This moment has been coming for a long time.In the early twentieth century, British politics grew up from being a battle between “liberal” and “conservative” wings of the ruling class and became, by the mid-twentieth century about the conflict between representatives of the working class and of the…Read more…

Continuing the theme of sharing with you, poor reader, the meanderings of my muddled mind arising from three days in the recent hearing before the Assistant Certification Officer (without touching upon the matters in the case itself) I have been asking…Read more…

Now that the hearing of evidence in front of the Assistant Certification Officer is over and the complainants and the Union are waiting for Wednesday 22 February when we shall reconvene to make our closing arguments in relation to the complaints concerning last year’s election for General Secretary…Read more…

Three days of hearing evidence before the Assistant Certification Officer in central London are over – but we are now looking for dates in February for the parties to make their closing submissions.
It will be some time after that before we know the ou…Read more…

Your blogger, as someone who was a student of local government even before I was an employee, can do no better than recommend this free essay in the London Review of Books on “the Strange Death of Municipal England”. Seriously, go and read that now. Even if you don’t come back here.Before starting…Read more…

I have kept to the promise I made not to provide a running commentary on preparations for next week’s hearing in front of the (Assistant) Certification Officer of complaints made in connection with the election for UNISON General Secretary last year. Being in possession of some three thousand pages…Read more…

A spectre is haunting a large building on the Euston Road.Well, given the season, three spectres maybe. Each, in turn, is troubling the slumber of those who sleep there.First, there is the ghost of elections past, a spectre who reminds the sleeping sou…Read more…

The small crowd outside the Supreme Court this lunchtime included a small number of knuckle-dragging fascists, some adherents of the little-known school of thought which holds that Boris Johnson was sent to us by Christ (one of whom was dressed, inexpl…Read more…

Some friends have asked me, knowing that I am subject to obviously unjustified disciplinary action by my own trade union in retaliation for my having made a legitimate complaint to the Certification Officer concerning proven malpracticein a recent inte…Read more…

There are some funny people in the labour movement.
But not all are amusing.
One weird bunch who were in favour of voting alongside UKIP in June’s referendum (and are now celebrating the victory of reaction and demanding action) have had some influence in UNISON’s Greater London Regional Office in…Read more…

Regular readers of this blog (Sid and Doris Blogger) will be glad to get back to the niche concerns which normally catch the attention of your blogger.
So here is the news that the Certification Officer has ordered the rerun of the General Secretary election!
In the case of URTU – the United Road…Read more…

When, two days ago, I wrote for the first time from “Weimar Little England” I did not realise that I was being anachronistic because we had already opened hostilities with the Poles. The random deportations of European migrants for allegedly sleeping rough joins the recent mass deportation to…Read more…

Yesterday, whilst I was mostly thinking parochially, the rest of the world was marking the passing of Fidel Castro.
It is no surprise that the Western mediawould generally focus on denigrating a great revolutionary, nor that they would focus upon the m…Read more…

I spent some time yesterday arguing with two old friends who will not I hope be offended if I say we disagreed because I felt they were in denial about aspects of the current political situation whereas they felt that I (and a like-minded comrade) were…Read more…

I can’t quite believe the content of an email which I have just received from our General Secretary at just after 5pm this afternoon;
“Dear All,It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the sudden and tragic death of our friend and president, Eric Roberts.Eric passed away earlier this…Read more…

As far as I can recollect, no one has ever asked me to blog about the history of hearings in front of the Certification Officer involving UNISON.
But I knew you wanted me to anyway.
So as I get time I’ll remind you of some aspects of the past of our trade union which are all too easily…Read more…

Having told my branch that I won’t be seeking re-election as Branch Secretary in January, with a view to having a bit more of a life, I realise that tomorrow morning I will attend my last meeting of UNISON’s Regional Local Government Committee after more than twenty years.
More than nineteen years…Read more…

I have supported the Shadow Chancellor as a comrade for many years, but I could not disagree more with his risible claim that Labour should be more positive about “Brexit.”Positive about the threat of deporation hanging over the head of millions of fellow workers?Positive about the threat to our…Read more…

It was good to catch up with old friends and colleagues today at the UNISON Centre (a.k.a. “the Great White Elephant of the Euston Road”) for a meeting of the Development and Organisation (D&O) Committee of the UNISON National Executive Council (NEC). It’s always good to catch up, and to see…Read more…

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-deport-immigrants-immediately-when-mexico-wall-a7415116.html
In post-truth politics it is the rhetoric that is the reality.
Donald Trump says he will “immediately” deport two to three million people…Read more…