Bits and Pieces

AS A ONE TIME MARXIST in the late 1960s to the late 1970s; the numerous Marxist groups on the menu of 'edgy' politics (to use the modern comedic vernacular) were many indeed. They comprised Trotskyites, Leninists, Maoists, Stalinists. They were small in number but felt themselves big in ideas, and each idea at variance with each other's…yet while Marxism was their maxim, any kind of accommodation between them was impossible; which is why there were so many Marxists fringe groups operating at the time. There were the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), International Marxist Group (IMG), Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party (RSWP), the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB)… as you will gather, the Left do worship the acronym.

            

             One would have thought that these ancient  Left wing acronyms, like Egyptian hieroglyphics, would have had held little more interest to the modern world, except, maybe, for some obscure romantic Lefty recently out of University after studying politics and intent upon resurrecting the political flatulence that erupted in the 1960s -1970s, when the sons and daughters of the middle class made a fool of themselves on behalf of the 'proletariat'.

             

             But what happened to the leadership of such Marxist groups, who in many cases became public figures at the time, and are still known today? Pau Foot, the author and journalist who wrote for the  Socialist Worker, and Private Eye.

            

            Vanessa Redgrave needs little introduction; but she has been a life-long Marxist who has served the RSWP financially, no doubt, even to this day. But there is another name familiar to many, particularly within the media.

             

            Tariq Ali was the chairman, leader, or 'great leader' to use North Korean parlance, of the IMG. It was he whose revolutionary countenance symbolised and helped lead the Grosvenor Square protests outside the American Embassy in 1968 against the war in Vietnam. These were heady days for Lefties and Tariq Ali in particular. They focused upon him then, as they do today on any ABC classed celebrity. I recall a picture of three empty bottles of Moet champagne left like empty milk bottles on Ali's doorstep; the image was meant to tell us as much about Tariq Ali's background and lifestyle as his contradictory politics.

TOADY TARIQ is a leading supporter of something called the People's Charter for Change (PCC); which is an attempt to reprise those heady days when the revolution was just a protest away.

            The Left are excited by this new organisation, which, according to James Tweedie of the Morning Star; "…calls for an end to the privatisation agenda, democratic public ownership of the banks, building societies, insurers, utilities and transport, protection of jobs and increased wages, an end to home repossessions and a massive council home-building programme, increases in benefits for the elderly and vulnerable, peace and a secure and sustainable future for the world".

            

           The 2008 economic crises lifted the spirits of the Left after those depressing years after the fall of the Berlin Wall when Marxism was discredited by history - which of course was Marx's very own weapon of choice: but despair has now turned to opportunism and there is a spring in the step of our aging, champagne swilling revolutionaries. The PCC is the new Clause IV, it seeks to unite the Left once again for one last heave. But I am willing to bet that fall-outs will follow as Leftist egos, will lead to break-away acronyms before too long.

            

           When even Cuba is beginning to smell the coffee and seek to introduce economic reforms; those old timers on the British Left still hanker after (in Tariq Ali's case at least) their youth. They still believe that human nature can be moulded by them to suit their convictions; as did Lenin, Stalin Trotsky…but above all, Marx himself.

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THERE ARE DIRTY practices afoot in the constituency of Falkirk, where its sitting Labour MP, Eric Joyce soiled his bib by bar-room brawling in one of the subsidised drinking holes at the Palace of Westminster.

            

            The process to replace him as Labour candidate has reignited the corrupt practices that were always been part and parcel of Labour Party's internal politics over the generations.

            

            One of those whistleblowers which are currently in vogue has informed the  Mail on Sunday that, at the eleventh hour in the selection process, the UNITE union sent filled in bogus application forms for membership to the Falkirk Constituency Labour Party. Those union member's names used by UNITE knew nothing about what their names were being used for. They were being used to promote the selection of Karie Murphy, their choice to fight the seat.

            

            The other prospective Labour candidate was Gregor Poynton, a pro-Tony Blair UK political director of US-run communications firm, Blue State Digital; which has helped president Obama and gives there services to Ed Milliband.

            

            The accusation is that Blue State Digital had pressure put upon it by the Labour Party, under threat of losing their contract with them unless the company persuaded Gregor Poynton to step aside and allow the UNITE's preferred candidate Karie Murphy to represent the Falkirk constituency in the forthcoming by-election.

            

            This stinks of course; but Ms Murphy will now represent the Labour Party in Falkirk, but at least the country now knows on what part of the Left-Right spectrum Ed Milliband sits.

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IN JUNE OF LAST YEAR an extraordinary brave solider, Lance Corporal Duane Ashworth, earned a posthumous Victoria Cross for bravery while serving in Afghanistan. L/Cpl Ashworth was forced to crawl within a few feet of an enemy sniper armed with a grenade. He had to do so because launching a grenade from a safer distance would have destroyed the buildings, the snipers were picking of British soldiers from.

            

            His life mattered less than the buildings (made of mud) protecting enemy snipers. It all had to do with public relations and the politician's conscience, which never seems to extend to those they send into battle. L/Cpl Ashworth served, not his country, which he signed up to do, but the consciences of politicians, which never ever play any part in a recruitment drive.

            

            I hope that  L/Cpl Ashworth's family sues the MoD for all they can get.  The British public will be on their side if they choose to do so. I hope they take the MoD for all it is worth.