Wednesday 30 December 2015

The True Cost of Austerity

Some notes from the "True Cost of Austerity" launch event organised by Advice Nottingham recently (full report available here)...

The launch was presented by a panel including Chris Dearden (author of the report) and Baroness Lister. There were some interesting comments from the panel and audience, some of which are shown below :

* The Sneinton Food bank is providing food to around 50 families a week who have ZERO income.
* Some jobseekers lack key skills required to navigate the jobseeking and social security system (e.g. have no email, difficulty filling forms etc)
* The language of welfare has been "Americanised" to be one of "them and us", in contrast to a language of "social security" that we all pay in to and all might use. Similarly, "austerity" implies a a warm coming-together in difficult times, such as in WW2, whereas a more accurate word might simply be "cuts".
* When lobbying the House of Lords, one can see who is interested in the debate by checking who participates in the second reading of the Bill.
* When the actual, practical effects of policy are pointed out to Treasury officals, they become very uncomfortable.

The Launch of the "True Cost of Austerity" report

The report states that Nottingham faces a number of social issues, including :

1) In May 2013 the unemployment rate was rate was 6.5%, compared to 3.6% in England as a whole)

[BFTF wasn't sure that comparing an urban area like Nottingham with the whole of England was fair, so looked up unemployment claimant figures for some comparable cities, data is for Apr 2013 and from here.

Leicester (pop 330k) : 5.4%, 6.2%, 6.9% (East, South and West Constituencies respectively)
Coventry (pop 316k) : 5.7%, 4.0%, 4.1% (NE, NW, S)
NOTTINGHAM (pop 305k): 7.4%, 8.4%, 4.0% (E, N, S)
Wakefield (pop 325k) : 5.2%
Newcastle (pop 280k) : 6.0%, 4.4%, 3.7% (C, E, N)]


2) Almost 30 per cent of all households in Nottingham claim housing benefit double the rate of the East Midlands (15%)

3) Home ownership is lower in Nottingham (45%) than in the East Mids (67%)

[According to this 2011 census data, the above is borne out when comparing Nottingham to similarly sized cities:

Leicester : 50%
Coventry : 61%
NOTTINGHAM : 45%
Wakefield : 64%
Newcastle : 69%]


4) Nottingham is ranked 17th out of 326 local authorities for income deprivation (with 1 being the most deprived), and 13th for employment deprivation (again 1 being highest unemployment levels).

The above appears to come from this data, and when compared to similarly sized cities looks like this:

Leicester : 11th and 14th (out of 326)
Coventry : 24th and 22nd (out of 326)
NOTTINGHAM : 17th and 13th (out of 326)
Wakefield : 37th and 17th (out of 326)
Newcastle : 29th and 20th (out of 326)

It seems that Nottingham fares similarly to other similarly sized cities. Also worth noting that all five cities are in the most deprived 10% of areas on both criteria.


Mansfield Road, urban Nottingham


Debt and Social Security Changes

Advice Nottingham comment that "While the overall amount of debts we have assisted clients with has decreased since the credit crunch and recession, going down from more than £33million in 2012-13 to £22 million in 2014-15, the proportion of the debt that is priority debt – debts that have the worst outcomes – has increased from 24 to 35 per cent in the same period."

[Perhaps worth noting that the above statement means that actual value (as opposed to percentage) of priority debt has actually stayed pretty steady at just below £8million.]

The event and report also highlighted the changes that have been made in the social security system by the coalition and current conservative government:

* Introduction of Universal Credit;
* Personal Independence Payments to replace Disability Living Allowance;
* Changes to Employment and Support Allowance;
* Abolition of Council Tax Benefit / Introduction of Council Tax Reduction schemes;
* Abolition of Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants, funding passed to LA's;
* Introduction of the Benefit Cap;
* Introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’; and
* Introduction of Mandatory Reconsideration of benefit decisions before appeals

Advice Nottingham have helped their clients obtain approximately £2 million per year of lump sum payments they were entitled to, and £8.6 and £10 million per year of ongoing social security payments. A 2015 survey of service users found that 98% would recommend the service to others.

Mandatory Reconsideration
This disturbing policy states claimants who disagrees with a social security payment decision (e.g. refusal for an ESA claim) must go through a mandatory reconsideration process prior to lodging an appeal. Critically, the benefit is not payed during this reconsideration period. This results in a Kafa-esque situation that the report describes thus:

"One of the major issues to affect Advice Nottingham clients who are dissatisfied with an ESA decision is that where they are found fit for work but request a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) the ESA stops. This leaves them with the choice of claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or having no income. Many are reluctant to claim JSA as they feel deeply that they are not fit for work, and fear not meeting the job seeking requirements and being sanctioned. There is an inherent contradiction here and some clients who do attend Jobcentre Plus to register for JSA have been refused on the grounds that they are clearly unfit for work."


Sanctions and Foodbanks
The report describes how many clients are unaware that they have been sanctioned until their benefits fail to arrive, despite the fact that such information should be communicated to them. Although many of them succeed in having such decisions overturned at reconsideration, this is of little help during the period they have no income and people often ask for advice at the point of having no money, no food and feeling desperate. All Advice can do on an immediate practical level at this point is to offer a voucher for a food bank.

Reports by the Church Action on Poverty and others suggest that the rise in is due to a combination of effects including insufficient income, high housing, food and fuel costs, changes to social security and income crises. The Advice Nottingham report comments that:

"Whatever the underlying reason for people using food banks, such usage is a short-term emergency measure; food banks are unable and unwilling to feed people for longer periods of time. Their unwillingness is due to the general belief that there should be a social security safety net that protects people against hunger. By stepping in to meet immediate need, some feel that they are replacing statutory services which ought to protect vulnerable people."


Made up packs at the Himmah Food Bank, ready to be passed onto agencies working on the frontline.


2 Week Snapshot
The report looks in detail at a two week period in Sept2015 in which Advice Nottingham analysed the interactions with those clients who were "financially vulnerable" (i.e. were at risk of losing their home or having utilities cut off). The number of clients who fell into this category over the 2 week period was 1,017.

By far the most common issue was benefit applications, with 22% of clients requiring help in this area;
5% of clients were seeking assistance following a JSA or ESA sanction;
7% of clients needed help following a Mandatory Reconsideration.

Money Matters
"Money Matters" courses, run by Advice Nottingham offer people the chance to learn about the Social Security System, Budgeting, Banking, Lowering Fuel Costs etc.

Case Studies
The report describes a number of case studies illustrating the kinds of issues that clients faced, and how Advice Nottingham was (or sometimes was not) able to help them. Names were changed in all cases. Very brief summaries of a couple of these case studies are shown below:

Case study - Colin
Colin is a 40 year old man with long standing mental health problems including depression and anxiety. He lives alone in a socially rented flat. A WCA assessment in Sep 2014 found that he was fit for work and Colin's ESA benefit was stopped. In Oct 2014, Colin approached Advice Nottingham for help in challenging the decision. At this point he had no income, his Housing Benefit had stopped and he was fearful of losing his home and was reliant on his family for money and food.

Advice Nottingham , over a number of sessions were able to win an appeal at Tribunal and get Colin's ESA reinstated, but this took until May 2015. At one session it was found that Colin has not eaten for two days so he was provided with a Foodbank voucher. At the end of the advice process, Colin commented that without the help of Advice Nottingham, he "wouldn't be here now" and that he had felt suicidal throughout the whole period he had no income.

Case study - Sally
Sally is 38 and has multiple sclerosis. She had been in full-time employment until a relapse of her multiple sclerosis left her in pain and unable to work. She made a claim for Personal Independence Payment and was awarded the standard rate of mobility and daily living components. Sally uses crutches and can only walk 50m very slowly, making it difficult to use public transport. Sally came to Advice Nottingham to see if any further assistance was available.

Advice Nottingham were able to help Sally complete a Mandatory Reconsideration request which resulted in Sally being awarded the enhanced mobility component of ESA. Sally now has an adapted car and a blue badge and has regained her independence.

Other case studies
Many other examples of the kind of cases that Advice Nottingham has to deal with can be read in a separate An Anthology of Modern Poverty booklet.

The True Cost of Austerity Report

Update 28 Mar 2016 [1]
Recently read Mhairi Blacks maiden speech in the House of Commons. It belongs in this post and is shown below in its entirety:

On her constituency
Now, when I discovered it is tradition to speak about the history of your constituency in a maiden speech, I decided to do some research despite the fact I’ve lived there all my life. And as one of the tale end doing the maiden speech of my colleagues in the SNP I’ve noticed that my colleagues quite often mention Rabbie Burns a lot and they all try to form this intrinsic connection between him and their own constituency and own him for themselves. I however feel no need to do this for during my research I discovered a fact which trumps them all. William Wallace was born in my constituency.

On benefit sanctions
Now, my constituency has a fascinating history far beyond the Hollywood film and historical name. from the mills of Paisley, to the industries of Johnson, right to the weavers in Kilbarchan, it’s got a wonderful population with a cracking sense of humour and much to offer both the tourists and to those who reside there. But the truth is that within my constituency it’s not all fantastic. We’ve watched our town centres deteriorate. We’re watched our communities decline. Our unemployment level is higher than that of the UK average. One in five children in my constituency go to bed hungry every night. Paisley Job Centre has the third highest number of sanctions in the whole of Scotland.

Before I was elected I volunteered for a charitable organisation and there was a gentleman who I grew very fond of. He was one of these guys who has been battered by life in every way imaginable. You name it, he’s been through it. And he used to come in to get food from this charity, and it was the only food that he had access to and it was the only meal he would get. And I sat with him and he told me about his fear of going to the Job Centre. He said “I’ve heard the stories Mhairi, they try and trick you out, they’ll tell you you’re a liar. I’m not a liar Mhairi, I’m not.” And I told him “It’s OK, calm down. Go, be honest, it’ll be fine.”

I then didn’t see him for about two or three weeks. I did get very worried, and when he finally did come back in I said to him “how did you get on?”

And without saying a word he burst into tears. That grown man standing in front of a 20-year-old crying his eyes out, because what had happened to him was the money that he would normally use to pay for his travel to come to the charity to get his food he decided that in order to afford to get to the Job Centre he would save that money. Because of this, he didn’t eat for five days, he didn’t drink. When he was on the bus on the way to the Job Centre he fainted due to exhaustion and dehydration. He was 15 minutes later for the Job Centre and he was sanctioned for 13 weeks.

Now, when the Chancellor spoke in his budget about fixing the roof while the sun is shining, I would have to ask on who is the sun shining? When he spoke about benefits not supporting certain kinds of lifestyles, is that the kind of lifestyle that he was talking about?

On Food Banks
If we go back even further when the Minister for Employment was asked to consider if there was a correlation between the number of sanctions and the rise in food bank use she stated, and I quote, “food banks play an important role in local welfare provision.” Renfrewshire has the third highest use of food banks use and food bank use is going up and up.

Food banks are not part of the welfare state, they are symbol that the welfare state is failing.

On housing
Now, the Government quite rightly pays for me through tax payers money to be able to live in London whilst I serve my constituents. My housing is subsidised by the tax payer. Now, the Chancellor in his budget said it is not fair that families earning over £40,000 in London should have their rents paid for my other working people. But it is OK so long as you’re an MP? In this budget the Chancellor also abolished any housing benefit for anyone below the age of 21.

So we are now in the ridiculous situation whereby because I am an MP not only am I the youngest, but I am also the only 20-year-old in the whole of the UK that the Chancellor is prepared to help with housing.

We now have one of the most uncaring, uncompromising and out of touch governments that the UK has seen since Thatcher.

On Labour and opposition
It is here now that I must turn to those who I share a bench with. Now I have in this chamber for ten weeks, and I have very deliberately stayed quiet and have listened intently to everything that has been said. I have heard multiple speeches from Labour benches standing to talk about the worrying rise of nationalism in Scotland, when in actual fact all these speeches have served to do is to demonstrate how deep the lack of understanding about Scotland is within the Labour party.

I like many SNP members come from a traditional socialist Labour family and I have never been quiet in my assertion that I feel that it is the Labour party that left me, not the other way about. The SNP did not triumph on a wave of nationalism; in fact nationalism has nothing to do with what’s happened in Scotland.

We triumphed on a wave of hope, hope that there was something different, something better to the Thatcherite neo-liberal policies that are produced from this chamber. Hope that representatives genuinely could give a voice to those who don’t have one.

I don’t mention this in order to pour salt into wounds which I am sure are very open and very sore for many members on these benches, both politically and personally. Colleagues, possibly friends, have lost their seats. I mention it in order to hold a mirror to the face of a party that seems to have forgotten the very people they’re supposed to represent, the very things they’re supposed to fight for.

After hearing the Labour leader’s intentions to support the changes of tax credits that the Chancellor has put forward, I must make this plea to the words of one of your own and a personal hero of mine.

Tony Benn once said that in politics there are weathercocks and sign posts. Weathercocks will spin in whatever direction the wind of public opinion may blow them, no matter what principal they may have to compromise.

And then there are signposts, signposts which stand true, and tall, and principled. And they point in the direction and they say this is the way to a better society and it is my job to convince you why.

Tony Benn was right when he said the only people worth remembering in politics were signposts.

Now, yes we will have political differences, yes in other parliaments we may be opposing parties, but within this chamber we are not. No matter how much I may wish it, the SNP is not the sole opposition to this Government, but nor is the Labour party. It is together with all the parties on these benches that we must form an opposition, and in order to be affective we must oppose not abstain. So I reach out a genuine hand of friendship which I can only hope will be taken. Let us come together, let us be that opposition, let us be that signpost of a better society. Ultimately people are needing a voice, people are needing help, let’s give them it.


Update 10 Apr 2016
One can get an idea of how bad the DWP "fitness for work" decisions are by reading about how a group of student lawyers in Bristol looked at 200 cases of DWP demming a person to be "fit for work" and were able to get the decision overturned in 95% of cases. This is significantly higher than the national average of 59% and shows how important legal support is to a successful challenge.


Back in 2014, Advice Nottingham published a report titled "Children in an Age of Austerity" which looked at the effect that changes in welfare rules have had on families.

The findings of the report include that :

* Families deemed to be ‘under occupying’ their accommodation are experiencing financial hardship and face either increased costs or potentially moving home and losing social support networks.
* Children may have to change schools or travel further to get to school if their families are forced to move as a result of under-occupancy.
* Non-resident parents/carers face financial penalties for under-occupancy or losing the room their children use, potentially reducing parent-child contact.
* Parents subject to benefit sanctions are relying almost entirely on food banks to feed their children.


And recommendations include that :

* Non-resident parents who have a room designated for their children should not be subject to under-occupancy rules.
* Families rehoused as a result of domestic violence should not be penalised if they have ‘surplus’ rooms.
* Benefit sanctions should be applied more fairly.
* Help should be offered to all parents whose benefits have been sanctioned.
* DWP staff should aim to accommodate requests to expedite decisions for clients with dependent children.
* All families with children should be able to access hardship funds.


Foodpacks at Tasty Tuesdays

Foodbanks
The report reports on feedback received from some of Nottinghams Foodbanks. The Bestwood and Bulwell food bank feeds on average, 300 people a month, with approximately a third of these being due to benefits sanctions. Grace Church reports providing some 450 food parcels between September 2012 and October 2013, including 77 referrals due to benefit sanctions, also commenting that almost as many referrals are due to benefit delays as benefit sanctions.


The report comments that "Increasingly food banks are at risk of becoming an arm of the welfare state, meeting the most basic needs that many families are now unable to meet themselves."


Case Studies
Some of the Nottingham case studies reported are harrowing and one can only imaging the stress they will have caused to families already struggling to keep their heads above water. For example :

Frank is a 54 year old man living in a three bedroom property. He lives alone but his granddaughter spends 1-2 weeks a month with him as her mother is often unwell due to mental health problems.Frank’s role as a carer is not taken into account when assessing his housing needs, despite his support helping to keep the family together. Frank has to pay the ‘bedroom tax’ every month and his rent arrears are increasing every month.
(Advice Nottingham helped Frank to negotiate repayments of his arrears. Frank says he is ‘managing to keep his head above water’.)

Arthur was living alone in a two bedroom Nottingham City Homes property. His rent was £70 per week. He moved to private rented accommodation to avoid the bedroom tax and is now receiving £88.85 per week housing benefit and still has a spare bedroom.
(Advice Nottingham comment that "...many tenants in social housing who move to the private rental sector to avoid paying ‘bedroom tax’ are likely to receive more housing benefit rather than less.... It is difficult to see what the policy will achieve other than to cause hardship, increased indebtedness and stress for many tenants.")


Caroline is a 28 year old woman and a lone parent. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) compliance department was investigating her as having an ‘undisclosed partner’ living at the same address. She had sent documentary evidence by recorded delivery to prove that this was not the case, but HMRC had lost the documents. This was the second time she had sent the documents and the second time that HMRC had lost them. Caroline had no income. She had to ask family to help her as much as they could and had to rely on a local food bank to feed her children. She didn't even have the bus fare to travel to CAB for advice. She was worried about her inability to properly care for her children and the fact that HMRC showed no concern about how she was managing financially.
(Advice Nottingham contacted HMRC regarding the loss of tax credits and arranged for food parcels from a local food bank. Caroline was also offered help to manage her debts, accumulated due to her reduced income. Once her tax credits recommenced she felt able to manage without any further support)

Suzanne is a single parent of two year old twins. She fled an abusive partner who would often beat her in front of her children. Her partner had previously controlled all claims – including child benefit and working tax credit. Suzanne submitted a claim for income support, which the DWP would not pay until the child benefit was transferred to her name. DWP informed Suzanne that new claims were currently taking 12 weeks to process. Despite her explaining her situation with regards to domestic violence, the DWP were not willing to speed up the process. In the meantime, Suzanne was struggling to support her two children and often had to leave them home alone for short periods when she worked.
(Advice Nottingham comment that they contacted DWP on Suzanne’s behalf and are awaiting a decision as to whether income support can be paid early before child benefit is transferred to her name)

Winston is a 24 year old single father who had a retrospective sanction imposed for four weeks after failing to attend a Work Programme meeting. Advice Nottingham understand that this was because Winston's two year old daughter was taken ill. He telephoned before the due appointment, but was told this would still have to be noted as 'did not attend'. Winston has diabetes and the four week sanction caused severe hardship for him. He was not told about hardship payments, how to appeal the sanction decision, or food banks, and during the time of the sanction suffered hunger, hardship and stress. He felt this may also have caused a worsening of his diabetes over this period.
(Advice Nottingham comments that Winston was referred to a local food bank for food parcels and helped to apply for charitable help with his housing arrears to avoid homelessness. He was referred for specialist housing advice. They add that "It is difficult to see how Winston could have avoided this situation. Schools, nurseries and child minders are reluctant to take sick children due to health and safety concerns for others. This leaves parents unable to go to work or, as in Winston’s case, unable to meet job seeking requirements. However, the inflexibility of the rules for job seekers does not allow for such situations.")


To recap, some examples of people placed in great hardship by delays in providing welfare and other safety net payments:

Suzanne - a mother who was fleeing an abusive relationship and needed child benefit and welfare payments transferring to her name. The DWP said this would take 12 weeks.

Winston - a single father who told the DWP he could not attend an appointment because his daughter had been taken ill. He was given a 4 week sanction.

It seems to BFTF that the efforts of some Foodbanks and other charitable groups are focussed largely on providing immediate aid to people like Suzanne and Winston - while the responsible local authorities are not held accountable for their failure to provide timely services to those who rely on this help as their only safety net.

Which Foodbank is doing it right?

This, to BFTF, is not acceptable. One can imagine the architects of austerity thinking something like this :

"This is perfect, we cut services to the extent that people cannot afford food - and these soppy do-gooders pick up the pieces with their foodbanks! And best of all, they are so busy running around making sure they have enough tins of beans that they don't challenge any of the blatantly vindicitve and unfair decisions that are being made. G&T's all round!"

So, on 30th May, sent this email to one of Nottingham Councils Portfolio Holders:

"I've been very disturbed to read a report by Advice Nottingham which includes case studies of people how have been treated very badly by the DWP and had sanctions imposed unfairly or had benefit changes delayed excessively.I have two questions:

1) Who, in Nottingham, is responsible for ensuring that benefit sanctions are always fair and reasonable; and that delays in processing benefit claims are not excessive or handled incompetently.

2) How does the council collect data to ensure that benefit sanctions are always fair and reasonable; and that delays in processing benefit claims are not excessive or handled incompetently."


They said they would find out.

Dear Reader, if you think local officials should be held accountable for the welfare decisions made on their patch, you may wish to email your local councillors with questions like those above. You can get their contact details here:
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/about-the-council/councillors-and-leadership/find-a-councillor/

Update 14 May:No response so chased up by email again
Update 20 May:No response so chased up by email again
Update 30 May:Chased up again, cllr said they'd get back to me.
Update 14 June:Chased up again
Update 21 June:Chased up again, cllr said they'd get back to me.
Update 25 June:Chased up again, cllr said was working on it.
Update 7th July :Chased up again

And then, finally...

Update 15th July : Received the following response (edited slightly for clarity) from :

Question 1
Who, in Nottingham, is responsible for ensuring that benefit sanctions are always fair and reasonable; and that delays in processing benefit claims are not excessive or handled incompetently.

Answer 1
Sanctions Protocol
In 2014, in response to concerns regarding inappropriate sanction decisions by the DWP, affecting claimants in Nottingham, the City Council set up a Sanctions Protocol with the DWP locally. Employment and skills are responsible for the protocol and have worked hard to ensure that it is understood by colleagues and partners – Activity listed below:

Organisations have been encouraged to engage with this process through a variety of networks: Employment and Skills Officer (ESO) involvement in communities and with lead organisations, including foodbanks and faith groups.

Advice Nottingham promoting to their members and ESO attended Advice Nottingham Manager meetings to encourage referrals and answer questions.

ESO presented at a training event for the voluntary sector hosted by NCC Welfare Reform project leads.

ESO promoted protocol to organisations engaged with the Quality and Commissioning led Financial Vulnerability Assistance and Advice event.

ESO met with Welfare Rights colleagues to promote the protocol and will be attending a team meeting later this summer to talk to the wider team and answer questions.


Working with Policy Welfare Reform leads to identify full picture of impact of sanctions and qualify some of the information we are receiving from community sources.

Question 1b
What is the Council doing to support ALL vulnerable citizens (including those subject to a sanction).

Answer 1b
Lobbying Government
Nottingham City Council passed a motion calling on Government to reverse welfare cuts which affect the most vulnerable citizens in the city.

Responding to consultations in partnership with the advice sector.

Highlighting concerns on Universal Credit and asking for clarity on Universal Credit implementation, process and timescales.

Helping to prepare our citizens
Investing in advice services.

Plus our own Welfare Rights service to provide benefits advice and support with budgeting/money management and debt.

Organising job fairs and advertising local job opportunities through www.nottinghamjobs.com

Helping with energy bills
The Council has launched Robin Hood Energy, a not for profit energy company aiming to provide low cost energy.

Working with partners
Including Nottingham City Homes (NCH), registered social landlords, advice agencies.

Including Credit Union - To improve access to bank accounts & affordable loans.

Including Advice Nottingham - who also offer a support scheme to help local people in fuel debt. The scheme offers money to eligible city residents to help relieve fuel debt.

Question 2
How does the council collect data to ensure that benefit sanctions are always fair and reasonable; and that delays in processing benefit claims are not excessive or handled incompetently?

Answer 2
The Council only has access to the limited data made available by the DWP and has no opportunity to assess the decision making process. The data released by DWP is largely management data relating to the number of decisions and appeals made. There is no data whatsoever on the number of people in the City who currently have financial sanctions applied against them. We have raised this on numerous occasions with the DWP and been told that they do not have the time or capacity to produce this data.

Update 19th July : Council further advised that they could not give a named contact at the local DWP and the the portfolio holder ultimately accountable (so far as the council had accountability) was Cllr Graham Chapman

Image Sources
BFTF own and via Himmah

Monday 19 October 2015

Troubling times

The normalisation of demonisation politics in Europe and the US is a troubling thing.

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Dec 2018


Hannah Arendt (1906 - 1975) was a German philosopher and political theorist. Her many books and articles on topics ranging from totalitarianism to epistemology have had a lasting influence on political theory. Arendt is widely considered one of the most important political philosophers of the twentieth century.

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Oct 2018

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Dec 2017: Kemal Pervanic, Bosnian genocide survivor, interviewed by RightsInfo(see also the Forgiveness Project):
“In 1992, before the war started, we had people who survived the Second World War, my mother was one of them. She knew that something bad was going happen. She couldn’t say exactly how bad it was going to be, but she knew enough to warn me to leave. I didn’t have such an experience because I chose to stay. Had I known what was going to happen, I would have left. So, the warning signs were obvious for some but not for others. If you had no previous experience of such events, it is easy to ignore such warning signs”

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Dec 2017: "The rise of the far-right: a warning from history"
Article in The Herald (Scotland) talks about the far-right agenda, commenting that:
"...they have a model. It starts very specifically with using anti-Muslim rhetoric as a gateway to a wider ecosystem of fascist ideology. Immigration is held up as a touchstone for declining living standards, and this comes alongside promises of control in the vein of authoritarian national sovereignty. Anti-semitism lies in the wake of all of this. Because who is it behind the scenes, the far-right asks, pulling the strings intellectually and financially? It is the 'cultural Marxists’, fascist shorthand for Jews, and - of course – the all-powerful George Soros."

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Dec 2016:The most hate filled political comment BFTF has seen so far
Carl Paladino, New York co-chairman for Trumps election campaign, responded to an interviewer (see also here) asking what he would like to see happen in 2017 with :
“Obama catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Herford. He dies before trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to [senior White House adviser] Valerie Jarrett, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady cell mate mistook her being a nice person and decapitated her."

and in response to a question on who he would like to see go in 2017, Paladino said :
"Michelle Obama. I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortable in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla."

For bonus extra level of disturbance, Paladino is also a school board member.

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Dec 2016: Trump talks about the violence of this supporters
At a "Thank You" tour event on Orlando, Florida, Trump said this to his supporters (reported by C4):
"You people were vicious, violent, screaming, 'Where's the wall? We want the wall'; screaming 'Prison, Prison, lock her up', I mean you are going crazy. I mean you were nasty and mean and vicious and you wanted to win, right...?"

"But now, now, it's much different. Now, you're laid back, your cool, you're mellow, right? You're basking in the glow of victory...But, but, now you're mellow and you're cool, and you're not nearly as vicious or violent, right? Because we won, right?"

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2014: BNP EU Eletion Leaflet
Found this (from the 2014 EU elections) while rummaging for some paperwork. Good example of how far-right parties never age well. Interesting to see how the BNP paint UKIP as pro-immigration. Wonder where all the BNP votes went to, and whether Cathy still has the same views.

BNP 2014 EU Election Leaflet - Back

BNP 2014 EU Election Leaflet -Front

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Don't be a Sucker (1947)
This is a is a short film produced by the US War Department in 1947. It has anti-racist and anti-fascist themes. The movie starts by describing "Mike", a 20-something American, who is part of a small crowd listening to a street speaker blaming minoirities for American problems, for example:


"..I'm an American and some of the things I see in this country of ours make my blood boil. I see negros holding jobs that belong to me and you", adding that the country needs to be free of negros, catholics, foreigners and freemasons.

The rabble-rouser blames minorities for the counties problems

Mike is receptive to the speakers comments until freemasons are included in the list of enemies of the country (as Mike is himself a mason). A Hungarian immigrant engages Mike in conversation, pointing out that he has seen this kind of divisive talk before, in Nazi Germany. And that when the Nazi's had made the various parts of German society distrustful of each other, the Nazis then picked off those who were organised and posed a threat one by one - unions, catholics, teachers etc. He then comments that:


".. we must never let that happen to us or to our country. We must never let ourselves be divided by race or colour or religion, because in this country we all belong to minority groups, I am Hungarian, you are a mason, these are minorities. And then you belong to other minority groups too. You are a farmer, you go to the Methodist Church - your right to belong to these minorities is a precious thing.... if we allow any minority to lose their freedom by persecution or by prejudice we are threatening our own freeedom"

Youtube link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23X14HS4gLk

The Hungarian immigrant explains that he has
 seen this before and it did not end well

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Calls for Muslims to be "Exterminated"
On Dec9th 2016 the Facebook account of Former congressman Allen West posted a meme on FB which had an image of General "Mad Dog" Mattis and text saying "Fired by Obama to please the Muslims" and "hired by Trump to exterminate them."

Mad Dog Mattis hired by Trump to "Exterminate" Muslims

Following a media backlash the post was removed and this message from Michele Hickford was posted:

"Message to our followers: Hello everyone. This is Michele Hickford, Editor-in-Chief of allenbwest.com. Last night I posted a meme without Col. West's knowledge or consent which was inappropriate and crossed the line. I take full responsibility for this. It was wrong. I was wrong. It does not reflect Col. West's beliefs. I (Michele Hickford) personally apologize for any offense caused - and especially to Col. West. to whom I apologize for adversely affecting his reputation, principles and values."
An apology was not especially required, it seems for Muslims.

Allen B West has a history of controversial statements, including getting upset at "Coexist" bumper stickers because:

"every time I see one of those bumper stickers, I look at the person inside that is driving. Because that person represents something that would give away our country. Would give away who we are, our rights and freedoms and liberties…”
BFTF gently refers the reader to the "Don't be a sucker" item a bit higher on the post.

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Nigel Farange, in a BBC Interview, 2016
"I think it's legitimate to say that it people feel they have lost control completely, and we have lost control of our borders completely as members of the European Union; and if people feel that voting doesn't change anything; then violence is the next step...I find it difficult to contemplate it happening here, but nothing's impossible."(link)


Comment:
Nothing about non violent protest, nothing about organisation of pressure groups, nothing about civil disobedience. For Mr Farange, if you can't get your way, the first port of call is violence. Unbelievable. If anyone from a BME community said that that it would be a "threat".

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David Cameron, 2016
“For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone."(link)

Comment:
BFTF thought that being left alone so long as you obey the law was SPECIFICALLY how modern secular democracies worked, because otherwise the law merely sets a maximum level for personal freedom, with the ACTUAL level of personal freedom being undefined and at the whim of the state.

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2015 : Two Anti-Muslim hate speech incidents on London transport
The first involved a lady who delivered a sustained volley of vitriol to a pregnant Muslim but passenger. The hate speech included repeatedly calling the victim and her friend "ISIS bitches" and also threatening to deliver a "kick in the uterus" to the innocent victim. The victim states that she asked the driver to call the Police but that the driver responded with "You can do that yourself'. This same driver tried, unsuccessfully, to resolve the situation by asking the passengers to "calm down".The perpetrator later handed herself in to Police.

The second involved a male who spend several minutes delivering a torrent of abuse, and physical threats, to a zimmer frame carrying Turkish pensioner. The driver did nothing to stop the abuse. In this case the perpetrator also later handed themselves in to Police.

BFTF asked this question of Nottingham Transport


"Following the recent instances, on London buses, of sustained torrents of hate-speech being directed at pregnant Muslim women and elderly Muslim men, I note that the bus drivers did not substantially challenge the perpetrators, nor did the bus drivers call the Police.

I do not think this is acceptable.

Can you tell me what passengers can expect from drivers on Nottingham City Transport Buses if similar instances of hate-speech happened here in our fine city.

Can you also advise where passengers can find this information on the NCT website so that they can be forearmed with knowledge of what to do if such events take place."


Update 26 Nov 15
Recently received this encouraging response from NCT :


We were shocked and saddened by the recent examples of hate speech on public transport in London.

Thankfully this type of behaviour is very rare and during my thirteen years of employment at Nottingham City Transport, I am aware of very few similar incidents on our buses. Nottingham City Transport were one of the first bus operators in the UK to install CCTV to all buses and have had 100% fleet coverage for over a decade. Since CCTV was installed and through an excellent partnership with Nottinghamshire Police and the Respect for Transport campaign, there has been a significant drop in all incidents on buses.

All of our buses have radio and text communication to a dedicated Control Room, manned 24/7. When drivers are aware of any incidents, they will contact our Control Room to request assistance from the Police and/or an Inspector on the bus. Text messages are increasingly used between drivers and the Control Room and are a discreet way to request assistance, removing the potential escalation of an incident on the bus.

Any customer who experiences or witnesses hate crime on a bus should, in the first instance, alert the driver and then report the matter to the Police. Through our partnership, we share CCTV footage and work very closely with Nottinghamshire Police to ensure the small number of people who commit crime on buses are dealt with. We are reassured, though not complacent, by the most recent independent Passenger Focus Bus Survey, where personal security on the bus scored a 93% satisfaction rating amongst Nottingham City Transport customers, the highest of any City-operator in the UK. (National average score 86%).

The Information Centre on our website advises customers what to do should there be an incident or crime on their bus and in light of these current cases, I will elevate the article to be a featured question.

NCT Bus

Image Sources
Bus ******************************

Nov 2012 : BFTF was disturbed to find that the BNP was distributing flyers in Luton that appeared to have come straight out of 1930s Germany (and BFTF does not use that analogy lightly) - with the exception that instead of hate cariacatures of Jews, it was Muslims that the BNP were now choosing to portray as the evil menace in our midst.

BFTF wonders whether this is part of the fun of political debate and that the Muslim community should just grin and bear it, or whether this qualifies as an inciteful document and should not be allowed.

So BFTF has asked the local council and MP what (if anything) would happen if the BNP started distributing flyers like this in Nottingham.



BNP Flyer distributed in Luton in October 2012


Update : 11 Dec 12
The sympathetic Council response included the following advice should such a leaflet be distributed in Nottingham:

"...citizens, mosques and groups can individually report this as racial or religious harassment or hate crime - our community officers would support them to report it to the Police and Stop Hate UK...."
The Council also suggeested the person to ask how the Police would react to such a leaflet was the Police and Crime Commissioner, so BFTF did .

Update : 13 Dec 12
The Office of the PCC forwarded BFTF's question to the Office of the Chief Constable, as it related to an operational matter. They responded with remarkable speed, sending a pdf letter which stated that distribution of leaflets similar to that shown above would very likely fall under the offence of "distribute written material to stir up racial hatred" which is contrary to sections 19(1) and 27(3) of the Public Order Act 1986.

The letter added that if BFTF (or presuambly anyone else) became aware of leaflets similar to that above being distributed they should report the matter to their local Police station immediately.

Update : 13 Dec 12
Also received a reassuring response from the local (Labour) MP stating that:
"The BNP leaflet you forwarded from Bedfordshire was truly shocking and clearly intended to undermine community relations...After the failed prosecution of Nick Griffin in 2006 the then Labour Government passed the Racial and Religious Hatred Act to strengthen existing provisions against incitement, making it a specific offence to incite religious hatred...I certainly don't believe that the Muslim community, or people from any community, should view this disgraceful and divisive literature as a normal part of the political process."

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Oct 2012 : Challenging bigotry on social media
There is a famous quote from Edmund Burke that goes something like this:
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"
and this is someting that often comes to BFTF's mind when confronted by bigotry and hate speech in the news or social media.

Surprisingly, BFTF has found that when one challenges people making these kind of comments, pointing out that they are portraying grossly unfair stereotypes and that they would not like it if they were themselves protrayed in such a negative manner, they often back down very quickly, sometimes deleting their comments.

It is as though they suddenly realise the arrogance, unfairness and damaging nature of what they have written.

Indeed this happended earlier today, when a Facebooker posted a stereotypical image of a Jewish person along with the following words :

"Look at this conniving face! These fools exude arrogance and ignorance in equal proportion and theirs is asinking ship, whomsoever who boarded it would surely drown, whomsoever jumps deck is saved!"
BFTF responded with this :

"I don't think it is acceptable to post pictures that portray Jews as having bad characters. It is a grossly unfair stereotype. You would not like it if someone portrayed Muslims in similarly negative terms."
Another Facebooker backed up this comment, and within a few minutes the whole post had been deleted by the original poster.So you see - we can ALL make a difference.

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Jan 2012 : Extremists and the Internet
An article in the Times back on 31st Aug 2011 by Arno Michaels, a former white power skinhead in the US, describes the mentality of such extremists (a mentality which, ironically, they share with Islamic and other extremists).

Arno explains that they had been told repeatedly that they were in a war, and that this war has been declared by the Jews against the white race over 2000 years ago. They were convinced that the "Jews" were trying to wipe out white people with a series of "mud races" such as Latinos.

Tellingly, he says that it was hard work defending this viewpoint against the evidence to the contrary that was all around him, and he would often retreat to his attic of Nazi memorabilia if he felt in any doubt. Arno explains that contact with someone who could challenge their controntational narrative "poses tremendous risk to egos built on such conflict". Yet, at the same time, all the problems and ills that plague society must be allowed to percolate through so that they can "feed an insatiable appetite for righteousness"

Perhaps most frighteningly, the horror stories they told themselves of what would happen if they were not victorious resulted in them denying themselves the compassion of sparing even children.

He points out that, back in the 80s and 90s, those in the white power movement would go to considerable efforts to maintain contact with each other, using post office boxes and calling cards, and would attract new members by causing enough havoc to get the interest of the media and also leaving lots of flyers around to give people a point of contact. But, at heart, it was still a face-to-face method of recruiting people.

Today, the internet has changed everything. It is now easy to immerse oneself in a world where one is cut-off from society yet still receiving evidence of all its defects.

You can find out more about Arno at the Forgiveness Project
And Arno's book can be found online at America's Black Holocaust Museum

See also Life After Hate


The Life After Hate Site

For the Wikipedia article on white supremacy, click here.

For a disturbingly long list of white nationalist groups, click here
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Communities as gangs
A very short post, just to highlight a single paragraph in this story about the adverese reaction that a US mosque received when it decided to open its doors to host a Muslim conference. Commenting on those who reacted angrily to this move, the rector of the church made the very perceptive comment that :

"Communities too often devolve into gangs in which only those who toe the line are accepted. But true community is not about conformism; it tolerates and even celebrates divergent opinions and personalities."

Very, very true words.
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Letter written to the Irish Times by Franz Frison, a holocaust survivor, following a pro freedom of speech letter by and a pro-freedom of speech column from Kevin Myers after an attempt by David Irving to talk at Trinity College Dublin (TCD):

“Sir, - Having experienced fascism in the flesh as a citizen of a Nazioccupied country, a member of the resistance and a concentration camp prisoner, I am profoundly dismayed by Kevin Myer’s reflections on the happenings at TCD on the occasion of the David Irving debate. If fascism could be defeated in debate, I assure you that it would never have happened, neither in Germany, nor in Italy, nor anywhere else. Those who recognised its threat at the time and tried to stop it were, I assume, also called “a mob”. Regrettably too many “fair-minded” people didn’t either try, or want to stop it, and, as I witnessed myself during the war, accommodated themselves when it took over.…. People who witnessed fascism at its height are dying out, but the ideology is still here, and its apologists are working hard at a comeback. Past experience should teach us that fascism must be stopped before it takes hold again of too many minds, and becomes useful once again to some powerful interests, as it happened in the thirties, or in Chile. I am one hundred percent behind the students and staff of TCD and congratulate them for showing the way."


Sunday 27 September 2015

Five Leaves bookshop, Nottingham

For reasons that BFTF can't recall, recently paid a visit to the Five Leaves Bookshop, hidden just off Long Row next to the Council House in Nottingham City Centre.

It's a very interesting, one might say rather left leaning, bookshop. Leaving without buying a couple of books was never really an option once BFTF had crossed over the threshold and was inside the store....

Follow the arrows to get to Five Leaves

Prepare to be amazed

Many, many, interesting books

BFTF was also interested to see that Five Leaves sold products by Zaytoun, a company who sell olive oil and other products grown by Palestinian farmers. Their website describes them thus:
Zaytoun was founded in 2004 to support the resilience and livelihoods of Palestinian farmers under occupation through fairly trading their olive oil. Initially funded by hundreds of customers who put up payment in advance of receiving their oil, Zaytoun quickly established itself as a UK social enterprise. With funding from Triodos Bank the company developed to offer a wide range of Palestinian artisan foods, and supported Palestinian farmers to pioneer the world’s first Fairtrade certified olive oil in 2009, sold through the UK market.

The range continues to grow, and is now available nationwide through independent shops, online, in Oxfam and of course through our very active network of volunteer distributors. We run two trips a year for customers to visit Palestine and learn more about life for a farming family there, and bring producers to the UK once a year for Fairtrade Fortnight.

Celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2014, we remain a successful Community Interest Company supporting the relationship between Palestinian producer communities and a growing network of passionate, discerning customers in the UK and Ireland.

BFTF bought some Zaytoun dates (which were delicious and caramely) and some Zaytoun Olive Oil.

Aside from some books, BFTF also bought
some Zaytoun Olive Oil and Dates

Thursday 3 September 2015

Joe Gormley "Battered Cherub"

A recent trip to a second hand bookshop resulted in the purchase of “Battered Cherub” (1982, Hamish Hamilton), the autobiography of Joe Gormley (1917-1993) who was president of the NUM in the dark days of the 1970s.

It proved to be a fascinating read, both in terms of learning about the harsh conditions of mining, and in terms of hearing the NUM’s perspective of the industrial disputes that characterised the early 1970s.

This post draws heavily from the book, with a few extra bits and pieces thrown in as well.

Introduction
1972 Pay Negotiations and Strike
1973 Pay Negotiations and 1974 Strike
1975 Pay Negotiations
1980 Coal Industry Act
Other Thoughts

Joe Gormley - Battered Cherub


Introduction
JG started working in coal mines at the age of 14 and he describes how mining in the first half of the 20th century was a very hard life, and worker protections were very few:
"We just couldn’t afford to be off work. I got a bad elbow once, when a big lump of coal came off the face and knocked me spinning. My elbow and shoulder were badly bruised, but I was back at work the following day...many times I've had fingernails ripped off, or had black nails through hitting them with a hammer. If that happened, I'd relieve the pressure by by getting a piece of wire....and sticking it down the back of the nail to let the blood spurt out"

Many years later Kent miner Jack Dunn commented:
“I remember the arguments on piecework when one of our colleagues was getting a bit old and he could not swing his shovel as quick as some of the youngsters. You had the internecine warfare of the younger blokes wanting to get rid of the old chap because they felt their returns were being diminished. Men exploiting their bodies and ready to exploit their mates”

JG was heavily involved in Labour Party politics, becoming a Councillor in the Ashton area in 1954. Surprisingly, JG feels that the Council there was more productive when it was all Labour than when it was split between Labour and the “Ratepayers”. Whilst acknowledging the dangers in the argument, he commented :
"the curious result of that was that the council actually became far less democratic than it had been when it was a hundred percent Labour. Because then we had fifteen different sets of opinions, and no one could claim they were arguing a certain way because it was local Labour Party policy....but as soon as the Ratepayers arrived...we started having to hold caucus meetings, and voted together according to what was decided at those private meetings."

There were two main factors affecting the mining industry in the 1960s: over manning, due to lack of a compulsory retirement age; and lots of cheap oil flooding the market, resulting in a move towards oil burning power stations . During this decade, the workforce dropped from from 700,000 down to 290,000 and from top of wages league down to 17th. Face workers getting just £27pw. Many pits closed in 60s, but in an orderly fashion and by agreement between NCB and NUM.

But that is not to say there were not problems. JG gave the example of Mosley Common pit, near Manchester. It was the biggest single pit in UK at the time. But there was poor relations between workers and management, to the extent that the pit was losing £1 million per year, after a 9million investment by the NCB and eventually the pit was closed. JG comments that:
"There are millions upon millions of tons of coal in Mosley Common, which are simply stagnating there…....it was the miners themselves who closed that pit, and I'll never forgive the people responsible, the NUM leadership there. Ah yes, the so-called militants, the fighters for this, that, and the other. Well they fought all right, but all they succeeded in doing was to close a bloody good pit."

JG became president of the NUM in 1971, a similar time to when Derek Ezra (described as being “thoroughly steeped in knowledge of the industry” became JG’s “opposite number” as chairman of the NCB chairman).

Between 1968 and 1971, the energy situation had swung from excess production and stocks to a critical fuel shortage. Indeed one of JG’s comments to the 1971 NUM conference was that “"...a world wide shortage of oil appears to be becoming permanent..." as well as pointing out that the industry needed to further mechanise and to improve wages to attract new talented miners.

Mining was still a dangerous business, between Jan 70 and May 71, 124 miners were killed and 912 seriously injured.

Joe Gormley on the tradegy of  Mosley Common Pit


1972 Pay Negotiations and Strike
In 1971, the NUM sought increases of £5pw for face workers , £9 for other underground and £8 for surface (to fulfil conference motion to establish £26 surface (from £18) and a minimum of £28 for undergroud workers, in a context of their having been a 9.1 %cost of living increase in the previous year, some miners were having to claim Family Income Allowance and Trawlermen being given £5pw, taking their pay to a maximum of £28.

The NCB offered £1.60pw, then a series of slightly higher offers, with Ted Heath’s incomes policies limiting what NCB could offer.

Ezra informally asked JG what would NUM settle at and JG responded with a figure of £3.50pw. JG also told Ted Heath that “It'll be a crime if you allow this strike to happen, because we shall win it you know.... [and] this will become the pattern for industrial relations for the next decade...'

The NUM voted for strike action, the first NUM national strike and which started on Jan 8th 1972.

The NUM, determined to make the strike as effective as possible (and thus short) adopted the new tactic of picketing to stop movement of coal, not just production. “Secondary” Pickets were sent, legally, to all major power stations, ports, coal depots and steel works to prevent coal movement (except for schools, hospitals, the elderly etc) . This action was with the support from TUC and other unions.

According to JG, there was a great deal of public support for strike, noting that “the Observer has come out with a feature in its business section showing how badly miners had fared over the years, and much of the press was also well-disposed”

Later JG learned that Dr David Owen had four picketing miners staying with him for the duration of the strike and said that “I’ve never met four better mannered lads in my life”

Soon 12 power stations ran out of coal and were shut down. Bob Carr at Dept of Employment told JG “The trouble is, Joe, that you’re doing everything legally. I can’t find a way of getting at you”

Joe Gormley on the 1972 Miners Strike


On Feb 9th, the NCB offered an effective £4pw increase for surface (cf £8 claim and previous £2 final offer), but over 18 months. This was rejected by NUM.

Feb 11th, 3 day week imposed, followed by 1,600,000men being laid off – yet still lots of public support according to JG.

A court of inquiry was held on 15-16th Feb. It heard stories including that of Jack Collins who worked in a pit so hot he had to work naked and whose wages had decreased from £5.50 a shift in 1963 to £5 in 1972 and from from Alan Carter who could earn £18.45 if driving a heavy pit lorry, something that would be paid £30-35 in other industries.

The inquiry also heard how there had significant productivity improvements over the previous decade.

Published on Friday 18th Feb, the Courts Report was very supportive of miners case, agreeing that wages should reflect the tough conditions in mines, and also recognising the social and economic costs of the industry run down in the 60s.

It recommended wage rises of £5 for surface, £6 for underground, £4.50 for face (giving £23, £25, £34.50 pw respectively) but over 16months, not 12.

Both NUM and NCB were keen to finalise a deal that day, given the pressure and the effects the strike was having on the wider UK economy. NUM felt that an increase on the report suggestions was unlikely, but neither had it met their wage increase targets. So the NUM prepared a “shopping list” of other items that had been in discussion over the years (fringe benefits, allowances etc) and eventually, well past midnight, got the agreement of the NCB to pretty much the whole lot. These extra items were worth more than the actual cash offer!

The deal was accepted by the NUM Executive and, via ballot, the members. Even so, JG comments that:
“looking back at it all, I’m not sure whether that strike performed a good service or a bad. It was good in that it united the lads, and showed them the strength which that unity could bring. On the other hand, its success led to an attitude of mind, prevalent even today [1982], where people, the moment they don’t get what they want, think and talk immediately of strike action”
Coal miner, 1942


Early 1973 pay negotiations and 1974 strike
By Jan 1973, inflation had eaten into the previous pay rise and the NUM put in for £30 for surface, £32 for underground, £40 for coalface (increases of £7, £7, £5.50)

The NCB responded with the government policy max of £1 + 4% (surface £25.29, underground £27.29, coalface £36.79).

When NUM balloted members for permission to take strike action, members said “No”, 143,006 to 82,631 - possibly due to residual financial pressure from previous strike, possibly because they were satisfied with other changes such as stop to pit closures and increases in pensions - so NUM accepted the offer.

In the July 1973 NUM conference, JG stated that “the miners will struggle for the right wage for the job, the wage which I have said previously must be the highest industrial wage in Britain, because the job warrants that wage”

Conference instructed the NUM leadership to put in for £35 for surface, £40 for underground, £45 for coalface, representing increases of around 35%, well above the government incomes policy at the time.

The NCB’s offer, on 10th October 1973, was of around £2.25 per hour plus various others benefits/allowances.

JG comments that “To the government it must have seemed that we were deliberately setting ourselves on a collision course with them. We weren’t. We simply wanted the right wages to keep young men coming into the industry”

JG had a secret meeting with Ted Heath in which he suggested that increases in unsocial hours payments might be a way of meeting the NUM goals without breaking the incomes policy - it was clear that the NUM was negotiating not with the NCB, but with the government directly.

In October, the Six Day War in the Middle East resulted in the Gulf states reducing their oil output and increasing prices. JG comments that “…our arguments, repeated over dozens of years, about the need for a national energy policy, and the maximising of our own resources, were coming home to roost”.

NUM met with Ted Heath on Oct 23rd and pointed out that the oil crisis meant that the country needed as much coal as it could get – but 600 men a week were leaving the industry for better conditions and wages elsewhere – but there was no change in the government’s position.

An overtime ban was called by the NUM on Nov 12th and took effect immediately. This was very significant as it meant that all routine weekend (overtime) maintenance work was now being performed during the week, and coal could not be mined at the same time, so output immediately fell by 40%.

John Wilson Carmichael A View of Murton Colliery near Seaham, County Durham, 1843


The entire NUM Executive met Heath on Nov28th. During this meeting the Mick McGahey (NUM Vice President) told Heath words to the effect of “Of course I want to change the Government, but I want to do it by democratic means, through the ballot box”.

JG interrupted saying:

“I’m not here to talk about changing the government. WE are here as the NEC of the NUM, discussing possibilities of ending an industrial dispute, and trying to get the right wages for the men on the job. That’s our position. When you do to the country, you go to the country. You’ll decide that. And I shall decide to oppose you at that time, and I shall work like all holy hell to get you defeated at that time. But this strike is not about that. This strike is about wages and that only”
McGaheys comments were leaked to the press who wrote it up as though the strike was about bringing down the government – a theme that continued in press coverage for the rest of the dispute.

A three day week was announced by the government on Dec 13th.

At around the same time, Willie Whitelaw, at the Dept of Employment, asked to have a chat with JG. In the course of the discussion, JG suggested that a way forward might be for some movement on the issue of waiting and bathing time – this being the unpaid time mines spent preparing to go down the mine and washing themselves after a shift – a suggestion that Whitelaw was supportive of.

The next morning, JG met with Harold Wilson, Leader of the Labour opposition, and mentioned the possible way forward to him. Wilson replied that “..you do realise you’re pulling the Tory government’s irons out of the fire for them?” to which JG replied “I’m not pulling anything out of the fire for the Tories…All I’m doing as a trade union leader is trying to avoid the need for an industrial dispute…

The next day, Wilson presented the idea in Parliament as his own, thus ensuring that the Government could not accept it “nor would I expect them to” as Gormley comments.

Wilson later claimed that, after meeting JG, he also heard the idea mentioned in a public speech. JG suggests that this does not fit with the available facts.

Comments JG :
“…I will never forgive Harold Wilson for it. It was completely despicable…if Harold and company wanted an election, they should have forced it another way, using Parliamentary methods, rather than using the Union”
Joe Gormely on what the NUM really wanted to do in 1973


It is interesting to read what the Jan 3rd Times leader had to say about the dispute, in the light of oil price increases :

“Since the industry, at present pay levels, is having difficulty in maintaining, let alone increasing, its work force, the clear conclusion is that pay and other conditions of employment need to be improved fairly rapidly…”


On the Governments side, the offer was only what the incomes policy allowed, but with a promise to then sit down with the NUM and the NCB and discuss the future of the industry, including pay.

A ballot of NUM members on strike action resulted in a large majority in favour.

On 7th Jan 1974, Heath called a general election for 28th Feb.

The strike started on 9th Jan.

A Pay inquiry has held on 18-22 Jan and found that miners pay had indeed fallen in comparison to other industries and that miners deserved an extra 8%.

Labour won (just) the election and said they would not interfere in negotiations between the NUM and the NCB, i.e. that they would restore the right of free collective bargaining to these negotiations.

The NUM and NCB met the next day and were able to hammer out an agreement that put surface on £32, underground on £36 and coalface on £45.

Later in 1974, the “Plan for Coal” review was published and accepted by the NUM (and other involved unions), NCB, both sides of the House of Commons and the Government itself. One of its recommendations was that there should be safeguards to protect the industry against short term fluctuations in the price of competing fuels.

UK coal mining jobs trends


1975 pay negotiations
These resulted in an increase to £41 for surface, £41 for underground and £47 for coalface.

JG comments on negotiations by saying “You have to fight and prove your entitlement to every last penny. You must have a good case to put to employers….the idea that free collective bargaining inevitably leads to a great wage explosion is a complete fallacy”

In the July 1975 NUM conference Arthur Scargill, representing Yorkshire miners put forward a resolution demanding £100 for face, £85 for underground and £80 for surface. JG described this publically as “plain bloody daft” and told the conference that :

“We have proved in the last three to four years that this Union has great industrial power, and maybe some of us have become a little drunk with this power and are constantly wanting to be flexing our muscles…”, also telling conference that passing Scargill’s resolution would result in the Labour government introducing legislation to deal with wages.

Nevertheless, the motion was carried. JG comments that:

“As I had forecast at the end of the first strike, it was the first in a whole line of demands-backed-by-threat which have come to dominate the proceedings of our Union, and which run contrary to all I have learned in a lifetime dedicated to negotiation”
UK coal production and import trends


1980 Coal Industry Act
In 1980, the Tory government introduced the Coal Industry Act of 1980, which required the coal industry to be self-financing within 3-4 years. According to JG, this was impossible to achieve without lopping off large parts of the industry, and went against the (cross party supported) Plan for Coal of 1974.

At the time the NCB was stockpiling 8 million tons of coal per year due to cheaper coal being available from overseas.

In contrast to the public view that miners wages were making UK coal uncompetitive, JG states that British coal was the cheapest in Europe, and that other countries subsidized their production to a larger degree. In 1979 France was subsidizing at £28/ton, West Germany at £15/ton, whereas the UK was subsidizing at just £1.50/ton. JG admits, however, that US coal was cheaper, because it was open cast mined.

It was JG’s view that that NCB was putting rumours of pit closures out so they didn’t have to tell the NUM directly.

At a meeting on 10th Feb, Derek Ezra, under pressure, said that the NCB intended to close “between twenty and fifty pits over the next five years”

JG comments that “It was probably the most stupid statement he ever made”, pointing out that that fifty pit closures over five years might well have happened over the normal course of events (there had been 40 closures since 1974 for example) but in an ordered fashion, with new seams and mines being developed to replace the old ones.

But stating a target of fifty pits left the NUM ”angry and bitter”. Local strikes soon started and the NUM sought urgent talks with the Government. Surprisingly, the government backed down.

JG explained the logic of wanting to use UK produced coal “..we don’t believe that the cheap coal that is available from abroad is going to be there for very long. Once it becomes commercially possible to produce gas and oil from coal, no one is going to want to export coal…we’re going to find ourselves in exactly the same position as in the Sixties. The same trap. The reliance on a flow of cheap oil which suddenly dried up.”.

Other thoughts
JG retired from the NUM in 1981, with Arthur Scargill winning the election as next President.

In the penultimage chapter of “Battered Cherub” JG talks about his philosophy as a democratic socialist.

He describes his sadness that the higher ranks of the Labour Party were filled with people from the middle classes (Wilson, Castle, Benn, Foot etc) and that this has left out socialists who have grown up not knowing where their next meal is coming from. He feels that the latter group have a warmth and an emotion lacking in the intellectual socialists. In words that seems relevant today, JG comments that :

“…we are losing a lot of our traditional support because we no longer seem to be a Party, of warmth and emotion, a Party not only of radicalisation, but a Party of necessary change, and a Party which explained why that change was necessary. Somewhere, especially in the last decade, we have lost out, and there is increasing cynicism about the way in which Labour MPs, when they get into the House of Commons, seem to turn into different people from those who announced their platforms in order to get nomination.”
JG also claimed that Trade Union presence on the Labour NEC was a steadying influence on the Party.

Another point made by JG is that it is a “stupid thing” for Unions to campaign to bring down governments, suggesting that “that way lies disaster. We would get to the position where other people would step in to take control, and that would mean, in my opinion, not a Left –wing government, but an ultra-Right-wing government, whose prime objective would be to destroy the Labour and Trade Union Movement.

Image Sources
Coal Mine in 1942, Coal Production, Coal Mining Jobs, Murton Colliery