ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

Archives for November 2020

A Child in Our Time

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A Child in our Time came about because yesterday I read an article by Jack Shenker on Craig Easton’s photographs of the Williams family which was published in the Guardian Weekend. It was thought-provoking in a number of ways, firstly the Williams family were not different from you and I, they worked and if it hadn’t been for the ‘depression’ of the 90s brought about by a number of factors including:

restrictive monetary policy enacted by central banks, primarily in response to inflation concerns, the loss of consumer and business confidence as a result of the 1990 oil price shock…Wikipedia

and because of the recession, they lost jobs and homes and ended up on benefits. They strived to get out the hole that they were driven into and let’s be honest neither the politics and politicians of that day, nor even today seem to understand what they need to help them step up out of the quagmire that governments have put them in.

But they are not alone; according to the current government’s own information, there were 5.6 million people on Universal Credit at 9 July 2020, an increase of 2% from 11 June 2020. around 42% (that means 4 in 10) of claimants were in the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality group. But again, this statistic means little until you also look at how many people in the United Kingdom are on the poverty line. According to fullfact.org, An estimated 14.3 million people are in poverty in the UK. 8.3 million are working-age adults, 4.6 million are children, and 1.3 million are of pension age. Around 22% of people are in poverty, and 34% of children are (27 Sep 2019).

As I said, the Williams family are not unique in what has happened to them, but I wonder if anyone in the government realises just how far we have sunk? We have initiatives driven by individuals like Marcus Rashford and other sporting stars, by organisations like Children in Need, businesses who either have their own initiatives or who have joined together to support others, and of course, we have private individuals – but, why does it seem that the government always seems to behind in taking action that will help positively. I see lots of government initiatives which rarely seem to achieve much!

 

Child in our Time - Levels of poverty

(Joseph Rowntree Fundation)

Also, I again have to note that it is not just the conservative government, the Labour/Lib Dem pact was equally as bad.
I honestly do not know the solution, but I do know that if we continue to vote in politicians who have little or no idea of the society that they are representing then as a country we would seem to be doomed.

 

The Joseph Rowntree Foundations says:

Solving poverty is not quick or easy, but it is possible, starting with a vision, commitment and a plan.

 

Child in our Time - Poverty - Free Creative Commons Highway Sign image

 

Links:

Gay Pride, Belfast 1991 – on to civil rights/equal citizenship

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In 1991 the first Gay Pride in Belfast took place.  It was an event thought to be a non-starter, however the turnout of well over one hundred people for the ‘pride dander’ was simply fantastic.  The support from the Belfast public was beyond belief, as was the support in terms of bodies from the QUB Students Union and the Socialist Workers Movement, as well as our guests from Dublin, ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) – and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the dander and the crack afterwards.

 

How upstart, our own gay publication, remembered our dander:

 

Gay Pride

 

But a new tradition was also set for that march (dander) – that of the Pride T-shirt.  P A Maglochlainn, who was President of NIGRA (Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association) for a substantial number of years, recognised the importance of this inauguration and managed to collect a number of these during his lifetime and even was able to arrange for them to be on show a number of years later in the Central Library.

Since PA’s death, Barry his partner has been working to have his life’s work archived properly, and part of this is to have the T-Shirts placed somewhere so that people can access them and see the wealth of talent that has spread out from the initial showing.

Barry has kindly given me the task of gathering an example of each T-Shirt (or at the very least, a photo) which means that we have a pictorial record of part of our history.

So far, I have managed to collect the following, as you can see there are come gaps, are you able to help with an example of the missing T-Shirts, or at the very least a photograph or jpeg image for the record?  If so then please contact me as follows:

 

Email:  dtw.mcfarlane@hotmail.co.uk

 

 

Year Picture/Slogan  
1991 Gay Pride
1992 Gay Pride
1993 Gay Pride
1994 Gay Pride
1995 Gay Pride
1996 Gay Pride
1997
1998 Gay Pride
1999 Gay Pride
2000
2001
2002
2003 Gay Pride
2004
2005
2006 Gay Pride
2007 Gay Pride
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

I have two T-Shirts so far which I cannot tie to any year, would anyone have any idea:

  • Gay Pride
  • Gay Pride

Other articles on Pride:

Westwind by Ian Rankin – Book Review

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Westwind by Ian Rankin

Amazon Link To Buy – Westwind by Ian Rankin

 

For me the concept that the military from the USA, UK and other countries, as described in Westwind by Ian Rankin,  would conspire to bring down the elected governments of the day is an anathema, however, we only have to look into history and what happened in German pre WW2 and the African sub-continent and its various countries and we can see parallels.

As an ex-soldier who has served in the UK and Germany, Canada and South America I could never conceive of a time in which the British Armed Services would allow this to happen and where they would give up their allegiance to the Crown (not the government).

The characters are reasonably well-drawn, but the main character Martin Hepton has questions to be asked.  How come a computer nerd, who does not seem to have any background in intelligence apart from watching a computer screen and interpreting pictures, suddenly develop a 6th sense in being able to handle a prime assassin?

Various other characters are brought into the story to add pace and distance, but the ‘badies’ are somewhat predictable as are the various stage sets and locations.

 

It is also interesting to look at age-old secret service writer’s ploy – namely that of levels within levels of the British Secret Service all looking over their shoulders to check who is watching whom!

And not to be forgotten is the age-old commentary on a person’s position in society – what university did one go to, which service did you belong to etc.

However, even with all these thoughts and reservations, I would still recommend this book.  It is a good thriller, well crafted and written, and it does pose questions – could it happen now?

To quote Wikipedia, Ian James Rankin OBE DL FRSE FRSL (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels… His range is prolific, from the series with Rebus, to stand-alone novels to collaboration on opera, to short stories.

 

Fun Extras and Links

I am a book blogger.  I am not paid to do this.  All opinions are my own.

The Glamour Boys – 17 MPs (some gay) who fought appeasement

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The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler

The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant review – the rebels who fought for Britain

The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant review – the rebels who fought for Britain

As Simon Callow’s review points out not all of ‘the 17-strong Glamour Boys’ were gay, as they also included luminaries like Harold Macmillan, Anthony Eden, Duncan Sandys, Leo Amery and Winston Churchill.

However, what does stand out, is that the leadership of this group who opening stood up against appeasement when the government of the day believed unequivocally in negotiating with Hitler for peace is a testament to their strength of will.  For the gay MPs, this could come at a very high price – if they were found to be in a ‘gay’ relationship of any kind they could have been in court with severe charges against them, and also the adverse publicity which as had happened in the past (Oscar Wilde) would possibly have led to them fleeing the country (but where to you might ask in the light of what was happening in German!).

There is much to recommend in this book, the accomplished multi-biography, the sensitivity in which he handles the material, the research and referencing.

In a time when we need heroes, this book highlights 17 of them to us as a nation, and in particular those of us who are gay.

 

 

 

The Man Who Made Magazines Gay

Lockdown by Peter May – Book Review

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LockdownLockdown by Peter May
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, Lockdown, was written in 2005 and ended up not being published initially as it was thought unbelievable. Fast forward to 2020 and Convid19 and suddenly we can see the human race, politicians and large businesses in the real world of today.

The story revolves around D I Jack MacNeil on his way out of policing, his small circle of supportive friends and his estranged family (sic what seems to be the norm for coppers according to many writers).

The book is well written, but for some reason, it feels like the book has been written in an early part of the century. It is not a noir book, but just the feel of the language moves me to feel it is almost the late 50s or early 60s.

The story develops nicely and finishes on a cliff hanger with a twist, which I will not give away.

It is definitely worthwhile obtaining a copy and reading Lockdown

More Reviews:

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