Solidarity-on-Sea

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 “if they can do this to us, then you will be next”.

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!”

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.

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.

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; "first they clapped us, then they scrapped us"

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.

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.

The Tories and their cronies in business will not stop stripping away our rights as workers, will not stop auctioning off the national resources and services to the highest and most unscrupulous bidder, will not stop until they have broken the fighting spirit of our class.

The message is loud and clear, there is power in the union and we need it now, perhaps more than ever.