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Issue #68, Mid-August Edition 2021

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Equality Democracy Truth Courage

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER

Afghan women’s lives poised to return to Dark Ages PAGE 3

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20 YEARS OF OCCUPATION UNDONE IN 2 WEEKS BY THE TALIBAN

WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR?

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Mid July 2021

POLITICS AND EVENTS

ON THIS DAY 18th of August 1868-French Astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse 1914-Swiss track and road bicycle racer Oscar Egg sets new hour world record of 44.247 km at the outdoor Velodrome Buffalo in Paris: record stands until 1933 1944- Paris rail workers strike against Nazi occupiers 1964-South Africa banned from Olympic Games because of apartheid policies 19th 1987- Michael Ryan goes on a killing spree in Hungerford, Berkshire armed with an automatic

rifle, a pistol and a hand grenade. He kills 14 people including his mother and a local policeman before killing himself inside a nearby school. 2003- In France a 104f/40c-degree heat wave killed approximately 5,000 people who perished from dehydration and complications of heat related illnesses. As a result of the calamity morgues were crammed full of corpses and even warehouses with refrigeration were pressed into service to cope with all the dead bodies. In the government, different parties blamed each other for not responding correctly to the crisis and France’s director general of health, Lucien Abenhaim resigned.

TRIBUTE TO ROBERT ROBERT PRICE, was one of the people that make THE WORD newspaper work. He had that obsessive drive against injustice mixed with an eclectic knowledge of the sublime and ridiculous which melded in so well with our group. Even when he was in considerable pain his spirit and humour lifted us through. Robert could speak, with an assured knowledge, on many subjects: modern monetary theory, the law, sport of all kinds, including his fascination with the history of football. He had a quick wit and was unafraid to be self-deprecating. He took part of our (really daft) world sarcasm competition, which we held on facebook at Christmas a few years ago. He had us in stitches when, after reaching the final, he withdrew injured after losing a tooth whilst eating a chocolate. In typical style he posted a picture of the missing tooth. I hope, and believe, this beautiful silliness brought light into several people’s loneliness. As we all laughed together, but separately, the world seemed less dark for a few moments. It might not seem like much in the scheme of things but it was. At times, over the years, we would argue over politics. We were on the Left after all. Robert was an ardent remainer and I was for Lexit. Two different paths towards the same goal of a fairer society. We did not let ourselves be divided and ruled. We found a way to work together. Rest in peace, Robert.

2013-The first same-sex weddings take place in New Zealand after the country legalized gay marriage back in April. The country became the first in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. It is also the fourteenth in the entire world to legalize same-sex marriage. 20th 1912- The death of William Booth, British founder of the Salvation Army. Early-day Salvationists started wearing uniform as a natural consequence of the ‘army’ adopting a military character. 1989- In London, the pleasure cruiser Marchioness was hit by a dredger, the Bowbelle, on the River Thames - 51 people attending a party on the boat were killed. The formal investigation put the time elapsed from the instant of collision at 1.46 a.m. to complete immersion of the Marchioness at a mere 30 seconds. 21st 1754- The birth of William Murdock, Scottish engineer and long-term inventor who invented the oscillating steam engine and coal-gas lighting. 1940- Leon Trotsky was attacked by a Stalinist agent in Mexico on the 20th and died the following day. 1976- Mary Langdon became Britain’s first female firefighter when she joined the East Sussex Brigade. 22nd

TRIBUTE TO ROBERT Politics is, by definition, the art of influencing others (the often heard rhetoric that it is the art of the achievable comes from an interview with the St. Petersburg Times by Otto Von Bismarck in 1867). Of course influencing and manipulating others is not on itself any better than Bismarck’s position that we should in some way tolerate choices we know are simply wrong. In the Far Right Bismarck’s career he did not really do this, he was trying to influence a growing trend among increasingly educated people to want a fairer society manipulating them to accept his own entirely wrong viewpoint of his supremacy by nobility and race; he expresses views on the supreme nature of his race in the very same interview. What we should expect from our politicians, or from those wishing to govern, is intellect and integrity,. The first of these will inform through study as to the incorrect nature of much for which politicians claim as paramount, and lead to evidence based choices. The latter will prevent them from dismissing all they have studied, all they know to be correct, in return for anything wrongly termed as victory. Then they might indeed be people whom we aspire to emulate, and who’s opinion is worthy of our interest. BY ROBERT PRICE 1962- The first live TV appearance of the Beatles was recorded by Granada, in a lunchtime session at The Cavern Club, Liverpool. 1989British Telecom launched the world’s first mobile phones. They had a very limited operating range that restricted their use to 100 yards from a public base station. 23rd 2005- Hilary Lister, from Kent, became the first quadriplegic sailor to cross the English Channel. She achieved this by using controls powered by her breath to navigate her boat and made the crossing in six hours thirteen minutes.

2007- The state of Texas completed its 400th criminal execution since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated. Since 1976, executions in Texas have made up over one third of the total executions in the United States. The European Union criticized Texas’ death penalty earlier in the week. 24th 1847- Charlotte Brontë, alias Currer Bell sent her manuscript for Jane Eyre to her London publishers, Smith, Elder & Company. 1985- Five-year-old John Shorthouse was shot dead in Birmingham after armed officers stormed into his house looking for his father.

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2021

MISOGYNIST INCELS ONCE AGAIN TAKE KABUL

RETURN OF THE Medi-Evil

et us make no mistake; the return of the Taliban to Kabul is something nobody can rejoice over. Somebody is to blame, not just for the failure of governance in Afghanistan, but for the very existence of an extreme jihadist movement with designs on removing all opposition. It is a matter of great shame that the West, led by the USA and

aided and abetted by its chief allies, encouraged and to some extent trained the Taliban in the 1980s to rise up and expel the Soviet occupiers, who were struggling to make any headway in that most difficult to subjugate of lands. History repeats itself, this time it is the Western Powers they’re chasing out of Their Country. By: News content

THE RETURN OF THE TALIBAN TO KABUL IS SOMETHING NOBODY CAN REJOICE OVER

The West, led by the USA encouraged and trained the Taliban in the 1980s

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Social inequality volcano

ERUPTS IN SOUTH AFRICA A

volatile economic divide nearly 30 years after the official end of apartheid has erupted in South Africa, resulting in one of the worst riots the country has ever seen, according to analysts. “The truth is that the government has let the people down by not delivering on its promises and being the first to loot from the people, forcing the people to retaliate in desperation,” says Mandla Mahlangu. “Let the shameless arrest of an old man Jacob Zuma not be used as a scape goat.” The ANC government is

busy dividing the people and perpetrating the economic divide where the black elite are the beneficiaries at the expense of the masses according to Mahlangu. Mahlangu feels that the politicians are enriching themselves and ignoring the people who they are supposed to serve. They live in mansions while across the road the voters who put them in power live in poverty. Oxfam South Africa’s democracy and governance manager Mthandazo Ndlovu, says it is not just the income inequality that is worrying, but also unequal access to opportunities and essential

services. According to the World Bank, the richest 20% of people in South Africa control almost 70% of the resources. The few rich are becoming richer, including politicians while the [betrayed] masses are living in dire conditions nearly 30 years after independence. South Africa’s unemployment rate is a record high at 32.6% in the first quarter of 2021 from 32.5% in the final quarter of 2020,according to Reuters. “People need land, people need jobs, people need food and people need to grow this

economy so that all can benefit, said a white youth who called himself with his Zulu name Maqhingase. “One would have assumed that nearly three decades into democracy we would have had better access to land, better access to health care, we would not have children falling into pit latrines due to failures in the provision of ablution facilities,” says Mthandazo Ndlovu. Meanwhile, Maqhingase urged all the youths, white and black to bury their petty differences and unite for the salvation of this country.

“When I say all, I mean 95 % of the blacks and 5 % of the whites who still live in this country. I say unite and create change. These politicians will not change the country for us, but we can.” Kwazi Nsele alludes to the feeling of being between a rock and a hard surface. He says “As we speak, we are in lock down and the government has offered no alternative about what we should survive on. We are hungry. The president just doesn’t care. We would rather die of Corona than die of hunger. At least 200 people have been killed and 1,234 arrested after former South African President Jacob Zuma was imprisoned for alleged corruption. Early estimates from business associations estimate the upheaval has cost about $345m of damage, leaving thousands of workers now contemplating a bleak and jobless future. At least 20 malls were destroyed or badly damaged, as were many more warehouses, factories, distribution centres and even delivery vehicles. By: Everette Ndlovu

POLITICS AND EVENTS

KIDNAPPING, A LUCRATIVE INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

n average of 13 persons were abducted daily in Nigeria in the first half of 2021, according to a report by SBM Intelligence. This brings the number of persons kidnapped in the country within the first half of the year to 2,371, making Nigeria a country with one of the world’s highest rates of kidnaping for ransom.

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Africa’s most populous country by gangs of armed men known colloquially as bandits

dollars for ordinary citizens to reportedly six figures for highprofile victims, a great incentive to organised crime syndicates and young men lacking opportunities. To get loved ones back, family members generally pay the ransoms in cash though sometimes bandits ask for some of the payment in the form of phone credit.

“Bandits have seen that this is a good business, and the best way to make money,” said a Nigerian kidnap escapee who considers himself lucky not to have joined thousands of Nigerians who are kidnapped each year from highways and villages across Africa’s most populous country by gangs of armed men known colloquially as bandits. The economic picture in Nigeria, a country with rich oil reserves and natural resources which are grossly mismanaged is dire, with food inflation hitting a 15-year high, while over half of Nigerians are under

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“Once word goes out that you can kidnap people and get ransom, why wouldn’t you go and do it?” asks Amaka Anku, African director for Eurasia Group. or unemployed. This is seen as a catalyst to banditry. According to social justice

campaigner Aisha Yesufu, the kidnapping industry is thriving across Nigeria due to people having lost hope and the only thing they can do to earn a

living is to kidnap for ransom. Bandits can demand ransom payments of a few hundred US

According to Amaka Anku, massive ransom payments which are believed to have been made to Islamist militants Boko Haram for the return of some of the 276 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in 2014 set the stage of what has become a pandemic in Nigeria. This systematic crime has severely damaged President Muhammadu Buhari’s national security credentials and revealed a woefully underfunded and mismanaged Nigerian military and police force. By: Everette Ndlovu

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

BEST OF THE WEB

AFGHANISTAN ‘West has done what it’s done’: UK defence secretary breaks down as he explains some people ‘won’t get back’ from Afghanistan British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was visibly distraught and appeared to choke back tears as he was explaining that his government will likely not be able to evacuate everyone it wants to from Taliban-seized Kabul. Wallace spoke to LBC on Monday to describe the ongoing effort to fly out holders of British passports and allied Afghan citizens from Kabul International Airport. The

Afghan capital was seized on Sunday by Taliban fighters, but the airport remained under control of US forces guarding it for the evacuation effort.

Street Hospital said the accidental ingestion of cannabis jellies by children under the age of 10, could have been fatal. GREECE STILL BURNS Dozens of firefighters battle new blazes near Athens

Lead elements of the British Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade are on the ground working with the Americans to ensure that as many people that London wants to bring out of Afghanistan can do so as possible. PLYMOUTH Police watchdog investigating over return of Plymouth shooter’s gun and permit The UK’s police watchdog has opened an investigation into the police force that

THE WORD NEWSPAPER NEEDS YOUR HELP THE We are a non-profit making cooperative but still have our outgoing costs such as design, website hosting and software. Please help us maintain this left wing tabloid by going to our website at www.thewordmedia.org and subscribing. By joining together let us all fight back against the rich and powerful.

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returned a gun and a permit to the shooter who went on to kill five people and himself in Plymouth, southwest England. Jake Davison, 22, gunned down five people in the port city of Plymouth on Thursday. He killed two men, two women – including his mother – and a toddler, before turning his weapon on himself. Attention has now turned to Davison’s troubled history, as well as his firearms ownership. He allegedly posted on ‘incel’ forums online, describing his struggles with the opposite sex, and had his shotgun and permit taken off him last December following an allegation of assault. However, Devon and Cornwall Police reinstated his licence and returned his weapon last month after Davison completed an anger management course. PARTY TIME IN IRELAND Children under 6 years of age hospitalised after consuming cannabis jellies A

call

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for tighter regulation of so-called cannabis jellies, or ‘edibles’. It comes after six children, a 10-yearold and five others who were under 6 years of age, were treated for accidental ingestion of cannabis jellies in the last six months at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin. Dr Ike Okafor, an Emergency Medicine Physician in Temple

Greek firefighters battled to control two new fires around Athens today, forcing the evacuation of several villages after blistering blazes scorched swathes of land in the country. Greece’s prime minister has linked the devastating blazes to the climate crisis, speaking last week as wildfires swept across the Mediterranean, engulfing parts of Greece, Italy and Spain. Scores of firefighters battled fresh blazes today near the Greek port city of Lavrio, as helicopters and planes dropped water from the air.

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Mid-August 2021

LET US HAVE AN ENQUIRY INTO GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

I DON’T WANT A COVID INQUIRY

or some countries Covid has revealed a good balance between inclusive social values and consensual government. In the UK England in particular has suffered from commercial exploitation and government by imposition. Inclusion and consent are key concepts. Successive governments have, however, made decisions exclusively and, instead of obtaining consent,

have imposed those decisions upon the general public. In whose interests have we been governed? We have been told that in a crisis shortcuts have to be made. We went through two world wars making rapid decisions in a proper manner. Today we have seen due process set to one side for the sake of efficiency, actually for the sake of cronies who were so often simply not up to the job.

Government is intent on making it difficult for dissenters to gain a hearing

wish to follow Blair. Cameron Complain about this, reveal certainly did. And Blair was the selfish secrets of those famously referred to as a with power, try to be a ‘Son of Thatcher’. We good journalist and, therefore, been IN WHOSE have, these days, prison suffering from poor INTERESTS awaits. New Labour government and HAVE WE introduced us to the politics for some word ‘narrative’. It time. Covid has BEEN refers to an officially been revelatory. It GOVERNED? approved story. If at a has also coincided so-called consultation with the worst premier event you questioned a since Anthony Eden. The decision you would be told that difference between Eden and it was a ‘government given’ and Johnson is that the former could not be challenged. wished to do the job but the latter only wishes to have the Our prime minister is said to job.

We are in serious trouble. We have government intent on making it difficult for dissenters to gain a hearing and even on making it difficult for some people to vote. We are told that the gap between rich and poor is narrowing. That is simply a lie, a lie among many lies. Without lies we would not have this government. I said that inclusion and consent are key concepts. We have neither. By: Cliff Jones

The Priorities Of Party Leaders Pingo de Piffle is determined to prove wrong those medical people who speak in big

FAR LEFT?

Let us make a brief list of the ‘far left’ Nye Bevan. Ernie Bevin. Clem Attlee. Keir Hardie. William Beveridge. William Gladstone. Harold Macmillan. There are many more but each one of them would discomfort Sir Keith. By: Cliff Jones

Buy our policies you won’t be required to think

words. “Freedom” has only two syllables and that is enough for him. Blarmer is now engaged in adapting Lenin’s notion of Unity of Purpose to a party freed from socialism. Its future purpose is his purpose, whatever that is. In 1870 the Franco Prussian War broke out. After a while people began to read the Communist Manifesto (written earlier in 1848) of Marx and Engels. A key word association of that very small but accessible piece of writing was Chaos and Capitalism, the latter brings about the former.

I understand their Pingo is desire for power but IMAGINE accelerating that what societal AN ELECTORATE, for process. Blarmer purpose: social UNABLE TO STIR justice, human confuses me. ITSELF WHEN Or, rather, the rights, equality? I wish of Tony/ think it is power FACED WITH Keith to continue itself that attracts INJUSTICE to be in the Labour them. They insult the Party confuses me. intelligence of people

Chaos and Capitalism, the latter brings about the former

Imagine an entire electorate, unwilling and unable to stir itself when faced with injustice. What’s on the telly? By: Cliff Jones

by attempting to manipulate them, by selling shiny new packages of values-free policies. “Buy our policies - you won’t be required to think.” We are not supposed to notice what is happening to the NHS. Neither are we supposed to be aware of the loss of human rights. In Brave New World Aldous Huxley introduces us to the drug ‘Soma.’

Cliff Jones column

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Mid-August 2021

POLITICS AND EVENTS

A GOVERNMENT & NHS MANAGEMENT CONSPIRACY

VACCINE Passports

an emergency, either real or imagined, to push through controversial or unpopular measures that they would not otherwise get away with.

he time has truly come for campaigners and concerned citizens of all persuasions to unite, and oppose the digital tyranny that will result from Vaccine Passports.

Whatever you may think of the virus, how dangerous it’s been, or what you think of the measures we’ve had, nobody can seriously think that having a national database has anything to do with tracking the virus. This is totally about control. Naomi Klein covered this

issue very thoroughly in her book The Shock Doctrine, in

How NHS privatisation undermines standards I qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1993 at Treliske Royal Cornwall Hospital and saw changes immediately once I stepped into the world of professional accountability. I set foot on a ward as a newly qualified nurse during the inception of the “Internal Market”. I soon noticed that as a qualified nurse there were growing pressures to remove the older style matrons and to replace them with managers. The whole language around who was leading a ward changed and a shift from being patient-centred towards finance-centred came in. Staffing shortages were common and when trained nurses left they were replaced by Health Care Assistants. The pressure on trained nurses to even find enough pillows was astonishing. The vacancies on wards were replaced by lower grade nurses to save money. Catering services where outsourced to private companies. The care of a patient’s dietary requirements fell to an untrained catering assistant who would often have no training in care, and would place foods and drinks out of reach of patients or serve replacements that where not suitable. Wards became dirty with the introduction of private cleaners, who would regularly work on a number of wards and had no particular training about the high standard of hospital cleaning. Dust, fluff and dirt was a common find on wards. I saw many very experienced nurses leave during that period who felt unable to provide the high level of care that they had been trained to provide. A shift to bureaucracy and finances over patient needs left them searching for other career opportunities. As the years have passed the slow and insidious privatisation of the N.H.S. has resulted in a workforce where highly-skilled nurses are leaving due to the erosion of their capabilities to provide the very best care that every patient deserves. By: Ann Buckwell / Former nurse and hypnotherapist

which she highlights how powerful forces will use

As well as our government (or at least many members of it), the management of our health service (not so much the bulk of its workforce) are using the ongoing situation to advance measures that are shrinking the NHS, removing services, reducing beds (due to social distancing), pushing the NHS app, increasing on-line appointments, breaking the

bond between doctors and their patients, and overall privatising health care. Vaccine Passports are the ultimate threat to our civil liberties and will play right into the hands of private health interests, vastly decreasing our society’s wellbeing and quality of life. We don’t have long, so we must all ACT, in whatever way we can, NOW. Watch this space/ By: Clive Collins / Wandsworth NHS campaigner

FRAGILE or FAILED STATES The notion of a failed state has been around for quite a while and a lot has been written on the subject. The question is who defines failure? How could the USA be regarded as failed or even fragile when it has more bullets and bombs than the rest of the world put together? Bullets and bombs must be more important than social and health care.

between rich and poor. It also A useful word might be does not help that corruption ‘coherence’. Does the UK has been made normal. cohere? For me, the Leave campaign made the UK less Currently Lebanon is coherent; Northern Ireland? moving from fragile to failed; The First Minister of Wales has the reason has to be that suggested that if the Union is to corruption is now normal. It survive then devolution must disturbs me when I hear it said become both stronger and more of politicians that “They are fair. His point seems to all the same”. They are be that it is better to not. But they work have an alliance in a framework IT IS BETTER of the willing that accepts, TO HAVE AN rather than of the even rewards, ALLIANCE OF THE unwilling. corruption.

WILLING RATHER

Our future We have THAN OF THE relationship with come to tolerate UNWILLING the EU is moving corruption by from willing to politicians while unwilling. And it does telling ourselves that not help that we have a Cabinet other countries are worse than of incompetents whose idea us. Covid-19 has demonstrated of coherence involves the the embeddedness of political maintenance of a huge gap corruption. We are told by our

politicians to forget systemic racism. But corruption is now deeply systemic. It is how government, particularly a Tory government, works. When it comes to winning elections prejudice becomes most important. All major parties use focus groups to find out how to create narratives that will go down well. If that means bashing foreigners, so be it. I look at Lebanon and tell myself that we are not that bad. And in one sense we are better. For years we have been world champions at covering up corruption. Covid, however, has revealed so much that had been successfully hidden. The question is whether we are content to let this happen and become a failed state…. By: Cliff Jones

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Mid-August 2021

VISIT A PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENT FOR CATARACTS REMOVING

PATIENT’S EYE

AT THE OPTICIAN’S

he Patient’s Eye hasn’t yet gone into any great detail about Opticians’ practices, though the column originally got its name from a panicky visit to the Eye Hospital and finished a little bit more calmly at the Optician’s.

A letter arrived last week for me and Mrs Eye telling us they’d not seen us for 30 months

A letter arrived last week for me and Mrs Eye telling us they’d not seen us for 30 months. This was not exactly true, but we had been avoiding going anywhere since March last year, and ignoring any letters for a while before that.

I’m to visit the same private establishment for cataracts removing and synthetic lenses putting in. This will be free of charge.

Opticians are private businesses that get a I WAS certain amount of CH AR GED £177 their funding from FOR TWO PAIRS the NHS but charge OF SPECTACLES their clients as much as they can and a referral to I CANNOT per visit. This is as an Eye Hospital in NOW SEE it has been for many our City at a private THROUGH decades. establishment paid for by the public. It cost Mrs Eye got her free test us a tenner nevertheless

because she’d needed a scan on a special machine not available on the NHS. I was charged £177 for two pairs of spectacles I cannot now

The Crisis of Democracy Sir Keir Starmer and the Trilateral Commission Oligarchy or Democracy? People ask why Starmer is destroying the Labour Party. When you start asking the

The Labour Leader belong to a globalist elitist organisation

right questions you get the answer. WHEN YOU Why does the ST ART ASKING Labour Leader THE RIGHT belong to a QUESTIONS YOU globalist elitist organisation GET THE that thinks ANSWER the crisis with democracy is the fact working class people have the vote? Read more Heartlands

Labour

see through; my main problem is that I have cataracts, and no end of specially coated plastic lenses in my spectacles can make me legal to drive.

So the visit, expensive though it seemed, had a number of positive outcomes, the most reassuring of all, possibly not, is that when I reach the age of 70 next birthday, I don’t have to surrender my driving licence if I can truthfully fill in a form claiming that I can see, and I am in regular contact with my Optician. By: Patient.I’

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

THE LABOUR PARTY ALSO NEEDS TO CHANGE

RACISM IS ALIVE

and well in Britain

have no pictures anymore because my family were evicted from five homes when I was a kid. Council flat, squats, even a poppy factory flat eviction meant most of those kind of mementos were lost. But this is how I used to look for a few years in my youth. I know that I was a racist.

I used to go on National Front marches before I discovered Marxism, went to university to study politics and sociology and I made some sense of myself. But most racists don’t look like I did and many are not even conscious they are racist.

How about folk start telling the Labour Party to support poor and marginalised people rather than telling poor and marginalised people to support the Labour Party?

Unlike me, they have never They are decent people been forced to look in a who tell us “something mirror to appraise their must be done” about attitudes, beliefs “migrants” and don’t MOST RACISTS use the correct and values. This DON’T LOOK LIKE term, refugees. also mean means I DID AND MANY that, unlike I was, racists are not They are ARE NOT EVEN easy to spot by Labour Party CONSCIOUS THEY looking at them, members who trot ARE RACIST but you can see out Islamaphobic them If you look rubbish about how closely. Often they are Muslim women are fine upstanding people who oppressed or argue Halal meat tut, tut as footballers take the is cruel whilst ignoring kosher knee. food. They are respectable people who tell us “all lives matter”.

Blair’s and Browns premierships and subsequent legacy lost us over 5 million votes between 1997 and 2015. Has Sir Keir not asked

Sir Keir is swimming against the tide of history

the obvious question, why? What is more, the social and economic crisis that gave birth to the phenomenon that was Corbyn is worsening and Sir Keir is swimming against the tide of history. Just ask young people whose hope of a getting a home and starting a family is close to zero. Check with an environmental scientist. Just look around you.

If you are unable to see why Sir Keir was knighted then you are blind. The sword fell on his shoulder for services rendered to the ruling class in the London Riots. His actions then speak volumes about who he is and

I’m tired of it all, of having to explain my past, to explain who I was, not who I am, even by Labour Party members, when others are able to trot out their racist bigotry unchallenged, even in the Labour Party. Enough already. Yes I was a racist and I probably still exhibit unconscious bias which is racist. But I have changed, have you? By: Ed Hunter

The Poor and Marginalised

An Interesting Approach to Winning an Election I do hope those of you who voted for Sir Keir don’t feel too mugged off that he lied to you when he said he’d continue Corbyn’s agenda, when the reality was he wanted to continue Blair’s.

They are concerned citizens who argue that it’s

understandable and acceptable that you are nearly ten times more likely to be stopped and searched if you are black because black people are involved in knife crime.

what he’s doing now. Meanwhile, Regional Labour Parties are tearing up any opportunity for resistance through the Local Campaign Forums and pushing us back to the days when they filtered who became a councillor. Don’t worry though, the “soft left” dealt with the “cranks” to enable this. Good luck comrades, you’re going to need it. By: Ed Hunter

For a while I was on a different path. I rarely went to school after I was 14; I worked in a market. The day I was finishing there to go off to training school to go to sea, my boss tried to persuade me to stay. I’m sure that if I had things would have been very different. Two of my closest and longest friends died from heroin; not the only people I knew who died

from drugs either. The people I used to go to football with found themselves in ever more violence. Similarly the people I was hanging around with. Being at sea made me a part timer and therefore on the fringes whenever I was on leave. Yes, it could have been very different. By: Ed Hunter

How about folk start telling the Labour Party to support poor and marginalised people rather than telling poor and marginalised people to support the Labour Party?

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid-August 2021

INVISIBLE SUNS, SUNNY DAYS, AND FABULOUS MUSIC

ON THE JUKEBOX TONITE!

e began by searching for a song called Invisible Sun and found that there were three offerings to choose from: The Police, Liam Gallagher, and The Prodigy. I have to admit that Prodigy are my favourite out of the three, but all the songs, and they’re entirely different in words and music, are very good, as you would expect.

Written by Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi, Paper Sun was a big hit for Traffic back in the day – and what days those were.

I began to look at other favourite who’ve sung about the sun, starting with a band I once walked out on because they were “Too Damn Loud” and had caused a member of my party to begin to feel heavily nauseous. Sorry Alvin…. Also, don’t buy, or read The Sun. YNWA By Jack in the Jukebox

The Police, Liam Gallagher, and The Prodigy each produced a song called Invisible Sun

Black hole Sun – Soundgarden. This is a bit more contemporary, but still qualifies as a Golden Oldie. Look I have all recorded music of all time on my Jukebox. Why wouldn’t I listen to the very best? Sun is shining, weather is sweet, sang Bob Marley. It sure was bro. Rest well.

As the Sun Still Burns Away - Ten Years After. I loved this song, and the whole Cricklewood Green album. I watched half a concert by Alvin Lee, who was brilliant, a long time ago, but that band was seriously LOUD. And here is the very best. Although the Sun is Shining is a Danny Kirwan number from Fleetwood Mac’s seminal album ‘Then Play On.’ Peter Green was still with them but I tell you, there is music on here that will make you weep for that band, and a couple of tracks you might skip.

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

LEFT LEANINGS ROBERT WYATT – RED FLAG

obert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge), on the 28th January 1945 in Bristol, England, is an English retired musician. Robert is one of the founding members of the influential Canterbury Scene, and the bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole.

Nick Mason in a number of projects that furthered his drive to ‘Not let the music go off’.

He was continuously active and working with many accomplished artists right up until his eventual retirement from the scene in 2014, stating “There is a pride in stopping, I Initially performing as a kit don’t want the music to go off”. drummer and singer before And today, here in 2021 we are an accident in 1973 left him incredibly proud to have him paraplegic and confined to a amongst our own ranks right wheelchair, Wyatt was sadly here at The Word, where he forced to abandon band continues his on-going work, although fight against the rise thankfully did not of the right. THERE IS abandon music A PRIDE IN entirely, instead About the STOPPING, setting off on a song… I DON’T WANT journey to explore THE MUSIC other instruments ‘The Red Flag’, and concentrate written by Irish TO GO OFF on a solo career that political activist Jim would span a total Connell in 1889, is one of 40 years, which would of the most well-known and inevitably produce works such traditional socialist anthems as the acclaimed Comicopera in out there, and was a seminal 2007. song throughout various incarnations of the Labour Working with such notable party during its ‘truly’ socialist names as Mike Oldfield, Henry years. Playing to the tune of Cow guitarist Fred Frith and the O Tannenbaum (O Christmas poet Ivor Cutler, Wyatt certainly Tree), the song was wonderfully did not let his accident stop reimagined by Wyatt in 1980him, completing and releasing 81, appearing on the politically the acclaimed album ‘Rock based album ‘Nothing Can Stop Bottom’ in 1974 before moving Us’ which was released in 1982, on to work with Pink Floyd’s reaching Number 35 in the UK

‘Red Flag’ charts. There are minor lyric changes to the original version but on the whole the message

remains the same, and is a poignant lesson to the Labour party of today that without its core socialist values, the party is nothing if not a shadow of Keir Hardy’s original vision for it. Something the current ‘Keir’ would perhaps do very well to heed… You can find the song on YouTube if you wish to give it a worthwhile revisit. Or perhaps it’s in your collection already. Either way, in these times of increasing turmoil under yet another depraved and utterly selfish Conservative government, it’s definitely high time for another airing and listen. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=nfvab9NRlW8 By: Adrian Angel

It waved above our infant might When all ahead seemed dark as night It witnessed many a deed and vow We must not change its colour now Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds, we’ll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We’ll keep the red flag flying here It well recalls the triumphs past It gives the hope of peace at last The banner bright, the symbol plain Of human right and human gain Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds, we’ll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We’ll keep the red flag flying here With heads uncovered swear we all To bear it onward till we fall Come dungeons dark or gallows grim This song shall be our parting hymn Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds, we’ll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We’ll keep the red flag flying here Adrian Angel

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WE HAVE THE WORDS “DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST” ON OUR PARTY CARD

Labour has always been influenced by a Marxist view OF SOCIETY

eople forget, or don’t know their history, but Marxism has had a huge part to play in the history of the Labour Party. Not only in its early history and formation, with the Social Democratic Federation, but it had Marxists at the top of the party for much of the 30s, 40s and 50s (Laski, Maxton, Strachey, Cripps to name a few). People who contributed so much to our party and society and without which, the great reforming government of 1945 would not have existed. Michael Foot describes Nye Bevan as a Marxist in his famous

INTRODUCING COMPETITION AND MARKETS INTO OUR SCHOOLS AND IN OUR HEALTH SERVICE CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS ANTI-SOCIALIST

biography of the founder of the NHS. On the other hand, for most of its history, too, the Labour Party has had smallish Marxist & Trotskyist groups organising within it, with little or no threat to its integrity. Of course, in the paranoid fantasies of the rightwing of the party, these groups have been about to take over, or are a great danger to “the brand” but the truth is, they have never made headway, and have mostly fallen in with the democratic socialist tradition represented most recently by the much larger Bennite left and the upsurge around Corbyn.

Bureaucratic expulsions and proscription are the method of choice for those who can’t convince by political argument.

More broadly, and more importantly, the Labour Party has always been influenced by a Marxist view of society and almost all of the left’s leaders owed a debt to Marxist ideas. None of this did anything but add to the battle of ideas in the party. It is probably true that the party owed more to Methodism than Marxism, as the saying goes, but only a factionalist for the right would deny that it has

had a positive contribution and provided many of the ideas for the giant leaps forward society took after the war. The other thing I’d say to people who shriek at Marxism is that we have the words “democratic socialist” on our party card. But many in our party (especially those aligned to New Labour) haven’t adhered to this philosophy. For example, introducing competition

and markets into our schools and in our health service can only be described as antisocialist. The internal market, outsourcing, academisation - these are all discredited, antisocialist measures that have caused immense damage to the fabric of our society. But I don’t see that as grounds for expulsion or proscription. As a socialist, I would argue with them, politically. Because I have confidence in my arguments and I know that free market solutions have no future. Bureaucratic political methods - expulsions, proscriptions - whether “social democratic” or Stalinist, are the method of choice for those who don’t have that confidence, and can’t convince by political argument. From Facebook

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT

We really need to talk about a number of issues that are causing a lot of ordinary people a lot of concern, and no concern at all to the establishment in the fifth richest country in the world, the UK.

for ten years?)

When you have a young man, who is too inadequate to lose weight, is clearly lonely, and angry to the point of emotional imbalance, do you:

C: get him to weight watchers or slimming world (or possibly the NHS!!)

A: provide him with mental health services (underfunded

B: call on the police to attend and monitor when he is abusive and violent (a force which is undermanned, stretched, and possibly not that interested?)

D: Let him have a gun, licensed for use, and hope he doesn’t kill too many people, or anyone ‘important’ in a

shooting frenzy before he offs himself?

This is the UK – we don’t have a constitutional entitlement to walk round like Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid. There are too many issues to talk about all at once here, but they’re pointing one way. We are a rich country – we could afford anything we want for our people. The trouble is that the people with the funds don’t want to pay for what

people really need. Eat out to help out anyone?

By: The Bleeding heart of the Left

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

A MOON MOON AN ACCIDENTAL OBJECT IS FOUND IN THE HEAVENS

t’s too big to be a planet, but not big enough to be a star. For example, if it were around an order of magnitude bigger than Jupiter, about thirteen times bigger, it might begin the process of Nuclear Fusion, and create energy to sustain its own solar system with light, heat, solar winds, and all the charming and not so charming things our own sun does.

It’s a not very brown, very dwarf object. In colour it is probably a sort of unconvincing orange.

Is it a Star? Is it a Planet?

Should we find it has planets own moon has a great amount orbiting it, and those planets of man-made space trash have bits of debris still in orbit around it, orbiting them, we’d the concept of a IN COLOUR sosubmoon call them moons, but is not out IT IS PROBABLY of the question. We what if we designate A SORT OF this Accident a might need to see UNCONVINCING a small to medium very big planet, do we call the objects sized planet with a ORANGE. orbiting it moons, relatively large moon and their satellites before we’re sure subMoonmoons, Submoons, moons can exist in the real Minimoons, Moomins? universe. Asteroids have been found which have small moons In our own solar system there orbiting them. are several moons large enough to hold satellites in orbit, but One now wonders if there so far none have been found. are any other Accidental Bodies Though moons do indeed roaming the Universe. Nothing affect the orbits of each other, out there is ever unique, hence the gravitational pull of their our quest to find life, even planet ensures that each of them intelligent aliens, elsewhere in primarily orbits the planet. Our the Universe.

Dance of Neptune’s Moons

Astronomers have discovered an unusual pattern around Neptune. The gas giant’s innermost moons are doing everything in their power to steer clear from one another in a weird, zigzagging pattern that astronomers are calling a “dance of avoidance.” Thalassa and Naiad’s orbital paths sit no farther apart than Chicago and Miami, about 1,150 miles (1,850 kilometers). But their zigzagging path around each other as they orbit Neptune ensures that the moons themselves never get that close. Naiad moves faster than Thalassa, circling Neptune in 7 hours versus its twin’s orbital time of 7.5 hours. Every time Naiad passes the slower moon, which is when the two would otherwise veer close together, they are in a distant spot in their zigzag dance. At that point, they’re about 2,200 miles (3,540 km) apart, or the distance from Chicago to Costa Rica.

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Mad Madge Talks Across Oceans Of Time

READ ANSWERS FROM OUR VERY DEAD (THANK YOU, GOD) AGONY AUNT, THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE EVIL THAT WAS MARGARET THATCHER Dear Margaret Mission accomplished, Afghan hounds are now left to breed in peace, accept for the female ones of course, who must wear the hijab. How do we spin this one? Yours, Tony, Peter, and all the crew at New Labour Dear Tony Just rejoice, where there is hatred let me bring… Don’t worry about it. You are all millionaires and none of your children died. Dear Maggie

We can be together now. Did I do well? It is good to do guns isn’t it? I really showed all those people who I am/was. Your humble servant, Jake Davison, from Plymouth Dear Jake Don’t be silly. I murdered thousands by starting a war. Not to mention how many of the poor I killed off. You were not in my class. Dear Maggie I was bored with the club That I was a member of so I

left to join another more fun one. We go in lots of really fun competitions and always get some super prizes. It really is such fun. My problem is that there is now a competition going round with the winner being the one who can kick me the most times. What should I do? Even though I am insured for ten million quid if I break a toenail this is not nice. Jack from Manchester. Well, Jack, you could start by helping in foodbanks and giving a few million away to the poor…

Only joking. Instigate the broken toenail clause and put your feet up for the season. Dear Agony Aunt The place where I live has suddenly become more and more repressive. I thought we fought a war to stop all this horror. Now I am being told we need to all cover our faces, we cannot protest or even shout out loudly against injustice. If we do we face prison for years. There is no proper health system to speak of and we are now being

told we have to carry a passport of some kind to go places. Why are the international community letting this happen? Omar (I am withholding my address out of fear) No use withholding your name and address, Omar, of 54, Keith Joseph towers, Peckham. We are watching, your phone, credit card payments, social media, bank account, health records, CCTV, smart meters…we even know when you had a shit. We are coming for you.

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THE EXECUTION OF TWO INNOCENT MEN

n the 23rd of August 1927, two Italian Immigrants living in the United States were electrocuted for something they had not done.

They were arrested in May 1920 for the robbery and murder.

In April 1920 a shoe factory had been raided where the paymaster and his armed guard were killed. $15,000 was stolen along with a car. Before they died, they said their attackers were thin foreigners with oily skin.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Anarchists and had refused to fight in the first world war. When arrested, they had literature in their car condemning the government, along with weapons. They also spoke little English and could not prove where they were on the day of the murder.

Immigrants in America at that time were treated badly. They were made to work longer hours for less pay. They were also being attacked by the Klu

Immigrants in America at that time were treated badly. They were made to work longer hours for less pay. They were also being attacked by the Klu Klux Klan (KKK)

Klux Klan (KKK). There was distrust of the men by Americans because of the Red Scare factor. They didn’t like their politics or the fact they were immigrants. The trial from the very start was bias, even the judge- Webster Thayer was prejudiced against them. There were 107 witnesses who said Sacco and Vanzetti were somewhere else at the time of the murder compared to 61 prosecution witnesses who claimed they had seen the men commit the crime. Despite trying several times to get a new trial, and the fact there was no hard evidence against Nicola and Bartolomeo, and the fact that a known criminal called Celestino Madeiros admitted to taking part with other criminals in this crime, they were still

blamed for the crime and electrocuted in Charlestown Prison.

THE TRIAL FROM THE VERY START WAS BIAS, EVEN THE JUDGE- WEBSTER THAYER WAS PREJUDICED AGAINST THEM.

Running up to their execution, there were

worldwide protests at the unfair, prejudicial treatment the two men were receiving, but to no avail.

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SATIRE

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Hope and Good News Italy: Agriculture comes in many different forms. Now a group of Italian academics have created the world’s first underwater garden for terrestrial plants. Seaweed and kelp have been cultivated along shorelines for centuries, but in small submersible glass domes, pots of basil, lettuce, tomatoes, and even zucchini flowers, green peas, aloe vera, and mushrooms are growing like in any other home garden. Called Nemo’s Garden, the project was launched by the Ocean Reef Group as a means to experiment with food supply diversity, should climatic changes make parts of Italy too dry to farm. The six air-filled greenhouses suffered major storm damage in October 2019, and before they could be fully repaired, COVID-19 had delayed repairs. June 6th saw the garden fullyoperational again, including their livestream where one can watch the plants literally grow. The biospheres, which sit eight metres under the surface off the coast of Noli in Liguria, use solar energy for their minimal electrical needs, and evaporated seawater condenses on the glass of the ceiling which waters the plants. A diver swims under and up into the air pocket of the pod to harvest what’s ready to eat. UK: For the very first time, an automaton has been made that can perform the life-saving chest compression—a vital part of sustaining oxygen flow through the body during cardiac arrest. Called the LUCAS-3, its performance of CPR will free up paramedic hands for other tasks,

which could be essential for ensuring patient survival. The South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) will be the first one to receive the robot, which costs £12,000 for their servicing of Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. The SCAS Charity funded the purchasing of 28 for the purpose of equipping their ambulances. India: In just a single day, Indians have planted an impressive quarterbillion tree saplings in their quest to clean the air. Whereas mass tree planting operations around the globe are

receiving more and more scepticism for their actual impacts on climate stabilisation, the last four major plantings in the state of Uttar Pradesh have climbed to an impressive average sapling survival rate of 80%. The fact that many of Uttar Pradesh’s new trees are now over 4 years old means there’s a much better chance for them to survive pests, drought, or other dangers to become contributing members of tree society. Along riverbanks and highways, and on farms, schools, and in forests, Sunday saw millions of residents of the most-populous Indian state continue what is now a yearly tradition

Gerry O’Gorman - Book Review The Story of Black Lives Matter Wesley Lowery (Penguin) In February 2012 seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead by George Zimmerman, whilst Martin visited his aunt’s flat in Florida. In response to Zimmerman being found ‘not guilty’ of the killing, Oakland activist Alicia Garza posted a ‘love note to black people’ on Facebook, coining the term ‘Black Lives Matter’ Lowery’s book includes Garza’s further explanation of BLM’s formation; ‘Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically targeted for demise...It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of oppression’. Lowery, a Washington Post journalist, begins his BLM story with his own arrest whilst covering the aftermath of the police killings of another black man, Michael Brown, in Ferguson,

Missouri, in 2014. As Lowery interviews victims’ families and protesters about the killing, he notes the alarming toll of unarmed black people killed by US police. He hears of the black community’s mistrust of the police, and anger over lack of police accountability, and he witnesses rubber bullets and tear gas fired at protestors, and mass arrests. Lowery cites a wider backdrop of structural and systemic inequalities in US towns and cities where the killings occurred, including (mainly) white police forces, controlling (majority) black neighbourhoods. He draws parallels with the Harlem riots of 1935 and finds that, historically, unrest in black communities was often sparked by police incidents. Lowery recognises the challenge of balancing fair and truthful journalism with his own outrage over his discoveries and encounters. He questions MSM’s focus on victim’s characters, rather than holding power to account, and he echoes the

(a year ago, 20 million saplings were planted along the Ganges). “We are committed to increasing the forest cover of Uttar Pradesh to over 15% of the total land area in the next five years,” said state forest official Manoj Singh. UK/Swiss: With more than 1.4 billion cows in the world, cattle farming accounts for nearly 10% of all greenhouse gases generated by human activity. Much comes from the methane cows emit, but a new feed supplement could reduce those emissions by

an average of 30%, according to its makers, Mootral, a Swiss/British company. If all the world's cows ate the supplement, the reduction in emissions could be equivalent to taking more than 300 million cars off Europe's roads. The supplement, based on garlic and citrus extracts, is mixed with regular cattle feed, reducing methane emissions by the equivalent of around one ton of carbon dioxide per cow per year. See more @ https://tinyurl.com/zvptkesf

THEY CAN’T KILL

US ALL relatives’ trauma and despair; ‘For the families of those killed by the police, it is often most shattering that their loved one was killed by the very people sworn to protect them.’ Despite its disturbing subject matter, I found Lowery’s book a compelling, ‘roller-coaster’ read. One minute I was upset and depressed, before my spirits were lifted by activists like Kwame Rose, whose energy and determination remained uncowed despite intimidation by police and federal officials. Lowery’s writing is clear and lucid, mostly, my one qualm being that the author flips back and forth in time, with names, places and incidents. My confusion was compounded by Lowery telling his tales whilst criss crossing different US towns and cities. His narrative ends in 2016. Any update would include hundreds of

subsequent fatalities, including George Floyd’s killing in 2020, and the historic conviction of his police assailant. Lowery’s authentic account of BLM’s growth into a force for change adds to the burgeoning literary canon of politics and black struggle, from Sojourner Truth and Bell Hooks, to James Baldwin and Malcolm X. Fittingly, Lowery lets activist Brittany Packnett have the defiant, last word; ‘We have no choice but to keep going. If one of the demands of the movement is to stop killing us, and they are still killing us, then we don’t stop either.’

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid August 2021

WORD

Women who made a Difference S

islin Fay Allen was born in Jamaica, at St Catherine Parish, west of Kingston, in March 1938. The second youngest of 10 children, she was brought up by an aunt who was a judge. Sislin claims her aunt “didn't think much of the police, but regardless that was always a job that I wanted to do."

Sislin emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1961 as part of the Windrush generation, marrying a fellow Jamaican and had two daughters. She lived in Thornton Heath, Croydon qualifying as a state registered nurse and worked at Queen's Hospital, Croydon, S. London. Early in 1968 whilst she was a having a lunch break Sislin spotted a recruitment ad for male and female recruits to the Metropolitan Police, which was to change her life. At the time there were no black female officers but the mum-of-two sat down and wrote an application. Within a few weeks Sislin had made it to the interview stage, shocking her husband and family when she was accepted. When she filled in the application form, she recalled, “I penned at the bottom of it that I was a black woman. I didn’t want, if I had succeeded, and when they saw me, to say: ‘I didn’t know she was black.’” On selection day there were many young men and ten women, Sislin being the only Black person there. After taking a set of exams and a stringent medical, she was told she had passed and would start work at Croydon’s Fell

n e l l A y a F n i l s i S 1939- 5 July 2021

Road Police Station. When she had told a friend at work about her application, the friend had said: “Don’t be so silly, they’re not accepting black people.” Fay Allen was able to tell her: I have “Well my dear, I’ve got news for you’ and I showed her the letter.” Her success in getting the job attracted wide attention. “On the day I

joined I nearly broke a leg trying to run away from reporters,” she recalled. “I realised then that I was a history maker. But I didn’t set out to make history. I just wanted a change of direction.” The early prejudice she faced was from her own people, being asked how she could could leave nursing and join the police force as though it was something degrading. On her first day on duty she experienced a mixture of stares and people stopping her to congratulate her. This was two months before Enoch Powell’s notorious “rivers of blood” speech. Following her appointment as the first female black officer the Met received hate mail from the public, but the while her bosses told her of the letters, she was never shown them. They told h e r

about them but only showed her the good reports. She felt they were worried if she saw the others she might resign. After spending a year at Croydon, she was posted to the Missing Persons Bureau at Scotland Yard later transferring to Norbury police station. In 1972, Sislin resigned from the Met and returned to Jamaica with her husband and family. There she joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force. She claimed to find doing the job difficult back in Jamaica saying "There has always been a stigma attached to the police people have their own ideas but all of that is not warranted. It's a very worthwhile job that I would recommend at any time to anyone." Eventually, she returned to England, living in South London. In 2020, she was given a lifetime achievement award by the National Black Police Association. Leroy Logan, a former chairman and founding member of the Black Police Association, tweeted: "I know how tough it was for me to join the Met Police in the early 80’s, but it pales into insignificance in comparison to the remarkable Sislin Fay Allen as the 1st UK black female officer in 1968.”

Commander Dr Alison Heydari, the highest-ranking black female officer in the UK (of Guyanese descent), is proud to be standing on the shoulders of a trailblazer. "Sislin's achievements mean a great deal to me actually. She paved the way for black females - and today in the Met and in policing we have so many black females and it all started with Sislin." She has been called a "pioneer" and "civil rights icon". But she preferred to describe herself as an ordinary mother and optimist. "The journey for me has been memorable but I think we still have a very long way to go, but at the end of the day, I am glad that I was able to inspire so many people to take up the challenge," she said. Returning to Jamaica she died in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on 5 July 2021, aged 83. For most black people, particularly those who lived through the civil rights struggles in Britain in the 60's and 70's, Mrs Allen is seen as a symbol of success, progress and change. However whilst women now make up 27% of our police, black people made up 1.3% of police officers, and 3.3% of the general population. The question has to be asked why?

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What Can Happen Next, If We Stick Our Oars In L

ike lots of us, I've been arrested a few times, in actions against the racist state that is Israel. And I'm sure I've not been alone, in often pondering, over where to find the weakest point, in the armour of a state, which deprives itself of legitimacy, by being a state which depends on ethnic, "cleansing", and therefore on racially motivated massacres, and therefore on genocide, (according to Article 6 of the Rome Statute, of the International Criminal Court, despite the I.C.C.'s failure to abide by their own definition), to sustain an artificially created racist majority, and yet, is still tolerated in a world where genocide is supposed to be unacceptable. Well, hang in there !. That very same world, really is changing around us !

noticeable years back, like during the Wharton women protests smashing up BAe, "Hawke" jets, and the women being exonerated with the defence that they were, "preventing a greater crime". It took years for wider community action like the "Smash Edo", campaign, trashing the EDO/MBM factory in Brighton, where again the activists were let off, with the same defence. But smaller protests, while becoming more frequent, seem to have had longer lasting, more widespread consequences. The Kedem protests in Manchester, where zionists demonstrated the point, when either, the israeli flag had become a, "toxic symbol", by their ceasing to use it, or they had run out of robots to wave it around. Elbit Systems, in Oldham, and Shenstone, (near Birmingham), have been targetted, suffered serious loss of revenue, and have continued to be shy of risking the attention of high profile court cases

The frequency was not so

Just what kind of world would be worth the effort needed for us to make it ?

ell surely if one which allows us all to learn, and become better than we are, would thereby allow genuine progress, that must be worth the consideration of it. And then surely, one in which we're denied, or tricked out of having personal responsibility, so we can learn from our mistakes, and become better than we are, is not. And if not, then any system in which we are ruled over, (rather than being administered to, by elected administrators), can also be safely ruled out. So far then, my libertarian lefty mates, will still feel comfy, in my presence, secure in the knowledge that I have no desire, (yet), to rule over them. But should I feel safe with them ? Should they feel safe with each other ? Is it all, (like most other things), a matter of degree ? After all, if Stalinism only stopped being fashionable, a generation or so ago, then perhaps we still need to identify the threat, of those who would rule over us, a little more

firmly. Here's a clue, perhaps : From the Greek, "An", meaning, without, and, "Archos", meaning rulers, or rulership. Does Socialism have to mean being ruled by society ? Can it mean, (or can it become), a system by which societal structure, is maintained by willing participants, allowed or encouraged to mature to the point of exercising self discipline ? People who refuse to mature, exclude themselves, with their immaturity. If that's the case, then, why can't we just get on with building a society, which we defend against those who would rule over us, preventing us learning how to increasingly co-operate, and increasingly grow up ? N.B. I keep discovering people who claim that the word, "Fascism", is overused.I contend that it's underused, if it's an appropriate term for authoritarianism for the purposes of state.

In June, '21, we saw 50~ish, of the slightly more hardcore end of the protest community, blockading Andy Burnham's offices, in Manchester, occupying the bit of Oxford Rd. outside. The Plod stayed away. The next day, I read a notice, from organisers of the protest against Elbit Systems. Somebody had been disrupting, "business as usual", yet again, at their murder weapons factory, in Oldham, and costing them lots of filthy lucre. The legal consequences for the heroes who've damaged Elbit property, will be another drama to enthral those who seek inspiration on how to confront the monsters of our age. I had a chat with one of their guys, after the Saturday event. I asked what would happen, if we could do a demo, where the zio-nasties would turn up, and I were to invite him / her to have me arrested, for incitement, and breech of section 4A of the Public Order Act, (racially motivated behaviour likely to cause alarm or distress), by my showing support for Palestinians willing to defend Palestinian civilians, by killing israeli politicians who have policies of bombing appartment blocks where

Palestinian babies live. That might sound like pie in the sky, surely no sane zio-thug would take such bait. Ahhhhhhh, wait on. Anthony Dennison, struck off, ex-solicitor, (who should know something of U.K. law), and devoted activist in, "N.W. Friends of Israel" tried that one on me. But then chickened out, twice. And then, despite the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service, did not need his testimony, the C.P.S. refused to continue with charges. I apparently caused him "alarm and distress", by exposing his behaviour as an accomplice, of those, "state practitioners and proponents of genocide, I mentioned earlier' Also I asked how the defining characteristics of his political group, were different to other such, "state practitioners and proponents". So the stage was set. But ex-solicitor Dennison, refused to set foot on it. Which means that if the case had gone ahead, and precedent set, with acquittal, due to facts being what they are, the whole, anti-Semite" trope would have been deflated. That especially with the opportunity to argue in court, that it's not possible for me, campaigning for an end to israel,

and thereby encouraging Jews and Semites to remain in the country where I live, to be anti- the same people I'm encouraging to remain in the country, with me. The deflation of course, also dependant on antizionists spreading the news of it widely enough. So there's a growing trend. However, as has happened before, the accomplices to state terror occasionally get forced to chance their arms. Of course, people will get convicted, sometimes. But now's the time to prep ourselves, for secondary campaigns, taking off. The racially motivated state practitioners and proponents of genocide, (no matter what the numbers are), in its 73rd year, continue acting beyond pretence of rationality, To the point where they require the rest of us, also to behave increasingly beyond rationality, in pretence that a state which depends on continuing slow motion genocide for its artificial, racist majority, is, "democratic", or tolerable. It isn't. .

How Blatant Do Mass Media Lies Have To Be, Before A Population Ceases To Believe In Them ?

he flurry, (or slurry), of suspicious media material, on recent Israeli elections drew some attention, with speculation about an Arab political party, having gained enough leverage, to hold, "the balance of power". That provided a genuine shock for some of us, about the lengths to which some lackys will go, to defend delusions about Isrealhell being democratic, and civilised.

act of genocide, (as defined in Article 6 of the Rome Statute, of the International Criminal Court and repeated in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention of the U.N), that would show genocide, also to be such a legitimate tool of democracy. Can those who rule over us, really be so stupid as to believe that we could be so stupid, as to believe such stupidity ?

Can any clear minded adult doubt that millions of Palestinian refugees around the planet, have not had postal votes across the 73 years since Palestine was invaded, by someone other than Palestinians ? Surely, clear minded adults don't need to be told that, they've not !

Obviously, falling victim to confusion, need not always involve a deliberately manufactured confusion. So there need be no malevolent, "guiding hand", of an evil mastermind, or secret conspiratorial organisation involved. That being the case, humans are apparently vulnerable to brainwashing, by confusion itself. So we need to make reasonable assumptions to escape from confusion. But of course, fallable humans don't always find adequate clues. So we keep making easier assumptions, which we can live with, and thereby, eventually become brainwashed by them.

Or is there something else going on ? What could that be ?

confusion), becomes apparent. If there really is a conspiracy in the world of media, it must surely involve the deliberate flooding of wackiest tinfoil hat grade theories, throughout social media, which would discredit all conspiracy theories, in the eyes of a jaded, Coronation St,, Star Trek and footy-at-the-weekend addicted public. Hmmmm, isn't that what we would have, anyway ? So what happens next ?

But imitation lefties around the same planet, behave as though the artificial, racist, zio-majority win elections legitimately, in the land those refugees are from. Or that racially motivated murder, (which of course, ethnic, "cleansing", can't happen without), is a legitimate tool, in the electoral process. As racially motivated murder, is an

That however, is only until truth, (that which defends us against

How can we facillitate truth becoming apparent, or at least stop facillitating the obstruction of it ? How do we stop being manipulated by confusion, into either ceasing to be active for social change, or adding to the flood of misinformation in social media. If we add to the latter, we facillitate the dismissal of all valid conspiracy theories, along with the wackiest of them, and the sources of confusion will carry on. Maybe it's time for someone more computer clever than I, to do an article on who it is, behind the wackiest of wacky conspiracy theories. And what clues are there, to what purposes they have ?

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Mid August 2021

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COVID PLUNGES TUNISIA INTO A POLITICAL CRISIS

he surge in Covid 19 cases in Tunisia has led protests in all major cities with the masses demanding the government to step down for failing to manage the crisis which has led to 4.2 million deaths. The political crisis is reported to have started on 25 July 2021, after Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended the Assembly of the Representatives of the People by invoking emergency powers from Article 80 of the Tunisian

Constitution. It is reported that rallies numbering several hundred gathered in Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid, Monastir and Nabeul. Demonstrators in Sousse and in Touzeur, where they set fire to the political party Ennahda headquarters. The protests have put pressure on the fragile government that is enmeshed in a political struggle with President Kais Saied, who is trying to avert

a looming fiscal crisis amid a weeks-long spike in COVID-19 cases and increased death rates. The police used pepper spray to disperse protesters who threw stones and shouted slogans demanding that Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi to quit and parliament to be dissolved. “Our patience has run out,”

said a protester who accused the government of being ideologically bankrupt such that it has no solutions for controlling the Covid epidemic. The crisis has led to the sacking of the health minister Mechichi after chaotic scenes at walk-in vaccination centres during the Muslim Eidal-Adha holiday, where large crowds queued for inadequate supplies of vaccine. The pandemic hit Tunisia at a time when it is struggling to rescue its economy that has

nosedived since its 2011 revolution which was sparked by economic mismanagement and mass unemployment. President Saied declared the army would take over the pandemic response. Some analysts saw the move as an attempt to expand his powers beyond the foreign and military role assigned to the president in the 2014 constitution. Everette Ndlovu

RIOTERS STEAL COFFINS, BUT WHY? he most bizarre loot in the ongoing South African riots is that of coffins. Funeral parlours are running out of coffins as most of them have been looted, something which has paralyzed the funeral industry in the already troubled country.

they are damaged to the extent that they can no longer be used.

paralysed by the riots and the few coffins left have been looted.

“I feel sad because many people who work for funeral parlours are now going to lose their jobs as we have no coffins to bury the dead,” said one funeral director.

“Why is this one looting a coffin? Is he planning to die soon?” asked a surprised observer on twitter when he saw a video of a man getting away with a casket.

Videos and pictures have emerged and gone viral on social media showing unidentified people getting away with coffins, leaving people asking, “But why? “

“Due to the riots, we are now struggling to get coffins because the manufacturers cannot get the raw materials to make them. We now have to postpone funerals,” he said.

“I think the real loot is in the coffin and only him knows what it is,” responded another.

In one of the insidents,Vuyo Mabindisa’s funeral parlour lost at least 50 coffins estimated at R300 000. About 60% of the coffins are reported to have been recovered but

He said he does not see how the funeral industry will survive as it was increasingly challenging to get more coffins. The industries that make coffins have also been

“What will he say when he gets home with a coffin?” asked a surprised resident.” If he intends selling the coffin, who in his right mind would bury his loved departed in a stolen coffin and expect his soul to rest in peace?” The riots which started after the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma over alleged corruption charges have seen looting and destruction of property never experienced before in an independent South Africa. In a country where bereavement is respected, one would have expected at least funeral parlours to be spared. Everette Ndlovu

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More Questions

Impossible Questions • A block of which type of intrusive igneous rock broke off to trap 33 Chilean miners underground in 2010? • In which game might you get 'Ko-fighting' on a 19 by 19 grid? • Godwin's law is an Internet adage which asserts that that as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving the name of whom approaches? • The Perry Index is a widely used index for which set of works? • In 1936, which female was awarded 'Person of the Year' by America's Time Magazine - the first female to be awarded the title? • What were Buzz Aldrin's first two words on the Moon? • What was awarded to James Bond in the film A View to a Kill and in 'real-life' to Nelson Mandela in 1990? • In the Book of Exodus, what is described as being 'a fine, flake-like thing like the frost on the ground'? • Which sort of agriculture is used to create a swidden plot? • Which country is the most populated in the world to have French as an official language? • What was first known as Hi-Catoctin? • In 2005, which country saw the Tulip Revolution? • The CIA world fact book points out that the UK is slightly smaller than which American Pacific State? • Who was the tallest British king - his skeleton measures 6'4½"? • Which political party was founded in 1983 to fight the Bermondsey by-election? Answers • Diorite • Go (traditional Chinese board game for two players, older than Chess) • Hitler • Aesop's Fables • Wallis Simpson • Beautiful view • The Order of Lenin • Manna • Slash and burn • Democratic Republic of the Congo • Camp David (country retreat of the American President) • Kyrgyzstan • Oregon • Edward IV • The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

• The Falkland Islands has two newspapers, one is the Teaberry Express, can you name the other? • Who's pseudonyms have included Milkwood Thomas, Tedham Porterhouse and Jack Frost? • If Las Vegans come from Las Vegas where do Yats come from? • In which country are the most languages spoken? • Scott Abbott bought a Canadian hockey team with the money he earned from coinventing which product? • What do Victorians Edward Oxford, John Francis and Roderick Maclean all have in common? • In 1917, children were paid to collect which naturally occurring items that were used in the manufacture of the expolsive cordite? Answers • The Penguin News • Bob Dylan • New Orleans • Papua New Guinea • The boardgame Trivial Pursuit • They all tried to assassinate

SUDOKU

• Whose short story The Birds was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name? • Not including Canada, can you name two member states of the Commonwealth starting with the letter 'C'? • How is vacuum-cleaner salesman James Wormwold described in the title of a famous book? • Which country supplies 95 percent or the world's commercial balsa? • Which European city, with more than 2,300 bridges, has a greater number of bridges than Venice and Amsterdam combined? • In which part of the world would you find the Noonday Gun? • Which Liberal Democrat Life Peer had a small role in the film Run Fatboy Run playing Libby's mother?

Queen Victoria • Horse chestnuts or conkers • Daphne du Maurier • Cameroon and Cyprus • Our Man in Havana • Ecuador • Hamburg

• Hong Kong (as also featured in the song Mad Dogs and Englishmen - 'In Hong Kong, they strike a gong, and fire off a noonday gun') •Floella Benjamin (former Playschool presenter)

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VEGAN COOKING WITH CHRIS WILLIAMSON

Vegan mushroom soup

Mid August 2021

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The long-time vegan ex MP Chris Williamson shows you another of his healthy vegan meals.

Ingredients

2 cups cauliflower florets 1⅔ cup unsweetened original almond milk 1 teaspoon onion powder ¼ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt Freshly ground pepper, to taste ½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 1½ cups diced white mushrooms ½ yellow onion, diced

Instructions Place cauliflower, milk, onion powder, salt and pepper in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to

low and simmer for 7-8 minutes, until cauliflower is softened. Then, puree using a food processor, immersion blender or blender. Meanwhile, add oil, mushrooms

and onion to a medium-sized saucepan. Heat over high heat until onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.

Add pureed cauliflower mixture to sauteed mushrooms. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until thickened. Serve immediately.

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The word top 5 as voted for by our readers

The Top 5 LEFT WING FILMS

The man behind this film, Ken Loach, was also the creative genius behind Kes and Cathy come home. Loach has recently been expelled from the Labour party for NOT disowning members on the left. The film itself is about the cruelty of the Tory system that is cutting social security payments.

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Other films voted for by our readers included: BILLY ELLIOT, KES, SPARTACUS, PRIDE, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, CHE, THE SPIRIT OF 45, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH, APOCOLYPSE NOW, LAND AND FREEDOM, 1900, ROBIN HOOD, AMISTAD, Z, NORMA RAE, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, THE LAST EMPEROR, DR STRANGELOVE, REDS, MATAWAN, THE PRESENT, IF, GERMINAL, FAME IS THE SPUR, VIVA ZAPATA, LES MISERABLES, OH LUCKY MAN,COMRADES, THE NATURE OF THE BEAST AND NO PASARAN.

BRASSED OFF A film about a brass band from a mining village. The soundtrack for the film was provided by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, and the plot is based on Grimethorpe's own struggles against pit closures.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT An American made anti-war film made from the perspective of ordinary German soldiers in WW1. It tells the story of recruits who learn the reality of war. At the end of the film only one of the group is left alive. The original 1930 film is far superior to the remake.

CRY FREEDOM

In 1968, the Ford auto factory in Dagenham was one of the largest single private employers in the United Kingdom. In addition to the thousands of male employees, there are also 187 underpaid women machinists who primarily assemble the car seat upholstery in poor working conditions. Dissatisfied, the women, represented by the shop steward and Rita O'Grady, work with union rep Albert Passingham for a better deal.

Cry Freedom is a 1987 epic drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid-era South Africa. The hero of the film, Steve Biko is a black freedom fighter who is murdered by the apartheid police.

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Mid August 2021

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ISRAEL CENSORS ART O n 2 July, the Whitworth Art Gallery opened an exhibition called CLOUD STUDIES by the research agency Forensic Architecture as part of the Manchester International Festival.

The exhibition brings together nine investigations into how states and corporations weaponize the air we breathe to suppress civilian protest and maintain and defend border regimes. These investigations took place in Chile, Indonesia, Louisiana, England, Beirut, and Palestine. The work in Palestine investigated human rights abuse, military action including the use of white phosphorus, and environmental destruction through herbicide by the Israeli state. This criticism of the Israeli state has made the work of Forensic Architecture a target for censorship by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) and affiliated proIsrael groups. The exhibition included a statement of support for Palestine authored and signed by the artists: After a campaign of

complaints spearheaded by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) accusing the exhibition of hatred and anti-Semitism, the University have instructed the Whitworth to remove the statement from the exhibition.

In capitulating to UKLFI’s malicious accusations, the University of Manchester have silenced artists and censored information about human rights abuse in Palestine. The claim that the exhibition is anti-Semitic is manipulative and dangerous.

UKLFI’s modus operandi is to shut down and silence debate on the impact of Israel’s military occupation of Palestine. They conflate criticism of Israeli institutions including the government and military with anti-Semitism in order to do so. As

an academic institution, the University of Manchester is a space for open expression and debate on complex issues and we demand that the statement of support is immediately put back on display and the exhibition reopened.

Bob Dylan sued for allegedly sexually abusing girl in 1965 A

merican s i n g e r songwriter Bob Dylan is being sued in a New York court by a woman who says he sexually abused her almost 60 years ago when she was 12. The lawsuit filed on Friday alleges that D y l a n abused t h e

plaintiff, referred to in court documents as JC, over a six-week period between April and May 1965. It says Dylan "exploited his status as a musician to provide JC with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times." The suit also accused Dylan, who turned 80 in May, of physically threatening the girl. The alleged abuse took place at the apartment Dylan owned in New York's famous Chelsea Hotel, according to the lawsuit. A spokesperson for Dylan, whose real name is Robert

Zimmerman, said "the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended." The accuser, who now lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, says Dylan caused her "severe psychological damage and emotional trauma." She is seeking unspecified damages. The lawsuit was filed a day before the window for filing claims under New York State's Child Victims Act closed. The act allowed victims of abuse to sue their alleged attackers irrespective of the age of the claims or whether the statute of limitations had passed.

Dylan is widely considered to be the greatest singer-songwriter of all time. His most notable works include "Blowin' In The Wind," "The Times They Are a-Changin'," and "Like A Rolling Stone." He burst onto the folk scene in New York in the early 1960s and has sold more than 125 million records around the world. In 2016, Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Last year he released his 39th studio album, "Rough and Rowdy Ways," 58 years after the release of his first.

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In the other Premier League matches

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FOOTBALL RE SU LTS

Week ending 15th August 2021 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Tuesday 10th August 2021 Third qualifying round Rangers 1-2 Malmo win 4-2 on aggregate

Malmo

UEFA SUPER CUP

EPL round-up Watford 3-2 Aston Villa Watford v Aston Villa may not have sounded like the 'choice' fixture prior to kick-off on opening weekend, but it was probably the most exciting match. After a year in the Championship, Watford made a winning start back in the Premier League as they got just the better of a five-goal thriller. Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaila Sarr had them 2-0 up at half-time and looking comfortable, and that was extended to 3-0 entering the last quarter as Herndandez Suarez produced a wonder-goal on his Premier League debut. But Aston Villa rallied bravely late on, firstly

with a great volley from John McGinn, and then deep in injury time, a penalty from new signing Danny Ings gave the Watford fans a few nervous moments. Everton 3-1 Southampton Everton, now managed by old rival, Rafael Benitez, recovered well after a poor first half to overturn a 1-0 deficit to Southampton at Goodison Park. Second half goals from Richarlison, Abdoulaye Doucourre, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin eventually secured a three-point start for the ex-Liverpool manager. It all looked quite different in the first half

though, with Michael Keane handing a chance to Saints debutant Adam Armstrong, which he frankly could not miss. Burnley 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton gave themselves exactly what they needed to start the season with a battling win at Burnley. They were down to a disputed goal by James Tarkowski just two minutes into the new season. But slowly Brighton ground the game around, and overturned the scoreline with two goals in four minutes, one from Neal Maupay, the second from substitute Alexis Mac Allister. Newcastle United 2-4 West Ham United The early game on Sunday saw a particularly impressive road-win for West Ham United at Newcastle United. Callum Wilson gave Newcastle a very promising start with a goal after just five minutes, but only fifteen minutes later, the Hammers were level through a mis-hit cross from Aaron Cresswell. Jacob Murphy restored the lead shortly before half-time, but the Hammers would not be denied as they dominated the second half. They pulled level again early after the break through a header by Said Benrahma, then took the lead for the first time when Tomas Soucek forced home the rebound from a saved penalty. They then put Newcastle away with a goal from Michail Antonia.

Wednesday 11th August 2021 Chelsea 1-1 (aet) Chelsea win 6-5 on penalties

Villarreal

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE: Thursday 12th August 2021 St. Johnstone 2-4 Galatasaray Galatasaray win 5-3 on aggregate Celtic 3-0 FK Jablonek Celtic win 7-2 on aggregate

UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE: Fola Esch 2-1 Linfield Fola Esch win 4-2 on aggregate Aberdeen 2-1 Breidablik Aberdeen win 5-3 on aggregate HNK Rijeka 4-1 Hibernian HNK win 5-2 on aggregate Teuta Durres 0-2 Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers win 3-0 on aggregate Larne 1-0 Pacos de Ferreira Pacos win 4-1 on aggregate Dundalk 1-2 Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse win 4-3 on aggregate

PREMIER LEAGUE: Friday 13th August 2021 Brentford 2-0 Saturday 14th August 2021 Manchester United 5-1 Burnley 1-2 Chelsea 3-0 Everton 3-1 Leicester City 1-0 Watford 3-2 Norwich City 0-3 Sunday 15th August 2021 Newcastle United 2-4 Tottenham Hotspur L-L

Arsenal Leeds United Brighton & Hove Crystal Palace Southampton Wolverhampton W. Aston Villa Liverpool West Ham United Manchester City

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Tottenham make point to Harry Kane, take three points from City

Son was clear l the best y player on the field

City were so lethargic at times, one was g iv wonder w en to h ether anyone h ad told th em that this w as not a pre-sea son friendly

TOTTENHAM 1-0 MAN. CITY Sunday 15th August, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Son 55

Spurs stun the Champions T

ottenham Hotspur produced a gritty, lively display against the backdrop of star striker Harry Kane's prospective move to Manchester City. In the process, they put an immediate dent into the title defence of a City team who looked confused and unsettled, as its other new recruit, Jack Grealish, struggled to adjust to his new squad. The biggest detail for Grealish in this match was picking up a late yellow card. Other than that, the game largely passed him by.

Kane sat out the match, yet again, but Spurs did not noticeably miss him, and indeed they arguably played better without him. Particularly so, Son Heung-Min, who was clearly determined to remind everyone that Kane is not Tottenham's only world class attacker. He scored the only goal ten minutes into the second half, a crafty low shot that rather sneaked its way past Ederson in the City goal. Son was also clearly the best player on the field, and it was only right that he had the decisive moment. City, over-complicating their attacks like Arsenal at their most infuriating, spent a lot of the afternoon running into cul-de-sacs. Out of possession, City were so lethargic at times, one was given to wonder

whether anyone had told them that this was not a pre-season friendly.

Spurs, competitive off-the-ball and vibrant on it, were particularly menacing on the break, and despite a nervous opening fifteen minutes, they were full value for the win. For Nuno Espirito Santo, in his first match in charge of Spurs, it could hardly have been a more satisfying start. He will be reassured that his team

can compete without Kane.

For Pep Guardiola, the City coach know he has no need to panic, especially with the fearsome array of talent he has in reserve. But he must have seen how Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United began their campaigns a day earlier, and known that his team can only afford so many slip-ups. By Martin Odoni

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NORWICH CITY SIMPLY OVERWHELMED BY REDS' PASSING AND PRESSING

LIVERPOOL IMPRESS AT CARROW ROAD

NORWICH CITY 0-3 LIVERPOOL Saturday 14th August, Carrow Road Jota 26 - Firmino 65 - Salah 74

Salah becam first-ever pla e the yer score in the to opening ma of five conse tches cu Premier Lea tive gue seasons

ven with their frail title defence last season, it is strange that Liverpool are being widely overlooked as a contender for the Championship. It is only a year since they lifted the trophy with the second-highest points total in the history of top flight English football. Given the astonishing injury problems they had last season, largely resolved now, and the sheer experience they have of how to maintain a consistent title challenge, Liverpool remain a major threat. They certainly made the point at Norwich. It was an emphatic reminder of how good Liverpool's defence is with Virgil van Dijk at its heart, but also of their talent up front. We have grown so used to seeing Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane play together for the last four years that we have almost stopped noticing how breathtaking they are in combination. And with Diogo Jota a high-scoring fill-in when one of them is rested, Liverpool still have as potent an attack as any in England.

Norwich, back after one year in the Championship, started strongly but never looked like they were particularly ruffling Liverpool's feathers. Liverpool have seen it all before now, and know how to manage an opponent that is in an energetic mood. Marshalling the early attacks, allowing barely a ghost of a chance, Liverpool soon got their own passing game into shape. Some fine moves into the Norwich box after the twenty minute mark warned of what was to come, and sure enough, Jota got on the end of a nice interchange between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah to put away Liverpool's opening goal of the season. From there, Liverpool dominated possession, while Norwich lost all their initial rhythm and stride. Kostas Tsimikas, filling in for the injured Andy Robertson, was impressive at left-back. In the second half, Liverpool nearly went two up when Max Aarons cleared off the line from Mane, but the second goal

followed soon anyway. The much-criticised Firmino came off the bench in place of Jota, and after just four minutes, slid home from the edge of the six-yard area from a smart ball across goal by, again, Salah. It was Liverpool's 8,000th goal in top flight football. Salah then made it 3-0 with a typical curling shot through a crowd from the edge of the Norwich area. Tim Krul will be unhappy with how easily it beat him, but the goal made history; Salah became the first-ever player to score in the opening matches of five consecutive Premier League seasons. (Good for a guy written off as a 'oneseason wonder' when he 'only' managed 27 goals in his second season with Liverpool, after scoring 44 in his first.) For Liverpool, an opening day win by three goals against Norwich City is familiar; it was how they started two seasons ago, and see where that led to.

Not outright favourites for the title, but on this evidence you write off Liverpool at your peril. By Martin Odoni

Write off Liverpool at your peril

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LIFE AFTER SANTO BEGINS FOR WOLVES, BUT IT'S LEICESTER CITY WHO WIN

WOLVES WITH WORRIES, LEICESTER LOOKING LITHE W

olves have had a couple of exciting years with a series of teams full of young talent recruited mainly from Portugal. This seam of talent was tapped by coach Nuno Espirito Santo, himself Portuguese, but his resignation at the end of last season has worrying implications for the club. The feeling is that the team will soon lose players to 'bigger' clubs, and without Santo, Wolves will no longer be able to tap that same seam for replacements nearly as effectively. To be fair, Wolves did not play all that badly in their first match under new c o a c h , Bruno Lage, against the FA Cup holders. It was away at one of the strongest and most consistent teams in the country over the last three or four years, after all, and only losing 1-0 is hardly a reason for shame. Indeed, with more clinical precision in front of goal, they might have stolen a point. Shortly before conceding the only goal, Wolves had a glorious chance when Adama Traore broke into the Leicester penalty area but then scuffed his shot wide. Conor Coady had a second half goal (correctly) disallowed for offside, and several timely blocks by City defenders were just enough to preserve Kasper Schmeichel's clean sheet.

LEICESTER CITY 1-0 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS Saturday 14th August, King Power Stadium Vardy 41

Wolves did not pl all that ba ay d in their ly first matc h

But the key moment, a l m o s t i n e v i t a b l y, came from the evergreen Jamie Vardy. The former England striker is now 34, and Leicester as a team are almost dangerously dependent on the pace in his ageing legs, and his ruthless finishing. But he keeps on delivering, so who can blame Leicester for depending on him?

shoulders above everyone else on the pitch throughout, and has now scored on the opening day of seven different Premier League seasons – only the sixth player to accomplish that in the era of the Premier League. He had seen another goal disallowed earlier in the game, but as is always the case with Vardy, that just seemed to increase his determination.

Vardy's goal, just moments after Traore's miss, was a characteristic angled header from a text-book Ricardo Pereira cross from the right. Vardy looked head-and-

Given the likely weakness of Wolves this season, Leicester may feel they made heavy weather of beating them. But beat them they have, and they look likely to have a big say in the fight for European places once again. As for Wolves, not the result they wanted, but signs of promise that the departure of Santo may not be t h e

beginning of the end. By Martin Odoni

Leicester may feel made heathey weather ovy beating f “Wolves”

LIVERPOOL FANS SLAMMED FOR 'RENT BOY' CHANT

illy Gilmour, the Norwich City midfielder on loan from Chelsea, was targeted by Liverpool fans during their opening day match with chants calling him, “Rent boy!” This has been a common chant aimed at Chelsea players by rival fans in recent years.

would be something innately wrong with him as a result. In other words, it is patently homophobic.

Gilmour is not actually gay, to the best of public knowledge, but the chant clearly implies not only that he is, but that there

Liverpool's LGBT+ fan group, Kop Outs, had drawn attention to the chant earlier in the evening.

Liverpool Football Club have condemned the chant on Twitter as, “offensive and inappropriate,” and contrary to, “the inclusive values of the club.”

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Crystal Palace are simply outclassed at Stamford Bridge

CHELSEA 3-0 CRYSTAL PALACE

Saturday 14th August, Stamford Bridge Alonso 27 - Pulisic 40 Chalobah 58

The 3-0 margin of victory di d do justice not “Chelsea' to s dominanc ” e

Chelsea confirm status

among EPL favourites C

helsea have left no one in any doubt that they have completely moved on from their transfer ban of a couple of years ago. The European Champions opened the 2021/22 Premier League programme in some style, and really the 3-0 margin of victory did not do justice to their dominance over Crystal Palace.

To be fair to Palace, any team would have trouble living with Chelsea in this mood. The blue shirts were hungrier without the ball, more decisive with it, and had a real, measured look of authority, even though their lineup was missing six likely starters in Thiago Silva, Romelu Lukaku, N'Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, and K'ai Havertz

If the London derby the previous night at Brentford somehow went against expectations, this one was routine, and one-way traffic. Palace, under new coach Patrick Vieira, have a lot of work to do if their stay in the Premier League since 2013 is not to end this season. They looked decidedly limp and unenthusiastic in the tackle, leaden-footed off the ball, and error-prone in possession.

It did take Chelsea a while to break Palace down, it must be said, but it never seemed in doubt they would. The goal when it came was well worth the 27 minutes, a sumptuous 22-yard free kick Marcos Alonso curled straight into the net. Not long before half-time, Christian Pulisic put a more representative shade on the scoreboard with a thunderbolt

finish off the underside of the crossbar. Palace did not help themselves in their attempts to defend, as keeper Vicente Guaita made a hash of fielding a cross from Mason Mount, spilling the ball straight to Pulisic's feet. The scoring was completed, as it turned out, early in the second half, when debutant Chelsea youth team graduate, Trevoh Chalobah, struck a fine shot from distance that beat Guaita and cannoned in off the post. Chelsea have shown from match one that they are among the title favourites for very good reason. Thomas Tuchel seems to have the Midas Touch with all the major decisions he makes, and he has already made enough of them to form a squad that will challenge for top honours.

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Manchester United win the EPL 'Roses match' win real style

Leeds taught lesson by old foes Fernande s n

abbe his first-ed Premier L ver ea hat-trick gue

he rough equivalent of cricket's 'Roses Match' went most decidedly in favour of Historic Lancashire, as Manchester United, after a mixed first half-hour, gave notice that they may have this season's most explosive Premier League attack. Bruno Fernandes, as usual, was at the heart of most that was good about Manchester United. His partnership with Paul Pogba remains more unpredictable than consistent, but when on song, it is as hard to combat as any in Europe. Fernandes nabbed his first-ever Premier League hat-trick – only the second player after Anthony Martial to do so for the club since Robin van Persie in 2013 – while Pogba was credited with four assists for his afternoon's work. The opener on the half-hour came from a bouncing through-ball from Pogba that Fernandes did well to control before rather bundling it past Illan Meslier between the Leeds posts. It was the only goal of an interesting if not exactly potent first half, but the Mancunian lead was deserved. Leeds have not won at Old Trafford in forty years, and there was little to suggest they would improve on that record before half-time. Even so, they started the second half much more promisingly, and equalised with a laser-bolt long-range strike from Luke Ayling. If Leeds fans hoped that this would set up a creditable result, they were to be disappointed, as it instead motivated Manchester United to seize the match. Just three minutes

later, Mason Greenwood finished with a touch of panache to restore the lead, before goal-line technology confirmed just two minutes on that another Fernandes shot had crossed the line. Both goals set up by Pogba. A long ball downfield by Victor Lindelof was allowed to reach Fernandes to smash home a somewhat agricultural fourth, to complete the hat-trick, and with a quarter of the match still remaining, Fred bagged a fifth, also set up by Pogba, who early in the game had missed an absolute sitter, and might have wondered at that point if he was

MAN. UNITED 5-1 LEEDS UNITED Saturday 14th August, Old Trafford Fernandes 30, 54, 60 – Greenwood 52 – Fred 68. v Ayling 49

about to have another of 'those' days. It was four goals in a frenetically impressive 14 minutes. From there, Manchester United almost seemed to tire of the joy of goalscoring, and largely played out time. The closing stages were notable for £74 million new signing Jadon Sancho getting a run-out from the substitutes bench. An emphatic win on opening weekend for Manchester United, and some sour-tasting food-for-thought for a helpless-looking Leeds United. By Martin Odoni

Trouble in Manchester ahead of Leeds match

here were some ugly scenes in Manchester city centre on Saturday ahead of the latest showdown between old enemies Manchester United and Leeds United. Videos shared on social media featured a running battle between small pockets of football fans down the arterial road of Deansgate, with both objects and punches being thrown. Greater Manchester Police made six arrests, five for public disorder offences, one for a drugs-related offence. Chief Superintendent Stuart Ellison, Greater Manchester's 'Gold Commander' for the public order operation, said: "Despite isolated incidents of disorder in the city centre prior to kick-off, today's events at Old Trafford largely passed without police incident and I would like to thank the majority of the

public for their throughout the day.

cooperation

public going about their weekend activity.”

"There were many challenges around today's operation, and our officers were working extended hours to help ensure that events passed safely and without significant disruption for the wider

Although on a smaller scale, the scenes were somewhat reminiscent of the crowds trying to force their way into Wembley Stadium for the European Championship Final last month. It continues the somewhat

ugly behaviour by a minority at big public events across the UK over the summer, starting with misbehaviour by Rangers fans celebrating their Scottish Championship victory in Glasgow in May. By Martin Odoni

Brentford inspired as Arsenal get away to a 'Friday the 13th' start

Brentford make history on EPL debut

Arsenal were thorough ly toothless in attack

BRENTFORD 2-0 ARSENAL

Friday 13th August, Brentford Community Stadium Canos 22 – Norgaard 74

ometimes there are upsets in football that you really cannot call 'shocks'. In recent years, a frequent example of this has been 'smaller' clubs beating Arsenal.to opposing racism. Not taking anything away from Brentford, playing their first ever Premier League match against arguably their most glamorous neighbours. They produced a very fine, energetic, vibrant and smooth performance to have the rest of the League sit up and take note. But the one reservation about the evening for them was that Arsenal really did not make it difficult for them. Brentford raced out of the blocks and pressurised Arsenal from the start, and competed with considerably more hunger than their storied opponents. This was quickly becoming a familiar story, given Arsenal's reputation over the last ten years of being a bit of a 'soft touch'. And so, while it should have startled everyone, it came as no actual surprise when Brentford took the lead on 22 minutes through a rapier-like drive by Sergi

Canos that – cardinal sin - beat Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno at his near post. Arsenal protested that the ball had gone out of play a few seconds earlier, but the referee had no sympathy. Brentford had not played a match in any incarnation of the top flight since 1947-48, but were in such cool-headed control, they looked like veterans at3 this level. Shorn of the ageing PierreEmerick Aubameyang, and the lively but inconsistent Alexandre Lacazette, from their line-up, Arsenal were thoroughly toothless in attack. But their real problem all evening was their inability to control midfield, where they frequently found themselves swarmed by red-and-whitestriped shirts. They seemed too nervous to risk playing long to bypass the Brentford press, and so kept to their short passing game, which meant they had a lot of possession, but kept running down blind alleys. Arsenal had over 20 shots, but only 4 were on target and only one really felt like it had any menace. It c a m e

from the one bright light for them, promising youngster Emile SmithRowe, who forced a fine save from David Raya. But Brentford were ready to land a sucker-puncher that, again, seemed eminently predictable. Christian Norgaard made the £50 million Arsenal had paid for defender Ben White look profligate, heading home from a long throw that White had somehow allowed to travel. Nicholas Pepe forced another useful save from Raya near the end. But overall, there was no conviction in an Arsenal horror display that seemed entirely appropriate on Friday the 13th. The season thus opens with what should go down as a major surprise, and yet which is not. By Martin Odoni

Brentford raced out of the blocks an d pressurise d Arsenal fr om the start