London Socialist Historians Group

Chile 1973

"I was coming home on a bus from Margate when Allende was murdered. and read the news in the Guardian, bursting into a yell of outrage, intelligible to probably 0.00001% of that town.

But it isn't good enough, the simple attack on Allende by the left. We certainly shouldn't lose revolutionary perspective and it is absolutely true he relied too much on the parliamentary/constitutional mode, permitted fatal leeway to the Military, failed to redistribute land on the scale necessary and placated the petit bourgeoisie. However, unless one argues he shouldn't have taken power with a 36% vote, it is difficult to see what else he could have done. "

Lol

"I had a long talk with the refugees who live with Bob: an ex-member of the Chilean MIR and bodyguard of Allende, who, when he came over, looked haunted with grief and loss. I had felt this about Chile- they're playing for real what is but games to us. But now I see in what happened to them a personal foreboding. I feel that the happy days we have, will become the past and we too will have our wives shot by the Junta. I felt acutely the imminence of this time of dark screaming, we must live through. For if we don't scream in some way then our defeat is just quieter, more muffled."

Di

"Dearest Rosa, (Di)

I almost cried in the middle of your letter. I too, have those intimations that England is tilting, tilting and from below evil is rising. I was struck on that TUC lobby (the demo was progressively more tedious and less coherent) by how manifestly politically dispirited many comrades are - the crisis resonating into our own lives: bone cold fears. John K still at home and unable to get a job and all of us who were so called "free" and shuffled off a bum job to go on the Social Screw, now recognise that any job must be grasped, fed and kept.

On Monday I leafleted the Durham Close Estate with the very good SW race leaflets. It was a bit eerie, no sounds, no people; you feel like a Martian. But it is finding the time to get the opportunity - a real hassle to find someone to do an hour's babysitting. Just must do something against this tide of filth"

Love Lo

Cowley - right wing anti union protest

We went to counter protest against the "Cowley wives", (an anti union group whipped up by the mass Media)

It is a horrible sight - the wives - albeit only 100 or so, marching, a demonstration with the slogans 'Commies out, workers in' 'Sack the militants' 'Thornett out' they marched into the plant. We stood and observed or mingled with them.

I felt like it must have been in the 30's watching helplessly the Nazis rise in Germany, their violence - my knowledge that to speak, to leaflet, to protest, to placard, invited physical assault. This was not so awful as looking at these working class women who are siding so hideously with the enemy. They were a more awful sight than any upper class crowd - their peroxide hair and well-repressed kids - their cheap smart clothes, their hard faces.

Di

My Dear Di

How are you? Besieged by work and the casualties of capitalism I imagine. I'm writing this in the toilet at work, although people stop and chat quite a lot, there's no chance to actually skive other than by skulking in the cloakroom. I don't get time to get to writing in the evening - giving Georgy tea and putting her to bed is an unaided task and isn't over until latish.

The NF came back on Saturday. Our own fault, we'd relaxed vigilance and so we couldn't get many people to picket at short notice. I'm very interested in fascism, comparatively and analytically; it seems to me that the British hybrid is simultaneously too vulgar to appeal to upper class right wingers and too chaotic to find much proletarian support.

Lol

Grunwicks 1977

I have never seen anything like it in my life; you should go to Grunwicks if you possibly can;

I had previously, positioned myself over the road away from the trouble, but our other comrades cheerily urged us to join them near the factory gate.

Six little Asian women stood at the gate, in smart macs from Dorothy Perkins, high heels, smart trousers and their fine hair elegantly tied back. 1,000 worker and student militants were round the front gate and these rows of police. After I'd been in the pushing, jammed, incapable of voluntary movement, with the police leaning backwards into us, pushing with their backs, for about half an hour; they broke ranks and stood about as if it was all over. The first coach had gone into the other entrance; I then went off to sell papers to the crowd and was no longer right by the gate when the police pounced. Otherwise I too should have been beaten, punched, kicked, pulled by the hair. They ran, high -kicking into the area, dragging and flinging people . The crowd where I was of course surged forward and we were also surrounded by the police, perhaps 20 comrades in a circle of pigs. They pushed us back and forth, round and round, my feet were off the ground and I was turned right round 3 times and moved down the street.

The feeling of the picket was tremendous- enormous total undivided solidarity - you had no doubt that everyone was a comrade. I wasn't bothered at all about being separated from my friends, as everyone was yr friend- enormous comradeship,

When I got back to Oxford, stoned out on these events and 4 hours sleep, I had to serve at a work jumble sale and appear like a normal person and community worker!

Please come to visit, you can come to my play scheme, outings and good times.

Much Love, El Militant Parkin