Obituary: Lewis Hopkin (2002)

Obituary from the June 2002 issue of the Socialist Standard

Swansea branch are saddened to have to report the death of comrade Lewis Hopkin at the end of April. Lewis was born in 1933 and joined the Socialist Party in Swansea in 1959. When he went to London to study as a mature student at the London School of Economics he transferred to the old Wood Green and Hornsey branch. He later moved to Salford where he worked as a lecturer in sociology at the local polytechnic and was an active member at different times of both Eccles branch and Manchester branch.

He had been born on a farm near Swansea and was a native Welsh-speaker (he translated the only article so far to have appeared in the Socialist Standard in Welsh in July 1969 on the occasion of Charles Windsor being declared Prince of Wales). He remained a farmer at heart, eventually moving to a farm in Anglesey and giving up lecturing. He later moved back to South Wales to the farm where he had been born and where he was buried in a rare public display in a Welsh village of non-belief in god and religion.

Lewis was an occasional contributor to the Socialist Standard over the past 40 years, his last article appearing as recently as February this year. In this he reaffirmed that the working class, properly understood, remains the agent of change from capitalism to socialism. On his return to South Wales and to the branch he first joined he had enthusiastic plans for renewed activity, both in his own reading and writing and in the organisation of meetings. But the cancer he had suffered from for a number of years finally prevented this.

We extend our sympathy to his wife Ann, also a member, to their four children and to the other members of his family.

Branch News (1963)

Party News from the August 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

To give full details of the amazing work being done by “Our Man in Cornwall” would fill a whole issue of the Socialist Standard. Here we can report only briefly the activities of our comrade in St. Austell, St. Blazey, Callington, Looe, Bodmin, Liskeard, Wadebridge, Rylla Mill (Village Fair), Par, Saltash and Torpoint. He is circulating our literature throughout the West Country. Think of all the work involved in getting from place to place, talking to workers, attending political meetings, day in and day out, sending lengthy reports to Head Office. Our comrade can have little time for rest—his leisure is propagating Socialism. Due to an illness, this member was prescribed a diet, but this does not explain his recent loss of weight from 13½ stones to 11½ stones. He comments that he feels fine and hopes that before long, new branches will be formed in the West Country. When this happens, the work he has done will have speeded the day.

After 20 years existence as Ealing Branch and 10 years in its meeting place near Eating Broadway, the Branch has changed both its meeting place and its name. Over the years, particularly after the promotion of Wembley Branch, many members have gravitated away from Ealing and it has become inescapable that a move nearer the centre of London would be generally more convenient. And so the die has been cast! The Branch is now the West London Branch and meets at Westcott Lodge, Lower Mall, Hammersmith, a few minutes’ walk from Hammersmith Broadway. All members have been informed of the new meeting place and it is hoped that many of those who found the journey to Ealing too inconvenient will be able to attend the new premises. more easily. A cordial invitation is also extended to those members formerly belonging to Fulham Branch, and to all other members and sympathisers resident in the area.

The Branch is also optimistic that the new meeting place will be a convenient point of contact for sympathisers from the outdoor meetings at Earls Court. These have been very successful so far, the weather has been generally kind, with good audiences and literature sales. It is hoped to follow up this activity with a particularly wide range of lectures, discussions, and film shows during the winter season.

Wood Green and Hornsey Branch have been active in Tottenham. Branch members attended a film-show organised by Tottenham C.N.D. and effectively criticised C.N.D. policy before an audience of 50 people. This criticism was repeated in a letter printed in the local press. The Branch was also invited to send a speaker to the Tottenham Young Socialists and a comrade addressed an audience of over 50 who showed great interest. A further address is being arranged on the subject of C.N.D. Please note change of branch address in the Branch Directory.

Camberwell Branch, with the Propaganda Committee has organised at Battersea Town Hall on Wednesday, August 14th at 7.30. Title and full details advertised in this issue. All available comrades should make every endeavour to support this meeting by bringing along friends, selling literature and as much cash for the collection as they can afford.

The title of the meeting is Labourism or Socialism. Comrades C. May and D. McCarthy are the speakers. Battersea Town Hall is near Clapham Junction.

World Socialist Party of Ireland. Good work is being done in Belfast. The members are holding a Seven Days for Socialism during, the third week in September. The idea is to devote an entire week to Socialist propaganda work. The Branch members will canvass the Socialist Standard and Western Socialist with a suitable leaflet. At least two outdoor and one indoor meetings will be held. The Branch is contesting Duncain and Shankhill Wards in the Municipal elections next May and the week of propaganda will be held in these areas and will be the start of the election campaign. An election fund will be opened and candidates will be selected in September.

Armagh Branch continues with its canvassing with good results. Press advertisements inserted in Dublin, Belfast, Portadown and Armagh have brought in good results and it is expected that the results shown from Dublin will help Comrades to become even more active.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs (1957)

Party News from the April 1957 issue of the Socialist Standard

Annual Conference is being held once again at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, on Friday. Saturday and Sunday, April 19th, 20th, and 21st, commencing 11a.m. (Sat. 2.30 p.m.) Every effort is being made to ensure that a good delegation is present to discuss the work of the Party during the past year. Apart from work to be done and plans for future Party activity discussed, members have a good opportunity of meeting Comrades from the Provinces and other London Branches and making Conference a social venue. A dance and social will be held on the Saturday evening; a good dance band has been engaged and it now rests with Comrades and friends to enjoy themselves at this annual Party event.

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Lewisham Branch has organised a series of four meetings to make known in greater detail the “Socialist View on Four Burning Issues,” the plan for a European Common Market; the South African Racial Problem; the Rent Bill and the Cost of Living. Not a week goes by but that these issues the subject matter of thousands of words, both printed and spoken through Press and Radio. These meetings will set those problems in their true perspective, evaluating carefully the interests at stake, and stating plainly what action is necessary to bring about a lasting solution. Although the meetings do not commence until May, the Branch Organiser and Branch members are anxious that members should know well in advance in order that they may advertise the meetings among their friends.

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Comrade T. P. Gibbs. We regret to learn that this Comrade from Tottenham Branch died at the end of January. Comrade Gibbs had been an active member of the Branch until his death, having joined the Party in 1908. He was always relied upon to undertake any Branch work that was within his powers, helping to build up and maintain the regular sales of the Socialist Standard. He was also the Dues Secretary of the Branch.

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Comrade R. C. Walker, of Vancouver, Canada, is recovering from a serious illness and is at present unable to supply his Vancouver contacts with Party Literature. We understand that other Comrades are being contacted to carry on this work and meanwhile we wish Comrade Walker a very speedy recovery to good health.

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At the time of going to press, the Wood Green and Hornsey Branch were discussing the question of contesting the Hornsey bye-election. In any case a publicity drive is under way in the area. Members, especially speakers, living near enough to help, should call at the branch on Thursday evening or contact the Wood Green and Hornsey Organiser at Head Office on Tuesday evenings.

Members are urged to give the fullest possible support to this campaign as from this activity we hope to build an organisation to co-ordinate North London publicity that will make our aims familiar throughout this area.

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Sunday Evening Film Shows at Head Office. The last two meetings of this season are being held. The Organisers report that the series has been most successful and they look forward to “ bigger and better ” shows next Autumn. The meetings have been well attended and good discussions have taken place after the showing of the films.

Phyllis Howard

Branch News (1963)

Party News from the July 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

With excellent sales of the May Socialist Standard plus sunny weather, comrades in many branches are greatly stimulated and are very busy keeping the circulation figures high. Canvassers are out regularly and in many instances are having record successes. Our roving salesman in the West Country reports "bumper” sales of Socialist Standards and pamphlets during his travels in Cornwall. In addition he distributes Party leaflets.

Ealing Branch. The outdoor meetings at Earls Court have got off to a promising start, with reasonable weather, good audiences, and encouraging literature sales. All members are asked for their support to these meetings which are held every Thursday evening at 8 pm. Will members kindly note that the Branch will, as usual, be closing down for a brief recess this summer. There will as a result, be no meetings on Fridays during July.

Lunch-time meetings at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. These are held between one and two o'clock and the meetings are well attended, and if literature sellers supported the meetings they will be assured of excellent results. Literature is always available at the meetings, it only needs a few members to spare a little of their lunch hour to sell it!

Bloomsbury Branch will meet as usual during July but will close during August as Conway Hall is closed for that month. Wood Green & Hornsey Branch has changed its branch meeting place, full details in the Branch directory. From this month the addresses of the Branches and Head Office of the World Socialist Party of Ireland will appear regularly in the Socialist Standard which is now the official Journal of the WSPI as well as the SPGB.

With the arrival of the May Socialist Standard, Wembley Branch stepped up their canvassing. Manpower was limited, unfortunately, but despite this, three canvasses were run and over six dozen extra copies sold, this time in Fulham. The Branch will visit the area again later, for obviously there is plenty of scope here and it was most encouraging to see how well the May issue sold. The Branch has kept busy in other ways, too. There was a public meeting on "Housing” in May and a film show scheduled for June 24th—title: “Nine Centuries of Coal." The outdoor season started in June, with meetings at Earls Court every other Friday. Two propaganda trips to Southsea have also been planned, one in June and one in August. 

Please note.—There will be no branch meetings on July 8th and 15th—holidays!

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs (1957)

Party News from the July 1957 issue of the Socialist Standard

London Propaganda. A series of indoor meetings are being arranged to be held in many parts of London it is to be hoped in Ealing. East Ham North. Lambeth, etc., in addition to the meetings held in June at Denison House. More details will appear in the next issue of the Standard. The Propaganda Committee is planning these meetings on an extensive scale, and the areas affected will be well supported by the local branches. The last of the series will be at the time of the Autumn Delegate Meeting.

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Ealing Branch has taken over responsibility for the outdoor station at Gloucester Road (8 p.m. on Wednesdays). First experiences have been very encouraging, and meetings have been well attended, with good literature sales. Members are asked to support the branch in this venture, which promises well.

Sunday, 16th June, was a very pleasant and successful occasion for the Branch. A visit was made to the Wallace Collection in the afternoon, followed by a social in the evening at a member’s house.

The first propaganda trip this year to Southsea will be taking place in July, and there will probably be a second visit in September.

Will all members note that as many members will be away on holiday during August, it has been decided to close down the branch for three weeks; i.e., 16th, 23rd and 30th August.

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Swansea. During the Whitsun week-end a London member visited our Comrades in Swansea, the idea being to hold some outdoor propaganda meetings. Unfortunately the weather decided not to co-operate, but despite a cold, windy evening on Saturday and rain on Sunday, two fairly successful open-air meetings were held. Sixteen current Socialist Standards were sold and a number of back issues and leaflets, Introducing the Party, were given away. An indoor address was planned for friends and sympathisers, but due to the bad weather only members turned up, and they held a useful discussion on Parliamentary activity.

The week-end, however, was pleasurable and worthwhile. It is hoped to arrange a full week's propaganda before the end of the summer.

The members of Swansea Group are keen and hardworking, and are planning a canvassing drive for the Socialist Standard in the near future.

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Wood Green and Hornsey Branch challenged Lyn Mostyn (Labour) and Lady Gammans (Conservative candidates—in the Hornsey by-election—to appear on Socialist Party’s platform at Rokesley School, Hornsey, to state their views in opposition to the S.P.G.B.

Mr. Mostyn replied that owing to pressure of by-election work he was busy and could not attend. No reply was received from Lady Gammans.

Neither Mr. Mostyn nor Lady Gammans appeared, although the challenge was published in the Hornsey Journal, and our challenge letter had indicated that their representatives would be welcome instead if they were busy.

However the meeting was held by us and was well attended.

Indoor and outdoor (Muswell Hill Broadway) meetings will be held during the summer.

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News From Glasgow (City and Kelvingrove Branches).— “We don’t deal in emotion and sentimentality; we adopt a scientific attitude,” quoted the Glasgow Herald. The speaker was Comrade Shaw, addressing an interested audience in Queen’s Park Recreation Grounds on May Day. While Comrade Shaw was presenting the revolutionary proposition, Mr. Frank Cousins, the official May Day demonstration speaker, was dishing out the sentimentality in the Bandstand in Queen’s Park. Our audience, however, showed their appreciation of the scientific attitude by donating £2 for the purpose of carrying on the good work. It was a grand start to a promising May Day. The Glasgow membership were more active than in recent years, and about 16 members scurried busily about Queen’s Park selling literature to the tune of 11 dozen Socialist Standards. The evening meeting was held in St. Andrew’s Hall, in opposition to the Communist Party and a Skiffle Group competition. A lively audience of 70 heard Comrades Richmond and Higgins expounding “ The Socialist Way Out.” Several nights before the meeting the centre of the city was “decorated” with whitewash advertising our activities, but the Fates and the rain were against us.

A fortnight later, at Rothesay. Comrade Richmond, on behalf of the Party, addressed a Week-end School of the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers. His subject was “Modern Trends in Marxism.” The school consisted of about 40 trade union branch delegates, and provided Comrade Richmond with an alert and interested audience. Socialist literature was sold at the meeting, and the venture seems to have been very successful. This is the first time a Trade Union School has requested a speaker from us, but judging by the amount of interest Comrade Richmond’s incisive lectures aroused, it does not seem like the last.

All during May the Socialist Platform has been erected in West Regent Street, where large and interested audiences have gathered to hear the antidote to Capitalist Propaganda. Literature sales and propaganda collections have been encouraging, and there is a possibility of some more members airing their vocal chords there during the rest of the summer.

Phyllis Howard

Obituary:Jack Bradley (2010)

Obituary from the December 2010 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to announce the death of Jack Bradley, aged 85, at his home on 7 November.

Jack joined the party in 1949. Before that he had come across the works of Marx and Engels, not as you might expect in the bookshops in Charing Cross Road in London, but whilst serving with the RAF in India towards the end of World War Two. He used to recall how British troops in India were incensed when at the end of the war they were told that strong armed forces would have to be maintained to fight the next war.

Like many of his generation he was expecting great things from the new Labour government and joined the Labour Party, but he was particularly disappointed to learn that the former owners of the newly-nationalised industries were not being given one-off payments, but rather government bonds, which didn’t change their privileged positions.

Jack was an active member until a few years ago, particularly in publicity where he favoured emphasising the “one world” nature of socialism. The dangers of nuclear weapons was one of his special interests. In 1954 when the Japanese tuna fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon 5) was contaminated by nuclear fallout from a US atom bomb test in 1954, Jack and other members of the then Wood Green & Hornsey Branch wrote to the local paper of the nearest town to the incident offering their sympathy. Residents wrote to the Hornsey Journal to thank the branch for their letter. The editor, however, unjustly suspected some sort of put-up job and only made a guarded reference to the matter.

He always kept his eyes open for political ideas which were close to ours like those of the French ex-Trotskyists of Socialisme ou Barbarie and the German ex-Trotskyists of Contemporary Issues, alerting other members that these had come round to the view that Russia was state-capitalist. Murray Bookchin (under various pseudonyms) was associated with this latter group for a time and Jack circulated his articles on how capitalism was destroying the world’s ecology long before the Green Party was heard of. He himself liked to describe socialism as “one green world”.

He was a collector of books and pamphlets on socialism and related subjects, and had several rooms full of them. He also amassed a collection of leaflets and documents of leftwing political organisations, some of which they might have preferred to forget. He did considerable research to see if the 17th century communist Gerrard Winstanley could have had any knowledge of Thomas More’s Utopia via the publisher of a contemporary re-edition of its English translation. Unfortunately none of this original research was ever published.

He didn’t fly aircraft when he was in the RAF, but in later years he obtained a pilot’s licence for light aircraft—he had contempt for airliners, describing them as “flying computers”.

Until a few years ago, he was a regular attendee at Enfield & Haringey branch meetings, but because of his slight build and age, he began to feel more and more apprehensive about venturing out at night, although he would still attend when he was able to get a lift from a member. His last job was for Westminster Council where he became a night duty officer.

We offer our condolences to his daughter, Alyson.

Julian Vein