DE-COLONISING EDUCATION: EMPOWERMENT PROJECT. D.E.E.P.

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ISSUES & RESOURCES

Sign posting human & multi-media resources to schools & beyond to combat inequalities, racism and injustice arising from our colonial experience. 

ISSUES

Introduction

A group of teachers working through 70s, 80s and 90s, much of the time in Birmingham, are responding to requests for help and support in the present climate when the Black Lives Matter movement, together with revelations brought about by the Covid 19 Pandemic, have laid bare inequalities where there are glaring disparities between “racial” and ethnic groups and how they are affected on the face of it by the virus. On closer inspection other factors like health, housing, employment, education, the criminal justice system come into play. Issues arise where there is evidence to show effects of discrimination together with individual experience. A number of Black Members of Parliament have have spoken of their experience of the British Parliament which they described as a “White Man’s Club”. It can be expected that other key organisations mirror this together with services they should provide to all.

Carlton Duncan was the first Black Headmaster in the UK when he took charge of Wyke Manor School in Bradford. This was at the time another Head Teacher, Ray Honeyford publicly decried the “multicultural” movement. Carlton was caught up in the ensuing rows that erupted. He moved to Birmingham as Head Teacher of George Dixon School, amalgamation of two grammar schools. His coming to Birmingham was greatly welcomed by those of us teaching in Birmingham and we witnessed first hand his determination and ground breaking work with pupils, their families and the community.

Carlton had long be sought after as a speaker from the days he was a deputy Head Teacher at Sydney Stringer School in Coventry. He came to speak to teachers in the Department of Teaching English as a Second Language in Birmingham, a group of 2-300 teachers led by Bob Chapman in the 1970s. Other guest speakers included Professor Stuart Hall and Jean D’Costa, a writer of children’s books in Jamaica.

Based on his considerable pioneering experience which led to his appointment to both Rampton and Swann Committees he has prepared the following statement as we launch De-Colonising Education, Issues and Resources.

De-colonising the Curriculum – for educators in UK.

Why don’t we just talk about a Curriculum for Equality and Justice for ALL.

The school curriculum has numerous purposes.  As teachers we, and most of the rest of society, place particular emphasis on the informational purpose for reason of enabling pupils to pass tests and examinations.  There is no denying that this aspect or purpose of the curriculum is of great significance and importance largely because of the way the world beyond the classroom is structured, the demands it makes and its expectations. But while we are organizing to follow this important purpose, some of us pay scant regards to the content accuracy, motivational effects and values transmission of the curriculum diet upon which we feed (indoctrinate?) our young impressionable minds.

Colonialism did more serious harm to humanity than just plundering other people’s wealth, land and labour.  Much more harmful is what colonialism did to minds and value systems which are then replicated and perpetuated everywhere – almost globally. “None but ourselves can free our minds from mental slavery”.

What the Colonialists Left Behind

The colonialist put and left in places systems (the church, schools, and teacher-training institutions) which confound, corrupt and enslave the peoples of the territories they otherwise plundered.  What is more, the damage replicates and perpetuates its purpose automatically.  That is why, for example, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean still display certain values which were in existence over 70 years ago when I was a boy in the Caribbean.

a. The whiter/browner skins are more valued than darker ones.  Consequently, many Jamaicans actually bleach themselves to become more acceptable and marketable.

b. Although Patois/Creole is most widely practiced than any other language, it is not readily accepted in up-market circles.

c. In spite of what esteem Bob Marley brought to Jamaica, the Rasta culture and appearance are not allowed to front-line respectability in Jamaica.

d. It is seriously distressing to see some black people cow tailing to local or visiting white people on the island. The remnants of slavery much in evidence.

“None but ourselves can free our minds from mental slavery”.

Teacher-training institutions, their personnel pregnant with colonialist values, train teachers and Sunday school teachers.  These, in turn, produce our politicians, doctors, lawyers, employers, industrialists and all the others…let us not forget peer-group influences.  The vicious circle of colonialist value perpetuation persists.

What the Colonialists did at Home

Apart from the physical spoils, wealth and gains from plunders (note Cardiff, Liverpool and Bristol), there, at home social, educational and political institutions are all about institutionalised racism from the word go.  This has become so deeply ingrained into the furniture of life that the earliest multicultural and antiracists and human rights struggles of the 1960s onward have made little impact on the surface of our society.  We see this so very clearly in our school exclusions, incarceration, employment, housing and health statistics as underlined by COVID-19 since the beginning of this year. 

Resources

Our attention is drawn to the ‘fierce urgency’ of turning to the resources routes for identifying and removing injustices thus enabling the promotion of the kind of society and world where people are evaluated in terms of the ‘content of their character and not the colour of their skin’, their sex, their religion or their sexual orientation.  The vicious circle alluded to above has to be broken into and this resources junction is as good a point for this purpose as anywhere else. I have just one proviso on this resources argument, viz., resources must be broken down into human and non-human categories.

Human Resources

It is my contention that unless we get our human resources right, we cannot get the non-resources avenues right for the simple reason that humans create non-human resources and thus transmit their values this way.  Hence, if we get our educators (human resource) right everything else is more likely to fall in the right places.  This brings into play issues such as diversity among educators, role-modelling and the reduction of stereotyping.

The classroom teacher needs to be aware that it is in three areas (fact contents, motivational worth and value transmission), in particular, that colonisation has done the most debilitating harm and racial injustice to ALL our pupils.  The ALL here is very important to note.  For example, what is the motivational value of teaching about Nightingale to white pupils?  Could we have similar effects on black pupils through Mary Seacole’s history and contributions?  Guess what, both black and white pupils (for sheer convenience here, you are black if you are not white) through this one example have learnt that there are great achievers in every race in every field.  We are microscopically altering the value systems in our children, affecting positively their attitude and expectation of one another so that when these children become tomorrow’s employers, administrators, politicians and people in positions of power, influence and responsibility, it will no longer matter what colour is their colleagues. They were not taught to hate and discriminate based upon distorted curricular material.  Instead, they learnt how to appreciate the good in themselves and others because we altered the colonial messages.  We need a holistic approach to the development of young minds whose task it will be to perpetuate what is truthful, just and valued universally.

The colonialists, in particular the British, have spread their wings far and wide – whether it was India, the Caribbean, and Africa or where have you – the stories of exploitation, spoils grabbing, plunders and enslavements are now freely available, not only from the point of view of the colonialists but also from those of the sufferers with greater authenticity.

Up to the time I quitted the schoolroom in the late 1990s, The British school system was largely designed to transmit the white man’s values and view of the world. And there was glorification in everything he did or achieved even if it was enslaving his fellow men and plundering the wealth and products of other countries to take back to Cardiff, Bristol and Liverpool, to mention just a few glaring examples.  This is what the removal of statutes and other images are about at the present time.  Underneath or resulting from such glorification is racial injustice which we see manifesting itself in educational under-achievement, poor housing, unemployment and the kinds of health issues currently underlying the disproportionate attacks of COVID-19 on non-white peoples all over the globe.

The classroom teacher in preparing his or her lesson plans tonight should use the available research time (the internet makes life so much easier now a days) to deliver more truths, enhanced motivation and greater equality to all the pupils tomorrow.

So that when, as head teacher, I come to your classroom you will not be teaching Florence Nightingale in isolation from Mary Seacole.  You will not be giving your pupils a diet of lies by omissions that the horrendous wars – 1st and 2nd – were all fought by white faces.  They will be learning about the contributions made to these historical epics by black and brown faces. Your pupils will be learning that Wilberforce and Lincoln did not singlehandedly brought about the end of slavery.  Instead, they will be learning about the more vital contributions made by leading slaves themselves – perhaps starting with Nanny and the Maroons.

***Subject by subject, starting with Mathematics and the Sciences, should be rigorously purged of falsehood (decolonized) so that ALL our pupils know of black contributions in all fields  Gone must be the times when music and sports are the only areas of refuge for black pupils.  Because Angela’s mother currently earns a living from low level catering is no reason for discouraging her daughter who wants to do medicine and directing her to follow in her mother’s foot step.  My own experiences, as a black teacher/head teacher, illustrate this matter well.  In every school that I taught from I was a probationer till retirement (six in total), I was always chosen first for the cricket team.  They only realised their mistake when the first ball was bowled to me.

***For more subject by subject illustrations, see

‘Pastoral Care: An Antiracist/Multicultural Perspective’ Carlton Duncan, Blackwell Education, Basil Blackwell 1988 ISBN 0 631 16223 2 and 0 631 90162 0

‘Multicultural Education: Towards Good Practice’ Edited by Ranjit Arora and Carlton Duncan, Routledge and Kegan Paul 1986 ISBN 0 7102 1202 X

“Multicultural Education: Towards Good Practice Routledge Education Books, Routledge and Kegan Paul 1986 NEdited by Ranjit Arora and Carlton Duncan

Carlton Duncan 22/10/20.

Carlton Duncan’s article on Rampton/Swann: RAMPTON AND SWANN ANSWERS ARE AVAILABLE AND AWAITING IMPLEMENTATION

Bernard Coard (a Grenadian academic and teacher living in the UK in the 70s) became alarmed by his experiences of how the British ESN schools (schools for those considered to be educationally sub-normal) operated and were populated.  This prompted him to publish his book HOW THE WEST INDIAN CHILD IS MADE EDUCATIONALLY SUBNORMAL IN THE BRITISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.  It is no longer accepted to use the term “West Indian”, hence, here from, the term “black is substituted.

What Coard found was that 4 out of 5 children in ESN schools were black.  Often, these children found their way to ESN schools with the support and acquiescence of their parents because their children’s teachers told them that their children would be sent to “special” schools.  “Special” is a term known to black people as something very good and beneficial.  Incidentally, in spite of the fact that political involvement in Grenada eventually landed Coard a death sentence which was later commuted to life imprisonment, Coard has maintained a strong interest in this aspect of British education from his prison cell. His current view is that what is needed to bring educational justice to all children alike is:  “quality education for all: that is one that is not dependent on the parental income/wealth or social status and connections of school children, does not have schools providing vastly different standards of education and does not have a two-tiered system, or multi-tiered system of education, providing differential education for the children of different classes, genders and ethnicities”.

Though, at the time, Coard’s disclosure was the most significant in stirring black parents into action, he was not alone in identifying the educational obstacles and educational state of affairs for black children.

Throughout the education system generally, black children were encouraged to take CSE as opposed to the then GCE examinations.  The latter, of course was for high flyers (usually white children) whilst the former was of much less worth for children’s life chances.  Studies, after studies, showed the damning effects of these practices on black children’s performance in schools.  A Brent LEA study in 1963 raised alarm about black children performance in reading , arithmetic and spelling; Vernon 1965; Little’s studies 1966 and 1968 and a Redbridge study in 1978 all, similarly reflected major concerns about black children’s performance compared with white children in British schools.  It was in this climate of concern that the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration in 1977 produced its Report on ‘The West Indian Community’.  The Report highlighted the widespread concern about the poor performance of [black] children in schools.  The Committee, therefore, recommended that the Government, as a matter of urgency, should institute “a high level independent inquiry into the causes of the underachievement of children of West Indian origin in maintained schools and the remedial action required”.  The James Callaghan Labour Government with the Honourable Shirley Williams as Secretary Of State for Education, at the time, responded to the Select Committee’s recommendation positively but widened it to include all ethnic minorities whilst giving more urgent attention to children of West Indian origin.  Hence, this was the birth of the Rampton and, subsequently,  Swann Inquiries which reported in 1981 and 1985 respectively.  Carlton Duncan, one of our members served on both Inquiries.

This was the remit given to Anthony Rampton (Chairman) and his colleagues:

“Recognising the contribution of schools in preparing all pupils for life in a society which is both multi-racial and culturally diverse, the Committee is required to:

review in relation to schools the educational needs and attainments of children from ethnic minority groups taking account, as necessary, of factors outside the formal educational system relevant to school performance, including influences in early childhood and prospects for school leavers;

consider the potential value of instituting arrangements for keeping under review the educational performance of different ethnic minority groups, what those arrangements might be;

consider the most effective use of resources for these purposes; and to make recommendations.

In carrying out its programme of work, the Committee is to give early and particular attention to the educational needs and attainments of pupils of West Indian origin and to make interim recommendations as soon as possible on action which might be taken in the interest of this group”.

There was a change of Government in 1979 which produced two other Secretaries of State (Mark Carlisle and Sir Keith Joseph) during the life time of the Rampton and Swann Inquiries.

On the Rampton Inquiry, there were 4 Afro Caribbean members; 5 Asian members and 13 Caucasians making a total of 22 members.  For the Swann Inquiry, membership changed on account of resignations and co-options. By and large, the bulk of the original membership lasted the full duration of the five year inquiry.

The Rampton Interim Report (West Indian children in our schools – Cmnd 8273, HMSO 1979) was based on considerable researched evidence, gathered information from parents, pupils teachers at all ranks, LEAs and community interested officials and others from all walks of life.  Following the ensuing deliberations of the evidential material so gathered, we were able to report our findings with recommendations in June 1981.  The evidence, findings and recommendation are far too voluminous for reproduction here.  Consequently, the reader is referred to chapters 1, 2 and 4 severally of the Interim Report for the details.  What these chapters will reveal is that the most prominent issue in our findings was racism (other issues included: the inadequacy of pre-school provision; linguistic difficulties of West Indian children; the inappropriateness of the school curriculum and the examination system, teachers’ low expectation of West Indian pupils’ a loss of trust and a lack of understanding between home and school, discrimination in employment, and by extension, poor housing and health issues, the state of race relations generally particularly with the police, the absence of black role models in high places).  These other issues are themselves pregnant with racist practices: but let the Report speak:

“In seeking to identify the factors which lead so many West Indian children to underachieve in our schools, many causes, both within the education system and outside it, were suggested by by those who gave evidence to us.  That which was most forcefully and frequently put forward by West Indians themselves was racism, both within schools and in society”. Page 11 of the Report, chap. 2, Para 1.

Did all this sound the bells of the impact of corona virus (COVID-19) upon the black communities; was Black Lives Matter clearly in the making?

This Report, then. was the first ever Government official document to identify racism as a problem for black people and their children.  This did not auger well for Anthony Rampton who was politely removed from the Chairmanship of the Committee and replaced by Lord Swann – a man who self-confessed to be ignorant of the issues upon which he is now called to give leadership.  

“The then Secretary of State’s invitation to me to take on the Chairmanship of the Committee came as a considerable surprise, i had been a scientist, the Principal of an ancient Scottish University and Chairman of the BBC, but I had little knowledge of the needs of Britain’s ethnic minority citizens…..”.

So, following on from the Interim Report, the Inquiry would now be the Swann Inquiry and ultimately, The Swann Report (Education for All) Cmnd 9453, HMSO, 1985.

DE-COLONISING EDUCATION: EMPOWERMENT PROJECT. D.E.E.P.

Right from the start, it became obvious that part of Lord Swann’s role was to remove racism as an issue, more over the main issue, from the final Report.  11 members resigned from this Committee.  Their replacements plus co-opted others ensured a viable Committee to the end.  None of the Afro-Caribbean members resigned.  They needed to see this through and they all did.  Even against the background of Lord Swann picking them off one by one to dine at his up-market home, it didn’t work.  They found their own survival methods and techniques to stay together in the light of the clear evidence of racism.  Lord Swann was definitely not able to get the final Report to ignore the evidence.  But he was not to be out done.  Unknown to the membership of the Committee, Lord Swann prepared his own summary of the Report and ensured that it would find its way gratuitously into every school in the land.  The Report, itself, carried a price tag of £24.  In Lord Swann’s summary of nearly 7,000 words, he never managed to utter the word ‘racism’ once, except where he was quoting Professor Bhikhu Parekh (a member of the Committee) who had mentioned the word three times in the passage Lord Swann was quoting.  Because the evidence which were collected from the people who mattered so clearly embodied racism, and because both the Interim and the final Reports openly dealt with the racism issue, Lord Swann had difficulties in shutting out that matter.  It will be noted that throughout his summary, he sought refuge euphemistically in the terms “prejudice and discrimination.  ‘Education For All’ is a volume of 807 pages with a price tag of £24.  Clearly, it cannot be reproduced here.  The reader is besieged to reach for this entire Report rather than rely on the more readily accessible but misleading summary produced by Lord Swann behind the backs of the members of the Committee.

The damage which was done by the release of the summary has left us still grappling with issues that could have been laid to rest had the recommendations of the two Reports been implemented.  Some members of the Committee, including our member, Carlton Duncan, foresaw this happening.  Six members of the Committee, including Carlton Duncan, dissented from the wider Committee’s decision on the then popular call for separate schools which would alleviate many of the educational ills affecting ethnic minorities. (See page 515 of the main Report – Education For All)  The main reason why the Committee took a different view from that of the six dissenters was based on the assumption that the Reports’ findings and recommendations would be implemented and thus removing the pressures for separate schools.  Well, to date, the Reports have been largely shelved in dusty places.  And although the answers to the vast array of problematic issues flagged up by COVID-19, Black Lives Matter and, more recently, Meghan and Harry are already known and documented, the arguments, void of action, still rage on indefinitely.

The following are snapshots of education at a time the Rampton an Swann reports were being deliberated giving a flavour of young Black pupils’ experiences – and determination to make life better for the following generations. The implementation of recommendations of these reports is still awaited and it has been due to the determination of such young people that things have changed. Until there is firm leadership at every level and committed Government progress will continue to be fragmentary and discretionary.

From the Playground, to Training, to the Classroom – A Teacher’s Journey

My memories of growing up in the 1970s are of the National Front and the racist attitudes which often resulted in physical and verbal abuse on a regular basis. The 1980s proved to be a time of further riots and tense race relations. Despite a difficult school experience in these times, I decided to become a teacher to give future students a more positive education.

I found that a change of attitude emerged in the late 80s, during my teacher training, when lecturers were much better at identifying issues and dealing with them accordingly. We briefly studied the Rampton (1981) and Swann (1985) reports. The change in attitude was also reflected in the literature we studied, including Tagore and Agard as well as Shakespeare and the Brontës. Maths highlighted the Arabic numerals as well as the Roman, and even the PE curriculum took religious and cultural needs into account, for instance more covering kit. By the 90s, the new national curriculum emerged, as did I, into primary schools. I was determined to make the curriculum truly representative of the diverse global community that I felt education had a duty to cover, empowering all pupils. A supportive environment enabled me to explore the possibilities, with other, like-minded members of staff and an empathetic mentor.

And we certainly did.

Examples included Elizabethan trade links with Mughal India, the artwork of the Benin civilisation in West Africa, workshops in Creole poetry and the stories of Anansi from the West Indian oral tradition, as well as the achievements of African and Asian scientists and mathematicians, from al-Khwarizmi (now widely acknowledged as the father of algebra, al jabr) and Sir Magdi Yacoub, the pioneering heart surgeon. Through RE we celebrated the major world religions with an emphasis on those relevant to the student community including Rastafarianism. Beyond the curriculum we celebrated international events unifying our diverse communities, celebrating Eid, Guy Fawkes’ Night, Divali and Halle Selassi’s birthday.

I looked ahead eagerly to the 21st century, optimistic about how education would continue to build on equal opportunities for all.  

Issues include evidence of the current situation both globally and nationally revealing serious inequalities. 

  1. Covid 19: differential effects of the Covid 19 pandemic both in its observed differential outcomes for different groups and those charged with caring for victims of the virus.
  1. “Black Lives Matter” response to differential treatment of people based on “race”, ethnicity, gender etc. 

3.    Denial of Institutional Racism. Failure to implement Rampton, 1979/Swann 1985. The Sewell Report 2021.

4.    Resistance to colonialism.

5.     Reparations. Banks have paid out to former slave owners to compensate them after their slaves were freed, but those who had endured slavery were left to fend for themselves in an alien world that saw many lynchings and discriminatory treatment. 

Black people continue to experience discriminatory practices daily e.g, Government described by Black MPs to be a “white male club”. Police use of procedures like stop and search in a discriminatory manner. Channel 4 news report includes Black MP being stopped and well-known athlete, and manner in which an individual is treated without being told why they were being stopped and searched including the use of force. Police had procedures in place which were ignored and senior officers in denial that the acted in a discriminatory manner, an enduring legacy of colonial power.

RESOURCES

Signposts for Educators

Aim: to provide sign posts for educators concerned with ensuring equality and justice in eduction and key organisations providing services to the community. Includes issues and resources

Two fold strategic approach includes human and non-human resources 

Signposts pointing to:

1. Human resources

    organisations/individuals: information; advice on rights;  correct procedures;   support

2. Non-human resources: websites; multi-media publications 

Inclusion of and portrayal of Black people in writing and images selected. 

C.L.R James explain the rationale he had in mind when writing “The Black Jacobins”.

“The Black Jacobins was first published in England in 1938, but I had written on the subject before I left Trinidad in 1932. I had the idea for some time. I was tired of reading and hearing about Africans being persecuted and oppressed in Africa, in the Middle Passage and all over the Caribbean. I would write a book in which Africans or people of African descent instead of constantly being the object of other peoples’ exploitation and ferocity would themselves be taking action on a grand scale and shaping other people to their own needs” C.L.R. James foreword to 1980 edition.

Signposts point to facts which have been overlooked, linking an individual with better known individuals and events in commonly taught not just in history but in other subjects across the curriculum, including science and mathematics. The story of zero is one starting point. https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/the-story-of-zero-getting-something-from-nothing

Signposts point to links with little or unknown people to people and events already familiar in all subjects across the curriculum

Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de St George) with composers Gossec, Haydn & Mozart, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Robespierre, Toussaint’ L’Ouverture

Signpost achievements they made and influences they had on others. eg Bologne Invented Sinfonia Concertante form used by Haydn & Mozart etc., He has a key role in commissioning Haydn’s 6 “Paris” symphonies leading their 1st performances in Paris.

Issues faced/addressed by individual including contributions made.

Link to actions taken to advance equality and combat racism and discrimination. eg involvement with groups in Paris & London

Links to dates and places when individuals lived or events happened. 

Positive images showing individuals in action. 

Other examples with similarities.

The Sewell Report

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2021 and another report on racism. Following on Black Lives Matter and the inequalities laid bare for all to see by Covid 19 and once more a disproportionate proportion of the burden on the Black community, particularly those working at the front line, in hospitals, in the care services. This latest report requested by the Government, seeks to put a lid on those saying that inequalities could and should be avoided if attention was paid to institutional practice and particularly discriminatory practices and procedures that have found there way into ways of thinking and doing things principally as a result of the colonial experience which is clearly in evidence all around us. The evidence is strikingly clear to those whose families have been on the receiving end of exploitation and degradation and continue to be in the hands of our institutions: the deaths of George Floyd in the U.S. and Belly Majinga in the U.K., the Victoria station ticket worker who contracted Covid 19 after being spat at on while on duty both of whom should have been protected by institutions they came into contact with: the police and rail services in these cases. 

To add insult to injury it has been reported that some of those named in the Government’s Sewell Report hadn’t been aware of the final document’s content. It has in fact been rewritten by unknown people at no 10 Downing Street. 

The attitude of the leading institutions in the country are not new as the following article written by a member of both Rampton and Swann committees testifies. It seems to have been forgotten that neither report was implemented. In the case of Swann the Secretary of State for Education, Sir Keith Joseph, requested Lord Swann to send his summary of the report to all schools which were left to purchase their own if they wanted the full report. Recommendations have never been implemented to this day. Next year the Welsh Government intends to implement its own. So what will the Westminster Government do? Don’t hold your breath!

Carlton Duncan’s article on Rampton/Swann: RAMPTON AND SWANN ANSWERS ARE AVAILABLE AND AWAITING IMPLEMENTATION

Bernard Coard (a Grenadian academic and teacher living in the UK in the 70s) became alarmed by his experiences of how the British ESN schools (schools for those considered to be educationally sub-normal) operated and were populated.  This prompted him to publish his book HOW THE WEST INDIAN CHILD IS MADE EDUCATIONALLY SUBNORMAL IN THE BRITISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.  It is no longer accepted to use the term “West Indian”, hence, here from, the term “black is substituted.

What Coard found was that 4 out of 5 children in ESN schools were black.  Often, these children found their way to ESN schools with the support and acquiescence of their parents because their children’s teachers told them that their children would be sent to “special” schools.  “Special” is a term known to black people as something very good and beneficial.  Incidentally, in spite of the fact that political involvement in Grenada eventually landed Coard a death sentence which was later commuted to life imprisonment, Coard has maintained a strong interest in this aspect of British education from his prison cell. His current view is that what is needed to bring educational justice to all children alike is:  “quality education for all: that is one that is not dependent on the parental income/wealth or social status and connections of school children, does not have schools providing vastly different standards of education and does not have a two-tiered system, or multi-tiered system of education, providing differential education for the children of different classes, genders and ethnicities”.

Though, at the time, Coard’s disclosure was the most significant in stirring black parents into action, he was not alone in identifying the educational obstacles and educational state of affairs for black children.

Throughout the education system generally, black children were encouraged to take CSE as opposed to the then GCE examinations.  The latter, of course was for high flyers (usually white children) whilst the former was of much less worth for children’s life chances.  Studies, after studies, showed the damning effects of these practices on black children’s performance in schools.  A Brent LEA study in 1963 raised alarm about black children performance in reading , arithmetic and spelling; Vernon 1965; Little’s studies 1966 and 1968 and a Redbridge study in 1978 all, similarly reflected major concerns about black children’s performance compared with white children in British schools.  It was in this climate of concern that the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration in 1977 produced its Report on ‘The West Indian Community’.  The Report highlighted the widespread concern about the poor performance of [black] children in schools.  The Committee, therefore, recommended that the Government, as a matter of urgency, should institute “a high level independent inquiry into the causes of the underachievement of children of West Indian origin in maintained schools and the remedial action required”.  The James Callaghan Labour Government with the Honourable Shirley Williams as Secretary Of State for Education, at the time, responded to the Select Committee’s recommendation positively but widened it to include all ethnic minorities whilst giving more urgent attention to children of West Indian origin.  Hence, this was the birth of the Rampton and, subsequently,  Swann Inquiries which reported in 1981 and 1985 respectively.  Carlton Duncan, one of our members served on both Inquiries.

This was the remit given to Anthony Rampton (Chairman) and his colleagues:

“Recognising the contribution of schools in preparing all pupils for life in a society which is both multi-racial and culturally diverse, the Committee is required to:

review in relation to schools the educational needs and attainments of children from ethnic minority groups taking account, as necessary, of factors outside the formal educational system relevant to school performance, including influences in early childhood and prospects for school leavers;

consider the potential value of instituting arrangements for keeping under review the educational performance of different ethnic minority groups, what those arrangements might be;

consider the most effective use of resources for these purposes; and to make recommendations.

In carrying out its programme of work, the Committee is to give early and particular attention to the educational needs and attainments of pupils of West Indian origin and to make interim recommendations as soon as possible on action which might be taken in the interest of this group”.

There was a change of Government in 1979 which produced two other Secretaries of State (Mark Carlisle and Sir Keith Joseph) during the life time of the Rampton and Swann Inquiries.

On the Rampton Inquiry, there were 4 Afro Caribbean members; 5 Asian members and 13 Caucasians making a total of 22 members.  For the Swann Inquiry, membership changed on account of resignations and co-options. By and large, the bulk of the original membership lasted the full duration of the five year inquiry.

The Rampton Interim Report (West Indian children in our schools – Cmnd 8273, HMSO 1979) was based on considerable researched evidence, gathered information from parents, pupils teachers at all ranks, LEAs and community interested officials and others from all walks of life.  Following the ensuing deliberations of the evidential material so gathered, we were able to report our findings with recommendations in June 1981.  The evidence, findings and recommendation are far too voluminous for reproduction here.  Consequently, the reader is referred to chapters 1, 2 and 4 severally of the Interim Report for the details.  What these chapters will reveal is that the most prominent issue in our findings was racism (other issues included: the inadequacy of pre-school provision; linguistic difficulties of West Indian children; the inappropriateness of the school curriculum and the examination system, teachers’ low expectation of West Indian pupils’ a loss of trust and a lack of understanding between home and school, discrimination in employment, and by extension, poor housing and health issues, the state of race relations generally particularly with the police, the absence of black role models in high places).  These other issues are themselves pregnant with racist practices: but let the Report speak:

“In seeking to identify the factors which lead so many West Indian children to underachieve in our schools, many causes, both within the education system and outside it, were suggested by by those who gave evidence to us.  That which was most forcefully and frequently put forward by West Indians themselves was racism, both within schools and in society”. Page 11 of the Report, chap. 2, Para 1.

Did all this sound the bells of the impact of corona virus (COVID-19) upon the black communities; was Black Lives Matter clearly in the making?

This Report, then. was the first ever Government official document to identify racism as a problem for black people and their children.  This did not auger well for Anthony Rampton who was politely removed from the Chairmanship of the Committee and replaced by Lord Swann – a man who self-confessed to be ignorant of the issues upon which he is now called to give leadership.  

“The then Secretary of State’s invitation to me to take on the Chairmanship of the Committee came as a considerable surprise, i had been a scientist, the Principal of an ancient Scottish University and Chairman of the BBC, but I had little knowledge of the needs of Britain’s ethnic minority citizens…..”.

So, following on from the Interim Report, the Inquiry would now be the Swann Inquiry and ultimately, The Swann Report (Education for All) Cmnd 9453, HMSO, 1985.

Right from the start, it became obvious that part of Lord Swann’s role was to remove racism as an issue, more over the main issue, from the final Report.  11 members resigned from this Committee.  Their replacements plus co-opted others ensured a viable Committee to the end.  None of the Afro-Caribbean members resigned.  They needed to see this through and they all did.  Even against the background of Lord Swann picking them off one by one to dine at his up-market home, it didn’t work.  They found their own survival methods and techniques to stay together in the light of the clear evidence of racism.  Lord Swann was definitely not able to get the final Report to ignore the evidence.  But he was not to be out done.  Unknown to the membership of the Committee, Lord Swann prepared his own summary of the Report and ensured that it would find its way gratuitously into every school in the land.  The Report, itself, carried a price tag of £24.  In Lord Swann’s summary of nearly 7,000 words, he never managed to utter the word ‘racism’ once, except where he was quoting Professor Bhikhu Parekh (a member of the Committee) who had mentioned the word three times in the passage Lord Swann was quoting.  Because the evidence which were collected from the people who mattered so clearly embodied racism, and because both the Interim and the final Reports openly dealt with the racism issue, Lord Swann had difficulties in shutting out that matter.  It will be noted that throughout his summary, he sought refuge euphemistically in the terms “prejudice and discrimination.  ‘Education For All’ is a volume of 807 pages with a price tag of £24.  Clearly, it cannot be reproduced here.  The reader is besieged to reach for this entire Report rather than rely on the more readily accessible but misleading summary produced by Lord Swann behind the backs of the members of the Committee.

The damage which was done by the release of the summary has left us still grappling with issues that could have been laid to rest had the recommendations of the two Reports been implemented.  Some members of the Committee, including our member, Carlton Duncan, foresaw this happening.  Six members of the Committee, including Carlton Duncan, dissented from the wider Committee’s decision on the then popular call for separate schools which would alleviate many of the educational ills affecting ethnic minorities. (See page 515 of the main Report – Education For All)  The main reason why the Committee took a different view from that of the six dissenters was based on the assumption that the Reports’ findings and recommendations would be implemented and thus removing the pressures for separate schools.  Well, to date, the Reports have been largely shelved in dusty places.  And although the answers to the vast array of problematic issues flagged up by COVID-19, Black Lives Matter and, more recently, Meghan and Harry are already known and documented, the arguments, void of action, still rage on indefinitely.

Note: Sir Keith Joseph requested summary report of Swann to be issued to all schools. If they wanted the full report they were left to purchase it themselves: the debate is here.

Black Lives Matter. Implementing Rampton and Swann

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In 2020 Black Lives Matter became a universal cry after another death of a Black person, George Floyd, caused uproar re-opening the Civil Rights’ Movement action 4 decades earlier. At the same time the pandemic, Covid 19, also laid bare gross inequalities, not least Black people, many of whom were prominent on the front line in health and other essential services, key workers in fighting the pandemic and saving the lives of others.

In the UK Belly Mujinga died from the Covid virus after someone spat in her face. She was on duty as a railway worker based at Victoria Station in London in a public space, but without protection from infection in a busy public place. She was vulnerable having an underlying health condition. Covid 19, in addition to the Black Lives Matter movement, laid bare inequalities apparently on the basis of “race” and ethnicity. Research is revealing socio-economic equality is the more likely reason for the huge disparity in deaths among Black communities.

Black Members of Parliament are calling for de-colonising education. The last official government reports on education and Black achievement date back to 1979 and 1985. For one reason or another they were kicked into the long grass. Many individual schools welcomed their recommendations resulting in changes being piecemeal and those in opposition able to ignore or even challenge the reports’ conclusions. Dawn Butler, now a well established MP, has led calls for action. She is not alone. A number of other more recently elected Black members are also making the plea. While there is opposition and denial from the Government benches, the Labour Party too has been dragging its feet in opposing racism, with the exception of its vigorous championing of anti-semitism. There can be no league table of groups facing discrimination. Equality demands fairness across the board and legislation if necessary to ensure that colonialism thinking and practice is comprehensively removed from institutions. While people are free to have their beliefs it is unacceptable for any government to allow discrimination arising from the UK’s colonial history to continue resulting in disproportionate numbers of deaths of Black people to occur. One example above show individuals in the criminal justice system to use extreme violence in the course of duty, the other the failure of an employer with a serious underlying health problem to give protection to their employee. Deaths of Black people in custody and on the front line in the health and other essential services have been common in the UK in recent years. Of those responsible few, if any, have been brought to justice.

The Stuart Hall Foundation has published reports of recent figures showing differences between groups in achievement in education in 2016/7. However the latest official Government reports arising from concern of children’s performance were the Rampton Report, 1979, and Swann Report, 1985. They give the recommendations of each report.

Carlton Duncan, who provided the introduction to this report, was a member on both Rampton and Swann committees. He has shone revelatory light onto reasons why implementation has not occurred between then and now. He is asking the question that now Black Lives Matter and Covid 19 have made it crystal clear that discrimination continues in a way many considered to be in the past this is not born out by the day to day experience of those who experience racism and discrimination. It is the same question as Black MPs now in parliament are asking about their experiences both in Parliament and in their constituencies. This includes having their staff to weed out abusive correspondence before its gets to them. The current Minister for Equalities and Women, Liz Truss, has stated that in her opinion institutional racism is “evidence free”!

Marketing Covid 19. Why testing won’t work in the UK

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Testing for the presence of the Covid 19 virus was put into private hands like everything else in the world of neoliberal ideas – more or less dominating the whole of planet Earth. Questions were asked from the very beginning why Serco should be entrusted with tracking and tracing when they have shown themselves to be serially incompetent in running key services like the railways and prisons. They are like a number of other companies run by financiers so why should they know anything about a virus that is puzzling even to the most experienced and distinguished academics in the fields of health and science. Contracts supposedly for combatting the virus have been issued to all and sundry regardless of track records or even their ability to deliver such specialised services. NHS staff in particular have been sidelined and starved of resources when they have the knowledge and experience to run such a service. General Practitioners could easily through their networks reach a sizeable section of the population to do tests where people are instead of the present chaotic system of either sending potentially seriously ill people hundreds of miles or finding that hyped up “world beating” tests are not available for them.

Predictably Big Pharma is out to make the most out of peoples’ misfortune and you can read about which ones to invest in to speculate in making a quick buck. Of course there are winners and losers, and those with insider knowledge well placed to make eye watering gain as the dispossessed continue their life or death struggle. The Huffington Post has been looking at the beneficiaries of service contracts. The point is made that time was not on the Government’s side in the process of procurement, but there are questions remaining unanswered as the Huffington Post declares:

“However, it is unclear how the government sought to achieve best value for money without the usual checks and balances in place – for example, how the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) would have selected a dormant company such as Initia Ventures Ltd, which has no history manufacturing PPE, as a supplier when it was not carrying out tendering processes.”

The use of Serco was questioned at the outset when it was understood that staff would be recruited on very basic pay and given a day’s training for tracking and tracing. In Germany a different approach has been followed with responsibility given to each separate state. A number of commentators have expressed the view that local government and agencies in the UK have responded more effectively since they know the situation on the ground and understand local need. Again Germany put the work in the hands of knowledgeable health specialists. The system appears to work efficiently and effectively.

Professor Alan McNally who was involved in setting up laboratories to deal with tests carries out makes it clear that the important question is not the number of tests carried out, but it is crucial there needed to be plans in place when children returned to school and others returned to work at the beginning of September. Although it was well known this would happen the planning expected never took place. Daily in Parliament figures are given about numbers of tests undertaken against a background of greatly increasing demand when those who predictably would be urgently needing to be tested if they were to stay at work or school have failed to get tested or been sent on long journeys.

Notwithstanding the Government persists in putting up the numbers testing this time putting another accountancy firm in charge, Deloittes. They spectacularly failed to deliver back in April, so much so that a local hospital wanted to take over. The multiple firms involved are competitors and it would be good to know if they work together. In order to get a coherent picture it needs single, informed leadership.

Arthur Scargill, Leader of the Socialist Labour Party, has made a clear statement that we need to get General Practitioners centrally involved with testing. This would ensure that a broad section of the population could be contacted and we would get a comprehensive picture of where there are problems with infection. It is urgent that this should be addressed because the earlier we know the better we can target and reduce infection rates currently rising again in many parts of the country.

NATIONWIDE TESTING FOR CORONAVIRUS                                                                                                                  There should be an immediate Stop to Outsourcing of Testing for Coronavirus to Private Companies such as Capita; Serco or any other company.  

All Testing should be undertaken by Britain’s NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE  GP SURGERIES who could test the entire population within weeks.  The millions of pounds currently being spent or under consideration to pay Private Heath Care Providers should be allocated to All NHS Surgeries. It’s our NHS Doctors, Nurses, and all employees at  surgeries who should be given increased pay (using the cash earmarked for Private Companies).  

During the terrible months of March, April, May,June, and July  the Government urged us to SUPPORT THE NHS. Millions of people responded and applauded the brilliant staff at all levels, without who we would have been helpless.   NOW is the time to put the slogan   ” SUPPORT THE NHS”  into Action. 

In addition any Government with an ounce of compassion will bring All Care Homes into  Public ownership within the NHS. 

IT’S TIME THE PEOPLE TOOK TO THE STREETS TO ENSURE THAT OUR NHS ONCE AGAIN CARES FOR ALL “FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE”  Medical and Social Care must be available “Upon Demand, At the Time of Need and FREE of Charge.”                                                                                                        

Arthur Scargill                                 

Socialist Labour Party.

Re-opening schools

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The Socialist Labour Party issued the following statement from its Leader, Arthur Scargill on 2nd May, 2020

No Schools, Colleges or Universities should be re-opened until there is a drug to cure anyone infected by the virus or we have a vaccine to prevent it. In the event that a decision is made to re-open Schools the maximum allowed in a classroom should be 15. This will require the building of hundreds of new classrooms; a task which could be achieved quickly as shown by the building of new Hospitals in 7 to 10 days. The health of our children and grandchildren is our responsibility; and we should protect our students at College and University in the same way.“

We are pleased to note that the leaders of the Scottish National Party, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly have all issued statements today, 11th May, 2020, echoing the Policy of the Socialist Labour Party’s opposition to the Tory Government abandonment of the policy “Stay Home; Protect the NHS; Save Lives”

Socialist Labour Party 20/5/2020

Deaths from Covid19 Pandemic in UK: official and real.

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Arthur Scargill, Leader of the Socialist Labour Party, has noted the announcement, now over a week old, that the figures for death from the Covid19 virus across the UK was more than 10,000 higher than the figures released as the official ones. One week on he points to the headline figure in the Mirror, just one of the papers that revealed the real figure last week, and is wondering why the lower figure is still in circulation.

The Daily Mirror’s headline today announces that the official death toll in the UK is today, 23rd May, 2020 35,023 with 227 added overnight. A week ago the Mirror itself announced a different figure ”

“Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that by May 8, the number of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales was 39,006 – compared to 29,349 previously declared by the Department for Health. It brings the current death toll to more than 44,000 when Scotland and Northern Ireland’s deaths are accounted for, and those confirmed by NHS England on dates after May 8.”  

This was corroborated by an ITV report.

Other news outlets are using the old outdated lower figures. Why? Arthur Scargill thinks that the figure of 44,000 announced over a week ago now could have passed 50,000. What are the reasons that updates based on what is the real figure have vanished?

We are not being told the truth as in many other key contentious areas such as personal protection of workers putting themselves at risk, the state of testing and tracking, the movement of people from hospitals to care homes and how safe it is to re-open schools and work places. New Zealand by contrast had things up and running from early on and it tells.

Global Crises and Socialism

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Global Crises and Socialism

There is much talk about “a return to normality”, but after the succession of crises we have endured is that really what we want or need? Each one has brought into sharp relief deep entrenched failures of our society under Capitalism.  The 2008 financial crash was a crisis on a global scale and led to response of governments to austerity and privatisation, a further crisis affecting working people disproportionately. Those unemployed and dependent on state support shook our faith in government to its foundation. Here we argue that the conditions which have led to the crises are inevitable under the neoliberal Capitalist system which is the norm over so much of the world so we need to look at the global crises and socialism.

The paralysis felt over years on the failure to resolve the outcome of the 2016 referendum, when nearly 17.5 million voted for Britain to leave the EU has also had a traumatic effect on the population. The Brexit debate dragged on in Parliament for 3 years until the 2019 General Election brought in support for those Tories who with Boris Johnson resolved to “Get Brexit Done”. The slogan was effective when many of those in depressed areas of the UK, notably in North and Midland areas of England, abandoned traditional voting habits supporting the Labour Party, voted Tory. The Tories achieved a landslide majority.

Professor Takis Fotopoulos characterisation of people who voted for Brexit seems to me a lot more rational than that drummed up by “the EU elite, closely associated with bankers, financiers and those associated with the 2008 financial crash, (who) are using a poisoned cocktail of ‘suppression and mainly deception’”. The entire press, along with every opposition party in Westminster echoed the EU elite view where Brexiteers were typically racist xenophobes and supporters of the fascism seen as growing dangerously across Europe and elsewhere. Once papers like the Guardian and Independent could be relied on for a balance of articles which put across other points of view. In 2016 the Guardian published some unpicking neoliberalism as one of the great dangers. Over the next few years a number of writers responsible for these simply disappeared from view on their pages. While the Morning Star did continue to publish such articles, it became compromised by its support for Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party failing to note the complete reversal of his long standing opposition to the EU, along with Arthur Scargill, Tony Benn and others. As can be seen in writings and speeches during this period by Scargill he has remained consistent in his criticism of the EU and its elite, which means withdrawing from customs unions and leaving a “no deal” Brexit on the table. Undoubtedly any agreement required by the EU would entail continued acceptance of EU law, as is shown in the case of Norway, which while not in the EU has to accept that overriding Norwegian law. This has led to rights hard won by unions to be overturned in favour of the wishes of big business. Why those in the Labour movement persist in saying that the EU policies and practice is in the interest of working people and supportive of their rights is a mystery. It is demonstrably not the case as we can see notably in France where workers were moving towards a General Strike after weeks of unrest and taking to the streets. This has attracted little comment in the main stream pro-Europe media.

The latest crisis which has cut across all others, the global pandemic, Coronavirus, puts the others into sharp relief. Those relegated to obscurity without a voice are now visible in the front line of the fight against it. Earlier in the year Matt Hancock is on record saying that we were fully prepared for such an eventuality. The results of earlier, deliberate policy to reduce state control through austerity, privatisation, bailing out banks etc. has left us floundering. Those on the front line are having to make do with shortages of protective equipment. Even that issued has been shown to be flimsy and inadequate putting lives of hard pressed, essential and experienced personnel at great risk. There are far too many among those who have died from this highly contagious pandemic. 

It has been noted that those countries who took steps early on to identify those who were safely immune and those who spread the virus have been successful in keeping the number of deaths relatively low, notable South Korea and Germany. 

As for the EU, its ability respond to the pandemic and give help to struggling countries is starkly apparent. Italy has had to rely on help from Cuba and China. Cuba, a small state struggling under sanctions by the United States, continues to give support to so many others. Even the British Government noted the help it had received from them. (True to form little was said in the press, except to continue to criticise). 

If as Takis Fotopoulos has suggested Brexit is part of an anti-global movement by those who have experienced and suffered from globalisation and neoliberalism, the result of the 2019 General Election in the UK an be seen as consistent with that view. The EU’s strategy of making it appear that Brexit was essentially a right wing, racist movement appears to have been successful. For many antiracists on the left the idea of being labelled as supporters of the likes of Farage and Johnson was too much. But this was how the media consistently ramped up that message with these figures shown as the main and only ones who supported Brexit. In the mid seventies the Labour movement had opposed it. Arthur Scargill, renowned for his consistency, has continued to oppose it with a completely different message. At one time he was seen on television and reported in the press regularly, but now we see Johnson and Farage. (If anyone wants to check Arthur Scargill’s speeches at and since the referendum look at the “Socialist Labour Party GB” channel on Youtube and their website at https://socialist-labour-party.org.uk/ )

There is a whole army of others who have to go out on call in spite of everything. Supplying food is essential – here we have a system of supply which is creaking as we depend on imports more than home grown produce. It could be the next crisis. We depend on those in this industry which like so much more is hugely dominated and controlled by multinational companies and profit. We need those who clean up and care for the environment for reasons of health and wellbeing. Again working people including refuse collectors and cleaners. Those who keep us safe, maintaining public order or responding to emergency: police, fire fighters, ambulance workers. How do we show they are valued when their numbers have been vastly reduced, their pay has been reduced or they have been outsourced to private providers who oppose union membership, give them zero hour contracts or withdraw sick pay?

So let’s return to normality, a normality not dominated by 1% of the population, but one where those who are needed and able to work are rewarded with pay and conditions which reflect the high value that society places on them. Those that can’t have a strong support network that recognises their care, housing, health and other essential need for well being. Immediately following the financial crisis in 2010 David Cameron as Prime Minister, with the willing connivance of the Liberal Democratic Party in coalition, announced the need to reduce the role of the state in providing for people. As writers at the time said his real aim was to follow up on Thatcher and end the welfare state. It was Cameron who led in announcing a referendum on Britain staying in or leaving the the European Union. He promised that the outcome would be respected. This was duly acknowledged and agreed by the Labour leadership. Between then and the 2019 General Election there was complete stalemate in Westminster with politicians unable to agree with every party, apart from the divided Tories putting forward policies favouring remaining in the EU. Those Tories which recognised the ground swell of people voting to leave saw an opportunity and went to the country on the promise to “get Brexit done”. 

They appealed to the British people by stealing socialist clothes. Labour by contrast appeared to ditch the leave voters by talking about a referendum and joining with all other Westminster parties by campaigning to stay in the EU. Doug Nicholls, General Secretary of the General Federation of Trades Unions, made the point in a speech at a Socialist Labour Party meeting in Birmingham that Boris Johnson had completed the one policy the Tories had fought the 2019 election promising, to “get Brexit done”. That had now been achieved and now is the time for Johnson to step aside. Now is the time for the Labour movement and Trades Unions to step up and provide leadership in working for the fairer society that successive crises have shown very clearly is essential for a society that puts human need ahead of the greed of the few which has brought us to our knees.

Arthur Scargill on Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit

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Arthur Scargill on Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit
https://www.antiglobalization.org/2019/01/26/arthur-scargills-statements-on-the-betrayal-of-brexit-by-the-labour-party-and-takis-fotopouloss-response/

One of the worst aspects of the period leading up to the 2019 General Election was that few claiming to be on the left, both in the Labour Party would dare criticise Corbyn’s response to Europe falling in line with Blairites in the party and others who campaigned to remain. Arthur Scargill has been active in opposing the European Union recognising it does not support the working class. Quite the opposite since it is run by financiers who have vested interests in international finance and showed in the 2007/8 financial crisis that they were prepared to bail out banks with unlimited funds. They followed this by supporting austerity and privatisation, opposing trades unions and their members. Countries in the EU that were weaker financially, such as Greece, face enormous pressure which affected key services to people. Meanwhile the wealthy elite thrived and capitalised on the crisis.

Neoliberalism has ravaged the world, and now a global pandemic has followed in its way exposing the ruling elite. Health services already ravaged by neoliberal policies of cutbacks and savings have been ill prepared. There is a total dependence on working people to step up to the front line to deal with the deadly virus at great cost to themselves and their families. They are having difficulty getting adequate protective equipment that is essential for their welfare. Testing, found to be key in China and others battling the pandemic, is hardly in sight.

Takis Fotopoulos writing in 2016 characterised the Brexit movement as one leading a response to neoliberalism and globalisation when working class people had suffered significantly because of austerity, withdrawal or privatisation of essential public services and opposition to union membership.

Lost mural is found

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Detail of Saltley Gate mural showing Arthur Scargill, at that time a rank and file member of the NUM, addressing the strikers and supporters in including 30,000 Birmingham workers who stopped work on 10th February 1972.

It’s just two years before the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Saltley Gate in 2022. South and City College, Birmingham in Digbeth, long a centre for trades union studies, are hosting us for the 48th anniversary on 11th February. Banner Theatre will be leading the celebrations with excerpts from their acclaimed repertoire around working peoples’ achievements, including the Battle of Saltley Gate. An unknown rank and file NUM member in ’72, Arthur Scargill, will be back in Birmingham to speak at this event. He will be joined by Paul Mackney, a former General Secretary of NATFHE, closely involved in the commissioning of a mural on Saltley Gate at this college when President of Birmingham Trades Union Council and Doug Nicholls, President of the Federation of Trades Unions from 2007-9 and elected its General Secretary in 2012.

A group of us visited the College in advance to make arrangements for the meeting: Ian Scott, President of Birmingham Trades Council, Graham Stevenson, a former national organiser for the TGWU and son-in-law of the late Frank Watters, a key player at Saltley Gate, Bhagwant Singh and myself from the Socialist Labour Party. We were met by a member of staff, new to the College. We met in the place where the event would take place. Our first question was “where is the mural?” “What mural?” came the response.

At that moment a college lecturer arrived. “Yes I can show you the mural. It’s in the classroom I use for teaching about trades union history” he told us. 

The College has undergone modernisation and is a thriving organisation. However the mural had been moved from the original site. We joined our hosts on a trip up two floors, and yes there it was, or at least most of it. Our hope is to get the mural on display in its entirety, preferably in Birmingham which in 2022 will be hosting the Commonwealth Games. 

There never was a better time to revisit Saltley in 1972 when failure to achieve solidarity for working people in struggle has allowed political opportunists to masquerade as their champions at the 2019 General Election. The very authors of austerity and opponents of trades union power were allowed to take over by a disunited leadership in the labour movement, a significant number of whom were distracted by the privileges and opportunities for personal advancement offered to them by powerful interests particularly in Brussels and Westminster.

The 48th Anniversary of Saltley Gate meeting takes place at South and City College Birmingham Annexe, High Street, Deritend, Digbeth, B5 5SU on Tuesday, 11th February from 6.00pm to 9.00pm

There will be exhibition stalls at the meeting at Digbeth representing unions and other organisations fighting for equality and justice, including the IWA in Birmingham who have led on demonstrations in Birmingham and London in support of rights of Moslems in India, and the West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 

The Labour Leadership’s Betrayal. Leave Now. No Deal.

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Corbyn’s call for a national government is a Betrayal reminiscent of Ramsay MacDonald’s Betrayal in 1931, A NO DEAL is a Socialist Deal because it sets Britain free from a European Union which has a constitution committed to Capitalism and an economic and political system which embodies a Customs Union (the EU’s Union) a Single Market (the EU’s Single Market), the Free Movement of Capital( look at who owns Britain’s Rail, Steel, Electricity, Gas,and large sections of our NHS) and Free Movement of Workers (look at facts- Britain has a falling birth rate yet free movement has seen Britains population has rocketed from 59 million to 67 million!) 

The EU compels Britain to outsource sections of our economy such as Council Housing to private landlords, the NHS is now partly owned by International Trusts, and Care of the Elderly are now in the hands of private providers, 

The EU precludes a Government from giving subsidies to Britain’s remaining basic Manufacturing Industries whist allowing an Internatioal Pension Fund to bid/own our Steel Industry,——

I call on all Constituncies who voted in 2016 to leave the EU to collect  the 10% of the main signatures to remove any and all MPs who are acting in breach of the Referendum and replace them with MP’s who will honour the decision of the British People.  Remember Britain loses £85 billion a year trading with the EU whist Britain secures a £41 billion surplus from its trade with the rest of the world.      

STOP THESE MP”s FROM WRECKING THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.   LEAVE THE E U NOW WITH NO DEAL.                                 

                                        ARTHUR SCARGILL–LEADER SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY.