Braunston gets political

Published: Friday, 23 June 2017

THE 'hard left' newspaper The Morning Star' has featured a very political perspective view of Braunston's Historic Narrowboat Rally this week-end.

Instead of the normal catalogue of boats, entertainment, food and drink it tells us that the show is to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the nationalisation of Britain’s docks, ports, canals and inland waterways by the Labour government in 1947, Alan Tilbury reports!

Very little about the various shows and activities that are being presented over the weekend, but used to further its political views telling us:

Canal & River Trust

'Sadly it is the fifth anniversary of one of the most devious examples of de-nationalisation by Cameron’s Tory government—one that changed British Waterways into the begging bowl wielded now by the Canal & River Trust charity in 2012.

Experienced and skilled canal workers have been thrown on the redundancy scrapheap and replaced by well meaning but unpaid volunteers.

Perhaps the forthcoming Corbyn-led Labour government might think about including waterways in the list of industries and public utilities it is planning to renationalise.

Braunston is immensely proud of its part in working class and trade union history. In the summer of 1923 the entire traffic on the canal came to a total halt when its community of boat families went out on strike.

The Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) had only been formed the previous year and the canal boat strike was to be a key struggle bringing union organisation to an industry with none.

The strike would last 14 weeks — between 50 and 60 boats blocked the wharf and both the Oxford and Grand Junction canals'.

This weekend

The Historic Narrowboat Rally takes place at Braunston Marina tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, with free admission though a £10 charge is made for vehicle parking.