by Ron Mackay
The 30s was a time of
depression,strikes hunger marches etc. Then came the Spanish civil
war and Alex Donaldson went off to join the International Brigade.
Then came WW2.
I spent 4 yrs. In the Royal Navy. The returning
servicemen, having witnessed the senseless slaughter of millions of
human beings – Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden,Hamburg, London,
Coventry, Clydebank etc. wanted a change. The Labour party responded
to the mood and produced a program that seemed to promise a road to
Socialism. The major industries were nationalised including
transport and energy. The national health service was set up and the
welfare state was established.
The Labour Party swept the polls.
Willie Gallacher and Phil Piratin got into parliament as Communist
MPs . In Clydebank 5 Communist councillors were elected.
Prefabs
were brought in to help with housing as left-wing councils set about
rebuilding and restoring our damaged towns and cities. It seemed the
advance to socialism had begun.
Alas one vital service was neglected
– the media - was left in the hands of the Tories. The press
barons, Lords Beverbrook, Kemsley, Rothermere and Astor controlled
the media. The Labour Party, never a Socialist Party, made a mess of
nationalisation. The old capitalist bosses were left to run the
industries, ignoring the trade unions as usual and blaming every set
back on nationalisation which the media exploited to the full and
called for the restoration of private ownership. The role of the
media played a very significant part in the return of the Tories.
As
Goebbels said at the Nurenburg trials whoever controls the media
controls the policies of countries whether democracy or dictatorship.
Leveson had nothing to say about
the ownership and control of the media.
