BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance - ECPv4.7.4//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance
X-ORIGINAL-URL:http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC+0:20171014T110000
DTEND;TZID=UTC+0:20171014T160000
DTSTAMP:20211128T051736
CREATED:20171003T083230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171003T084138Z
UID:32149-1507978800-1507996800@campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com
SUMMARY:Who's Watching Whom? - Coventry
DESCRIPTION:Sunday 14 October\, 11-4 \nCoventry Central Hall \nFree entry \nThe extraordinary lengths to which the ‘secret state’ will go to defend the Establishment. \nSpeakers:\nRicky Tomlinson\, Helen Steel\, Dave Smith\, Chris Baugh \n Sponsored by Unite Tom Mann branch and Coventry TUC. \nRicky Tomlinson and the Shrewsbury 24 \nToday\, Ricky Tomlinson is best known as an actor and star of BBC’s The Royle family – but 45 years ago he was a building worker who\, in the summer of 1972\, took part in a national strike against low pay and poor working conditions.  \nIn 1973 at Shrewsbury Crown Court six trades unionists\, including Ricky\, were sent to prison. The strikers and their families have campaigned ever since for the release of government documents showing interference and manipulation in their prosecution\, and for their cases to be reviewed as a miscarriage of justice.\n \nDave Smith and the construction blacklist\n\nFor almost 100 years a construction industry blacklist was operated in secret to systematically deny work to thousands of workers involved in trade union activity. Dave Smith\, one of those blacklisted workers\, has documented that history and is the secretary of the Blacklist Support Group whose work led to a Parliamentary debate early in September. He is co-author of the explosive book Blacklisted: The Full Story.\n \nHelen Steel and undercover political policing \nIn 2014 Theresa May\, then Home Secretary\, set up a public inquiry after it was revealed that undercover police officers deceived a number of women into sexual relationships to infiltrate political groups. \nMI5 also directed Special Branch to spy on a number of left-wing Labour MPs\, including here in Coventry. 20 years ago Helen Steel was sued for libel by McDonald’s in what became known as the McLibel trial\, over a factsheet critical of the company’s practices.  \nThe police sent an officer from the undercover Special Demonstration Squad to become Helen’s partner. She and other women known to have been deceived into relationships with undercover policeman continue to battle for justice.\n \nChris Baugh and monitoring of union activists \nSecret government files released this year under the 30-year rule show that Margaret Thatcher’s government directly meddled in the internal affairs of civil servants’ union CPSA\, the predecessor of the PCS. \nThe government was concerned about the growing influence of Marxists when the late John Macreadie won the general secretary election in the CPSA in 1987. “Subversives … cannot be tolerated in such jobs” one official memo has been reported as stating.  \nChris Baugh will explain the union’s call for a public inquiry into the monitoring of trade union activists. \nWhat links these cases is the extraordinary lengths to which the ‘secret state’ will go to defend the Establishment. \nCome and hear first-hand from victims and activists\, and find out in workshops how you can join in the campaigns for justice. \nSpread the word with the Facebook Event. \nShare this:FacebookTwitterTumblrEmailMoreLinkedInRedditPinterestPocketPrint
URL:http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/event/whos-watching-coventry/
LOCATION:Coventry Central Hall\, Warwick Lane\, Coventry\, CV1 2HA
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR