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TPQ
Kate Rice🔖 answers thirteen questions in Booker's Dozen.

 Reading Aloud And Allowed


TPQ: What are you currently reading?

KR: I’ve just started the ‘Shardlake’ series by C. J. Sansom. Mystery novels aren’t usually my kind of thing, so it’s a pleasant little change up.

TPQ: Best and worst books you have ever read?

KR: Worst book is a hard one for me because there’s definitely been a few times in my life where I’ve purposefully read those trashy sort of self-published smut books at the joking recommendation of a friend. Joke reads aside, the worst I’ve ever read was All Fours. Can I say that? I get the message but I just sort of felt embarrassed.

Best book, too many to name. Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler is my modern sort of guilty pleasure. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, though that’s a play. I Could Live Here Forever by Hannah Halperin, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - I can’t decide!

TPQ: Book most cherished as a child?

KR: For some reason I remember being really attached to this book called My Life with George by Judith Summers. It’s an autobiographical story about her dog George who she bought as a companion after losing her husband. I didn’t understand a lot of it as a child - I’d mostly just gotten it because there was a dog on the cover - but there was something within it that made me reread it a few times.

As a teenager I sort of attached myself to books like The Bell Jar and the Virgin Suicides. I felt it was very important to have books that were physical reminders - I was Girl in Pain. Very overdramatic, but great books.

TPQ: Favourite Childhood author?

KR: Jacqueline Wilson. No one was doing it like she was.

TPQ: First book to really own you?

KR: I have two - Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler and The Vegetarian by Han Kang. I read The Vegetarian as part of my university studies and was completely enraptured by it. It’s this incredible story about a woman who refuses to eat meat after she has a nightmare, but ends up devolving into some kind of psychosis. It’s told through the perspective of three other people - two of them being men in her life, and I think it’s such a stunning piece on womanhood and the use and abuse of the body as the last element of control over oneself.


Sweetbitter follows a 22 year old young woman moving to New York City from rural Ohio. She gets a job at this really upscale restaurant where everything is fast paced and everyone is on drugs. She meets this mysterious bartender and a senior server who are completely wrapped in one another, pseudo-incestuous, and she wants desperately to be part of their little private world. It’s just this fantastic exploration of food and the senses, sex, the subtle impact of child abuse. I recommend both these books to everyone.

TPQ: Favourite male and female author?

KR: Stephanie Danler, Donna Tartt, Louise Kennedy, Megan Nolan, Sylvia Plath, Han Kang, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - the list of female authors is endless.

Male authors I’m more hesitant towards after publicly admitting to liking Neil Gaiman pre-exposé. I like Arthur Miller’s work, George Orwell, Simon Stephens, Gabriel García Márquez.

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

KR: I do tend to lean more towards fiction, but I’ve been reading quite a lot of non-fiction recently. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo etc.

TPQ: Biography, autobiography or memoir that most impressed you?

KR: I read a few autobiographies when I was younger purely because I recognised the faces on the front. Miley Cyrus, Miranda Hart etc, but I wouldn’t say they stuck in my mind. I recently read a sort of memoir/biography based on the personal letters of Lord Byron, which was fascinating. Odd man.

TPQ: Any author or book you point blank refuse to read?

KR: Rowling. I read some as a child but I won’t give a second more attention to someone who disregards and vilifies an identity.

TPQ: A book to share with somebody so that they would more fully understand you?

KR: Stray by Stephanie Danler.


TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

KR: The two favourites I mentioned earlier, both to the same friend.

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

KR: That’s a hard one. There’s a few I’d like to see turned into films, but only if I’m starring in them and I get to pick who I star alongside. Anthony Boyle, call me.

TPQ: The just must - select one book you simply have to read before you close the final page on life.

KR: A book answering every question I’ve ever had in my life. Failing that, I suppose I’d like to read something I’ve actually ended up writing and publishing.

⏩Kate Rice is a peace baby.

Booker's Dozen 📚 Kate Rice

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Fifty Two

 

A Morning Thought @ 3126

Christopher Owens 🎵 with the 61sth in his Predominance series.

"We’re gonna die when the sun comes up. We'll drink until we drop/My blood is 100 proof...I’d rather drink than fuck”  -  Gang Green

Horns up 

New Horizons


dalek - Brilliance of a Falling Moon

Nearly 30 years on, the Newark hip-hop duo continue to put out noisy, abrasive and hard-hitting records. Obviously directing their ire at the Trump administration, ICE and the general state of America in the 21st century, dalek remind us that hip-hop is protest music. ‘Normalised Tragedy’ is the standout number here.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Corrosion of Conformity – Good God/Baad Man

For their first record since the death of drummer Reed Mullin and the departure of bassist Mike Dean, COC have given us an eclectic mix of punk/hardcore, southern style metal and nods to the likes of ZZ Top and Grand Funk Railroad, all delivered with a knowing wink to their fanbase. A bit odd, but it works.

Golden Oldies


Hawkwind - The Friday Rock Show Sessions

Recorded at the (then) unhip Reading Festival in 1986, this BBC recording finds Hawkwind in grand form. Although more akin to hard rock/metal then their classic space rock sound, the driving rhythms are still in place and the visceral appeal cannot be denied. Lemmy joining them for ‘Silver Machine’ is the cherry on top.



The Fall – Fall Heads Roll

After the critical success of 2003’s ‘Real New Fall LP’, Mark E. Smith and co delivered the first truly brilliant Fall album of the 21st century. The garage riffing on ‘What About Us’ and ‘Youwanner’ is inspired, ‘Blindness’ grooves like a bastard and the cover of The Move’s ‘I Can Hear the Grass Grow’ is genuinely sweet.



⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist and is the author of A Vortex of Securocrats and “dethrone god”.

Predominance 62

Open Democracy ★ Written by Sian Norris and Nic Murray.

Exclusive: Experts demand answers as we reveal prison staff increasingly use force to deal with mental health

Women in English prisons are being increasingly handcuffed, restrained or subjected to “pain-inducing techniques” by staff, including while pregnant or during hospital examinations, openDemocracy can reveal.

Prison guards’ use of force against women more than doubled in three years, rising from 3,268 incidents in 2021/22 to 6,932 in 2024/25, according to data we obtained from His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) under Freedom of Information laws. The government says such measures should be used only as “a last resort”.

Instances where a woman was physically restrained, which could include her being held face down to the floor, rose by 70% over that time period, while handcuff usage rose by 264%, from 502 occasions to 1,826.

“Use of force” against pregnant women also increased, with 11 cases in 2024/25. It is not clear from the data whether this includes non-contact interventions such as positive communication, and HMPPS refused to answer questions on this, although such techniques would usually fall under “de-escalation” rather than “use of force”. 

Continue @ Open Democracy.

Restrained, Handcuffed And In Pain 🪶 Use Of Force In Women’s Prisons Doubles

Gearóid Ó Loingsigh ☭ writing in Substack on 23-April-2026..

Foto: GOL, Nariño, Colombia

A new president will take power next August 7th. It is expected that it will be Iván Cepeda, though his victory is not in the bag yet. There is still a chance the extreme right-winger De La Espriella, the lawyer for the corrupt, drug barons and paramilitaries, may win. In the case of Cepeda being the new president the deadlock in the dialogues between the insurgency of the ELN and the state may be solved. In such a situation the drugs issues will once again be spoken of.

We already know from his repeated statements on the issue that the president, Gustavo Petro knows nothing about it. Time and again he has said things that are just simply not true, a subject I have dealt with in previous articles.[1] In July 2022, the ELN made a public declaration on drug trafficking and their disassociation from the industry, reproducing a letter sent to the Global Commission on Drugs Policy.[2] This commission argues for a human rights focus and changes in the paradigm preferring regulation over prohibition and it also argues for harm reduction amongst consumers. It is made up of former presidents, including those of Colombia, such as Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) and Cesar Gaviria (1990-1994) whose neoliberal policies played a decisive role in the expansion of illicit crops in the country. It is also includes the former president of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) and former diplomats and businessmen like Richard Branson, a topic I will deal with further on.[3] At that time the ELN made various proposal on criminal policy, health and other things without any deep development of them. Recently the ELN once again made its position on drug trafficking public. As was to be expected they disassociated themselves from the issue and once again stated that it was not the position of the ELN to be involved in any of the stages of the production and commercialisation of cocaine. Thus far fine, but the document contains various statements that are problematic in terms of understanding the issue of drug trafficking. It asserts that:

Drug trafficking is one of the main economic activities that guarantees a widespread reproduction of capital, with high rates of profit and is totally controlled by the USA and its three international agencies, DEA, CIA and FBI. Furthermore, the USA has proclaimed itself to be the supreme judge to issue moral verdicts on drug trafficking that allows them to condemn, certify or absolve people or countries according to their economic, political or military interests.[4]

Without doubt illicit drugs are an important industry and play a role in the world economy, but its weight should not be exaggerated. Drug trafficking represents less than 1% of world GDP. As the UN points out in its World Drugs Report“Although the largest illegal incomes from drug trafficking are generated in destination markets, they only represent a small proportion of the national economies of relatively high-income countries.”[5] Less than 0.5% in the case of Europe, and in some cases it even contributes less than interdiction efforts or treatment.

Of course there are regions where it has greater weight. For example in Afghanistan, drug trafficking accounted for 25% of GDP in 2023(Between USD 4.6 and 5.9 billion).[6] The legal drugs market, however, is larger than that of illicit ones. If we are talking about the accumulation of wealth the pharmaceutical sector moves more money globally and the development of its products is subsidised when not wholly financed by the states and they receive a patent on the product that eliminates or substantially reduces competition depending on the pharmaceutical. In 2023, the sales of pharmaceuticals amounted to USD, 1.6 trillion compared to around USD 650 billion from illicit drugs with a profit rate of between 40% and 90% depending on the pharmaceutical.[7] It is worth pointing out that given that it is an illegal industry and clandestine the figures for the illicit drugs are calculations and there are differences between the sources cited, but in general terms they all indicate that the legal industries are many times more larger than the illegal industries.

Another industry that is very profitable and a lot more so than drug trafficking are the arms industries and military expenditure. In 1961, General Eisenhower retired from public life passing the presidency on to Kennedy. In his farewell speech he warned about the rise of what he termed the military industrial complex.[8] But he was no pacifist and he was not opposed to arming nor using weapons, but he looked on with concern at the development of that industry. Nowadays, a modern Eisenhower would have to say that we have reached the point he feared. Global military spending in 2025 was USD 2.63 trillion. Of that the USA represented USD 921 billion, China 531.4 billion, Russia 523.6 billion followed by Germany with 107.3 billion and Great Britain with 94.3 billion. The military GDP is equivalent to the GDP of all the countries of Africa combined. Extreme poverty could be ended with just over 10% of that. It is clear that the war industry is the main one and just like the pharmaceutical one it receives juicy subsidies and state contracts.

The businesspeople of the world, including drug traffickers and the banks that launder their assets take part in that industry. Not only do the capitalists of the powerful countries do so, but also almost those from nearly all countries in the world. Colombia is not an exception to that. In 2024, Petro’s government allocated USD 7.73 billion for military expenditure and USD 8.09 billion in 2025, representing about 1.9% of GDP, far from the contribution of illicit drugs. It is worth pointing out that despite the existence of the state company Indumil, Colombia buys its most expensive weapons such as planes and boats and does not manufacture them. Though Petro has begun to change that. And this brings us to the role and contribution of drug trafficking in Colombia’s GDP. According to the ELN:

In Colombia due to a policy decision of the state drug trafficking became the main economic activity (bold not in original) and being the main global exporter of cocaine it has fused the main national economic business groups with transnational capital and finances the paramilitaries to carry out the antisubversive war and state terrorism.[9]

Let’s start with the easiest part which is actually true. Yes, it is true that drugs trafficking financed paramilitarism in Colombia. It an historical fact and I would say, a current one that cannot be denied. Though it is not clear what the ELN means by the expression “a decision of state policy” and how it made drug trafficking the main economic activity in the country, nor how it fused national economic groups with international capital, other than criminal groups. The insertion of the Colombian bourgeoisie in the world economy is an historic constant, it is neither new nor recent. Of course, Cesar Gaviria’s economic aperture of 1992 accelerated and strengthened it. But to say that drug trafficking is the main economic activity of the country, makes no sense. It is an important economic activity. But the Colombian economy is more diverse than drug trafficking. The illicit drugs industry represents 4.2% of Colombian GDP. It is very important, but when we compare it to other sectors of the economy, we see that the ELN does not take into account the most basic data on the issue. Its contribution has varied over time. As Portafolio reported.

For Daniel Mejía, professor of the Andes University, the impact of this reality is that the weight of drug trafficking in the Colombian economy is more than 4%, an historic high. “ In 2008 that proportion was equivalent to 2.3% of GDP and five years later it fell to its lowest point, 1.2%.[10]

Moreover, according to the DANE (National Administrative Statistical Department), the information and communications sector contributes 4.22% of real GDP, manufacturing industries 19.03%, and commerce, transport, hotel and food sector 34%. The ELN’s analysis of the role of drug trafficking in the economy is cursory, perhaps because it is just a declaration, but it is completely wrong.

Foto: GOL, Sur de Bolívar, Colombia.

Amongst the sloganeering statements is the conspiranoic vision that the drugs industry is “totally controlled by the USA and its three main transnational agencies: DEA, CIA and FBI”. It has been more than proven the times these agencies have taken part in the drugs trade such as the Iran-Contra scandal, or the tolerance of opium when the Taliban were the USA’s friends, or the de facto acceptance of the laundering of assets and the lack of punishment for the same when the banks are caught red handed. They go no further than just fining them. The fines are significant but are a minor percentage of all the money laundered. Amongst the banks fined for money laundering are Credit Suisse USD 536 million in 2009; Barclays USD 298 million in 2010; ING USD 619 million in 2012,; Standard Chartered USD 330 million in 2012 and a further USD 1,1 billion in 2019; BNP Paribas USD 8.9 billion in 2014 and Deutsche Bank USD 258 million in 2015.[11] I do not discount the role of the industry and sectors of the US capitalist class or the state itself, but to go from that to declaring that the industry is 100% controlled by the US government is saying a lot. For example, ecstasy, or MDMA as it is technically known, is manufactured in the Netherlands and Belgium , both members of the European Union and also NATO. Does the USA control that production? Furthermore, 86% of seized precursor chemicals used in the manufacture of ecstasy were confiscated in the Netherlands, many of them stolen in Germany according to the European Union Drugs Agency.[12] Almost all the acids used in the manufacture of cocaine in Colombia come from Germany. Does the USA control that also?

One last aspect of the declaration is that “the USA has proclaimed itself as the supreme judge to issue moral verdicts on drug trafficking that allows them to condemn, certify or absolve people or countries according to their economic, political or military interests.” Without a doubt it acts in this manner, it is beyond dispute, except that it does so under the cover of international treaties from the United Nations itself, such as the Single Convention of 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, and the Vienna Convention of 1988 i.e. it is the UN which gives the US power to take measures against drug trafficking and although the USA is the most powerful country that exercises that power and it is the largest market for many (though not all) drugs, it is not by far the only country in the world that takes steps, though it is the only one that attacks and kills in the war on drugs. Other countries take measures against individuals, companies etc. Of course the difference is that the US does it as part of its domestic and foreign policy and as a measure to bring pressure to bear on issues not related to drug trafficking, but at all times it does so under the auspices of international treaties and the UN.

The ELN proposals regarding what to do are better, though they are brief. The ELN proposes a break with the prohibitionist model and to treat the problem as a public health issue, just like many organisations around the world call for. They also argue for a non-criminal treatment for other links in the production chain and talk of crop substitution. Some organisations and social-democrat NGOs have questioned the state’s crop substitution model. The peasant did not get the wrong crop and some NGOs acknowledge this and make proposals on the issue. However, they ignore a large part of the problem: neoliberalism. One of the problems with substitution is that it seeks to locate the peasant within the global economy as a supplier of prime materials, i.e. they seek to deepen the process that bankrupted the countryside in the first place and that the country be a pantry of exotic crops for Europe and the US: the cash crops of all the Colombian governments, including Petro’s.

It would seem the ELN is not thinking along those lines as it asks to bring forward “substitution plans with products from each region” whilst Petro seeks to promote cash crops. It would be interesting for the ELN to develop this aspect of their proposal, as after more than 60 years in the mountains, it cannot settle for a brief statement. The FARC with all their arrogance went into negotiate an accord whose point four dealt with the issue of drugs. Its accord was dreadful and negotiated behind closed doors. If the ELN is serious it has to have a serious debate with data and analysis and detailed proposals and to do that they have to choose better interlocutors than that so called Global Commission. Within its ranks are criminals chosen from amongst the governors of the world and high ranking functionaries such as the deceased General Secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan i.e. those who implemented the prohibitionist regime that the ELN criticises. It is not a real commission, but rather a group of former diplomats and politicians seeking relevance in the world. Talking to them is like talking to the states. It would be more interesting to talk to organisations and bodies that have actually criticised the war on drugs. Also one of the current commissioners is the controversial billionaire Richard Branson, a man of no ethics and a privatiser of the health system in Great Britain. He is not exactly a person who argues for treating the drugs issue as a public health issue as his record is to seek to generate private profit from health problems in the world. The sum of the value of his contracts with the health system in Great Britain runs into the billions of pounds.[13]

This NGO is not a valid partner, it is a commission of capitalists that want to influence the debate on drugs in an attempt to define where the debate goes and guarantee the participation of private capital in any proposal for change. They want to ensure that any change to the prohibitionist regime is profitable. It is undignified that the ELN has a relationship with them and not other bodies that are concerned about people’s welfare and not the profits of private companies.

It is a poor proposal , but one that they are in time to make a better one that is serious, rigorous and is worth discussing. How drug trafficking is characterised is important as it influences the proposals for change, who you talk to and on what basis. The participation of civil society cannot include people like Branson nor former Colombian presidents such as Santos and Gaviria.

References

[1] For example, see Ó Loingsigh, G. (23/09/2023) Fentanyl, Coca and Drug Policy. 

[2] ELN (2022) Propuesta para una política antidrogas 

[3] See.

[4] ELN (2026) Para la superación del narcotráfico. 

[5] UN (2025) Key Findings World Drug Report 2025. UN. Vienna. p.82 

[6] Ibíd.

[7] Capital Cell (07/04/2025) Big Pharma vs. the Drug Cartels. Daniel Oliver. 

[8] See his speech at en 

[9] Capital Cell Op. Cit.

[10] Portafolio (02/06/2024) Análisis: ¿cuánto representa el narcotráfico en la economía colombiana en el 2024?. Ricardo Ávila. 

[11] Investopedia (12/10/2025) HSBC Money Laundering Scandal: A Case Study in Compliance Failures. Marc L. Ross. 

[12] EUDA (2025) Overview of MDMA production in Europe. 

[13] See.

⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist with extensive experience in Latin America.

Drugs, Peace And The Economy 🪶 A Critique Of The ELN

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Fifty One

 

A Morning Thought @ 3125

Michael Phillips ✍ How many touts does it take to change a lightbulb? 

Just one—but only if there’s a spotlight on them while they do it.

In recent years, a pattern has emerged as new stories slip past the censors: being outed once no longer seems enough to damage a reputation. If anything, some lean into it.

Once, touts, informers, rats—and even paedos (a stretch in the past, but no longer)—were the scourge of Republican areas. Families of those exposed could barely show their faces. Meanwhile, being a ‘dissident’—the hardliners of the period—was seen as naughty but necessary, tolerated for putting their cojones on the line for good ole Éire. Now, those roles appear to have been cleverly reversed.

How so? Prominent touts today are not only kept within the Republican fold but rewarded: comfy jobs, public roles, meetings with presidents, trips to Washington. Agent Jude and Agent Shirley Temple, for instance, have held prestigious positions despite their past being widely known. When former comrades questioned them, the ‘dissident’ label was swiftly deployed to silence critics. ‘Friends’ have a word in their ear.

We’re not yet at the point where touts are falling from the trees, and those at the top still manage the narrative with care. But there’s a growing restlessness—a sense that people won’t be fooled forever.

Because the truth is simple: touts don’t change. They are driven by self-preservation, ambition, and exploitation. Having survived the worst of the Troubles, many now feel emboldened—confident enough to let it all show.

More troubling still is the failure of those who know better. Time and again, warnings have been ignored. Agents Jude and Shirley Temple have never been held accountable; they continue to enjoy political protection. At the very least, they should be expelled, condemned, and publicly ostracized—not quietly shuffled around like paedo priests.

But—and it’s a big but—there remains a chance to correct these failures.

If such agents are fully exposed, it could begin to restore faith in what remains of true Republicanism—a truth many of us ex-POWs are too proud, or too embarrassed, to admit we were once misled about.

 ⏩Michael Phillips is a former republican prisoner.  Keep up with his work.

Touts Are The New Hardliners

Ukraine Solidarity Group ✊ A Digest of News from Ukrainian Sources ⚔ 20-April-2026.

In this week’s bulletin

⬤  Davyd Chychkan remembered.
⬤  Bakhmut town.
⬤ Housing in Ukraine.
⬤ Children abducted by Russia.
⬤ How Russia took over Ukrainian schools.
⬤ Occupation summary

News from the territories occupied by Russia

Russia brings cynical new criminal charges against Crimean Tatar political prisoner with malignant brain tumour (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 20th)

Terror unrelenting as Russian courts uphold 15-year sentences for ‘treason’ against an invader (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 20th)

55-year-old from Russian-occupied Skadovsk sentenced to 12 years for supporting Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 17th)

The Face of Resistance: The Story of Ukrainian Sailor Volodymyr Dudka (Crimea Platform April 17th)

Occupation via education: how Russia took over Ukrainian schools (New Eastern Europe, April 16)

Berdiansk pastor and volunteer sentenced by the Russians to 22 years for fictitious 'act of sabotage' (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 15th)

Russian occupation ‘court’ passes massive sentences in bulk for donations to Ukraine’s defenders (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 14th)

Weekly update on the situation in occupied Crimea (Crimea Platform, April 14th)

Life Under Occupation (Alter Pravo, March 2026)

News from the front

Meat grinders with VPNs: how Russia’s telegram blockade is hampering army (The Insider, 16 April)

Ukraine’s middle strike: hitting targets 300km behind Russian front lines (The Insider, 15 April)

The US citizen who went to Russian and Ukrainian army recruitment offices (iStories, 13 April)

Russians kill their own wounded captured soldiers during "ceasefire" in Donetsk Oblast – video (Ukrainska Pravda, April 12th)

News from Ukraine

Research findings: rental housing in Ukraine (Cedos, 17 April)

In memoriam Davyd Chychkan (Solidarity Collectives, 15 April)

From brutal occupation to brazen recruitment: Russia turns Bucha residents against their own (The Guardian, April 12th)

War-related news from Russia

Children abducted from occupied Ukraine 'offered' on state adoption site in Russia (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 17th)

Putin rubberstamped indefinite imprisonment without charges for opposing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 16th)

Reforms will leave parts of Russia without the internet (iStories, 14 April)

Artist Andrey Akuzin dies by suicide in pre-trial detention (Mediazona, 14 April)

Is Daria Egereva a terrorist? (The Russian Reader, 6 April)

International solidarity

Online Meeting Held with the Mother of Crimean Political Prisoner Appaz Kurtamet and the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (Crimea Platform, April 16th)

In Bakhmut town: a tribute to fallen fighters (Soundcloud, 2024)

    

🔴This bulletin is put together by labour movement activists in solidarity with Ukrainian resistance. More information at Ukraine Information Group.

We are also on twitter. Our aim is to circulate information in English that to the best of our knowledge is reliable. If you have something you think we should include, please send it to 2U022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com.


We are now on Facebook and Substack! Please subscribe and tell friends. Better still, people can email us at 2022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com, and we’ll send them the bulletin direct every Monday. The full-scale Russian assault on Ukraine is going into its third year: we’ll keep information and analysis coming, for as long as it takes.

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News From Ukraine 💣 Bulletin 192

Caoimhin O’Muraile  ☭ Not too many decades ago a game called Association Football was very popular in working-class communities. 

The game in those days was, to quote the late great Bill Shankly, “not a matter of life and death. It is much more serious than that”. It was a working-class game played to a set of rules and principles which had generally served well for over 100 years. 

The game itself in those days was different, more entertaining, cultural and we ruled the terracing. The game was refereed by human beings and not the modern fucked up VAR. The referee’s decision, no matter how contentious, was final which is how it should be. We were always told ‘play to the refs whistle’ and nothing else because he’s the only man who “matters”. In today’s version of football – not the genuine article, far from it – it is impossible to use this age-old rule of thumb of playing to the ‘refs whistle’ because nine times out of ten it is not the final decision. Today the referee is regularly called over to the VAR monitor to review his decision and usually overrules himself on the orders of some other official in a hotel room watching the game with a very expensive piece of equipment called ‘Video Assisted Refereeing’ which should stand for ‘Video Automated Refereeing’. Only once have I seen a referee have the balls to tell VAR what to do with their interpretation of his decision and that was a game between Man City and Wolves. The ref, Farai Hallam, turned down the ‘VAR review’ and refused City a penalty. He was later judged correct by the Key Match Incident panel. The subject of VAR is for another day as there are many other aspects of the modern game which are ruining everything apart from making huge profits for a few people.

One major issue for me which ruins the culture of the modern equivalent of football is the all-seater stadia. This came into force after 97 Liverpool fans were victims of corporate murder, in my opinion, at an FA Cup Semi-Final in 1989. The establishment used this, pre-planned or otherwise, tragedy to impose all seater regulations on top flight clubs. This was despite the Taylor Report into the disaster exonerating terracing of playing any part in these deaths. Yet the powers that be still went ahead with imposing all seater stadia and prices rocketed as did profits. This may have been what Hillsborough was really all about, increasing profits which unfortunately cost 97 football fans their lives. 

At last the establishment have control over the what was once terracing as seats are far easier to police than were standing areas! Back in the day of terracing what has become called ‘Tailgating’ was quite common and unofficially tolerated to a point. This was when one person would pay and his/her mate would go through the turnstile at the same time getting as close to the paying fan as possible. This resulted in only one supporter registering when in fact two had gone through. This was costing the big clubs -  now businesses not football clubs in their true sense - money, profits! All seater stadia made this ‘tailgating’ less practical because even if another none paying fan gains entry into the ground only one supporter can occupy the seat. Not so on the terracing where as many as an extra thousand may have gained entry without paying at many grounds including Old Trafford and Anfield. 

The establishment have finally taken control of the stadia as ‘Tailgating’ is now against the law to protect profits. On 16th April the Irish Daily Mirror could triumphantly report “Bans For Tailgaters” explaining how “Two individuals have been given banning orders after breaking a new tailgating law at last month’s Carabao Cup Final at Wembley”. Because these fans had gained entry to the stadium without paying to watch their team, either Arsenal or Man City, and cost money and profits they received three-year banning orders. I hope they refuse to pay their fines in one case £1,862 the other £471. I wonder what the fine would have been for entering a not-for-profit event without paying, an event where the bourgeoisie do not profit from?

Back in the sixties and seventies until fences were erected at first division grounds young fans could be seen on the pitch before and after the game hoping in many cases to get a player’s autograph or shake hands with their favourite. Viewers watching Match of the Day or The Big Match may recall such scenes with the tacit approval of the commentator, David Coleman, Barry Davies for Match of the Day or Brian Moore for ITVs The Big Match. I watched The Big Match Revisited on Saturday 18th April a game at White Hart Lane between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in 1970. Before the game young fans were on the pitch and George Best was shaking their hands. To these young supporters this was probably the highlight of the day. Today these young fans would be branded as ‘hooligans’ by the sycophant commentators presenting the modern football shows. 

Another piece of culture destroyed as fans today obediently sit in their little plastic buckets drinking their coffee. Who ever heard of taking a flask of coffee to a football match? Another negative in today’s game is time added on which can be up to ten minutes with all the fucking around with VAR. First the referee has to view the monitor if ordered to do so, he should just ignore it, then, after reconsidering his decision overrules himself as instructed. All this time is added on at the end of the game and what was once 3-5 minutes injury time calculated by the referee becomes ten minutes as decided by the ‘fourth official’.

The makeup of fans at many bigger grounds has also undergone a huge sea change. Many supporters do not come from the locality of the team playing and evidence of this can be found in a survey conducted by Liverpool FC in 2016. In this survey it was found only 47% of those attending games at Anfield had a Liverpool postal address, meaning 53% came from elsewhere. In a similar survey conducted by the club it was found of the 27,000 season ticket holders at Anfield only 5,832 or 21.6% had Liverpool postcodes. In comparison to this figure 25,647 or 81.1% of Everton’s 30,500 season ticket holders had Merseyside post codes. Notable to see it is the more successful of the two clubs, Liverpool, who attract the most hangers on, tourists. 

On my last visit to Old Trafford before the Glazers legally stole the club, I noticed an increase in supporters not from Manchester. Back in the seventies and eighties United always commanded a good support from elsewhere, London (Cockney Reds), Yorkshire, South Wales, Scotland, Ireland and a regular small contingent from Norway. These would account for around 20% of those attending Old Trafford with the bulk of support coming from Manchester later, after boundary changes, Greater Manchester. 

The difference between supporters from elsewhere back then and now is regularity. Supporters from Yorkshire, London, Ireland and even Norway would be as regular as the lads from Colyhurst or Salford whereas today with the season ticket culture fans from elsewhere tend to be different people every week. The owner of the season ticket lends out his/her seat in the event they cannot make the game. This results in people not getting to know each other as was previously the case. In the days of standing accommodation season tickets were not issued for these areas at Old Trafford and fans could purchase a League Match Ticket Book which was a similar standing equivalent to an ST. Back then only regular fans would purchase an LMTB and lending out the book was rare if ever because the user would be going to the match themselves. This habit of lending out the ST has resulted in fans at Old Trafford, Anfield, and the Etihad, home of Man City, not knowing any of the old songs usually, in the case of United fans, written by the supporters themselves. Many United chants came from popular ballads and folk songs of the day such as 'the Merry Ploughboy' an Irish republican song. Liverpool FC attempt to replicate the once highly vocal Spion Kop by playing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before the game. The voice singing this is a recording of Gerry Marsden with a few in the stands joining in.

It is a poor shadow of the former Kop with scarves aloft. As United fans used popular ballads to base their chants Liverpool ‘Kopites’ used the Merseybeat a popular music culture in Liverpool to base their songs. Either way it was our game, they were our songs, and our culture. The two most successful clubs in England, Manchester United and Liverpool, appear to attract the most tourists. Since 2012 when Man City won their first so-called Premier League title the number of tourists attending the Etihad has increased with the team’s continued success. City crowds at Maine Road fluctuated always lower than United’s from between 25,000 to 40,000. Many of these genuine fans, though not all, refuse to attend the Etihad because it is not City. Many fans who watch City since their success began are tourists. Everton beware if you ever become a success it may be your turn for tourist attention as Arsenal in London discovered. One thing is for sure the clubs we followed through thick and thin no longer require our presence, Man Utd are a prime example as the club call supporters ‘customers’. It is possible today to support the team but not the club and the owners, the Glazers facilitated this unwittingly.

Fans back then made all the pre-match entertainment themselves. If the Stretford End was full then entry to the Scoreboard End was the norm with the object of running the gauntlet of policemen trying to cross the pitch onto the desired Stretford End terraces. The chanting would begin about 2pm on an average game earlier if we were playing City or Liverpool. With scarves aloft those in the seating sections could be seen taking photos with their cameras of the scene on the Stretford End, a mass of red and white. Today Americanisation has taken over the pre-match entertainment with some burke on a microphone trying to sing once popular terrace chants while encouraging supporters to join in. This was not the way things were done, it is all phoney these days. 

As the teams emerge from the tunnel at many grounds huge bursts of flames fire skywards and American style lightly clad cheer girls dance waving batons. I shudder to think the chants which would have been heard from the terracing about these young girls back in the day! If you were not there it is difficult to paint a picture, just take my word for it, they were great times at the match. It seems with the blink of an eye the game of football died and I often wonder; where did it all go?

Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist.

Where Did It All Go?

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Fifty

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