BBC maintains reverse view of footage

From Big Issue in the North magazine. 

Information accompanying news footage of events at Orgreave coking works during the 1984-85 miners’ strike has been altered on the BBC Learning Zone for schools.

This follows complaints from a former miner and a woman captured on camera at Orgreave being attacked by a mounted police officer wielding a baton at her head.

South Yorkshire Police is currently under investigation for its role at Orgreave after the force referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in November 2012.

Orgreave is one of the most contentious issues in the year- long dispute, which pitched members of the National Union of Mineworkers against Margaret Thatcher’s government.

In late May 1984, pickets assembled at the coke works in an attempt to prevent the movement of coal into the plant and coke coming out.

The mass picketing that followed was met by a well- organised police effort involving forces from across Britain.

The most serious disturbances occurred on 18 June 1984 when 8,000 miners were met by 4,500 police, many in riot gear. In the clashes that followed 95 miners were arrested.

Missiles

Press and television coverage almost universally condemned pickets. BBC viewers on the day were shown police responding to missiles being thrown at them by charging the assembled crowd on horseback wielding batons. In fact the battle scene had been reversed and, in 1991, the BBC issued an apology, claiming its action footage had been “inadvertently reversed”.

Charged with riot and unlawful assembly, the 95 arrested faced lengthy prison sentences. However, when the first 15 appeared at Sheffield Crown Court in 1985 their trial collapsed when it became clear the police’s oral and written evidence was unreliable.

Each prosecution had been supported by two police officers making nearly identical statements.

All charges against pickets were later dropped. Subsequently, South Yorkshire Police (SYP) paid out £425,000 out of court settlements. Despite claims by miners that it was they that had been violently attacked by the police no new investigation was undertaken and no officer was charged.

The IPCC is now examining allegations of assault, perjury, perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office.

‘Traumatised’

The BBC Learning Zone Class Clips is for school teachers. Clip 7590 is wrongly headed “The miners’ strike: Orgreave colliery” as there was no colliery at Orgreave. The footage is just over three minutes long and shows a series of clashes between police and pickets, with injuries on both sides.

Almost 90 seconds is taken up by an interview with SYP chief constable Peter Wright, who says: “The police action was in response to the pickets’ actions... I have not previously known missiles to have been thrown to the extent they have here.”

Miner Paul Winter attended the Orgreave picket. When he saw the footage on the Learning Zone he said: “Although I don’t wish to force my politics on kids the events at Orgreave need to be based on fact rather than an organisation and a man who’s credibility is at an all time low with anyone with an ounce of common decency.

“The BBC reversed the footage in 1984. They should reverse this one and replace it with something more balanced.”

Lesley Boulton survived serious injury when she went to aid an injured picket near Orgreave on 18 June 1984. Photographer John Harris famously captured the moment when a mounted police officer aimed a baton at her head and missed narrowly.

Boulton said: “I am very disappointed the BBC is using such a one-sided and limited example of what happened at Orgreave. How are children supposed to be helped to think critically and form opinions with only half the story?”

Complaints

In response to the complaints a BBC spokesperson said it had amended the “clip to make clear the footage is provided to stimulate classroom discussion and is not a definitive account of events”.

The footage has not been altered but the accompanying words have been changed to state that there are “no comments from a member of the mining community. What might a miner have said about the strike and the picket at the colliery? The piece can be used to stimulate work on different points of view in conflict and how they are represented.”

Beautiful

Thanks to the owner of a beauty salon, Unite Community has a new community advice centre. Natalia Garstka, owner of Prestige in Doncaster, was constantly being asked by her Polish clients about where they could get advice. So when she met translator Tom Scott-Chambers, who for the last six years has admirably befriended and assisted many migrant workers from Poland, she proposed that he move in and work with Unite to provide advice and information on a formal basis.

In early June the advice sessions started and Tom is now looking for volunteers to be trained to help him. 

Tom’s extensive involvement with the Polish community in South Yorkshire was sparked by him witnessing the deplorable living conditions that migrant workers were being forced to endure with up to sixteen people living in a small house with few facilities. 

When he began searching for some premises, from which to start making improvements by providing free benefits help and welfare rights advice, he wrote off to Unite. “I was delighted when they wrote back saying they were fully behind me,” says Tom. The outcome was the new community centre on Nether Hall Road, location for many Polish and European shops in Doncaster. 

In just a few short weeks the response has been very exciting. Many people have been helped and forty Polish people have joined the Unite Community Branch that has been formed in Doncaster. “Once they see we are on their side, people want to give something back and get involved,” said Tom.

Tom has also been unionising workers from Poland who are working at places such as Monaghan Mushrooms near Pontefract and ABP Food Group in Armthorpe. “People are coming in and saying I am working and I need to be in a union. I say complete the application form, get others to do so and get organised. We need all workers to be in a union as otherwise we will allow employers to pay migrant workers less and consequently see wage levels drop everywhere.” 

The Community Centre is open 10am - 3pm every Tuesday and Wednesday. Ring 

07548 096863 for details and to arrange an appointment. Note the centre is open to all nationalities. 

Should charitable status be removed for land grabbers?

 Should an international organisation that stands accused of colonising land be allowed to retain its UK charitable status? Not according to the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. It now owns 13% of the total land of Israel. Two years ago, an early day motion signed by 66 MPS criticised the JNF for what it called ‘its ongoing illegal expropriation of Palestinian land, concealing of destroyed Palestinian villages beneath parks and forests...consequently there is just cause to consider revocation of the JNF’s UK charitable status.’

Last year a report – Environmental Nakba – based on a visit to the West Bank by Friends of the Earth highlighted many examples of land expropriation by the JNF in the West Bank involving the destruction of trees and the polluting of agricultural land and surface water. Confiscation of land is undertaken using a law from the Ottoman period that permits the state to expropriate land that is not in use – evidence for which is guaranteed by military exclusion, vandalism and intimidation of settlers, many of who have family links dating back hundreds of years. With over one-third of the income of the West Bank coming from agriculture the continued expansion of settlements is crippling the Palestinian economy and impoverishing Palestinians.

In June, the PSC organised a speaking tour by one of the report’s authors, Eurig Scandrett, a sociology lecturer at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and the organisation is stepping up its campaign for peace and justice for Palestinians.

www.palestinecampaign.org

Government - get on the bus out of here!

Reproduced from the current edition of Unite Landworker magazine. 

They have already been hit hard by government spending cuts and now rural bus services face further decimation in 2014.  

It was in October 2010 that the Conservative/Liberal coalition cut local council budgets by 28 per cent. This was followed by an ongoing annual reduction in spending of 7.1 per cent in local government funding until 2014. To save money, local councils slashed budgets with subsidised public transport routes taking a real pounding. 

Conservative Cambridgeshire County Council swiftly ended all of its £2.7 million funding for subsidised buses and even after a local village resident organised a successful Judicial Review this resulted in ‘only’ £1 million of the cuts being restored. 

The coalition was unconcerned about the chaos they were causing. When it was revealed that the Transport Department had a £543 million underspend in 2011-12 the money was handed back to the Treasury. Labour’s Louise Ellman, chair of the all-party Commons Transport Committee said: “This is quite extraordinary. The department got its sums wrong and bus service cuts did not need to happen.” 

As we move towards what is hopefully the final year of this rotten government things seem certain to get a lot worse for rural bus users. 

The campaign for better transport’s Save Our Buses reveals that 46 per cent of local authorities reduced support for buses in 2013. Now some are threatening to remove all financial support in 2014, especially after the recent ‘bingo’ budget significantly offered little for bus users.

North Yorkshire County Council has made £900,000 cuts – equivalent to 15 per cent of the total budget - to supported buses since 2011. There are a further £2 million cuts being made from April onwards. 100 services will be affected and whilst council leader John Weighell is correct when he says they are being imposed on the authority by the government it rather ignores the fact that he is a Tory. It is also a little rich for Carl Les, the council deputy leader, to state: “We are very conscious of the potential that these reductions have for people in very rural areas, in terms of isolation and loneliness.” 

The cuts have finished off a family business that has been running since 1925. Pennine Motor Services – which operates a fleet of 14 orange and black buses around the market town of Skipton – will cease trading in May. Company secretary Maurice Simpson, whose father, Norman, ran the firm for many decades said, “It is a very sad day but unfortunately it is no longer viable. North Yorkshire reimburses 28.4 per cent of free travel whereas Lancashire pays back 56 per cent. That is our problem. It is a disaster for our 19 drivers, seven or eight of whom have worked for us for more than 20 years.” 

In Worcestershire, the Tory-led county council proposals to axe all £3 million of its public transport subsidy produced an unprecedented 8,500 responses. The county council removed £2.5 million of subsidies in 2011 and aimed to finish all subsidies this year. This threatened 88 bus services along 43 different routes, including scores in rural areas. Public pressure has forced the Tories to find £1 million to keep subsidised buses running until September, but the future of these essential services remains uncertain.

In Oxfordshire, the county council is controlled by a minority Conservative Party administration and supported bus budgets have been maintained since 2011. A good standard of provision is now jeopardised by a review, which remains ongoing as we went to press. 

Amongst the threatened services in West Oxfordshire are those in the Witney, Woodstock and Chipping Norton area. So concerned was Unite community member Kate Pearce – who lives 15 miles from Witney in Langford - that she collected documents on 30 routes. When she discovered that 27 were likely to face having their timetables cut, Kate started up her own website – www.subsidised-buses.org.uk - to get people involved as “rural communities need buses, otherwise people won’t be able to access doctors surgeries or get to the shops. These services provide a lifeline to the communities that they serve.” Kate collected 500 signatures on a petition that she later presented to the county council.

Kate made links with Darran Brown, Unite convenor for over 450 members at the local Stagecoach bus depot. He has seen some of his members work lost to a not for profit community interest company, Go Ride, after Oxfordshire County Council took the 213, 214, 215 and 233 routes out of subsidy to save £188,000. 

Brown naturally wants to defend his members’ interests. But he also fears that if “Stagecoach can’t make money on these routes then how can a small company do so? Go Ride will only be running  16 seater buses, which for the majority of time will not be big enough to accommodate users, who are primarily elderly people. Once the bus is full there will an hour’s wait for the next service. I want a well maintained rural bus service. I don’t believe that will be the case going forward.”

Brown is right to be worried. Before the recent budget, 29 very high profile charities, NGO’s and trade unions, including Unite, combined in calling for urgent government action in tackling bus service cuts. The response was derogatory with Danny Alexander, the treasury chief secretary, penning just 7 sentences in reply. It was a cheap shot but one which demonstrates that the current government cares little for rural communities. It is time they got on their own bus and departed the scene. 

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/save-our-buses

Some photos from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Picnic and Festival on 14 June

The picnic and festival organised by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) on Saturday 14 June at Orgreave attracted around 1,500 people, with a peak attendance early in the afternoon of 1,000. This was a highly respectable turn out and most people seemed to enjoy the event. Here are some photographs of the day itself. All photographs are copyright Mark Harvey of ID 8 photography and are not for reproduction.

Geoff Poulter, sacked miner from Bolsover Colliery and
Stephen Hamilton, Cadeby Main Memorial Group 

Michael Mansfield, film-maker Yvette Vanson and Orgreave veterans including
OTJC activists Kevin Horne, Arthur Critchlow and Lesley Boulton. 

Joe Rollin and John Dunn of Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign 

Gareth Pierce 

Rick Sumner. former miner and Justice for Mineworkers national convenor 

Betty Cook of Women Against Pit Closures 

Fans of FC United showed great support 

Bridget Bell, originator and main organiser of the picnic and festival,
is presented with a bottle of champagne from Barbara Jackson, OTJC secretary.

Art, history and progress

Art, history and progress 

Trade union banners are heroic examples of popular art, giant swaying sails of colour, a tribute to the cause of labour. Starting from the emergent craft trade unions of the early nineteenth century they present a telling visual history of working class struggle and progress. Nowhere does this history burn brighter than at the Durham Miners’ Gala, which is fast re-emerging as the biggest annual trade union event in Britain.

Which is why, following the successful start-up of the Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) and Unite Community support centre at Redhills, Durham UNITE Community is proud to be, with the backing of the DMA, launching its own banner. The unveiling takes place on 10 July 2014 at the Premier in Durham City of the RedLadder Theatre Company Play: “We’re not going back.” 

Incredible generosity from many Unite branches and members has made the banner possible. The eye catching design, which results from collaborative work between older and younger activists, recognises the new methods of campaigning by groups like UK Uncut, Occupy and the People’s Assembly. 

Davy Hopper, DMA general secretary, said: "This banner will mark the 30th anniversary of our national strike - a strike where Thatcher sought to destroy our communities. Unfortunately for the Tories we are still here and still fighting - this banner will reflect that.”

Ps Anyone wanting to find out more about Trade Union Banners should get hold a copy of BANNER BRIGHT by John Gorman. 

Parcel rules leave customers seething

A change in Post Office rules for sending parcels has left some customers angry.

Under regulations introduced last year, everyone posting a parcel at the Post Office should be asked about the contents. But some people believe this information should be confidential.

Introduced in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Authority, the Department for Transport and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the changes mean Royal Mail cannot accept any package without knowing if it contains prohibited items such as foreign lottery tickets, obscene images, explosives, flammable liquids and ammunition.

Counter staff are required to ask customers about the contents of their parcels. However if they believe that a parcel may contain a prohibited item they must forward it for opening to the Royal Mail returns centre in Belfast. Dangerous or prohibited items are destroyed and no compensation is paid to customers.

Turned away

Some customers are unhappy about the changes. Steve Raphael from Blackburn was turned away from Whalley Banks post office after he refused to tell staff that his parcel contained a children’s toy, one of a number of items he had sold on eBay. He said: “It’s wrong, it’s a disgrace. It’s a principle as I fear next they will be asking my for my papers.”

After 13 years of using his local post office in Barnwood, Gloucestershire pensioner Gordon Meek switched to using another one after he was asked about a parcel that included cosmetics. He said: “I believe this information is confidential and they have no right to ask me what is in there.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Questions are asked of all customers posting parcels. Customers have the right to complain and can do so through customer service channels.”

As reproduced from Big Issue in the North magazine of 9-15th June.