Ian Bone

Jazz bands are in decline – struggling to recruit  new members with a wealth of more sophisticated choices from computer games to mobile phones as alternatives

The bigtime for the bands was in the 1960s – 1980s when the coal mining areas that had originally spawned them during the general strike in 1926 were again in conflict with  tory government. Sure enough the kazoo bands emerged again.

I had the experience on most Sunday mornings of having my hangover bashed by the rehearsing o f the – world champions- East-Side band marching past my girlfriends flat.

We need thousands or tens of thousands at the action at RBKC on July 19th – not only to surround the town hall but to block Kensington High Street and Church street and……..
We believe this will be the decisive moment in the struggle for justice…..a few hundred and Paget-Brown and Crack Dealing-Felon will stay on the council…a major direct action and they’ll be gone.
So mobilise everybody you can, every person in a council property in London should be here and everybody else.
REMEMBER – THERE ARE NO OUTSIDERS IN THE WORKING CLASS
This is naked class war waged by the Kensington toffs for years against North Ken – now lead by – another – plummy Sloane Ranger.
GET DOWN THERE ON JULY 19th and bring your mates

Excellent graphic by KARL MORGAN of Swansea Museum to commemorate our DRESS LIKE LEON ATKIN pub crawl on JULY 16th

The fund raising at Aberfan became known as the second Aberfan disaster. It’s quite possible to see the same happening at Grenfell Tower. Rumours are going round and gossip of the ‘what’s happened to the money?’ variant.
There are also many different ‘Grenfell support groups’ which lay the ground for splits and personal antagonisms working their way out in public
The problem is this – there is an iron law that says that if there has not ben a cathartic outbreak of rage within a month of the disaster then it becomes an unlanced boil spreading poison into the system. The community turns in on itself in recrimination.
The storming of the doors at RBKC was an excellent response to a council that had failed for decades to care about North Ken and of which Grenfell Tower was the example that spread beyond the council’s boundaries But it did not go that extra yard – did not occupy the town hall, did not find or have a chance to rage at the guilty councillors – just pushing against low aid security staff while their bosses cowered under desks. No target was raged at – the boil was unlanced.
By July 19th – the date of the demonstration at the next council meeting where the leader and deputy leader that resigned will still be in attendance – things will need to be pushed that bit further so that rage finds its targets
Otherwise justice will not be done.
IF NOT NOW – NEVER

Grenfell Tower – a rough and ready optimism greeted tenants in the 1980s.I’ve described in previous post the informal social mobility scheme whereby unwanted furniture was redistributed via the lifts. There was a general satisfaction when an item went which translated into a genuine wish that your neighbours would do well. ‘How did you get on last night?’ was a proper enquiry whether about a job, romance, drug deal, gig……….or anything. I’ve never lived anywhere that had such generosity of spirit towards all your fellow tenants. This was based not on community spirit or community action. I never got an invite into anyone else’s flat all the time I lived there or attended a social do or meeting.it was more a jaunty feel that you were in a place where people were successful and you’d weave these stories of success into a feel good factor about the Tower and in pride about the others who there. ‘The singer from Aswad’ was thought to live above floor 16 somewhere. I was soon caught up in the ethos of Grenfell……….’yes bloke from Aswad lives here’ I’d nonchalantly drop into the conversation.
And our cockroaches ere bigger than anyone else’s. Grenfell pride.

ABERFAN AND THE FREE WALES ARMY

While at Wembley ALF RAMSEY was delivering gold for the Wilson government’s feel good factor and re-election chances a few months later ALF ROBENS was whacking in a quite stunning own goal. The Chairman of the National Coal Board refused to visit Aberfan for 2 days after the disaster because  of a ‘prior speaking engagement in Guildford’.

Last night’s BBC  programme on Aberfan was good but glaringly there was one omission – the role of the FREE WALES ARMY.

Was there ever so specific a threat as this: