On Iraq Since The Invasion

See here.

43 Items from the Iraqi Communist Parry

On its 78th Anniversary - see here.

The Communist Manifesto - From Marx to Groucho

See here.

The Mass Murders In Baghdad

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

Well Written, Well Argued and Correct

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.

May Day In Baghdad

See these photos.

Hat Tip - Iraqi Letter.

From "Homage To Catalonia" to "1984"

This photo is from the fine web-site of Poumista. It is taken in a Surveillence Zone in the Municipality of Barcelona. Anyone unaware of the significance of the photo should turn immediately to "Homage to Calalonia" et al and "1984".

Needed - A New Left

This is the cover of the first issue of New Left Review published 50 years ago when the New Reasoner and the Universities and Left Review merged. But it isn't a photo of my own copy for that is somewhat used and battered. For the issue contains material from Stuart Hall, Ralph Miliband, Ralph Samuel, Mervyn Jones, Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams, Michael Barratt Brown, John Saville, Peter Worsley, John Rex and E.P. Thompson. They were all members of its editorial board. They were joined by other writers such as Vic Allen, Clancy Sigal and Arnold Wesker. Whilst others on the editorial board included Dorothy Thompson, Alasdair MacIntyre and Doris Lessing. Their books litter my bookshelves.(If anyone doesn't know who these all are, then they can now have a google feast).

Universities and Left Review had rejected the right-wing revisionism which had triumphed in the Labour Party and had developed a cultural critique of consumer capitalism. The New Reasoner was the publication of an oppositional current which left the Communist Party because it was shaken by the revelations about Stalinism and opposed the Soviet occupation of Hungary.

The intellectual fervor behind these two tendencies produced a synthesis that was heady stuff for a young left-wing labourite such as myself. But when Perry Anderson took over the editorship in 1962, New Left Review began to move into a field of specialised Marxist theorising and had less appeal to practical (but hopefully thinking) activists. The original project was, however, still pursued as was illustrated by the production of the "1967 New Left May Day Manifesto" which was edited by what was than the old New Left of Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams and Edward Thompson and re-emerged in an expanded Penguin Special as "May Day Manifesto 1968" with Raymond Williams as the sole editor.


The original New Left Review emerged less than a year after Labour's electoral defeat of 1959. It can only be an old man's fancy that history might be due to repeat itself.

Hat Tip - Poumista.

More From the Iraqi Communist Party

See this video clip of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) celebrating the 51st anniversary of the 14th June 1958 National Democratic Revolution which led to a period of social improvement and hope under the Government of Abd al-Karim Qasim whose portrait is seen being carried by the demonstrators.

Unfortunately a counter-coup against the regime took place in February 1963 involving the Ba'thists when the ICP saw that what was needed instead were democratic reforms.

This item provides links to my four-part history of the ICP which towards the end of part 1 and throughout part 2 covers the Qasim era. Whilst this item is also of relevance to this important period in Iraqi History.

If anyone can provide me with an English translation of the commentary on the video this would be most welcome.

Hat Tip - Labour Friends of Iraq.

May Day Greetings From The Iraqi Communist Party

50 YEARS AGO TODAY OVER HALF A MILLION PEOPLE MARCHED IN A MAY DAY DEMONSTRATION IN BAGHDAD WHEN IRAQ HAD A POPULATION OF LESS THAN SEVEN MILLION. THEY WERE LED BY THEIR TRADE UNION LEADERS (above) WHO WERE ALSO MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE IRAQI COMMUNIST PARTY (ICP). THE EXCERPTS BELOW ARE FROM THE EDITORIAL OF "TAREEQ AL-SHAAB" (People's Path),THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF THE ICP AS ISSUED ON 27 APRIL, 2009.


Hundreds of millions of workers and people around the world and also in Iraq will celebrate International Workers Day, the 1st of May, which has been associated with the revolutionary and democratic movement and the struggle to end all forms of exploitation and subjugation by the classes that control wealth and dominate political power and society. It is an occasion to highlight the pioneering role played by the workers, since the dawn of history, as the main force in building human civilization and as the real creators of material wealth.

The 1st of May entered the annals of the history of international class and political struggle after the strike organised by trade unions in Chicago on 1st May 1886, when protesters clashed with the police that were acting on behalf of big business, resulting in large numbers of casualties among the workers, with many arrested and several of them sentenced to death.

Since that day, the 1st of May has become a symbol of the struggle against poverty, hunger, unemployment, social injustice and marginalization in all its forms, and to raise the standard of living, improve working conditions, reduce working hours, regulate wages and enjoy social security.

In Iraq, the workers celebrated this glorious day openly for the first time after the 14th July 1958 Revolution, when the 1st of May was declared a national holiday. Baghdad still remembers, to this day, that million-strong demonstration organised by the Iraqi workers and their trade unions, supported and backed by the Iraqi Communist Party, on the 1st of May 1959. That historic event was echoed in towns and provinces all over Iraq with carnivals and celebrations unparalleled in the history of our country.

Before the 14th July 1958, Iraqi workers used to celebrate this occasion, dear to their hearts, in clandestine conditions, away from the eyes of the secret police of the monarchic regime. Since the formation of the first trade union organisations and the birth of the Iraqi Communist Party in 1934, the emerging Iraqi working class led the struggles of the people and their strikes, economic, social, political and class battles and courageous uprisings. These struggles have become shining landmarks in Iraq's contemporary history and a memory that haunts dictatorial rulers, parasitic elements and the enemies of freedom, democracy and social justice. The role played by the Iraqi Communist Party in those demonstrations and uprisings, by coordinating with the patriotic and democratic forces, was instrumental in deepening the content of those battles and giving them a broad national and democratic character.

Under Saddam's dictatorial regime, the Iraqi working class was subjected to various forms of exploitation, political repression and the falsification of its will. Trade unions and professional associations were turned into "yellow" organizations and empty fronts for the ruling Baath party and its security and intelligence organs. In the aftermath of the war and collapse of the dictatorship on 9th April 2003, despite the extremely difficult and complex conditions that existed under occupation, trade union work and other forms of political and social activity began to emerge and develop. But exceptional circumstances, especially the vicious terrorist campaign waged against our country and the presence of occupation forces, curtailed that promising start and prevented the Iraqi working class and people from reaping its fruits on the level of organisation and in the broad arena of labour.

PHOTO OF TODAY'S MAY DAY IN BAGHDAD

In addition, government interference in the affairs of the General Federation of Trade Unions in Iraq, and other associations and unions, played a negative role that hampered its activities in defense of the rights of workers. For example, successive governments have continued to give a deaf ear to persistent workers' demands for abolishing Decree No. 150 (1987) that was issued by the so-called "Revolution Command Council" under Saddam's dictatorship, which turned state sector workers into government employees, prohibiting them from setting up their own trade unions.

Decree No. 45 (2003), issued by Bremer's occupation authority, which suspended the election activities of trade unions and put them under the mercy of a ministerial committee, is still in force. Furthermore, the government is still insisting, till this day, on its unjust Decree No. 8750 (2005) that called for freezing of the movable and immovable assets of the unions, in a blatant manifestation of interference in their affairs that resulted in paralysing unions' work and activities. The position of the government has regrettably remained unchanged in spite of many appeals and several meetings between the representatives of the General Federation of Trade Unions in Iraq and key government officials, and despite the many promises given by these officials to find quick solutions to these outstanding issues.

Iraqi workers and our people in general have been following closely the positive steps witnessed by our country in terms of pursuing the networks of terrorism and acts of sabotage and tightening the noose around criminal elements and outlaws. They are also aware of increased stability, the acceptance of the peaceful political process, and Iraq's expanding regional and international relations. While expressing support for these developments, they also look forward to practical, quick solutions to the problems of unemployment, high prices, health and education, providing protection for national products, restoring the status of industry and agriculture in Iraq, finding solutions to the crisis of housing, transport, water and electricity, developing social welfare programs and the laws of retirement and health insurance, and addressing the disparity between the salaries of senior officials and those of government employees.

In addition, millions of workers are looking forward to bold steps to be taken by the government in order to strike with an iron fist at the corrupt, big and small, who are stealing people's food and wealth, and who are hostile to the aspirations of the poor, the widows and orphans, and the families of martyrs and the "disappeared".

Today, as the spectre of unemployment creeps and the gains made by broad strata of the population in advanced capitalist societies are eroded because of the nature of the capitalist system and its mechanisms, and as a result of the new global financial and economic crisis, the struggle of workers' unions and professional associations in the developed capitalist countries is intensifying. This struggle enjoys broad support and active participation of all the forces that are opposed to savage capitalist globalization and are calling for a truly humanitarian globalization. There is an escalation of struggles to preserve the gains that the workers, those with low income and wage-earners in general, had achieved through struggles for more than a century, particularly the gains made in the areas of reducing working hours, increasing wages, obtaining health and social security and to strive to enrich these achievements in line with the development of society and the requirements of modern life. We have great confidence that the workers and toilers of our country, Iraq, will spare no effort to contribute to these struggles, for a better future for themselves and for all mankind.

We salute, once again, the Iraqi working class people, as well as the workers of the world, on their International Day.. the 1st of May.
_______________

HAT TIP - LABOUR FRIENDS OF IRAQ AND IRAQI LETTER.

THIS PROVIDES A LINK TO MY OWN 4 PART HISTORY OF THE IRAQI COMMUNIST PARTY.

UPDATE 2 MAY : FOR A REPORT OF THE ICP AT YESTERDAY'S MAY DAY IN BAGHDAD INCLUDING 9 PHOTOS, SEE HERE.

Comrades Come Rally

The Photo is from the Mass Rally in Baghdad celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). For more photos see here. For a report and more photos from the same source see here.

Here is my own four part history of the ICP -

Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 3.

Part 4.

Hat Tips - Labour Friends Of Iraq and Iraqi Letter.

Tackling The Crisis

Gordon Brown opens the way for Monopoly Capitalism, whilst George Bush turns to Public Ownership and the Daily Telegraph looks to Karl Marx via today's Comment Page Cartoon. Things can only get stranger.

The Late Eric Varley

The group in this photo includes Eric Varley who died on Wednesday. He is second from the left and was 27 at the time it was taken. I believe that it appeared in the "Derbyshire Times".

Over a three-year period from 1957 he studied Industrial Relations, Economics and Politics on a Day-Release Course run by the Sheffield University Extramural Department. The photo was taken in Chesterfield and shows a group of Miners who attended the course, presenting miners' lamps to their two final year tutors.

The man holding his lamp up high is the late Royden Harrison. Although I was always very much his academic junior, I took his place in the Extramural Department in 1966 when he moved on.

By the time I emerged on this scene and from 1964, Eric was already the Member of Parliament for Chesterfield. Eventually I was to become MP for a neighbouring seat which almost encircled Chesterfield, but this did not coincide with Eric's time as MP. He and I were also full-time adult students at Ruskin College, but again at different times.

Given such shared experiences, we might have been expected to have met and communicated far more than we did. This distancing arose to some extent because we saw each other as belonging to different wings of the Labour Party and because our paths kept missing each other. I feel that this was my loss.

I did listen annually to his speech at the Chesterfield May Day, heard him address a Rally in Chesterfield for the "no" campaign in Chesterfield during the referendum on the Common Market and made the arrangements with him for his talk to our then local Fabian Society in Dronfield, which is situated between Sheffield and Chesterfield.

The period when we were both at Westminster at the same time was between his appointment to the Lords in 1990 and my retirement as an MP in 2005. But we did not move in the same circles and he was not a regular attender.

We did, however, travel together by train to London if we met by accident and always talked non-stop, he also came to sit next to me at a handful of events - including a Conference of the Regional Labour Party.

He was always keen to find out what I was picking up about politicking in the Chesterfield Labour Party and I was happy to tell him. His own past links seeming to have discontinued.

When he resigned as MP for Chesterfield, he triggered the 1984 By-election which led to Tony Benn's return to Parliament. He had every reason to dismiss the thought that his resignation would have such a consequence. At the time. the Labour Party in Chesterfield had no tradition of lurching to the left. That he had handed the seat over to the very Bennism he had fought within the Labour Party, must have come to him as a shock.

He had held significant front bench posts and had been Treasurer of the Labour Party, so it has always been a mystery in this area as to why Eric resigned from Parliament at that time although numbers of his critics would dismiss his move with the simple claim that he had "sold out".

I feel that we should consider two alternative factors which are not unrelated.

He had been an MP for 20 years. Enough can be enough. I was ready for retirement after my 18 years. On the other hand I was 68 years old. Eric was only in his early 50s, not much older than when I first became an M.P.

Then the political tradition that he was part of was starting to lose its leading role in the Labour Party. There were a couple of options which he would never associate himself with.

First, there was the breakaway by the "Gang of Four" to found the Social Democratic Party which seemed particularly dangerous. It was led by former Labour politicians who seemed to him to be hopelessly romantic pro-Europeans and were also cutting themselves off from what he had grown up with - connections to the Trade Union Movement. He was an NUM Branch Secretary at 23 and became the Chair of the Trade Union Group of Labour M.P.s.

Secondly, there was the Bennite Campaign which seemed to him to be impossiblist. He had himself started out as a left-winger and in his early days was the favoured son of Bert Wynn, ex-Communist and Secretary of the Derbyshire Miners. But by Eric entered the Commons at 31 his political commitments were still maturing. It should not be assumed, however, that he retained little from his Derbyshire NUM past. He saw his new found gradualism* as fitting in with their interests and values. If he was now more right-wing, he was still firmly a labourite. It is something which differs from the later New Labour coup.

My argument might seem to be confounded by the fact that Eric resigned when Kinnock had just become leader. But where did that put Labour in Eric's eyes? Kinnock (whom he seems to have distrusted) still had to battle to overcome Militant and the Bennite left, but it must have seemed that this would be at the price of a great deal of long-winded utopian socialist rhetoric. Eric had run Dennis Healey's unsuccessful campaign against Michael Foot. The consequences of that defeat seeming to Eric to be the electoral humiliation of 1983. It must have looked to Eric as if the next electoral victory (even with Bennism tamed) could still be a couple of decades away. And would it then (whether it was right-wing or left-wing) be recognisable as a labour platform?

I regret not having spoken to him more, perhaps there was something to understand about the feeling he had in his guts.

* = Note added 2 August. Eric would know all about the theories of the Webbs. His day-release tutor Royden Harrison was a leading expert on their (and other) socialist theories.

Iraqi Comrades Come Rally

As explained here by "Labour Friends of Iraq", the Iraqi Communist Party have played a major role in the country's recent public celebrations (e.g. opposite) of the 50th Anniversary of the 1958 Iraqi Revolution which led to a 5 year period of both social improvement and high hopes for the future. Unfortunately, in 1963 the first coup involving the Ba'thists took place, setting seeds which led on to the eventual excesses of Saddam Hussein.

The first half of my own 4 part series on the History of the Iraqi Communist Party shows why they see the 1958 to 1963 period as being of such significance. See here for Part 1 and Part 2.

Was Milosevic A Democrat?

In December 1992 I was one of the international observers at the Presidential Elections in Serbia, which Slobodan Milosevic (left) won against six other candidates. His main opponent was Milan Panic who received 32.1% of the votes to Milosevic's 53.2%. The turnout was only 64.1%, partly due to the fact that the bulk of the Albanian's in Kosovo abstained. If they had voted against Milosevic this would probably have led to a key run-off between Panic and Milosevic, with the latter having lost his aura of invincibility.

On 26 June, Neil Clark had an article published in the "Morning Star" in which he claimed that the system under Milosevic was a "vibrant multiparty democracy". This is, however, a wild exaggeration of the situation. The 1992 election had many pros and cons and could at the time have been viewed as a possible move towards democracy which was suffering from some major teething troubles. But once it confirmed Milosevic's authority, matters continued to deteriorate.

Yesterday, the "Morning Star" published a letter of mine in response to an article by Neil Clark. The letter appears below, using the newspaper's heading-

Yugoslavia was hardly a model democracy

Even if matters were not as blatantly undemocratic as is currently the case with Mugabe in Zimbabwe, it is still a wild exaggeration for Neil Clark (M Star June 26) to claim that "a vibrant multiparty democracy was in operation" in Yugoslavia under Slobodan Milosevic.

Milosevic's practices included strict controls over state TV which was the dominant media outlet especially outside of urban centres, the use of the ethnic card to galvanise support in the face of a growing economic crisis and placing party officials into key roles in the electoral system to help influence outcomes.

As time went on, the democratic shortcomings in Yugoslavia could not just be dismissed as teething troubles.

It is revealing that Neil should stress that, after 2000, many members of the so-called Socialist Party of Serbia moved over to join the Serbian Radical Party with its neofascist ethnic stance.

This is hardly the response of a set of comrades who have been members of an organisation which Neil believes subscribed to democratic socialist values and practices.

Harry Barnes, Dronfield.

My Life As A Stalinist

MY UNCLE JOE

Charles Elwell died in January. He worked for MI5 prior to his retirement in 1979, but he continued his work against those he saw as being subversives. He came to edit "British Briefing" a clandestine document which ceased publication in 1990. This newsletter was printed by the anti-Communist Industrial Research and Information Service (IRIS). It claimed that copies were circulated to certain "political leaders, MPs, journalists and others", who were requested to treat it as confidential. It is said that "British Briefing" was funded to the tune of £270,000 over a three year period by Rupert Murdoch (see here and trawl down to the item entitled "The Campaign Against Labour").

I was first elected to parliament in 1987 and the above source states that in Charles Elwell's publication "Derbyshire MP Harry Barnes was labelled as 'quite a vigorous Stalinist underminer of British parliamentary democracy'." I operated my Constituency Office from our home and came to believe that over this period my phone was tapped, following a need to have it repaired after I dropped it on the floor. I always felt sorry for those who listened in as the case load must have sounded very boring.

I was in good company alongside other exposed "subversives" who included Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman as well as organisations such as Shelter and the World Council of Churches.

My letter written to the "Northern Echo" planted back in October, 1957 entitled "Russia, with its privileged class, isn't Socialist" in reply to the Secretary of the Durham Area Committee of the Communist Party, obviously didn't fool British Briefing. They knew an anti-Stalinist Stalinist when they saw one!

Questions To Jeremy

When I was an MP I shared many a rebels' voting lobby and attendance at Socialist Campaign Group meetings with Jeremy Corbyn (left, as always). I now mainly follow his political moves by reading his regular column in the "Morning Star" - indeed for a period in ye olden days I also had the privilege of having a column in the paper which describes itself as the "daily paper of the left". Although I have always seen it as the "daily paper of a left".

On 18 June, Jeremy's article was entitled "Afghanistan: the next Iraq?" and it was highly critical of a statement which the Defence Secretary, Des Browne had made in the Commons two days earlier about the Government's actions in Afghanistan. The flavour of Jeremy's approach is to be seen in his conclusion -

"The Afghan war is anything but a war of peace in the 21st century. It is likely to be the starting point of similar wars.

The government seems unable to break away from the huge mistakes that the Bush presidency made on 2001.

Bush might be going, but his legacy of illegal wars, occupation and death linger on."

Nevertheless, in the body of the article Jeremy did offer a partial criticism of the Taliban in stating that "no-one on the left would support the oppressive nature of the previous Taliban regime in relation to women or education."

In response to Jeremy's article, I immediately e-mailed the following enquiring letter to the editor. It is published in today's issue of the paper and is given the following heading -

What is the correct way forward in Afghanistan?

In his article "Afghanistan: the Next Iraq?" (June 16)*, Jeremy Corbyn points to the oppressive nature of the Taliban when they were in power. How does he feel that the left should now act to try to contain or remove their current influences?

Does he feel that proposing negotiations is a way forward? Does he feel that we should give moral and practical help to alternative progressive forces in Afghanistan and who does he see these as being? Should we help in a genuine rebuilding of the social fabric of the nation and how do we further this?

Above all, if there is scope for pursuing these or alternative avenues, will this be easier or more difficult if British troops are withdrawn or retained? And why?

In short if Des Browne's approach is counterproductive, then what will be productive?

Harry Barnes.

Note: * = This should read June 18. The error is mine.


OVER TO YOU JEREMY

I hope that Jeremy will respond to my questions. Just in case he misses my letter in today's "Morning Star", I am e-mailing him a link to this blog entry.

May Day In Baghdad

I am always amazed by the complexities of life and activity in Baghdad. We can now give a new meaning to the notion of its "Red Zone". Link here to over 50 photographs of the People's Flag in Baghdad on May Day (including the one above).

The Iraqi Communist Party celebrated May Day with a rally in Firdos Square in central Baghdad, followed by a march to the headquarters of the party. The rally and march were attended by leaders of the party, including the Secretary of its Central Committee, Comrade Hameed Majid Mousa. Thousands of trade unionists, members of democratic organisations and other people participated, carrying banners greeting the Iraqi working class on International Workers' Day.

Hat Tip - General Federation of Iraqi Workers

A Must For Any Socialist

Dan Glazebrook has undertaken this first class interview with Eric Hobsbawn (see left). At the age of 92, Eric provides socialists with as much to think about as ever. Below is the final question and answer. The interview is not to be missed. It appears in today's "Morning Star" on the Arts page!

Dan: How do you view the prospects for the revival of socialist movements in the 21st century and what do you see as the conditions for such a revival, both in the West and in the Third World?

"Eric: I don't see much prospect of a revival of the classical socialist and communist movements of the 20th century.

In the West, their basic constituency, the industrial working class, which they saw as the main agent of social change, could no longer play this role even if labour movements wanted to.

"Their basic form of political action and mobilisation, the mass-membership party of the social-democratic type and the vanguard party of the Leninist type, have not survived the old century.

"What survives of such movements in the West must work as part of new, wider political and social movements and find new forms of action, notably transnational ones.

"Some such movements are coming into being, generally as a succession of ad hoc campaigns, but, as yet, they show no signs of being capable of changing society.

"At the same time, the idea of socialism as a 100 per cent publicly planned collective economy has not survived the end of 'really existing socialism' and will not return.

"Twenty-first-century socialism will be an economy combining the public and private, non-market and market elements, but one whose object is not maximising economic growth and profit but the survival of the planet and the reconstruction of a human society battered and increasingly disintegrating under the impact of the past half-century of capitalist development. How this is to be achieved is the big question for this century's socialists."

Also see Eric's "Globalisation, Democracy and Terrorism" Abacus Books, paperback £8.99.

Bert Ward's Book

Yesterday I reviewed Jonathan Rose's book "The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes". Anyone interested in that telling topic will find the book shown opposite to be a sheer delight. It is from someone who emerges solidly from the tradition which Rose describes.

Bert Ward, the author is 85. He left school at 15 and for the following two decades he undertook a variety of solid working class occupations; first in the Navy, then at a building site, a foundry, the steelworks, a shipyard, on the railways and as a scaffolder. He also found time to train as a student nurse. During this time he became an active trade unionist and a dedicated rank and file worker for the Communist Party.



Building On His Base

Bert's consuming interests led him into full-time adult education as a student at Ruskin College and then on the London School of Economics (LSE). He retained and polished his wider political commitments. He always did this in a questioning way and his book shows that he was as fascinated with the ideas of Hobbes, Rousseau and Michels as with those of Marx.

I studied at Ruskin just two years after Bert moved on. It was then a College essentially for people from working class backgrounds who held few or no formal educational qualifications. Today's pattern has altered as further education is now solidly into forms of training people within modules for accreditation, so they can move to higher stages. This pattern rubs up against the norms of education which Bert experienced and then pursued as a Lecturer. He also drew lessons from his Ruskin experience on the importance of questioning, discussion and debate when involved in the practice of politics.

Bert went to Ruskin on a trade union scholarship and before he moved on to the LSE he had a spell working for the Amalgamated Engineering Union. After his final studies, he became a lecturer for a further two decades in Politics at the South East London College, before retiring and settling in his native Middlesborough.

Into Non-Retirement

I first met Bert in 1990 when he was retired and was finding even more time for political activity. The Communist Party he had devoted himself to (but at least after Ruskin, never uncritically) was nearing its final collapse.

We were both involved in the establishment of the British Section of a group called "New Consensus" which I described in my Constituency Labour Party Report at the time as being "a broad-based group which aims to challenge ambivalence and apathy about the right to life in Northern Ireland.....(it) condemns violence from wherever it comes from and campaigns for devolved government, a Bill of Rights and integrated education as a means to undermine sectarianism and terror..".

This was certainly not the hard-left politics of being soft on Sinn Fein. I would describe Bert's approach as neither being orange nor green, but red. For instance he sought avenues for working class unity in Northern Ireland in order to undermine the sectarian divide. He describes well how he moved away from the common hard-left stance whilst active on Irish issues in the Communist Party in the 1980s.

His work with our group, who later became known as "New Dialogue" was unstinting, effective and intellectually uplifting; particularly in his editorship of our influential bulletin with its column "Ward's Words".

Bert's Example

When I first met Bert he was roughly the age I was when I stood down from Parliament. He illustrates that when you arrive in the region of "three score years and ten" that you can devote yourself more fully to your concerns. Bert's interests also being kept alive by his love of writing poetry.

So he provides me with two New Year Resolutions. One is to return more fully to the political game, whilst ignoring the temptations of politicking for positions. The second is to start writing my own book of essays on my own political journey - to date.

As Manny Shinwell showed when he wrote "Lead With The Left: My First Ninety Six Years" (London Cassell, 1981), Bert also has time to write a sequel. I hope so anyway.

Ordering A Copy

Bert's story is easy to read, but never lacking in depth and insights. To obtain a copy send £6 (covering p&p) to G.H. Ward, 22 Westwood Avenue, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 5PY.