BOOK REVIEWS/LETTERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2015 :: RMTnews 28 T he Labour Euro-Safeguards Campaign has produced a timely pamphlet analysing the true nature of the European Union. The original Common Market was opposed strongly by the left and supported by the right. The Tories took us in and the left campaigned to get out in the 1975 referendum. The left correctly identified the Common Market as essentially anti-socialist designed to roll back the socialist gains in post-war Western Europe. Today’s EU has developed into anything imagined by those early opponents and is now simply a branch of global anti-democratic neo-liberalism. We now see millions out of work and the Eurozone has become an utter economic failure sliding into deflation. It is time to reject the EU and the economic disaster it has become and to begin to reverse the damage inflicted on so many millions of lives across Europe and beyond. For more information go to www.lesc.info Kelvin Hopkins MP Luton North T his scrapbook, kept by a 17- year-old children’s nurse in Yorkshire, offers an insight into the political and emotional impact that the Spanish Civil War had on a generation who lived through the agonising defeat of the Spanish Republic. Elizabeth Pearl Bickerstaffe’s cuttings reveal the extent of human suffering in the war in Spain – and likewise in China – in which civilians were the main casualties. They also tell of the efforts in Britain and by the International Brigade volunteers in Spain itself to prevent this latest triumph for the fascist powers in Europe. And we sense the fierce commitment to the cause of the Spanish Republic felt by the newspaper correspondents and photographers who witnessed this unfolding tragedy. In his foreword, Rodney Bickerstaffe underlines the important part played both by the events in Spain and by his mother’s scrapbook in shaping his political values. The Union has obtained copies of this publication which are available to members at the cost of £10.00 each contact a.scott@rmt.org.uk A SPANISH CIVIL WAR SCRAPBOOK THE EU: A VIEW FROM THE LEFT RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2015 :: RMTnews 29 L ast year I was at an anti- violence against women meeting. About half way through, there was a break, and Janine stood up, and recited poetry. I have known Janine for a long time, but never knew that she wrote poetry. I was very pleasantly surprised as she was very good. Her poems were on serious subjects, some hard hitting, but some also had a wry humour in them. This book is a collection of some of those poems. Part of the success of Janine’s poems, that evening, was the way they were delivered, however they lose nothing in their written version. They cover a wide range of subjects including autism, anti- Tory rants, pet dogs, homelessness, violence against women, and family matters. My favourite, is one that she performed that night, called “Her Name Is Reeva”. It’s about the woman who was killed by Oscar Pistorious, the woman constantly referred to, by the press, throughout his trial as his “girlfriend”. It really hits home, and I bet you had all forgotten who she was until I just mentioned her. Read this poem, and you won’t. “Her name is Reeva She is a woman A person in her own right” My taste in poetry is more Keats, and Shelly, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. It is difficult to be objective when reading work by a friend, but I am pleased to say I would like this whoever wrote it. It is only three pounds- buy it! Peter Pinkney MOSTLY HATING TORIES June 27 2015 St Clement’s Church, Leigh on Sea, Essex on Saturday 6.30pm to 9.30pm. £12 entrance A night of songs of Resistance, Democracy and Peace For more info on the Voice and Vision album go to www.topicrecords.co.uk Voice and Vision with... Dick Gaughan Legendary Scottish folk singer Dick Gaughan and many others will be performing songs that appear on the acclaimed Voice and Vision collection, released by Topic records in conjunction with the GFTU. This tribute to Tony Benn and Bob Crow is a fundraising event for the Leigh on Sea folk festival, the largest of its kind in the country. For updates, information and tickets, go to the festival’s website www.leighfolkfestival.com, as well as its facebook and twitter pages.