Tuesday 29 March 2011

Ed Miliband and History (Part 2)

I have watched and read the text of Ed Miliband's speech to the thousands that gathered in Hyde Park on March 26th to protest against the coalition government's cuts. Early in the speech he likened the protest to other great popular campaigns, namely the suffragettes, the civil rights movement in the USA, and the anti-apartheid movement.

To draw comparisons with these historical protests has dangers for Miliband. To set himself up as a modern day Martin Luther King set to fight the Tory cuts will only create ridicule; not least because Ed Miliband is a very poor orator. In fact he tried at times to copy the Luther King style by (rather awkwardly) repeating the phrase: Let us say: we will. Obama also copied MLK (with 'yes we can') but had the style to carry it off, but Ed Miliband simply does not.

The real danger for Ed Miliband lies not so much in his poorly delivered speeches but rather the claim that he is offering an alternative approach to reducing the deficit. The historical examples set out above only serve to illustrate Ed Miliband's dilemma: the suffragettes campaigned for an entirely different view of society - one in which women had equal rights; MLK spoke for the fundamental rights of millions of black Americans; and the leaders of the apartheid movement wanted to sweep away the racist system that degraded millions of black South African lives. In each of these cases the leaders offered a radical 'word turned upside down' alternative to their supporters.

Ed Miliband said he offered an alternative, but he wisely did not spell it out. The alternative in reality is to carry out the same cuts but over a slightly longer period. Hardly an inspiring message to the thousands that marched.

Those who marched in such good faith had their hopes dashed by the violence of the anarchists on one side of central London, and by a disingenuous Labour leader attempting to invoke spurious historical parallels on the other.

Sunday 27 March 2011

The Last Post: Caerwys in 1909.

Caerwys Post Office in 1909
In the summer of 1909 some major military exercises took place in the hills around Caerwys. The local Post Office served as the hub to transfer the many thousands of letters, both private and official, around the country. At one stage some 12000 soldiers were in the area. Many photographs of these events survive; others have been included in this blog. This happens to be my favourite image for two reasons. First is that I walk passed this building everyday and I find it hard to match the same place today. I would like to get enough modern Caerwysonians to reconstruct the photograph. Earlier today I went into High Street and tried to take the same shot (without soldiers, and Post Office obviously!). This is it:

Even in black and white it does not seem to be the same place, but it is.

The second reason I like the 'Last Post' photograph is because of the huge amount of detail that it contains. The faces make for a compelling image. Digital photographs allow for sections to be examined in detail; I have extracted a small section:

Mixture of soldiers and civilians: the postmistress looks suitably coy in such company.

The advertising poster is for Cassell's Magazine, which contains a story about the Cadbury Countess. The Cassell's Magazine was a very popular journal containing serialised stories from top authors, including Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. The other advertising 'banner' from the wall seems to indicate that the Post Office had a public telephone.

One final segment of the photograph shows another advertisement for the services of the Post Office; the poster in the window sets out the hours of business.

Probably best not to mess with these men, but the dog looks happy enough!

My final thoughts on this remarkable photograph is that these professional soldiers would not have known at the time that within five summers they would have been part of the British Expeditionary Force trying to halt the German advance through France. I imagine they would have looked back on these exercises in the peaceful hills surrounding Caerwys with some affection.

Ed Miliband and history.

Becoming party leader  following an election defeat (having lost power) can be a mixed blessing. Since the war the chances of that leader going on to become PM have varied.

These are examples from recent political history when a party has turned to a new leader almost immediately after election defeat. Following their defeat in 1964 (having held office for 13 years)  the Tories turned to Edward Heath, who of course became PM in 1970. So there is one for Ed. Another positive omen is the eventual success of Mrs Thatcher after she succeeded Heath following his defeat in the polls in 1974.

In more recent years Ed Miliband will be hoping to avoid following in the footsteps of Michael Foot and William Hague. Both of whom became leaders following defeat but never took the party to power.

There is no question that coming into power following election defeat poses significant challenges. Ed should not dwell too much on history.

Sunday 20 March 2011

Libya.

What can history teach us about the events that are unfolding in Libya? To my mind the lessons are clear: this is a mistaken policy. I have only contempt for Gadaffi and would celebrate his demise, but bombing Libya won't work. It will have two consequences. First as the bombing is being carried out mainly by the US it will create an anti western feeling amongst the Libyan people. Second, it will create a rift in the Arab League.

In addition not having the support of Russia and China is serious.

I hope that I am wrong and that Gadaffi soon quits and leaves the country. However I fear that our intervention will prolong the conflict; especially as there will be no ground force invasion.

Revolutions are dynamic events and the outcomes are never certain. It is the law of unintended outcomes we must watch out for.

Raised beds.

Last year I joined the fashion for raised bed gardening. Not that I am much of a gardener; I like watching gardening programmes and enjoy other people's gardens. I talk a good garden. Anyway, in a fit of activity I got some railway sleepers (some not needed any more, obviously) and cut them into shape. Then I filled them with lots of horse manure and high quality top soil. They were an amazing success. From that small space I grew some flowers at the front to disguise the vegetables, lettuce (many kinds), potatoes, spring onions, cabbage, courgettes, beetroot, leeks, carrots, green beans, and bush tomatoes (from which I made ten jars of chutney). This was gardening made easy for lazy folk like me.

This weekend the daffodils in the raised beds marked the start of the growing season.

In the beginning...

These were the same raised beds at the peak of the growing season last summer.

Homes of the poor revisited.

In my blog from yesterday on the homes of the rural poor in Flintshire during the 19th century I should have included the following image from Caerwys. It is exactly what was described in the lecture. The small cottage would have consisted of a room or two and often shared with the animals. The floor was possibly stones slabs, but more likely hard compacted mud.

This cottage was on North Street Caerwys (the remains are still there). Look closely and you can see that the man is on a donkey. This photograph was taken in 1875 by a man called John Thomas. He travelled around Wales capturing this type of scene. One can only assume that conditions in this cottage were fairly primitive, especially during the winter months.

Saturday 19 March 2011

Homes of the poor.

This afternoon I went to an excellent lecture given by Dr Eurwyn Williams to the Flintshire Historical Society. He gave a lecture on 'The Building Traditions of the Rural Poor 1750-1900'. It is a topic I knew nothing about, but now when I walk in the countryside I will be on the look out for long derelict cottages. I was especially interested in the tradition whereby the poor would attempt to build a cottage over-night with smoke appearing out of the chimney by dawn. They believed that this gave them legal rights to the land. Sadly it did nothing of the the sort and only resulted in prosecutions that could result in the cottagers being transported to Australia.

A classic Welsh cottage at the Welsh Museum, St Fagans.



 

Friday 18 March 2011

Book launch revisited.

The book launch seemed to go as well as I can have hoped. The town hall was full and the initial response to the book was very favourable. I gave a brief talk on how the book had come into being, and thanked those with whom I had worked most closely. The following are some photographs from the evening:

The books stacked up and ready to go.


Book launch exhibition.

The book.

Yours truly with David Hanson MP

The remaining books will be distributed to each household in Caerwys over the coming days. A few copies will be kept back and given to new arrivals in the community. This evening marks the end of a fascinating project. My sincere thanks to all those involved.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Book launch.

Collage of Caerwys in old photographs.

Tomorrow my history of Caerwys is to be launched. There will be an official launch evening at the Town Hall from around 7pm. Everyone household in the town can collect their copy of 'Caerwys Since Victorian Times'. Those remaining will be delivered in the days that follow. I have had a sneek preview of the book and I am very pleased with the quality of the printing.

However, I am a little nervous on two counts. First, I will be making a short speech thanking those that have taken part in the production of the book and reflecting on the lessons we have all learnt. Our MP will be there along with many of my friends from around the town, so it won't be easy. But my main anxiety is that people will enjoy the book. It has been written with the aim of encouraging debate and an interest in the history of the town. I truly hope it succeeds.

I will quote directly from my introduction as I quite like this bit:

In the Victorian period Caerwys retained its role as a trading and market centre, it retained a lesser legal role with the magistrates’ court, it also retained a Welsh cultural identify that would; flower once again, most notably in the nonconformist revival of the late 19th century. Yet by the 21st century Caerwys would be almost unrecognisable to those who had lived when Victoria first came to the throne in 1837. Changes that have taken place in the economic, social, and political life of the town have been profound. Nevertheless, if one looks closely enough there is also continuity to be found; for instance, in some of the surviving buildings such as the church and the Old Court. There is also continuity in the real sense of community and identity that is still recognised by most of those fortunate enough to have lived at least some of their lives in Caerwys.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Ed Miliband's putter.

There should be someone near to Ed Miliband advising him not to support a 'Yes' vote in the forthcoming referendum on changing the electoral system. Miliband reminds me a little of the French golfer Jean Van de Velde in the 1999 British Open held at St Andrews. De Velde needed only a 6 on the final hole (2 shots over the par of the hole) to win the great tournament; his shots went everywhere including into the stream, from where, with shoes removed, he tried to play out. In the end he took 7 and lost the Open. Had de Velde taken his putter and gently tapped the ball towards the hole he would have won.

Ed Miliband should play the political putter. By aligning himself with the 'Yes' vote he is destined to be on the losing side and damaging his credibility. Miliband's claims that somehow the Alternative Vote will revitalise British politics is difficult to fathom; I have written about AV elsewhere in the blog, but essentially it can mean the person who comes second or even third in an election actually winning. It does nothing about creating a more proportional system. It also puts Ed Miliband on the same platform as Nick Clegg. There is so little that Ed Miliband can gain by supporting the change that is seems a reckless decision on the part of the Labour leader.

To mix sporting methaphors, Ed Miliband is backing the wrong horse.

Sunday 13 March 2011

Touching history.

72 years ago on Tuesday the Nazis forcibly annexed Czechoslovakia thereby proving to the world that Hitler could not be trusted. It was a major step on the road that would eventually lead to the Second World War. On the same day (March 15th 1939) in Flintshire my Mum was born.

Just 5 months earlier in Flint my Dad was born; on the day of his birth in Germany the dreadful events of Kristallnacht were unfolding.

Germany and Europe were about to enter a new dark age of barbarism. My parents were born on days that proved Hitler's perfidy and took the nation closer to war. Yet they survived the war years and both must view the images of German tanks and strutting Nazi soldiers with the same disbelief as I do that a civilised people could turn to such barbarism.

The fact my parents were born on these key dates reminds me that Hitler's war is still comparatively recent history.

March 15th 1939: Hitler accepts the surrender of the Czech leaders; in Flintshire at the same time my Mum was born.

Saturday 12 March 2011

History or heritage?

This week the people of Caerwys are being given a free history book. It is not another collection of old photographs or anecdotes, rather it is an attempt to identify the forces that have shaped the town since early Victorian times.

Four themes were identified and researched: first, an overview of the economic, social and political changes of the Victorian and Edwardian period; second, an investigation into the rise of nonconformity; third, the impact of war; and finally the post war era and modernisation. The history of our community is not unique as the same processes of change were occurring across Wales.

Caerwys has changed dramatically in the last four decades: the population has virtually tripled; housing and tourist developments have changed the nature of the community. The majority of the population have moved into the town; many of these from outside Wales. The use of the Welsh language has declined dramatically. Therefore the project aimed to provide a greater understanding of the town’s history for the settled and new population, thereby fostering community cohesion and identity.

From the start the aim was to produce a ‘semi academic’ history. It was felt that there were already a number of guide books. I was commissioned to write the book in collaboration with a small committee. My view of what investigative history means was not always accepted; it was felt that certain things had to be included. In addition, numerous disputes took place over the illustrations: my approach was that illustrations (as sources) had to reinforce the points being made in the text was not universally popular. My protagonists armed with hundreds of attractive sepia photographs wanted them published alongside the text, with no obvious logical purpose. It seemed like a battle between history and heritage. In the end, however, the book was produced and will be handed out later this week. It will be for the community to judge whether or not it has been a success.

The project has already seen the creation of a historical society and a series of lectures (not necessarily related to the town). These have been attended by up to 100 people on each occasion. The point being made is that academic (or semi academic) history is popular; many people have a real desire to know more about their past. The heritage industry is valuable in Wales, but there will always be a place for investigative history. History is, after all, about asking difficult questions

I will provide an example of how my investigation has changed perceptions of some members of the community. As part of the research I spoke with elderly residents who regularly attended chapel. Their perception was that in the earlier part of the 20th century the chapels of the town were always full each Sunday. Yet my findings showed that this was rarely the case: the fashion for chapel building in the late 19th century had ensured that there were so many of them that the number of seats was almost greater than the total population of the area. So, there is no question that nonconformity is part of the heritage of Caerwys (and Wales as a whole), but simple historical research has identified the extent to which the population as a whole attended chapel. At best history and heritage can go hand in hand, at worst it reinforces misconceptions.

I am not a professional historian, but I recognise the importance of properly conducted historical research by the academic community. However, the outcome of this research is often published in rather obscure academic journals rather than made accessible to a public hungry for history. The internet is already proving useful in opening up historical research to a larger audience; more can be done. The project in Caerwys has shown, in a very small way, how historical research can ensure that our shared heritage is based upon reason.

Thursday 10 March 2011

William Hague and the burden of history.

William Hague is a first rate historian. His biographies on William Pitt the younger, and William Wilberforce have been critically acclaimed. His wife Ffion is also an excellent historian; her work on 'Lloyd George's Women' was outstanding. William Hague may have begun his career as the 'Tory-boy' of the Thatcher years, but since then he has accumulated vast political experience as leader of the Conservative Party and latterly as Foreign Secretary. To be sure, he has the intellectual and political experience to serve as Foreign Secretary. So why has it gone wrong?

Two recent 'blunders 'in Libya highlight William Hague's plight. The farcical capture of the special unit of soldiers and the 'diplomats' by the rebel forces would be comical if it were not so serious. The hapless response from the Foreign Office suggests they were not in control of events. However, even more damaging was William Hague's public announcement that Gaddafi had left Libya and was on his way to Venezuela. Such is the power of satellite television that Hague's announcement was soon being celebrated by the Libyans.

Of course William Hague was making a dangerous blunder. I have been trying to work out why Hague needed to make the announcement at that point; what on earth was he thinking about? Was the insatiable power of the 24/7 media and Hague wishing to be the bringer of good news? Or was it another in the line of Weapons of Mass Destruction pieces of British intelligence and that Hague was not properly briefed? Why did Hague need to say anything at all? What could he or Britain possibly gain? Whatever the answer, William Hague and the Government have been damaged by this affair.

William Hague the historian carefully checks the reliability of the sources he uses to build up a complete biography of his chosen subjects. He must learn to apply the same skills to his political role.

Everton 1 Birmingham 1

This game summed up Everton's season: plenty of endeavour, but ultimately frustration. Heitinga scored an excellent goal to bring the Blues back to level terms with Birmingham. Other than that not much more can be said. It is unlikely that Everton will progress much further up the table, or that they will face the ignominy of a relegation battle. So with just nine games left the season now has little to offer Toffee fans.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum: but tonight plenty of endeavour, but ultimately frustration.

My pitch side view.

Sunday 6 March 2011

A leader lost.

I was very impressed by David Miliband's interview on the Andrew Marr show this morning. He was relaxed, humorous, and reflective. His theme was the need for renewal within the Labour Party, and centre left movements across Europe. His intellectual ability to articulate complex political issues was as impressive as ever. I could not help wondering that this was a 'leader lost'.

David Miliband interviewed by Andrew Marr.

The Fox, Ysciefiog (revisited)

My blog entitled 'Last orders' for the Fox in Ysceifiog may have been a little premature. I heard rumours this weekend that villagers had grouped together to run the old place. I just had to check it out, and sure enough this evening the lights were on and the beer was flowing from the taps. As in the old days there were two guest beers, 'Facers' from Flint, and Champflower Ale made by the Cottage Brewery in Somerset. I tasted the latter and it was excellent.
 
The front bar in the Fox.

Friday 4 March 2011

Referendum revisited.

The referendum result announced this afternoon has confounded the doom merchants, like me. The resounding 'Yes' vote certainly gives added legitimacy to the devolution project. Even the turnout at 35.4% was respectable by modern standards.

In Flintshire the 'Yes' vote won by the comfortable margin of 62.1% to 37.9% (although the turnout in Flintshire at 29.2% was amongst the lowest in Wales). So does it mean that Flintshire has stopped worrying and learned to love devolution? The low turnout still suggests that the vast majority  have no connection with what goes on in Cardiff Bay. Historically the county of Flintshire has been far more influenced by the north west of England and the great city of Liverpool. However something has definately changed in north east Wales; the results for Flintshire and Wrexham both show an overwhelming majority in favour of the Welsh Assembly Government exercising powers without reference to Westminster.

The shift in favour of devolution has been significant. The result of the devolution referendum of 1979 showed deep hostility towards the idea with 88% of the voters in the old county of Clwyd saying 'No'. Even in the devolution referendum of 1997 in Flintshire 62% of the voters still said 'No'.

The conclusion has to be that devolution has now been accepted by the voters of the most anglicised county in Wales.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

A risky and unneccessary referendum.

Tomorrow Wales goes to the polling stations to vote in a referendum that will, they say, determine the future powers of the Welsh Assembly Government. At least that is how it has been portrayed in the Welsh media, but the truth is more complex. The result of the referendum will not alter the powers of the Welsh Assembly Government.

This is an unnecessary referendum in a number of ways. Most crucially, there is no point of principle at stake in the referendum tomorrow. The Welsh Assembly Government already has the power to make laws (or measures as they are called). At present these 'measures' are done following an agreement with the Westminster parliament in London, and it can be a lengthy process. If the vote is 'Yes' the Welsh Assembly Government will be able to pass  laws without reference to London. Although this still only applies within a limited number of policy areas, they will not, for example, be able to pass laws about foreign policy, the judicial system, or immigration. So whatever the outcome tomorrow the actual powers will remain the same - a 'Yes' vote will merely change the way their current powers are used.

I have termed the referendum 'risky' because  people will not be voting on the technical issues that I have outlined above. To most Welsh people it will be a vote of confidence (or no confidence) in the first 14 years of devolution. And this is where the risk is involved; a very low turnout (say 20% or so) will inevitably demonstrate a serious level of apathy towards devolution in Wales and will give ammunition to those opposing further real powers to the Welsh Assembly Government. A very close vote on a very low turnout would be just as bad. A 'No' vote is almost unthinkable.

There are those that question the ability of the Welsh Assembly Government to properly scrutinise new laws; after all there are only 60 AMs and only one 'house' (as opposed to the Commons and the Lords at Westminster). The same critics question the quality of AMs and point to the poor quality of debates in the Senedd. In other words, the Welsh Assembly is not ready to pass laws by itself.

I can see this point of view, but I will be voting 'Yes' tomorrow morning (I will as usual aim to be the first voter in Caerwys, which is I know is childish). The Welsh Assembly may not be perfect, but it has provided an opportunity for many more people to engage in politics at various levels. The Senedd itself is a much better reflection of the Welsh people than is the House of Commons. A risky and unnecessary referendum it maybe, but I will still support the 'Yes' camp.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Everton 0 Reading 1

A bitterly disappointing result! It was not meant to be like this: Reading a mediocre championship team were not expected to provide much opposition to Everton the premiership giants. After all they are also soft southerners, even sponsored by Waitrose, whereas Everton are sponsored by that tough northern (Chinese) company called Chang.

That is pretty much the end of Everton's season, apart trying to avoid relegation. It is hard to see where the mighty blues can go from here.

David Moyes may decide enough is enough and leave this summer. He can certainly motivate his team to beat the likes of Chelsea, but he so often fails against the 'lesser' sides.

Reading launch another attack against the Everton goal. Their victory was well deserved.