DEDICATION AND DETERMINATION WON THE DAY

Anti-nuke dump campaigners at Barrow, September  2011

SOMETIMES,  PEOPLE REALLY ARE PUT BEFORE PROFITS
The plan to house the waste site in Cumbria was rejected by the County Council last month and so Baroness Verma has confirmed the county is no longer an option and announced work must begin on identifying an alternative UK site.

For many years the campaign against the shipment, processing and storage of highly irradiated nuclear waste was conducted by CORE (Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment) formerly BAG (Barrow Action Group).
(I never discovered why my alternative suggestion for BAG - Barrow Anti-Nuclear Group - BANG! - was rejected in those earlier days.  Too flippant, maybe?  Anyway, once it was agreed to expand the action beyond Barrow and include the whole of Cumbria whoever thought up CORE did a great job.  Muddz)  There isn't  space here to describe the work and campaigns of CORE but Martin Forwood and Jean McSorely deserve special mention as they were the leading lights of the organisation.  Jean achieved international recognition for her work and lived for some time in Japan.  Martin stayed in Cumbria and remains spokesperson for CORE to this day although the group seems to have become much depleted (no pun intended! Muddz) in recent years.  Fortunately,  Radiation Free Lakeland together with supporters of Friends of the Earth stepped in to take the reins.  The photograph shows wildlife artist and RFL member, Marianne Birkby,(centre), with two fellow campaigners outside Barrow Town Hall having delivered their protest before a meeting of Cumbria County Council.

I remember attending a Cumbria Joint TUC meeting at Whitehaven during the 1980s when an expansion of the irradiated waste facility at  the Sellafield site had been proposed and was met with resistence by trade unionists.  Ray Buckton, a senior national officer - probably General Secretary - of the ASLEF union became most agitated when, despite his cajoling and pleading for the proposal to be adopted, members still rejected the idea. Then, as it is commonly said, he 'lost his rag'.  He ranted and he raged. It was, he claimed, a brilliant idea because trade unionist would be involved so safe handling and procedures would be guaranteed.  Sadly, some members changed their minds but I suspect this had more to do with preventing Buckton from having a seizure than actually agreeing with him.

So what's the situation at the moment?  Moves to have the council decision overturned are now afoot.  Councillor Anne Burns (pro-dump) "The waste is already at the site, it's deteriorating unless we do something about it.";  Councillor Oliver Pearson (pro-dump) "If we shut the door on this, they (the government) may shut the door on us."  (That's blackmail, Oliver!  Muddz) Steve Nicholson, Sellafield Workers Campaign, "Fifty thousand people in my community depend on the nuclear industry.";  Councillor Tim Knowles (pro-dump) "It is inherently uncertain whether a suitable site can be found. Is it worth more to reduce doing that uncertainty?" (A nice example of mangled English! Muddz)  T. Farrer, in letter to Westmorland Gazette "Why was it that only ten councillors - the Cabinet - made the decision? Surely a matter of this magnitude should have been debated in full council....Once again it seems that the 'green' lobby with its anti-nuclear stance is blocking progress."  Kevin Coyne, Unite union national officer "This is an extremely short-sighted decision by the Cumbria councils that voted no." (Shades of Ray Buckton?  Muddz.)  

The bureaucratic structure of local government administration involving several borough councils here in Cumbria can create complications. For example, Copeland Borough Council has voted to remain within the process (of searching for a suitable Cumbrian site for nuclear waste storage) and Copeland's MP, Jamie Reed, could now pressure the government to have the repository built within his district.  

Then, of course, we have the 'Political Thespians' dramatically hamming up all too expected performances in enacting scenes of subterfuge and 'outrageous fortune'  (Apologies to Bill the Bard. Muddz)  County Councillor conspirators claim Council Leader, Eddie Martin, had threatened to quit unless fellow Tories backed him in the vote (against the repository) (Friends, councillors, Cumbrians! I come to bury the repository, not to praise it! Muddz)  and this is denied by Eddie Martin who then announced he would not, in any case, be standing for re-election in May (Touche! Muddz) Now, get this for a great closure by Eddie Martin: "There was no one single reason for rejecting.  It was a cumulative effect. We were left with no other choice. This particular issue is not Copeland specific.  It affects the whole of Cumbria and my responsibility is to the people of Cumbria, not Westminster.  I'm not beholden to Westminster or David Cameron.  The people of Cumbria elected me, not David Cameron."         
(Bravo, Councillor Eddie Martin!  Although you are a Tory, you get a standing ovation from this Communist.  As for the Labour specimens who would consign Cumbria to the nuclear dustbin in perpetuity it's a case of 'hold the nose and yank on the lavatory chain'  Muddz)

SOMETHING POSITIVE AT LAST

Anti-dump celebrations may be somewhat premature
COUNCIL CABINET VOTE WITHDRAWS COUNTY FROM SELECTION PROCESS

Despite a huge financial outlay in terms of newspaper advertising, hiring halls for public meetings, prime-time slots on radio and TV,  glossy brochures with full-colour illustrations and distribution of literature by those having a vested interest in a vast underground facility for the storage of high level irradiated nuclear waste beneath Cumbria the only thing to be dumped was their ambition.

Now, most people can be forgiven for believing that this is the end of the matter because  democratically elected councillors had weighed up the results of the numerous public consultations and lobbying by both those for and against the proposal and agreed the weight of local opinion was firmly on the side of rejection.  In the words of Council Leader, Eddie Martin, "I have to ask myself why it is no other community in the whole of England or Wales has ever wanted to host a geological disposal facility, even given that there are 36 placesin the UK that produce nuclear waste. I am just not convinced that Cumbria is the place to even begin looking for a geological disposal facility."  

Three councillors voted for continuing the planning process and seven voted against but it was not long before there was a clamour of protest against that decision from the usual suspects .......the 'pro-nuke' tribe comprising big money interests such as developers and the construction industry, local trade unions whose only interest is 'jobs' (irrespective of consequences for the environment and the health of the local population) and 'populist' politicians who will milk the 'positive economic' aspects for all they are worth.  Then, of course, there is the government that only wants to bury this highly toxic material as quickly and with as little fuss as possible.  None of these will accept their plans have been thwarted by a bunch of local peasants and, in the weeks and months to come, I can imagine great pressure will be brought to bear upon those councillors who had the audacity to bow to the will of the people and morality.

Consider for a moment the situation in Barrow, just a few miles south of the proposed dump site - 'work' is the only thing that matters which is why Barrow imports irradiated nuclear waste, why nuclear submarines are built here and why it is likely that a new fleet of submersible launch platforms for American Trident weapons of mass destruction will also be constructed.  "Such work is good for the town because it boosts the local economy and will allow the town to grow." parrot the pro-nuke lobby. If this really is the case in the past why has Barrow got a declining population, high unemployment, areas of deprivation and shops and businesses closing down?  "Trident means jobs!" was the slogan bleated by the pro-nuke lobby in the late 1980s....we got Trident......and 11,000 jobs were lost!  But they've got a short attention span in these parts and take little account of the long-term damaging consequences of seeking immediate short-term gains.

Forces are already gathering to have the County Council's decision overturned.  The unions cannot see further than their economic snouts , some councillors will use the myth of 'jobs and a brighter future' for purely political purposes (in the hope of getting re-elected) and the government just wants to bury a really difficult problem so it can forget about it. So the people of West Cumbria should prepare themselves for the battles ahead.  Not everyone is a Nuke Nutter.  What of our farms and forests, our tourist industry, those who work in public services - hospitals, schools, colleges, accomodation, catering, environmental maintenance, utilities, etc.? And what of those in construction and manufacturing that have no connection with the nuclear industry in any form?

Then, of course, I could be mistaken and the pro-nuke supporters will accept that a democratic decision has been made and move on........

(The 'nodding donkeys' piece will have to wait until a more convenient time)

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER STRUGGLE

Is that why you don't sell many in Barrow?

OBSERVING THE PROLETARIAT

Just as I predicted, I am now in the process of 'off-loading' some activities to enable me to engage in other things.  Barrow Peace Council - wrapped up.  Furness Against the Cuts - wrapped up.  Barrow and Furness Pensioners' Association -  resigned.  Barrow Association of the National Union of Teachers and also Barrow and Furness Trades Union Council - 'in the balance'.  I finally cancelled the venue for a weekly Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group and abandoned the Saturday Morning Star town centre sales pitch at the market entrance (which I held on my own for four months) because two people (not Party members) who had indicated they wished to support this simply failed to turn up.   In addition, my physical condition and my wife's general state of health may also force me to discontinue the 150 mile round trip to attend the three-hour CPB Northern District Committee meetings at Carlisle and this is the only activity I shall really be sorry to miss.

The comment beneath the photograph was made by an elderly and quite disabled former engineer who had worked in Vickers Armstrong (engineering and ship building) as he purchased a copy of the paper.  We both laughed and he added "You won't get much sense out of them round here!"   

In all the weeks selling the paper I never ever sold a copy to the same person twice (nobody returned the following Saturday, or any other Saturday).  As I stood at the market entrance I was able to watch assorted members of the local population as they wandered about.  Some strode by most purposefully as if heading for a pressing engagement or a transaction of some importance (but, more likely, just to catch a bus)  Young lads would pass as if on auto-pilot whilst they focused their attention on a small hand-held device on which they made small jabbing movements with their thumbs, avoiding young women with a similar object pressed against an ear and who talked incessantly as they pushed before them a babybuggy loaded with child and shopping.  Middle-aged, bored, disinterested husbands waited for their wives outside 'bargain shops' and outlets offering 'special sales discounts'.  

Most men and women of all ages, but especially those in their twenties to fifties, would only become animated when, in sunlight, they caught sight of their own reflection in the large window of a store - young women would appraise their figures and their outfits and young men would assess their 'style' and one or two would roll a tee-shirt sleeve just a bit higher so they may show off their latest tattoo or suddenly square their shoulders and puff up their chests to appear 'more manly'.  Yes, members of the Furnesss public certainly know what is important to them - until, one day soon, they begin to be deprived of the things they currently take for granted such as benefits, allowances, a roof over their heads, heating, lighting and food, social welfare and a free health service.  And that is how I was entertained when attempting to sell copies of the world's only English language national daily socialist newspaper in 'Lumpensville'.

And what of the Pensioners' Association?  Well, its constitution clearly states it is 'a campaigning organisation'.  Over a period of four years I did my best to involve members in campaigns to defend their pensions, their bus passes, their standards of health care and they just could not be bothered to make any effort whatsoever.  In the months before resigning I had begun to refer to the members as the 'Grub and Grumble Graveside Club' because they did not want a campaigning organisation and were determined to turn it into a pensioners' social club for entertainments such as raffles and bingo with tea and biscuits to pass the time whilst waiting to drop off their perches.  They didn't want me going on about the Retail Price Index and the Consumer Price Index, or maltreatment of the elderly in hospitals and care homes, or the privatisation of the National Health service - as one member said "You make us depressed and we come here to be cheered up!"  

Now, there is a really sad part to all this: the secretary of the organisation is no mug - she knows what the situation is.  Ordinary monthly meetings attract an attendance of around eleven or thirteen members yet subsidised 'dinners' (such as the Christmas lunch) attract thirty or forty!  When the annual Pensioners' Parliament is held in Blackpool, members queue up for the cheap deal four nights hotel accomodation and the vast majority use this as a holiday and have no interest in the parliament.  Members of the association want to use it solely for what they can get out of it and are not prepared to put anything back in (in terms of time, effort or money).  In many ways it is just like the situation with Barrow and Furness Trades Union Council (monthly correspondence club for nodding donkeys) except the secretary of the pensioners is heartbroken and the secretary of the TU council is very contented.......but more about sly nodding donkeys in the next posting.      

THE REGULAR GRIND CONTINUES

LEAFLET CAMPAIGN BARROW STATION 5 NOV 2012 

SUCCESSFUL EVENT DESPITE DOWNPOURS
Pouring rain did not hinder leaflet distribution at Barrow railway station on the morning of 1st November.  Photos were taken during all too brief gaps in the heavy showers and members of the public willingly accepted the leaflets that were offered to them.  Some, having read the leaflet, actually thanked the assembled trade unionists for the work of trying to save the rail service before rushing off to board their train taking them to their place of employment.

The dozen or so campaigners who began at 5.45am were joined by others as the morning brightened and the rain eased until, at 8.30 (just thirty minutes before the end of the campaign) a reporter and photographer from the local press arrived and 'interviews' were earnestly conducted.  Three activists of Barrow Trades Union Council (RMT and NUT delegates plus GMB member and Unite Against Fascism organiser) attended throughout but the secretary and chairman were absent.

IF LEADERS FAIL TO LEAD, THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP.
In an earlier posting I mentioned the failure of the secretary of Barrow Trades Union Council to attend a public meeting to promote the work of the organisation and the refusal of the chairman to speak at the event.  Frankly, I cannot understand this attitude yet it is one that seems to be common to most organisations here in south Cumbria - persons get themselves elected (or appointed) to positions of responsibility and then utterly fail to honour that responsibility.

Take, for example, the secretary of Cumbria Unison, Deborah Hamilton, - responsible, since 2009 for co-ordinating the anti-austerity campaign in the area from Barrow to Kendal - who, except for a very brief appearance at Barrow market entrance one very wet Saturday - has never ever played any part in the campaign.....a campaign organised and sustained for three years by just three pensioners without any assistance from any other organisation.  Churches did not wish to know.  Charities would not assist for fear of being considered 'political' which could threaten their funding status. The Trades Union Council was not interested and the local Labour Party could not support an anti-austerity campaign because, if elected, it would impose an austerity programme of its own!

Appeals to the secretary of Barrow TU Council to promote support for the anti-cuts campaign were steadfastly ignored but, some eighteen months later, following two articles in the local paper in which the secretary appealed for TU delegates to support the local TUC or risk him having to 'wrap it up', the pensioners (each a member of a trade union) decided to assist the Trades Council.  More delegates responded and it seemed that Barrow TUC had been saved from extinction.  There were, however, ominous warning signs.....nobody would accept the position of treasurer.  The chairman elected at that very first meeting never ever made another appearance!  And so the local TUC limped through that year with the secretary doubling up as treasurer also.

The following year (current) saw the election of a chairman, George Appleton (former secretary of the now defunct Ulverston TUC) but still no treasurer - thus the unsatisfactory arrangement of a joint secretary/treasurer is set to continue.

In a previous posting I described the farcical pantomimes of  two Barrow TUC meetings
and do not need to repeat these here.  They arose because of illiteracy and lack of firm leadership and this situation prevails.  As both the chairman and secretary are now both in their 60s it is doubtful that even an intensive remedial course in English would improve their comprehension but they may still have the capacity to understand that they must contribute more if the council is to be saved for the future.

Currently, the secretary and chairman appear to believe that the secretary is merely a clerk and the chairman a conductor - the first handles correspondence and literature once a month and the second manages the agenda much the same way as a conductor manages an orchestra (except the orchestra here is comprised of musicians each playing from a different music sheet with the result that we end up with a discordant racket that nobody wants to listen to!)

Some local people get elected onto the local borough council and then do nothing except attend the occasional borough council meeting.  Fulltime, paid, TU officials rarely leave their offices and will not support local initiatives.  Elected officers of voluntary organisations do not wish to campaign on local issues.  Local politicians remain silent  as people's living standards plummet.  Yes, the message is clear - those who bask in their 'status', who like to mouth off for the local press and maybe get their mugshot published for all to see could not really give a toss about those they claim to represent.  And, of course, it will continue like this until those who put these people into these positions of responsibility decide to bring them to account.   

'FIGHT-BACK' MOTIVATION - WELL, WE TRIED.

Cde Greenshields, Chairman CPB

THE PUBLIC MEETING AT BARROW

and RMT leaflets at Barrow station.

When it was proposed that an executive member of the Communist Party of Britain could attend a public meeting at Barrow on 31st October I confess I was dubious about the outcome.  

Firstly, it was Hallowe'en and a night when locals would either be escorting their children around the streets begging for sugar-laden confections or attending a fancydress party and 'getting blathered'.  Secondly, the population is - well - disinclined to attend Public Meetings (For example: a recent Police Federation meeting held at Barrow, called to discuss the impact of a much reduced constabulary, attracted just FOUR members of the public....an Ulverston town councillor, the (then) secretary of Ulverston Trades Union Council who was accompanied by his wife, - and me.  

But then I considered it would be an opportunity - not just for a leading Party member to address a local audience - but for local Trade Unionist officials to put the case for two TUC initiatives: promoting activity as a follow-up to the 20th October 'A Future that Works' and generating campaigns supporting the People's Charter.

So, a list of willing TU speakers was drawn up - Craig Johnston, Cumbria relief officer of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport union); Ryan Shaw, secretary of Cumbria PCS (Public and Commercial Services union); John Holden, national executive member of the UCU (University and College Union), and Robert Pointer, secretary of B&FTUC (Barrow and Furness Trades Union Council).  Leaflets were distributed around the town, an advertisement was placed in the local paper which resulted in the event appearing in a single columnX3cm 'news snippet'.  The 'Bay' radio station did not respond.  The 'political reporter' for the local paper, was invited to attend.  The Studio Theatre at the local Forum was booked.  Everything was ready, so what could possibly go wrong?

As the evening darkened, the wind increased and we were subjected to a massive and prolonged torrential rain-storm.  News was received that Bill Greenshields, travelling from Derby, was stuck in a traffic jam some forty miles away on the M6 motorway.  The train from Lancaster was running 30 minutes late.  Ryan Shaw (PCS) would be 'late' and there was no communication from Robert Pointer (B&FTUC) explaining why he hadn't shown up.  And twenty people were patiently waiting for the meeting to commence.  After twenty minutes had elapsed I really began to wish I could sing and/or play a musical instrument....or had prepared a 'stand up' comedy routine I could perform...just to fill in the time until our speakers were in place.  Alas, I possess no such skill.  And throughout this, neither Craig Johnston (RMT) nor John Holden (UCU) offered not a single word of complaint.  

At last, running some forty minutes late, the meeting got under way and each speaker delivered much food for thought.  No member of the public attending the event would have been left in any doubt about the seriousness of the political assault that was being mounted against the wellbeing and standard of living of Britain's working class and lower middleclass population and of the pressing need to mount a most determined opposition in political parties, trade unions, and 'pressure groups' such as peace organisations  and social and charity associations.

Was it a successful event?  Knowing my home town as well as I do I can say that, despite the initial setback and wimpish behaviour of the BFTUC secretary (still don't know why he failed to attend) and Stephen Forbes local GMB officer - who said he would attend (and didn't) but would 'leave the speaking to Bob' (Pointer) - then, yes, it was.  And the reporter from the local press failed to materialise.  Maybe there are some fully grown adults in this town who still cling to the belief that if they go out in the rain they will dissolve.  I'm tempted to remark that they are wet enough already........

Craig Johnston (RMT) explained the likely consequences for public rail travellers should the recommendations of the MacNulty report be adopted and announced that the following morning a leaflet campaign would be held outside Barrow's railway station from 5.45 until 9.00am.

Finally, financial contributions by the public almost completely covered the full cost of the room hire.

Now it remains to be seen what results, if any, arise from the meeting.  I won't be holding my breath filled with anticipation. 

NEW SIGNS OF BTUC ACTIVITY?

BARROW TUC MINIBUS CONTINGENT FOR THE EVENT

YET ANOTHER TUC DEMO - 20TH OCT 2012....

Maybe things are beginning to look up at Barrow TUC thanks to the initiative of Mandy (far right) who organised the minibus to take eleven local people to the TUC demonstration in London on 20th October.

Northern TUC provided £500 towards the £750 cost of bus hire and Barrow TUC coughed up the £250 difference to enable Barrow people to attend the demo free of charge - very helpful for any who were unemployed or on low wages.  This was, for Barrow, a good turnout - and exceeded my expectation by seven.  Even more encouraging was the sight of Barrow TUC secretary, Bob Pointer,(third from right) boarding the bus and giving his most sincere assurance that he would be a speaker at a Public Meeting to be held in Barrow on 31st October:  maybe he was finally becoming vertebral, growing intestines and developing a set of testicles - maybe he was now going to be fit to lead Barrow TUC in the struggles ahead!  And, on top of this, Barrow Association of the NUT (National Union of Teachers) had not only paid the Trades Council delegate fee for the past year but also the fee for the next twelve months!!  Clearly, I had to quickly revise my previous decision to wash my hands of the lot of them (but maintain a healthy scepticism, of course).

Two events are to follow: a Public Meeting, entitled 'Bring Down the Con-Dems: Britain Needs Socialism' and held at the Forum, Barrow on 31st October - this to back up the 20th Oct TUC demo 'A Future that Works' -  followed the next morning by an RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport union) leaflet distribution to passengers at Barrow rail station from 5.45am until 9am.  Well, you know the common saying..."You wait for ages for a bus and then..."

The next meeting of Barrow Trades Union Council will be held on Tuesday 6th Nov so there will be plenty to report upon.

And the struggle continues.

NEVER SAY "NEVER AGAIN."

    ARE ANY WORDS REQUIRED HERE?

Early 21st Century

Late 19th Century