“The Joy and fellowship of the open fells”: the Holiday Fellowship 1913-2013

28 April is the 81st anniversary of the day in 1932 when over 400 women and men from the Lancashire branch of the Communist inspired British Workers Sport Federation took part in a mass trespass on Kinder Scout to establish the principle of the people’s right to roam. The trespass was controversial at the time, being seen as a working class struggle for the right to access the countryside versus the rights of the wealthy to have exclusive use of moorlands for grouse shooting.

In 1891 in Colne a Congregationalist minister, T.A. Leonard, had different ideas about why working people should take to the hills and he set up an organisation which would offer walking holidays in the Lake District and beyond to the millworkers where he lived. He frowned upon the annual trip to resorts such as Blackpool and Morecambe:

This kind of holiday leads to thoughtless spending of money, inane types of amusement and unhealthy crowding in lodging houses.

Thomas Arthur Leonard

Leonard therefore set up a rambling club, and organised a holiday to Ambleside for the summer of 1891. Over the next few years the group travelled to Keswick and as far as Caernarvon in North Wales. The template for the holiday was a break for four nights, with 30 people in the group, enjoying basic accommodation. Leonard summed it up:

In those days we were content with very primitive arrangements, so long as they gave us the joy and freedom of the open fells. All we needed was food, beds and good fellowship.

In 1897 a small company was formed called the Co-operative Holiday Association (CHA). Leonard resigned as a minister and became its full-time General Secretary, based in one of their properties, Abbey House, in Whitby, Yorkshire.

In the early 1900s he numbers of centres owned by the CHA grew and by 1913 they had 18 centres, including five overseas.

But Leonard felt that origins of the CHA had been diluted and that it had become a middle-class, conservative organisation. So the Holiday Fellowship was launched to provide simple adventurous holidays with an emphasis on youth and expanding their trips to overseas, the aim being to provide an all inclusive holiday for the price of an average weekly wage.

Hf Badge

The headquarters was now in Conwy and several other centres were purchased in Yorkshire and near Stranraer, as well as transferring a centre in Germany from CHA to the HF.

Prices for the holidays varied from 25/- per week at the Newlands centre in Derwent Bank plus 4/6d for walking excursions to £5/10/6 per week in Germany. A trip to Germany in the summer of 1914 led to two of the tourists being interned for the period of the Great War!

Singing was an integral part of the HF holiday, and until 1933 there was always a song book included in the programme. The songs ranged from religious hymns to the popular tunes of the day.

Hf songbook

The HF continued to grow throughout the 1920s with nearly 30,000 guests in its 23 houses. By 1930 Its membership magazine Over the Hills had a circulation of 21,000 copies.

The Second World War led to the closure of many of the centres and saw guest numbers fall to 14,500 in 1943.
T.A. Leonard died In 1948, aged 84. An activist all his life he had not just been involved with the HF but had also been involved with the creation of the YHA, the National Trust and the Ramblers Association.

The HF (now called HF Holidays) has continued and this year celebrates its centenary. Its head offices are in Cumbria and Hertfordshire and it is the UK’s largest walking holiday company. It maintains its links with the Ramblers Association and is their recommended walking holiday partner. It works with other organisations such as the Outdoor Industries Association to help preserve wild land and wildlife.

Walking is still a popular activity and may become even more attractive to the public given the economic downturn. HF has seen the number of its walking groups double over the years. Holidays with HF can mean travelling to 113 destinations in 46 countries across the world. All its group leaders are volunteers and HF is still a co-operative so it returns its profits back into the organisation to improve the holiday experience of its guests.
For more information about HF see

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch…..two films and hear some live music…Manchester Film Cooperative’s next event is at the Antwerp Mansion in downtown Rusholme. Antwerp Mansion is: a renovation project, aiming to turn a beautiful but run down Victorian Mansion into a Music, Art and Photography Haven. See
On 24 April from 6.30pm MFC are showing Invisible Circus, a film about Bristol’s anarchist circus over three years. This is followed at 8.30pm by the excellent film Exit Through the Gift Shop in which artist Banksy tells the story of Thiweey Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles and his obsession with street art. Throughout the evening there is live music from local folk group Richard Barry and the Chaps.
Entrance fee, an incredible £5/34.

Celebrate…on May 1 it’s the 39th birthday of co-operative bookshop News From Nowhere in Liverpool. Not just a bookshop, but an essential part of the Liverpool left scene. There is a whole day of events including a talk by NFN stalwart Mandy Vere on the history of the shop and how they have managed to keep an independent radical bookshop and co-operative afloat in these Amazon times.

Read……..Bedsit Disco Queen;How I Grew Up and Tried to be a Popstar…Tracey Thorn was the other half of 80s pop duo Everthing But the Girl. Her biography is a sweet and insightful glimpse into growing up in the 80s. Like me she went to Hull University and was influenced by the politics of the era which appeared in some of their songs. Before EBYG she was in a woman’s band the Marine Girls. She captures the excitement of punk…. It triggered in me a passion for pop music She is also challenged by the feminism of that time..I had discovered feminism and through my reading of Germaine Greer,Betty Friedan and Kate Millet I was finding a theoretical famework for many of the grievances I’d had since I was a teenager. Looking back at this era -she is now in her 50s -she is aware of how things have changed for young women in an industry where artifice and concealment seem most in evidence. EBTG were a great pop band because Tracey and Ben were interested in writing and performing well written songs with good melodies and it is that sincerity that comes out this book. Buy it from NFN, of course.

Find out more about the NHS……….Socialist Health Association are organising a seminar at Manchester University about the NHS. Find out about how the NHS works and how you can get involved. Its more important to do so now then ever before. The SHA has existed since the 60s and has campaigned for a universal healthcare system based on socialist principles . For more information see….

Another film….Palestinian Womens’ Scholarship fund event on Sunday 28 April 2013 at 2-5pm at Denshaw Village Hall, Saddleworth OL3 5SJ . All money raised will go to support women in Gaza and the West Bank through university education.The film - And Still they Dance charts the visit of young men and women from the Jabalia Refugee camp,Gaza to Sheffield and what has become of them since. The Palestinian film maker will be present. Tickets are £8 or £4 concessions and includes light refreshments.For tickets or more information ring 07975 908409 or email saddleworth.pwsf@gmail.com

Support our libraries…..Oldham Council Libraries are hosting a BOOKMARK FESTIVAL – Murder, Comedy And Television, from 20 -26 April, a weeklong celebration of all things literary in the borough. Meet authors, find out about writing for TV and listen to poets. Further details see

And in the week that Thatcher died….listen to Selma James, one of the most outstanding feminist thinkers of her time, debate her legacy with Edwina Curry, ex-MP and Thatcher clone, on the BBC’s Broadcasting House see

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch…Good Vibrations…and discover an aspect of 70s Belfast that is not well known…the punk scene and one man’s struggle to bring some life into a bombed out city. His name was Terri Hooley and he ran a record shop and record label called Good Vibrations. Together with the kids he created a punk community determined to breathe life into their society and to try and negate some of the hardships of living in an occupied and war torn city. On his record label he signed one of my favourite bands, the Undertones. The shop still continues, so if you are in Belfast……

Look at…the new video piece by Yoshua Okon called OCTOPUS. Staged at the Los Angeles version of B&Q, the Home Depot, the artist got former Guatemalan soldiers to act out their military past. Guatemala has a bloody and violent past with over 30 years of a civil war,  including genocide against the Mayan community, and widespread human rights violations. Many Guatemalans now work in LA as day labourers and it was in the Home Depot where they search for work that the artist found the participants for his project.  There is something really eerie about this video, partly due to it being projected against four walls, but also that it was shot alongside your everyday shoppers in a parking lot. See what you think…….

Support the train  cleaners…invisible to passengers and paid peanuts by the companies who employ them. The RMT are raising the case of the cleaners on Arriva Wales who have outsourced the work to  a private company called Churchill’s. Like most of these companies,  they are a profitable firm,   but are refusing to give the workers a pay rise in line with inflation, who, like most low wage workers,  are seeing their real wages fall. RMT believe that it is  only if this work is brought in-house by Arriva Wales that this exploitation will cease. It is also calling on the Welsh government to get involved and to support the workers’ demands. You can support the cleaners by signing this petition at

Seek justice for Orgreave miners…The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign is seeking truth and justice for all miners victimised by the police at the Orgreave Coking Plant, South Yorkshire, on June 18th, 1984.Orgreave is part of the pattern of cover ups and lies by the police from many different forces, which are now being exposed. The campaign  calls for a full public inquiry, to take place as soon as possible, into the policing and subsequent statements recorded by the police at the time .It asks that everyone who seeks the truth and wants justice to support the campaign see

Oppose victimisation…many trade unionists face victimisation for  standing up for the rights of their members,  but UNITE activist Steve Acheson has done more than most to expose the illegal blacklisting of workers by employers, particularly in the construction industry.  He and others have been blacklisting for trying to ensure a safe working environment for workers in one of the most hazardous industries, or for trade union activity. Steve has been protesting outside Fiddlers Ferry power station since he was sacked from his job there in December 2008 as a result of being on the blacklist as a “troublemaker”.  He’s faced every sort of harassment – even having to fight off charges under anti-terrorism legislation to defend his right to protest.

Steve’s stand led to the blacklisting Consulting Association being raided by the Information Commissioner over offences against the Data Protection Act.  Its manager, Ian Kerr, gave evidence before a House of Commons inquiry a few months ago.  Kerr promised to give further evidence in private about matters involving the security services, but his sudden and unexpected death prevented him doing so.

There is an appeal to raise £25,000 to avoid Steve losing his home as a result of the illegal conspiracy to deny him work. Please make a donation to “Fiddlers Ferry Hardship Fund”  which can be sent c/o Warrington Trades Union Council, 6 Red Gables, Pepper Street, Warrington, WA4 4SB.

For more information see the Blacklist Blog.

Show your support… for the Morning Star, the only left wing daily in Britain, at the Ordinary Rebels Morning Star Social on March 28th from 7pm at 3 Minute Theatre. Join comedian Dave Puller, poet Alex keelan and singer Claire Mooney for an evening of folk music, stand up poetry and satirical sketches. Only £3! See for further information

Keep Our NHS Public protest …..on the Ist of April the NHS is going through a massive change and one that many of us are not happy with, so to mark our determination to challenge the new regime join us on 2nd April, 7.30am Cornbrook Metrolink, 7.45am Media:City Metrolink, 8am outside BBC building Media:City.. Join us at those times en route if you can’t make it to Cornbrook for 7.30am.
We’ll be leafleting commuters on the way.
A community choir will join us at Media City and everyone is urged to bring
NHS-related fancy dress for a bit of street theatre outside BBC building.
Let’s make this as lively and photogenic as possible!
We appreciate it’s early, but please do try to get along.
Organised by KONP Greater Manchester – supported by GMATUC/Greater Manchester Against Cuts.

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch..the Spirit of 45. Ken Loach’s homage to post war Britain:We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, now we are the builders. (Nye Bevan) Nowadays its more a case of trying to hold onto what hasn’t been trashed by the ConDems or thrown away by Labour Councils. The film does feature some of our local heroes, including Karen Reissman of the Save the Bolton A&E campaign. Watch it at Moston Small Cinema 22-28 March from 7. 30-915pm only £3!!

Look…..at the beautiful Salford Cranes before Salford Council seeks to dismantle two of the most iconic landmarks that pay homage to the Manchester and Salford Docks and the community that was part of it. Support Alice Darlington who has campaigned tirelessly to save the cranes, sign her e-petition at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/45202 see article at Salford Star

Show… your support for the Morning Star, the only left wing daily in Britain, at the Ordinary Rebels Morning Star Social on March 28^th  from 7pm at 3 Minute Theatre.  Join comedian Dave Puller and singer Claire Mooney for an evening of folk music, stand up, poetry and satirical sketches. Only £3!  See for further information http://www.facebook.com/events/137061903130558/

Go to…Palestinian Fundraiser for the Palestinian Women’s Scholarship Fund…at Denshaw Village Hall,Saddlworth on Sunday 28 April 2-5pm. The documentary And Still they Dance made by Sheffield PSC will be shown. Tickets are £8/4 and can be booked by ringing 07975 908409 or emailing saddleworth.pwsf@gmail.com

Remember…Ethel Carnie who was a working class writer and anti-racist activist. This year marks the 100 centenary of the publication of her first book Miss Nobody. On 7 September the WCML will be hosting a one day conference to commemorate this event. Nicola Wilson,  who is organising the event,  is looking for papers or presentations on any aspect of Ethel’s life. Contact her on n.l.wilson@reading.ac.uk by Friday 28 June if you wish to contribute.

You can read my article on Ethel here.

Oppose blacklisting Steve Acheson Benefit Friday 22nd March 7pm
Saffron Restaurant £20/£12Steve Acheson, a trade union activist  has been blacklisted, cannot get work and doesn’t get benefits so a fundraising night has been organised by friends, including Salford Pensioners Association, to get him some financial help. See the blacklist blog

Find out more about… Charles Parker, the radio producer  on Friday 22 March from 10am to 4.30pm at an event hosted by the University of Salford, in the Digital Performance Lab at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. The event seeks to recognise the work of the late BBC producer and celebrates the radio feature-past, present and future. 2013 sees the 50th anniversary of two of Parker’s famous Radio Ballads made with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger – ‘On the Edge’ about teenagers and ‘The Fight Game’ about boxing – so two of the main themes of this year’s conference are ‘the radio feature and young people’ and ‘sport on radio’.

The conference fee of £35 (£15 students) includes lunch and morning & afternoon refreshments.

More information here.

still time to see….Shirley Baker; Looking Outwards at the Gallery Oldham. Find out more about one of Britain’s best and most interesting photographers. Through her portraits explore her life from  Manchester in the 1960s to contemporary photos of Japan and France. See

listen to… Nick Cave’s latest album,,Push the Sky Away..that distinctive voice, quirky songs and great music!

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch….Vampires in Havana, another interesting film being shown by the Manchester Film Cooperative. Juan Padron’s animated film is a spoof on gangster and vampire movies. Set in 1933, at a convention of vampire-gangsters who are meeting in Havana to get their hands on a fabulous new potion called “Vampisol” that at last lets vampires out into the sun without the harmful effects of UV rays. Living proof is a young vampire who was raised so normally that he has no idea he is a vampire — though that will soon change. As is the norm with MFC they do not just show a film but try and get people involved in activity so they have linked the film up to a dayschool on Latin America, see the world economic crisis from a different viewpoint. The film will be shown on 22 January, 7.30pm at On the Eighth Day, Further details see

Read….Campaigning Online and Winning How LabourStart’s Act Now Campaigns are Making Unions Stronger by Eric Lee and Edd Mustill. Like me, you may subscribe to the online LabourStart and have sent messages of support to trade unions across the world. It has been in existence for 15 years and in this book we learn about their successes, including supporting union reps not just get to their jobs back but to get out of prison, and fighting for union rights and representation across the world. There are lessons for all of us to learn but it iss also an inspiration to read given the depressing outlook for trade unions in this country. To buy it use NFN

Find out.. about a history of protest Christmas cards….Glad Tidings of Struggle and Strife: Derby Peoples History 7.30 pm Wednesday 15th January The Quad, Derby DE1 3AS. Further details see

Listen to… Victoria Brittain, journalist and campaigner on 17 January, 7pm at the Friends Meeting House Mount Street Manchester . Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign has organised this as part of an on-going discussion group programme. Victoria will speak about the horrific situation of Palestinian child prisoners. Children as young as 10 years old are arrested, often during the night, from their homes, taken away to detention centres, usually without an appropriate adult and held for any length of time that suits the captor. They are ill-treated and often prevented from any access to their families. Join them and take part in the discussion about how we can publicise and protest at these human rights abuses.

Enjoy…. opera in Salford, no not at the Lowry but at the Kings Arms, a much friendlier and accessible venue. Opera is often seen as a middleclass pursuit. Pint sized Opera is a new company based in the northwest who want to change that, and are presenting their version of The Love Drug or L’elisir d’amore: “Sung in Italian (with English subtitles) using young professional singers, true to Donizetti’s score and the original libretto. Can the love drug turn a computer geek into a sex god? Business is booming and emotions are running high in an office not far from here. Nerdy Nemorino doesn’t stand a chance with ambitious Adina; she’s set her sights on playboy tycoon Belcore. Then dodgy “Doc” Dulcamara appears on the scene with a new wonder-drug that could change Nemorino’s life forever”…Join them at the Kings Arms in Salford on 24/25/26 Jan. £14/7. Further details see

Go on a march…..Northern Towns against the Cuts..Austerity Bites..Game Over..march on Saturday 2 February 10.15 Halifax Town Hall, followed by speeches at Halifax Piece Hall. Organised by 12 unions with the support of Yorkshire and Humber TUC. Further details see

Get active… Legal Aid is being cut in April 2013 for many areas of social welfare law, including housing, employment, benefits, debt and immigration. At this conference Free Legal Advice in Crisis on 9 February 2013, organised by Access to Advice, they are bringing together all those affected by the cuts to share ideas and experience.
‘Free Legal Advice in Crisis’ – one day conference 10am to 4pm at Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester. M2 5NS.
Please book a place by emailing: accesstoadvice2013@gmail.com

Lipstick Socialist Awards 2012

Welcome to 2013! Thanks to everyone who made nominations. Hope it is inspirational for all of us in 2013 and there is certainly lots to be learnt from the choices made. Here’s to the New Year!!

Trade Unionist of the Year…Mark Serwotka of PCS.

He has constantly and continually hammered both Labour and Con/Dem Governments over their attack on our public services. His members (like local authority workers) have been privatised, marketised and given pariah status as the finance sector has been lauded and rewarded, whilst the public services have been given a deathblow by successive governments. It was Mark Serotka who led the fightback over the Con/Dems attack on public service pensions followed by the other public service trade unions. And he recognised how significant an issue it was for the government. Unfortunately the other trade unions failed to follow his lead, and they are now presiding over their own meltdown as their members are being stripped of their jobs and the public services are melting like the polar icecap.

A Unite member says Let’s hope that in 2013 we see a real fightback by the unions and maybe its time that Prentis, McCluskey et al start listening to Mark Serwotka before its too late!

Film/DVD of the Year… The Snows of Kilmanjaro. A French film with an unusual title that wouldn’t immediately label it as a film about trade unionism and globalisation. Over the last few years the French film industry has led the world in addressing some of the major issues facing many people in the west. Other films worth taking a look at are Army of Crime (about the French Resistance and the influence of other nationalities), Le Havre (about immigrants and the French)and 35 Shots of Rum ( about the African community as metro drivers and fathers).
The Snows is set amongst dockworkers who, facing a declining industry agree through theire trade union, the CGT, to ballot their members for redundancies.

Michel picks his own name for redundancy

Michel,the local shop steward, picks his name out of the drum and alongside other younger men faces the rest of his life on the dole. But, unlike some of the younger men, he is in his 50s, has had a life of permanent work, paid for his house and has a pension. He has a good relationship with his partner, children and grandchildren, but as the story unfolds, this is not the future that other redundant workers are facing in France, Britain or many other European countries. This is an important film because it reveals the anger that many young people are feeling towards an older generation of trade unionists who are experiencing redundancy but are doing so after a lifetime of not just secure wages, employment rights but also funding of education and welfare benefits. Young people are not just angry with the Con/Dems and the past Labour government but, like the young man in this film, are questioning the way trade unions are collaborating, particularly with Labour councils, to get rid of jobs and services.
George nominated this film: The Snows Of Kilimanjaro by Robert Guediguian is the best, maybe only, socialist film this year”

Demonstration of the Year…. One of the most important issues this year has been the attack on Gaza by the Israeli Government and every time I feature some aspect of the Palestinian struggle on my blog I have had an amazing response, it is a very important issue to you, dear readers. There have been many public responses to the outrageous attacks by the Israelis but the one that has been chosen as the demo of the year took place on 24 November in London.

Gaynor was there:
we managed to have the podium for the speeches set up in the pouring rain right outside the Israeli embassy and they must have heard every word of the speeches bellowed out. It was absolutely pouring down and yet there so many people were, young and old and very wet!! Tony Benn had a very bad chest. I was also late for it and very much enjoyed catching up with the tail end outside the Ritz and seeing peter tatchell chatting to the tail enders and the boat from Gaza. I was inspired as people turned up notwithstanding the ceasefire announcement (pah!) a couple of days earlier and despite the weather, and by the fact that so many of my Jewish friends were pro-same.

Further info see

Website of the Year… the Salford Star…maybe not so well known outside the north west but it should be! Run by Stephen Kingston, it is in the tradition of the local radical press of the 1970s and sits firmly on the side of the working class of Salford. Over the last year it has exposed the villainy of Salford Council and the new Mayor of Salford in their support for the interests of big business against those of the people of Salford. Not just featuring politics, the Star aims to educate and inform its readers about art, history and sport. Always cheeky and sometimes hilarious, it is on its own in trying to address the major issues, including the bankruptcy of local politics, and the struggle by people to hold onto the important things in life, including decent services and jobs.

Salford Star fan…forget Peter Kay and the millionaire comedians… read the Star and the highjinks at Clown Hall, Salford..its funnier and you can make a donation to keep it going!

Book of the Year Sex Race and Class- The Perspective of Winning by Selma James. She addresses the power relations within the working class movement, on how to organise despite and against these power relations, and drawing on the experience of Occupy in London and the US in which the Global Womens Strike has been active.

Selma James

Christine nominated this book: Selma gives an insight into the political economy of the exploitation of women, producing a theoretical basis for a revolutionary and autonomous womens’ struggle.

Music of the Year… Sarah Gillespie has won a deserved reputation on the basis of the two albums In the Current Climate and Stalking Juliet and her powerful live performances, both solo and with her band. She writes about life, love and politics, including a song about Shaker Amer, How the West was Won. Her next album, now being recorded, will be launched in July 2013.

Michael says; she wowed us at the Manchester Peace Conference social and its heartening to see a performer who is concerned about some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Campaign of the year ….the fightback by disabled people as the Con/Dem Govt stripped some of the most vulnerable sections of the community of their benefits. Their campaign against Atos (who made the decisions) during the Paralympics was inspiring and they have led the way in the fightback against the Con/Dem Govt.

The Disabled People Against the Cuts’ message for 2013: DPAC will not be resting in any tents in 2013 but fighting with disabled people in the courts, on the streets, online and everywhere we can

Shameful Act of Betrayal of the Year… . The United Nations and Ban ki-Moon for sending into Haiti soldiers from Nepal as peacekeepers who took with them cholera. A reminder that we might believe things are bad in Europe, but that for some countries and peoples oppression means more than losing your job or benefits.

Chris says :Thousands of people died from the disease. Despite the medical evidence the UN will still not admit culpability or compensate some of the poorest people in the world. For more information see this report on the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20024400

Most Hopeful Event of the Year…Spanish Miners’ Strike. Nominated by George: The Spanish miners’ strike was inspirational. Its militant nature and tenacious support received in mining communities were exceptional. Yet again, disciplined militant tactics brought employers to the negotiation table and won results. This holds many lessons for the timid and increasingly irrelevant leadership of the TUC, who continue to act as an arbitrator of, rather than a participant of industrial disputes. The heroic struggle of the Spanish Miners provided a militant lesson for the combat of austerity for the peoples of Europe.

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Don’t forget to vote in the Lipstick Socialist Awards 2012 – nominations received so far  include Mark Serotka (trade unionist of the year ), Barack  Obama (most shameful betrayal) and the Snows of Kilmanjaro (best film), you can find the full list of categories here …. the closing date for nominations is 23 December, please  send them to lipsticksocialist636@gmail.com… see list

Watch…the progress of two  new plays at the innovative Three Minute Theatre.  Headway is a 3MT initiative taking new work from established and upcoming writers, who work alongside the inhouse cast and crew to produce an evening of new topical dramas, work in progress shows and audience forums.The next HEADWAY production takes place over December 20th-22nd, presenting ‘Not Dead Yet’ by Victor Alexander and Cassandra Bernard, and ‘Breaking Point’ by Micheal Beswick. Tickets are available now from 3MT

Don’t Look away…….Please help to stop Ivo Kuka being deported on  29 December 2012. Ivo Kuka fled his homeland after being tortured and sexually assaulted in Cameroon for membership of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), who call for independence for English-speaking Southern Cameroon from French-speaking Republic of Cameroon. Denied justice in the UK asylum system, he has been forced to attempt to appeal his case himself and is now facing removal on 29 December.
When Ivo claimed asylum in the UK he was placed in the detained fast-track (DFT) system. Victims of torture should not have their claim processed in the detained fast track system. He has had problems with getting legal support and has applied for more time to adequately present his case. But the UKBorder Agency has decided to remove him by Air France Airways on 29 December.

You can do something……

Contact the airline…Ivo is due to be removed on Air France flight AF1081 at 07:15 on 29 December.

Call on Air France not to carry this political refugee, against his will, to Cameroon where he will face harassment, intimidation, probable imprisonment and maybe worse.  Please email: mail.mediarelations.gbi@airfrance.fr

Or publicise Air France’s involvement in this human rights abuse by sending them a message through
Twitter or Facebook. Further details see

Listen……to Kathleen Ferrier singing What is Life. She was born in Blackburn in 1912 and at a young age was winning prizes as a promising pianist. Her day job was as a switchboard operator at the local Post Office.  Today in the northwest many people remember her from her early days singing at concert halls across Lancashire and Blackburn. Her career started in 1939 and she went on to to become one of Britain’s best loved singers. Sadly she died of cancer in 1953. This song is one of her best and is often played at the funeral of Communist party members, due to the words but also the link, I think with the history of the era of 1939-53 and the impact of Kathleen in peoples’ lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQuahSdTvU4

Buy ethically and avoid buying from tax dodging Amazon.  Read the Ethical Consumer’s guide to buying,see

Send a greetings card to Shaker Aamer in Guanatanamo. November 24th was the eleventh anniversary of the day that, after having been kidnapped by poor Pakistani farmers and sold to the Americans, while on a family trip from Battersea to Afghanistan.  Shaker Aamer was rendered, tortured and incarcerated in Guantanamo bay.  Meticulous preparation by Clive Stafford Smith and his team of lawyers has now resulted in the decision to sue MI5 and MI6 for defamation of character. Scotland Yard have now arrived at Guantanamo to interview Shaker. Further information see

Shaker’s address is  Shaker Aamer 239 US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
Washington DC 20355, USA

Political Women (10) Alice Nutter

Alice Nutter …
Formerly in Chumbawamba, now a regular scriptwriter for TV and radio, Alice is from a working class family in Burnley, Lancashire:

It’s a myth that all working class people are leftwing. My parents were weavers, but were Tory in their politics. My Dad was a Tory councillor and petrol pump attendant, while my Mum re-trained as a nurse when I was 18 months old, but we still lived in the same working class area.

She grew up at a time when, if you lived in a small northern town, the roles for men and women were clearly laid out:

I used to go to the soul events at Wigan Casino, but it was the men who did the dancing, the women just stood and watched. The men worked in factories, the women were “someone’s girlfriend or wife”. There weren’t many options for women in Burnley at that time.

Alice left school at 16 and worked in Asda and in waitressing jobs A year later she went to Art School to do a Foundation Art course. It was the advent of punk rock in 1977 that showed her that there could be more to life…….
.
Punk rock was liberating for girls like me, and for a generation. Bands such as the Slits opened my eyes to a different life. I met other people who like me were looking for something different.

In the 70s the new wave of feminism meant that even if you couldn’t meet other feminists, because you lived on working class council estates, you could still find books that would broaden your ideas:

I have always enjoyed reading and always wrote stories. One day I got the bus from Burnley to Manchester and went to the radical bookshop Grass Roots Books. I bought some books, including Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch and Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. Politics interested me but I didn’t know anyone like me.

Alice’s Mum supported her daughter in a search for a new way of living:

She let me be anything I wanted to be, even when I was a punk. She never thought I should get married, and I haven’t.

After finishing her course Alice decided not to go to University, and instead started going to punk rock gigs:

I went to a party in Liverpool and from there went down to London to an anti-nuclear war demo. It was the first time I ever went on a demo, and from there I got involved with anti-Falkland war activity with other people, and we went on to form Chumbawamba

The Chumbawamba website says:
Chumbawamba was our vehicle for pointing at the naked Emperors, for telling our version of the truth; it gave us more than the joy and love of playing live, writing songs and singing together – it gave us a chance to be part of a broad coalition of activists and hectors, optimists and questioners.

From the late 70s there was a culture of radical dissent with people opposing racism and the National Front, the war in Ireland, cruise missiles at Greenham Common, Tory cuts, against a background high levels of youth unemployment. It defined a whole generation of young people including me and Alice:

We moved from Burnley to Leeds and set up Chumbawamba in a commune. We had all the zeal of new political activists, demonstrating, printing leaflets on our press etc. I worked on Leeds Radical Paper and at Suma, the wholefood collective, as well as being active in local womens’ groups.

In 1984 the Miners Strike began and like thousands of others, Alice and Chumbawamba got involved:

It changed everything. We had our own Miners Support Group, we worked with other groups such as SWP and for 18 months supported the soup kitchen at Frickley.

For Alice, like many other people on the Left, the Miners Strike defined their politics, particularly around issues such as class:

I joined Class War, wrote for the newspaper, and stayed with it until it became a parody of itself

From there she went onto anti-capitalist politics with Chumbawamba used its profile and finances to support events such as the Leeds May Day Conference and campaigns such the Liverpool Dockers Strike in the 1990s.

In 2005 she left Chumbawamba and took her creative skills to scriptwriting:

I’ve always thought I could write scripts, I have always written stories which looked like scripts. I just put my head down and it’s been a combination of luck and self confidence (from 23 years with Chumbawamba) that I have been able to get work.

Alice says her scriptwriting reflects her politics, trying to tell stories about the complexity of human life. She has turned down writing for the soaps because:

My heart isn’t in it and I just couldn’t do it. I work with Jimmy McGovern and I enjoy the work, it’s creative and his heart is in the right place. I want to write about the struggle to be human in difficult circumstances.

One of her heroes is Jim Allen, who put his politics of the class struggle into his plays and films in the 1970s and 1980s. She feels that over the last 25 years there has been a major shift in society and that class is once again the issue for political activists:

There is no social mobility, all those avenues that I went down ie punk rock/art school/being able to have a creative life on the dole, have been shut down. If I was growing up now, and from a working class background, I would be screwed.

Alice is now involved with the Plan C campaign:

It is recognising that we had Plan A and that has been swept away by the neo liberals, there is no Plan B and we want to work out what to do next. A group of people in Leeds have got together to look at other societies eg Scandinavia and then collectively work out how we can build a better life here.

And what is her message to those young women who are perhaps 17, working class and living in small towns but want a different life?

Find things that you love doing, it doesn’t have to be political, find the life you want, and find people that you enjoy working with and enjoy yourself!

Further info on Alice’s writing see

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch….Community It’s a US series set in an adult education college with a collection of unconventional students and the script one long satire on sitcom tropes and popular culture from Star Wars to zombies. The leader of the gang is Jeff, a lawyer, who lost his job because he didn’t have a degree, he lusts after another student, Britta, who was a political activist and is now trying to get an education. They are joined by Shirley who is into Christianity and is a surrogate mother to the group; Abed, a Muslim young man who is obsessed with film and TV and has Asperger’s; Annie, who looks like the archetypal good girl but is a recovering drug addict; Troy, an ex-high school football star; and Pierce, an older man who is a millionaire and who is always on the outside of the group trying to get in. Some of the dialogue is just unintelligible to non-Americans, but it is extremely funny and becomes more bizarre as you watch each of the episodes.

Read.…..In the Sea There are Crocodiles (Vintage books) by Fabio Geda. Fabio is an Italian novelist who works with children who have problems. When he was doing the launch of a previous book, which was the story of a Romanian boy’s life in Italy, he met Enaiatillah Akbari. Ena approached him and told Fabio his story, and this book is the culmination of those conversations. Fabio says the book is a work of fiction because he has had to recreate Ena’s experiences from those conversations and some of the names have been changed. Having read many stories of refugees I did not expect to be shocked and horrified by Ena’s experiences; but I was. He is a Hazara, who are a minority community in the province of Ghazni in Afghanistan. Life is very difficult for Hazaras, and they are badly treated by the Taliban and Pashtun, so Ena’s mother decided when he was 10 years old to take him to Pakistan. When they got to Pakistan she left him, and he had to make a life for himself. The novel is the story of his journey to Italy, a story of scraping a living, making friends and trying to make sense of this new world. Alongside his incredible story is that of all the people who help him along the way, the strangers who give him food, clothes, bus tickets etc and make his escape possible. The really sad aspect of the book is that he had to leave his family and the place he loved to lead a safe life, an indictment of the way in which the West has destroyed countries such as Afghanistan and the hopes of children such as Ena.

Listen to…. The Anti-Capitalist Roadshow double CD: Celebrating Subversion. Twenty nine songs and one visionary poem on 2 CDs from singers & songwriters Frankie Armstrong, Roy Bailey, Robb Johnson, Reem Kelani, Sandra Kerr, Grace Petrie, Leon Rosselson, Janet Russell, Peggy Seeger, Jim Woodland and socialist magician Ian Saville. Eleven different voices with one aim – to oppose the ideologically driven austerity programme imposed by this millionaire government on all but the elite and to challenge the narrative that says there is no alternative. Release date 26 November but available now from Fuse Records. Send a cheque for £16 (inc. p.&p) to Fuse Records, 28 Park Chase, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 8EH. Make the cheque out to Fuse Records. Don’t forget to include your address.

Go to….the next talk in the Invisible Histories series on Wednesday 14 November at 2pm at the Working class Movement Library. Michael Herbert recounts the story of the Women’s Freedom League (1907-1961), an often overlooked suffrage organisation, whose members included Charlotte Despard, Hannah Mitchell and Teresa Billington. All welcome, admission free. Michael will also be doing a talk on the same day at 6pm in the Lydia Becker Room, City Library, about his new book “Up then Brave Women” Manchester’s Radical Women 1819-1918. More details here

Celebrate….A free event at the People’s History Museum. Celebrate the Luddites’ 200th Anniversary  on Sunday 18 November from 2pm  to 5pm. 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the Luddites’ uprisings against the  machinery which was destroying weavers’ livelihoods. This cultural celebration will include music by One Accord, talks, exhibitions and artwork. It is organised by the PHM and Luddites200 – a network of historians, scientists, artists and activists, which has been organising events to celebrate the Luddites’ 200th anniversary. Booking advised: please contact 0161 838 9190 or info@phm.org.uk

Get involved….derbyfiftythousand peopleclub  are organising a meeting about the cuts and privatisation agenda at the Quad in Derby on 15th November at 730pm. more details at derby50k.co.uk

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch..Big Flame by Jim Allen, Tony Garnett and Ken Loach. It was made in 1969 by the BBC when trade unions had some political as well as militant credibility. Jim was a Marxist and his politics reflect the subject matter and drive behind the script; that strike action for political ends is a legitimate democratic strategy. There are few images on tv or film that show working class people engaging in politics, particularly the politics of the workplace. That is only one of the reasons why this is such an important film. It gives back to working class people a belief that they can make change, that they have the power, and that collective action is the only way to achieve equality in society.

Read…Malkin Child by northern writer Livi Michael. Livi has written 12 books for children and 4 for adults. Many of her stories encompass the history of the north and her latest book is about the Pendle Witches. On the word of a nine year old, Jennet Device, her family and friends were arrested, put on “trial” and hung as witches in 1612. you can read my interview with Livi here

Celebrate…one of the most important events of the Second World War when Hitler was defeated at Stalingrad. This autumn  is the 70th anniversary of the Nazi onslaught on Stalingrad. The siege of the city and the eventual defeat of the Nazi war machine marked the beginning of the end for Hitler. An epic moment, the turning point of the war, a great anti-fascist victory that inspired millions all over Europe resisting the Nazi occupation. Philosophy Football have produced an anniversary range of teeshirts which are inspired by Anna Akhmatova’s poem the designs are based on a medal, a fuselage, a propaganda poster, a book title from the time and the slogan with which the Russian people greeted their eventual victory. Nobody is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten! Here is the poem

We know what’s at stake and how great the foe’s power,
And what is now coming to pass.
The hour of courage has struck on the clock
And our courage will hold to the last.
The bullets can kill us, but cannot deter;
Though our houses will fall, we shall remain.
Anna Akhmatova, 1942

Listen…to Sarah Gillespie at the Manchester Peace Festival. Finale concert with Sarah Gillespie
Saturday 6th October, the Night & Day Cafe, Oldham St, Manchester ‘Sarah Gillespie’s eclectic mix of Beat poetry with jazz, folk and Middle Eastern elements is a sonic reflection of the London street.’
Tickets cost £10 and £5 concessions more information here

Look….Music & Liberation, an exhibition about Women’s Liberation Music Making in the UK (1970-1989) shows how feminists used music to entertain and empower women during the 1970s and 1980s. Featuring the work of Jam Today, the Northern Women’s Liberation Rock Band, Feminist Improvising Group, Ova, the Fabulous Dirt Sisters, Abandon Your Tutu, the Mistakes and many others, the exhibition brings together a diverse collection of women’s cultural heritage. Visit it from 1-14 October at Bureau ‘off-site’ Three Piccadilly Place Manchester M1 3BN

Get active
Monday 1 October Demonstration supporting Pussy Riot in London, , from 11 am till 1 pm, opposite the Russian Consulate at Bayswater Road.

Tuesday 2 October; Fighting Further Cuts…Manchester Coalition Against the Cuts. 7pm at NUJ. Further details;

On 4 October the trial begins in Turkey of 69 trade union leaders all of them women, from the public sector union on trumped-up charges of “terrorism”. See Labourstart. Please send a message of protest and support for the women.

Volunteer…for  Love arts festival in Leeds this month. The aim of the festival is to develop the role of the arts in health and social care, whilst enabling people who may feel excluded to take part in the rich cultural life of Leeds. Love Arts harnesses the power of the arts to explore mental health issues such as identity, stigma, social justice and even happiness! Further details contact fran.limbert@nhs.net and see website http://loveartsleeds.co.uk

Drop in…to Firebox in London..a new left wing café offering more than coffee and cakes. Launch party with Tony Benn on 6 October. Further details here