Breaking Brexit

 I fear it will be quite a few years before England can rejoin the EU, but rejoin it will, of that I am in no doubt. Just because the end goal is on the distant horizon it doesn't mean there are not other victories to be won on the way. Victories that will hasten our return.

If you want to be a citizen of Europe again it will require you to be involved in politics to one degree or another. Progressive change isn't carried out by an elite few. That's reactionary change; a reverting back to the bad old days. The more people involved in politics the better. And if you tell me that all political parties are the same and that there isn't one to suit you, then you have one of two choices. Join an existing party and work to change it from within or help form a new party. That's how you take back control!

One thing that is long overdue is the need to change the voting system. First past the post is not fit for purpose, We need a more proportional system. We need more democracy, more accountability. At every level of society. Some form of proportional representation is needed, otherwise the dice are firmly loaded against us.

We need to work towards being a republic. If you are serious about taking back control, one of the key things that needs to happen is to break down the barriers that prevent you from taking back control; the moneyed, vested interest elite, the aristocracy and the monarchy all need to be stripped of their power. That power should belong to everybody.

I've saved the best until last. One of the best ways to hasten our speedy return is to break up the union. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland needs to be dissolved. It's a ridiculous anachronism that needs to be firmly consigned to history. Breaking the union will create a domino effect that will bring down Tory England with a gigantic thump and free it's Celtic colonies. A United Ireland now seems entirely possible, Scotland could well vote for independence this year and there are rumblings in Wales. It only takes one of them to break free and the door is wide open.

BREAK BREXIT BY BREAKING THE UNION

Mum, I’m hungry

The title of this post is a cry that would often be made by me and my sisters when we were growing up. Of course we weren’t truly hungry. My parents found it difficult at times but we never went hungry in reality. Not the hungry of being in pain, frightened and wondering about where your next meal was coming from and when that might be. It is frankly quite disgusting that in the 21st century in a very prosperous country we can’t feed everyone. There is no excuse. The pandemic has exacerbated an already tragic and vile reality. Our system doesn’t work. It has failed us. Capitalism is flawed. It’s always been flawed. It can’t feed everybody and it can’t house everybody. IT FUCKING WELL DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS. We can change it! 

I’ve been a union member nearly all of my adult life. There is no reason not to be, yet so many people aren’t. I’m retired, yet I’m still a union member. My union is Unite and I’m proud to be a member. Some time ago my union set up something called Unite Community. It gives those who don’t work or are self employed etc a chance to be a union member. It also does what it says on the label ‘Community’. It has been at the forefront of helping with and organising food banks, providing meals to children during school holidays and many other good things. There’s probably a branch near you doing this sort of vital work right now. Check it out and support them if you can. 

I don’t celebrate Christmas as such and as a consequence I don’t buy any presents at all now. I see it as a pointless exercise that achieves nothing apart from perpetuating an oppressive cultural activity and generating a lot of waste. But the thought of people going hungry fills me with such anger and sadness that, at a time when lots of people are consuming to excess, I want to do more than I normally already do. I’ve given to a Norfolk Unite Community appeal and if you live in Norfolk I’d ask you to do the same, if you are able. If you live somewhere else, and are able, I would urge you to donate to a local food bank, please. Can you imagine what it must be like to be hungry and malnourished? Thankfully I can’t but I know enough to know that it must be beyond horrible. It should not be like this but it is. Please give and at the same time get political. Let’s change things for all our sakes. PLEASE. 

Where to go:

Norfolk: https://gf.me/u/y9jrqx

Nationwide: Co-op appeal, Trussel Trust, Unite Appeal.

2016 is over, welcome to the future

I watched the film Pride the other evening. It's about the Lesbian and Gay community that supported the miners' strike in 1984. I balled my eyes out at the end of the film and both laughed and felt the tears trickling down my face through it. It's a film that conveys an important message. That message is:

The importance of solidarity - United we stand, divided we fall.

We can defeat the Tories and all the other bigots on the right. We can overcome the hate mongers. There are more of us than them. We just need to organise. If all those that are currently being targeted and persecuted by the right joined together we could drive them from power and elect a progressive government. A progressive government, an alliance that will serve all of the people.

I have always felt that the miners' strike was a misjudgement by the likes of Arthur Scargill and the NUM leadership. A trap was set and they fell for it. And it was the members that suffered. The men of the pits paid the price. The folly of their leaders broke the labour movement.

If all the pressure groups that represent those that are currently being bullied and oppressed by the right joined forces then a powerful movement could be built. A movement of inclusiveness. A movement for fairness, equality and justice. Society is a hollow vessel if it is not for all.

JC, Elvis and Clive

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to getting around to going to the Burston School Strike Rally but this year I finally managed it.

For the uninitiated the Burston School Strike was the longest strike in British history and it took place in Norfolk. You can read about it here and here.

Clive Lewis MP

In September every year a rally is held to commemorate the event and guest speakers from the labour movement turn up to 'entertain' the comrades. Tony Benn often spoke there. This year though it was Jeremy Corbyn who was the main speaker and of course he'd drawn quite a crowd. Introduced enthusiastically by my MP Clive Lewis. I still can't get over the novelty of electing an MP. Jeremy spoke in similar vein to his speech in Norwich; inclusive and emphasising the need to listen to party members and involve as many as possible in policy making; you know that alien concept called democracy. But for democracy to work there has to be mass involvement. If it's left to a few it won't work.

Jeremy Corbyn MP

The poet Elvis McGonagall had the unenviable task of following on from Jeremy's speech. Unenviable as many left as he came on, which was a pity because he was very good. I listened to his set and enjoyed it muchly.

Elvis McGonagall non-MP

And, the sun shone as well.

Unity is strength

I’m a member of Unite, the union. As someone whose politics have all his adult life been on the left I’ve struggled off and on with my affection for the trade union movement. No one can deny that we owe them a great debt but I’ve also always held them partly responsible for Thatcherism. In the late 70s and early 80s they played right into the hands of the evil Thatcher and her henchmen. I often think the union movement and the Labour movement in general has never fully owned up to their part in failing to effectively fight the Thatcher Reich. I’m no Blairite but Tony Blair certainly ‘got it’ in terms of understanding the Thatcher rise to power.

I’ve long maintained that the remit of trade unions is far too narrow. I don’t like what Thatcher did to this country but we are where we are. With a continuously crumbling industrial base unions need to branch out into the wider community. I don’t support violence or mixing religion with politics but I do have a slight admiration for the work of Hamas as an organisation not only do they strive for political power but they try to look after the welfare of the people they seek to represent. We still have some semblance of a welfare state despite the debauched excesses of the current Tory government but it might not be too long before organisations do what David Cameron wants and caring people start picking up the pieces of Tory Broken Britain.

My union, Unite, has recently started something called ‘Community Membership’. It’s union membership for those not in work. The idea is to encourage those in the wider community to organise and fight the injustices in our society. It’ll take a lot of hard work to establish something that can challenge the moneyed establishment and counteract the lies of their lackeys in the press, but if enough people get to know about community membership and actually get involved things could change for the better. It’s a big if of course. Getting people to get involved is an uphill struggle. But if an organisation like my union could pull it off the lives of so many people could be transformed for the better.

You can’t fight the establishment on your own!

Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed

A week and a half ago I was traipsing about in the mud at Ely Folk Festival. My main reason for going was to see Show of Hands. I’m a late convert to the Show of Hands cause. On record I never really understood what all the fuss was about. I have loved folk music since the seventies. I had seen Phil Beer perform live as part of the Albion Band many years ago. But, Show of Hands just didn’t do it for me. That was until March of last year. In March of last year I went on the TUC March for the Alternative in London and we finished up in Hyde Park for speeches and entertainment. Show of Hands topped the bill so to speak. I watched. I enjoyed. I felt the music. The penny dropped. They played a short but blinding set. And, the song that stood out from that set, and the song that turned my head was their song about the bankers and the capitalist money men who have exploited and financially raped us; Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed. It is a perfectly crafted song that says all that there needs to be said about the misery that these evil people, the monied classes, have inflicted upon us. It makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when I hear it. I hope it moves you as much as it moves me. Here it is:

#N30

I work in the private sector. I don’t begrudge what public sector workers earn or the pension benefits that they receive. It shouldn’t be about reducing pensions so that we are all poorly provided for. It should be about improving living standards and pension provision across the board. There are some extremely wealthy people in this country. People in power, the rich got us into this mess. It is down to the rich to get us out of it. They need to dig deep into their pockets.

I was there

#26march

It’s hard to know how momentous a day the 26th March 2011 was. Only time will tell. But it certainly felt good to me. At least 250,000 people marching in peace for a positive alternative to the unfair, unnecessary and divisive cuts. Cuts that are purely ideologically driven.

Our coach left Norwich at 7.45am on Saturday morning. Unite, my union, had provided two coaches for their members. It was good to see at various stages of the journey, as we joined first the A11, then A14, back to the A11 and finally the M11, so many other coaches clearly heading the same way and for the same reason. It became even more apparent when we stopped at the watering hole known as Birchanger Services and saw a gaggle of coaches all full of smiley people. The buzz in the air was one of optimism. Even the massed ranks of Socialist Worker newspaper sellers, the Jehovah's Witnesses of the political world, couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm. When we arrived in London we were dropped off on Southwark Bridge. Quite a number of coaches had stopped there to let off their passengers; masses of members from several unions. As we walked to the starting point it started to become apparent that the march was going to be something really rather huge. The 100,000 that the TUC had hoped for was going to be reached that was for sure. I wended my way through the crowds to where I could see a huge Unite balloon and a sizeable amount of Unite banners and flags. After a fair amount of noisy but good natured standing around we eventually set off, a little late, but with enthusiasm and a sense of purpose. It was pleasing to see that my fellow marchers were varied as well as many; there were people of all ages, along with a generous mix of ethnic backgrounds, gay and straight, and across such a wide range of professions both public and private. I don’t really hold with class classification but for the purposes of understanding I will note that there were a lot of middle-class people on the march. That’s not to diminish or downgrade the marchers who do not fall into that category but it’s just to make a point that no party will ever be elected to government if it does not enjoy considerable support from the middle-class. I’m not saying I necessarily like it but that’s how it is. Both the Tories and the progressively insignificant Lib Dems are pissing off the middle classes big-time. And, if they stick to their two-dimensional ideological economics this trend will continue.

The mood of everyone around me on the march seemed to be one of good humour. We were there to make a serious, positive political point, but we were pleased to be given the opportunity to do so. There was a definite sense of camaraderie, co-operation and community. It didn’t matter who you were you were on the march for the common good and that’s what counted. The march progressed at a reasonable pace, even for someone like me who is used to walking at brisk speed, only slowing at geographical bottle-necks en route. The route was well stewarded and well policed, with both offering smiles and friendly advice if required. It was also good to see observers from Liberty keeping an eye on proceedings. It was a truly perfect march, and with only a few spots of rain near perfect conditions. Just over two hours after we set off we ended up at Hyde Park where the already assembled masses were large in number. This was quite a surprise because I’m sure there were more in the park than were in front of us on the march. Clearly many had come along just for the gig in the park. And what a gig it was, stirring speeches from the great and the good plus a blinding mini-set from Show of Hands. All quality stuff. It made me feel very proud to be a union member. There is a warm feeling of collectiveness, society and solidarity that only the left engenders and personifies. Something that those on the right with their ‘the individual over all’ philosophy will never experience and I feel sorry for them. I am in no doubt that there is strength in unity!

It was such a good day and so well organised by the TUC that I sincerely hope it is the springboard to further action and further political success. We need to show the country that there is a credible alternative to the lacklustre Tory financial masturbation that we are enduring at the moment. And we need to keep reminding them until we return the next Labour government.