A RESIDENTS' meeting, this time, last Friday, in the Longshaw Community Centre in the south west of Blackburn.
At the end, a gentleman approached me, carrying an envelope.
Many people do, and almost always the envelopes contain details of problems too personal to raise in public. So I could not have been more surprised.
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"Do you remember Philip Snowden?" I was asked. Snowden died in 1937, well before even I was born. But I certainly know a fair bit about him. He was Blackburn's first Labour MP.
"My grandparents used to put him up. And in this envelope I've an original election address for the first election Snowden won - in 1906. I'd like you to have it, since you can ensure that better care is taken of it."
So now I have it. It's terrific - both as a reminder of how far our country has come - but also what more we still have to do.
"Abolition of Taxes on Sugar, Tea and Food" runs one pledge, along with "Graduated Income Tax and Death Duties".
It's extraordinary to think that, in the lifetime still of some East Lancashire residents, the country was taxing food, but tax levels did not rise with incomes.
"Old Age Pensions from National Funds", "The Feeding of School Children". There was no old age pension for those few lucky enough to live till 60 (most were dead long before); and no school meals service.
Then there are the ones about our democracy:
"The Immediate Enfranchisement of Women" - that took another dozen years before women over 30 got the vote, and a further ten - till 1928 - before women had the same voting age as men
"Payment of Members of Parliament". MPs weren't paid a bean in those days. No one without a private income could become an MP, unless they could be union subsidised.
"Abolition of the House of Lords" was a second pledge of Snowden for reform of the constitution. But a century later, we're still talking about it; and in practice the most likely change will not be its abolition, but fundamental reform into a wholly or partly elected chamber.
There were however some key pledges which now look - well - odd. There was this to excite the voters of Blackburn: "No Chinese Slaves within the British Empire". Surprising that slavery was still going on 73 years after Parliament abolished it.
But municipal elections then, as now, were about distinctly local issues. Another document in the envelope was the 1924 election address for George Eddie, who later became Labour's dominant figure in town for many decades. The key complaint for Eddie was the quality of the milk supply - for the Medical Officer of Health had shown that "49 per cent of milk sold in the borough was contaminated with dirt", and 8 per cent was "filthy". So the good old days weren't quite as good as some now think.
When Philip Snowden was limbering up to be the Parliamentary Candidate for the 1906 election the ink on the "Entente Cordiale" with France was scarcely dry. This represented a step change in our relationship with our previously long standing adversary, France.
In the last few days this Entente was much quoted by President Sarkozy and by Gordon Brown.
The French President changed it to the "Entente Amicale", our Prime Minister to the "Entente Formidable".
The event last week was vital, underlining, and building on, the strength of our ties with the French.
No-one could deny that in this particular area, things have moved on quite dramatically since Snowden's day.
Posted by: Nostradamos, Blackburn on 6:20pm Wed 9 Apr 08
I reckon those old labour guys would turn in there graves if they new what this NEW labour had done to the working man,OK,so Brown hasnt had the gaul.(LOL) to put his taxes on food,but make no mistake he has taxed everything else,we have been taken to war,we have seen the gap between rich and poor widen far beyound any Tory government could have allowed to happen,the mangement of the countries finances through boom times has been so,so wastefull it is criminall.with promises of an end to boom and bust..lol.Ah,Aaah lets make another law,lets say that any politicion who is found to be lieing gets hung,come back Mr Pierpoint there is work to be done.
I reckon those old labour guys would turn in there graves if they new what this NEW labour had done to the working man,OK,so Brown hasnt had the gaul.(LOL) to put his taxes on food,but make no mistake he has taxed everything else,we have been taken to war,we have seen the gap between rich and poor widen far beyound any Tory government could have allowed to happen,the mangement of the countries finances through boom times has been so,so wastefull it is criminall.with promises of an end to boom and bust..lol.Ah,Aaah lets make another law,lets say that any politicion who is found to be lieing gets hung,come back Mr Pierpoint there is work to be done.
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