Battleship painter; work-in cartoonist; villa caretaker; film set artist - and now author!

This is the text of a press release that I planned to send out yesterday. Unfortunately, due to BT's decision that this process was 'suspicious activity' on my email account, the day was spent being passed from call centre to call centre, rather than productive work! It also means I'm shut out of emailing anything out for 48 hours. I'm putting this on the blog, rather than it going to waste. Thanks BT!

It’s a long way from Yarrow’s shipyard on the Clyde, to Hollywood. It’s even longer from painting battleship hulls to starring at a author event at this weekend’s Aye Write! festival, but both of these have been done by Bob Starrett.

Bob's Book!

Now 74, Bob - who first came to prominence as the official cartoonist to the 1971-2 UCS work-in - is about to launch his first book of stories and essays, as well as some new cartoons, on Sunday at the Glasgow festival.

The book covers much of his working life, both in the shipyards where he features many larger than life characters, and as a set painter in the London and Hollywood film industry where the film workers - for all the fame of their industry - come across as slightly less than their own estimation!

Bob says “The book is about and for all the guys and gals I worked alongside, who kept baying foremen off my back so I could think creatively! It’s a celebration of all that’s good from my working life.”

Bob himself is quick to point out that none of the stars and directors he has worked with, can hold a candle to UCS leaders like Jimmy Reid and Jimmy Airlie. “Reid and Airlie in full flight were superb.” Bob says now. “I could listen to Airlie over and over again, and Reid never let you down in his analysis. I’ve yet to meet a director or producer to stand alongside them.”

After the successful work-in stopped the mass closure of shipbuilding on the Upper Clyde, Bob left the yards in 1979.

Bob worked on this film in 1985

Following a journey, during which he spent two years ‘minding a palace’ in Italy, he went to art school and eventually ended up working as a painter on films - working with stars like Daniel Day Lewis, Gary Oldman and Jim Broadbent. 

Following his involvement providing much of the artwork for the 40^th Anniversary of the UCS Work-in in 2011, he started to show some of the organisers some of his stories. Stephen Wright from FairPley said that everyone who saw them was impressed. “Indeed we thought they were so good, we asked David Hayman to read some as part of the 40^th Anniversary Concert at Celtic Connections.” said Stephen. “And we put another in the concert programme. Talking to others made it clear that we should put these together in a book.”

The book will be launched on Sunday. It has been recommended by writer James Kelman, UCS supporter and politician Tony Benn, and actor Bill Paterson. a foreword has been written by Sir Alex Ferguson - himself a shipyard worker who has gone on to other work! David Hayman will read some extracts and Arthur Johnstone will be singing!

Bob’s Aye Write! event is at 1.30pm on Sunday in Glasgow’s Mitchell Library. Tickets are available from the Mitchell, or from the AyeWrite! website - www.ayewrite.com. 

Reports of the Death of the Left have been greatly exaggerated

The death of Jimmy Reid recently has prompted a number of press commentators  - eg from Iain MacWhirter, Gerry Hassan and BBCScotland’s Ask Kay programme - that the death of Reid in some way signified the ‘death of the left’ in Scotland. 

These comments largely indicate the wishful thinking of the commentators, rather than any serious suggestion that the left in Scotland has in some way ceased to command Scottish politics, and they are flawed in a variety of ways.

Firstly they make the common mistake of people in the media of individualising a collective. The left - as Reid would have agreed - is far more than one individual or even one political party. An argument could indeed be made that it isn’t even a coherent whole. Whatever influence it has on the body politic, comes as a result of support or not in a range of campaigns and political activities - including but not restricted to votes in elections.

Secondly, they make the mistake (as indeed do many on the left) of somehow magnifying an image of a ‘Red Scotland’ (or at least a ‘Red Clydeside’) that contains some exaggeration. While it is true that Scotland has a larger proportion of trade union members, and higher levels of support for public services than apply across the UK as a whole, the overall political view of our families and friends is not that hugely different  - on a right/left split - than in many other parts of the UK, eg Wales, Liverpool, the North of England et al. Reid himself is an example of that, in 1974 - at the hight of his activity and powers - he failed to overcome sectarian smears in his own constituency and came third in the February Election that year.

It is probably truer to describe the activity of the left as coalescing around specific campaigns - and when this happens successfully, it draws in many people who do not think of themselves as on the left. The UCS work in, for example was supported by many Tory Party branches in Scotland.

However, there is a kind of truth in the doom-sayers and self-fulfilling prophesisers pronouncements. Ignoring the problems of galvanising that kind of ‘mass movement’, and the difficulty in building support for progressive causes won’t make the problems go away.

That is why it is heartening that - as we face the worst attacks on our services and our living standards ever - unions and campaigning groups are seeking to re-address the lack of political understanding amongst their activists and members. It is true that it could have done with an earlier start, but the UNISON pilot Unions and politics course, the success of unions and branches in connecting with community-based campaigns and a regular although not well publicised series of actions in the private sector - like the defence of decent pensions in the INEOS dispute - suggest that the death of the left has been greatly exaggerated.

And finally, the record of the STUC in leading from the front in many key political campaigns (Constitutional Convention anyone?) means their plans to build co-ordinated resistance to the ConDem attacks should be followed with some hope.