Category Archives: trade unions

Stop, Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house..

Posted on June 24, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Germinal(1993, a film based on the novel by French writer Emile Zola. It tells the story of a mining town in northern France in the 1860s, where children and women are still working down the pits. There are many … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, drama, education, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, music, novels, Salford, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, young people | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop,Look,Listen! My weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Posted on May 27, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch…Shoestring starring Trevor Eve as private “ear” Eddie Shoestring. He works on a Bristol based radio show and responds to the problems of his listeners. It was made in 1979 and has a very English style. Trevor Eve was fancied … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, drama, novels, trade unions, TV drama | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bill Brand; It is the People who Create………

Posted on May 17, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Bill Brand (played by Jack Shepherd) speaking at a workers occupation Bill Brand, a TV series broadcast on ITV in the summer of 1976, was written by one of Britain’s (and Manchester’s) greatest playwrights, Trevor Griffiths. The drama is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, Ireland, Manchester, North of Ireland, Socialism, trade unions, TV drama, women | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house…

Posted on May 13, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch…The King of Comedy (1983) One Of Martin Scorsese’s finest films, although it was not one of his most successful when it came out in 1983. A mixture of fantasy and real life it features Robert DeNiro as Rupert Pupkin, … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, drama, films, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, Middle East, music, North of Ireland, novels, trade unions, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My interview with playwright Lee Hall

Posted on May 10, 2012 by lipstick socialist

George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier wrote this about miners: “In a way it is even humiliating to watch coal miners working. It raises in you a momentary doubt about your own status as an ‘intellectual’ and a … Continue reading →

Posted in drama, Socialism, trade unions | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on April 29, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch….Down with the Dictator, written by Cameroonian playwright and community activist, Lydia Besong. Lydia is currently fighting a high profile campaign to remain in the UK with her husband Bernard Batey. The play is produced by Afrocats and is supported … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, drama, human rights, labour history, Manchester, May Day, novels, Salford, trade unions, women | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

And down with all kings but king ludd!

Posted on April 11, 2012 by lipstick socialist

“Riots in our city streets, the worst economic crisis for decades, a long war fought abroad with no sign of progress. Sounds familiar? Welcome to England 1812”.  Mikron Theatre’s latest  production  “Can You keep a Secret?; the rise and fall … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, drama, education, labour history, trade unions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

My interview with Ken Loach; remembering the dreamers and the builders…….

Posted on April 5, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Ken Loach at the Working Class Movement Library, March 2012 “This is my truth, tell me yours”, Nye Bevan Last week I met up with Ken Loach at the Working Class Movement Library in Salford, where he was researching and … Continue reading →

Posted in films, Ken Loach, labour history, NHS, trade unions, TV drama | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Trade Unions; the next generation….

Posted on March 29, 2012 by lipstick socialist

In the past 18 months there has been a surge in political activity by young people in the Occupy Movement, in student protests against tuition fees and withdrawal of EMA and in anti-workfare campaigns. At the same time, but less … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, Manchester, NHS, trade unions, women, young people | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on March 25, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Happy People (2010) A year in the Taiga by Dmitry Vasyukov. Siberia extends from the Urals to the Pacific and is one and a half times the size of the USA. 38 million people live in this area, but … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, Communism, education, films, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, music, Socialism, trade unions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment