Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Odd week
It's been a funny week, all things considered. First we have the rollercoaster cricket. This Test was definitely one for those who complain that they don't understand the game. Don't worry: neither does anyone else, just at the moment.
Then I'm writing this in what feels like a steam bath, but is actually a perfectly normal room in Oxford. What happened to cold British weather?
Third (and best of all): the Gate Gourmet strike. Who said wildcat strikes had gone out of fashion? And when a group of workers are so appallingly treated as to be sacked by loudspeaker, militant action is the natural response. Good luck guys.
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Then I'm writing this in what feels like a steam bath, but is actually a perfectly normal room in Oxford. What happened to cold British weather?
Third (and best of all): the Gate Gourmet strike. Who said wildcat strikes had gone out of fashion? And when a group of workers are so appallingly treated as to be sacked by loudspeaker, militant action is the natural response. Good luck guys.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Class analysis: use it, don't abuse it
A friend and fellow activist accosted me in the middle of Oxford yesterday to complain about the new Labour council spokesperson in his area. "Another graduate - just what the working class needs!" he exclaimed, ignoring the fact that education doesn't determine your class (are workers not allowed to have degrees?)
Class-based politics looks not necessarily at the supposed class affiliation of an individual, but about their relationship with and effect on the working class as a whole. John Prescott, although of impeccably proletarian origins and apparently proud of it, isn't exactly a great thing for the working class, as his desperate attempts to get council housing privatised show. And there have often been many quite unpleasant right-wingers in the most traditional blue-collar unions, like the T&G. Conversely, from what I've seen the working-class portion of the people of Hinksey Park ward wouldn't swap Rick Muir MA PhD (Oxon) for anyone else as their councillor.
What's more, this friend of mine is a member of the Green Party, which isn't exactly known for its salt-of-the-earth working-class candidates and its programme for a workers' government. So wake up mate (you know who you are) stop glorifying ignorance, and smell the roses.
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Class-based politics looks not necessarily at the supposed class affiliation of an individual, but about their relationship with and effect on the working class as a whole. John Prescott, although of impeccably proletarian origins and apparently proud of it, isn't exactly a great thing for the working class, as his desperate attempts to get council housing privatised show. And there have often been many quite unpleasant right-wingers in the most traditional blue-collar unions, like the T&G. Conversely, from what I've seen the working-class portion of the people of Hinksey Park ward wouldn't swap Rick Muir MA PhD (Oxon) for anyone else as their councillor.
What's more, this friend of mine is a member of the Green Party, which isn't exactly known for its salt-of-the-earth working-class candidates and its programme for a workers' government. So wake up mate (you know who you are) stop glorifying ignorance, and smell the roses.
Homophobic gang attack - in Oxford
Bloody hell.
The LGB community and gay-friendly people in Oxford will have to organise to stop this ever happening again. In the meantime, can some safety measures be taken? The women's nightbus be extended to non-student women? Any ideas, anyone?
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The LGB community and gay-friendly people in Oxford will have to organise to stop this ever happening again. In the meantime, can some safety measures be taken? The women's nightbus be extended to non-student women? Any ideas, anyone?
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Asylum mistreatment
Those who keep up with news from Campsfield House, the "removal centre" for asylum seekers a few miles North of Oxford, will be familiar with truly horrible stories of mistreatment, bureaucratic cover-ups, beatings and racism. There are many such places in Britain and this story from Yarl's Wood, where detainees have been on hunger strike for more than three weeks, possesses particular horror and urgency. Take a look.
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Saturday, August 20, 2005
Lies and squirming - yes, it's the boys in blue
Maybe this is a bit naive, but I was genuinely surprised by the extent of the revelations coming out of the inquiry into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.
First of all, Senhor de Menezes was never identified or dismissed as a potential suicide bomber because the police officer who was supposed to be filming the block of flats where he (and two terror suspects) lived had gone for a pee without arranging to be a replacement! So three plain-clothes police officers followed Sr. de Menezes to Stockwell Tube on the basis of no identification at all. The real story of what happened then is now emerging into the light of day.
The police said they challenged Sr. de Menezes outside the Tube station. They were lying. They did no such thing.
The police said Sr. de Menezes ran into the Tube station, vaulting the ticket gate. They were lying. They now admit that he walked into the station, even stopping to pick up a free newspaper.
The police said Sr. de Menezes was running so fast he fell over while getting on the train, and they then shot him five times in the head. They were lying. They now admit that a plain-clothes officer pinned him in his seat while another plain-clothes officer fired ten shots at point-blank range, seven of which hit Sr. de Menezes in the head, one hit him in the shoulder and two missed completely! It is a miracle no-one else was killed in this tragedy.
And to add insult to the injury done to the de Menezes family, "Sir" Ian Blair, the head of the Metropolitan Police, tried to obstruct the Independent Police Compaints Commission investigation, as the IPCC themselves testify - and now Home Secretary Charles Clarke has expressed his backing for this Blair.
It must be asked, as the de Menezes family's lawyers have asked, how much of what has happened is incompetence, and how much something more sinister.
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First of all, Senhor de Menezes was never identified or dismissed as a potential suicide bomber because the police officer who was supposed to be filming the block of flats where he (and two terror suspects) lived had gone for a pee without arranging to be a replacement! So three plain-clothes police officers followed Sr. de Menezes to Stockwell Tube on the basis of no identification at all. The real story of what happened then is now emerging into the light of day.
The police said they challenged Sr. de Menezes outside the Tube station. They were lying. They did no such thing.
The police said Sr. de Menezes ran into the Tube station, vaulting the ticket gate. They were lying. They now admit that he walked into the station, even stopping to pick up a free newspaper.
The police said Sr. de Menezes was running so fast he fell over while getting on the train, and they then shot him five times in the head. They were lying. They now admit that a plain-clothes officer pinned him in his seat while another plain-clothes officer fired ten shots at point-blank range, seven of which hit Sr. de Menezes in the head, one hit him in the shoulder and two missed completely! It is a miracle no-one else was killed in this tragedy.
And to add insult to the injury done to the de Menezes family, "Sir" Ian Blair, the head of the Metropolitan Police, tried to obstruct the Independent Police Compaints Commission investigation, as the IPCC themselves testify - and now Home Secretary Charles Clarke has expressed his backing for this Blair.
It must be asked, as the de Menezes family's lawyers have asked, how much of what has happened is incompetence, and how much something more sinister.
Sad events, they say, come in threes. Now Mo Mowlam has died. New Labour has lost its last major figure who was genuinely popular and able. Many people may respect Gordon Brown's knowledge of (right-wing neo-liberal) economics, but does anyone actually like him? I would be tempted to like John Prescott, were he not such an arsehole.
But one couldn't help liking Mo Mowlam. Anyone who tells Ian Paisley to fuck off deserves respect. She was the only Northern Ireland Secretary ever who knew how to deal with "loyalists". If she'd been around in the 70s would she have given in to the Orange boss strike? I don't think so.
Sic transit gloria mundi. New Labour has been worn out for years, in terms of policy and of political drive, but I think the loss of its most appealing figures drives the point home.
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But one couldn't help liking Mo Mowlam. Anyone who tells Ian Paisley to fuck off deserves respect. She was the only Northern Ireland Secretary ever who knew how to deal with "loyalists". If she'd been around in the 70s would she have given in to the Orange boss strike? I don't think so.
Sic transit gloria mundi. New Labour has been worn out for years, in terms of policy and of political drive, but I think the loss of its most appealing figures drives the point home.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
This is less easy to write about, but I think I must. My Dad died on Friday 5th, after two weeks in hospital. To be honest, I think he just wanted to join Mum, who died a year ago this month. It happened suddenly and I suspect the only thing he'd regret would be not having outlived Maggie Thatcher!
Dad was a lifelong committed socialist - one of the ones lost to the Labour Party by the misadventures of Mr. Tony. He was also a wonderful person, and I'm going to miss him.
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Dad was a lifelong committed socialist - one of the ones lost to the Labour Party by the misadventures of Mr. Tony. He was also a wonderful person, and I'm going to miss him.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Robin Cook
Sad news yesterday. As my friends will know, I didn't have much time for Robin Cook's politics. However, the manner of his resignation in 2003 put honour and principle back into the proceedings of the leading members of the PLP. Unlike the little band of etiolated cronies around Blair, Robin Cook cared about politics.
I was talking to an activist friend of mine today, who knew Robin Cook in the early 80s. He remembered Cook flying back from a meeting in Edinburgh to speak at a solidarity event, organised by Trotskyists, for Eastern European workers. Unlike Blair - who talked the left talk back then, but actually didn't give a shit - Robin Cook believed he had a duty to support workers fighting right-wing dictatorships. These good instincts, this genuine political engagement, he never lost.
So, rest in peace Robin Cook. The Labour Party genuinely is poorer without you.
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I was talking to an activist friend of mine today, who knew Robin Cook in the early 80s. He remembered Cook flying back from a meeting in Edinburgh to speak at a solidarity event, organised by Trotskyists, for Eastern European workers. Unlike Blair - who talked the left talk back then, but actually didn't give a shit - Robin Cook believed he had a duty to support workers fighting right-wing dictatorships. These good instincts, this genuine political engagement, he never lost.
So, rest in peace Robin Cook. The Labour Party genuinely is poorer without you.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Blog on!
Chris Brooke notes that Oxford politics is seriously blogged-up, particularly on the Labour side; and wonders how any of us find the time to be activists! Good point - sometimes I wonder myself.
I think it's a good sign though. The great thing about the internet is that allows people to keep a constant flow of their opinions going out to the great world, and read lots of differing views on a daily basis.
In politics this is both useful and, in fact, vital to an organisation's health. After all, it's no secret that certain people in the Labour Party don't like members discussing politics.
If Oxford Labour Party just did campaigning and had no visible opinions, one would be forced to the conclusion that the constant activity was just artificial stimulation of a corpse. But, in fact, we have opinions about everything, and the small explosion of blogging is just the outward and visible sign of a lively political organisation.
Let us tend our little garden of blogs with the water of political engagement and the manure of polemic. Keep it up comrades!
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I think it's a good sign though. The great thing about the internet is that allows people to keep a constant flow of their opinions going out to the great world, and read lots of differing views on a daily basis.
In politics this is both useful and, in fact, vital to an organisation's health. After all, it's no secret that certain people in the Labour Party don't like members discussing politics.
If Oxford Labour Party just did campaigning and had no visible opinions, one would be forced to the conclusion that the constant activity was just artificial stimulation of a corpse. But, in fact, we have opinions about everything, and the small explosion of blogging is just the outward and visible sign of a lively political organisation.
Let us tend our little garden of blogs with the water of political engagement and the manure of polemic. Keep it up comrades!
