Talk:Death of Blair Peach

Southall Riots

It was a little more serious than

...a demonstration by the Anti-Nazi League against a National Front election meeting taking place in the town hall.

The local Asian population were very vocal in their opposition to the meeting (and it should be noted that the area the candidates were being chosen to represent was nowhere near Southall, and was part of then NF policy to hold contentious meetings in areas of high non-white populations to both gain media coverage and to intimidate the locals) and attempted to physically stop NF members from gaining access to the hall. The NF were unprepared for the level of hostility and physical threat, being used to intimidating other ethnic groups who did not have the traditions of the local Pathan/Pashtun derived population, and called in the police. The arrival of the Special Patrol Group, notorious in their application of force against non-Middle Class/white groups (my opinion based on observation), precipitated a riot. Peach was struck during this phrase. Further and more intense rioting resulted in the aftermath of his reported death. This was primarily between the local Asian population, together with sympathisers and other locals against the police, who were regarded as part of a racist, reactionary, State apparatus. The NF were very little in evidence after the initial trouble.

Whilst Peach is notable, and worthy of his own article, the premise behind the protests, and why they turned into days and nights of rioting, and the subsequent results (the SPG was serverely criticised, and eventually disbanded, and the NF were banned from holding meetings outside of constituencies they were contesting and also declined as a political force). As such, I think an article titled Southall Riots should be created, detailing all of the above. I am not, however, the person to write it - I would not be able to contain my bias' toward both the event and the political/cultural landscape of the time. LessHeard vanU 21:02, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

"I am not, however, the person to write it - I would not be able to contain my bias' toward both the event and the political/cultural landscape of the time." Particularly since you grossly misstate what occurred, and lie about the definition of assasination.

Peach was not assassinated

Assassination requires the targeting of an indivudual - Peach was allegedly killed by policemen who believed that it was sufficient that he was agitating for the removal of the NF from the area, and was therefore a legitimate case for a swinging truncheon. <redacted>. LessHeard vanU 12:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

"RUC involvement" in Peaches death

Re this edit summary, I am concerned over the bias which may be apparent in this - and a previous one - edit summary. While the SPG holding of illegal weapons may have included items originating from the RUC there is no source for this fact, and therefore it cannot be said if a majority or even a significant minority of them, nor why the RUC are specifically mentioned (just because they were another police unit with some very dubious attitudes does not mean there was any link). If there is a source that makes some connection between the SPG and RUC as regards Blair Peach (or the SPG's unsavoury methods of that time) then it needs to be quoted - otherwise mention of the RUC does not belong in the article. LessHeard vanU (talk) 15:11, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

School named after a brutal Communist rioter

Maybe I am missing something as an American but why would a state school be named after a Communist who somehow thought he had the "right" to use deadly force (stoning with bricks) to stop members of a political party from peacefully assembling?

Yeah, brains. LessHeard vanU (talk) 19:47, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

No evidence whatsoever has been presented to suggest BP was using deadly - or indeed any - force. Interestingly the Cass report does make a case for collective guilt on the part of the demonstrators, though oddly omits the same argument for collective guilt on the part of the police. The school named after Peach is about 300 metres from the place of his assault. Whilst you may be disapproving of BP's political inclination - far left socialism rather than communism - one would hope that you would be in support of the anti-racist and anti-fascist activities he was engaged in. Certainly the community of Southall appreciated BP. It seems entirely appropriate to me to name the nearest school after a teacher who has been killed as a result of supporting the local community. I recommend you read this article to get some insight into what happened that day. I have trust that you are not merely a troll, but have a brain which is capable of empathising with decent human beings doing decent things. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:41, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Again, I may be missing something but I thought stoning another political gathering with bricks simply because you don't agree with their views and seek deny their right to peacefully assemble pretty much IS fascism. 72.209.63.226 (talk) 11:42, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

What you appear to be missing is any connection between the stoning and Blair Peach. Guilt by association just does not wash in civilised society. Why are you so intent on demonising this individual? What purpose is served by ascribing false and baseless behaviour to him and then criticising him for such ascriptions. If you have to lie and dissemble and falsify in order to promote your point, of what possible value is your point? Did you bother to read the linked article, or are you trying to keep yourself as firmly esconced as possible in an evidence-free and prejudice-led cocoon? --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:00, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

The National Front pursued a policy of intimidation of ethnic minorities and inciting racial hatred, and their presence in a predominantly Asian (Brit-Eng meaning; peoples originating from the Indian subcontinent) constituency where their candidate had no chance of even keeping their deposit, was a calculated effort to forment civil misbehaviour. The National Front was uninterested in securing political office, but only in provoking a race war between Britons of a generally European descent and those recently originating from India, Africa, and the Carribean. (Of course, as in this instance, as soon as there was violence directed toward them rather than the other way round then they really rather quickly retired from the scene.) LessHeard vanU (talk) 21:28, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

School named after a brave anti-fascist hero

For the benefit of the anonymous American contributor, a brief history of the naming of Blair Peach School: it was a brand new school which opened in 1986. Ealing's in-coming Labour Council named the school after Blair after representations from parents and anti-fascist groups. Some time after the Conservatives seized control of Ealing Council in 1990, despite having no representation in the Southall part of the borough, they announced they would rename the school: they were supported in this regard by letters in the local newspaper from members of neo-Nazi and holocaust denying groups. The new council announced a parents' "consultation", and gave them an option of two alternative names, however no parents opted for either name - preferring instead the old one. The council then imposed a name (Hayes Bridge School). When Labour regained control of Ealing Council in 1994, it bowed to the popular wishes of the community to have the Blair Peach name reinstated. I and one other anti-fascist were co-opted onto the school governing body to help plan the renaming ceremony, which was attended by Peter Hain MP and members of the local police. A commemorative booklet was issued which chronicled the experiences of Indian and other children growing up in Southall and their experiences of bussing and other forms of racism. Those who opposed the name of Blair Peach merely succeeded in giving increased prominence to the integral part he played in Southall's history. The Conservatives subsequently succeeded in regaining control of Ealing Council (from 2006-10) but made no further attempt to alter the school name preferring, instead, to broaden their electoral appeal to an increasingly affluent local Indian population. They now routinely poll one third of the total votes cast in that area, rather than the 10 per cent they were polling twenty years ago. Multiculturalist (talk) 08:56, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

Great article, good discussion; could you just help please with what is 'bussing' - I am guessing that it's segration of bus use on the basis of race, but couldn't find any references/explanations on the www to confirm that. Mungo Shuntbox (talk) 06:47, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

SEE ALSO

If somebody more used to wikipedia systems could check this point and maybe consider editing the sub section SEE ALSO to include JAMES ASHLEY - also shot by police - there is an article about J A on wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ashley. I am surprised that Ashley is not listed and linked.

A number of people have been killed by the Met Police besides BP & JA. There is an arguable case for providing see also to these: Stephen Waldorf, James Ashley, Harry Stanley, Jean Charles de Menezes and the 2 June 2006 Forest Gate raid. However there are arguments against. de Menezes, Waldorf and the Forest gate incidents were cases of mistaken identity. Ashley involved an entirely different police force. None of them involved outright denials by the police that they were responsible for the killing. The closest correspondence being drawn in the media is to the Death of Ian Tomlinson, and Kevin Gately and for that reason a see also to those articles is well warranted. Much less so for all the others. On this basis, I'm removing Harry Stanley and Stephen Waldorf from the see also list. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:55, 28 April 2010 (UTC)