Visit People's Museum and Newham Gallery during London 2012

Peeping out of the upstairs windows are former local MPs Keir Hardie and Susan Lawerence. Welcome to the People's Museum and Newham Gallery, 306 High Street, Stratford, E15 1AJ. I stopped by on my way home from work on Thursday to visit.

The Museum is only about 5-10 minutes walk from Stratford station and the Olympic Park. It opened last month and during Games is usually open 11-5pm Monday to Saturday. It closes 22 October 2012.

Inside are various displays and multi-media exhibitions. There are a number of special events taking place including a talk on the 8th August 6.30pm by documentary photography Mike Steel; on 13th August 2pm long term East End Resident Ted Lewis on local history and 20th August 4pm Geoff Bell about the history of protest in Newham. There is lots of other things going on as well.

I'll post on Facebook some pictures I took inside later. The museum is actually the home of West Ham Labour Party.

Directly opposite the museum on the other side of the road is a modern day Newham protest. A Tamil Hunger Striker, Gobi Sivanthan and his supporters, who want an international investigation into the Sri Lankan War.

Keir Hardie 120th Anniversary: Scottish Parliament & Newham Council

The motion below was tabled in the Scottish Parliament last week. Hat tip Dave Watson. Below that is the statement that Newham Mayor Robin Wales gave to the Full Council meeting on 2 July

"Keir Hardie Anniversary

Neil Findlay (Scottish Labour): That the Parliament notes that 4 July 2012 was the 120th anniversary of the election in which Keir Hardie became the Member of Parliament for West Ham South; remembers how Keir Hardie represented miners across Scotland as a trade union official and went on to represent constituents in West Ham South in England and Merthyr Tydfil in Wales as an MP; understands that Hardie used his time in Parliament to fight for a number of issues and greater rights for the working classes; notes that Hardie was a strong proponent for votes for women, which was achieved 13 years after his death; recognises his support for home rule for Scotland and considers that it was delivered by a Labour government, a government of the party that he founded; commends the Keir Hardie Society for its work in promoting the life and work of Keir Hardie, and looks forward to the 2020 celebrations marking the 120th anniversary of Keir Hardie’s election as MP for Merthyr Tydfil".

Newham Council (formerly East and West Ham Borough) - Keir Hardie

"The Mayor informed that 2012 marks 120 years since Keir Hardie was elected to Parliament in the (then) West Ham South seat. Born in 1856, Keir Hardie was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament and a pioneer and founder for what would later become the Labour Party.

Keir Hardie was the first truly working class representative in Parliament. He drew on his own experiences and hardships that he faced growing up in Scotland, where he first started work at the age of 7 in Shipbuilding in Glasgow, before at the age of 10 becoming a miner. He went on to become a trade union activist and leader. As secretary of the Ayrshire Miners Union, he lead some of the first organised campaigns for decent wages and living standards. His contribution as one of the first leaders of the Labour Party cannot be underestimated, in particular in helping to establish it's founding principles and becoming the party which fought for the rights of the working class.

Hardie won the West Ham South seat in 1892, winning by over 5,000 votes. He stood for free schooling, pensions, women's rights and the abolition of the House of Lords… Proof that sometimes over a century isn’t a long time in politics!

The Mayor stated that Newham Council would honour this great man this year with an exhibition at the Old Town Hall, Stratford, and that more details would be publicised in due course".

Picture on right is of the bust of Keir Hardie inside Stratford Town Hall taken during the 4 July West Ham Labour Party and Newham TULO commemoration tour.

Keir Hardie: First Labour MP 120th Anniversary Event

Last Wednesday 4th July was the 120th anniversary of the election of Keir Hardie as the first Labour MP.

He was elected as MP for West Ham South in the 1892 General Election.

The modern day West Ham Consistency Labour Party and Newham TULO organised a commemorative tour to mark the occasion. 25 people from Newham and East London turned up.

We started with a tour of the Old Town Hall in Stratford where the election count took place in 1892 and where Keir was announced the winner. We went onto the balcony overlooking the High Street where Keir made his acceptance speech in front of 15-20,000 people. Keir then led a march back through the borough to Canning Town.

We also went into the Bell Tower of the Town Hall and the basement Police cells. There use to be a Magistrate court next door. (Off message - but tradition states that these were the very cells that Mick Jagger and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones rock group were held in the 1960's for minor public order offences).

We underestimated how long it would take to complete the tour of the Town Hall so we didn't manage to visit the other sites which included historic locations of the radical and suffragette clubs from Hardie's time. 

We stopped off at the Martyrs Memorial in the Church yard of St John.  Which is not about Hardie but is a symbol remembering religious persecution and bigotry down the ages. We finished up outside the famous Theatre Royal built in 1882. Then in the bar for a quick drink followed by a curry in West Ham Lane.

Following the success of this event we are aiming to carry out further Labour movement tours in the future. Details to follow.

Picture outside the Old Town Hall by Dan McCurry. I'll post more pictures of Facebook. Finally, many, many thanks to the Old Town Hall staff for the tour and their enthusiasm: Update see tour photo's here

4th July? Keir Hardie Day!

"Today, Wednesday 4th July, it is not just the anniversary of the only successful British Revolution (American Declaration of Independence), it is also the 120th anniversary of the election of Keir Hardie, the first ever Independent Labour MP, for West Ham South on this day in 1892.

To mark the anniversary, members of the modern day West Ham Labour Party and Newham TULO are organising a walking commemoration tour around Stratford town centre (Newham - Home of London Olympics 2012).

We will meet 7pm outside the Old Town Hall in the Broadway, Stratford, E15, which was where the 1892 election count took place. It was from its open balcony, overlooking the High Street, that the result was read out to cheering crowds and Hardie made his first speech as a Labour Member of Parliament.

It is hoped that everyone in Newham, regardless of their political affiliations, will join us in celebrating the achievement of an ordinary, decent working man - born into abject poverty - who was still able to be elected as the first genuine independent working class MP. He is an example to us all".

Press release from West Ham CLP. (I was reminded last night at my School Governors meeting that this is also the 120th anniversary of the first ever Black UK MP Dadabhai Naoroji)

Newham Annual Council Meeting 2012

Last night (Thursday 17 May) was the London Borough of Newham Annual Council meeting. It was held in our historic Stratford Town Hall.

It opened with live classical music from some of the 7000 Newham Primary school pupils who had benefited from the Council's "Every Child a Musician" programme" followed by the formal Council business.

This included a motion to better regulate the blight of Betting Shops (bookies) on our High Streets moved by Cllr Neil Wilson (and seconded by myself). Then speeches by Sir Robin Wales, our Executive Mayor, honouring Cllr Alec Kellaway (the Chair of our Pensions Committee) for his 25 years of service and Cllr Conor MacAuley for his 30 years!

The Newham Young Mayor and the (Old) Mayor Sir Robin Wales both gave speeches. Robin reminded us there was only 71 days before the start of the London Olympics and how the eyes of the world will be on Newham. 

I was really pleased that the meeting also honoured all those Newham Residents who had been nominated for Inspiring Peoples Awards.  Kim Stevens, who is one of the tireless volunteers who runs the Vicarage Lane Community centre in West Ham ward (see Kim in collage bottom right) was so nominated and she had been honoured with tickets to the Olympics 100m Sprint Mens final! Well done Kim and well deserved for all your hard work to the local community.

Of course Keir Hardie (bottom left) the first ever Labour MP elected in this same Town Hall for West Ham South on the 4th July 1892 as ever kept a careful eye on events.

Why the 4th July is special to the Labour Movement

Trying to find a training room at the UNISON Centre recently I came across a historical display on the 3rd floor. In a cabinet there is this flyer celebrating the the election on Monday 4 July 1892 of Keir Hardie for South West Ham as the first Independent Labour MP. 

Click on picture to bring up details.

West Ham Labour Party is planning to mark the event (see post)

I didn't realise that a performance called "A Better Day" about this event had been performed in the local Stratford Theatre Royal to mark the NALGO (one of the unions that joined to form UNISON) Presidency of Rita Donaghy in 1989/90.

When it is finalised on how we will be marking the event I will post further.

Happy Birthday to Labour

Happy 112^th Birthday to the Labour Party founded to elect Parliamentary Candidates on 27 February 1900 at Caroone House, 8 Farringdon Street, London.

“After a debate, the 129 delegates passed Hardie's motion to establish "a distinct Labour group in Parliament, who shall have their own whips, and agree upon their policy, which must embrace a readiness to cooperate with any party which for the time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interests of labour." This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and represent the working-class population.”

Aylesbury Labour celebrating the NHS's 63rd Birthday at the world famous Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Britain spends half per capita than the USA on Healthcare with better health outcomes thanks to the NHS.

The driving force in bringing existing left wing and Trade Union groups together was Keir Hardie, the founder of the Labour Party. Born into poverty despite his father being a hard working carpenter, sacked from his job as a 10 year old for being late while looking after his dying brother and trapped in a mine accident whilst still in his teens. Hardie was a Union and Temperance organiser and lifelong pacifist. We know where our values come from.

In the October 1900 "Khaki election" which  came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful; Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby.

“The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.”


As a Labour activist I am proud that Labour is still a progressive force which has shaped the UK political landscape. Where would people in this country be without Labour, its achievements for ordinary working people and the balance it gives. You can criticise (and there is much material) but there is no realistic alternative to electing an alternative to the ConDems than Labour - everything else is purist wishful thinking. There are still many Labour members with fire in their belly to change society for the better - we can only make decisions about the future. 

www.labour.org.uk

Old Town Hall Stratford Christmas Lights Carols

Last night I went to a Christmas Carol concert inside the historic Old Town Hall in Stratford.  There was a choir from Carpenters Primary School who sang a lovely mixture of traditional and modern carols.  Including (I think) Gloria in excelsis Deo in Latin.

This was in front of the Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, Councillors, Council officers, teachers and parents.

Afterwards the Old Town Hall Christmas lights were switched on and there was a reception for the Children and their parents.

Everyone was pleased when Robin asked the Children how many were learning to play instruments at the School.  Nearly all of them put their hand up. The "Every Child a Musican" programme is now
bring run in 61 Newham Schools.

Keeping a beady eye on the performance in the left hand corner of the hall was this bust of the first ever Labour MP Keir Hardie.  I think he would have been pleased as well.