Doctor Who: The Lovecraft Invasion (Big Finish Audio)

The latest Doctor Who release from Big Finish productions brings an adventure featuring the Sixth Doctor played by Colin Baker and two non-TV companions Flip Ramon (Lisa Greenwood) and Mrs Constance Clark (Miranda Raison). The Doctor is chasing a weaponised mind parasite through time with a little help from bounty hunter Calypso Jones (Robyn Holdway).

The Somnifax has headed back through history to a small green planet (a favourite of the Doctors) to find a host that will enable it to find a host and use their nightmares to wreak destruction. What better place than the mind of HP Lovecraft.

Most people will have heard of the author and many will have read his books or seen the films made of his stories. Much modern horror is influenced by his ideas of the old gods and Cthulu in particular. Hellboy is riddled with HP Lovecraft imagery.

Most of us will not be familiar with the man himself and the Doctor in one sequence references Lovecraft as a racist so many times one feels like saying Ok we get the message. Lovecraft was born and lived in New England from 1890 until 1937 dying at the age of just 46. Like many of his time he held strong racial attitudes towards non-Anglo-Saxons though accepted Jewish and Hispanics who in his view "assimilated". His wife was Jewish.

His views on race were typical of the period seeing blacks as inferior and in today's world we would clearly see him as a racist. It is his work in horror fiction that he will be remembered for.

Most of the story takes place inside HP Lovecrafts mind which is not a pretty place as the Doctor and Flip pursue the Somnifax to prevent Cthulu and his minions destroying the world. Outside the less savoury side of Lovecraft is seen as he objects to being pushed around by women and inferiors. It turns out that our bounty hunter is not just mixed race but a "Trans non binary" mixed with some alien DNA. "wokeness" has entered the world of Big Finish something that did grate many viewers and fans on the main TV show.

There has always been a historical angle in a lot of Doctor Who adventures and sometimes it's necessary especially these days to see that people in history held very different outlooks to those found acceptable today but there are times I wish that Doctor Who script writers leave their political agendas at the door.

All that said this was an interesting adventure worth picking up.

Labour Against Antisemitism exposes Jewish Voice for Labour campaign

 

The rise of antisemitism inside the Labour Party led to the creation of the so-called "Jewish Voice for Labour"  consisting of pro-Corbyn ultra-leftists and activists some Jewish and others identifying as such just for the purpose of undermining the mainstream Jewish community and it's organisations.

This group which contains a number of expelled and suspended party members like the notorious Jackie Walker works to deny racism and antisemitism in the Labour Party.  They claim dealing with racists is a "witch-hunt" and defend these individuals. 

Many JVL activists have been seeking to expel the mainstream and Labour affiliated organisation the Jewish Labour Movement and have the audacity to claim persecution.

Walker is amongst those who claim that the JVL are treated as the "wrong type of Jews" when in fact the reality is that the far-left treat the majority of the Jewish community as the wrong type of Jews. 

The new leader Keir Starmer has moved promptly to deal with the problem of antisemitism inside Labour. He is in the process of not only repairing relations with the Jewish Community, has settled the whistleblowers court-case and has speeded up the discplinary process to deal with the racists inside the party.

According to Jewish News

A legal crowdfunding campaign backed by the pro- Jeremy Corbyn group Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) has raised more than £22,000 this month.....

The crowdfunding campaign’s description states it was launched by a group of unnamed “Labour Party members who have been caught up in the absurdities of Labour’s disciplinary processes who want to see them changed”....

Those behind the appeal had “been strongly advised by their lawyers that they may place themselves in further jeopardy if their names are made public before the papers are lodged with the court and this appeal is to pay for the work to do that,” according to the JVL statement.

It was unclear who was involved in the fundraising campaign and what, if any, disciplinary action they were involved in.

Labour Against Antisemitism issued the following statement:

“This fundraising activity by JVL looks a transparent attempt to pressure Keir Starmer into watering down his measures to tackle anti-Jewish racism in the party.

“A number of apparent JVL activists have themselves been reported for promoting antisemitic views and are currently facing expulsion. Among these is Colin O’Driscoll, an organiser of this campaign and co-chair of Labour International, the Labour Party’s largest CLP. He was first reported by LAAS for alleged antisemitism back in March 2017 and was finally suspended earlier this year.”

He added: “The Labour Party hierarchy needs to stand firm in the face of such bullying tactics, and ensure it presses on with its key commitments to an independent complaints process and a zero tolerance approach towards antisemitism.”

Dakka Skanks: Ain't a Skinhead

It's Saturday night and a Bank Holiday weekend so time to party and what better way than a little Ska music to liven up the evening..

Dakka Skanks are a Ska band from Brighton and this track Ain't a Skinhead is from their 2018 album Road To Brighton Pier. This 9 track CD is great fun and they are a small band that needs support. 

Go to: www.dakkaskanks.com for further info and to pick up their music.

Or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dakkaofficial

Labour's entryist groups: Alliance for Workers Liberty

 

It's often pointed out that most of the Trotskyist organisations are small and without influence in general society. Even the bigger outfits like the still discredited Socialist Workers Party have to operate behind "front organisations" to further their influence. The SWP used the Anti-Nazi League, Stop the War Coalition (until it had a split with the leaders of that campaign) and these days hides in plain sight behind Stand Up to Racism.

Others smaller still have more limited options due to their size. Most operate as "propaganda groups" hoping for the day the workers finally drop their mobile phones and follow the party to the glorious revolution. That not happening many choose the route of entering another, larger political party to further their interests. 

One of these groups used to be known as Socialist Organiser and was active inside the Labour Party until it managed to get itself proscribed by the Labour Party conference in 1990. The organisation now re-branded as the Alliance for Workers Liberty published yet another newspaper, Solidarity and has it's members buried deep inside Labour.

Indeed they went as far as to infiltrate Momentum and did succeed at first in gaining a modicum of influence especially through the use of a front publication (now deceased) The Clarion. However the AWL are not very popular on the left and this is in part due to the fact that the AWl recognises there was an antisemitism problem inside Labour and they call for a two-state solution unlike the rest of the far/hard left who simply take the genocidal approach.

 

As much as that was welcome the group still supported Corbyn despite the fact it was down to his rise that made antisemitism so mainstream and frankly acceptable on the left. Their opposition to antisemitism got drowned by the rise of the racist anti-imperialist left. 

In print the AWL come over as being part of a more reasonable political tendency than the others on the hard left but in reality they are quite different and having had dealings with them in the PCS union the word "rumbustious" comes to mind. They were involved with a union faction called the Socialist Caucus (now Independent Left) where their supporters engaged in shouting down and frankly bullying opponents. 

In fact there reputation for both external and internal sectarianism has meant that despite the ramblings of their guru Sean Matgamna who had previous been in the Socialist Labour League (WRP) but expelled and then Militant  founded the tendency as Workers Fight in 1966. His grouping has never exceeded more than 150 members and like most left groups has a revolving door system whereby activists are used, worn out and leave due to either splits or expulsions or more likely sheer exasperation.

Matgamma has led his group into the International Socialists (now SWP) and out again fusing with Workers Power (we will be returning to them in a future post) as the International Communist League which failed. Next was a merger with the Workers Socialist League a splinter from the Workers Revolutionary Party). That didn't work either so into the Labour Party with the Socialist organiser Alliance now proscribed and returned as the AWL.

Unlike most of the Trotskyist groups the AWL does not have it's own international though there is a handful of them in Australia and they continue to talk to other groups for further re-alignments including a new one called Mutiny a split from Counterfire.

That all said the group remains in breach of party rules and constitutes a separate political party with membership, finance, programme and requires both proscription and the expulsion of it's so-called "supporters".

UNLEASH THE ARCHERS - Abyss New Release | Napalm Records

The heavy metal band Unleash The Archers hail from Canada and have just released their fifth studio album Abyss from Napalm Records. Their music is always entertaining  and their latest album is no exception.

Two singles have previously been issued from Abyss before it's official release including the title track of the same name.The featured track Faster Than Light is the third and latest.

The band consist of  Brittney Hayes (a.k.a. Brittney Slayes) - Vocals, Scott Buchanan - drums, Grant Truesdell - guitar & vocals, and Andrew Kingsley - guitar & vocals.

Official website: unleashthearchers.com

Act Now! Cambodia: Free jailed union leaders!

 

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is seeking your support to free Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and Sor Saknika, president of the Cambodian Informal Labourers’ Association (CILA). Rong Chhun was arrested on 31 July for incitement to commit felony by making comments on farmland losses and border irregularities between Cambodia and Vietnam. Recently he was leading pickets in garment factory closures and urging the government to make human rights improvements. Sor Saknika joined protests demanding his release, and she was arrested for incitement on 7 August. Ouk Chayavy, former president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, was assaulted by unknown thugs on the way home after visiting Rong Chhun in prison on 10 August.

The Cambodian government is clamping down on freedom of association and expression in order to silence trade unionists and labour protests in response to workers’ resistance to the economic downturn and repression.

Send a message: www.labourstartcampaigns

Eric Lee

Hard left on Harwich & North Essex Constituency Labour Party Executive Committee resign

The battle for the heart of and soul of the Labour Party continues. Social media is full of stories of left-wing activists tearing up their membership cards in light of Corbyn's departure. The cult has had it's day even if there is a body of activists openly resisting Kier Starmer and fighting a rear guard action. 

Even Momentum has seemingly collapsed with a massive decline in membership as keyboard warriors and disciples grew bored of the top down diktats of Lansman. Many attacked Lansman (himself a Jew) for pointing out that antisemitism was a problem inside Labour enraging the anti-imperialists to whom this was all a lie despite the almost daily evidence being produced to prove the opposite.

The left is prone to splits and gesture politics as it never has had to take actual responsibility for anything. Get behind the leader they shouted until the one they worshipped finally threw in the towel. Now one group of his acolytes has followed suit it would seem... for now but will wait in the wings until opportunity presents itself. 

Another reason why the party needs to permanently break with the hard left. 

Statement from members of the Executive Committee of Harwich and North Essex Constituency Labour Party.

21st August 2020

As of today 21st August 2020 the following officers of the Harwich & North Essex CLP resign their positions. All wish to remain members of the Labour Party:

Maison Urwin (Chair)

Solma Ahmed (Vice Chair, Campaigns)

Tobby Glenny (Secretary)

Phil Dunnett (Treasure and Manningtree Branch Secretary)

Will Davis (Assistant Secretary)

Thomas Randall (Political Education)

Frank Belgrove (Diversity)

David Gynn (Digital Officer)

Mike Bailey (TULO)

Matt Cooke (Brightlingsea Branch Chair)

Statement of the above members

It is always a sad moment when it becomes necessary for a Labour member to step aside from a role in the party but the time has come for us all to do just that. As Executive Committee members we have experienced a great feeling of comradeship and unity of purpose as we endeavoured to promote and organise the party in our locality.

Our firm objective has been to promote socialist ideals and to argue unregulated capitalism is incompatible with the values of freedom, equality and solidarity and that these ideals can only be realised through the realisation of a socialist society. We did our best to support and run the CLP through good times and bad. The General Election result of 2019 was indeed a very bad time for us as our candidate selection process was shrouded in controversy but nevertheless, we were able to field a very able candidate and contribute a great deal of time to the campaign.

The growth of membership in our CLP was extraordinary from 2015 to 2019 and the quality and organisation of meetings was of note. We embraced the broad church and represented a wide range of views. It is said all good things must come to and end and now we feel the direction being taken by the leadership towards a neo-liberal stance it is right that the CLP executive baton should be handed over to those who share the direction of the leadership. We will remain supportive members of the Labour Party but it would be doing an injustice to the wonderful membership if we continued our roles halfheartedly. We have very positive intentions for the future and will be pursuing our vision for a socialist world in other ways, so that we can contribute to policy development.

We thank members....etc

---------------

In other words this group will be shouting from the back benches without taking responsibility for anything something the hard/far left has always been good at.

Labour's entryist groups: Socialist Appeal

 

Image: By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use

One of the tactics used by left groups, in particular those of the Trotskyist kind is known as entryism whereby the organisation buries itself inside a larger party to gain influence and members as a prelude to establishing a new "revolutionary party. This ruse was advised by Trotsky himself to the French Section of the Fourth International back in 1936 and has been practised in various forms by most of those who stand in the Trotskyist tradition.

Of course this should not come as any surprise to long term Labour Party members who will recall the battle with the Militant Tendency back in the eighties. The group which arose around Ted Grant one of the major figures of the British Trotskyist left (and one of the more boring) suddenly found itself gaining ground in the seventies taking control of the Labour Party Young Socialists, several Constituency Labour Parties and eventually found itself with three members in Parliament.

The group were an old fashioned group disdaining such things as gay rights considering them "bourgeois deviations" (a view quite common amongst the far-left at one time) and even got called out for "gay bashing" yet this was a very working class grouping which suddenly found itself at war with the Party leadership.

Militant controlled Liverpool Council sent out redundancy notices to all it's workers by taxi which led to Neil Kinnock's famous speech and the eventual breakup and demise of Militant.  Despite organising a rally of over 8000 supporters in the Royal Albert hall the organisation was proscribed and it's leaders including Ted Grant expelled. The rump of the organist ion turned to establishing the Socialist Party however not everyone left Labour.

Despite being expelled Grant opted to call on his faction to stay and regroup within Labour. Today we know this organisation through the name of it's newspaper Socialist Appeal.

With between three and four hundred "supporters" (really members) Socialist Appeal remains active inside the Labour Party despite being in breach of the constitution as it has a separate organisation, membership, finances, programme and outside affiliations. 

Socialist Appeal is part of the International Marxist tendency their version of the "Fourth International" and one of whole myriad of similar bodies of varying sizes.

"The International Marxist Tendency is a Marxist cadre organisation based on a revolutionary and internationalist programme. Founded in the working class and youth, the IMT unites all who wish to dedicate themselves to the struggle for international socialist revolution."

It has an active and growing wing in Universities known as the Student Marxists" and is currently turning it's attention to the PCS trade union where it's old rivals in the Socialist Party have split and been purged by the Serwotka leadership.

Socialist Appeal supporters remain active inside the Labour Party and operate on a smaller scale to the old Militant Tendency but as a parasitical organisation seeking to use the Labour Party for it's own quite undemocratic aims.

Socialist Appeal is an organisation that should be removed from Labour's ranks just like the Militant Tendency it sprang from. There is actually no excuse for the party not to act against this group. However as we shall see in future posts there are other groups buried inside the Labour Party operating in the same way usually causing unecessary friction for their own ends.

Time to act. 

Can Labour be reclaimed and reformed: An introduction to a debate

The Labour Party is at a crossroads. It has emerged from a period of what can only be described as darkness under Jeremy Corbyn and the movement that both grew around him and those that used this phenomenon to further their own agendas. Many thousands of activists previously hostile to the Labour Party and what it traditionally has always stood for flocked to back one of the most illiberal and disingenuous politicians of our age.

Labour has always been a coalition of interests originating out of the desire of trade unions and their members to be represented in Parliament to further the interests of working people in British society. Over time Labour supplanted the Liberals as the main opposition party incorporating many people who may in different times have chosen other directions. This is the nature of two-party politics which results from our first past the post electoral system.

For the most part this has worked and Labour has been home to thinkers from a variety of traditions allowing for the development of an ideologically broad based party. Add to this the affiliated trade unions and other organisations Labour has always been a coalition of interests and ideas that existed in a (mostly) open and healthy political environment.

Of course as politics is the art of managing conflicts of interest in society the broad based model has faced more than one crisis over the decades. The rise of "Bennism" as it as know and the fight against the parasitical Militant entry group saw a major rifts occur and eventually a split leading to the creation of the Social Democratic Party. 

The SDP of course was ultimately a failure and what survived was mostly absorbed by merger with the Liberal Party both of which created it's own recalcitrant splitters who continue to this day as The Liberal Party and the SDP. Neither of which have any standing in politics today whilst the merged "parent party" maintains a presence of sorts with a handful of MPs and a substantial pkace in local politics.

All this is history of course.

However the situation that grew under the Corbyn regime created a an environment that undermined the whole concept of a "broad based party. Despite the pronouncement of a "new, kinder, gentler politics " the exact opposite happened. The influx of thousands of hard left activists who had been involved in a myriad of minor political organisations and campaigns or simply attended demonstrations shouting slogans with no detail proved to be the beginning of what can only be described as an inquisition.

The leader was to be revered and a hard line socialism being the order of the day (literally it would seem) meant that many traditional Labour folk were suddenly targeted as "Blue Labour" or "Red Tories" and implored to fuck off and join the conservative party. Dissent was jumped on and shouted down in whatever medium was to hand. Twitter, Facebook and of course at meetings where many activists no longer felt welcome or in some cases safe in the party they had belonged to in years.

Those MPs that dared speak out were threatened not just with deselection but actual abuse and threats driving thousands of members and eventually a small group of MP's away. Of course this is all well known. as is the rise of antisemitism as a direct result of Corbynism.

Then disaster. Labour had it's worst ever election result. Corbyn finally went. Many thousands of his supporters likewise abandoned ship and returned to the sidelines sniping but many of them remain waiting in the wings plotting and planning revenge for the betrayal of their cause by those that opposed them. 

Plus those pesky Jews, Zionists. Israel was to blame along with the (Jewish Zionist controlled media). Then there was the Northern "Red Wall" which fell to the Tories. The middle class left betrayed by the working class. How dare they.

Fast forward to today and the left has lost control of the party. There is a new leader, Sir Keir Starmer who has done much to rebuild ties with the Jewish community and admitted liability for the persecution of the whistle-blowers at Party HQ.  More statesman like than Corbyn could ever be and a lawyer by trade he has quietly established himself as an alternative to Boris Johnston but despite the closing of the gaps in the opinion polls the Labour Party itself has more than some way to go.

The left are constantly sniping at Starmer and even Corbyn won't return to his vegetables preferring to tend to the ones around Momentum and the various left groups that stand in the same political patch the failed Messiah tended.

Momentum has shrunk but still retains a membership of 8,000 a figure that the old Militant tendency could rally at a pinch (and did in the Royal Albert Hall on one occasion before it's collapse). There are others some small entrist groups others around campaigns and front groups. Many with a reach they do not deserve.

How Labour is to deal with it's political credibility and avoid either continuing a civil war or the threat of a left-wing take over again in the future is the central question that members must ask themselves. Corbynism made maximalist demands on the party. Ideologically motivated and unachievable. 

The party needs to change. It needs to modernise. Labour requires not just new leadership but new ideas or at least practical ones  to deal with the economic and social mess that has been created by a mixture of the pandemic and poor governance.

In order to achieve this Labour must first get it's house in order. Can the party afford to allow cuckoos in the nest and there are many) of which Momentum is but part of the problem. there's a lot of groups and campaigns that are wheedling away undermine the rise of reason within Labour's ranks. Time to simply implement the party's own rules effectively.

It should seek to go further. Over the next decade Labour needs to undergo fundamental change. there should be no shibboleths on how the party modernises itself. It's time to ditch the extremists and remove them and their organisations along with a reform of ideological thinking.  Ditching the ball & chain of old fashioned socialist dogma and imagery in favour of modern social democracy for reform and a new relationship with the people of this country.

Over the coming weeks there will be a series of posts looking at various aspects of Labour's internal strife and the examining the groups and campaigns along with a look at some of the issues that need to be dealt with. I have no illusions of how far this will effect events but as someone who until Corbyn traditionally supported Labour I want to do so again and am far from alone in being in this position.

Belarus: Stop the violence - defend democracy and human rights

Presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9. They were once again blatantly falsified in favour of the long-serving ruler Lukashenko. This caused a storm of popular protest.

The security forces responded with an unprecedented terror: mass arrests, beatings and torture of protesters.

A wave of spontaneous work stoppages swept across the country. Workers started to form strike committees to prepare for a nationwide general strike in support of democratic change. The strikers demands include: recognise the results of the presidential elections as invalid, release all political prisoners and demonstrators, prevent the persecution of the strike participants and cancel the system of short term contracts.

The administration and security services are putting tremendous pressure on the strikers, members of the strike committee and their families. Many are threatened with dismissal. Activists are being detained by security services.

We must help stop the wave of violence.

Please support the online campaign supported by independent trade unions in Belarus and global unions, here:

https://www.labourstart.org/go/stoptheviolence

And please - share this message with your friends, family and fellow union members.

Thank you!




Eric Lee

FIRST INTERNATIONAL APOSTASY DAY!

 

22 August 2020 is being established as the first Apostasy Day by an international coalition of ex-Muslim organisations.

  


Apostasy (ردة‎ or ارتداد) is the abandonment or renunciation of religion. 

It is punishable by death in Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, UAE, and Yemen and a criminal offence in many more Muslim-majority countries. In Pakistan, a disbelief in God is punishable with the death penalty under a blasphemy law. In Saudi Arabia, atheism is equated with terrorism. In some countries with

out the death penalty, Islamists kill those deemed apostates, including in Bangladesh and Muslim-minority India. In many countries, such as in Europe and North America, apostates can face threats, shunning and honour-based violence, including from their families. Individuals from Orthodox Jewish, Christian, Hindu and other backgrounds can also face shunning and violence for apostasy.

22 August is being chosen as Apostasy Day because it is the UN Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. 

Moreover, late August marks the start of a second wave of mass executions of apostates in Iran in 1988 after brief “trials”. Thousands who responded negatively to questions such as ‘Are you a Muslim?’, ‘Do you believe in Allah?’, ‘Is the Holy Qur’an the Word of Allah?’, ‘Do you accept the Holy Muhammad to be the Seal of the Prophets?’, ‘Do you fast during Ramadan?’, ‘Do you pray and read the Holy Qur’an?’ were summarily executed.

• On the newly established Apostasy Day, we renew calls for the:commemoration of the victims of apostasy laws
• an end to the criminalisation and the death penalty for apostasy in countries under Islamic laws
• an end to shunning, threats and honour-related violence from families of apostates
• affirmation of freedom of thought, conscience and belief as well as opinion and expression in compliance with the United Nation Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 18 & 19).

 

Further info: www.ex-muslim.org.uk

AC/DC: A Long Way to the Top The Bon Scott Years (1974 - 1979)

One of the more unusual releases is this double 10" album of live  recordings of AC/DC from Coda Records. This features 8 live tracks recorded in Maryland, London and Sydney from the late seventies when Bon Scott was still the vocalist in the band.

In fact it's one of a whole series of releases in this format which is also published on splatter vinyl and limited to 1000 copies. They are not cheap. Advertised at "£24.99" that does not include tax so with postage will set you back some £33.

Other bands being treated in this way include The Beatles and Guns & Roses. They are doing this "buy three get one free deal" with a free record on top of that but it's still a big outlay so this is for dedicated fans however I quite like the format and am a big fan of AC/

(Not actual performance on album)

Available from: codarecords.co.uk

Time to end manichean politics

Every time I pick up the newspaper or go on line and see what's been posted on social media I end up despairing of what has become of political discourse in this country and frankly elsewhere.  When I see The Times publishing an article about the discovery of a transgender Viking I wonder how much history will be re-written or amended to suit the new "woke" politics. 

Have these people not heard of Shield Maidens. In fact are they not aware there is a long history of women warriors. Amongst others I call Queen Boudicca of the Iceni as a witness to that fact. The efforts by trans-activists and their allies to wipe biological women off the map seems to know no bounds. 

There was even a disgusting report of trans activists threatning violence against a woman campaigning against male violence against women. 

Women Are Human reported

FR — Paris. On August 12, 2020, Marguerite Stern tweeted that for her own safety, she had to move from her home, due to threats from trans rights activists. Ms Stern launched the Collages Feminicide movement in August 2019, which involves pasting posters on city walls denouncing male violence against women. Continue reading Transgender Activists Threaten Feminist for Focusing on Male Violence Against Women 

Surely everyone should see the problem therein. Just because Ms Stern doesn't think women have dicks means she and her children are threatened and made homeless by a bunch of self entitled men.  Appalling.

Then I see these anti-maskers marching around claiming that masks reduce oxygen consumption (they don't) and COVID 19 is all about control of the population plus those pesky 5G Masks are transmitting viruses that affect our health. Deranged that last one. The other Corbyn (Piers) is involved with that lot.

Talking of Corbyn there's the question of racism. Because of Jeremy Corbyn and his mates this country has seen antisemitism become mainstream as the comrades target a community over a question of anti-imperialism thereby denying a whole people of the right of self determination. As a result the left adopted the attitudes that Zionists (that's Jews to you and me) control the media, the banks and have many Labour MP's on their payroll.

This hasn't gone away but the comrades couldn't wait to demonstrate their so-called anti-racism by support the Black Lives Matter movement. Yes racism against Black people (and those of all colour's and ethnic groups) needs to be fought and exposed this cannot be done when there is so much racism at the heart of the American based BLM itself. 

Antisemitism was once restricted to a few nutters around the black supremacist Nation of Islam organisation around Louis Farrakhan but this thanks to the left and their Islamist allies has spread to the BLM leadership in the USAand saw BLM UK hijacked by the far left. 

Simply put racism cannot be fought with racism. 

The legacy of the woke and the far left on British politics has had wide spread damaging effects which when combined with the divisions created over Brexit have left a population divided against itself and seemingly bereft of any politicians of reason.

The current government is floundering though the opposition is still far from ready to replace them. Sir Keir Starmer may be more electable than the intellectually challenged Corbyn but the party is in turmoil and it's policies remain to far to the left. McCluskey and Momentum are preparing rearguard action that may keep a stable and rational opposition party from being formed.

Meanwhile faith in the political system flounders. there was a time that I had at least some idea of who to support and what direction to take. That certainty has gone replaced with despair as I look at the world of politics around me.

To so many the world is simply to be seen in black and white. The world and it's problems are not like that. There are shades of grey and nuances that lead to compromise a word long gone from our political lexicon.

I have been lazy with my blogging in recent times I want to make a contribution to political change even if on a micro-level as were my activities as trade unionist which helped me develop a certain pragmatism another concept missing from debate these days.

In the coming weeks and months I will be looking at ways to reclaim politics and the Labour Party in particular from those that see the world in monochrome.

AMARANTHE - STRONG feat. Noora Louhimo (New Album due in October)

It's been a week since I last blogged. Thought I'd take a break. However there is plenty coming up and to start off the weekend is the first of two new music features.

The new album Manifest from Swedish band Amaranth features a duet with Noora Louhimo the lead singer from Finnish metal group Battle Beast.  This is a powerful number and a good reason to pre-order their new album due out on October 2nd.

Amaranth are Elize Ryd (Female Clean Vocals), Olof Mork (Guitars/Synth), Morten Løwe Sørensen (Drums), Johan Andreassen (Bass) and Nils Molin – Male Clean Vocals .

Official website: www.amaranthe.se

Deep Purple "Whoosh!" Official Preview & Review (Limited Edition)

The latest Deep Purple Album, Whoosh arrived on my doormat yesterday somewhat delayed by the pandemic but well worth the wait. I did have some concerns about ordering this album as I was very disappointed by their last release Infinite which was not up to scratch in my opinion.

However having played the new album twice and preparing to watch the live concert on the accompanying DVD which comes with the limited edition version I can say this album whilst not containing any future classics is highly listenable.

This is the 21st studio album from Deep Purple who are Ian Gillan (vocals), Ian Paice (drums) Roger Glover (bass), Steve Morse (Guitar) and Don Airey (Keys).

The following video is an official preview.

Official website: www.deeppurple-whoosh.com

Unite Reps rally against McCluskey's squandering of members money

There is growing disquiet inside Unite the Union as McCluskey continues to be  more interested in defending Corbyn's dreadful record on antisemitism in the Labour Party than campaigning for his members jobs under threat in the pandemic.

McCluskey was elected by just 4% of Unites members with the vast majority of the union abstaining. This is in a large part due to the hard left controlling the distribution of information. This will no doubt help anoint the Broad left's replacement for McCluskey as he retires

There is an alternative that Unite members and especially those who Labour Party members wishing to change the way both are run by supporting the Unite Alliance who have issued the following statement:

Focus on the jobs of our members not the future leader of Unite or the Labour party

It has become clear to Unite Alliance that many senior Unite activists on the very front line of the devastating impact of the Corona-virus have grave concerns about what is going on in our union. At a time when tens of thousands of our members are losing their jobs and tens of thousands of our members are having their terms and conditions attacked our leadership’s unswerving attention on the battle at hand to defend the jobs and interests of our members is essential.

Those that are in danger of losing their jobs need help to defend them, those that are having their wages and working conditions threatened need support to protect them, and everyone at work needs the union focused on looking after their health and safety while they are at work in this dangerous time. Every tool at the union’s disposal, including legal, political and industrial means, need to be entirely focused on this.

But what we are currently witnessing is nothing of the sort. Our union’s leadership seems to be far more concerned with who will succeed Len McCluskey as General Secretary of Unite when his term of office comes to an end in 2022, than it is about the battle our members are fighting day in day out against the effects of the corona-virus and the ruthless employers who are using the crisis as a cover to decimate our members lives. Such a diversion of attention would be an insult to our members at the best of times, but when the Unite Executive Council has not even discussed, let alone called, a General Secretary election, it is a disgrace and a betrayal to the promise we’ve made to do everything possible to protect our 1.2 million members.

Against the background of the current unprecedented threat that the corona-virus poses to hundreds of thousands of our members jobs and industries these actions not only beggar belief, they also demonstrate just how completely and utterly out of touch our leadership has become in relation to the real needs and interests of our members.

As the largest and most visible union in the country we have seen virtually nothing of our leadership at all in the media. There has been no calling the government out on its unbelievably bad handling of the crisis, or the publishing of detailed survival plans for the worst affected sectors.

Our members and activists engaged in a bitter fight for the survival and well-being of our union and its members know only too well what the real priorities are, and they are most definitely not external squabbles about the next General Secretary. Nor are they the internal factional fights being waged within the Labour Party for which Unite again appears ready to squander members money to bankroll yet another costly legal battle. Without a laser like focus on today’s battles whenever there is a new General Secretary there may not be much of a union left to lead.

We the lay representatives will carry on fighting and doing the best we can for our members in this terrible period. We will carry on trying to defend jobs, wages and safety and we will carry on fighting in a battle of a scale that none of us have ever experienced before and we will often be doing that without clear battle plans or ways to proceed.

We will continue to stand together as we have always done come what may, and we will continue to work with the thousands of dedicated members, activists and officers that have stepped up to the plate given their very best. We have taken no position at all yet on who we think should lead our union in the future, but rest assured, when the time does come and a real General Secretary election does take place, we will be asking how and why this situation came about and making our judgement on who was really there for us in our members hour of need.

Steve Hibbert – Chair Unite Alliance –  Unite Executive Council and Rolls Royce Derby Convenor

Sean Beatty – Vice-Chair Unite Alliance – Chair of Unite BASSA branch

More info:unitealliance.org

New Wave of British Heavy Metal: 1978 - 1986 (Various Artists/Cherry Red Records)

The latest compilation album released from Cherry Red Records NWOBHM: Thunder is the second compilation of heavy metal from a variety of British artists during the years 1978 to 1986. Some of these will be familiar as the first of the three CD's opens with Metal Thunder from Saxon. There's also Saracen, Girlschool and Hammerhead amongst others.

The number of bands you may know depends on how deep the listener was into the metal scene during these years. Regardless there are some real gems in this 44 track collection. Amongst those that caught my attention were Rock Goddess and Seige but there's actually nay a duff track on the whole album which gives just over three hours of playing time.

The album also comes with a booklet giving pen pictures of the featured bands.

According to the label:

"By the end of the 1970s, the original trio of British hard rock heroes Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath had either graduated to the arenas of the world, or split up, whilst the second wave of British heavy rockers, including UFO, Motörhead and Judas Priest were beginning to fill major venues across the UK. Punk exploded in 1977, and the DIY approach that sprang up in its wake soon influenced the grassroots metalheads who had yet to leave their local pubs and clubs. Often independently released, some of the bands in this set never made more than one now highly prized and collectible 45 or one-off EP."

I am encouraged to explore some of these bands including the Pauline Gillan Band and yes she has a famous brother. I had not heard of her so on the list she goes. 

I have only just finished going through this album a couple of times so forward to You Tube and Amazon Music to discover more and probably add a few more albums to collection as my budget allows. 

This album is highly recommended and is available from: www.cherryred.co.uk

Sample track: Flirting With Suicide by Praying Mantis from their 1981 album Time Tells No Lies.

BRATS - 棘 New Single: Toge

As we enter an uncertain but at least sunny summer I thought I'd kick off blogging in August with the latest single from the all-girl indie band Brats from the Land of the Rising Sun itself!

Brats are: Rei Kuromiya (vocals), Aya Kuromiya (bass) and Hinako (guitar).

At present their music is only available as downloads in the UK.

Official website: brats-official.com