Do you have a political hero? If so, who?

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Lord Manny Shinnwell was my real hero and still is too this very Day. I had one of the best four hours of my life talking to him in 1981. when he relived his life. I cannot think of no greater person than Manny other than my own father. When he died and i lost a great friend back in the late 1980s that I first met in 1975 with my father. I never forgot him, I still miss him even today. a real fighter and was as Sharpe as a Razor in mind and intellect.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos said the following

My Lords, we on this side of the House greatly appreciate the opportunity to pay tribute to Emanuel Shinwell. He bridged the century during which the Labour Party developed from the Labour Representation Committee and the Independent Labour Party into one of the great parties of state, and he played an important part in That historic process. We recalled when he celebrated his 100th birthday that when he was born in 1884 Queen Victoria occupied the Throne and Mr. Gladstone was in No. 10 Downing Street. He played an active part in the early political struggles out of which subsequent Labour Governments emerged—Governments in which he himself was a distinguished if occasionally controversial Minister.
818 In the United States they speak of "the journey from log cabin to White House." "Manny" Shinwell's career was in this tradition. He was the archetypal rebel who became the respected parliamentarian. He was the anti-establishment figure who became a pillar of the establishment. He was the pugnacious Clydesider who became a great Minister of Defence. He will be remembered as one of the great parliamentary debaters of his time, as the noble Viscount has just said. It is said that he came here with certain views about the future of this House; but he mellowed, and I think he enjoyed his time here. He certainly enhanced the qualities of our debates. None of us ceased to wonder at his capacity to the very end to deliver cogent and articulate speeches without a note in his hand.

He was not always an easy man to deal with, and he could be caustic in argument. He never accepted anything on its face value, and he would take a contrary view and become extremely angry at times. He could also be very kind and helpful, as the noble Viscount has just said, especially to young Members. I recall that after answering Questions for the first time in another place he came to see me and said that I had done quite well. I asked him whether he had any advice to give me. He said, "As a matter of fact, I have. You gave them far too much information".

He never forgot the rock from which he was hewn. He had the great qualities of his remarkable race. He had wit and resilience, and tenacity, too; and he was a great champion of Israel. When he responded in This House to the tributes paid to him on his 100th birthday he made a characteristic speech which, as the noble Viscount has said, we all much enjoyed. I recall that he ended by saying I look forward, Members of the House of Lords, to a civilised society". This, my Lords, notwithstanding all the argument, all the struggle, all the confrontation, is what he fought for in his political life, and there can be no greater tribute to a statesman than that.

Lord Diamond said of Manny

My Lords, we, too, on these Benches would like to pay our tribute, and I would start by echoing everything that has been said so far so felicitously by both the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Labour Party. It is very difficult indeed—nigh impossible—to pay anything like an adequate tribute to such a great man in the time which your Lordships consider would be appropriate When his lifespan was so enormous, his experience so varied and his qualities so great. It really is only possible to pick out one or two things, and to remember him by those. If I were asked one thing by which I would remember him, it was his doggedness in fighting for fairness for his fellow man throughout his life, from the beginning, in very difficult circumstances in the East End of London, through Scotland and back to England—fighting the whole time.
I was privileged to know "Manny" Shinwell and to work with him for over 40 years. I am very proud to have enjoyed his friendship during more recent years in this House. He continued to the very end to be able to think clearly and constructively on his feet, and to be helpful in every way he could in terms of personal relationships and to brave through some of his 819 personal domestic difficulties. Indeed, if I may trouble your Lordships with a fairly recent personal connection, it was when, not many months ago, we were in the Tea Room together discussing the problems which beset one at home when one has lived to that great age. He said to me, "You will find that out yourself, Jack. I dismissed this and said, "That is very kind of you, but I shall not be here to experience that". He said, "Oh, yes, you will"—and we had a bet on it—"and, moreover, so will I, and I will come and collect". That would have meant him collecting in something like his 125th year! Alas, he will not be able to collect his bet, but he had that spirit until the very end.

We send our deepest sympathy to his family, but at the same time we rejoice that "Manny" Shinwell was able to continue his fighting for his fellow man and his service to the country right into his 102nd year.

Lord Paget of Northampton said of Manny

My Lords, this House will never seem the same now "Manny" is no longer here sitting beside me. He is pictured as the bare-knuckle fighter, but there was in him an extraordinary kindness and sympathy. We had a very great friendliness, and I certainly shall be among the many who miss him tremendously. One moment I shall always remember, and That was when the reception committee assembled to receive him for his 100th birthday—and could not find him. He had beaten them to it. He was in a nook just outside, watching them with glee as they searched.


WHO IS YOURS OR DO YOU NOT HAVE ONE? IF SO WHY?

Shinwell was born in Spitalfields, London, but moved with his Polish–Jewish family to Glasgow, Scotland. His father had a small clothing shop and his mother was a cook. He educated himself in a public library and at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. He enjoyed sport, particularly boxing, and he was the trainer of a local football team. He began his working life as a machinist in a clothing workshop. In 1903 he became active in the Amalgamated Union of Clothing Operatives, and joined the Glasgow Trades Council in 1906 as a delegate of that union.

In May 1911, he was seconded to help organise the seamen of Glasgow at the request of J. Havelock Wilson of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union (NSFU). He played a prominent role in the six-week Glasgow seamen's strike which began on 14 June and which was part of a nationwide strike. He subsequently became the secretary of the Glasgow branch of the NSFU. In August 1912, he participated in a revolt against the union, which resulted in the Glasgow branch becoming part of the Southampton-based British Seafarers' Union (BSU). He was the local secretary of the BSU until it became part of the Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union (AMWU) in 1922, after which he served as National Organiser of the new organisation. In 1919, he gained national notoriety through his involvement in the Glasgow 40 Hours' Movement. This movement culminated in clashes between police and protesters in Glasgow's George Square. He was afterwards tried for incitement to riot and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment.

he and Broon rescinded the Treason Act of the UK

Slightly misleading. The Crime And Disorder Act of 1998 abolished the death penalty for treason and substituted "liable to imprisonment for life" in all past statutes concerning treason. The crime of treason still exists in the UK, as I'm sure it does in every country of the world.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/37/section/36

The Treason Act was done away with.

This was to facilitate the signing of the LISBON Treaty, whereby, you cannot be treasonous to a country that no longer exists, but you can be treasonous to Europe, whereby the main tennet of the Magna Carta - innocent till proven guilty is watteres down. This allows in 2015 (stealth legislation) for a German Burghemeister or a French Magistrate to sign a warrant for your arrest and police from his area will be able to barge through your door without a hello or kissmear5e from anyone.

Our newly joined friend Ben of the North may have the details of his thread on the MSN Board on this very subject.

Then there is the case of the 400 tonnes of UK taxpayer's Gold in the treasury, sold off by Broon to the lowest, er, ONLY bidder!


EDIT

Then there is the case of the 400 tonnes of UK taxpayer's Gold in the treasury, sold off by Broon to the lowest, er, ONLY bidder, the moneys going to Brussels to aid a floudering at that time Euro €!

Astra.......I only said I admired Blair in his first few years ( I am a Tory afterall I thought he was refreshing and got the country buzzing again. Now I know a lot of that was PR and his manner in public, but it worked. Unfortunately Iraq was hiS down fall and legacy. As for Brown??? Well he always was a bit useless.....Thieving our Gold and Pension pots...Now that is TREASON!

That's the thing Blue, he changes the law then proceeds to carry out actions that he could not have performed before said legislature change!


Scumbag comes nowhere near my contempt for him! OR Bliar!!

blue. Have you seen Seumas Milne on the television as well, I wonder? These are some extracts from his latest article:-

"A state funeral for Thatcher would not be regarded as any kind of national occasion by millions of people, but as a partisan Conservative event and an affront to large parts of the country. Not only in former mining communities and industrial areas laid waste by her government, but across Britain Thatcher is still hated for the damage she inflicted – and for her political legacy of rampant inequality and greed, privatisation and social breakdown. Now protests are taking the form of satirical e-petitions for the funeral to be privatised: if it goes ahead, there are likely to be protests and demonstrations.

This is a politician, after all, who never won the votes of more than a third of the electorate; destroyed communities; created mass unemployment; de-industrialised Britain; redistributed from poor to rich; and, by her deregulation of the City, laid the basis for the crisis that has engulfed us 25 years later.

Thatcher was a Prime Minister who denounced Nelson Mandela as a terrorist, defended the Chilean fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet, ratcheted up the Cold War, and unleashed militarised police on trade unionists and black communities alike. She was Britain's first woman Prime Minister, but her policies hit women hardest, like Cameron's today…..She was the most socially destructive Prime Minister of modern times."

For the full article:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/04/margaret-thatcher-state-funeral-protests

I would dispute that, all our young soldiers coming home in a body bag, their families think they died an hero. You have to admit, they know their Husbands, sons, brothers, cousins and uncles well enough, you couldn't call them strangers, could you.

This is perhaps the crux of the question of this tread....Why sould a Politician or sports star be called a HERO unless they have put themselves in harms way to protect the lives of others?

I wonder how many Politicans or Sports Stars have REALLY done that?

Perhaps the title should have been. "Which politician, past or present, do you most admire?

blueturando wrote:My Hero is Margaret Thatcher

That is pretty sick.   Do you tear the wings off flies, or is that too mild for you?

Show some respect for the woman who did more to uproot the established British way of life than either Julius Caesar or William of Normandy.

Show some respect for the woman who did more to uproot the established British way of life than either Julius Caesar or William of Normandy.

And more to uproot the established way of life in Scotland than King Edward the First (Longshanks) (Hammer of the Scots)

astradt1 wrote:

I would dispute that, all our young soldiers coming home in a body bag, their families think they died an hero. You have to admit, they know their Husbands, sons, brothers, cousins and uncles well enough, you couldn't call them strangers, could you.

This is perhaps the crux of the question of this tread....Why sould a Politician or sports star be called a HERO unless they have put themselves in harms way to protect the lives of others?

I wonder how many Politicans or Sports Stars have REALLY done that?

Perhaps the title should have been. "Which politician, past or present, do you most admire?

While I understand your thought on the term Hero, I am more than happy to call Manny Shinwell my hero for all the reasons below

Shinwell was born in Spitalfields, London, but moved with his Polish–Jewish family to Glasgow, Scotland. His father had a small clothing shop and his mother was a cook. He educated himself in a public library and at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. He enjoyed sport, particularly boxing, and he was the trainer of a local football team. He began his working life as a machinist in a clothing workshop. In 1903 he became active in the Amalgamated Union of Clothing Operatives, and joined the Glasgow Trades Council in 1906 as a delegate of that union.

In May 1911, he was seconded to help organise the seamen of Glasgow at the request of J. Havelock Wilson of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union (NSFU). He played a prominent role in the six-week Glasgow seamen's strike which began on 14 June and which was part of a nationwide strike. He subsequently became the secretary of the Glasgow branch of the NSFU. In August 1912, he participated in a revolt against the union, which resulted in the Glasgow branch becoming part of the Southampton-based British Seafarers' Union (BSU). He was the local secretary of the BSU until it became part of the Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union (AMWU) in 1922, after which he served as National Organiser of the new organisation. In 1919, he gained national notoriety through his involvement in the Glasgow 40 Hours' Movement. This movement culminated in clashes between police and protesters in Glasgow's George Square. He was afterwards tried for incitement to riot and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment.

Does Rosa Parks count as 'political'? A brave woman and a real inspiration, she showed that people can make a difference in the face of overwhelming odds.


YouTube

Britain's Political Heroes were of course the group of Dorset Agricultural Workers who objected to the virtual slavery imposed on them by 19th. C. farmers. They are known as The Tolpuddle Martyrs.

http://www.worksite.actu.org.au/fact-sheets/history---tolpuddle-martyrs.aspx

I was VERY impressed by Mo Mowlam - an awesome woman and a marvellous role model for women in politics, as far as I could tell.

Also feel Gordon Brown has a lot of dignity - a quality often missing in modern politicians.

People of conscience devoted to a non violent means of righting wrongs would include Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi and Elizabeth Fry (possibly my favourite)

Members of the Tory-led coalition ought to be hailing David Cameron as their Political Hero.  At a time when people are reliant upon food banks for survival, British Industry is treading water, and the Banks act like a leech on the average business, there's dear David filling pages and pages of Press comment with talks of yet another Middle East adventure, tacitly ignoring the evidence of the past.

No conjurer was ever so adept at diverting attention away from what is actually happening.

He serves the purpose rather well - only I suspect the electorate thought they were getting a Prime Minister, not a sideshow

".... I suspect the electorate thought they were getting a Prime Minister, not a sideshow."

Another omission from the unwritten British Constitution, boatlady.  We don't elect the Monarch, and neither do we choose our Prime Minister.

Perhaps we should.

Protestors seem to have found common symbolism in the "V for Vendetta" mask designed in the 1980s by Englishman John Lloyd.  "Its politically neutral,"  Lloyd said in an interview via Skype. “The closest thing to it in recent decades is Che Guevera but of course Che Guevera was a marxist but V stands for freedom without any political message. Anyone can use it as a symbol of resistance against any tyranny you happen to be facing or you think you are facing.”

The mask has empowered protestors by allowing them the anonymity to become representatives of a cause, rather than individuals who can later be arrested and persecuted, according to the artist.

But would he ever wear one?

“I don’t think there’s any point in demonstrating. The way the world is now, whatever government you have you are still ruled by oppressive corporations and power structures.”

http://t.news.uk.msn.com/uk/v-for-vendetta-how-a-worldwide-protest-icon-was-born

Hannah Sell - Deputy GS of the Socialist Party

She's done lots of work for vulnerable people and unemployed youths across Britain.

Something I found somewhat dispiriting when I was a small part of the Trade Union movement was the way that the same questions arose at meetings time and time again.  You find yourself making almost the same responses on almost every occasion.

You can see examples of this repetitive dialogue on many internet dicussions. The heroes and heroines are the ones who can repeat "the message" and still make it sound fresh.

Laurie Penny makes a strong case for Emily Wilding Davison here:-
 
http://www.newstatesman.com/print/society/2013/05/emily-wilding-davison-was-not-mad-she-made-only-choice-she-could-bear

A new biography published recently reminded me about a real British wartime hero - Field Marshall Viscount Slim.  Between 1942 and 1945 he drove the Japanese army out of Burma. Whilst conducting a military offensive, he became of necessity a politician too under continuous criticism from Britain's Viceroy of India, Mountbatten. Only when Japan had been finally routed did the slippery Mountbatten claim credit for the success of Slim's campaign.

Uncle Bill: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal Viscount Slim by Russell Miller.  Weidenfeld & Nicolson £25

oftenwrong wrote:Show some respect for the woman who did more to uproot the established British way of life than either Julius Caesar or William of Normandy.

I suppose, to be fair, she did do for the UK - but it is taking a very long time to die!

If you want a hero who better than Keir Hardie, first elected to Parliament at the general election on 4 July 1892, 125 years ago today?


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DD57fEsXkAAjDWc.jpg

But so much has changed since 1906, except that the people with money always dictate the terms.

Maybe not very political - my hero is Elizabeth Fry, who went into prisons, and worked with the destitute prisoners awaiting execution, providing food, decent clothing and education to enable these people to have basic human dignity
Elizabeth Fry also helped the homeless, establishing a "nightly shelter" in London after seeing the body of a young boy in the winter of 1819/1820. In 1824, during a visit to Brighton, she instituted the Brighton District Visiting Society. The society arranged for volunteers to visit the homes of the poor and provide help and comfort to them. The plan was successful and was duplicated in other districts and towns across Britain.
Elizabeth Fry used her influential network and worked with other prominent Quakers to campaign for the abolition of the slave trade.
In 1840 Fry opened a training school for nurses. Her programme inspired Florence Nightingale, who took a team of Fry's nurses to assist wounded soldiers in the Crimean War.
In 1842, Frederick William IV of Prussia went to see Fry in Newgate Prison during an official visit to Great Britain. The King of Prussia, who had met the social reformer during her previous tours of the continent promoting welfare change and humanitarianism, was so impressed by her work that he told his reluctant courtiers that he would personally visit the gaol when he was in London.[7] Wikipedia extract

She is my hero - not a politician but a very influential humanitarian reformer