tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19949520769106727592024-03-07T10:19:34.135+00:00Manchester Communists ☭, Official blog for the Manchester branch of the Communist Party of BritainWelcome to the official blog for the Manchester branch of the Communist Party of Britain, a Marxist-Leninist political party
which plays an important role in both leading and taking part in campaigns and broad movements in support of working class people.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger360125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-89587327489380813522022-03-23T17:56:00.000+00:002022-03-23T17:56:31.398+00:00Solidarity-on-Sea<img align="center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWZrBBseBWJT2VvwKFqkbRy6P6Bd7mIj9DfQarj_h6pI31mY2qMAOclfyqSYJGErDVnSDFfkrhSJG39cC7ZK8DTjsdrZbhDkBFf5vkBysre0nVUpmNIAB-nqXIcugV4sWGoO7ER0HIMieb3YKprHFLeHlEsTyY-WXHO_OE9PIhjpmPMj_WyYPwXnU/s1134/s-o-s-img01.png" width="610" />
<h4><i>Comrade Barry Brooks, from the soon-to-be-launched CPB Burnley Branch took a trip to Blackpool on Saturday to join Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre TUC to protest the Tory party conference. Read on for the Lancashire Lowdown…</i></h4>
<p>After an unexpected late cancellation of the planned national protest by the TUC it was a pleasant surprise to receive notice that the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre TUC had taken the decision to go alone and protest the Tory Party spring conference.</p>
<p>A few hundred trade unionists, activists, campaigners and locals eager to let current Tory regime know exactly what the working class think of them assembled on the Comedy Carpet in the early spring sunshine.</p>
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<p>Banners from the RMT, Unite, Unison, PCS, NHS and NEU formed the vanguard, followed by various placards decrying Tory greed, sleaze and opposition to fracking in the area, all marching to the beat of Frack Free United’s Nana Samba band and the bells of the Morris Against Boris troupe.</p>
<p>We marched towards the Winter Gardens under the watchful and well armed eye of Lancashire constabulary and various local and national news outlets before gathering at St. John’s Square.</p>
<p>First to speak was Darren Procter (RMT national shipping and maritime secretary) a passionate, emotional and defiant speech in light of P&O’s abhorrent treatment of it’s workers. The message was loud and clear <em>“if they can do this to us, then you will be next”.</em></p>
<p>The next speakers Ken Cridland of the NEU and Ian Hodson of the BFAWU echoed the sentiment “nobody is safe from this government” and offered their solidarity and assistance to the P&O workers which was met with a rousing chant of “the workers united will never be defeated!”</p>
<p>Following this was Jenny Hurley (NHS) speaking about her local campaign to save Chorley and South Ribble A&E and the national issue of back door privatisation of the NHS by the Tories.</p>
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<p>Next up again on the topic of Tory asset stripping was Chris Baugh urging that the current war in Ukraine should not be used as a pretext for Quadrilla to resume their fracking operations in Lancashire.</p>
<p>After this came PCS DWP Group President Martin Cavanagh. PCS staff, like the NHS workers, were heroes during the height of the pandemic but now face unemployment as the DWP announces large scale office closures; <em>"first they clapped us, then they scrapped us"</em></p>
<p>Rounding off the afternoon’s speaking were Martin Powell-Davis of the NEU and Wendy Fell representing Unite Community, both focusing on the Tories' relentless attack on the working class and making it clear that we do not have a ‘cost of living crisis’- we have a corporate greed crisis, a crisis that can be easily averted yet this government chooses to allow more and more of us to slide into abject poverty whilst the shareholders and CEO’s count their dividends and bonuses.</p>
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<p>On a day when Boris Johnson announced the “levelling up” of Blackpool (not from the comedy carpet which would have been more apt ) I think it’s fair to say that the true Levellers were Ken Cridland, Lynn Goodwin and the rest of the BFWTUC for taking the decision that this government should not be allowed to assemble unchallenged anywhere. Especially not in Blackpool the annual holiday destination of the North West’s working class for generations, once proud now crumbling after years of austerity and underinvestment.</p>
<p>The Tories and their cronies in business <strong>will not stop</strong> stripping away our rights as workers, <strong>will not stop</strong> auctioning off the national resources and services to the highest and most unscrupulous bidder, <strong>will not stop</strong> until they have broken the fighting spirit of our class.</p>
<p>The message is loud and clear, there is power in the union and we need it now, perhaps more than ever.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-80206042654160667392022-01-31T16:40:00.001+00:002022-01-31T16:46:22.271+00:00Remembering Bloody Sunday<img align="center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSKUvBr58_16DvyPeCYm-ssH4_p9x3B7PSEyduqxYxWInFNU3EHQS3bvRszP3GXns8IgHwfQLKwuAE5RVeGjqjSHTTIe456pZPKD6ZvWoCjuLMEg-RKgdOK93re5_RxOR43u0bmBtMHK8k-rRY0V_2JGz2GZhACYbDeqz_mdZLObDs8gw5RKesHKG-=s600" width="610" />
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<h4><i>In the 50 years since the massacre of innocent British Citizens by the British State, there is still much to be done by the government to accept responsibility for the role that it played on Bloody Sunday. </i></h4>
<p>In this weekend’s edition of the Morning Star, Mick Carty, general secretary of the Connolly Association and Richard Rudkin, a former British soldier that served in Northern Ireland, highlight the lies and harm that past and current governments have perpetuated, and the role of the mainstream media in their unchecked repetition of these lies. No change there then.</p>
<p>The propaganda spread at the time was that the British Army were returning fire after an IRA gunman had shot at them. This was the account of the Ministry of Defence; subsequently reiterated unchecked and unchallenged by the mainstream press. This remained the case until the publication of the Saville Report in 2010, which categorically stated that the deaths of unarmed civilians were as former Prime Minister David Cameron described ‘unjustified and unjustifiable’. The report also concluded that the soldiers not only fired without warning on civilians, but also those coming to their assistance. Furthermore, in an attempt to cover up, Saville concluded that many of the former British soldiers lied, putting forward falsified accounts of the events that day.</p>
<p>The entirely predictable outcome of Bloody Sunday was that it rightly outraged many members of the Catholic community, many of whom until that point had been largely indifferent to the presence of the British Army; the result of which was to galvanise many republicans to swell the ranks of the IRA.</p>
<p>A notable exception to the broad acceptance of the MoD version of events was the Irish Democrat, giving a factual and detailed overview of the events as they had unfolded. In the days and weeks after Bloody Sunday, many protests erupted in solidarity across Britain, with Manchester being a proud part of this. Many trade unions also joined in the condemnation. </p>
<h5>We remember those murdered on Bloody Sunday</h5>
<ul>
<li><strong>Patrick Doherty</strong> (31), a factory worker.</li>
<li><strong>Gerald Donaghey</strong> (17), unemployed, previously a delivery hand on a beer lorry.</li>
<li><strong>John Duddy</strong> (17), a factory worker.</li>
<li><strong>Hugh Gilmour</strong> (17), a trainee tyre fitter.</li>
<li><strong>Michael Kelly</strong> (17), a trainee sewing machine mechanic.</li>
<li><strong>Michael McDaid</strong> (20), a barman.</li>
<li><strong>Kevin McElhinney</strong> (17), a supermarket worker.</li>
<li><strong>Bernard McGuigan</strong> (41), a factory worker and handyman.</li>
<li><strong>Gerard McKinney</strong> (35), who managed roller-skating rink.</li>
<li><strong>William McKinney</strong> (27), a printer.</li>
<li><strong>William Nash</strong> (19), a dock worker.</li>
<li><strong>James Wray</strong> (22), previously working in England.</li>
<li><strong>John Young</strong> (17), a shop worker.</li>
<li><strong>John Johnston</strong> (59), a draper.</li>
</ul>
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<h5>Further reading in the Morning Star:</h5>
<p>MICK CARTY, general secretary of the Connolly Association, introduces the reprinted Irish Democrat and explains how the workers' movement rebelled against the horror of the 1972 massacre.<br />
<a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mick-carty-feature" target="_blank">https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mick-carty-feature</a></p>
<p>The British government was accused of planning to cover up the truth about the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings and other atrocities in Northern Ireland at a memorial service in Derry yesterday<br />
<a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/british-state-accused-covering-role-bloody-sunday-killings" target="_blank">https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/british-state-accused-covering-role-bloody-sunday-killings</a></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-30116858991879235662021-09-05T16:41:00.001+01:002021-09-05T16:41:58.962+01:002nd September: Remembering Uncle Hồ<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDT-zq1u-YoJwIiirHzQLVWXzy4X4qZBzjsK-ft7cFexmLwwh6zm302zNoOVsSwpqMWaqEHuLDbyrCbzHDpF98QB18THREVCBwiTGw22KR6nwjGH_2RyWV8SJ2YlgWt1SQiomX8K6otw/s1280/Celebrations.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDT-zq1u-YoJwIiirHzQLVWXzy4X4qZBzjsK-ft7cFexmLwwh6zm302zNoOVsSwpqMWaqEHuLDbyrCbzHDpF98QB18THREVCBwiTGw22KR6nwjGH_2RyWV8SJ2YlgWt1SQiomX8K6otw/s600/Celebrations.png" width="600" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(29, 34, 40); background-color: none; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Celebrations from a previous Independence Day taken from Nhân Dân Newspaper</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>CP member and student of MA Political Science, Kyril Whittaker discusses the significance of Việt Nam’s Independence Day, and congratulates Việt Nam and his family and friends who are members of the CPV on this special day.</i></h4>
<p>On this day in 1945 Uncle Hồ read the declaration of independence in Việt Nam, this declaration for the first time declared Việt Nam as an independent country, free from French colonialism and Japanese Fascism. Sadly, we all know what the following period of Vietnamese history held for its people, as the French presence did not leave, and more Imperialist activity, and more oppressors would come to ensure for another thirty years until 1975 that Việt Nam would not be as Hồ hoped it to be, that is an independent, peaceful and re-unified Việt Nam.</p>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizz6o-jsYZLjPBtdcqgp38tiriANldZlEti5d97LWZN-3dFapLVaCTtuuOrMeZumKWWDy3aDeehDjkqxx3PxOz_bidNP5Dp_91Bx_0thPySWx-j1WbkPAr7HoAfJOSl0l7Gia05KI7a_k/s1080/BaDinhSquare.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizz6o-jsYZLjPBtdcqgp38tiriANldZlEti5d97LWZN-3dFapLVaCTtuuOrMeZumKWWDy3aDeehDjkqxx3PxOz_bidNP5Dp_91Bx_0thPySWx-j1WbkPAr7HoAfJOSl0l7Gia05KI7a_k/s400/BaDinhSquare.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(29, 34, 40); background-color: none; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Uncle Hồ in Ba Dinh Square where his mausoleum is now placed</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: left;">It is also significant that today, on Independence Day the 2nd of September Uncle Hồ died in 1969. Sadly, Hồ never got to see his country reunified and he never got to achieve his dream of going to the South to meet the Southern people again. However, Uncle Hồ's legacy lives on today, in the hearts and minds of millions of people worldwide, in pictures in their homes, books on their shelves, videos on their phones and thoughts in their minds. It is because of Uncle Hồ and the Vietnamese People's vision that Việt Nam is an independent and reunified peaceful country today.</p>
<p>Vietnamese independence is a living testament not only to the strength of socialism, but to the will of the people in the face of imperialist aggression. Việt Nam achieving full independence after fighting three wars in succession, and then immediately two after 1975, shows the resilience of working people for true freedom, true independence and for socialism.</p>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqbCJ74RPXmqJG6ctkU0PAE8MMFgpzLnKSIyImQKSwwUrSztksJH4AGm00EQIWcwsQ7-7IvX_Vp3cbQJm-IijXayfXbvwcuvucS__Ly7YH8CurIzp8lXuD2LwZph_FKcoBIreLZAFjbg/s2048/Poster.JPG" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqbCJ74RPXmqJG6ctkU0PAE8MMFgpzLnKSIyImQKSwwUrSztksJH4AGm00EQIWcwsQ7-7IvX_Vp3cbQJm-IijXayfXbvwcuvucS__Ly7YH8CurIzp8lXuD2LwZph_FKcoBIreLZAFjbg/s600/Poster.JPG" width="600" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(29, 34, 40); background-color: none; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Poster celebrating independence outside the central post office </span><span style="text-align: start;">in Hồ Chí Minh city, 2019</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Today Việt Nam is a prosperous nation with a continuously growing economy that enjoys friendly relationships with countries around the globe. It is peaceful and focused on the construction of socialism. This construction is evident through its strong party adjacent women's union, making its workplace rights for women some of the most admirable in the world. It is shown through its adherence to Marxism-Leninism and Hồ Chí Minh thought, providing a solid ground of self-criticism in party proceedings and ensuring that all state apparatus works to the benefit of the people. As of late, recent examples of this include the army and police harvesting crops, buying and delivering food to those who need it, buying and delivering medical supplies and women's toiletries. Socialism is truly flourishing in Việt Nam, may it forever be a free, independent country.</p>
<p>To all my Vietnamese friends and family, happy Independence Day! <span class="s2" style="font-family: "Apple Color Emoji"; font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">🇻🇳</span></p>
<p>Rest in peace Hồ Chí Minh and all revolutionary martyrs, who helped to make Việt Nam the free, independent, socialist nation it is today.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>"Vietnam has the right to enjoy freedom and independence and in fact has become a free and independent country. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their freedom and independence."</blockquote><p></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Quote taken from: Hồ Chí Minh, Selected Writings 1920-1969, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Hà Nội, 1973, p.56</span></p>
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<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-3090271063895925522021-07-17T12:24:00.001+01:002021-07-17T16:19:56.120+01:00Path Wars!<span style="font-family: inherit;"><img align="center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEyWP2fdiot0h-KxsN7FqN2GahrwSr1GRRvaLu_eDpV-yjd2xXy7DiqXDGmQmRlYIenmSxkEni6Y2I6GRm9HyBARLmENKYQcss_FWKbGF8HtCgokGujaOIJJlogTMNEcIS3jK2RtuIZo/s600/Pennine_Way%252C_Edale_from_Kinder_Scout%252C_Peak_District%252C_Derbyshire_%25288120126842%2529.jpg" width="100%" />
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</span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beware Path Thieves! The battle for access rages on...</span></i></h3>
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Veteran rambling activist, and CP member Rob Hargreaves explains that the battle to defend access rights in the countryside and open areas around our towns has never been more pressing.</i></span></h4>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a common misapprehension that the battle to win public access to open spaces in Britain was won, and settled for all time, by the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout. If only that were true. For although events on Kinder Scout in April 1932 amount to what is arguably the most successful example of direct action ever seen in the United Kingdom, the fight against the enemies of public access is never-ending.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those who also naively believe that access issues were resolved by the creation of National Parks, and latterly by Tony Blair’s Countryside and Rights of Way Act also need to think again. Although the Ramblers Association signed up to the Act, claiming that they had won ‘the right to roam’, footpaths and rights of way - especially those off the beaten tourist track - are still being subjected to relentless attack. It is also worth noting that in 1932 official rambling organisations, wishing to distance themselves from working-class discontent, disassociated themselves with the Kinder protest. It was left to members of the British Workers Sports Federation, set up by the Communist Party of Great Britain, to take the initiative.</span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTggd2oIxVqByJpSFfk8dqcTWsIV6-dkNvgP0aHvrMxqgtcleiuqbYl8WgvL-zhMhiFcfuoPj7wpkZn9J4NBBD2kbDcNVI-LfhUlux2-3CXyoSnXR99wzDNlWb8Mjpo2J1dlTI76tFelc/s1200/KinderMass+Trespass+1932.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTggd2oIxVqByJpSFfk8dqcTWsIV6-dkNvgP0aHvrMxqgtcleiuqbYl8WgvL-zhMhiFcfuoPj7wpkZn9J4NBBD2kbDcNVI-LfhUlux2-3CXyoSnXR99wzDNlWb8Mjpo2J1dlTI76tFelc/w640-h336/KinderMass+Trespass+1932.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kinder Mass Trespass, 24 April, 1932: YCL member Benny Rothman, 5th from left. He and five others were arrested and gaoled.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">For all the razzmataz, the CRoWA of 2000, created new problems for walkers in access areas, even though they are no longer required to stick to a path. In point of fact, the vast majority of walkers really want to be on a path anyway, where the trod is clear and free of peat hags and ankle-turning tussocks. In addition, since CRoWA, landowners have sought to define their ownership more restrictively, resulting in hundreds of miles of new, unsightly barbed-wire fences rolling across moorland landscape at the perimeters of access land. Far more important in opening up the countryside, at least in England and Wales, was the decision by the Ordinance Survey in the late 1940’s to show established rights of way - footpaths, bridleways - with distinctive marking; the by-now familiar broken red dots and dashes on a 1:50,000 map.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But in spite of this, today, a real battle - a sort of guerrilla warfare - is being conducted, not in the rolling acres of access areas, or our mountainous national parks, but close to towns and cities where centuries-old paths are being blocked by landowners who think they can get away with it. Their methods range from crudely fixing strands of barbed wire across a stile, through to taking a sledgehammer to destroy steps set in a stone wall; they think nothing of removing waymarks, and if challenged are likely to tell you: ‘There is no footpath here anymore’. They themselves, of course, have made sure of that. More subtle tactics involve ploughing up paths across fields, growing nettle beds around stiles, driving cattle into the corners of fields where stiles are located, and leaving menacing dogs on the loose. It is true that paths can be legally diverted and shut, or simply neglected, but in my experience the great majority of cases involve wilful and unlawful acts.</span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChyRwGERQdOqX96XXRUeMwDM65HFdhYZtlhBdu4WUA47KKWdThDHc7uH070dUbZANURVQoxwaq2eOSbtC3LZmcHuRBSQIlpQ2c-5f_VX7OIwrhCQ-gE2_TsdAFj90H9G9YzC8t7sd-Qg/s743/blocked+path.jpeg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="743" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChyRwGERQdOqX96XXRUeMwDM65HFdhYZtlhBdu4WUA47KKWdThDHc7uH070dUbZANURVQoxwaq2eOSbtC3LZmcHuRBSQIlpQ2c-5f_VX7OIwrhCQ-gE2_TsdAFj90H9G9YzC8t7sd-Qg/s600/blocked+path.jpeg" width="600" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Blocked path near Bolton, June 22, 2021, not far from Winter Hill, scene of mass trespass in 1896.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some local authorities are pretty hot on enforcement; others, because of austerity cuts in staff, are simply overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. Lancashire County Council has a ‘waiting
list’ of more than 350 complaints to investigate. The Ramblers Association recently reported a torrent of complaints from walkers coming upon paths blocked on spurious grounds of ‘covid shielding’. No wonder, landowners think it’s worth taking a chance.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But why do they do it? Simples. A successful theft from the public domain can make them thousands of pounds in enhanced property values. On top of that they don’t like sharing the view or the fresh air around their properties with itinerant ‘townies’. And now they are organising. A newly formed pressure group called ‘Intrusive Footpaths’ recently met with a government minister to discuss new laws which would re-define rights of way, limiting public footpaths to selected areas - ‘ walkers’ reservations’ in other words. Needless to say, ‘BigLaw’ is often involved in applications to have footpaths diverted away from their properties.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s all right talking about the achievements of national parks, and the special provisions which protect their beauty and public access. The majority of people do not live in national parks and it is wrong that their rights are being trampled because they are not seen as ‘special’. </span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDWOIpMd-1EYbmYGecbl5hHb58tt1NIYr4ipFzzhu87RWGNui7PqTWFt8NY4PKF4RfCYXn-xBkIPuZ6ErG5XBrFey3UbiN0Yl14-kwzL633GoLCjoZ5zHltXPyBRQUg4aUiWVfF6fhmo/s503/A+%2527Covid+Closure%2527+near+Bury%252C+May+2020.jpeg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="503" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDWOIpMd-1EYbmYGecbl5hHb58tt1NIYr4ipFzzhu87RWGNui7PqTWFt8NY4PKF4RfCYXn-xBkIPuZ6ErG5XBrFey3UbiN0Yl14-kwzL633GoLCjoZ5zHltXPyBRQUg4aUiWVfF6fhmo/s600/A+%2527Covid+Closure%2527+near+Bury%252C+May+2020.jpeg" width="600" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Blocked path, renovated farmhouse near Bury, May 2020.<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">When, on 5 September there is (covid-permitting) a great gathering near Bolton to commemorate the Winter Hill Mass Trespassers in 1896, we should remember that it was many years later that their objectives were achieved. Unfortunately, public rights of way are under attack as never before, and we are in for a long drawn-out battle to preserve them.</span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-36518177699460231552021-06-21T14:30:00.002+01:002021-06-21T14:31:14.975+01:00Kinder Scout Mass Trespass Commemoration<img align="center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQ9U4KEsJeeSh6nj1C18CYIzPb0o5vBjDgWfsrdqOwlhZu1inSNYM3znoC0oUWC2FbqhKuWv1vfiO7omqiJqTqUcb3-oK7f7Y4lEznIBUzgwnA4wLZTNJjRF51z2ZkDLGPLkiZYtOhsU/s600/WhatsApp+Image+2021-05-25+at+18.48.31+%25284%2529.jpeg" width="610" />
<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>
Manchester communist, Jude, reports back from last month's Kinder Scout commemoration.</i></h4>
<p>On the 22nd May a group of around twenty Young Communist League members, Communist Party members and Morning Star supporters from around the North gathered at a bus stop in the small Pennine town of Hayfield to commemorate the Kinder Scout trespass.
</p><p>Alongside local Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion branches the YCL and party members paused at the foot of the memorial for an inspiring speech by Dave Toft from the Hayfield Kinder Trespass Group, where Benny Rothman and the trespassers had gathered some eighty-nine years prior. Unlike the 1932 trespassers, we set off onto the moorland with the right to do so.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYuI6Mi3vV-aKrW6tJ4s3h4iikOfLMiZH7I5Qv378loTnMolEyJv4ziJI1CtefQa-Dl6_9qtSiNN8TOqETIViNVmBiUlvWR6FyBgEqH1PgunKZnZBHxrzxHnJUgTjOCSStyuc2FbVBGw/s1134/ks-image-1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYuI6Mi3vV-aKrW6tJ4s3h4iikOfLMiZH7I5Qv378loTnMolEyJv4ziJI1CtefQa-Dl6_9qtSiNN8TOqETIViNVmBiUlvWR6FyBgEqH1PgunKZnZBHxrzxHnJUgTjOCSStyuc2FbVBGw/s400/ks-image-1.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Thanks to the contributions to the sponsorship fund over £750 has been raised in support of the Morning Star and YCL. With particular thanks to the attendance and support of the High Peak Unite Community, High Peak Welcomes Diversity, the local Extinction Rebellion branch/High Peaks Green New Deal, Glossop Labour Club and Labour Party members from the Hayfield Parish Council.</p>
<p>To understand the significance of the 1932 mass trespass it is necessary to understand the background. On the 24 April 1932 a crowd of around several hundred marched up Kinder Scout with a single purpose: the right to roam our countryside. At the time when Rothman led the march, access to the moorland was overwhelmingly reserved for the pleasures of a small number of landowners.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the events that day saw six of the trespassers arrested on charges such as riotous assembly; the act of protest made national papers, bringing with it greater attention and support for the right to roam movement. However, it was not until seventeen years later the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949) that public right of way and access to open land was granted and only recently the right to roam was implemented through the Countryside and Right of Way Act (2000), even then it only provided the right to roam on certain parts of uncultivated land.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3u7E52_58nCUVsVx1HP_1sNjaKoGGFNfA7sEQV4SmZ4SQTXt9GfsgM6JZdaSSD3oE8JuJQAEgwVUHLhvjqINenE6FJGS0XUUPswduyRcppeC4iYHmgxKwDw7qVMKm2XD4llqfH9gqf2A/s1134/ks-image-2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3u7E52_58nCUVsVx1HP_1sNjaKoGGFNfA7sEQV4SmZ4SQTXt9GfsgM6JZdaSSD3oE8JuJQAEgwVUHLhvjqINenE6FJGS0XUUPswduyRcppeC4iYHmgxKwDw7qVMKm2XD4llqfH9gqf2A/s400/ks-image-2.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>The mass trespass of Kinder Scout and the right to roam is perhaps even more relevant today particularly with regard to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently being pushed by Boris Johnson’s cabinet in which it aims to criminalise trespass. The Bill would have drastic consequences not just on ramblers and campers but it would also endanger the act of protest and the rights of Travellers and Roma.</p>
<p>Land distribution in England is founded upon an irrational archaic and irrational system. Around 92% of England’s land is privately owned and inaccessible to the public and it is massed in the hands of less than 1% of the population, with a third of the land still owned by the landed aristocracy. The vast majority of these estates are the result of the enclosure of land that was previously held in common. This theft of land saw entire communities forcibly evicted so land would be adapted for private profit for no reason except they had the power to do so.</p>
<p>During the lockdown many turned to nature to find some respite from the Coronavirus restrictions and as such the value of the right to roam is more paramount than ever. The significance of commemorating the Kinder Scout mass trespass has never been more apparent, where the value of open spaces and access to land has been a necessity for a population who have been confined to their homes.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bt8n4uKZWXaTstUGFEzkmlNSaTJ34eSBqqbyC2E3o3ZymfFH4rHoDdteXfSAJbx3GT8ywRPTedc1XWFcGvO2WdPB3VVjHONsk7hUed3_rGAjoLx2y-WWxunSBvnQ1ZdbPT18mIBbOWg/s1134/ks-image-3.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bt8n4uKZWXaTstUGFEzkmlNSaTJ34eSBqqbyC2E3o3ZymfFH4rHoDdteXfSAJbx3GT8ywRPTedc1XWFcGvO2WdPB3VVjHONsk7hUed3_rGAjoLx2y-WWxunSBvnQ1ZdbPT18mIBbOWg/s400/ks-image-3.jpg"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-72902566719495093482021-04-28T21:00:00.000+01:002021-04-28T21:00:08.585+01:00Red Report: Our take on the ESL<img align="center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAxtaVzBym5BkDPycjjwQQ8NPFM2hB6ZWmxTmyRoPFyE0aMSRb1pFMwqW5Qoib7xn9_nX9e6ZcGM9oiWe15Rej7PqVrnAe3kjZS80Hl0RvAoeII0k5A8XSBnT4BxMEL5hYHtGza00Qfss/s400/superleague-pic.jpeg" width="610" />
<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>
Our branch WhatsApp blew up last week over the proposed European Super League. We invited a couple of comrades to put their thoughts down for the blog, and they did not disappoint. First up, Dom gives us his wry take on the whole sorry tale...</i></h4><br />
In a way, it was quite beautiful while it lasted: after the announcement late on Sunday 18th of April, up ‘til Tuesday, the owners of 12 of the biggest clubs in Europe achieved the impossible and united football supporters of all teams, politicians of all persuasions, all national newspapers and rival owners in condemning their plans for a European Super League (ESL) which had reportedly been three years in the making (in its present form) and cost £8,000,000 to reach its current level of chaos.<br /><br />
The plans were for a midweek competition featuring twelve of the biggest clubs in the game. From England: Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea, and from the continent: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan. These would be joined by eight invited clubs to play in two leagues of ten, culminating in an eight-team knock out to decide who would achieve the prestigious title of ‘unofficial team of the year’. Or something like that.<br /><br />
The plans made perfect sense from a business viewpoint, eliminating all those annoying elements of competition that threaten the investment of the owners, such as ‘competition’ itself and - while many supporters complain of teams like Man City ‘buying success’- this meant that they would never fail to be given a pass to the richest league in the world, even if the poorer teams were to do something really unsporting, like beat them at football. The stockholders naturally loved it, with Man U’s shares increasing by 9%, and Juve’s by 19%, but they were the only ones who did.<br /><br />
To many, this is where it crossed a line. Fans held protests outside the grounds, UEFA President Aleksander Čefarin called the owners “snakes” and threatened the clubs and their players with expulsion from all UEFA competitions, Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool team put on a united front against the new league and, closer to home, fan-owned FC United of Manchester received a glut of new members. Even the government - who have been understandably skittish about weighing into football since David Cameron forgot which football team he supports - pulled no punches, stating they were “exploring every possibility, including legislative options, to ensure these proposals are stopped”. <br /><br />
A subsequent Sunday Times report suggesting that (now former) Man United Executive Vice-Chairmen Ed Woodward understood that Boris Johnson supported the ESL from their meeting several days before it was announced must, of course, be dismissed if we are to believe in the integrity and honesty of our PM.<br /><br />
On Tuesday 20th April, Chelsea were the first team to withdraw, rapidly toppling the rest of the English dominoes, and soon the European Super League had collapsed entirely. <br /><br />
So what happens now? The half-hearted apologies issued by the clubs’ owners are hardly-encouraging, and the Champion’s League revamp which has understandably passed under the radar shows that UEFA continue their decades long policy of appeasement towards the football giants. A promised “fan led” government review has led supporters to hope for a German-style 50% plus one system of fan ownership (Borussia Dortmund and European champions Bayern Munich both rejected the ESL) but, once the dust settles, don’t count on this. <br /><br />
If the government admit that their own brand of crony capitalism is entirely disastrous for football, then people might also question its suitability for energy companies, banks, transport, healthcare, general industry etc. and we wouldn’t want that. Would we?<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>
Anthony also had a few points to make about the debacle in the context of the current events:</i></h4><br />
My thoughts on the furore surrounding the “new super league”... <br /><br />
I only wish the public would show the same outrage to a corrupt elitist government handing contracts out to family and friends.<br /><br />
The game has lost touch with the working class who now cannot afford to watch it on television yet alone pay the extortionate ticket prices. <br /><br />
We are encouraged to clap for our brave NHS workers while Boris offers them a derisory 1% raise for their efforts. Meanwhile young footballers some straight out of school are earning £30/40/50k a week. <br /><br />
Foreign owners using clubs as a means of shifting their “dirty cash”. The same theory that applies to life is being played out in football “the rich clubs are getting richer and the poor clubs are going bust”. Most clubs are sponsored by betting companies and pander to their markets. In summary <b>the future looks bleak for the game in sporting terms but prosperous for their owners.
</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-65499618115568424262021-03-16T19:40:00.009+00:002021-04-28T21:19:44.188+01:00The Limerick Soviet<img align="center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-YXmlZ0nG8bR0ufRx8SGyXbXf89dsA6cBrx5tq2hb7PfBP3d_oeGdO7EHfPl3FnuN1mDAvt6zz8cWdEPj7KF09oSvTwChnXBlQbDhrQ0v3dKUnxm34Lihn7oJWktCdBq0J9GhnmpUEM/s1063/Bruree_Workers_Soviet_Mills.jpg" width="610" />
<br /><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><i>
Manchester communist Richard Mackey tells us about an almost forgotten slice of history: the Limerick Soviet;
the two weeks in April 1919 when 15,000 workers seized control of the city, drawing inspiration from the recent
events in the Soviet Union, and the formation of Soviets with Germany following the Great War.</i></span></div></span></h4><br />
Early in April 2019, the IRA had made an attempt to free a hunger striker Robert Byrne, who had lost
his job as a telegraph operator because of his trade union activities. Byrne was being held by the
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). During the liberation attempt, an RIC Constable was wounded and
later died, as did Byrne himself.<br /><br />
Protests about the treatment of Byrne happened around the city on 9th April, and as a result,
the British Army announced that the city would undergo a lock down, imposing martial law, and
requiring permits for anyone wanting to enter or leave. In response to this, on 11th April, several
workers unions met and proposed to take control of the Town Hall, to have meetings there. On 12th
April, a strike was called in a factory in Lansdowne, a district in Limerick. Following this, on Sunday
13th April, a general strike was called by the United Trades and Labour Council. The strikers declared
themselves a Soviet on the 14th April.<br /><br />
Committees were set up to organise food and other supplies, and they even created their own
banknotes, containing the words ‘General Strike against British Militarism 1919’. In justifying the
strike, one of the leaders, John Cronin, said that as workers, they refused to consent to the need for
‘permits to earn our daily bread’.<br /><br />
Press coverage of the Soviet was helped by an early Transatlantic Flight being attempted from the
city, with the striking workers agreeing to allow the passage fuel for the attempt.<br /><br />
The workers continued to their jobs in factories processing meat and to bakeries, with permits being
issued to buy other essential supplies such as coal and butter. Food prices were strictly controlled,
and severe measures were put in place to prevent profiteering.<br /><br />
After two weeks, the committee passed a resolution that called for a return to work. Early in May,
the proclamation of the special military area was withdrawn by the British Army, which resulted in
their withdrawal of permits for travel into and out of the city.<br /><br />
Join the Manchester Communists on Sunday 28th March at 4.30 for a talk by Donal Fallon, a Radical
Dublin Historian, which promises to be a fascinating insight into this revolutionary part of Irish
history.<br /><br />
Keep an eye on our social media pages for details of how to sign up.<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-71212588893440411392021-01-30T20:36:00.001+00:002021-01-30T22:32:34.990+00:00GameStop stunt is no working class triumph<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiIXRbPkAFd-CaY7aLcKjV0YaGQNSqMO90Q9ktRWxpWTVhxafs-p1C4xQu8J2YfuAbVaLSfaZbZzO3C-5pnfwXm933SBG2ZCbvVfApDn5jwMekW7Z4jxBJP3OwTitECXYCfjcR3q7hK8/s1920/adam-nowakowski-MFms-wkv3Ow-unsplash.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1479" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiIXRbPkAFd-CaY7aLcKjV0YaGQNSqMO90Q9ktRWxpWTVhxafs-p1C4xQu8J2YfuAbVaLSfaZbZzO3C-5pnfwXm933SBG2ZCbvVfApDn5jwMekW7Z4jxBJP3OwTitECXYCfjcR3q7hK8/s600/adam-nowakowski-MFms-wkv3Ow-unsplash.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><i>
The Twittersphere has been blowing up over the story of amateur traders upsetting Wall Street, seeing it as a severe blow to the elite. Manchester communist Allison Fewtrell says, “Cool your jets…”</i></h3><br />
I can’t help feeling bemused by much of the commentary on social media about #GameStop.<br /><br />
While I confess to being briefly entertained by ruffled feathers on Wall Street, I see many hailing it as a victory for the working class. Sorry to rain on the parade but this is not the case.<br /><br />
In a nutshell, a large group of ‘ordinary people’ from online community Reddit decided to use a fee free trading platform, Robinhood, to buy shares in a company called GameStop. GameStop isn’t doing very well and it’s share price was low at the time, so the sudden influx of buyers artificially inflated the share price which meant some of the “redditors” made money by selling the stock on at the higher price.<br /><br />
First of all, this was not an organised group of working class people. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/28/anarchy-in-jokes-and-trolling-the-gamestop-fiasco-is-4chan-think-in-action" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">One of them</a> reportedly invested over $50K - does that sound working class to you? There was no plan to ‘bring down the system’ - just a bunch of amateur investors wanting to make a fast buck and irritate Wall Street.<br /><br />
There’s another chapter to this story. I’m not going to get into all the ins and outs of share trading, short selling and buybacks, there are some links at the end of this article if you want to learn more, but in a nutshell, a hedge fund or two lost some money because GameStop’s share price rose, and as the redditors were not part of the big boys club, Wall Street closed ranks and stopped further trading on the shares in question.<br /><br />
People seem shocked by this with cries of “not fair!”<br /><br />
It’s no surprise to me, however. <b>Of course</b> they are going to protect their interests! The capitalist class always does. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if today’s working class collectivised and showed the same solidarity to protect their own (and each others') interests?<br /><br />
Playing the stock market is nothing more than betting. You win some, you lose some. Hedge funds have deeper pockets than we imagine - literally billions at their disposal. They often lose money - they can afford to do so, but they will make more in other trades to cover their losses. Why do you think they are called ‘hedge’ funds?<br /><br />
There’s another consideration, which nobody seems to be addressing. Artificial inflation of stock values like this happen all the time, and it ultimately leads to <a href="https://monthlyreview.org/2021/01/01/the-contagion-of-capital/" target="_blank">deeper income inequality</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Apple alone has reached a stock market valuation of $2 trillion. All of this is feeding a massive increase in income and wealth inequality in the United States, as the gains from financial assets rise relative to income. Yet, like all previous bubbles, this one too will burst.</blockquote><br /><br />
Make no mistake, <b>another crash is coming</b>, with or without the intervention of a bunch of Redditors. However, we need to look at the bigger picture and analyse who really loses out when there’s a crash.<br /><br />
Not the banks, financial institutions or global corporations. The burden of cost, as we have seen since the crash of 2008 falls upon the working class - by way of austerity, unemployment and rising living costs.<br /><br />
So where does all this leave the working class? Precarious zero hour contracts, a decimated health service, insecure tenancies and inescapable debt mean that venturing into stock trading is never going to be an option for them. <br /><br />
Take the poorly paid employees of GameStop, for example. Did the inflated share price of the company result in more secure work, better conditions or a pay rise? Not on your nelly. Their situation is as precarious, if not more so, than before.<br /><br />
In the case of companies like GameStop, who are struggling already, any sustained over inflation of their share price could actually speed up their demise, with a high likelihood that the management and shareholders cash in, one way or another, on their stock.<br /><br />
Instead of getting over-exited at the unambitious idea of ‘working the system’ for a brief moment, we need to set our sights much higher and work towards building a different system which favours working class interests. <br /><br />
Investment in public services, health and transport, a genuine commitment to building safe, secure, good quality social housing, an end to precarious jobs, a bolstering of workers’ rights and an end to the financialisation of education are just some of the things we should be, and many are, fighting for right now.<br /><br />
Looking back over the last year, the government has been forced into numerous u-turns, all because people in trade unions, tenant unions, pressure groups and community organisations stood up and fought back. Yes, it’s exhausting, yes, it’s continuous, but as more and more voices join in, the burden is shared.<br /><br />
Collectivisation and true solidarity among ordinary working people, in a word - Socialism - <b>this is how we win</b>.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Further reading:</h3><br /><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://monthlyreview.org/2021/01/01/the-contagion-of-capital/" target="_blank">The Contagion of Capital</a> <br /><i>(a long read but well worth it it as covers a lot of ground)</i></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/nyus-dean-of-valuation-aswath-damodaran-on-gamestop-amc-business-problems.html?fbclid=IwAR0P2EVnP313vjmzjfPiZUuhar9m9YgxCqUZUlZpnYTWYpyDFh8m4T642Jc" target="_blank">NYU’s ‘Dean of Valuation’ says driving stock price up won’t make GameStop’s fundamental problems go away</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/28/gamestop-shares-robinhood-app-ban-blackberry-amc-nokia-reddit" target="_blank">GameStop shares plunge after ban by Robinhood app</a></li></ul>
<br /><br />
Photo credit:<a href="https://unsplash.com/@adamaszczos?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank"> Adam Nowakowski</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/stock-market?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank"> Unsplash</a><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-9786351315310159322021-01-29T18:52:00.002+00:002021-01-29T20:06:57.250+00:00No-one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYw3T-Juzb1o2Q45yqTOrtAFm_MvyhK-ftTQqJ3Mq_Bk6JXfikdJDOPg9BoLLX-jm-pKHfr2MvtcUyrhUJuctVN119CPOHvF2lDJA9wRuwIHZXsmZhZjcSKgABWE6PwESRxVrk69aTP6Y/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2021-01-27+at+19.41.30+%25282%2529.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYw3T-Juzb1o2Q45yqTOrtAFm_MvyhK-ftTQqJ3Mq_Bk6JXfikdJDOPg9BoLLX-jm-pKHfr2MvtcUyrhUJuctVN119CPOHvF2lDJA9wRuwIHZXsmZhZjcSKgABWE6PwESRxVrk69aTP6Y/s600/WhatsApp+Image+2021-01-27+at+19.41.30+%25282%2529.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><br />
27th January 1944 saw the end of the brutal 872 day Siege of Leningrad.<br /><br />
The city was one of the strategic targets of Nazi Germany, and it is one of the most harrowing and tragic chapters of WWII, in which an estimated 1.2 million Soviet citizens and soldiers died.<br /><br />
To mark this occasion Manchester Branch comrade, Barrie Eckford placed a poignant tribute at the plaque commemorating Red Army soldiers at St Peter’s Square Cenotaph.
Barrie says, “We need to ensure that this date is not forgotten, as this great victory over the Nazi's saved Europe and the world from subjugation.”<br /><br />
The Plaque, which was unveiled last September bears the words of Soviet poet, writer, playwright and journalist, Olga Berggolts: “No One Is Forgotten”.<br /><br />
Among the items placed at the plaque is a picture of Berggolts, bearing the colours of Leningrad and two silver swallows, evoking her famous 1945 poem “Siege Swallow” a translation of which is reproduced below.<br /><br />
Berggolts lived in Leningrad during the siege and during the first months of the blockade, more than 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the streets of the city. People in Leningrad were cut off from the country, and Radio Leningrad not only provided vital information to the people of the city, but broadcast Berggolts’ powerful poetry and flowing speeches as well.<br /><br />
The tribute at the cenotaph also featured a metronome, one of the symbols of the Leningrad blockade. During breaks in broadcasting, the radio was not silent – the sound of a working metronome was broadcast on the air. The metronome signal confirmed that the city hadn’t fallen, and also warned people about artillery attacks and air raids. The rapid pace of metronome meant an air alert or bombardment, a slow one meant a stand-off or no alarm. Residents of Leningrad who survived the siege said that they perceived the sound of the metronome as the heartbeat of the city.<br /><br /><br /><br />
<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; text-align: left;">
Siege Swallow</h3>
<h4 style="margin: 0px 0px 20px 10px; text-align: left;">Olga Berggolts</h4>
<i><blockquote>
In the spring of 1942, many Leningraders carried a badge on their chests - a swallow with a letter in its beak.<br /><br />
Through the years, both joy and adversity will forever shine for me alone - that spring of the forty-second year, spring in the besieged city.<br /><br />
I wore a small swallow made of tin on my chest myself. It was a sign of good news, it meant: "I am waiting for the letter."<br /><br />
This sign was invented by the blockade. We knew that only a plane, only a bird would come to us, to Leningrad, from our sweet, sweet homeland.<br /><br />
… How many letters have I had since then? Why does it seem to myself that until now I have not received the most desirable letter ?!<br /><br />
To the life that has risen behind the words, to the truth poured into every line, conscience would fall, like lips on a red-hot afternoon - to a spring.<br /><br />
Who didn't write it? Didn't send it? Is it happiness? Is it a victory? The trouble? Or a friend who has not been found and recognized by me forever?<br /><br />
Or is that letter still wandering somewhere, desired as light? He looks for my address and does not find it, and, languishing, yearns: where is the answer?<br /><br />
Or the day is near, and by all means, in the hour of great spiritual silence, I will accept the unheard-of, incorruptible news coming from the war ...<br /><br />
Oh, find me, burn with me, you, long promised to me by everything that happened - even by that ridiculous swallow, under siege, in war ...</blockquote><br /></i><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">
Further reading:</h4><a href="https://sputniknews.com/uk/202009031080358099-world-war-ii-plaque-to-red-army-soldiers-who-died-in-leningrad-siege-unveiled-in-manchester--/">Unveiling of the plaque at Manchester Cenotaph last year </a><br /><br /><a href="http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1943-2/900-days/900-days-texts/this-is-radio-leningrad/">Olga Bergholz - This is Radio Leningrad </a><br /><br /><a href="https://poemata.ru/poets/berggolts-olga/blokadnaya-lastochka/">Siege Swallow - Original Russian text</a><br /><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-31898382246796191172020-10-25T18:28:00.002+00:002020-10-25T18:33:09.565+00:00Volunteers for Liberty 2020
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRl2s011V9vvCL_0A3Z9S8SPwLCxGO3SUFZke0jGk4lOJ2XIPl3at2ZPtM_v1s22y2162BCykbSF9tva3eFlJpXb9cIb46-v3WZVznmN-iYXHeJIUuXulwf-llLhfO-XwlRe6piLs38fM/s1280/DSC_0197.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRl2s011V9vvCL_0A3Z9S8SPwLCxGO3SUFZke0jGk4lOJ2XIPl3at2ZPtM_v1s22y2162BCykbSF9tva3eFlJpXb9cIb46-v3WZVznmN-iYXHeJIUuXulwf-llLhfO-XwlRe6piLs38fM/s600/DSC_0197.jpeg"/></a></div>
VOLUNTEERS from the north-west who defended democracy and fought fascism during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 were honoured at a memorial event.
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Relatives, friends, political representatives and supporters of International Brigade volunteers paid tributes with speeches and wreath-laying ceremonies outside Manchester Central Library and then the nearby Peterloo memorial speakers' platform.
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The Manchester event was part of a number of commemorations held across the UK by the Communist Party and supported by the International Brigades Memorial Trust and friends on October 17 and 18 to mark the anniversary of the October 1938 passing-out parade of International Brigade volunteer soldiers, doctors and nurses in Barcelona. They were given a ticker-tape send-off by citizens and thanked by the Spanish MP Dolores Ibarruri, known as La Pasionaria.
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The International Brigade had military units of volunteers from various countries. It was set up to help the democratically elected Spanish Popular Front government during the Spanish Civil War. They existed for two years from 1936 until 1938. Over 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland volunteered as soldiers, nurses and in other roles, supported by others in the UK.
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North-west volunteers included Sam Wild, from Ardwick, Manchester, who became an International Brigade Battalion Commander. Others included Oldham's Clem Beckett, who was a popular speedway cyclist in the 1920s and '30s, and fellow Oldhamers Kenneth Bradbury, Clifford Wolstencroft, Joseph Maynard Lees, Harry Roland Heap, who also served in the First World War, and William Jackson.
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Sam Wild's daughter, Dolores Long, spoke at the Manchester commemoration on Saturday. She is a member of the International Brigade Greater Manchester Group and also the national executive of the International Brigade Memorial Trust. Other speakers included Paul Ward of the International Brigade Greater Manchester Group.
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Paula Barker, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, was due to speak but had to cancel because of covid lockdown restrictions on movement.
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The International Brigade was formed to intervene in the Spanish Civil War, to halt fascism and prevent further, widespread war. The conflict began after Spanish General Franco's military coup against the democratically elected government of Spain.
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Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy supported the coup and faced no military opposition from western European governments as they sent troops and weapons to help Franco. They also tested new warfare techniques, such as the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town of Guernica.
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The Spanish Civil War partly paved the way to the Second World War but International Brigade volunteers held the line for nearly three years and bought precious time for forces opposed to fascism and war to prepare.
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Many International Brigade volunteers gave their lives to the cause. Some luckily returned home while were others were captured. Some Spanish republican prisoners were later sent to the Nazi Mathausen concentration camp during the Second World War. Others were used as slave labourers in locations including the Channel Islands.
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Around 400,000 Spanish people lost their lives in the civil war and a similar number escaped into exile. One million Spaniards were imprisoned under the Franco regime. Despite supporting Hitler and Mussolini, including sending sending thousands of Spanish troops to fight alongside Hitler's forces, Spain claimed neutrality in the Second World War. Franco remained in power as a dictator until his death in 1975.
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The North West District of the Communist Party organised the Manchester commemoration. It was attended by people from Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cheshire and supported by the IBMT nationally and the local International Brigade Greater Manchester Group.
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Other groups present included the Young Communist League, Manchester Connolly Association, the 0161 Group, the Communist Party of Ireland, the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and Marea Granate, the international organisation of Spanish migrant workers which campaigns on the social and economic crisis that has forced young people to emigrate from Spain.
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Speeches took place outside Manchester Central Library followed by wreath laying and displays of banners and flags at the new Peterloo memorial near Manchester Central.
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Dolores Long gave the famous 'You Are Legend' farewell speech of gratitude by the Spanish Communist MP La Pasionaria to International Brigade volunteers as they left Barcelona.
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Other speakers included Evan Pritchard, Les Docherty and Paul Ward.
The International Brigade Greater Manchester Group supports the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT). The trust keeps alive the memory and spirit of the 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland who volunteered, along with those who supported the volunteers and the cause of the Spanish Republic at home.
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It brings together families, friends and admirers of the International Brigades, along with historians and others who share an interest. It also ensures that the more than 100 memorials in the British Isles to the volunteers – 526 of whom were killed in Spain – are maintained and, where appropriate, new ones are erected.
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Greater Manchester memorials to International Brigade volunteers and supporters can be found in locations including Ardwick, Ashton under Lyne, Bolton, Chorlton, Manchester, Moston, Oldham, Stalybridge and Wigan. Others are in Preston, St Helens and at various sites in Liverpool.
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Droylsden has a Tameside Borough Council plaque to local man Harry Pollitt, the former leader of the British Communist Party who visited British volunteers in Spain and played a key role supporting the International Brigade during the 1930s.
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Oldham Gallery and Library has Spanish Civil War exhibits included a 1938 memorial poster portraying Oldham volunteers who died in Spain.
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The Working Class Movement Library in Salford and the People's History Museum in Manchester also has artefacts and information about the International Brigade.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-17300561856817976492020-09-20T16:39:00.000+01:002020-09-20T16:39:17.021+01:00Wheel of Misfortune<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUcdsfP9uVsIRmXMX9stkRA9o4gyOE0OJc7rfXZ9NeQbflmPHEymlFvBZaePxszNkWksL1hPpsDukTB_Q-yNNvQIlFKmwPASZtXTPTAErEFJVyTLo10bAmNdCpPE5SU42BBWL0EbQLRA/s2048/jannes-van-den-wouwer-wod3IB2jkhA-unsplash.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUcdsfP9uVsIRmXMX9stkRA9o4gyOE0OJc7rfXZ9NeQbflmPHEymlFvBZaePxszNkWksL1hPpsDukTB_Q-yNNvQIlFKmwPASZtXTPTAErEFJVyTLo10bAmNdCpPE5SU42BBWL0EbQLRA/s600/jannes-van-den-wouwer-wod3IB2jkhA-unsplash.jpg" width="100%" /></a></div>
<i><b>Manchester communist Allison Fewtrell looks back on the last six months and reminds us of some of the u-turns forced on the government by unions, campaign groups and furious members of the public.</b></i>
<br /><br />
What an absolute mess this government has made since taking office. Quite apart from the Brexit fiasco which threatens to keep us locked in a transition period forever, their handling of the pandemic has been nothing short of criminal.
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The Tories like to give the paternalistic impression that they are a safe pair of hands, that they ‘get things done’, but they are nothing more than a bunch of butter-fingered buffoons.
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Millions fell through the sizeable cracks in the various government support schemes. People on minimum wage who were furloughed are now struggling on 80% of that.
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Mums working from home had to juggle their workload with homeschooling. Tenants are desperately worried about evictions after falling into rent arrears. Key workers are still battling on, with poor provision for PPE and putting themselves and their families at risk.
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Many large companies have been shedding staff at an alarming rate even after taking advantage of government grants, others are using the crisis as an excuse to fire and then re-hire staff on worse terms and lower pay.
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Both the Track & Trace and testing programs have proved to be unmitigated disasters, orchestrated through a system of nepotism and ‘jobs for the boys’, with private companies raking in huge amounts of cash for doing very little except making the situation worse.
<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Just a few of the u-turns from the topsy-turvy Tories since March...
</h3>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;"><br />
<b>Primary school children back to school in June</b> - head teachers consistently said getting all pupils back to school a month before the end of term was not a practical possibility. Some reception, year 1 and year 6 pupils went back on June 1st with classes split so that numbers were 15 or less per class, but other schools simply did not have enough space to open safely.
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<b>Migrant Health Surcharge</b> - after suggesting the financial contribution this surcharge raised for the NHS was too important to lose, the risk of a commons defeat with a Labour amendment to the immigration bill forced Boris to remove NHS and care workers from the controversial visa surcharge.
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<b>NHS porters, cleaners and social care staff</b> were excluded from the Home Office scheme, granting families of health workers indefinite leave to remain in the UK if they die of Covid-19. Again after much publicised criticism of the inhumanity and unfairness of this, they decided to extend the scheme to all NHS support staff.
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<b>School meal voucher scheme</b> was extended over the summer after a high profile campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford.
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<b>A-level results</b> were initially going to be weighted through an algorithm but huge inconsistencies caused a public outcry and they were forced to allow teachers’ predicted grades to be used instead.
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<b>Ban on evictions</b> for tenants was due to end on 23rd August, but after constant pressure and campaigning from tenants unions and tenants themselves, at the very last minute, the government extended the ban until 20th Sept.<br />
</blockquote>
<br />
The fact they’ve been forced to re-think is surely good news, but it’s terrifying that we have a government which simply reacts to situations on a day-to-day basis, while at the same time looking for somewhere else to lay the blame for their own incompetence.
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The latest bright idea is to restrict public gatherings to no more than six people, while insisting those of us who still have jobs should be back in our offices, saving the economy and buying posh sandwiches at lunchtime.
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What we needed was carefully considered long term planning combined with incisive immediate action formed in conjunction with advice from WHO and countries who had experience of managing these types of scenarios.
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The extractive nature of capitalism, the greed and callousness of companies and the inadequacies of the hollowed out welfare state are now laid bare for all to see. It's up to us to continue the fight and force yet more concessions from this privileged group of incompetents who are not fit to govern.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jannesvdw?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Jannes Van den wouwer</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/boris-johnson?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-58330782465098523442020-09-14T18:05:00.001+01:002020-09-14T18:05:43.466+01:00Summer of Discontent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRfdgesek3paDloZRcOO5uVt1OfQMQSodvwIXWDmY3iAX7ey97UyMrExygKzKbWWrCL_Hcmp4kWU3AtNdJWqQP65n_9JOtlreo1eMogqF1h6UgnXDoCze8Ky7xn5UBpQet3YaJaonB2nY/s720/main-img.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRfdgesek3paDloZRcOO5uVt1OfQMQSodvwIXWDmY3iAX7ey97UyMrExygKzKbWWrCL_Hcmp4kWU3AtNdJWqQP65n_9JOtlreo1eMogqF1h6UgnXDoCze8Ky7xn5UBpQet3YaJaonB2nY/s600/main-img.png"/></a></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">After 40 years of neoliberalism and 10 years of austerity, working class voices are getting louder - especially in Greater Manchester.</span><br /><br />
Public outcry, union demands and protests are almost a daily occurrence at the moment. International matters, health, housing, transport and the retail sector are all under the spotlight as the government squirms and financial institutions and private companies grasp feverishly for even more profit to ferret away in their tax havens.<br /><br />
As the furlough scheme is due to end in October, redundancies are rife. Large companies, many of whom continue to make fat profits for shareholders and pay their executives six figure salaries, flout the law and fire people with just a few days notice in some cases.<br /><br />
Shop stewards are being suspended and silenced when they speak out, NHS whistleblowers are being threatened. Teachers, concerned about schools opening before covid infection rates are under control are being smeared in the press.<br /><br />
Disproportionate numbers of police officers are being mobilised to intimidate protesters and protect the interests of greedy bosses.<br /><br />
Keeping your head down, looking after number one and crossing your fingers is what the system has tried to instil in all of us, and indeed what it relies on in order to continue, but is that really how a humane and civilised society should behave?<br /><br />
We are now in the grip of 3 crises - Covid, capitalism and climate change. It’s crunch time. We must keep the pressure on and show solidarity with one another to form a better society, secure homes, fairer workplaces and a safe world.<br /><br /><b>
Below are some of the campaigns we’ve supported throughout the summer...<br /></b><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
#BLM</h3>
Black Lives Matter protests sprang up across the UK after the death of George Floyd. People in many towns in the North came out to ‘take a knee’ to show their support for black victims of police brutality. <br /><br /><b><i>
We demand justice for all victims of racist police forces and an end to institutional racism.<br />
</i></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBBsWjzTHck8qTOwAC4A5-MqF-vqzrfLIY2CRoHHEbkWJyFDHcS05koDluGiqblCcTgrMEEtSneBIF5Msadj7uG5_ashKsTnLhKCSVY1az79e7clH88zFvTG1pVlHS1skJMRbZ1jpmbI/s1134/blm-protests.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBBsWjzTHck8qTOwAC4A5-MqF-vqzrfLIY2CRoHHEbkWJyFDHcS05koDluGiqblCcTgrMEEtSneBIF5Msadj7uG5_ashKsTnLhKCSVY1az79e7clH88zFvTG1pVlHS1skJMRbZ1jpmbI/s400/blm-protests.png" width="100%" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Tenants Union</h3>
With a severe lack of social housing in Greater Manchester, and few concessions to tenants during the crisis, Greater Manchester Tenants Union, along with GM Law Centre and GM Housing Action organised a protest outside the civil justice centre on Bridge Street West. Tenants live under the shadow of eviction every day, many of them key workers or unemployed because of the crisis and in rent arrears.<br /><br /><b><i>
We demand a permanent solution to the risk of losing our homes due to coronavirus.<br />
</i></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdBf0_Ao-ugjMCCZcH39cyfvQ7LRWw2g3chl6GZtK3bMURB1axkOLXwuSTwgPXXnIMDJi1Bbcm1h9p-9rCJcA_UDj6inHFplUw-arFYQTO5e2DDX3UPGxTD3JdVnUQ92qy0XDmgad7TY/s1134/gmtu-protests.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdBf0_Ao-ugjMCCZcH39cyfvQ7LRWw2g3chl6GZtK3bMURB1axkOLXwuSTwgPXXnIMDJi1Bbcm1h9p-9rCJcA_UDj6inHFplUw-arFYQTO5e2DDX3UPGxTD3JdVnUQ92qy0XDmgad7TY/s400/gmtu-protests.png" width="100%" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Go North West</h3>
Regular protests and direct action have been taking place since August at Queens Road Depot in Cheetham Hill. Go North West, which owns the franchise are adopting a ‘fire and rehire’ policy, where staff are fired and then re-employed on lower wages and worse conditions. To make matters worse, they have suspended Unite union rep, Colin Hayden on spurious claims. <br /><br /><b><i>
We demand the re-instatement of their rep and an end to the threat of fire and rehire.<br />
</i></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Qutb9lMth9eEzD1oF01GkClJMAr2bEiK2Nde6pObZkQyINuPR5CL8wqDXpjKoXTIwP0SM1nZbaZMtan1Rl3bGP1wUwfhYBlvfCzk8k0VKuEIH_FsAopt_pmMgtIwTLBp99-M7qDMLgU/s1134/gonw-protests.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Qutb9lMth9eEzD1oF01GkClJMAr2bEiK2Nde6pObZkQyINuPR5CL8wqDXpjKoXTIwP0SM1nZbaZMtan1Rl3bGP1wUwfhYBlvfCzk8k0VKuEIH_FsAopt_pmMgtIwTLBp99-M7qDMLgU/s400/gonw-protests.png" width="100%" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Palestine</h3>
Regular protests are taking place against the bombing of Gaza and Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems in Oldham. <br /><br /><b><i>
The supply of arms to Israel, the theft of Palestinian land and the relentless persecution of the Palestinian people must stop.</i></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJ3nSY3ZtA1c7vQeDC8yxqp12eDyU2AiCc01w-XAs1y-M0Hh6BZzUJqY2UIBD-VVce1XYK32U65iXuvzwzyowSL23YGXUQ8lK3GFDbzbu9WCbmIjDJHE25xyqzMvaIPS72G-_VACbdKo/s1134/psc-protests.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJ3nSY3ZtA1c7vQeDC8yxqp12eDyU2AiCc01w-XAs1y-M0Hh6BZzUJqY2UIBD-VVce1XYK32U65iXuvzwzyowSL23YGXUQ8lK3GFDbzbu9WCbmIjDJHE25xyqzMvaIPS72G-_VACbdKo/s400/psc-protests.png" width="100%" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Debenhams</h3>
Every Saturday for the last month there has been a protest outside Debenhams, where workers, many of whom had worked at the store for decades, were made redundant with just 3 days notice.<br /><br /><b><i>
We demand redundancy pay or reinstatement for workers in the face of Debenhams profits.<br />
</i></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKvTSCJ662W40WsTrNCRwogHvNXixUxrzBSARkM7w5lNX4p0ywCC3TGrxMLpb-Z9GsoCOhtb5kOW_ct1vjvXDJKoubTNP2jN0tdWQCPmrJRfLQx8f4B-rxWFX4rwsiYxveqPcaP1HPb4/s1134/deb-protests.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKvTSCJ662W40WsTrNCRwogHvNXixUxrzBSARkM7w5lNX4p0ywCC3TGrxMLpb-Z9GsoCOhtb5kOW_ct1vjvXDJKoubTNP2jN0tdWQCPmrJRfLQx8f4B-rxWFX4rwsiYxveqPcaP1HPb4/s400/deb-protests.png" width="100%" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">
NHS</h3>
The NHS is on the frontline of this crisis. Doctors, nurses, porters, cleaners and other support staff have endured long hours with limited PPE and low wages. Respect for the NHS is understandably huge and these frequent protests have been well attended by unions, campaign groups, community groups and the public. <br /><br /><b><i>
We demand a pay rise for NHS and care workers, proper PPE to protect them and their families and all parts of the NHS to be brought back under public control.</i></b><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-6766673321348815462020-08-26T23:50:00.004+01:002020-09-16T15:26:11.297+01:00View from the saddle<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrv9A6rhR3YHSV3Cpt9IlomvcMlH8oPwNM28-Toezxw-t-0D5i7XVuToMh_oHbLrJhyhbKVwu0DLja0AdmGKFTK2-AV9HYOPZBzGK-kBF9Kh2byv7EtukfTmhrqbysyFbbsFxJqurlNg/s1134/main-pic.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrv9A6rhR3YHSV3Cpt9IlomvcMlH8oPwNM28-Toezxw-t-0D5i7XVuToMh_oHbLrJhyhbKVwu0DLja0AdmGKFTK2-AV9HYOPZBzGK-kBF9Kh2byv7EtukfTmhrqbysyFbbsFxJqurlNg/s600/main-pic.png" width="600" /></a></div><br />
In the days running up to the Communist Party's centenary on August 1st, the Pedal4Progress Harry Pollitt Brigade undertook an ambitious challenge. An arduous cycle ride - from Engels' Statue in central Manchester to the grave of Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery in just 3 days. Donations poured in to the Morning Star as a result of their efforts.<br /><br /><b>
One of the team even composed a song about it...</b><br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">
Mike McKnight - Stampede</h4><br />
<audio controls="controls" controlsList="nodownload" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HJze5LlI7l9DBodR-0I6n6tmf8io3xHX/view?usp=sharing" style="width: 100%;">
</audio><br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">
Read Pete Middleman's account of the journey...</h4>
TRAINING was just one aspect of preparations for this year’s ride to be interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.<br /><br />
Although cycling was identified as a suitable form of daily exercise, limitations of one-hour duration and other restrictions prevented me from getting meaningful miles in during the spring.<br /><br />
Later, with a deterioration in the weather and the distractions associated with a reintroduction of top-flight football (which led to at least a couple of celebration induced hangovers), I was left to rely on a series of 20-30-mile local sojourns that, owing to local topography, were not really filling me with confidence for the scale of physical effort that was to come.<br /><br />
Nevertheless, at 4.45am on Wednesday July 29 I set off for the drive to Droylsden, where the 2020 challenge would start.<br /><br />
With my luggage stowed in the support van and the front wheel reattached to the bike, I joined two other riders for the short hop into central Manchester and the ceremonial starting point at the Friedrich Engels statue.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqQPMmimq3z9BdQZ3ZYCufGzfXcFeLf__Ka98E1LbGViHp5FbiFwinTtrv_rqd6ioOsot2J-90-IhJa1F7BgT2ZhTgiicFL23PWdv6r5PIDYXf2fQt0FYJlhRntrQG-d-7-9D2PAaZG0/s0/day1.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqQPMmimq3z9BdQZ3ZYCufGzfXcFeLf__Ka98E1LbGViHp5FbiFwinTtrv_rqd6ioOsot2J-90-IhJa1F7BgT2ZhTgiicFL23PWdv6r5PIDYXf2fQt0FYJlhRntrQG-d-7-9D2PAaZG0/s0/day1.png" /></a></div><br />
There we were joined by the other half of the ride team and a group of Morning Star readers and supporters, including actor Maxine Peake who, having brought her bike, led us out at 7am for the first few miles back to Droylsden and a breakfast stop before the formal depart from the Town Hall plaque dedicated to Harry Pollitt in whose name the brigade would have the honour to ride.<br /><br />
That first day was expected to be the toughest, with 4,611 feet of climbing, including three significant hills through the Peak District, either side of a Bakewell lunch-stop, on the 66-mile route to our digs on the western fringe of Derby.<br /><br />
As it turns out, we did it in a shade under six hours’ moving time without any unforeseen drama.<br /><br />
Day 2 was the longest, at 96 miles, and although the hills were less steep overall, we still ascended 4,346ft in total.<br /><br />
By mid-morning the weather had “improved” in the East Midlands –but that’s a mixed blessing for fatigued cyclists who were enjoying the clear views and topping up tans while emptying bidons of fluids quicker than they could be refilled at few-and-far-between rendezvous with the support van.<br /><br />
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Lunch plans at North Kilworth had to be amended as, in what was to become a recurring feature, the pub we were intending to grab a bowl of soup from was corona-closed.<br /><br />
Instead, some shared bread and cheese from a nearby supermarket had to suffice for fuelling us through the remaining 49 miles through Northamptonshire and to just south of Bedford town centre.<br /><br />
By then, we had spent seven hours and 38 minutes in the saddle on the day but with the additional water breaks and the heat taking its toll on some members of the team, the entire journey was closer to 11 hours.<br /><br />
The final leg of the trip covered 58 miles and a relatively modest total elevation gain of 2,656 feet to north London via Golders Green cemetery and Pollitt’s final resting place.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eNaiHk4AgtZi4OE3eL-3_-2-I7WU0yKUNOa21aNMzWdSqPAzokNuvZwekax_yn9-7gWpdJFnwMdhPaFVK5dNDnau2qgs3QuE1p59C003-SocvEB-oPBzkEzX2fdn4_0UVZcUfUgDRaw/s0/counter-final.gif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eNaiHk4AgtZi4OE3eL-3_-2-I7WU0yKUNOa21aNMzWdSqPAzokNuvZwekax_yn9-7gWpdJFnwMdhPaFVK5dNDnau2qgs3QuE1p59C003-SocvEB-oPBzkEzX2fdn4_0UVZcUfUgDRaw/s0/counter-final.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
In theory, it should have been the easiest day but temperatures were already in the region of 25°C-plus by the time we set off, and four hours 49 minutes of riding later — much of it on fast, busy roads either side of the M25 — the mercury hit a high of 39°C.<br /><br />
Because of the route and a shortage of safe stopping places, we were self-sufficient as the support van was grappling with the London traffic.<br /><br />
Nevertheless, with the team sharing the burden of pushing the wind at the front and ensuring nobody fell off the back we got through in one piece without any support.<br /><br />
By mid-afternoon we had reached our final weekend resting place in Cricklewood, where the process of rehydration was approached with vigour — if not necessarily medical advice.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AdCDFHpm27KqubxoSW9JDRZ9Wya3GTljQQT6-rkRfbcSyRmybzJBLRuN6PlAlTvlYcxNIdYonu484OZY-UqWRf8Ddml9iiy2ozF-0FOq2Zyogi5qfOU7Gfa-p0xx9jOyhVK963RzDTw/s0/day3.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AdCDFHpm27KqubxoSW9JDRZ9Wya3GTljQQT6-rkRfbcSyRmybzJBLRuN6PlAlTvlYcxNIdYonu484OZY-UqWRf8Ddml9iiy2ozF-0FOq2Zyogi5qfOU7Gfa-p0xx9jOyhVK963RzDTw/s0/day3.png" /></a></div><br />
Saturday brought no respite though. Weary legs and tender posteriors were dragged back on to wounded velocipedes for a ceremonial 21-mile tour around progressive sites in central London, including the grave of Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery.<br /><br />
This wasn’t part of the formal 2020 challenge, but it did provide for a fitting bookend to the 8th edition and for discussions with a wider circle of supporters over a beer in Exmouth Market about plans for the 9th renewal: details to be announced in due course.<br /><br />
At the lunch stop on Day 2, we were greeted with the news that an individual donation of £10,000 had been made in recognition of our efforts.<br /><br />
While obviously welcome, more modest sums from a greater number of people are more important. More crucial still, is increasing the circulation of the paper daily.<br /><br />
Please pick up a copy when you see it or subscribe to the very accessible online edition for your daily dose of socialism in a field full of reaction and despair — “the paper is born and must never die”!<br /><br />
For those who have yet been unable to do so, please note the following accepted methods of payment:<br /><br />
Call: <b>(020) 8510-0815</b> to pay with a bank card.<br /><br />
Cheque: Payable to “People’s Press Printing Society” and sent to: Morning Star, 90 Years Appeal, William Rust House, 52 Beachy Road, London, E3 2NS.<br /><br />
Transfer: To People’s Press Printing Society – Co-operative Bank – Islington Branch<br />Sort Code: <b>089033</b><br />Account No: <b>50505115</b><br /><br />
Or visit <a href="http://morningstaronline.co.uk/page/your-paper-needs-you">morningstaronline.co.uk/page/your-paper-needs-you</a> to donate online.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;">
Please quote “p4p8” where possible.
</span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-55578716842140434562020-08-15T21:38:00.000+01:002020-08-15T21:38:43.958+01:00Hands Off China!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQQbO3NuYxS_hyphenhyphenuvNQoZihhlrTbscR1B4tJpR3etVkg1Q-cWR5M-zQ9fBGnAkyJzJIzmfcYIHn1ZKHBZN6nqXMyI370ZDBasYF5nHggRJEZrxvOQ_Vzmh-IGZ2lvzPqI0E56R0MaNj5a4/s1200/stw-china.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQQbO3NuYxS_hyphenhyphenuvNQoZihhlrTbscR1B4tJpR3etVkg1Q-cWR5M-zQ9fBGnAkyJzJIzmfcYIHn1ZKHBZN6nqXMyI370ZDBasYF5nHggRJEZrxvOQ_Vzmh-IGZ2lvzPqI0E56R0MaNj5a4/s640/stw-china.jpg" width="100%" /></a></div>
<br /><b><i>
We attended Stop the War Coalition’s online meeting on Saturday: “US, UK and China: Into a Dangerous New Cold War”, with speakers Jenny Clegg (CND), Stephen Bell (Stop the War) and veteran journalist and filmmaker John Pilger.</i></b><br /><br />
As US-China relations spiral downwards, the world faces the grave prospect of a war while still in the grip of a global pandemic. In fact Trump has used the pandemic, or ‘Wuhan Flu” as he inappropriately terms the COVID-19 virus, as an excuse to escalate hostilities that have been almost a decade in the making. Indeed, it was Obama who in 2011 announced the US’s ‘pivot to China’, in which Hilary Clinton played a leading role.<br /><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Poverty & Progress</h4>
China’s progress in attempting to alleviate poverty over the last 50 years or so is nothing short of remarkable. Nevertheless it is still a developing country, for example average income in China is $10,000 dollars compared with $65,000 in the US. <br /><br />
We have seen a wave of Western media reports on forced labour camps in China detaining millions of Uyghurs yet closer inspection of the sources of these stories reveals just two studies. One report comes from the US government-backed Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders who extrapolated their findings from interviews with just 8 people, and the other has been produced by Christian fundamentalist Adrian Zenz who has said he is “led by God” on a “mission” against China.<br /><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Trade & Technology</h4>
Jenny Clegg points out that trade and tech wars have now been elevated by the US into an ideological war with China cast as the new threat to global security and an existential threat to the West and its values.<br /><br />
When China joined the WTO in 2001, the West assumed the country would simply be absorbed into the capitalist system under the domination of Western corporations. Instead, China has cleverly found ways to move up the value chain and compete with those corporations, This is clearly not what America had in mind.<br /><br />
Indignant at this challenge to their imperial superiority - “How dare they?” - America has childishly and dangerously withdrawn from a number of treaties and organisations in order to impose sanctions on China, and as vassal states of the US, Britain and Australia are now threatening their own technological development in rejecting Huawei at the behest of Trump. John Pilger remarked that a third of UN member countries are now under some kind of US sanctions.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsqe4R4RCFt_ffryVG622N94_T5elvQMf9CBQKEuN7cIahku8Bq-oSwD2m4P_o_bqEAH09lj3ZP10MnXAhE1m19QML3c78kiXWMz4VabvcwvWp-jYJZKfWrREWKsYZJ_oerPwi1RdhUc/s1134/Stephen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsqe4R4RCFt_ffryVG622N94_T5elvQMf9CBQKEuN7cIahku8Bq-oSwD2m4P_o_bqEAH09lj3ZP10MnXAhE1m19QML3c78kiXWMz4VabvcwvWp-jYJZKfWrREWKsYZJ_oerPwi1RdhUc/s640/Stephen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;"> Diplomatic Relations</h4>
Many see China as expansionist because of its Belt and Road initiative - one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived. A vast network of railways, energy pipelines, highways and streamlined border crossings, it travels westward through former Soviet republics and southward, to Pakistan, India and the rest of Southeast Asia.<br /><br />
China has resolved many of its border disputes on favourable terms with other parties and seeks a “win-win” outcome. This is not expansionist behaviour. When Jenny was speaking to African representatives at a congress last year they told her “We can say ‘no’, to China and they simply come back with a better offer.”<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaV8h_VaVkOssAIONCZ7HuHVKiBeZEfPQH6EvXcPdZ1kmt-zQc8wRPpyfKfd6H6r-Lyr8tAurbC5-CbOYI31-A0SunmAizNhPh12WmL3qyAKbQ1AxZLtcSvFddxN1m3lR5NP2dxZpol8/s1134/Jenny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaV8h_VaVkOssAIONCZ7HuHVKiBeZEfPQH6EvXcPdZ1kmt-zQc8wRPpyfKfd6H6r-Lyr8tAurbC5-CbOYI31-A0SunmAizNhPh12WmL3qyAKbQ1AxZLtcSvFddxN1m3lR5NP2dxZpol8/s640/Jenny.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Military Activity</h4>
This year alone, the US has conducted 2000 military operations in China’s vicinity, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for diplomatic ties to be cut.<br /><br />
John talked about 21st century countries, those who had moved on from the use of war to resolve disputes. These are the countries who prefer negotiation to threats. <br /><br />
He goes on to describe the US as “the last of the 19th Century countries” and also criticised Australia, a landmass which, largely because of it’s geographical position, is secure and not under threat of invasion or aggression. Yet the Australian government has invested $270bn in a new arsenal which includes warheads that will be pointing at China, its primary trading partner.<br /><br />
Stephen Bell commented that however you understand China’s economic policy it is not engaged in a war drive against the United States or any other nation.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj738tbRmcGOGgOTQycGoYi4vUmhXfINTqUapYvJ1pxxY-LVZMIQmmoDmWJ_HgqegbNezWOpDrhYlaqKWpgwnWBgxrjAw6gb1CuUvRiVIq1gk7lEQEqV5328D3d2jj0E_PkJ0GaMZepgww/s1134/John.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj738tbRmcGOGgOTQycGoYi4vUmhXfINTqUapYvJ1pxxY-LVZMIQmmoDmWJ_HgqegbNezWOpDrhYlaqKWpgwnWBgxrjAw6gb1CuUvRiVIq1gk7lEQEqV5328D3d2jj0E_PkJ0GaMZepgww/s640/John.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h4>
It is apparent that the US is determined to whip up global anti-China sentiment in order to manufacture consent for its hostilities. China has an independent foreign policy making it harder for the US to bully other nations and, to rub salt into the wound, they are competing with western corporations.<br /><br />
John summed up perfectly: “Until we have political movements that identify who the bully is… speak its name and oppose these neanderthal policies that the Trump administration exemplifies… we’re just not going to move forward.”<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition/videos/2145840502228514" target="_blank">Watch the meeting on Facebook</a>.<br /><br />
Further study:<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/Zz_u-ejEcmQ" target="_blank">No to the Cold War</a> (Meeting 24th July) <br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/GDl9ecICIYg" target="_blank">The Coming War on China</a> (Full documentary - John Pilger) <br />
<a href="https://www.qiaocollective.com/en/articles/conversation-vijay-prashad" target="_blank">Qiao Collective interview with Vijay Prashad</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-29842747413557246722020-07-29T15:02:00.004+01:002020-07-29T20:51:36.846+01:00On yer bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizz8Wdf6MzUbEfJgMlogCmwm7X5rmr9YTQgoHGlQmi6T-8UUp6LSK8qgftllu-sAjwZWx1DNBAi1M3oeY9wUlk-lAAo7m3hHWqJQGBKvP-zadjWybMLLpp_ruLVZomLTAeS-HO1qmvkU8/s1134/p4p-image1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1134" height="100%" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizz8Wdf6MzUbEfJgMlogCmwm7X5rmr9YTQgoHGlQmi6T-8UUp6LSK8qgftllu-sAjwZWx1DNBAi1M3oeY9wUlk-lAAo7m3hHWqJQGBKvP-zadjWybMLLpp_ruLVZomLTAeS-HO1qmvkU8/w640-h320/p4p-image1.png" width="100%" /></a>
</div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<font face="inherit">Three days. 380 km. 3760m (or nearly twice up and down Ben Nevis) of
climbing.</font>
</h3>
<br />
<div>
<font face="inherit">In the name of socialism, our branch secretary Les Doherty, along with
eight other comrades are braving the elements by cycling from The Engels
statue in Manchester to the Karl Marx tomb in Highgate, London.</font>
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</div>
<div>
They met up early this morning at Droylsden, birthplace of former General
Secretary of the CPGB and gathered for a photo outside the library where
there is a blue plaque for Pollitt, then continued to Tony Wilson Place in
Manchester where the statue of Engels stands for the official start of the
ride. <br /><br />Speaking to fellow riders just before they set off, Les
said: <br /><br />
<div>
<i><blockquote>
Its clear that Manchester was absolutely vital in shaping Engels' Politics and in
the conception of Marxism. So it is only right that we start our 8th edition and fundraiser for The Morning Star here.
</blockquote></i>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXIl2FoNbBP6LNgYtGtrCSqOdMXfMkAkqn3yB2O9AxRYnqbzoFT7BP3ZF37Nu8vKjOLuvvUL0DKk4JaIsKWHcbe7DrbZRW4Wq8uLjPcS_UbAFklLOEqQyLI_JwCceRW1_tr6yhQ27XVs/s1134/p4p-montage1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1134" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXIl2FoNbBP6LNgYtGtrCSqOdMXfMkAkqn3yB2O9AxRYnqbzoFT7BP3ZF37Nu8vKjOLuvvUL0DKk4JaIsKWHcbe7DrbZRW4Wq8uLjPcS_UbAFklLOEqQyLI_JwCceRW1_tr6yhQ27XVs/w640-h320/p4p-montage1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div>
<font face="inherit">
At time of writing they were making excellent progress and had reached
Derbyshire by 10.30am. We will be reporting on their progress each day on
our social media channels. </font><br /><br />
</div>
<div>
<font face="inherit">Liz Payne, chair of the Communist Party of Britain wished them
revolutionary greetings, and they are being sent off by actress and Morning Star Ambassador
Maxine Peake.<br /><br />Message from Liz Payne: </font><br /><br />
<div>
<i><blockquote>
Dear comrades, on this centenary we send you revolutionary greetings and
wish you a safe and secure journey. Your effort Inspires us all and we
look forward to charting your pedal 4 progress pathway.
<br /><br />As you make your way, it’ll be a chance to observe the life
and geography of the wonderful working class of Britain. It’s a
chance too for you to enthuse, by example and through your tenacity and
exploits, those who follow you. <br /><br />380 kilometres, and
3,760 metres of climbing, is a tough challenge. But you are equal to it.
The inspiration of 100 years of Communist Party activists who so
selflessly gave of their time and effort to forge a path towards
socialism will see you through. In their tradition, the funds you
raise will help take the message of socialism out to ever greater
numbers of people. <br /><br />Ever onwards. Go well!
</blockquote></i>
</div>
<br /><br />
<div>
<font face="inherit">Wish Pedal4Progress luck on our
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/manchestercommunists" target="_blank">Facebook</a>
and
<a href="https://twitter.com/CpbManc" target="_blank">Twitter</a>
pages. </font>
</div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;"><font face="inherit">Get Involved</font></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To motivate the us further and donate to the appeal, please note the
following methods of payment:</span>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<br />
</div>
<div>
<font face="inherit">Call <b>0208 510 0815 </b>with bank card details to hand</font>
</div>
<div>
<br />
</div>
<div>
<font face="inherit">Make out a <b>cheque</b> to The People’s Press Printing Society and
send it to: The Morning Star, 90 years appeal, William Rust House, 52
Beachy Road, London, E3 2NS</font>
</div>
<div>
<br />
</div>
<div>
<font face="inherit">Make a <b>bank transfer</b> to Payee: The People’s Press Printing
Society Account, Bank: The Co-operative Bank PLC Bank Branch: Islington
<b>Sort Code: 089033 Account Number: 50505115</b></font>
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<div>
<font face="inherit"><b>PayPal</b> via this link:
<a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/page/support-us">https://morningstaronline.co.uk/page/support-us</a></font>
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<font face="inherit"><br /></font>
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<font face="inherit"><b>PLEASE INCLUDE THE REFERENCE “P4P8” WHEN DONATING (add a note to
reverse of cheques).</b></font>
</h3>
</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-65302727401873096102020-07-17T13:55:00.000+01:002020-07-17T13:55:14.985+01:00Register for change at Red Wedge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OM7Ja9JHvy9gqr2-bm-OIbLoe13RQ2e4ueZaD0iHtVTNNCSctsggszQAcSseWn2HUD5XBAt3jIvv4IS0MEDDJGXSi65WJwCr8qzxHHSXuqVVTmhQzhvqiqNcS3yIfbyBQOv7NHXk8AU/s1600/RedWedgeLogo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="100%" data-original-width="100%" height="100%" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OM7Ja9JHvy9gqr2-bm-OIbLoe13RQ2e4ueZaD0iHtVTNNCSctsggszQAcSseWn2HUD5XBAt3jIvv4IS0MEDDJGXSi65WJwCr8qzxHHSXuqVVTmhQzhvqiqNcS3yIfbyBQOv7NHXk8AU/s640/RedWedgeLogo.jpeg" width="100%" /></a></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Tories put profit before people. </span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They prioritise an economy that makes the rich richer. They run a country where a premier league footballer has to intervene to ensure children are not left to starve. They clap the NHS, but make the staff pay for parking at work. They talk of green jobs whilst bailing out oil companies to the tune of billions. They say Black Lives Matter whilst their leader describes black people as ‘picanninies with watermelon smiles’. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>It doesn’t have to be like this. </i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Do you sometimes feel there’s nothing you can do?</b> </span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Make a change – join our Red Wedge sessions online on Saturday 1st August. <br /><a href="https://www.communistparty.org.uk/centenary-red-wedge-events/?fbclid=IwAR3fiim96RgbFCxJb-R_n_eCNyy1bL-o2ZDkpYRby5sOg7YRNRtNEWOflr0" target="_blank">To register, click here</a>, input your name and email, choose the sessions that you would like to attend and you’re done. It really is that simple. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #bb0322; font-family: inherit;">Session 1 10:00-11:30 </span>Choose from:</h3>
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<span style="color: #bb0322; font-family: inherit;">Session 2 11:30-13:00 </span>Choose from:</h3>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #bb0322; font-family: inherit;">Session 3 13:30-15:00</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTv34XPCxswsZqNCOwhBWxtlqQrP1m32gCWTt1JrLPwW8GVATzA6PJLbZTNJqqJqbTSaB7fDlSFJ-nyY3h4mX4ykeOKA0x64_u67FgICvmlc5XD3DJM7EvcKl56EUn94I78h6SZiJES8/s1600/Trade+Union.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="100%" data-original-width="100%" height="100%" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTv34XPCxswsZqNCOwhBWxtlqQrP1m32gCWTt1JrLPwW8GVATzA6PJLbZTNJqqJqbTSaB7fDlSFJ-nyY3h4mX4ykeOKA0x64_u67FgICvmlc5XD3DJM7EvcKl56EUn94I78h6SZiJES8/s640/Trade+Union.jpg" width="100%" /></a></div>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #bb0322; font-family: inherit;">Session 4 15:00-16:30</span></h3>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't forget to say hello on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/manchestercommunists" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/CpbManc" target="_blank">Twitter</a> pages when you’ve registered for change.</span></h4>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-84944960077465856282020-06-29T19:56:00.000+01:002020-06-29T19:56:40.069+01:00A life of service to the people and the struggle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<i>Incase you missed it, here is Les Doherty's and Phil Katz's excellent tribute to Harry Pollitt which was published in the Morning Star on Saturday...</i><br />
<br />
Les Doherty secretary of the Manchester Communist Party and Phil Katz CP centenary project officer pay tribute to a much loved and respected leader of the Party, Harry Pollitt who died sixty years ago today.<br />
<br />
On 27th June the Greater Manchester CPB branch pays tribute to former CPGB chair and general secretary Harry Pollitt who died on this day 60 years ago, at the age of 69. Pollitt was born in Droylsden in conditions similar to those described by Friedrich Engels in an eyewitness account 46 years earlier, published as ’Conditions of the Working Class in England’. <br />
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A Blue Plaque (in red) was fixed to the local library in 1995 in recognition of Harry’s tireless work for the cause of workers everywhere by then Tameside Mayor Pat Haslam. It gives some clues to why this giant of the movement still holds a place in history and continues to be an inspiration to Communists everywhere.<br />
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The former Boilermaker learned the harsh realities of life on the streets of Droylsden, Openshaw and Gorton. By the age of 16 he was involved in the Openshaw Socialist Society. By 21 he had developed a clear understanding in the difference between socialism and social reform and his Marxist analysis never faltered. <b>On reading Das Kapital he, ‘felt I owned the world’</b>.<br />
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During the first world war Pollitt worked in the shipyards but refused to load munitions and his enthusiasm for the Bolshevik revolution took him to the head of the ‘Hands off Russia’ movement, then campaigning against British intervention and organising successful strikes at various Docks throughout Britain. <br />
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Inspired by the success of the revolution Harry became a founding member of the CPGB attending its first congress at the Cannon Street Hotel on 31 July and 1 August 1920. In 1924, he was in Moscow and called upon to take a shift watching over Lenin’s body as thousands of citizens braved biting temperatures to pay their respect to the fallen leader. To keep warm, Harry borrowed a coat from Georgi Dimitrov, as he did not then own one. It can now be viewed in Marx Library<br />
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Harry was a prolific organiser in the National Minority Movement, sharing an office in Holborn with the equally legendary Tom Mann, with whom he established a deep friendship. Pollitt was also a campaigner and a serious threat to the British establishment. In the year-long skirmishes leading up to the General Strike Pollitt along with 11 other leaders of the Communist Party, was prosecuted for sedition. Found guilty, he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. But the party had already taken precautionary measures and a new layer of leaders stepped in. It was one of a number of incarcerations and trials he endured as Party activist.<br />
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Harry became general secretary of the Party in 1929 and in many ways, represented a new generation of communist leader. He fitted the bill exactly, a metal worker and a seasoned activist known and trusted by many, at all levels of Britain’s labour movement. Pollitt was a spell-binding orator having learned his skills as a veteran of hundreds of dock gate meetings, <b>talking about Marxism to workers, in ways they could readily identify with</b>. He was known for his ability to forge unity inside the party and beyond, a skill that became increasingly important as the party sought to establish a peace front against Chamberlain and the threat of War. <br />
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Increasingly he made contacts abroad and was at ease working with his counterparts such as Thaelmann from Germany and Thorez from France. In the mid 1930s he worked again, with Georgi Dimitrov, hero of the Reichstag Trial as a member of the presidium of the Communist International. Harry was an outspoken anti fascist and sharp critic of the Labour Party and the ILP and was scathing of the role of Ramsey MacDonald and Snowden in the formation of a ‘National’ government. <br />
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Between 1929 and 1939 he oversaw <b>a rise in membership from 3,000 to 18,000</b> and was at the centre of the creation of a bewildering range of initiatives and events from the formation of the Left Book Club, the British Battalion in the International Brigades, the anti fascist battles such as Cable Street and Bermondsey and the Unity Campaign. His most crucial role was in anchoring the CP to the very foundations of working class life as, in the mid 30’s, the party supplied the ideas and organisers that built many of today’s great unions and the modern labour movement. <br />
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His daily life would have reduced most to shreds. In a forthcoming volume ‘Red Lives -100 years for socialism’ - a compendium of biographies of rank and file party members, one recalls receipt of a postcard to their home, “Meet uncle in Covent Garden”. At the end of a long day, with mist swirling round, the comrade would rendezvous with Harry and be given large wads of German Marks, for distribution to a network of seafaring party members, who would then smuggle the currency into Nazi Germany, for the resistance. They only got caught once! The next evening Harry would speak at a factory gate meeting to dozens or to thousands at one of his favourite venues. In 1940 his popular biography “Serving my time” was released and quickly went into a second and third pressing.<br />
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At the start of the war, Pollitt sought to continue a popular front and anti fascist policy of opposing Chamberlain and fascism. This brought him into conflict with party policy of opposition to the war in its early phases as one of rival imperialist camps. He was removed as general secretary. Ironically, opponents, especially in Labour jeered at the communists for removing their general secretary. But Harry saw things differently. Just days after his removal, Pollitt went to the Rhondda Valley, one of his favourite parts of Britain, to argue for the new party position, in front of 800 Trealaw coal miners. It was he said, "a splendid thing for working men to know that the Communist Party was strong enough to depose leaders who disagreed with its policy.”<br />
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Pollitt followed party discipline. During this period communists were being interned, arrested, their propaganda confiscated and offices raided. The Daily Worker was soon to face a ban. The CP took the decision to scale down its central leadership and administrative machinery, with leading comrades relocated to large workplaces where they could be protected by organised workers. Ironically the Admiralty had to intervene in Pollitt’s relocation, forcing employers to take him on in a shipyard in Poplar on the Thames, where once he had <b>led agitation against the loading of armaments due to be used in an attack on the young Soviet state</b>. He also turned down an offer to write for a Labour-owned newspaper at £20 per thousand words, to ‘dish the dirt’ on his party.<br />
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Hitler’s attack on the Soviet Union - on 22 June 1941 - brought Harry back to the post of general secretary and gave him in many ways, his hardest and best years. By now the Communist Party was growing rapidly and in some unions and localities it began to challenge support amongst workers for Labour. <br />
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Harry seized upon a campaign to open a Second Front in occupied Europe, opposed by Labour and Churchill, and could see the desperate need to take pressure off the USSR, by forcing the fascists to fight a war on two fronts. He spoke at meetings everywhere and on D Day wrote a letter to every party member in the armed forces <b>“until my bloody hand nearly dropped off”</b>. Being Pollitt he kept going. He could see that in the war the home front had to be mobilised in much the same way as the war front, and set about a gruelling tour, which didn’t really stop for three years, criss-crossing the country, winning the argument for a second front - holding three monster rallies in Trafalgar square in a six month period in 1943. Harry especially felt a duty to press the case for ending fascism because so many of his personal acquaintances from the European revolutionary movement, were either in prison, fighting in the resistance or had been murdered. <br />
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This tireless campaigning work took its toll and his health began to suffer. He wrote ‘Looking Ahead’ to present his vision for a future of socialism. His work on the international stage made him one of the most famous communists outside the Soviet Union and <b>he stood in the 1945 and 1950 general elections</b>. He gained sizeable votes, but was not elected. After 1950 he began to spend time on international speaking tours taking him to India and Australia as the guest of Communist movements. Harry was adamant that as a country and an Empire, the workers movement in Britain had to prioritise the struggle against imperialism, ending colonialism and helping countries to achieve independence.<br />
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Harry reluctantly resigned as general secretary in March 1956 but his loyalty was honoured with the role of Party chairperson. He continued his overseas work but on 27th June 1960, he died on board a liner heading to New Zealand.<br />
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A stamp recognising Pollitt’s role in preventing the ‘Jolly George’ from sailing to arm counter revolutionary forces in Poland, was issued in the Soviet Union and a year later a ship was named after him in recognition for his international work. Says, Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths, “<b>For three decades the name of Harry Pollitt was synonymous with British Communism.</b> The British intelligence services probably kept more files on him than on anyone else - testimony to his status as a champion of the working class and the people, not just at home but around the world, in the struggle for socialism and peace against fascism and imperialism.”<br />
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Today the Manchester CP branch take inspiration from this local lad. In recent months the Communist Party in Manchester has grown significantly and has bold plans for extending its presence in the labour movement locally, with innovative plans to extend Party democracy and membership involvement. <br />
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<b>The commemorations on 27th are part of an ambitious plan to build a sustainable and celebratory event in Droylsden every year. </b><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-77316203945299077192020-06-29T17:59:00.000+01:002020-06-29T20:33:27.357+01:00Red Droylsden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Harry Pollit, one of the most loved and respected leaders of the CPB died 60 years ago, on the 27th June. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">A delegation from the Greater Manchester branch, the North West District</span> and <span style="font-family: inherit;">YCL as well as a few trade union members took part in a ceremony on Saturday to remember him and celebrate his life and his work. One comrade in his eighties, had travelled from Blackburn to attend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our Branch Secretary, Les Doherty and Phil Katz, CPB Centenary Project Officer paid tribute to Pollitt in the Saturday edition of our favourite daily socialist newspaper, The Morning Star and a report of our event appeared in Monday's edition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of our photographs from the day are on our social media channels, but we are sharing a few more here, along with a statement from our General Secretary, Rob Griffiths, who was unable to attend as planned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Statement from CPB General Secretary, Rob Griffiths: </span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I am sorry that last-minute family health reasons have compelled me to cancel plans to be with you, dear comrades, to celebrate the life of Harry Pollitt today. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> He was the most outstanding of Communist Party general secretaries in our party's 100-year history, admired and even loved way beyond the ranks of party members. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Millions of workers and family members saw in him the embodiment of all that was and is best in the working class - the commitment to help others, the hunger for justice, the deep belief in people's intrinsic worth and the hope for a better society for those who come after us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> But he not only had what he called "the gleam of socialism" in his eye. He devoted much time and thought to working out how we can move from where we are now - a world dominated by capitalism - to a new society, socialism, the first stage of communism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> He was a working class thinker, one of Antonio Gramsci's "organic intellectuals". And he was a doer. A trade unionist and a Communist who understood that no plan or programme can be brought to fruition without action. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> When Lenin wrote that theory without action is sterile, while action without theory is blind, nobody understood that better than Harry Pollitt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> When Harry died, tributes poured in from communist and workers' parties, trade union organisations and national liberation movements around the world: from Belfast, from where he had been deported in 1933, to apartheid South Africa whose pro-Nazi government had refused him an entry visa in 1936. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> One international news agency used by thousands of capitalist newspapers paid tribute to Harry Pollitt as "one of those rare individuals - a Communist with a sense of humour" ... But it also added that "whatever was thought of his views, his honesty and sincerity were beyond question". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> So, too, was his belief that humanity needs and will build a socialist society - and that capitalism can not be overthrown in Britain without a strong, influential Communist Party able to show decisive leadership in the political class struggle. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Building that party is the challenge that Harry Pollitt rose to every day of his adult life - and that is the challenge his life throws down to us now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Long live the memory of Harry Pollitt! </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Long live the Communist Party! </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Long live socialism and communism!</span></h3>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-15284795085248204892020-06-14T17:47:00.002+01:002020-06-14T17:47:40.306+01:00Build Working Class Unity, Says Veteran Campaigner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Build working class unity, says veteran anti-apartheid campaigner.</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At a Black Lives Matter rally today (13 June) in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, the rally’s organiser, Morning Star supporter Pete Stevenson, read out this stirring message from veteran anti-apartheid campaigner and communist Ken Keable. There were over 200 people at the rally and the message was warmly received. Social distancing was strictly observed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Message from Mr Ken Keable of Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1968, when I was 23 years old, and again in 1970, I was sent into apartheid South Africa to help the African National Congress in its epic struggle against the racist apartheid regime. Together with other young white people, who later became known as the London Recruits, I distributed thousands of illegal leaflets and set up a street broadcast using an amplified cassette player. Our story has been told in my book, London Recruits – the secret war against apartheid, and is now being made into a film.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For medical reasons, I can’t attend today’s rally, but I am with you in spirit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After all these years, my commitment to anti-racism is undimmed. I am thrilled to see so many people, especially young people, taking to the streets all over the world to fight state racism, to assert that black lives matter and to demand the removal of monuments that honour slave traders and slave owners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To those who toppled the statue of Edward Colston I say, thank you. To those who want them prosecuted, I say, removing an obscenity is not a crime!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Capitalism in Britain was founded on the enslavement of African people. The British capitalist class was up to its neck in the crime of slavery. The royal family invested heavily in the slave trade. To facilitate the trade, the government even created a new unit of currency, the guinea, which represented the price of one black human being captured or purchased on the Guinea Coast of West Africa. The British Empire could not have lasted a single day without official, state-sponsored racist ideology and race discrimination. These are facts that our education system, and our own self-education, must address.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Racism in Britain is not only the product of history. It is promoted and sustained by powerful forces in British society. These are the monopoly capitalist class, the tax-dodging multi-millionaires, the parasites in the City of London finance houses and those in the media who support them. They need us workers to be divided by race, gender, religion and in every possible way in order to ensure that we do not unite against them. They also need racism to gain public support for their never-ending wars. To the young people who are here today I say, join a union! Build the unity of the working class! Solidarity forever! Thank you for coming today</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-45706843124998321822020-06-06T19:33:00.000+01:002020-06-06T20:30:35.454+01:00Brigader Thomas Moore Tribute<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblnVhmv4fHCbdL-JP3jZRmO677NRW6JZvMX1mxR4Z5gW-xhuGrpyb7f1naYQSHeUY2MAtRoNy64s08RooX2xwj1ql5Dr_b9aB1F7kooPUlqzLBTnGZwDUIikF5vWWgIgbTZbVZaHQ-s8/s1600/IMG_1620.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblnVhmv4fHCbdL-JP3jZRmO677NRW6JZvMX1mxR4Z5gW-xhuGrpyb7f1naYQSHeUY2MAtRoNy64s08RooX2xwj1ql5Dr_b9aB1F7kooPUlqzLBTnGZwDUIikF5vWWgIgbTZbVZaHQ-s8/s640/IMG_1620.JPG" width="640" height="478" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1196" /></a>
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Our branch chair, Barrie Eckford made a fascinating discovery at St Joseph’s Cemetery, Moston last year. He noticed an inscription on a family memorial to Salford cabinet maker and YCL member Thomas Moore who had, along with many others from the North West, gone to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades.
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Thomas had travelled to Spain in July 1937, but sadly died there, aged 22 on January 24th 1938 in Teruel.
Barrie is also a member of the <a href="http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/">International Brigades Memorial Trust</a>, who keep the memory of the Brigaders’ bravery and sacrifice alive.
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On Wednesday, Barrie visited the memorial again, accompanied by Paul Ward (CP, IBMT) and Allison Fewtrell (CP) to lay a wreath in the Brigades colours of red, purple and gold. They were joined by historian and IBMT member Stuart Walsh who read out a fitting tribute to Thomas before a minute’s silence was held.
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Stuart Walsh has written an article about Thomas which appears in this issue of <a href="http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/sites/default/files/NoPasaran3-2019Web.pdf">IBMT magazine No Pasaran</a>, and Wednesday's visit was featured in our favourite peoples’ paper, The Morning Star on Thursday.
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After paying their respects, they walked over to the impressive 20ft high monument dedicated to the Manchester Martyrs, which was unveiled at Moston Cemetery in 1898.
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Communist Party robustly opposes the Conservative Government's Immigration 2020 proposals and offers a new approach.</b></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This week, the CP, ahead of an important meeting (6 June) of its anti racist anti fascist commission, published a pamphlet by Vishnu Sharma ’No racist immigration laws’ available in our shop as a digital download. Below is an excerpt from the briefing document outlining our response to the proposals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Introduction</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the midst of the Covid 19 crisis Government pushed ahead with its points-based immigration system. Both Labour and Employer Groups criticised the move. Employers due to the pressure on employers to cope with the health crisis and Labour because the proposals discriminate against many key workers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This paper, which was originally written prior to the lock down, primarily focusses on the Government's 2020 immigration proposals. It also draws on experiences both pre and post the UK joining the Common Market/ EU.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Britain has operated racist laws for a number of decades. Indeed it is now known that the post WW 2 government designed its policies with an aim of attracting white commonwealth citizens and discouraging black and ethnic minority commonwealth citizens. In order to achieve class unity we must take the fight to the ruling class who seek to divide us. We must expose the anti worker and racist nature of all the existing immigration and nationality regulations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Government published its response to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) proposals on a points based immigration system on 19th February 2020. MAC had been asked to put forward its views by Government in June 2019 on salary thresholds and subsequently in September specifically about an Australian Points Based System (PBS) and did so in January 2020.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Government intends to introduce changes to existing UK Immigration arrangements on 1 January 2021.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.communistparty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Communist-Party-response-to-Government-immigration-proposals-2020-.pdf" target="_blank">Read the full briefing document</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit <a href="https://flic.kr/p/27396qF" target="_blank">Eric Fischer</a> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-15294710872955070422020-05-14T18:07:00.001+01:002020-05-14T18:07:28.665+01:00Key To Justice Global Action Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLg0zSNj01tlQPuKbd21fPNG3MdsIPjm_jfqFyxo9qmh4VERfiMQytsXc14dpmdgAFQQEjh0uQtgMDp3Fz9645FXeS2cYzuwcGOS16qjMg4FDIOIyS5aUKAFeepVteL9Ae8CqPs2MEas/s1600/ahmed-abu-hameeda-D9lCSvUcErk-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLg0zSNj01tlQPuKbd21fPNG3MdsIPjm_jfqFyxo9qmh4VERfiMQytsXc14dpmdgAFQQEjh0uQtgMDp3Fz9645FXeS2cYzuwcGOS16qjMg4FDIOIyS5aUKAFeepVteL9Ae8CqPs2MEas/s640/ahmed-abu-hameeda-D9lCSvUcErk-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May 14th and 15th, we commemorate the Nakba, the 1948 Palestinian Exodus when more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A series of laws passed by the first Israeli government prevented Arabs who had left from returning to their homes or claiming their property. They and many of their descendants remain refugees.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most Palestinians exiled from their homeland still carry the keys to their beloved homes. The Palestinian refugee key has become a reminder of the Palestinian tragedy, and a symbol of the determination to ensure that our refugees can one day return.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nakba scenes of forced displacement remind us of the experience of many millions of migrants, refugees and homeless people around the world who have no place to call home due to the devastating impacts of militarism, racism, neoliberal capitalism and the climate crisis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Nakba continues today for Palestinians living under Israel’s regime of occupation and apartheid, with the support of complicit states, corporations and institutions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">COVID-19 adds to the grave threats that Palestinians and other vulnerable populations worldwide already face.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) is asking everyone to join them in the #KeyToJustice Global Action on May 15: Share a photo of yourself on social media holding a key, and tag your post with #KeyToJustice. Look out for ours on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/manchestercommunists" target="_blank">Manchester Communists Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/CpbManc" target="_blank">@CPBManc</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@ahmed96?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank">Ahmed Abu Hameeda</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/palestine?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank">Unsplash</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-3576343058757813672020-05-14T17:17:00.004+01:002020-05-14T18:01:26.136+01:00CPB Calls For Popular Front Alliance<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYaScUW8RfqbZpTFEhAwkL_jJHTVQZLRAN9ir1Rj89eTBQS71kavK3n6u5fn-INeO4ii-kkuXGw2npnVjAygjF8SaVijaYDODmTx1-NBh_VhioafOdDTvTosujqr4KKj8_8rYCtZTLtFI/" style="text-align: center;"></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Jci3CwSdfeHRtUV13vn2qCbHmFKJajmyR2_46YKR8vZaLaTdYuV6MKvOpRSKrU2Mlv3qyWY1AlZouyvw29e9GIncgiPRMhSPIycsB1XEr__nQqlFFTrCQmolmNXSPL3kz73nb_NUceg/s1600/loan-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Jci3CwSdfeHRtUV13vn2qCbHmFKJajmyR2_46YKR8vZaLaTdYuV6MKvOpRSKrU2Mlv3qyWY1AlZouyvw29e9GIncgiPRMhSPIycsB1XEr__nQqlFFTrCQmolmNXSPL3kz73nb_NUceg/s640/loan-image.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The message from the CPB executive meeting was clear at the weekend:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>No return to neoliberal big business as usual</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">International Secretary John Foster warned that recovery from the crisis is likely to be grossly uneven, more severe than the financial crash and recession of 2008 and will only benefit capitalist monopolies.</span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We have far fewer hospital beds and far higher COVID death rates than socialist Cuba, China or Vietnam - but without the capacity to manufacture ventilators, Personal Protective Equipment and testing kits on anything like the scale needed</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He pointed out that cancelling the renewal of Trident could free up £150bn which should be invested in areas such as health, social and emergency services and productive industries, and that it was essential that Britain was free from EU rules on state aid, competitive tendering and free movement of capital by the end of the year for this to be achieved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He urged trade unions, trades councils, People’s Assembly, CND and other campaigning groups to build a ‘Popular Front’ alliance against Tory policies that put the interests of monopoly capital above the needs of working people and families.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Recruitment to the CPB is at it’s highest level since the 2003 Iraq War, with more than 60 people applying to join the party in April alone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.communistparty.org.uk/cp-proposes-popular-front-alliance-and-trident-dividend/" target="_blank">Read more on the CPB website here…</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.communistparty.org.uk/cp-open-letter-to-workers/" target="_blank">Read the CPB’s open letter to workers…</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@nypl?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">The New York Public Library</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/banking%2C-trading?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-66370240983411651302020-05-09T14:06:00.003+01:002020-05-09T14:06:29.739+01:00Morning Star Commemorates VE Day and Victory Day<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />Online subscription to the daily paper of the left:<a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/subscribe">https://morningstaronline.co.uk/subscribe</a></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFi5t9GspGnRiLsVR6i8qWrXhGdvV91ZaasI0HoS-_J_zHUaS_nIMyIuYvJtIf5ukQHGjcPqgdtHOvF4ANxunEXGDkF0fQlrmCVevo2JWpHVrDWJgQ_qmFoe-d_ifph7DgnzePBzsMDSJ/s1600/MS_2020_05_09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="238" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFi5t9GspGnRiLsVR6i8qWrXhGdvV91ZaasI0HoS-_J_zHUaS_nIMyIuYvJtIf5ukQHGjcPqgdtHOvF4ANxunEXGDkF0fQlrmCVevo2JWpHVrDWJgQ_qmFoe-d_ifph7DgnzePBzsMDSJ/s400/MS_2020_05_09.jpg" width="316" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1994952076910672759.post-87238955137046995952020-05-09T11:15:00.000+01:002020-05-09T11:15:35.845+01:00Red Army Victory Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Had it not been for the COVID-19 crisis, Moscow’s Red Square, today, would have been the stage for the 75th anniversary parade in honour of the Red Army’s heroic performance in defeating fascism in WWII, with many delegations expected from the West.<br />
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The March of the Immortal Regiment usually follows the military parade; millions of ordinary people, holding aloft photographs of wartime relatives, originally started as a spontaneous grassroots movement, but it is now an intrinsic part of the ceremony.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjzJpHZLHqyxJxR18HsJCoI0dUWhLSTFXQ08fPbQuZiv4Vtp4YP-5IBdJKLuLSMHmUgXeeKccFRp-kdJzZF0aP7jYmjI0PdU8Rt-6OZhbi0wgU4RaOYpaUepIXgmaoA3VQ-8I8ZocHAU/s1600/Immortal_Regiment_in_Moscow_%25282017-05-09%2529_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjzJpHZLHqyxJxR18HsJCoI0dUWhLSTFXQ08fPbQuZiv4Vtp4YP-5IBdJKLuLSMHmUgXeeKccFRp-kdJzZF0aP7jYmjI0PdU8Rt-6OZhbi0wgU4RaOYpaUepIXgmaoA3VQ-8I8ZocHAU/s400/Immortal_Regiment_in_Moscow_%25282017-05-09%2529_05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The March of the Immortal Regiment</td></tr>
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In September last year we condemned the European Parliament’s decision to equate fascism with communism where they referred to the Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939. It is not often mentioned that the UK and France also signed non-aggression agreements with Hitler over the annexation of Sudetenland in Western Czechoslovakia.<br />
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Nevertheless, in June 1941, 3 million Nazi personnel and 600,000 motor vehicles, the largest invasion force in the history of warfare, invaded the western Soviet Union along a 1,800 mile front. The Luftwaffe reportedly destroyed an estimated 3,922 aircraft on the first 3 days of the invasion and the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the Nazi war machine.<br />
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An estimated 26 million Soviet citizens, including as many as 11 million soldiers died during WWII,and the battles that eventually rolled back the Nazi advance; the siege of Leningrad, the battle of Stalingrad and Kursk - the biggest Tank battle in history - had no parallel on the Western Front.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaD11kbWOhtgriBmOop9lmITgLcCck9rAzhJM7umCKpl8ASoHKr9mm1vY7WH982W3qTa7c4td4QaNpKzqqVKMh_noACM1jg8bG1inDh1MPzSCgs251M0GASE5Sg_BXlFMJUP1dmPey7k/s200/Soviet_M3_Lee_tanks_of_the_6th_Guards_Army_Kursk_July_1943.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhUl-6sRjoYh1UdkB-iVQdwUclFIMrcSNmSmqATiRki-za9Vi1XwLlcniH3NPAoAR82EdgTcafE9PUY1iqMYsQ-hg2SU-Ltf4dGsD7J8wNe0U1TUgxEzJxgBpz-RHgrdSlAqOv1Ez_sM/s1600/Red_Army_soldiers_with_their_PPSh-41_during_street_fighting_in_Stalingrad._November_1942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhUl-6sRjoYh1UdkB-iVQdwUclFIMrcSNmSmqATiRki-za9Vi1XwLlcniH3NPAoAR82EdgTcafE9PUY1iqMYsQ-hg2SU-Ltf4dGsD7J8wNe0U1TUgxEzJxgBpz-RHgrdSlAqOv1Ez_sM/s200/Red_Army_soldiers_with_their_PPSh-41_during_street_fighting_in_Stalingrad._November_1942.jpg" width="200" /></a>
By 1943, the Soviet Union had already lost some 5 million Red Army troops but Germany underestimated the strength of Soviet reserves and despite paying the harshest price, they eventually rolled back the Nazi advance.<br />
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So began the pushback and the tide of the war was turned, with Marshal Georgy Zhukov advancing from the east and north, while Marshal Ivan Konev advanced from the south.<br />
At 8.30am on 22nd April 1945 Soviet shells began to rain down on the German capital and over the course of a week the Red Army gradually took the entire city.<br />
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Before the battle was over, Hitler and several of his followers killed themselves. The city’s garrison surrendered on May 2 and the Soviet flag was raised over the Reichstag.<br />
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Fighting continued to the north-west, west, and south-west of the city until the end of the war in Europe on May 8 (May 9 in the Soviet Union) as some German units fought westward so that they could surrender to the Western Allies rather than to the Soviets, who might seek revenge for the atrocities and brutality of the Eastern Front.<br />
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PHOTOS:<br />
Main image: Kazakh Cadets in Moscow Parade, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63882055" target="_blank">by Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0</a><br />
March of the Immortal Regiment, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58662539" target="_blank">by kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0</a><br />
Soviet M3 Lee tanks of the 6th Guards Army Kursk July 1943<br />
Red Army soldiers with their PPSh-41 during street fighting in Stalingrad, Nov 1942, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60400327" target="_blank">by RakaAditya, CC BY-SA 4.0</a><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0