The future for the BBC

I am no hater of the BBC for sure it puts out some questionable political lines and is in all in tenses and purposes a state broadcaster for the government of the day due to its connection with its government funding which is huge. But this week and a few weeks before have seen a debate erupt on the current role of the BBC and its possible future roll in society and beyond. At present the BBC is run as a public body funded partly by government but mostly through license fee payers who most if not everyone has to pay to watch TV in the United Kingdom. This for many years has been seen as a poll tax comparison where no matter how much you earnt you will always have to pay for the TV license and if not you would face a big fine and even jail if it came to it. For years many have seen this as an out of date system where the BBC tries to compete with the likes of SKY TV run by Rupert Murdoch who can go out and get the best programmes first before anyone else due to their independence from anyone and their shear buying power. But what about the future of the BBC. This week there has been talk of decriminalising the non payment of the TV license. I see this as a big step forward in all honesty. Whilst I am a fan of the BBC having been one of its big users in recent times with its excellent I player and its fantastic local radio services including local radio commentary of all football league games including my local side Stevenage FC which for a blind person is very useful indeed. But do the BBC loose out in this sense in not being able to legally chase non payers of the TV license. I am not so sure I do think there are many untapped funding resources the BBC could explore before having to change its own running model as it is at current. Many have said this may see the BBC loose much needed funding but I do not agree I think this is a well over due change to things and hopefully this can give the BBc the kick up the backside many and even me feel it needs. On a media and journalistic basis the BBC is falling behind the others out there offering a similar service it is slow to react to news and often is left trailing its competitors. For example Sky news hosted the first live TV debate on the EU between UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg leader of the Lib Dems in the past the BBc would have been the only game in town for this sort of political discussion but no longer the likes of SKY have beaten them to it and this wont be the last time unless the BBC buck up their ideas I suggest. The BBC is seen as a bloated bureaucratic monster paying way over the odds to directors and managers this must change for it to survive. In this age of austerity the BBC must be seen to be keeping in line as best it can. I do hope the BBC stays around for many more years to come and is not privatised as some in the last week are suggesting is its only way of surviving. I do not agree there is a place for public broadcasting but it does certainly need to freshen up its act without a doubt to keep not only relevant but up to speed in this ever changing society of ours.

Groveling to the bourgeois media

All last night I was reading my twitter after the big NHS demonstration at Tory party conference numbers seem large it’s hard to put a figure on it but its widely thought it was 50 thousand plus with many coming from all over the land to show their anger to the Tories. In one of the only big demonstrations for a long time this was going to be big as there has been little else going on on a national scale anyway. But yet all I was reading last night is how angry people were that the BBC apparently didn’t film the protest. This is quite remarkable really the BBC has not covered any of the changes to the NHS and the planned privatisation up till now so why all of a sudden will they start covering a protest against it? Appealing to the likes of the BBC and sky news even more hilariously is going too far since when have the bourgeois press given workers movements and struggles a fair hearing? They haven’t and they never will. Unless there is violence or damage to buildings like a window smashed or something they won’t bother reporting. In other words if there is no shit smashed up there is no interest here no narrative to sew. These are just moderate trade unions on a day out in the sun being lead up the garden path once again only to be lead down with no action planned or named to follow. I wasn’t there as I say but was strike action named or even suggested from various trade union, community and labour party figures? I doubt it somehow. I am sure we were told how nasty those Tories are despite the labour party laying the grounds for a lot of what is happening to the NHS today. The hypocrisy of union leaders and labour party officials knows no boundaries I’m afraid especially when it comes to boosting your own popularity. March’s from A to B with a few rousing speech's from the likes of Owen Jones and Len McClusky is not my idea of radicalism. For those who wish their struggles to be covered how about setting up our own alternative radical media outlets? There is a few about already with Novara media being my pick of the lot. This is all amateur run with volunteers from radical traditions student movements contributing to an excellent production every week. Websites and twitter streams can be useful tool in a protest with actions being covered and reported. Although covering shouldn’t be putting us at risk to the police by having a live stream which can be used to identify protesters the police may have their eye on. But I was not surprised that the likes of the BBC and Sky did not cover this demonstration they are at the end of the day backers and supporters of big business and ultimately capitalism and the regime in power I’m not surprised so neither should you all. Let’s think about covering our own protests with good coverage in our own publications and media independent of the ruling class. Taking control of our own battles is a start a means to an end if the BBC and others choose to cover things we do that are up to them but let’s not sew illusions in them that they are in any way on our side. They are not. Ultimately the NHS will not be saved by holding illusions in labour undoing anything the Tories do or holding March’s up and down the land we need mass action. Strikes should be firmly on the table with local strike committees in hospitals set up with a mass drive to recruit to the unions within the workplace. Building confidence is a must. NHS workers are under huge pressure so allowing them to express how they feel and what they feel is possible even on a limited scale to start with is a good place to start. Calling for all out strike action at this point would be jumping head of the situation on the ground. Organizing will take time going hospital to hospital but it is I’m afraid necessary to building a fight back within the NHS and beyond. Linking up with community campaigns is key too with patients being kept on board at all times. There will be support shown to NHS workers if they take action as yesterdays March showed there is the numbers there if confidence is built on. We will see what comes of anything after this march. I am not holding my breath.

solidarity with disabled people protesting at the BBC today

Disabled activists from grassroots campaigns Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Black Triangle and Mental Health Resistance Network have occupied the BBC building in London to protest against the role the media are playing in worsening attitudes towards disabled people and a complete failure to give space to the realities of what this government are doing to disabled people. Ironically just last week the BBC reported on a research report by Scope which highlighted how things have got worse for disabled people since the Paralympics, but the BBC themselves have contributed to this situation by a lack of balanced or accurate reporting. In fact their coverage of the research angered disabled people by spectacularly failing to draw any links between the worsening conditions disabled people are facing and government policy. Despite the fact that Iain Duncan Smith has been pulled up before the Work and Pensions Select Committee for misrepresentation and manipulation of figures and statistics, the BBC continues to report information released by the DWP as fact. This resulted in a situation over Easter weekend where disabled people, about to face an austerity armageddon with benefits and income essential for their survival brutally slashed away, also had to contend with national media coverage that encouraged a view of us as benefit scroungers and cheats. It has since been proven that information released by the DWP ahead of the changes in April such as the figures for all of those who had supposedly stopped ineligible claims for incapacity benefit due to the tightening up of the benefit system, were misrepresentations with no basis in evidence. Just the smallest amount of research would have revealed to the BBC that they were about to report lies as objective fact. In addition to the misrepresented figures and statistics which the BBC promoted, further weight was given to the government’s propaganda by the succession of government ministers who were then given air time to continue to peddle their falsheoods. Where people were invited on to present an alternative view, they were non-disabled people from national charities. Firstly these people do not represent us, and secondly there are many more informed disabled campaigners who could have exposed the lies and misrepresentations. Time and again the government and front bench Ministers have lied to justify policies which are causing the deaths of disabled people. Only last week the Disability News Service has had to raise formal complaints against the DWP press office for deliberately presenting false information about the level of spending on disability in the UK. Meanwhile the situation in the UK has gained international notoriety. The UN are currently in the UK to investigate and report on what the UK is doing through its housing policies. Solidarity protests outside the British Embassy have been organised by supporters in Canada. Yet time and again the BBC have not only failed to report on what is happening but to contribute to public ignorance of what is going and to inflame hostility with questions such as “Why can’t disabled people take their fair share?” It is well evidenced that disabled people are bearing the brunt of austerity measures with those with the highest level of support need being hit nineteen times harder than the average citizen. To even put the question why can’t we take our fair share is damaging and in contempt of disabled people’s basic rights to be treated with respect and free from hostility. For more information please contact Rosa Wilkinson on 07505144371. Notes for editors: 1) Disabled People Against Cuts was set up in October 2010 to oppose the government attacks on disabled people. Our week of action last year highlighted the hypocrisy of Atos’ sponsorship of the Paralympic Games and culminated in a protest of 700 people outside Atos headquarters and the occupation of the DWP building by disabled activists and a guide dog for 2 1/2 hours. We are now in the middle of our week of action for 2013: Reclaiming Our Futures, which is focused on the wide range of attacks that are pushing back disabled people’s rights be decades. 2) DPAC report on DWP abuse of statistics: http://www.scribd.com/doc/149776210/DPAC-Report-on-DWP-Abuse-of-Statistics-Final-22-June-2013 3) http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2013/08/ministers-silent-after-being-caught-pulling-lies-out-of-thin-air/ 4) Campaign for a Fair Society: how the cuts are targeting disabled people revealed the extent to which austerity is disproportionately impacting on disabled people with thanks to DPAC for the press release

Is football still a working class game ?

The BBC sport pages have a interesting article today on their website on the changing face of football and how out of touch it is increasingly becoming with the mass’s. I republish the article below. Is football still affordable for the working classes? Cheapest tickets for English league football average £21.24 according to the BBC Price of Football Survey • BBC Sport Price of Football survey 2012 With players earning £200,000 a week, transfers of more than £50m and match tickets up to £126, can football still be considered a sport of the working classes? Wales manager Chris Coleman says the distance between players and fans has grown because of what the two sets are earning. So what are the opinions of others involved in the game and how can it be made more affordable? We asked three people their views. The fan Tim Hartley has been following Cardiff City for the past 38 seasons. When he started going to matches the price of tickets was hardly a consideration. Now he feels it's getting harder for supporters. "I fear the working man is being priced out slowly and it would be a pity if this continued. "There is no atmosphere in a stadium without passionate, committed fans. How clubs help • Stoke City hasn't increased their ticket prices since being promoted to the Premier League in 2008. This year they're offering free coach travel to away games • Arsenal has a discount scheme for younger supporters and has set up a ticket exchange scheme for season ticket holders that can't get to a match • Crystal Palace is offering discounts for 18 to 21-year-olds at every home game. • A number of clubs allow fans to pay for season tickets through interest-free direct debit instalments. • Aston Villa offer its season ticket holders a loyalty scheme to get money off tickets, food, drink and merchandise. • Brighton Hove Albion offers season ticket holders free bus travel within the city on match days . "If you turn football into a one-off special treat like going to the cinema or going to the opera, it's not going to be the game we all love." As the team start life in the Premier League Tim's still paying Championship prices for his season ticket. A few years ago he took advantage of a price freeze offer at the club. He says that £349 for the season is great value at around £18 a game but going to away games can be more expensive with some tickets over £50. "As a family we can't go to every away match like we used to. We are picking and choosing where we go." As chairman of Cardiff City Supporters' Trust he wants the prices of away tickets fixed. "At around £20 I think more people would go. "My top tip to reduce the cost on away games is to fill your car with friends, pack some sandwiches and bring a thermos," he said. The fansite owner Matt Cook's tips • Book your tickets early - particularly trains, hotels and parking - to get the best deal • Get flexible rates for your transport and accommodation in case kick-off times change • Share cars and fuel costs • Eat before you get to the stadium. Food at the grounds can be expensive, vary in quality and mean standing in a long queue • Buy club branded hoodies or t-shirts rather than the replica shirt. It's usually cheaper and you don't need to replace it every season • Talk to fans of other clubs for their tips and share knowledge about the cost and quality of what's available at each ground Matt Cook is founder of First Rate Football - a fans' guide to football grounds. He feels football is still a working man's sport but thinks clubs need to keep focused on catering for all budgets. For Matt, the biggest challenge is the cost of transport. "As a Brighton and Hove Albion supporter in London I have to travel by train to every home match," he says. "With limited car parking spaces and trains servicing the route on match day there's only so much I can do to keep the cost down." New Financial Fair Play rules start this season, aimed at stopping clubs from getting into money problems. Matt thinks it will benefit supporters. "As a fan I fear too much money is going out of the game and straight into the players' pockets. "Hopefully the new rules will play a part in helping supporters' costs. It's a good idea to prevent clubs overspending and risking their long term relationship with the fans." The finance expert Football now appeals to a wider class of people, not just the working man. That's the view of Dr John Beech from Coventry University. Even Prime Ministers and members of the Royal Family are open football supporters. Prince William is an Aston Villa fan. Dr Beech is concerned that in the future fans' passion for their teams could be turned against them as teams aim to make more money. "Football clubs are under pressure to generate revenue to compete at the highest level, "Clubs are producing a third kit outside the home and away strip for fans to buy. I wonder how much further can clubs go in their pursuit of generating Football and money seem to be more closely linked than ever. Being a fan is unlikely to become much cheaper anytime soon. For the supporters the game is more about love. Cost will usually come second. But as prices increase fans may be forced to be more selective about when and how they support. With thanks to the BBC sport pages for the article

Stand by for royal baby tidal wave

We are told we are moments away from the birth of the next royal in to Britain. Is this a time we should all celebrate and forget about our woes? No doubt the BBC, sky Channel 4 and the rest will have wall to wall coverage of this so called momentous occasion forgetting this is a regular every day event for many women and families around the world. The birth of another royal who the tax payer will no doubt fund does not cheer me up or do much to ease my growing anger at the rich. As millions in Britain and around the world struggle by with an estimated half a million last year using food banks do forgive me if I don’t jump out of my seat with my Union flag waving it profusely. I struggle to muster up any support for the royal family considering none of them have ever had to toil in their lives swanning about from country to country from royal engagement to another being a so called British ambassador like we are in desperate need of one of them. I will be thinking of the many struggling families with new born babies this week who will be wondering where the next meal is coming from and when they may next get work or if they can’t find a job if their benefits will be stopped. I am not a monarchist if you can’t tell already I’d be for a republic if only because it would be a step towards socialism and a true democracy which we are as far from today as ever it sometimes feels. Having a royal baby born live on your TV screens does nothing for me and I’m sure millions and millions will join me in sighing hugely at the absurdity of it all. Where is the real news you may ask What a good day to bury some bad news for the Tories. Now what was that about Lynton Crosby again?

Dave Nellist: The Coventry MP who gave away half his pay

In a rare sense of inpartiality or maybe more in a sort of looking back at what used to be the BBC has commissioned a fantastic piece on former Militant Mp and now fine socialist party activist Dave Nellist I think its worth sharing below : Dave Nellist is still an active member of the Socialist Party Many MPs rush to condemn proposals to give them an 11% pay rise; few have taken the lead of the former member for Coventry South. From his election in 1983 to his deselection by Labour in 1992, Dave Nellist kept less than half his salary. Along with two other Labour politicians - Terry Fields, MP for Liverpool Broadgreen, and Pat Wall, MP for Bradford North - Mr Nellist chose to "get by" on a wage closer to that of the people he represented. Mr Nellist, now 60 and still an active member of the Socialist Party, was unemployed for the six months before he was elected, but had worked in a factory for many years. He would only accept the average wage of a skilled factory worker in Coventry, which amounted to 46% of his salary as an MP. Each year the remaining 54% was donated to charitable and political causes. 'Want for nothing' Mr Nellist said he saw his political career as being akin to that of a union rep in a factory. "At the time time, we were going into the [MP] job like a convenor in a factory, we had the time to do the job but not three times the wage or holidays," he said. "The engineering union used to work out the returns of all the factories in Coventry and averaged their wages - equivalent to £28,000 or £29,000 nowadays - so that was what I took home. “Start Quote We should pay our MPs so they share the pain and the gain” End Quote Dave Nellist Former MP "I accepted every penny of the full salary, but as the Labour Party we gave away roughly £35,000 [per year in today's money] to help the families of miners in the 80s, community groups, pensioners." He said receiving less money did not damage "the responsibility" he had to his family and he was very proud of the way his children grew up. "They didn't want for anything. We went camping as a family for two weeks every year - and still do - like many people. "I came off factory wages and into that job on the same. I've never had anything different so you don't miss what you've not had." Mr Nellist added that as a Coventry City Councillor for 12 years until 2012, he continued to take home the same wage by reducing the hours of his full time job at an advice agency. He dismissed the idea that the more someone is paid, the more they will achieve. "Why should MPs be any better? How many millions have we been paying the bankers, how many millions do we pay footballers? "I don't accept the idea that those prepared to live the same life as their constituents are going to be any fewer representatives." Pay rise 'bung' On Thursday the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said salaries should increase to £74,000 by 2015, but perks should be cut and pensions made less generous, something Mr Nellist described as "scandalous". "The suggestion by [Ipsa chairman] Sir Ian Kennedy that the pay rise would be a way of keeping MPs from claiming more expenses is frankly amazing - I was almost lost for words," he said. "It's basically saying they'll get a bung on their salary as a way of keeping them in line." Mr Nellist believes public representatives like councillors and MPs should be able to empathise with the people affected by political decisions. "With a 9% average fall in people's earnings, MPs should not be getting a rise - it insulates them from those day to day problems like food and fuel which have rocketed. "Millions have to get by on much less [than MPs] so that is why we should pay them so they share the pain and the gain." Mr Nellist fears the impact of the proposed pay increase for MPs will add to a perceived disconnect between the public and politicians. "I think it will contribute to a growing disillusion in politics and politicians in general - at a time when millions are having it very tough, those people who may lose their jobs could become very angry if this happens. "The best people go into politics to do a proper job and to represent the people, not for the money."

The crisis at the BBC- toxic level of cuts

Over the weekend and the last few days there has been a huge campaign by the government and others in the media to smear the BBC and its record. The corporation which is apparently is in deep crisis with several high ranking resignations and several more stepping aside has lead to all sorts of speculation of its future as a journalistic establishment. Now I have my criticisms of the BBC like everyone but for the most part it is a solid organisation. It doesn’t cover workers movements or strikes very fairly but I don’t expect it too it represents the interests of big business and always supports the government of the day notably a capitalist agenda. But we are in danger of missing the bigger picture here which may well be the intention to deflect the attention from child sex abuse allegations in north Wales. All the frenzy of the BBC we have rather forgotten that there have been some serious allegations made here which must be looked into. The whole fury over the Newsnight report on Lord Mcalpine and was he or wasn’t he involved in child sex abuse is really not the point in my e yes. Someone or many people were involved and Phillip Schofield and his list on this morning along with Tom Watson in the commons have something which surely they wouldn’t risk their reputations on airing in public. The police cannot be trusted in all this either and have come off quite well so far but they to need to take some blame for covering up this awful incident/s and a reopening of the original investigation is a matter of urgency. The NUJ the journalist union have released a statement which I publish below setting out where they feel things have got to and the toxic mixture of big cuts, bad management and gross incompetency. The NUJ has called for an end to cuts at the BBC, saying the Newsnight crisis is a wake-up call to an assault on frontline journalism that has cost 9,000 jobs since 2004. General secretary Michelle Stanistreet says cuts are threatening the quality of journalism not only at flagship programmes such as Newsnight, which has had its budget slashed by 50% in real terms over the past five years, but in local radio and television as well as the World Service. She said: “With fewer journalists, many employed on a casual basis, it means there is no time for that extra telephone all, no time to double-check the facts, no time to reflect properly before a programme goes out. “The current re-grading proposals could see a situation where someone can be paid the minimum of £15,000 and end up in charge of a sensitive political report, or even output a whole programme and then get blamed when it goes wrong. “It’s testament to the great journalists working at the BBC that they manage, often through sheer goodwill and professional commitment, to get the job done despite staff shortages and dwindling resources. But the pressure this puts on journalists and journalism is undeniable.” Calling on BBC chair Lord Patten to take a long hard look at what has happened, Michelle Stanistreet urged him to take on a director general who would fight for quality journalism and stop the cuts. She said: “There must be a moratorium on these cuts. This should be a wake-up call to the BBC – they need to take the opportunity to halt the assault on frontline journalism and put in place measures to shore up news and current affairs before it is too late.” The NUJ believes the backdrop to the Newsnight crisis is the remorseless cost-cutting across the BBC that started in 2004. Since then 9,000 jobs have gone, including 140 in BBC news this year alone – the eighth consecutive year of cuts. Michelle Stanistreet said: “Mark Thompson’s decision, behind closed doors, to agree to a licence fee freeze until 2017 and to take on an extra £340 million in spending commitments, including the funding of the World Service, local TV and the rollout of fast broadband, was a disaster for the BBC. “This has been compounded by the way BBC senior executives have implemented the cuts. They have chosen to cut staffing and budgets in frontline journalism; news has been particularly badly hit. Rather than hack away at the fleshy layers of management, they have chosen to cut at the sharp end and inevitably that will make it harder for quality, thorough journalism to flourish.” * NUJ members at Newsnight have asked the NUJ to make clear they are appalled at what happened, and that the overwhelming majority of those who work there had no involvement with the story, and were not consulted about it before broadcast. They are determined to go on doing their jobs and to support the BBC management in its effort to go on delivering the Corporation’s world class journalism.

BBC’s panorama exposes rife capitalist tax evasion

As socialists we have known for sometime the way capitalists evade tax and make billions a year but tonight BBC panorama exposed some of the shadiest of dealings that goes on with the likes of Vodafone and Glaxo Smith Klein.

A special nod has to go to the PCS union who have been tirelessly campaigning against tax evasion for years now. Only now is it becoming a big big issue that polititians can no longer pretend doesn’t exist if nothing else they are forced to pay lip service to trying to tackle tax evasion by rich corporations.

The Tory party and even new labour would never seriously go after rich tax evaders as their interests lie with them they are and have been governments for the 1% the very wealthiest in society.

The BBC panorama episode if you can catch it is fascinating and is a real eye opener to the way the super rich capitalists work and get around their own influenced laws. As we all know the law is not neutral it is heavily stacked against workers and ordinary people if you tried to evade a bit of tax the tax man will come down on you like a tonne of bricks but if your Vodafone or Glaxo’s or the like different story entirely …

This programme showed that if these tax loop holes were properly closed and all the evaded tax properly collected there would be no need for any cuts at all to public services. But as we know this wont happen and we will be instead made to pay for a crisis in capitalism that is not of our making as ordinary working people.

An estimated 120 billion goes evaded every year by big rich corporations that would more than cover the entire deficit for this year and a little bit more. But who is putting this case forward? Only left unions with fighting traditions like the PCS and the RMT for as far as I can tell. The labour party which has no leg to stand on on this allowed this to go on on its watch too so they cannot be trusted to put forward a programme of nationalisation to bring these big corporations into public democratic ownership to prevent them evading tax and stashing millions and billions in offshore tax havens such as Luxembourg which was shown on tonight’s episode.

A true workers government would be looking to nationalise the commanding heights of the economy and gradually look to plan the economy by using the profits from these big multi nationals which will mean other nations having to follow a similar idea to close of loop holes which means capital can be controlled going in and out of the country.

These sorts of measures which would be transitional measures in the transition to a socialist planned economy with a society based on everybody’s needs not just the needs of a few very very rich people who can employ the best accountants to get around any laws that may or may not stand in their way.

So next time you are told the cuts are nessesary just ask them to take a watch of tonights episode of panorama and tell them there is the money out there if it was taxed and collected properly.

police, riots and povety and anger, A working class fightback is needed

Last night saw some of the worse violence seen in Tottenham since the 1981 Broadwater Farm riots in the 80's. Much has change in the north london area but the same depreivation and low income and gang culture still e xists.

iot in Tottenham
More than 40 people have been arrested after rioting saw police attacked, buildings looted and vehicles set alight in Tottenham, north London.

Twenty-six officers and three others were hurt in the violence which erupted after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan on Thursday.

Residents surveyed the damage after homes were looted and shops burnt down.

Tottenham MP David Lammy said: "A community that was already hurting has had its heart ripped out."

The Metropolitan Police said two officers were still in hospital.

The people arrested remain in custody for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.

Shops and homes were raided and cash machines ripped out in Tottenham. There were also thefts from shops in nearby Wood Green.

Police had earlier said there were still "pockets of criminality" in the area on Sunday morning.

London Fire Brigade received 264 emergency calls late on Saturday and in the early hours of Sunday and attended 49 fires in the Tottenham area.

The BBC's Andy Moore reports from behind police lines after a BBC satellite truck came under attack from youths throwing missiles
Some smoking buildings were still being dampened on Sunday, while police enforced a cordon around the scene of the violence as residents surveyed the damage to their community.


During the riot, which erupted about 20:20 BST, people threw petrol bombs, reducing many buildings and vehicles to charred wrecks.

Among the damage was a double-decker bus, two police cars, and a large building housing a carpet shop.

Crowds of looters smashed shop windows in a retail park near Tottenham Hale tube station.

The front window of Currys electrical store was smashed, and the door of Argos was also shattered, with broken glass covering the floor inside and out after




All this was clearly triggered by a spark caused by a man being shot by police earlier this week. The local community demand answers as to why this happened and the reasons behind this. The fact the local community have not been given any answers the anger has been boiling. But we also cant get away from teh fact that cuts from this tory government are hurting a area like Tottenham and others and this style of riot which became a regular occurance in teh 80's has the potential to spread if cuts are not stopped and a working class fightback is not mounted.

an excellent article from the socialist this year revisiting the Brixton riots of the 80's draws many comparisons to todays events and how a lack of a political voice and a opputunity for young angry people can lead to boiling over of anger into violence.

April 2011 marked the 30th anniversary of the riots in Brixton, south London, against police racism, unemployment and poverty. Today the conditions for new 'Brixtons' are being prepared. The Con-Dem government, like that of Thatcher, has adopted a programme of vicious cuts in jobs and services. Last year saw the first actual fall in living standards in Britain since the recession of three decades ago. Unemployment is rising. There are almost one million young people without jobs in Britain.
Contrary to what some said on the BBC's anniversary programme, conditions in Brixton are not vastly better than 30 years ago. There are similar numbers on the dole - 11,464 registered last year. 50% of unemployed youth in Lambeth are black. Although, following the anti-racist movements of the intervening period, we now see less open racism among the police, it has by no means disappeared.
And the £79 million of cuts, being implemented by a Labour council, in the borough will contribute to widespread misery and possible new eruptions of anger. A week ago, the Guardian referred to Lambeth as the most dangerous borough in Britain. CLARE DOYLE, dubbed 'Red Clare' in the right-wing press at the time for her participation and socialist politics (and red hair!), recounts the events.
On Friday 10 April 1981 a heavy-handed police incident in Railton Road, Brixton, sparked an explosion of pent-up anger that engulfed the area for days. Psyched-up police in full riot gear, many of them openly racist, went into battle with local residents, mostly black. Pelted with bricks, stones and petrol bombs, the police were forced to retreat, some with their riot shields on fire. An angry crowd surged through the central shopping area. Two pubs were burned out, other buildings wrecked, shops had their windows smashed in and their contents were strewn across the pavements.

300 police were injured as well as hundreds of their opponents, many of them too scared to seek medical help in the hospitals. Hundreds were being arrested and summarily charged with 'rioting' and 'looting'. The most intimidating noise and sight was that of the 'Nightsun' helicopter with its searchlight and infra-red camera peering into housing estates and side streets, on the hunt for new victims to put in the police cells.

By the Sunday afternoon, however, an eerie calm had descended on the centre of Brixton. The police had set up blockades around the area with the help of massive reinforcements bussed in from outside - a total of 7,445 policemen had been mobilised for the operation. But a traffic-free and police-free zone now existed, stretching from the west of the Town Hall down to the notorious Brixton police station (whose windows had also been smashed in!).

There was an almost festive atmosphere as the people of Brixton - white as well as black - wandered around to see the damage and discuss the significance of the events. They were joined by a growing number of sightseers and well-wishers.

Tories and police

Not so well-received were the Tory Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw, and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, David McNee, as they attempted a walk-about to assess the situation. Their talk of "outsiders" fomenting the violence did not wash.

Michael Heseltine, then Tory defence secretary, also visited Brixton (and later Toxteth in Liverpool where riots also took place) with a mandate to find solutions.

But he told reporters that not one extra pound of public spending would be provided by Thatcher's government. In contrast in 1984, mass action by workers in Liverpool forced the same Tory government to concede millions of pounds to the defiant Labour council, led by the Militant Tendency, the fore-runner of the Socialist Party.

The anger that had exploded in Brixton had deep roots. It was born of years of police harassment and outright brutality on top of decades of neglect and deprivation in terms of jobs, housing and social facilities. The previous April, there had been 'riots' or mass disturbances in the St Paul's area of Bristol, another run-down and predominantly black community blighted by unemployment and poverty.

The hated 'Sus' laws, which gave police powers to stop and search merely on 'suspicion', were being used against black youth far more than white. Raids on factories and homes with the aim of deporting immigrant workers were a daily occurrence.

Resentment smouldered in the black communities of south London over a number of recent racist incidents. 13 young black party-goers were killed in a fire in Deptford on the night of 18 January 1981. The police had done little or nothing to find anyone responsible for what was obviously a racially motivated attack.

Unemployment amongst black youth had reached over 50% nationally; it was rising four times faster than amongst white youth. There were 27 school-leavers for every job vacancy in Lambeth. 12,000 people were registered as unemployed at the Brixton dole office in April 1981.

A generation of black youth saw themselves already thrown on the scrap heap. Thatcher's policies were obviously going to do nothing to improve their lot; in fact, they were guaranteed to make things worse.

In Liverpool, where the Toxteth 'riots' took place, the Liberals, under David Alton, had built not one house, whereas when Labour, under the leadership of Militant, came into power, 5,000 homes were built!

Thatcher
In Brixton, the Railton Road area had been due for redevelopment since 1928 and with Thatcher's housing policy, there would now be no prospect of new homes replacing the slums. She was the real criminal, not those she blamed for inflaming the situation in the inner-city areas.

On the very Saturday of the escalation of clashes with the police in Brixton (April 11), the LPYS and Militant had organised a mock trial of Thatcher in nearby Stockwell Hall. The charges against the prime minister were: "Obtaining votes under false pretences; bribery and corruption; fraud; GBH (grievous bodily harm); murder"!

As the police were battening down the hatches in the area, two socialists who had been putting up posters had been arrested and then the organisers of the court-room farce were ordered to bring it to an end! Tension in the area was mounting by the minute.

It was no surprise when Brixton went up in flames that weekend. But as one local man commented, the only surprise was that it had not happened earlier!

On a BBC 4 discussion 'commemorating' 30 years since the Brixton events, police spoke openly about the racism that was rampant in the force. One of them recounted how, during the various police operations in the area, police officers, himself included, would attack Rastafarians with dreadlocks and literally pull their hair out from the roots. Back in the police station they would pin up the 'dreads' as trophies.

Once the April flare-up began, the LPYS and Militant supporters moved into action. They did not consider burning and looting as the way to combat the policies of Thatcher, but they understood what was behind the rage that was unleashed.

They talked to people involved in the battles, to people in local community organisations and in the Labour Party about what could be done, firstly to combat the police rampage and stop the mass arrests, and, secondly to channel this anger into a political fight against the class politics of Thatcher and her government.

They worked rapidly to organise a mass meeting at the Town Hall for the earliest possible date. They got out a leaflet giving their explanation of what had happened and why, and also formulating a programme of demands to express the needs of the hour.

Young socialists
Teams of young (and not so young) socialists went onto the streets. They distributed 30,000 of the rapidly printed leaflets in a meticulously organised door-to-door operation, covering every household in the immediate area.

They went to bus garages, fire stations, hospitals, post office and council depots, factories, local government offices, a milk yard and rail depots to explain the case and seek support. Within two days they had 1,000 signatures on a petition. They put up posters and chalked on the pavements to advertise the public meeting.

By the evening of Wednesday 15 April, 600 agitated, angry and excited people were piling into the Town Hall meeting room to hear and be heard. A resolution to send to Thatcher and her government had been drawn up. It declared that: "the responsibility for the riots in Brixton rests with the police... Also responsible are the Tories and the class they represent, whose system - being run purely for the rich - has pushed unemployment up to three million and bred poverty and slum housing".

It included demands for the immediate withdrawal of the massive police presence from the area, release of all those arrested and dropping of all charges, democratic street committees to defend the areas, an end to stop and search, the disbandment of the hated Special Patrol Group (constantly operating mass swoops in the area), an urgent labour movement inquiry and the "release of funds from central government to be put back into the community".

As the meeting began, someone stood up to insist on an amendment to the very first phrase of the resolution. Instead of "This meeting declares", it should read, "We the people of Brixton, declare..."! That was agreed with a roar of approval. The confidence and enthusiasm of the meeting was palpable.

Many young people signed up to come to an LPYS meeting. Within the next two days 100 were visited and phoned. 45 came to the meeting that weekend.

Benefit gig
Little more than a month later, there were 700 youth packed into a benefit gig, also at the Town Hall, with a bar and a popular band called Aswad playing. The group UB40, along with MPs and many local organisations, including the trades council made contributions towards a fund for assisting the hundreds of arrested people being dragged through the courts.

The Labour Committee for the Defence of Brixton (LCDB) was rapidly set up, involving local black residents' representatives, shop stewards, councillors, lawyers and Labour Party members.

Among them were Bob Lee, secretary of the PNP black socialist youth organisation, Tony Saunois, then on Labour's National Executive Committee from the LPYS, Anne Beales, chair of the London region of the LPYS, local solicitor, Mike Fisher, and two members of Militant's editorial board who lived in the area - Lynn Walsh and myself.

The LCDB came out immediately against the government's proposal for a police inquiry into the Brixton events to be led by Lord Scarman. Why? Firstly, it was precisely that - a police inquiry! Secondly, it was set up by the Tories who were the ones to blame for all the problems that caused the 'riots'. Thirdly, no one giving evidence to the inquiry would be sure not to find themselves incriminated and under arrest!

Lord Scarman had the dubious record of heading a 1969 'Tribunal of Inquiry' into the 'disturbances' in Northern Ireland without putting forward any solution.

The LCDB called for a totally independent labour movement inquiry as a launch pad for a socialist campaign to solve the major social problems behind the outbreaks of violence.

Although the 1974-79 Labour governments had moved decisively from reform to counter-reform, with attempts at restraining wages and attacking the hard-won gains of the working class, now that the Tories were in power, the Labour Party was under pressure to shift to the left.

On its NEC, the LPYS representative pushed for a national demonstration against Tory policies and rising unemployment. Instead, they organised demonstrations around the country, which turned out to be massive.

Lambeth
In Lambeth, as well as many other working class strongholds, unlike today, the local Labour Parties were still relatively combative and socialist, at least in name. Labour councillors and MPs responded favourably to the efforts of the Lambeth LPYS and sent money and support to the LCDB. The London Labour Party Executive circulated the LCDB material, as did the district offices of the NUPE, TGWU and AUEW trade unions.

The most important task of socialists at that time was to expose the real causes of the uprising in Brixton. They demanded radical changes in policing practice as well as an end to the Thatcher government. They also campaigned for a Labour government on a socialist programme to take its place - something unthinkable today!

Socialists warned that, unless the cuts and attacks on public spending were reversed and the harassment of black and Asian communities by the police was stopped, there would be more flare-ups - in Brixton and in other inner-city deprived areas.

In early July, while tens of thousands of activists were marching in Cardiff on one of the Labour Party protests against unemployment, the Liverpool area of Toxteth exploded, then Salford, then Bristol again and Birmingham and 20 or so other towns and cities across Britain.

Militant
Militant received a sudden flurry of publicity in the press and on TV when 'Red Clare' appeared in Toxteth at the time of the violent clashes there. We used this opportunity to explain who the real culprits were - Thatcher and the Tories. We did not condone, but understood the actions of the harassed and desperate youth of these deprived areas of Britain.

Towards the end of July, Brixton kicked off again. Police decided to raid eleven households in the Railton Road area on the pretext that they were where Molotov cocktails had been manufactured and stored.

They wrecked people's homes and terrified whole families. A new uprising was in the making.

The Labour Committee for the Defence of Brixton was still busy with the work of taking evidence from victims of the April conflagration and monitoring the level of police activity in the area. It moved into action immediately - condemning the action of the police thugs and demanding compensation for all those affected by the raids.

The events of 1981 - the levels of police violence and racism that were revealed and the 'findings' of the Scarman Inquiry - led to the stepping up of attempts to introduce 'community policing'.

Militant and the LPYS took the idea further, calling for democratic control over the police and policing and the right of the police to organise in unions and to strike.

In the year before the Brixton explosion, a mood was developing for the TUC trade union leadership to call a general strike against the Tories and their austerity programme. This was eventually watered down into a 'day of action'.

Similar demands are developing today and a similar reluctance to take action is displayed on the part of the TUC leaders. If they do not move into action, the scenes of despair and explosions of anger like those of 1981 will be back on our streets. Deprived areas of major cities - if not the central areas, then the 'banlieus' or outskirts as in France - will be the scene of new conflagrations.

Looking at the dramatic events of 30 years ago is a timely reminder of just how vital it is to forge a united workers' struggle to end unemployment and poverty. Trade union action and the building of a mass party of workers with a socialist programme, including mass job creation, are now the only way ahead for avoiding riots and mindless destruction.

Socialism is less heard of today than in 1981 but the struggle for nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy and democratic planning to solve the major problems in society is more urgent than ever.