants in the Derbyshire Miners' Day Release Classes will be present. But we know that we can't somehow just try to re-cycle the past. It is a matter for all of us to seek new ways in which what was once achieved in a period from the 1950s can be refashioned to meet the challenging conditions of the 21^st Century. We owe many debts to Coal Mining in Derbyshire; serious adult education is one of them.

What Now For Adult Education? Lessons from the Derbyshire Miners.

A Discussion Meeting.

Speakers

Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield and Shadow Education Minister

John Burrows, Leader of the Labour Group on Chesterfield Borough Council.

Bob Heath, former Director of Studies for the Derbyshire Miners' Day Release Courses.

Time

1.30 pm (after the May Day March and Rally)

Date

2^nd May, 2011

Venue

Council Chamber of the North East Derbyshire District Council, Saltergate, Chesterfield

ALL WELCOME

Musings On Iraq

2011-03-09T18:11:00.000Z

Joel Wing of California has been researching and writing about Iraq since 2002. He runs a fine blog entitled "Musings on Iraq". Today he surpassed even himself. See the five items he posted today at 7.14 am 7.15 am California time.

Prisoners and Voting - Yesterday in Parliament

2011-02-11T21:05:00.000Z

There were two grounds on which MPs could have voted yesterday against the motion in Commons on “Voting by Prisoners”. The first of these was to uphold the right of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to determine what the position should be. The second was out of a belief that prisoners should have the vote. It was, of course, possible to have voted against the motion whilst holding to both of these positions.

Unfortunately, in the absence of many Labour MPs in the Chamber the debate was dominated by Conservative MPs who were opposed to the general role of the Court and also were strong critics of the EU (although the ECHR isn’t an EU institution.) The few people who opposed the motion mainly defended the ECHR, so the coverage of the issue of whether prisoners should have the vote was only thinly dealt with.

With the addition of the tellers for the “No” vote, only 24 MPs voted against the motion. 10 were Lib Dems, 3 Welsh Nationalists (PC), 1 Green, 1 Conservative (Peter Bottomley) and only 8 were Labour – only 3 of whom who spoke in the debate (Kate Green, Yasmin Qureahi and Jeremy Corbyn).

I find the general failure of Labour MPs to give serious consideration to franchise rights to be highly disturbing but not surprising. The list of Labour MPs who supported opposition to the ECHR and prisoners voting rights is particularly worrying.

Tunisia, Egypt And Iraq

2011-02-07T17:41:00.003Z

Protests in Iraq inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt - see "Musings on Iraq". The photo shows the situation in Basra.

Still A Colliery And Not A Town

2011-01-26T18:31:00.004Z

The Daily Telegraph's Web Site are running a story to say that John Darwin (on the left) who is known as the "Canoe Man" has been released from prison after three years under the condition that he does not talk to the media. They also indicate that he is living at Easington Colliery in County Durham.

I was born at Easington Colliery and was brought up there in what were probably its best days, although it also suffered its worst experience at the same time due to a massive pit disaster in 1951 when 79 local miners and three rescue workers were killed.

Yet it was an era of full employment, a highly productive local pit, a newly established and functioning health service, a wider welfare state and a nationalised coal industry. All of which provided hope for the future. Easington Colliery itself was a closely knit community.There were jobs in all parts for young people such as myself without qualifications. Coal was first drawn there in 1910 and its communal spirit had been forged out of the experiences of two world wars, the major mining strikes of 1912, 1921 and 1926 and the years of the inter-war economic depression. Especially from the mid-40s to the mid-50s its life seemed to me to have a tight social bond and to offer security for the future. No doubt much of what I felt was due to the feelings and hopes of youth. But there were also sound reasons for optimism about the future.

The start of the Daily Telegraph article now paints a starkly different picture for today. It reads -

"Easington Colliery is an obsolete town with an obsolete name. The coalmine that gave it its purpose is long shut but the place remains, lines of drab terraces marching down to the grey North Sea.

Desolation is its chief asset. When the makers of Billy Elliot wanted the perfect 'It’s Grim Up North’ setting, they settled on Easington. The town figures prominently in tables of deprivation, and lays claim to the most obese population in the country. Pound shops rub shoulders with pubs protected by steel window shutters, the standard furniture of broken Britain. No paradise, then. Certainly not the paradise envisaged by John Darwin when he was dreaming of wealth and sunshine"

The judgement of the writer is partly journalistic but it also makes use of uncomfortable truths. Strickly speaking it is wrong to call Easington Colliery an obsolete town with an obsolete name. It was and still is a colliery and not a town. It did not exist before its pit was sunk, although it lost its main purpose when the pit was closed in 1993. But it grew up as a colliery in the days when the pit, the miners' lodge, the local labour party, the workingmen's clubs, the miners' welfare, the co-op, local cinemas, chapels, allotments, the miners' own welfare park with its local football team, a long row of shops on the northern side of Seaside Lane , and almost a thousand colliery houses plus council housing and other rented accommodation and aged miners' homes all flourished. Its population peaked at 10,000 in the 1930s. Much has changed and much has gone, but it rightly refuses to be robbed of the word "Colliery" in its name. Also much of what remains makes use of and is embedded within its past.

And even though the Daily Telegraph's writer is correct to say that the Easington Colliery is no paradise, he is obviously unaware that the area in which I lived (containing mainly council houses) was known as Paradise - as a young boy my mates and I formed a football team which we grandly called Easington Colliery Paradise Rovers and beat Richie's Rockets 20-10. Perhaps it is that paradise that John Darwin now lives in.

To Hack Or Not To Hack?

2011-01-25T20:26:00.002Z

Today's Morning Star contains (a) an editorial on its centre page attacking hacking by News Corporations which it runs alongside (b) a major article by John Pilger which supports the use WikiLeaks is making in using information acquired in similar ways. I suppose the difference between the two uses of similar techniques is felt to arise from what are perceived to be the different purposes behind them. Yet the proximity of the two items does raise the question of just when we are justified in hacking and when we are to be condemned for doing it.

Democracy And The Vote

2011-01-20T11:37:00.006Z

The democratic principle should require that within an appropriate electoral area each person should have one vote. Any deviation from this principle requires a precise and equally principled justification. I can only see two main acceptable restrictions on such franchise rights. One that a person is considered to be too young to vote. As we should err on the side of caution in withholding franchise rights, I would like to see people enfranchised from the date of their 16th birthday. A second restriction on franchise rights needs to apply to those who have a serious mental condition such that they can not exercise a choice and there is a danger that persons they are dependent upon will exercise their voting rights in their place.

If we add to this list of restrictions, we need to be able to establish a solid and principled case. To say that prisoners who have been convicted of particularly nasty crimes should be excluded, is not a good argument in itself as it merely appeals to popular feelings of disgust for them. But to exclude people from the franchise because we judge them to be evil is a worrying approach. It could lead to different people wishing to exclude a variety of categories of the electorate by using arguments which are racist, xenophobic, sexist, anti-capitalist or what you will.

Furthermore it is not just prisoners who are currently excluded from the franchise. In the United Kingdom the ban includes those who are settled here from overseas nations other than Ireland or Commonwealth Nations. Then there is the lack of attention we pay to the efficiency of the electoral registration system. Millions who qualify are missing from registers. These involve a high percentage of the homeless, the rootless, ethnic minorities, the poor and the young. An extra reason for votes at 16 is that those who are due to attain the vote at that age could initially be placed on electoral registers at school when they are"attainers" at the age of 15. If we achieve 100% electoral registration for 16 year olds, it will be easier for the registration system to keep people on registers as they grow older.

Are there no people who should be excluded from electoral registers outside of the two main categories I mentioned in my opening paragraph? There are only two more that I can think of. First, under the principle I am arguing from there is no need for people to register in more than one place at the same time and then choose which of their franchise rights they use on any particular occasion. And if people register in more than one place, there is no automatic check to ensure that they have only used their franchise the once at any one time. Secondly, there is no case for British Citizens settled overseas having the vote in this country. Under the democratic principles I am arguing from, they should be given the vote in the country in which they are resident. We should support any of their efforts to achieve these rights in their country of settlement.

If my arguments are to be challenged, then I hope that critics will either seek to show how their arguments fit in with democratic principles. It is, of course, possible to argue against the democratic principles which I have used on fascist, stalinist, elitist, populist and other non-democratic grounds. We should judge the opposition to "votes for prisoners" to see which of these perspectives they fit into.

Of course, democracy requires much more than democratic voting rights. But it is seriously hampered without them.

We Should Not Pick And Choose As To Who Is Entitled To The Vote

2011-01-18T17:29:00.005Z

Radical Jack

So much for the democratic and civil liberties credential of Jack Straw and David Davis in their efforts to withhold voting rights for prisoners. I am not against them obtaining a debate on the issue in the Commons, but I hope that enough MPs will be present to challenge the line they are taking.

Everyone who is capable of exercising a choice, is resident within the United Kingdom and has reached an agreed age (which I would put at 16) should have the vote in our parliamentary elections. They should all then be subject to laws determined under parliamentary procedures - even though acts of peaceful civil disobedience can be a justifiable avenue of protest against unjust measures where the protesters are willing to face the legal consequences of their actions.

Now and again we come across prisoners who are released because they are innocent. Then we are aware that masses of people who have committed crimes have never been captured. If we adopt the principle of kicking people off registers because we think they are nasty, heaven knows who will left with the vote.

We need to get people onto electoral registers and not kick them off. At least three and million who are entitled to the vote are currently missing from registers. Young people, ethnic minorities, the poor, the homeless and the rootless form the bulk of these. We need a pro-active system to ensure their rights are given to them.

Then there there are people who are firmly resident in this country other than Commonwealth and Irish Citizens who are find themselves disenfranchised, yet they are firmly subject to the law of the land and are not tax exiles.

What we are entitled to is a Full Franchise - we should not pick and choose as to who is entitled to the vote. It is for the people to choose who should represent them.

This Blog Is Still Alive

2011-01-14T18:20:00.000Z

This Blog is still alive and I anticipate that it will soon be kicking.

A Liberal Interpretation

2010-12-09T12:35:00.000Z

On page 39 of the 'Liberal Democratic Manifesto 2010' it states " We will scrap unfair fees for all students taking their first degree, including those studying part-time, saving them over £10,000 each. We have a financially responsible plan to phase fees out over six years, so that the charge is affordable even in these difficult economic times, and without cutting university income. We will immediately scrap fees for final year students"

Needed - A Vote Of No Confidence

2010-12-04T11:44:00.001Z

Nick Clegg has booted the Doctrine of the Mandate into touch by making the strongest possible commitment at the General Election to vote against increases in student fees (see photo), then advocating the exact opposite as Deputy Prime Minister.

Vince Cable (below) as Business Secretary is the responsible Government Minister on the issue. Whichever way he votes on the matter in the Commons his changing speculations as to what he will do has driven a coach and horses through the notions of Ministerial Responsibility and Cabinet Collective Responsibility. He has changed his mind as often as he has shifted his views on what type of economic policy we should pursue.

There is now a great opportunity for Labour to undermine the position of the Lib-Dems on Student Fees by calling for a Vote Of No Confidence on the issue.

Snow Good

2010-12-02T16:45:00.006Z

These are views from my home in Dronfield in North Derbyshire. First there is the view I look out upon when sat at my computer. Next is the garden, with a table at the back. Finally there is the view from the front step. Click onto the photos to enlarge them.

We have had 22 inches (56 cm) of snow and it is still snowing - and the gas heating has cut out. I have now cleared the front for the gas man. (Update 3 December : Didn't need the gas man, my wife Ann fixed it.)

Trying To Put Howard To Flight

2010-11-25T15:35:00.005Z

Howard Flight is in trouble again. He just won't follow the autocue.

I once attempted to nail him for raising a question to the then Prime Minister (Tony Blair) relating to an item in his own Declaration of Interests which referred to what was then his deputy chairmanship of Guinness Flight Hambro Asset Management Ltd. I claimed that his question was unparliamentary in that it amounted to advocacy on behalf of that body.

I raised the matter via a written complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards preceded by a couple of points of order to the Speaker, Betty Boothroyd. But when Howard Flight responded the Commissioner accepted his submission. The Commissioner's response was then accepted by the Commons' Standards and Privileges Committee. This is the link to their report.

In 2005, Flight was secretly recorded stating that if the Conservatives won the coming election they would make more spending cuts than those they had promised to the electorate. It led to a spat with the Tory Leader Michael Howard and the blocking of Flight's re-selection as a candidate. But perhaps it is exactly what Flight then said that appealed to David Cameron who recently recommended him for a Peerage. But then he should have known that Flight can't keep his lip buttoned.

Well I did try to sort this out in 1997.

A Constitutional Fix

2010-11-21T13:08:00.002Z

54 newly appointed peers, 50 fewer democratically elected MPs.

Hat Tip : Bob Piper.

Linking To The Formal Parliamentary Work Of Your MP.

2010-11-20T17:20:00.006Z

At the end of the "links" section at the right hand column of this blog, I have added four new links to the parliamentary activities of my local MP and parliamentary successor, Natascha Engel.

The first link provides access to the relevant sections of Hansard which provide (a) the oral and written parliamentary questions she asks and (b) her contributions in debates. The second link gives the Early Day Motions which she has both submitted and signed. The third link is to her section at the BBC's "Democracy Live" which includes access to various videos of her parliamentary contributions. The fourth link provides access to the reports of the Back Bench Business Committee which she Chairs.

(Note at 6.40 pm : Although these four links are working at the moment, two of them broke earlier. But others will have better technical skills than mine when adapting what I propose below, mainly via here)

Others in the UK could use these links to then search out the work of their own MPs and then to set up their own links. Areas I have not so far sorted out include links to relevant Hansards for Standing Committees and submissions and support for proposed amendments to Bills. Nor have I links for an MP's own Private Bills.

It should be noted that even in parliament, the above areas only form part of an active MP's work. For most of their parliamentary activities no Hansard writers or Common's Clerks are involved. These additional avenues include formal and informal meetings with Government Ministers and their opposition shadows, their own Party meetings including a wide range of back-bench committees, all-party and other groups on a range of topics, letters/emails to Ministers etc (normally on behalf of constituents) and a whole host of informal links to seek to advance their concerns. Such extra avenues are only possible, of course, because an MP has the normally unspoken threat in the background of raising their concerns via formal parliamentary procedures unless the informal avenues produce results. The hurdle they always need to overcome is the power of the Executive over back-bench MPs. This is why the work of the Backbench Business Committee which Natascha chairs is so important.

It should also be noted that the use of the above formal and informal parliamentary avenues only form part of an active MPs' work. Constituency work, campaigning and fact-finding are as significant and need to be added to the equation.

In my experience it is the MP who is active in parliament who is also active in their constituency.

Passion and Precision

2010-11-17T17:00:00.001Z

There is an art in an opposition MP using the nooks and crannies of parliamentary procedure to seek to alter practices by the Coalition Government and its officials which are socially harmful.

My local Labour MP Natascha Engel (see photo) led a Westminster Hall debate on 27 October which had exactly this intent. She spoke with passion, understanding and precision.

Her topic was the future of work capacity assessments. These were brought in on April 2010 by the previous government to assess the work capability of people who are long-term claimants of incapacity benefit. However she raised concerns that their increasing use was solely to "bring down the welfare bill" and urged the government to see "people not the benefit". A video of the full half hour debate can be found here.

On this matter Natascha has worked closely with the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers' Centres, who are chaired and supported by Graham Baxter who was the subject of this earlier item I posted.

Her Politics Are Even Worse

2010-11-16T13:50:00.000Z

Ann Widdecombe's politics are even worse than her dancing. Far worse. And that is saying something. Congratulations to Martyn Norris for providing the details via Pickled Politics.

Hat Tip : Bob Piper.

A Labour Success Story - Don't Now Upset The Applecart

2010-11-13T10:30:00.000Z

Graham Baxter (front figure) carrying a Unite banner on the Chesterfield May Day March 2009. He has been an active trade unionist since his first day at work 54 years ago. (Click onto the picture to enlarge it).

There are times when it is appropriate to put forward words of appreciation for those whose actions we too often take for granted.

In what have been difficult times for Local Government, the North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) has made remarkable progress in recent years under the controlling Labour Team led by Graham Baxter.

In 2008 the NEDDC made local government history by becoming the first council to leap straight from being designated as "weak" to "excellent" in an official national scheme established to judge council performances, known as the Comprehensive Performance Assessment.

The Audit Commission also found that the Council had made good progress in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, in supporting economic development via successful infrastructure projects which reversed the decline in local jobs and industry, in meeting housing needs including those of the homeless, in working with neighbouring councils and with its local population, in contributing to progress in health, cleanliness, sustainable waste management and much more.

The Council has also received an impressive list of awards and commendations for its services from bodies such as the National Municipal Journal, the Local Government Association, the Cabinet Office, and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Currently it is also nominated for further recognitions of its services. In fact, it is possible to produce a list of at least 34 awards, nominations and commendations which the Council has received since July 2007.

Graham Baxter has also recently been awarded the MBE in recognitions of decades of public service, culminating in his work as leader of the Council since 2004.

But it is not just officialdom which recognises the Council's achievements; three quarters of those responding to a survey felt that the Council has worked to make the area cleaner, greener and a better place. 80% feel that North East Derbyshire is a good place to live.

The support which the Council gives to the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers' Centres is also exceptional. Graham Baxter is an active Chair of this key organisation. It provides welfare rights advice and makes representations on all aspects of Welfare Benefits to anyone that requires it. Each year it deals with around 10,000 enquiries and represents some 200 people at tribunals, recovering over £1.5 million for the local economy and thereby preserving jobs. NEDDC's continuing support and involvement with this body is crucial in current circumstances.

The Coalition Government is now proposing to cut the budget of the Department of Communities and Local Government by 36.6% over the next 4 years, whilst capping Council Tax levels as an extra means of cutting local authority access to resources.

In the years ahead, the North East Derbyshire District Council will need to exercise the same forms of creative response which it has recently shown under Graham's leadership. It will also need to link with the wider Labour Movement to push back the Coalition's threat of massive cuts.

It is imperative that Graham and his team have local backing from the electorate to be returned to office in next year's District Council Elections.

In the meantime, it is a big thank you.

A Welcome Admission

2010-11-11T18:20:00.000Z

Here Alan Johnson admits that Labour got its economic priorities wrong under Blair and Brown. It now seems to be accepted that those in the Labour Movement who attempted to save our manufacturing base and to restrain the growth of financial institutions were correct all along, even though they were dismissed at the time as merely being the "usual suspects".

What is now important is how we learn from the mistakes of New Labour and how we change the strategy for the future. But an apology should always be accepted as it offers fresh openings.

Votes For Prisoners - And Many Others

2010-11-07T19:35:00.006Z

The vote should be available to anyone over 16 who is settled in the United Kingdom, with the exception only of those who have such a serious mental disability that they are unable in any way to understand the process they would be involved in. This is because we are all human beings who are subject to the decisions made by those who are elected.

People should not be excluded from the vote on the grounds that they are in prison or are nationals of a foreign country (in this category at the moment only Commonwealth and Irish citizen can qualify).

Serious action should also be taken to ensure that the missing millions who are entitled to vote (but who are missing from registers) are discovered and added to the registers. Those missing from registers are a significant proportion of the poor, the young, the rootless, the homeless and ethnic minorities.

A major case for giving the vote to 16 year olds is that they could initially be registered via their schools when 15 as "attainers" and it would then be easier to trace them later to ensure they then maintained their voting rights.

I can not understand anyone who otherwise sees themselves as a democrat and a believer in human rights coming up with reasons to exclude any category of people. The vote is not something that one should earn. It is for politicians to seek to earn our votes.

As things stand with criminals, we have the odd position that we keep discovering prisoners who are innocent whilst we know that most criminals are never captured. If there was a justification for excluding prisoners from the vote, (which there isn't) we would need a superior justice system to the one we have - yet it is currently being subject to Government cuts.

The Future Of Northern Ireland

2010-10-29T15:10:00.007+01:00

The Belfast-based "News Letter" is hosting a debate on the future of the Union in 2021, the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland. My contribution to this series appeared in the paper on 13 October under the following title. Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams, Peter Robinson, David Trimble and Sir Reg Empey are amongst the previous contributers to the discussion. My article appears below -

COULD ECONOMIC CUTS HURT THE PEACE PROCESS?

Economic cuts could harm Northern Ireland's path to peace argues blogger and former Labour MP Harry Barnes.

Published Date: 13 October 2010

Although progress has not always been smooth since the time of the Belfast Agreement, Northern Ireland has moved into an era marked by relative peace and reconciliation.

One clear possibility for the coming decade is that this progress will continue and the conflicts of the past will be minimised.

A new generation given a favourable context will be capable of transcending past divisions.

Yet even given that we now live in a more mobile society, the social bonds of upbringing are likely to remain strong enough for most people to retain commitments to their respective unionist and republican backgrounds.

As the unionists are in the majority and the prospect of being surpassed via a higher Catholic birth rate declines, majority support for the Union should remain.

If a period of relative peace delivers sufficient prosperity, then increasing numbers of republican sympathisers are likely to give a de facto acceptance to the Union.

This is especially the case to the extent that cross-border links have been developed and seem likely to extend.

The above pattern is one that I would anticipate and find attractive.

Constitutionally Northern Ireland would remain in the Union, but economically and socially the island of Ireland would become more integrated.

There are, however, some stark economic circumstances which could disrupt such developments.

The coalition government is keen to cut Northern Ireland’s dependence on public services and its bill for welfare benefits.

So unless those dependent on these avenues of expenditure act in a common defence of their interests via bodies such as trade unions, then there is a danger that under deprivation both Catholic and Protestant communities might be used by extremists to turn against each other.

So efforts to see that Northern Ireland’s politicians reflect a common stance to protect the province’s social and economic well-being are also priorities.

There is also a danger that social and economic integration across the whole of the island of Ireland will be seriously hampered by the economic crisis which has hit the Republic.

I take it as a fact of life over the next ten years that there will be comfortable continuing majority support for the maintenance of the Union.

This does not, however, need a form of unionist political unity in the assembly nor at Westminster.

I have long been an advocate of the Labour Party coming to function fully in Northern Ireland whilst making moves to draw its support from both the unionist and republican traditions.

Yet I do not envisage a major breakthrough by Labour in Northern Ireland by 2021, although I would take what can be got.

It needs, however, to be recognised that the growth of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland politics is itself likely to be seen by many unionists as a reason for their clubbing together.

This does not mean that outside of the constitutional objectives of both unionism and republicanism that common ground cannot be sought on issues such as housing, education, health services, benefits and employment.

When it comes to assembly elections in a democratic sense any winner (Sinn Fein or otherwise) is acceptable in providing a first minister.

Whether such a person is someone who is acceptable in the sense of being almost likeable seems to me to depend first of all on how committed they are to the process of peace and reconciliation.

It is then a matter of judging their economic and social programme. For me Sinn Fein and any another party needs to prove its worth according to its practices.

Harry Barnes was Labour MP for North East Derbyshire from 1987-2005, during which time he served on the Northern Ireland Select Committee, the British-Irish Parliamentary Body, was joint-president of New Dialogue and worked with the Peace Train. His political blog is at http://threescoreyearsandten. blogspot.com/

People Who Are Just Like Me

2010-10-03T20:25:00.012+01:00

I'm not sure of the exact date, but it was probably exactly 50 years ago today that I embarked upon what they call a "life changing experience".

At 24 years of age and with a notable lack of educational attainment, I took leave of absence from my job as a railway clerk to embark upon a two year politics and economics course at Ruskin College - whilst retaining my free passes and privilege tickets.

I had been active for nearly three years as secretary of the Easington Colliery Local Labour Party and had undertaken another voluntary role as secretary of the Peterlee and District Fabian Society.

It was the latter involvement that drew me into attending a Fabian Weekend School at Oxford at the end of March 1960. It was held at the College's section at Headington which was used mainly for first year students.

Hugh Dalton, Roy Jenkins and Tony Crosland were amongst the speakers, whilst Bill Rogers was running the show as the Fabian's General Secretary.

I had no idea what Ruskin College was about until someone else attending the week-end school who had recently graduated from St. John's College, Oxford said "you should come here, it is for people like you". That is people with an interest in politics who lacked formal qualifications. It was the first time I knew that politics could be an academic subject.

Later in the year I saw an advert for the Ruskin courses in "Tribune". I immediately applied for something-I-knew-not-what as I was unmarried and had no major commitments.

Entry was based upon filling in an application form, writing a couple of essays (one was to try for a scholarship), plus an interview and three references. My referees were Mannie Shinwell the Constituency MP, my Union Branch Secretary and a former teacher who had joined our Local Labour Party in search of a headship in Labour dominated County Durham.

I had little idea as to what a Diploma Course entailed having left school at 16 with four low "O" levels and failures in what seemed to be the most important topics of Maths and English Language. It just seemed to me to be great that for two years in my life I could read books and write essays on politics and economics. After all the reason I had joined the Labour Party was to qualify to write an essay on nationalisation in a contest run by Mannie Shinwell, where I had taken the second prize of £3.

The subject I took to the most at Ruskin was Political Theory which opened up the way to reading theorists including Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, John Stuart Mill (on whom I wrote my best essay) and Karl Marx.

The photo at the start of this item was taken by Ann my future wife after the final exams and just before we all left Ruskin. The four on the photo were all fellow students and friends. I am the one in glasses at the back. Next is Ian Pickard whom I first met at the interviews at Transport House. Ann and I have visited Ian and Beryl his wife earlier this year. Ian became a Senior Lecturer in Communications at Wakefield College. Second from the front is the late Karl Hedderwick who was best man when Ann and I married in our native County Durham. He was also a colleague of mine at Sheffield University Extramural Department and in his final years had lived just a few hundred years from Ann and myself in our home in Dronfield. The chap at the front is Doug Chewter who was the only student in our year to obtain a distinction in the Oxford University Diploma. We keep in touch indirectly via the comment box of someone else's web-site.

Ann at Christchurch, Oxford on her visit in the summer of 1962

When I moved on to Hull University as an undergraduate my studies were shaped by my experiences at Ruskin. I dropped economics where my theory tutors report said that I showed a distinct ability to think for myself but at a rather superficial level ! I added philosophy to my politics studies as political philosophy and ethics seemed to me to add to my interests in political theory. After graduation I became a tutor in Sheffield University Extramural Department teaching Trade Unionists (especially NUM) in day release classes and other adults in an environment akin to that which I had experienced at Ruskin and in the areas of politics and theory which had then appealed to me.

Ruskin was the key to what I was engaged in from turning up their 50 years ago and for the next 27 years until I went on to serve for 18 years as an MP. Even then the discussion of political ideas was still central to much that I did; whether in the Commons, Committee meetings or political gatherings. Even in retirement I organise political discussion meetings for what looks very much like classes of adult students who are also labour movement activists. The Ruskin experience of the early 1960s shaped my life and, thankfully is still shaping it.

Lib Dems Crash

2010-09-25T10:44:00.002+01:00

The Lib Dems suffered a crushing defeat in Thursday's District Council By-election in the Gosforth Valley Ward of the North East Derbyshire District Council. It had been their stongest Ward. It is where I live.

In this three seater in 2007 the average results of the Political Parties were Lib Dems 51.1%, Tories 30.0% and Labour 18.9%.

The By-election was a contest for a single seat. The Liberal Vote fell dramatically to 31.3%, the Tories took 37.1% and Labour moved into second place with 31.6%.

The Liberal percentage vote fell by 19.8% with 7.1% of these going to the Tories and 12.7% to Labour. The Liberal swing to Labour was almost twice as strong as the swing to the Tories.

Although the turnout dropped substantially from 36% in 2007 to 26%, the Labour vote actually increased from a previous average of 315 to 354. It was its best ever result in the ward.

Whilst Labour only moved into 2nd place by 4 votes, it overtook the Lib Dems who had had an average lead over them of no less than 563 in 2007.

If the By-election had been fought under the Alternative Vote, then the Lib Dems would have been eliminated and their second choices redistributed between Labour and the Tories. Labour would have needed just 207 of the potential 350 transferred votes to ensure victory. That is under 3 in 5 of the transfers.

In The Dark

2010-09-14T16:48:00.010+01:00

Just about anything to do with the Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill is inaccessible on the Parliamentary Channel at the moment. This includes video coverage of the debate, the Hansard coverage and a copy of the Bill itself. There is a further black-out of the work of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee who are looking into the matter - no video coverage, no Committee Hansards and no Reports. There is also silence at the BBC at the moment. I feel a conspiracy theory overtaking me.

UPDATE 15 SEPTEMBER - That's better after reading the above someone has now switched the lights on.

Don't Gamble With The Future

2010-09-07T22:13:00.003+01:00

See Dronfield Blather

Dear Editor.....

2010-08-31T15:05:00.003+01:00

FROM THE LETTERS PAGE OF TODAY'S GUARDIAN

"Last lap for the Labour hopefuls.

The ballot papers are due to go out in the Labour leadership contest (Labour contenders await Blair, 30 August). At the last minute each of the candidates has produced a manifesto, but (except in one case) these are tucked away in an obscure blog entitled Dronfield Blather, which is run by the Dronfield Labour party discussion group, which ran a three-month campaign to obtain them. It would be helpful if the voters could first see what they are voting for. The manifestos differ considerably in style and presentation. Andy Burnham's is entitled Aspirational Socialism and is some 9,000 words long. He is also pushing this via his own website. The others have not yet done this.

Diane Abbott and David Miliband have produced what might be called "minifestos" of under 700 words each. Whilst the two Eds have come up with scissors and paste jobs taken from what they see as relevant and important past items. As quantity is not the same thing as quality, judgments of the relative merits of each of these presentation can only be determined by examining them on the Dronfield Blather website.

Harry Barnes."

NOTE : The official booklet (opposite) being issued with ballot papers contains statements from the candidates, but these are limited to some 250 words. The material available via Dronfield Blather is much more extensive.

And Now There Are Five

2010-08-29T18:45:00.000+01:00

The entry "Manifestos Of Intent - Read These Before You Vote" has been updated, as the blog "Dronfield Blather" has now received material from all five candidates in the Labour Leadership Election. See here.

Now that they have all set out their stalls, we have something to judge the winners' actions by in the future. That will aid the democratic process within the Labour Party.

Manifestos Of Intent - Read These Before You Vote

2010-08-26T11:08:00.000+01:00

See the Manifestos from the Candidates in the Labour Leadership Election here.

We Have A Manifesto

2010-08-23T22:53:00.002+01:00

In response to the campaign run by "Dronfield Blather", Andy Burnham has today issued a Manifesto setting out the programme he would seek to pursue if he is elected as leader of the Labour Party. It is some 9,000 words long and can be viewed and/or downloaded from his web-site. It is a serious contribution and should be studied by all those with votes in the leadership contest.

Andy describes his stance - "It begins with a definition of the philosophy that underpins my approach to politics and outlook on life. It is Aspirational Socialism. It means that we want all people to fulfil their hopes and dreams but knowing that this will only happen for those who have least if we work for a world where resources and power are shared".

It is hoped that the four other contestants will set out their stalls based on their own values and commitments. Later this week we will publish or provide links to any Manifesto material we have access to from them.

Eventually we will make our own assessment of the different cases which the five candidates argue