Banners aloft / Parliamentary column

A Carlisle National Union of Railwayman branch banner was given a send off by Bob Crow recently after over 100 years of service and handed over to the local Tullie House Museum. The last outing of the 12 foot by 12 foot silk banner, depicting Carlisle Castle and Cathedral, was at the annual general meeting of the Carlisle Community Law Centre. Carlisle RMT branch secretary Craig Johnston said it was one of the largest surviving banners and it was fitting that people could now admire it as it was a part of the history of the city. THE trade union movement has a long and proud history of commissioning national, regional and branch banners and banner maker Ed Hall is carrying on this tradition for RMT around the country. RMT Manchester regional council has a remarkable new banner depicting the terrible events of the Peterloo massacre and a quote from the revolutionary poet Shelley. Ed worked closely with regional council members to agree the subject of the design and went away to do research. Ed, who already has a deep knowledge of the history of the labour movement, said that he still found it astonishing that the yeomanry charged the crowd in 1819, considering how limited its demands were, ie “to bring to the attention of Parliament the plight of the urban poor”. RMT news – Essential reading for today ’s transport worker 8 ALOFT: Bob Crow speaking in front of the old NUR banner with Terry Jones (centre) and Alan Stubbs of the Carlisle Community Law Centre. Union banner unfurled for the last time Banners aloft 9 RMT parliamentary column E ARLIER this year, the Chairman of the BNP – Nick Griffin – announced that he would be standing against me at the next General Election. After winning four seats on Bradford Council in June 2004, the BNP is seeking to use the General Election as a platform to launch its 2006 council election campaign and claim to be an accepted political force in the area. As Bradford Council is traditionally a hung Council, 2006 could – if Griffin has his way – see the nightmare scenario of the BNP having the balance of power. The repercussions of this for Bradford Council including Keighley and all the honest and hardworking people who live there would be devastating. The election result in Keighley will be of profound importance and the people of Keighley and Ilkley have a real choice. They can either allow an extremist and racist organisation to secure a political foothold (and accept all the consequences thereafter) or, alternatively, they can send a resounding message rejecting extremism. If Griffin fails in Keighley, where will he go next? The BNP has already failed in Oldham and Burnley and a further electoral defeat will seriously damage the BNP below the water line. Griffin cannot simply go on peddling his poison from one town to another. The whole strategy of the BNP is based on conflict and division. Wherever the BNP has turned up, it is not to alleviate problems or to find positive solutions to difficult issues. Rather, the life blood of the BNP is conflict and division. It seeks to exploit weakness – setting community against community – for its own political gain. Lies, misinformation and distrust are the BNP tools of the trade. The vast majority of those people who are fooled into supporting the BNP do not subscribe to the racist ideology of the party fanatics. Rather, they are individuals with legitimate concerns who are largely disillusioned with the major political parties. The job of reaching out to these people – to demonstrate that there is an alternative to the lies of the BNP – is vital. It is the only sure way of eliminating the BNP – but it is a time consuming process. I have launched a robust and active anti-BNP campaign in Keighley. I am delighted to say that our friends in the Bradford and Keighley Trades Council have done likewise and, importantly, the Keighley Together Campaign has been launched by the churches, mosques, voluntary sector, Keighley College, trade unions and students in Keighley to raise the positive aspects of Keighley. The will to defeat the BNP in Keighley is very strong and I am confident that we will prevail. However, the responsibility for defeating extremists – hell bent on destroying our town – rests with all of us. If you are abhorred by the BNP or want to ensure that right wing extremism is never allowed to fester, then please do something about it and join our campaign. There are no second chances – if we do not convincingly defeat Griffin at the next election, the repercussions will be felt throughout the country. It is the working man and woman that will suffer most if the BNP are allowed to secure a political foothold in Keighley. At a time when Keighley is on the verge of seeing the most radical programme of regeneration – with the prospect of new jobs – and investment then a reputation for extremism would cause severe long term damage. I am not prepared to let that happen and I know that I can count on the unions. Finally, can I thank the many members of the RMT for their help, courtesy and friendly chats during my weekly train journeys between Keighley and London over the past eight years – this part of my routine has been a great pleasure. ANN CRYER LABOUR CANDIDATE FOR KEIGHLEY Fighting the fascist BNP 9 “On the train back from Manchester I read some of its history, and a quote from 1802 talks of child labour in the cotton mills. “It said ‘they come at five in the morning, we allow them half an hour for breakfast, and an hour for dinner, they leave work at six and another set of children relieves them for the night. The wheels never stand still’,” he said. Leominister Ed also thoroughly enjoyed making the Leominster and Hereford RMT banner. “I travelled down for a day and was so impressed by the quiet English green valleys that I later took a holiday there. “There is something magical about the apple orchards with sheep grazing under the trees while traveling on the local train from Leominster to Hereford and watching the rolling hills go by. “Living in London it is easy to forget there is a real countryside in this country,” he said. Ed, who was once a health union branch secretary himself, says that it is important to show local scenes and events on banners as well as the great trains which are central to the industry, such as the Eurostar and the Coronation Scott (which he included on the Preston RMT banner). In his work Ed has found that there is great pride amongst transport workers, whatever their grade, which runs through RMT members. “The fight for equality and against privatisation make banners all the more important,” Ed says. Artist Ed Hall has worked for Jeremy Deller who won this years Turner prize. He also made the banner for the passenger terminal at Tilbury where the Windrush landed in 1948, bringing the first West Indian workers to staff London’s buses and hospitals. He has an exhibition at the Barbican in May, which later goes to the Lowry, and the Manchester regional council have agreed that their banner can be part of it. G If you want more details of Ed Hall’s work or commission a banner for your branch contact: e-mail: edmundhall44@aol.com Tel 020 8318 0420 or write to: 20 The Lane, Blackheath, London SE3 9SL