, Daniel Blake's first showing
in Britain was as part of the World Transformed organised by Momentum, on the same day as Jeremy Corbyn's momentous second victory in the labour leadership contest. I can't think of a more fitting way to remind people still glowing from that success of why the unstinting fight against austerity Britain is more essential than ever. And it was trailed at Labour conference by shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions, Debbie Abrahams, before she pledged to abolish the Work Capability Assessment in a graphic illustration of how Labour under Corbyn
37 *Reviews vast majority of the population.
I knew I would be biased when I first heard that this was set in Newcastle - the place of my birth in the 1950, when long term unemployment and poverty already cut deep scars into the consciousness of working class communities which felt even then like we had been left behind by history. In that sense, it was an accident of birth that gave me a 'socialism of the heart' (to misquote Billy Bragg). The accents (and yes there are a range determined by precise geography but also class) of the wind and sea-swept North East make my spine tingle, while the glimpses of familiar scenery give me pause to remember my own engagement with
But the infrastructure of the film -the powerful human connections so magnificently made manifest through Lavery's beautiful script, the wonderful camera work of Loach and of course the illuminating insights of
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1, DANEL BLAKE 38 This film is special in showing those moments between people who have a lot to separate them - age, gender, race and place of birth but who share love and solidarity the actors, could have been in any working class community not only in Britain but across the world.
The way that people who have nothing so often reach out to each other across their pain, breaking through their sense of isolation with the smiles and laughter of companionship is made real on the screen, is what gives it is power and its universal appeal. This film is special in showing those moments between people who have a lot to separate them - age, gender, race and place of birth but who share love and solidarity.
I think my favourite moments were between Daniel, who I suppose is a pushing 60 year old male Geordie and Daisy who is maybe 9, mixed race and been in the North East for a few days when they first connected, when he made a mobile for her new but threadbare room. What a smile. But her insight and persistence a few weeks later when, austerity had driven the cold steel of division between her Mum Katie and Daniel still has a sob catching in my throat when I think about it days later. I'm not going to say any more about what happens because everyone should watch it for themselves.
And don't let me paint only part of the story. I can't imagine anyone reading this review who won't rage when they see I Daniel Blake, who won't be motivated to be more vigorous in insisting that the world of benefit sanctions kills people. Toby Young and lan Duncan Smith and their like may mock and dismiss, but those whose own resilience grows while being battered by austerity have a different response. The long queue going into the food bank serves to remind us of the myriad different lives that Loach and Lavery could have followed instead -all so similar, all completely different.
So yes I struggled to hold back my tears, I went through moments of feeling it was too much to bear because the stories we were watching unfold were so close to those of people I know, people I care about in the real world. I also laughed and smiled -and I can't wait for the opportunity to see it again
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October 1917
workers in power OCTOBER 1917 - WORKERS IN POWER Authors: Paul Le Blanc, Ernest Mandel, David Mandel, François Vercammen, and texts by Luxemburg, Lenin, and Trotsky. Price £13.95 Making sense of October 1917: Le Blanc, The stages of the 1917 Revolution : Vercammen, October 1917: coup d'état or social revolution: Ernest Mandel, Economic power and factory committees in the Russian Revolution: David Mandel, The legitimacy of the October Revolution: David Mandel, The Old Mole: Luxemburg, To the population: Lenin, Letter to American Workers: Lenin, In defence of October: Trotsky "October 1917: Workers in Power" provides a stimulating starting-point for centennial reassessment of the Russian revolution. Paul Le Blanc provides a sparkling and authoritative survey of major historical studies; David Mandel expertly analyses workers' control in the Russian upheaval. Classic assessments of the October upheaval by Lenin, Luxemburg, Trotsky and more recently, Ernest Mandel rounds out this important addition to socialist literature on 1917. - John Riddell This collection, containing both texts by participants and retrospective historical analyses, defends the achievements of the Revolution while honestly recognizing its limitations, and will stimulate informed discussion. - Ian Birchall www.resistancebooks.org
FAI RIGIT EUROPE THE FAR RIGHT IN EUROPE Authors include Michael Löwy, Phil Hearse, Adam Fabry and Manuel Kellner. Edited by Fred Leplat. Price £12.00/ Nearly 70 years after the fall of the Nazi regime, the far right and even fascism are again a significant threat in Europe. In the May 2014 European Parliament elections, organisations with a range of fascist, racist and anti-migrant ideologies won significant votes in a number of European countries. The National Front topped the poll in France and explicitly Nazi parties won seats in countries like Germany and Greece. This book is a survey of the far right in seven countries of Europe with different political histories: Britain, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. The survey, by activists and researchers from those countries, reveals a disturbing picture of far-right parties, some with a mass base, which have been able to drag the mainstream political parties to the right. This book is intended to be a contribution to understanding the nature of these far-right parties and to develop strategies for the left to confront this threat
BANKOCRACY BANKOCRACY By Eric Toussain £15 Governments of industrialised countries have dramatically increased public debt to bail out private banks after the financial meltdown. Paying debts and reducing fiscal deficits have become the perfect pretexts to enforce austerity measures. This book explores how the crisis developed; the consequences of bank deregulation, the logic behind the response of private banks and the crimes they perpetuate daily with the collusion of governments and central banks. The central theme of this highly informative, lucid, and very careful study is the current financial crisis, which elites present "as the motive justifying the biggest offensive since the Second World War against the economic and social rights of the people of Europe," and of the US as well..... Valuable and impressive. - Noam Chomsky Eric Toussaint provides a comprehensive analysis of the deregulation of the banking system and finance before and after the Great Recession, and of the effects of the "Bankocracy" on the lives of people. He skilfully presents the complex mechanisms and instruments the financial sector has developed. He does so in a language which is accessible to anyone interested in understanding the cur rent crisis and the role of the financial industry. - Özlem Onaran, Professor a the University of Greenwich http://resistancebooks.org
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JONS *An exhibition commemorating the Grunwick strike 1976-78
O We are the
JuL Belt ind LOTTERY FUNDED BRENT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES, THE LIBRARY AT WILLESEN GREEN, 95 HIGH ROAD, LONDON NW10 2SF 19 OCTOBER 2016 - 26 MARCH 2017
Brent Museum & Archives