There are a relatively few number of people with the surname “Spagnol” in the world, but we are spread out all over it. We embrace a range of political views, but a proportion of us are definitely to the left. As an international family, we must embrace a world outlook. Karl Marx said “The Working Class has no country”. Well that’s definitely true of the Spagnols, coming as we do from Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and USA. If you are a Spagnol from anywhere else in the world, please let us know and your country can be included!
As for me, I’m 66, an East Londoner, retired and loving it. I’m a Socialist, a million miles from the soft left. I no longer support the British Labour Party, which has drifted so far to the right that it’s now the Tories’ reserve team, to be allowed into power when people have had enough, only to carry on with much the same policies as the Tories once in office. There was brief hope when Jeremy Corbyn became leader, but sadly he went for inclusivity with its right wing, while they just exercised every sinew to destroy him.
Now with Keir Starmer as British Labour Leader, they are not slightly left even when in opposition. The footballer Marcus Rashford has provided more opposition to the Boris Johnson government than the Parliamentary Labour Party under Sir Keith!
I’ve also no time for those “Middle-class lefts” who have an inbuilt hatred for the working class. If you hate the working class, then you hate me, because that’s where I come from, and I was a union rep at a local level for all my working life.
Many years ago, I was a supporter of the Militant, a Socialist newspaper whose supporters in Liverpool led the struggle against the Tory Government to get back some of the money stolen from their council. If only other Labour Councils had followed suit, the whole politicial landscape of Britain would have been different! Sadly, other Labour councils passed on Tory cuts. Then Militant led the struggle to abolish the Poll Tax, a campaign which was ultimately successful, despite opposition from the Labour leadership.
In 1995, Militant organised outside the Labour Party and became the Socialist Party. I never really stopped believing, and just before Christmas 2020, I decided to join again.
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| Then, as now, as always. |
