GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

is a phenomenon I also found when I was running the programming at Classic

FM. People who could enjoy classical music were intimidated by the

paraphernalia around it and once you strip that away and treat it like any other

music then it is accessible for anyone and that is why it was written.

In a moment Michael is going to talk about the importance of storytelling in the

Labour Movement and in that context I think the GFTU’s Educational Trust

work is more important than ever. My take on intimidation is this. Those who

wield power today fortify their position through intimidation. That process of

intimidation is applied sometimes overtly, but more often it is applied covertly.

Sometimes intimidation is with force and sometimes it is via sugar coated

words of reasonableness, strong and stable leadership, and to stand up to

intimidation requires similarly varied tactics, but the strategic core of any

resistance to intimidation can only be based on ideas, on our powers of

imagination, on creativity and if you do not have a coherent ideology and a

confidence that what we represent is right, then in the face of intimidation you

will back down. In the current political context I believe the work of the

Educational Trust is more important than ever and it has to be delivered in a

creative way and in a way which people understand and can relate to, because

that is what will give them the confidence to stand up to intimidation.

The development plans around Quorn Grange and the nursery are designed to

ensure, as we have just heard, that the organisation has a viable future, whilst

at the same time creating an asset, both for the GFTU, but also the wider

movement. Acquiring those assets certainly was a brave call, but I absolutely

believe it was the right call. You will see in the Educational Trust’s report there

are five principles underpinning the educational strategy. These principles are

about developing understanding of political and economic contexts, both

current and historical, but they are also about increasing confidence of activists

via information, via knowledge and via skills and, finally, about the values of our

movement, the values of the Labour Movement. In these courses you will see

there is more interaction, there is drama, there is art, there is music and there

are festivals and there are also now inputs designed to help trade unions to

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