NATO in Newport 2014

On 4th and 5th September 2014 the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport will be hosting this year's North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit.

A military alliance that consists of 28 member states across North America and Europe, NATO was originally established in 1949 as a Western counter power to the Soviet Union, ostensibly due to anxieties about the spread of communism. Since the collapse of the USSR it has found meaning in its existence through ‘humanitarian intervention’. Humanitarian intervention by NATO doesn’t mean, food, water and safer spaces for vulnerable people around the world. Instead, humanitarian intervention means military acts of war. Supposedly bombing, displacement and violence is to quash conflicts, and result in peace. Despite history repeatedly showing us that such actions only exacerbates conflict, creating more victims and escalating suffering.

White poppies make history in Newport

The outbreak of red poppy fascism across the British media is alarming. The red poppy has morphed into some kind of corporate uniform to the point that it seems improbable that anyone attempting to enter the BBC last week, without said appendage, would be turned away.

Do the wearers understand what they are doing? Have they given it even a modicum of independent thought? Have they considered the White Poppy for peace?

I do not want to take anything away from the British Legion whose work in picking up the pieces of the war ravaged is very important, but I do wish to say that war is not the glorious sacrifice we are taught it to be. Today’s wars are about resources, destabilisation of sovereign states, and big big money. The military /industrial complex cannot wait to do their version of ‘picking up the pieces’. The lucrative rebuilding contracts are the icing on the cake for the mega corporations who have already creamed off the tax-payer subsidised weapons manufacturing industry. The arms trade rub their collective hands with perverse glee as they watch the built-in obsolescence of their products obliterating countries where they personally have no chance of being harmed. Killing, maiming, genetically mutilating, destroying, indiscriminate and arbitrary execution - no weapon or tactic is too abhorrent to use. More bombs and tanks can easily be made – and sold - to governments who continue the relentless cycle in cruel denial of basic truths and human rights. Today’s wars are not the honourable red poppy event of misty-eyed valour they have been painted to be. Today’s wars are about as far from courageous self-defence as you can get.

Newport Docks Dispute 1910

The centenary of the Tonypandy riots, the most famous explosion of class conflict during the Great Unrest, has rightly been the cause of much commemoration. However it was far from the only event of that year worth remembering.

Though little remarked upon, the dispute at Newport Docks in 1910 was hugely significant in the development of industrial relations and policing. The calculations a government makes when 'refereeing' between employers and employees changed dramatically, and the state has been on a collision course with workers' rights ever since.

The strike has been overshadowed by the disaster of 1909, and largely ignored in the history of working class struggle, possibly because workers were fighting for almost the opposite of the demands of the Cambrian Combine Strike. In the short term, the dockers were successful, but the lasting effects were far from positive.

Whoever won the Ryder Cup, Newport was always going to lose

With the economic situation as dire as it is, and with Newport sorely in need of investment, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Ryder Cup coming to the city could breath life into the stagnating local economy. Indeed many people felt that the Ryder Cup would be good for Newport, raising the city's profile and establishing a footing on the international stage. What could be better for a town in need of investment than the hosting of a major sporting event?

Since the Celtic Manor resort on the edge of the city was announced as the venue some nine years ago, the local council has been mesmerised by the spectacle of a massive influx of wealthy visitors. Preparations were made in earnest and huge sums of public money were made available for projects that would improve the image of Newport. As the competition got nearer signs, flags and billboards appeared wherever there was space, welcoming the arrival of golf fans. Though many of the planned showpiece projects never materialised, the train station was revamped with a new walkway, and the creation of new jobs was hinted at, something the town really needs.