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Reinventing Socialism
Spokesman 109
This number of The Spokesman is very much as Ken Coates shaped it. He had completed his editorial, where we found our title. There were some loose ends to tie up, and we had agreed to do that after the weekend. Then came the news of his sudden death, on Sunday 27th June. Our work was put on hold, at least for a short while, whilst tributes poured in. We have chosen a selection from these to complete the contents of this issue.
Forty years earlier, in 1970, writing the Editorial Notes for the very first issue of
The Spokesman, Ken had remarked Russell's own anticipation of the new journal during what proved to be the last week of his own life: 'He had wanted the journal desperately in order to be able, the better, to organise support in all the various battles in which he was engaged'. As Ken then said of Russell, so we may now also say of him, The Spokesman is dedicated to carrying on that work.
Tony Simpson
Ken Coates - Editorial: Reinventing Socialism
Ken Coates - A Tribute
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 Up and Down StreamHarry Gosling was born in 1861. He left school at thirteen and was soon apprenticed as a lighterman on the River Thames. The great dock strike of 1889 engendered a rash of new unionism, and much activity within the old unions. By 1893, Gosling had been elected General Secretary of his Union, a full-time post. He was also extremely active in local government, becoming a member of the London County Council in 1904.
It was in July 1910 that Ben Tillett, the leader of the Dockers' Union, convened a meeting of waterside unions to discuss the formation of the National Transport Workers' Federation. Harry Gosling was elected President. Ernest Bevin was soon elected to the Executive, after which he and Gosling worked very closely together. Eventually, the Transport and General Workers' Union was formed out of the multiplicity of unions constituting the Federation, and Gosling was its founding President.
After several attempts to win election to Parliament, Gosling was finally victorious in a by-election in 1923, at Whitechapel. The following year the first Labour Government was formed and MacDonald appointed Gosling as Minister of Transport. He died while still a Member of Parliament, in 1930. All these adventures and insights, recounted in his own words in his autobiography, which has long been out of print, will resonate with new generations.
You can buy this title from our new Trade Union Classics section.
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August 2010
Energetic and Fascinating Revival - Oi for England,
Not Too Tame Theatre Company with RWCMD, Venue 13, Edinburgh Fringe,
until August 29, 2010
Vanunu update - Campaign for a Nuclear Free Middle East
May 2010
Two reviews of The Wages of Thin - On at the
Old Red Lion Theatre until 15th May.
April 2010
A Special Relationship ... with Truth? - The Spokesman issue 108
New book challenges privatization claims - A review of Global Auction of Public Assets in CUPE, March 2010
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 About Us We publish in many areas including politics, peace and disarmament, history, drama and philosophy. Use the navigation bar on the left hand side of the screen to explore our site. The links will take you to our authors who include Bertrand Russell, Kurt Vonnegut, Noam Chomsky, Ken Coates, John le Carré, Naomi Klein, Tony Benn and Trevor Griffiths.
Our quarterly journal, The Spokesman - Responsibility to Protest: After Lockerbie considers the Lockerbie trial.
Noam Chomsky says "... it's really first rate."
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