Tolpuddle

Last weekend I ventured into darkest Dorset for the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival. The festival takes place in the village of Tolpuddle, near Dorchester, and celebrates the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group of farm labourers who are considered to be the founders of the modern trade union movement in the UK.

The festival takes place over the course of a weekend, and is a mixture of local music, political debate and the Great Outdoors. This year, socialist stalwart Billy Bragg headlined the musical aspect of the festivities. For more information about the music, please see my comrade's blogpost here.

The political element of the festival encompasses the presence of British trade union activists (and some German comrades too this year) as well as adherents from all splinters of the Left, from Class War to the Revolutionary Communist Party (Marxist/Leninist) to the Labour Party itself (which was keeping something of a low profile). Remarkably, there was little bickering among these factions, but then there was less debate and discussion over the weekend than I was expecting, so perhaps not the opportunity.

Sunday is the busiest day of the festival, with many more activists from around the country descending on Tolpuddle for the procession through the village, where you can see some beautiful and rousing banners, followed by the main musical acts.

In this time of economic crisis with the resulting job losses, it is good to see such a display of the strength of trade unions and working people.

After the attempts to crush unions in the 1980s, and the continued privatisations, both overtly (such as the attempt to privatise Royal Mail) and more covertly (such as the privatisation of prisons), it is great to see the energy and dedication of activists at Tolpuddle. I come away from this festival feeling engaged and inspired.