So farewell then, Jack Jones, aged 96. I think it’s fair to say that Jones did relatively little damage to Britain and his fellow countrymen in the last third of his life. But boy, did he create mayhem in the middle bit. Arrogant and self-righteous, this leftie-fascist led the union movement when it was at its thuggish worst.
During the 1960s and 1970s the British union movement was out of control, dictating to governments of both Labour and Conservative. It used the politics of violence to bulldoze its way. Remember the mass-meeting? This was a group of would-be strikers gathered to air their views on action. If you were against whatever the union wanted, watch out. The votes were counted on a show of hands. No secret ballot. No way of making sure those that voted were eligible. But it was all in the cause of socialism and the dignity of the workers, so it was alright.
Margaret Thatcher saved us from union tyranny in the early 1980s, finally putting a stop to their bullying, and making them accountable to their members.
Nauseating is the word that comes to mind listening to tributes to Jones from Lord Anthony Wedgewood hyphen Benn today on BBC Radio 4. The hypocrite Benn, like Jones wrong about everything major all his long life, talked about the Transport and General Workers Union as “his” union. As though this upper class twit every got his hands dirty doing anything more difficult than stabbing one of his fellow lefties, in the back of course. Then there was the egregious class war hate-monger Rodney Bickerstaff, almost bursting into tears telling us about his admiration for Jones. Comrade Jones wan’t, I’m sure, in the pay of the Soviet Union during his time as a union leader. But if he wasn’t, Jone’s actions sure made it look as though he was being paid off by the enemy.
Listening to Benn’s tribute, he reminded us of one of the many things Jones was wrong about. Jones served in the Spanish civil war, on the side of the Russian backed fascists against the German backed fascists. I wish there was a photo taken of Jones when news came through of the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939.
The BBC played a clip of Jones talking about how he loved the working man and did everything he could to make life better and “fairer” for the workers. In a way, normal Britons do owe Jones some thanks. By showing just how awful life would be under a socialist regime, Jones paved the way for Margaret Thatcher and her reforming Tories.
What a shame. What a wasted life. Everything Jones stood for made it worse for the working man and his family. Thank goodness his ilk have now been tamed. Now for the Labour Party.
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