RE: British Miners Cooperative

[wdrb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The heart warming story of the success of the Tower
colliery co-op reminded me that one of the things
(of many) that made me most bitter during the strike
(84/85) was the Guardian's craven refusal to support
the NUM or take a line in opposition to the rest of the
media. The failure by the soft left middle classes represented
to support the miners was despicable, these people were
comforted in their betrayal by their favourite newspaper -
the Guardian. So in a way i wish they hadn't printed the story
about Tower - it obscures their previous abandoment of the miners.
One successful co-op is small compensation for 100+ pits being closed.
There are still unemployed miners begging on the streets of Bristol.
BTW - although the Tower story is heartwarming (and Tyrone O'sullivan
is a real hero) there are doubts about the viability of co-ops in
most market conditions to deliver less exploitation than competitor
enterprises.

If i've been hard on the Guardian i apologise but thats my memory of it.

will brown   bristol  england


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