SPANISH CIVIL WAR VETERAN

RMTnews :: september 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 26 B ob Crow met life-long trade unionist and war veteran Howard Andrews at the Tolpuddle festival this year in Dorset. Howard, who will be 100 years old next year and is known to friends as ‘Andy’, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1924 and served in India. After witnessing the grinding poverty in India, Andy returned to London and addressed street meetings about the reality of British empire. As a life-long Communist, Andy took part in the struggles against mass unemployment and was beaten up by Oswald Mosley’s blackshirts at a fascist rally in Earl’s Court while the police stood by and watched. Before the Spanish International Brigades were formed, Andy drove a donated ambulance to Spain in 1936 and worked in front-line hospitals for two years. He carried out hard and dangerous work at some of the toughest battles of the war including Teruel and Ebro. His hospital was attacked on many occasions by fascist aircraft and during the battle of Ebro he and other nurses had to be ordered to retreat across the river. Andy rejoined the fight against fascism in 1939 by joining the Royal Artillery and only just escaped with his life at Dunkirk when Nazi planes were straffing the beaches with impunity. After the war, Andy relocated to Dorset, established a branch of the health union COHSE and worked hard as a local trade unionist until his retirement in 1972. Today he is a peace campaigner who is still fighting to stop the introduction of a new generation of Trident nuclear missiles. Bob said it was an honour to meet someone who had done so much for the anti-fascist, labour and peace movements. “Andy is a real inspiration and living proof that you can change the world for the better no matter how hard that struggle may seem,” he said. BOB MEETS SPANISH WAR VETERAN R MT has given its backing to the Scottish TUC’s appeal to support a Private Members Bill being lodged by Karen Gillon Labour MSP for a new law covering Corporate Culpable Homicide. Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson MSP has maintained that she would introduce legislation on Corporate Culpable Homicide and the Scottish Executive set up an expert panel two years ago to report to the Justice Minister in taking forward legislation for Scotland. However, the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC has now taken the view that to attempt to bring forward Corporate Culpable Homicide on behalf of the Scottish Executive is not competent and not within the powers of the Scottish Executive contained in the Scotland Act. This is despite the fact that a member of the Justice Department sat on the expert panel and never indicated the views of the Lord Advocate. Therefore, Karen Gillon MSP has now decided to lodge a Private Members Bill over the issue. The STUC has been at the forefront of the campaign and the cost of the Private Members Bill and of employing the services of a Queen’s Counsel to challenge the Lord Advocate is over £10,000. Other unions have contributed and RMT has donated £1,500 to the fund as one of the most vocal trade unions in Scotland and one of the biggest supporters of the campaign throughout Britain following unsuccessful charges laid against directors of rail and ferry companies. SCOTTISH BID FOR CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY