Thursday, 10 December 2009

UPDATE: March Election? Lotta continua!

Intriguing snippit for those who are looking for tell tale signs of a March election date. Young Labour Chairperson Sam Tarry has written to all the members telling them to keep certain weekends free for campaigning and activism:

Hey Comrades!

With a General Election only a few months away it is more important then ever that Young Labour and Labour Students are organised and working together to fight for Labour victories across the country.

As part of our BIG Campaign please keep the following days free:

1. Saturday 19th December 2009
2. Saturday 16th January 2010
3. Saturday 6th February 2010
4. Saturday 6th March 2010

Please join the BIG Campaign group to keep updated on the marginal seat campaign days where you are - sign up right now:

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194186788537&ref=nf&v=info

Each campaign will include a short training session in which activists will have the opportunity to learn about the seat and what to expect on the doorstep, and the basics of Labour campaigning if you’ve never done it before. Furthermore, light refreshments, lunch and an afternoon social of some sort will be arranged for each campaign to show our appreciation for all your help.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194186788537&ref=nf&v=info


I look forward to meeting many of you on the campaign trail - and if you want me to come to visit your Young Labour group, Labour Club, or BIG campaign day then dont hesitate to drop me a line.

Lotta continua!

Sam Tarry
National Chair of Young Labour
Intriguing how they are only up until March.

UPDATE 14.05: Ever sharp
Dizzy
has given the Lotta Continua reference a good nod. Tarry has some
dubious heroes
:
Lotta Continua (the struggle continues, or continuous struggle) was a far left extra-parliamentary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factories such as Fiat. The first issue of Lotta Continua 's eponymous newspaper was published in November 1969, and publication continued until 1982, while the organization disbanded in 1976.

On March 2, 1972 Maurizio Pedrazzini, an activist of Lotta Continua, was arrested near the home of Franco Servello, a member of the right-wing party MSI, after his gun accidentally discharged and someone called the police.

On May 17, 1972, the Milan police commissioner Luigi Calabresi, was killed. Adriano Sofri and Giorgio Pietrostefani, former leaders of Lotta Continua, were condemned to heavy prison sentences for organizing, and Ovidio Bompressi and Leonardo Marino for carrying out the murder, after legal proceeding which were regarded as controversial.

On October 1, 1977, during a protest march in Turin, activists attacked a bar with Molotov cocktails. Roberto Crescenzio, a 23-year old student, died of burns sustained in this attack. Lotta Continua militants were accused of committing this attack, but were eventually cleared in court.
Nice.

6 comments:

Stepney
said...

That's when they run out of money old bean,

: )

truthmonkey
said...

Comrades?

Shome mishtake shurely?

Joe said...

oh, for God's sake. when will bloggers realise that, actually, relatively junior members of the Labour Party - such as, say, the Chair of Young Labour - don't have any inside knowledge on the date of the general election, and if they did there's no way such a large group of junior officials could keep it a secret for very long.

poodle said...

"Comrades"... at last they admit they aren't socialists, but communists, like we have been saying all along

Paul
said...

"Intriguing how they are only up until March."

Or maybee because the election will be called cApril 1st and then they go out campaigning everyday?

James Mackenzie
said...

(note: I'm no fan of Labour)

See how the "continua" isn't capitalised? That makes it simply the Italian words for "the struggle continues", which were long used by various parts of the left, and still are. If it had been capitalised, fair enough.

This is almost as absurd as it would be to cry Mosley every time someone calls for a new party.

Also, you may be right about the date, but this will not have substantiated the prediction in any way, and this kid clearly isn't sitting in Number 10 between Gordon and Mandy debating the issue.

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