Taking Out The Trash

Seeking info on Caprim

If anyone has any info on Caprim Ltd; set up by some ex Economic League people after that organisation folded and based in the West Midlands, I'd be interested....

The Daily Show on MPs' expenses

I know I'm about a week late on this but I've been schlepping up and down the M6. So, for those who haven't seen it, John Stewart's very funny take on the MPs' expenses scandal.

This is what a blacklist database looks like

This is a picture of (half of ) Ian Kerr's blacklist database. If you are at all familar with how police local intelligence files are organised then apparently this set up should look pretty similar. Below is what a page from a blacklist file looks like.

Movie inspiration 2: the sequel

So I posted recently about films for aspiring local councillors. As the prospective councillor for Box & Colerne the DVD cupboard is a little bare if I'm looking for inspiration. As a hack I’m spoilt for choice. As a trade union member it gets a lot more interesting.

It isn’t just that there are more films than you think which feature union issues and people in a positive way. It is also that there are some great films which have harsh things to say about organised labour – but they are such great films you’ve got to watch them.

On The Waterfront is stunning. The acting, of course, but the cinematography in particular. It’s also one long apology for stool pigeons. After all, that is what director Elia Kazan, screenwriter Budd Schulberg and actor Lee J Cobb were, having given evidence to HUAC.

Similarly Blue Collar is a brilliant depiction of working in a car plant. The union there is run by the mob.

Movies such as Matewan are specifically about union issues and while this John Sayles film is very good it’s a little polemical. You kind of feel it’s being put on for your education more than your entertainment. On this side of the Atlantic, Comrades, directed by Bill Douglas about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, is very good. Ken Loach's best work looking at union issues has been on television with programmes such as The Big Flame, Days of Hope, The Rank and File and The Price of Coal.

But I really like Wall Street. Everybody remembers Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko with his ‘greed is good’ mantra. However there are two people tussling for the soul of share dealer Bud, played by Charlie Sheen. Apart from Gekko there is his (literally) old man, Martin Sheen. He is a union official at an aircraft manufacturing firm. Sheen Snr’s job isn’t laid on thick. Being a union member is as natural as breathing. Really he’s just trying to look out for his boy who wants to fly too close to the sun. That’s an ancient story.

If you want a bit more on this then check out Roger Darlington’s top 20 trade union films or read Tony Zaniello's book Working Stiffs. Below is a little gem from Youtube about Comrades.

Kerr pleads guilty to running blacklist database

A man has pleaded guilty to running a covert database containing personal information used to blacklist more than 3,000 construction workers...full story here at Computer Weekly and a follow-up item for the same magazine by me here.

Good background on Kerr dug up by The Guardian, including Kerr's Economic Leaguee= links.

It was a long drive up this morning to cover the court case in Macclesfield and then something of a farce as the court booked was too small for the union people, press and solicitors.

But Kerr's solicitor eventually made his client's guilty plea to breaking data protection laws and he will now go to crown court for sentencing.

Below is a picture of some of the blacklisted construction workers demonstrating outside the court.

Councillor: the movie

I’ve been looking for some cinematic inspiration.

After a few weeks of door-knocking, leaflet-dropping and away-from-dog-running I wanted to see the idealised version. I wanted to see how local elections play in the movies.

Sure you get the big politics stuff. The American Revolution, the Russian Revolution, presidents, guerilla leaders and Madonna singing.

Where’s all the stuff that people can relate to though? Is it too much to expect a little cinematic diversion about a battle over potholes which bring star-crossed lovers together?

I haven’t seen The Long Walk To Finchley about how Margaret Thatcher secured her place as an MP but it seemed like it was heading in the right direction.

I have seen Our Friends in the North which starts off with a thinly-disguised view on the T Dan Smith reign in

Newcastle

. Good stuff; but a little historical.

The third series of The Wire is up to date, marvellously plotted and with gruesomely believable characters in city hall and on the streets - but it’s on the wrong continent. I could definitely see it being relocated to

Bristol

though. You can do your own casting for who fits the role of Stringer Bell and the rest.

But this was getting patchy. Maybe local politics is just too, well, grey for the Technicolour screen.

And then I watched Milk about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in

America

. Sean Penn is dynamite as the

San Francisco

camera shop owner and Republican who energises a social and political movement. One that still has a fight on its hands.

What made it real was that, once on the city council, Milk needed to break out of being seen simply as interested in gay issues and broaden his base. So he picks up on the issue of dog mess. As Milk’s advisor says: “Solve that problem and you’ll be elected mayor.”

Yes, it truly is the international issue of choice to get people writing to their local representative.

Have I missed a film or TV series which can better Milk for aspiring local councillors? Was there ever a Carry On Moving That Amendment? Surely this cannot be it?

Three into one will have to go

The ideal for a freelancer is to be able to do one job and sell it to different markets. As long as everyone knows what is going on it's not a problem.
I don't often manage it that often, but tomorrow is the most eclectic mix of titles I've been commissioned by so far.
I'm covering a court case for the Guardian, Morning Star and Computer Weekly and will be keeping in touch with the newsdesk at Building magazine and Tribune.
Just hope they're not looking for follow ups in different parts of the country because the teleporter's on the blink.

Shafted

On my bedside table groaning under the weight of books to be read is a copy of Shafted about the media and the miners' strike.
And there is a meeting about it in Bristol on June 1. Find out more here.

Keeping a watchful eye

Over at the Paperhouse and Sarah Ditum keeps up the pressure on the Bath Chronicle and Western Daily Press to not treat the BNP with kid gloves.
The Chronicle editor had the cojones to respond to Sarah's original article and debate with readers while from the WDP, as yet nothing.
Spot the paper which understands how the relationship between journalist and reader and print press and new media has changed.

Keep your friends close

Spent an enjoyable day canvassing at Box Revels with prospective MEP Ricky Knight, both of us talking green while going red under the sun.
Most impressive sight of the day was not Lou-Lou the Green pony, below, which got people stopping at the stall (before you start, I've heard the jokes about 'one-trick' and 'taking for a ride'; prefer the pun about winning by a short head).
No, it was watching my Conservative opponent strolling around with local MP James Gray - that must have earned me a few votes.