Proposer: Terry McCormick Seconded by: Ian Smith, Peter May, Philip Bimpson
The fabric of our communities is in desperate need of life-saving action.
We need to be seen doing things that make sense and genuinely aim to improve the quality of life for the working class people of Britain.
We currently have a misnamed ‘Labour’ government that is making pensioners afraid to turn their heating on in the winter.
We have people living in solitude in soulless, desolate housing estates.
We have a situation where local publicly owned community centres have gradually disappeared, with the only alternative being sparsely situated privately run ‘community project’ centres who charge for the use of their facilities and refuse access to groups they don’t agree with.
Where might the ordinary working class person go to have a moan about it all?
“The pub!” of course – yet latest figures indicate pubs across Britain are closing at the rate of approximately 2 per day.
People are left with limited social infrastructure and no outlet to vent about it in safety without fear of having a knock at your door or losing your job due to ‘wrong think on the internet’. The silent majority sit quietly, waiting for their opportunity to show their anger and frustration at the ballot box.
Meanwhile, celebrity capitalists (yes you Nigel) trick the working class into thinking they are on their side by raising a pint in a local pub, whilst at the same time dreaming about outsourcing all their jobs to a foreign country exploiting cheap labour.
The British pub used to be a place where people would congregate, discuss politics, football, and the things that concerned their daily lives; and receive comradely support. People would notice if one of their regulars didn’t turn up that day, and enquire about their wellbeing.
This motion asks the Workers Party to develop a National Campaign with the aim of creating a national strategic network that will distribute some sort of funding / council tax reduction that will allow pubs to provide:
– sanctuary and subsidised hot food & drink to the elderly during periods of cold weather.
– a place for civic society groups (including small political parties) with use of a room for private discussions and meetings – free of philosophical or political prejudice.
– a place where community, free speech, and humanity may flourish, where people can congregate and keep warm, play games, talk, make friends, and feel alive.
There are already similar schemes in place focussing solely on providing facilities to those struggling (e.g. ‘Warm Welcome’ / ‘Warm Spaces’). However, we believe segregating poor people, as noble as its intent might be, may contribute to the breakdown of social values and fails to address all of the issues raised here.
This motion suggests that the Party should create a ‘campaign working group’ to refine the details of this proposal, followed by an organised national campaign which we imagine will likely include social media and, crucially, an e-petition with posters in pubs and the Workers Party branding on it.
Touche, Nigel.
Great motion! The pubs of Britain are dying and in desperate need of public support and funding. For many workers and retirees the pub is their only social interaction, when pubs close whole communities disappear.
Agreed, notably in isolated villages where they are particularly under pressure. I hope this Motion passes.
‘I once knew a French girl…. who was amazed at the importance of the pub to the British. ‘In France we all gather at each others houses’ she would say. The pub, that large roofed open space that takes the place of the ‘Italian or Spanish’ open square where you meet and eat and drink and talk the night away. Where you meet the lads before a football match. Where you all gather before and after births, weddings and funerals. Where local bands can learn their trade. To some it can seem oppressive… a place where you have to drink by the gallon to fit in. Pubs have adapted, it was once a place you would undoubtedly come back smelling of cigarette ash. We had whole swathes of working men’s clubs throughout the industrial towns where young and old would drink and talk with each other . We are becoming an ever more alienated society. That working class togetherness has been picked off by the establishment. Like it or not the pub holds an important place in British working class togetherness.