SUPPORT THE HEALTH SERVICE MASS PICKET, 7AM, WEDS 21ST, BATTLE HOSP, MARCH 12 NOON - - - 11th July 1982 Reading's Only Newspaper Free (unless you're feeling rich) RED RAG Inside your roaraway Rag: * Labour 'not as forceful as hoped' bombshell * Hippies invade Greenham peace camp shock * Relax! says Red Rag urban blight survey: they _are_ looking after us * Rent? When furniture costs £160 a month! * Win a free night out in Reading - read our going out guide. PLUS are you active enough? Test your attendance record against our events guide * Drugs - you use them - why won't you own up? * Food - better biting with our grublust special Contacting Red Rag Events Guide - phone 666681 Going Out Guide - phone 663083 Distribution - 666681 or 61257 News Items - phone 61257 or 666681 or write to Red Rag c/o Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St. or c/o 31a Hamilton Rd. Red Rag is produced and distributed by about 20 people, but could still use your help. If you'd like to write, type, paste-up, fold, bundle or distribute, get in touch. Vol 261 No 13,192 Printed at Acorn Bookshop - - - C.N.D. LABOUR MOVEMENT CONFERENCE A SUCCESSFUL FORUM Attended by over 120 delegates and visitors the 26th June conference at Alfred Sutton School was considered by most people present to have been a success in terms of advancing the debate "whither C.N.D.?" and "where do we go from here?" Conference was unusually well run having a well oiled feel apart from an early panic 'cause someone had mislaid the coffee, but after that tea and coffee flowed liberally (cue for Red Rag witticism next issue). Lunch was good too. ALTERNATIVES The Lucas workers film shown in the morning gave a lead in to the workshop 'Alternative uses of weapons technology and jobs' - the other afternoon workshop being on the role of the Labour movement in disarmament. This was the main theme of 2 of the trade union speakers and a concern for many delegates who have to face the reality that a programme for disarmament is met with concrete calls for alternatives from the many thousands employed in and around the armaments industry. Tim Webb (ASTMS) who covers trade unionists in the arms industry stated that not only were over 40,000 specialists tied up in this socially useless area - but also that the arms industry was by no means immune from world recession and trading conditions. In fact over the last 15 years the workforce has shrunk by 26% giving the lie to claims that the 'defence' industry is a stable source of jobs. Bearing in mind the 'Exocet' factor he stressed the need to link up with unions in other countries to formulate more effective alternative job plans. "NOT WEAK KNEED" A union spokesman involved in Plymouth - sorry Portsmouth, I must have been thinking of David Smarm (typist) - who was involved in lay offs in the dockyard thought that the Labour Party needed a sound home defence policy. Otherwise the rank and file would be prey to media talk of nasty aggressors and would consider those urging disarmament "a bunch of weak kneed pacifists". This brought an angry rejoinder from a delegate from Cookham who declared herself a lifelong pacifist and strenuously denied being in the least weak kneed. MICHAEL FOOT - 'NOT AS FORCEFUL AS HOPED' Geoff Peppiatt of Newbury Labour Party urged that CND nationally must not, indeed to be effective could not, ignore politics. Having dealt with SDP/Alliance's credentials (and the misfortune of genuine Unilateralists among the Liberal party at being saddled with the Bill Rodgers gang). (*) Geoff went on to make the overstatement of the century when he stated that there was no room for complacency in the Labour Party as the Front Bench "had not been as forceful as hoped". He went on to call for a closing of ranks in the Labour Party around the already declared policy of Unilateral Disarmament and opined that the alternative to this could well be Healey. Naturally enough after the Falklands, this line did not go down well with many delegates. Speakers from the floor gave their assessment of the likelihood of a Foot-led Labour gov't telling the U.S. to remove their bases. It was not thought a very probable scenario. RESOLUTIONS The main Resolution of Conference demanded No cruise, No Trident, Unilateral Disarmament, Removal of US bases, Withdrawal from NATO, and support for workers initiatives to replace weapons jobs with socially useful production. An amendment to delete reference to NATO was defeated. Some difference of emphasis on the priorities facing Labour movement activists were revealed by the addendums (addendi?) passed by the conference. One called for a strategy of industrial action and civil disobedience in anticipation of the govt's failure to carry out the proposals of the Resolution. A further successful addendum pledged to fight for the return of a Labour gov't, committed to these policies and to that end opposed the 'witchhunt' in the Party, which was seen as an expression (in part at least) of the desire of Labour's leadership to free itself from the constraints of such policies. And no doubt from any other policies agreed at Labour's Conference with which the 'Pentagon wing' of the party and their allies see fit to jettison. Gill Stewart from local ASTMS thought BANC Notes useful (Gets more like Red Rag every issue eds.) Joan Ruddock billed to appear was described as 'detained in America'! * See Brian Revell's letter in Red Rag June 27 for more details (creep - eds) - - - * Two reports from Greenham Common * The end of Burghfield? AUTOCRACY AND ANARCHY AGAINST THE MISSILES Followers of events at the gates of Greenham Common Airbase will not have missed the arrival of a convoy of some 130 vehicles at the start of the month. They were on their way from the Stonehenge Solstice celebrations to set up a 'Cosmic Counter Cruise Freedom Festival' at the Green Gate. Once there they were met by about 20 members of the local constabulary and one trench. The trench they filled in, threats of arrest from the local police (hopelessly out- numbered) they ignored - even to the extent of picking up and carrying out of the way two occupied police vans. The festival has been going strong ever since and has declared the Westminster Government incompetent to keep the Peace, and has set up the Greenham Free State. "It seems," said a Newbury District Council member, "that if there are enough people breaking the law, the police are ready to leave them to themselves. This is verging on anarchy." Great. This invasion of freedom-loving Newbury by millions of unwashed long-haired drug abusers has also met opposition from quite a different quarter, the Womens Peace Camp down the road. When this camp decided to go women-only in February, they mooted the possibility of a mixed camp at one of the other gates, for instance the Green Gate. Since then they have hardened their Line and now claim that all action at Greenham is their prerogative. The Festival was not their idea, anyway it's got men in it..... Word is that this has reopened the rift at the camp which resulted in so many women leaving, in the last few months, indeed one has quit since the Festival started. Should it be about time that the few who remain learned the difference between autonomy and autocracy? - a short-haired drug abuser. A LONG DAY AT GREENHAM Friday 9th July 1?82 The cosmic Counter-Cruise Carnival is well under way, with lots of drugs and lots of music, but nobody could ignore the monstrosity next door, and no amount of dope could stop peoples anger breaking out. I slept in the woods, 'away from it all'; walking back in the morning, I could hear loud music and feel enormous energy about. I arrived to see a crowd of people streaming along a fence, smashing the concrete posts with sledgehammers, bouncing on the chain-link and waving to the bemused MoD police. Hard work, and only a handful of hammers, but 200 yards went down in 5 minutes. Police reinforcements arrived as we reached the gates, and people held back a little as the tension rose. For several hours a lot of people did a lot of things, always trying to keep each other from getting carried away. Stones were thrown a couple of times, and the police provoked a lot of lost tempers, but on the whole the atmosphere was cheerful. Four people were snatched when a lorry drove through a crowd in front of the gate and things almost got out of hand. With help from women from down the road a meeting got together - pretty phenomenal for the chaos of a free festival! A lot of disagreement, but we felt strong together and knew how best to react if the police decided to invade the Greenham Free State. They did, complete with military style marching in squads, later in the day. They were dressed for trouble. They were grim, they were trying to intimidate or provoke. They failed. The carnival feathered under the pyramid, there was no violence, the police wanted those responsible for criminal damage to the MoD fence. We all claimed responsibility in a big cheer, and turned the music back on. Half an hour later they marched out again, taking two prisoners with them. We will fight their cases in court. Meanwhile, the festival goes on....... - a Greenham Common Free Stater. OBITUARY On Wednesday July 7th 1982, two members of Burghfield Peace Camp passed away in great pain, having finally given up the attempt to write an article for Red Rag which would get people to come out and visit them ..... After a life dedicated to getting off their arses and doing something about the atomic bomb factory - placarding the workers daily, holding mass strolls or picnics on Sundays, recording information and getting arrested - they died unnoticed, their bodies left to rot on a very empty campsite. They will not be mourned by many - they never seemed to have a lot of friends in Reading - and they leave only a few tents, a large teapot, and several bereaved ducks and geese. A service will be held inside the factory on Sunday, and the Director will read from the Book of Elation and join festivities afterwards - all opposition to the factory having collapsed. STOP PRESS The peace campers Will states that all possessions are to be left to anyone who makes it out to the site - on the Burghfield Road, 300 yards past the 'Cunning Man'. The ghosts of the deceased will be found at the same spot or maintaining a continuous presence around the factory from July 12 - 19th. (see last issue) MORE SOULS NEEDED..... - - - JUNCTION BUSINESS Many people have no doubt been concerned at the recent rumours about our local 'Mace' shop and friends at Crown Collonade being turned into office blocks! Whyte and Weekes have already closed and it is understood that the other shops in the row have been told that their leases will not be renewed next year. There is obviously cause for concern, or even for a gathering of local support in fury and outrage at such a prospect. Before getting too carried away I went down to check it out with the Town Planning Dept at the Civic Centre. (Anyone can go in and ask to see the proposed plans for any buildings). I spoke to four planners before finding one with the right information, but they were all helpful which was a relief since I had prepared myself to be patronised. Crown Collonade was owned by Reading Bus Company, but since they have been refused permission to move their main bus depot to the site, (thank the planners for small mercies) they have sold it. I was informed that it is possible for the new owner, whose name they could not divulge, to level the site to the ground, but as yet no plans have been submitted for any building on the site. I was given a copy of the planners' brief as to the preferred development for this site, which was basically residential. The man in charge, a Mr. Scott stated that if an office proposal was put forward they "would fight it tooth and nail" as it would be outside their "preferred office development area." However, he did remind me of recent events in which local planners had been over-ridden by national policy, i.e. Heseltine and cronies. There is a danger that an office development appeal would be won. We are not as yet threatened with a towering office block in the middle of the Junction, but to ensure it doesn't happen it will be necessary to listen out for planning proposals submitted. These are apparently advertised in Post and "generally publicised" - whatever that means. The planners do try to find out what local needs and opinions are - so they assured me! So, if when the plans appear, you don't like them, make sure and tell them! Claire - - - This space could be selling a bicycle, finding a flatmate or promoting a lunatic fringe argument for YOU - - - PROPERTIES TO LET - by a staff reporter Enqiring recently as to why the rates on a small flat were higher than those enjoyed by dwellers in terraced houses, I was told that this was due to flats being rented for more than houses could be. "But," I said, "houses cost a lot to rent - I couldn't afford one, but I can (just about) manage the rent in my flat." The man then explained to me that I was wrong, and that in fact 90% of Victorian terraces in Reading rent for £11 per week(1); now that is good news and I thought that those Rag readers who are being bled £50 or more per week for the privilege of sharing with several others a modest but decrepit family house should know that this is not how it should be. To be fair, the typical rent quoted is for unfurnished property, in other words if you are paying £220 per month rent for a three bedroom terrace, roughly £160 per month(2) is just for the furniture etc! Anyone considering getting their rent registered could quote this figure, but don't blame us if you don't get complete satisfaction. Incidentally, don't hope for much either if you rent a flat; two room flats near Cemetery Junction can have 'Fair' Rents registered as high as £120 per month. In other words, someone like a Staff Nurse, of 3 years training and experience, would need to pay nearly half her income to live in such a flat. 1. source: Rate Assessment Office, Reading. 2. assuming rates at around £20 per month. - - - WEST BERKSHIRE JOINT HEALTH TRADE UNION COMMITTEE READING TRADES UNION COUNCIL NHS PAY CAMPAIGN THREE DAYS OF ACTION -- JULY 19, 20, 21 1982 MONDAY 19 JULY PICKET all NHS sites in Reading 7am - 7pm TUESDAY 20 JULY PICKET of Borocourt Hospital From 7am LOBBY West Berks District Health Authority From 10am WEDNESDAY 21 JULY MASS PICKET of Battle Hospital, Oxford Rd From 7am MARCH - Battle Hospital to Town centre Move off 12 noon RALLY - Town centre with: 12.30 Jim Roy, Secretary, West Berks Health Joint Trade Union Committee. Kevin Boyle, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Reading South. WE URGE ALL TRADE UNIONISTS TO JOIN THIS ACTION AND SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN The JTUC has set up a hardship fund. Branches and individuals wishing to contribute should send donations (cheques payable to West Berks Joint TUC) to: Ruth Berkley, OR Jim Roy Secretary, RTUC, Secretary, WBH Joint TUC 6, Belgravia Court c/o WBHA Gt Western House 53, Bath Road Station Rd, Reading READING Reading 586161 Ext 221 - - - * Ever thought there was more to life than living in Reading? EVENTS from 11-27 July * You were wrong. Find out why below Sun 11 and weekly. Walk round the Burghfield Bomb Factory. Meet 2.30 at the Mearings, ROF Burghfield. Imperialism day school. 10.30 - 4. AUEW Committee Room 121 Oxford Rd Women's Centre; meeting to discuss the philosophy behind the Centre. 12 noon at the Centre, the basement of Old Shire Hall, Abbey St. Bring food. Vegans; discussion and social. At 72 Curzon St. 2.30. Contact Lis Howlett on 581805. Mon 12 "Homes not Offices"; open meeting to discuss direct action on homelessness (i.e. squatting). 8pm. 24 Norwood Road. 12-19 Burghfield Peace Camp; continuous presence at all three entrances to the atomic weapons factory to monitor all traffic in and out. Help very much wanted - give your name and time available to Acorn. Tue 13 Talk on GDR: "A country with no unemployment" "The spirit of the people in the GDR is to build for the future." -you get the idea. Brian Bastin of the GDR Friendship Soc. 10.30 at the Centre for the Unemployed, East Street. Teachers for Peace group meeting: 4.30. Shire Hall. Contact Val on 722320. R.B.C. Council meeting. 6.30, Civic Offices. Demos outside to persuade woolly Libs to vote for motions supporting NHS pay claim and opposing the £250m Aldermaston expansion. Bulmershe College: informal conf. for adults (21+) interested in finding out abt opportunities in higher educ. 7-9.30. £1 incl. refreshments. Contact Mrs Jean Ives, B. Coll. of Higher Educ, Woodlands Ave, Earley, tel 663387 ext 280. Berks Anti-Nuclear Campaign: general meeting. Video of Helen Caldicott speaking ("Nuclear War wd produce the Final Epidemic") + discussion of Peace Camps and Operation Hardrock PLUS election of the new Brian. 8pm, Friends' Mtg House, Church St (off London St.) Wed 14 Socialist Workers' Party weekly meeting: 8pm the Red Lion, Southampton St. For babysitter:661914 Rape Crisis Collective mtg for a all women interested in getting involved. Sorting out new training sessions etc. 8pm at the Women's Centre. The Rape Crisis Line opens on August 1st. Thu 15 Workers' Education Assoc: mtg to set up an industrial branch. Any interested person or group welcome. 7.30 Unemployed Centre. Woodley Peace Group: Sir John Piggess on "Non-Nuclear Defence" (What's that got to do with peace? Go and find out.) 8pm Methodist Hall, Crockhamwell Rd, Woodley. All welcome. Contact 697344. Fri 16 RBC Development Control Sub-Cttee 2.30, Civic Offices. Sat 17 Southern Region Youth CND conference. Unemployed Centre, East and St. 11-5.30 both days. All welcome. Sun 18 Speakers, workshops, films. Letting people know what's going on & organizing a regional c'ttee. Disco somewhere Sat evening. Contact Emma Bartlett 479406. Sun 18 RED RAG Collective meeting. 4pm, Acorn Bookshop for a change. All welcome. If you read the Rag, why not come? Mon 19 Anarchists: weekly meeting. 8pm. For venue ring - Paul on 52604. 19-21 NHS Pay Campaign: 3 days of action organised by W. Berks Joint Health T.U. Cttee/RTUC... (Hardship fund send cheques to "W.Berks Joint TUC" to Jim Ray, Sec, WBHJTUC, c/o WBHA, Gt Western House, Station Rd, Reading.) Mon 19 7am - 7pm Picket of all NHS sites in Reading. Tue 20 NHS pay: 7am on picket of Borocourt Hospital. 10am on lobby of Gt Western House, Station Rd. Amnesty. Gabon adoption group mtg 109 Crescent Rd 8pm (contact Liz Bailey 662269). Ukraine adoption gp mtg 17 Trafalgar Court, Southcote Rd (Dave Pierce 596860) 8pm. Wed 21 NHS Pay: mass picket from 7am of Battle Hospital, Oxford Rd. March leaves Battle 12 noon to rally 12.30 in Town Centre somewhere. Youth CND meeting: 8pm at 36, School Rd, Tilehurst. Contact Dave on 416536. May Day 1983: meeting to discuss events other than rally & find people prepared to do some of the work. 8pm Unemployed Centre. Sat 24 Pagans Against Nukes: out of doors. Contact 69 Cranbury Road. Berks C.C. Council Mtg, 10.30 Shire Hall. 10.00 "major demo" to support motion for Berks to boycott Hardrock Civil Defence exercise. - - - (If you are Reading Red Rag the following information is irrelevant: do not read it) Pick up a Rag at: Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St Central Library, Blagrave St or branch libraries Pop Records, 172 King's Road Unemployed Centre, 4-6 East St Our Price Records, Butts Centre Quicksilver Records, Butts Centre Ken's Shop, RUSU, Whiteknights T Shirts 'n Transfers, Traders - - - * on the dole ? Weekly activities at the Centre for the Unemployed, 4-6 East Street: Mon: 10-1 Help with basic English for form-filling etc 1.30-2.30 Action Van with table tennis, trampoline. 2-4 Clothesmaking: basic sewing for those who want to make their own clothes Tue: 10-1 Silkscreen printing. Wed: 10-1 Help with basic arithmetic 2-4 Batik. Thu: 10-1 English as Monday. Fri: 2-4.30 Users' Cttee - you're allowed to go and watch. Have you seen the "East Street Echo", the users' paper? 10p. Issue 2 out soon. - - - * a real treat! CULTURAL WEEK July 24 - 31 APOLLO YOUTH CLUB Mountpleasant, Silver St., Reading Sat 24 5th Annual Cultural Week jointly to organised by Apollo Youth to Club, Central Club & West Indian Women's Circle. Theme: The Sat 31 struggles of the African. Mostly at Apollo Youth Club, Mount Pleasant, Silver St, open 12 - 10.30pm unless otherwise stated. Exhib of books arts & crafts. Events free unless stated. Looks really good. Sat 24 Apollo 1 - 5.30pm Children's Day: exhib of books for children + writing & art by children. African dress photo session. 3pm W.I. W.C. steel band. Sun 25 Apollo: open 3 - 10.30pm. 8pm film: "Blood Ah Go Run" - short documentary tracing black resistance in Britain. Plus discussion. Mon 26 Apollo: 7.30 Apollo Karate Team display. 8.30 "The Struggle for Azania" (S.Africa): the film "Forward to a People's Republic" + talk and discussion led by representative of A.N.C. Tue 27 Apollo: 8pm film show "Quemada" 50p. Wed 28 Apollo: 7.30 "Uzuri Binti" Reading based African Dance Group (WIWC). 8pm "Black Music" - talk by Sebastian Clark + discussion. Thu 29 Apollo: talk: "Capitalism and the Third World" by Colin Prescod 7.30 Fri 30 Apollo: exhib of W.I. food. 7.30 poetry reading. 8.15 Two one-act plays by Don Kind presented by Staunch Poets & Players. 70p. Sat 31 Central Club: 8pm Cultural Show + Dance. - - - * going out guide : Sun 11 Hex-Heading Youth Orchestra 7.30pm Forbury Gardens-Reading Spring Gardens Band 3pm The Eagle Baker Street-Jazz 8pm free The Allied Arms St.Mary'3 Butts-Readifoik (live music) 6pm free South Hill Park (SHP)-Folk Festival-Albion Band,Mike Maran + David Shephard. Old Swan Band + others £5.50 or £6 on day Watermill Theatre Newbury-The Killing of Sister George 7.30 2.50 to £6.To 24th Fives-Rune lunchtime free Angie's, Milton Road Wokingham-Motley Crew 9.30ish £1 + 1.50 membership Mon 12 Hex-Getting Married (Shaw) £2.50-£4 + concessions Mon-Fri 7.30,Sat 4.30 + 8pm The Plough Inn Tilehurst-Kennet Jazz Band 8pm free Progress Theatre-Youth Drama Festival 7.45 £1.50 + concessions. To 17th. SHP-The Competition(A) 7.30 £1.90 To 15th Tue 13 The Pheasant Winnersh-Jazz 6pm free Tudor Arms.Greyfriars Road-Gay disco SHP-As Mon 12th Wed 14 Grosvenor House.Kidmore Hoad C'sham- Denny Ilett Jazz Band 6pm free SHP-Film as Mon 12 Thu 15 Prince of Wales C'sham-High Society Jazz Band 6pm free Angie's Wokingham-Illusions-9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership SHP-Film as Mon 12 + Collapsible Bed Theatre Company 7.30 Four Horseshoes,Basingstoke Road-Jazz free Upper Deck,Duke Street-Spreadthick's summer Special 6pm 1.75 in advance (686l5),£2 on door.Folk club here every week now. Fri 16 SHP-English Music Festival-classical/traditional music.7.30 2 or £2.25 on day. Weekend tickets £9 or £10 on day Roebuck Hotel,Oxford Road-60's/Northern night 7.30 onwards 1.25 members £1.50 guests The Merry Maidens Shinfield Road-Rune Caribbean Club. London Street-St.Vitus Dance 10.30 onwards 1.50 Angle's Wokingham-Short Stories 9.30 £1+ £l.50 membership Apollo Theatre Oxford-Steve Miller Band Tudor Arms-Gay disco Sat 17 SHP-English Music Festival 11a.m £5.50 £6 on day Hex-Kings Hat Band 12.15, free Four Horseshoes B'stoke Rd-C + W/live music Caribbean Club London Street-Utopians Steel Band 10.30 1.50ish Angie's Wokingham-Howard Jones 9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership Target Butts Centre-Rune Basingstoke Sports Centre-Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 7.30 2.50 to £4.50 + concessions Watermill Theatre Newbury-Jonathan Cohen's Music Workshop (for Kids) lla.m + 2pm Sun 18 SHP-Music Festival- 1.30pm £5,£5.50 on day.Evening only-The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 8pm £3/£3.25 in advance,£4 on day Fives-The Clemo Band lunchtime free Angie's Wokingham -Frank Abrahams 9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership The Allied Arms-Readifoik 8pm free The Eagle Baker Street-Jazz 8pm free. Forbury Gardens-Salvation Army Band 3pm Hex-Reading Youth Orchestra 7.30 £2-£3 + concessions Mon 19 The Plough Tilehurst-Jazz 8pm free SHP-'Absence of Malice'(A) 7.30 £1.90 Hex-Lublin-Polish National Song and Dance Company 7-30 2.50-£3.50 Woodley Green-Morris Dancing in evening Tue 20 SHP-Film as Mon 19 Tudor Arms-Gay disco The Pheasant Winnersh-Jazz 8pm free Hex-Showaddywaddy 7.30 £3.50-£5 Wed 21 Grosvenor House(Kidmore Koad)-Denny Ilett Jazz Hand free SHP-Film as Mon 19 Thu 22 The Mill,Sonning-Murder,Dear Watson (Sonning's new theatre-evening includes a meal for which you pay an extortionate amount) SHP-Film as Mon 19 " 'Picasso and the Poets' free performance by David Medalla 7.30 Angie's Wokingham-Trimmer + Jenkins 9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership. Prince of Wales C'sham-Jazz 6pm free Upper Deck Duke Street-Folk club 8pm Four Horseshoes B'stoke Road-Jazz 8pm Fri 23 SHP-Robin Hood-Outdoor Theatre Production 7.30 £2/£2.20 kids half price SHP-Film as Mon 19 + 'A Fistful of Dollars'(A) 11pm Hex-Berkshire Young Musicians Concert 7.30 £2.50-£1.50 + concessions Caribbean London Street-Gordon Tropics 10.30 £l.50ish Angie's Wokingham -Ground Zero 9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership (sorry that should have been Ground Zero + Hieronymous Bosch) Tudor Arms-Gay disco Sat 24 SHP-Robin Hood performances 2.30 + 7.30 SHP-Films as Fri 23 " Kennet Morris Men 7.30 Apollo Youth Club Silver Street-Start of cultural week.11.30 onwards.Books art and crafts exhibition (and all week). Steel band 3pm.West Indian food available Hex-Herb Miller Orchestra 7.30 Target-Against the Grain.8pm free (check first) Angie's Wokingham-Licks'n'Vixen 9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership Four Horseshoes B'stoke Road-Singer Sun 25 Forbury Gardens-Yarnton Band 3pm SHP-Robin Hood as Sat 24 " Action Space Mobile 1pm + 4pm " 'Absence of Malice'(A) 7.30 £1.90 Apollo Youth Club Silver Street-Book art and craft exhibition 3pm, 6pm film 'Blood ah go run' documentary on Africa + discussion The Eagle Baker Street-Jazz 8pm free Fives-Against the Grain lunchtime free Angie's Wokingham -Juvessence 9.30 £1 + £1.50 membership Allied Arms-Readifolk 8pm free Mon 26 SHP-Raiders of the Lost Ark (A) 2.30 + 7.30 £1.90 Apollo Youth Club-7.30 Karate display 8.30 film 'Forward to a people's republic' + talk free The Plough Tilehurst-Jazz 8pm free Early Learning Centre Kings Road-10-12pm kids activities-must be accompanied by an adult Tue 27 Tudor Arms-Gay disco Apollo Youth Club-film 'Quemada' 8pm 50p The Pheasant Winnersh-Jazz 8pm free Watermill Theatre Newbury-Outside Edge (comedy). £5.50-£6 + concessions Cinema for one week beginning July l1th: Odeon Cheapside Reading(57887) 1) The French Lieutenant's Woman(AA) + Aerila Ambassador(U) 2) Porky's(x) + The Pledge(x) ABC Friar Street Reading(53951) l)Partners(AA) + Some Kind of Hero(AA) 2)Insatiable(X) + Blue Movie Star(X) 3)The Grass is Singing(A) + My Brilliant Career(U) ABC London Road Reading(61465) 1)Death Wish II(X) + Blow Out (X) ABC Bracknell (20072) 1)Porky's(X) + The Pledge(X) 2)Reds (AA) All ABC cinemas now £1.50 Mon-Fri before 6pm - - - -ADVERTISEMENT- BORED. LONELY, FRIGHTENED? SO AM I. DO YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? IF SO, SEND £5 (CHEQUES TO 'ALIENATION') TO BOX F, 17 CHATHAM STREET. I WILL HAVE A NIGHT OUT & SEND YOU PHOTOS. - - - A DOPE-HEAD'S LAMENT You may have read a couple of issues back that the Reading Branch of the Legalise Cannabis Campaign has disbanded; or should I say the Reading 'Twig' has finally withered and died. 'Why?', you may ask, there must be a considerable number of conscientious dope smokers in Reading. Very probably, but the last meeting was attended by only three people and two of those lived in the house where it was held. There are more pressing issues to fight for these days, admittedly, but there cannot be many who smoke the evil weed who would not welcome a change in the law, so that the blue guardians of law and morality cannot just barge into your home without a warrant and pull everything apart, and/or give you a body search when they bloody well feel like it. For me at least, the campaign has always been more one of personal freedom than simply the fight to have my favourite drug legalised. The L.C.C. is attempting to change the law through peaceful means: lobbying M.P.s (they have more support in the Lords than in the Commons), through publicity and trying to ensure that the public gets the true rundown on dope, not that produced by 1950's scaremongers. A couple of years ago the campaign had a small office, two full time workers plus helpers, and produced a monthly newsletter. Now there is only one person left who is trying to run a national campaign from a small room in the building used by Release - and this is only temporary. Newsletters only turn up when he can scrape together enough for the postage. So, here's the appeal. If you smoke dope and care about your right to indulge a harmless personal habit in your own home without persecution, support the campaign. If you're not a member - join. If you're already a member make sure you pay your subscription when it's due - they can't afford to send out reminders these days. It would be a great pity to see the L.C.C. sink under a tide of apathy like the Reading group did. So DON'T DITHER, DO IT! Stay hi! Peggy Bear - - - HOMES NOT OFFICES IN THE DRAFT CENTRAL READING DISTRICT PLAN To continue the saga of Reading town centre plan, housing is this week's focus in honour of the first meeting of Homes Not Offices! After millions of square feet of new offices and a new circulation system, one might well ask where housing fits into this town centre of the future. But first some background. Single family dwellings in Reading are expensive. But private rental accommodation is almost non- existent. When you consider the demand for rental accommodation in this town from the University, hospitals and technical college, it seems strange that developers do not rush into the gap and build lots of flats. However since WWII, private rental accommodation has been discriminated against in national housing policy, partly because of concern about tenant's rights and landlord responsibility. The emphasis has been on home ownership and council housing, and then on legislation to protect private tenants. The end result was to reduce the building of private rental accommodation to a standstill, end to make the management of rental property less profitable and more complicated. (Flats above Reading offices remain vacant because owners or office tenants do not wish the responsibility of tenant management.) This gap in the housing market has not been filled in Reading by council housing. There is a relatively small council stock and a very low turnover; the waiting list in March, 1981 was 3400. (Public sector housing starts for the whole country were at the lowest level then since figures began to be collected in 1945.) There is a desperate shortage of land for housing in Reading for both private and public housing. Central sites are small, costly and awkward - they are unprofitable for private developers, unless required as a condition of approval for other more lucrative uses. And we all know that public funds are steadily declining. How then can this draft local plan have any impact on the housing situation in Reading centre? The plan policies include a long list of about 50 sites in the centre that are designated for housing purposes, adding up to 1100 units by 1991. (One of these is the Crown Colonnade at Cemetery Junction. It is proposed for new housing plus redevelopment or retention of shops and cinema - no mention of offices.) Few of these sites have existing proposals or planning permission. Many are small and awkward. Most include designation for other land uses. What will compel land owners to develop them? Will they be for luxury accommodation only? Or can the Council claim some of them for public purposes? And will concessions be made on other sites or other uses to encourage developers to build housing? To make the centre a more attractive place in which to purchase a house, the draft plan includes traffic management policies to reduce traffic in residential areas, policies for removal of incompatible uses and for environmental improvement. Will these encourage homeowners to buy or stay in the centre? Or will it make it more profitable to build expensive flats? Some of the proposed sites are suggested for special housing uses like hostels. And the plan states that conversion to flats will be encouraged in larger "underused" dwellings but not in small single family units. A detailed set of standards will be applied to such conversions regarding storage, car parking, etc. For those in multiple accommodation like boarding houses, the plan mentions the new Code of Practice reviewed in the lest issue of RR and reported in the Post. Codes like these need to be enforced vigorously before they are taken seriously - let's hope this one will be. Best of luck to HOMES NOT OFFICES! - Lesley - - - : SMALL ADS : DOES ANYONE have a cheap or free DUPLICATOR to sell or get rid of? If so please ring Reading 52604 and ask for Paul. x x x x x x - - - NEWS IN BRIEF Odds'n'sods that didn't hit the front pages (and still haven't!) DEMOS Sub attacked POLICE have arrested nine protesters who gave themselves up to shipyard officials after attacking a US nuclear submarine at Groton, Connecticut, and painting "USS Auschwitz" on it. A spokesman said that members of the group boarded the Trident submarine, Florida, hammered on the missile hatches, poured blood into them, and damaged two sonar devices.-Reuter. Protesters held SEVEN protesters reportedly belonging to the anti-militarist group, Onkruit, were arrested yesterday, after the occupation of an army bunker at Kloetinge, Holland, was ended by military police. - AP. Bourse demo DEMONSTRATORS from the National Association of Small and Medium Businesses threw smoke-bombs and firecrackers in the Paris Bourse yesterday. The group was campaigning to save companies which it said had been condemned by the prices freeze. - Reuter. RESISTING IMPERIALISM! Zambian danger PRESIDENT Kaunda of Zambia has warned the country to prepare for austerity measures aimed at ensuring economic survival. The Sunday Times of Zambia reported Dr Kaunda as saying that the economy could deteriorate still further in the face of continuing low world prices for copper and poor demand for cobalt. - Reuter. SAMUEL MONTAGU, the merchant bank, has been appointed financial adviser to the government of Zambia. It will be involved in identifying sources of loan and investment capital and will give advice on economic measures. SURPRISE, SURPRISE THE European Court of Justice ruled against Britain yesterday for not having a proper job evaluation system to help to enforce its law on equal pay for men and women. The court, judging in a case brought by the European Community Commission, held that Britain had tailed to fulfil its treaty obligations. PUBLIC OPINION Oration for bombers More than 100 people gathered at Abergele in North Wales at the weekend to pray at the graves of two men killed when a bomb they were carrying exploded prematurely on the eve of the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969. A prominent lay preacher, Mr Alwyn ap Huw, defied an instruction from his chapels governing body and led the prayers. Wreaths were laid and a graveside oration was delivered by a former leading member of the Free Wales Army. Earlier the mourners paraded through the town carrying banners commemorating the two men, George Taylor and Alwyn Jones, who were both employed by the local council. Rebel toll Guatemala City : The Guatemalan Army says its forces killed 95 guerrillas in the first five days of a state of siege proclaimed last week. An army communique said that in the biggest operation, when troops overran a guerrilla camp 120 miles north-west of the capital, 50 rebels were killed. No troops died in the battle, it said.-Reuter. Guerrillas killed AT LEAST 200 left-wing guerrillas died during a month-long army sweep in north-eastern Morazan province, military sources in San Salvador said-Reuter. Cherry spit A CHICAGO businessman, George Nadenick, yesterday, spat a cherry pit 64 feet 3 inches to win the ninth world championships in Michigan. His effort fell shy of the world pit-spit record by one foot.-Reuter. Three PCs are gaoled for theft THREE police constables who stole spirits while investigating a Glasgow off-licence burglary were yesterday gaoled for six months by Glasgow Sheriff's Court. Another officer, who shared the spirits, was ordered to do community service. A fifth was fined £200. SHOCK By Rod Chapman, Energy Correspondent Northern Engineering Industries has launched a joint venture company, in response to efforts by the Government to involve the private sector in nuclear waste operations. These will provide waste management services for the British nuclear industry. NEI, Power Engineering of Gateshead will hold a 55 per cent stake in the firms, NEI Waste Technologies, with Chem Nuclear Systems of Seattle having a 35 per cent share in the equity and Pollution Prevention Consultants of Crawley the remaining 10 per cent The joint-venture company will provide services and equipment for the treatment and packaging of low-and-medium level radioactive waste, and for transportation and disposal. HORROR! Nuclear 'target' A RAILWAY taking nuclear waste to Windscale was a target on a hit list found in the London flat of Gerard Tuite, a Dublin special court was told. A HOLE .... Sock hole still a mystery The 40ft black hole of Emmer Green was still refusing to give up its secret today - 12 days after the land subsided in Grove Hill. A council spokesman said: "We have stopped digging so that we can put more strutting into the hole. The more (illegible) the closer we get to finding out what caused it. AND SOMETHING TO FILL IT? READING Borough Council is about to take delivery of its controversial "car of shame" - the subject of eight years of bickering between councillors. The new £21,000 Daimler limousine, branded the "car of shame" by the Labour group, is replacing the 13-year-old Mayoral car within the next few days. Already the special number, plate MRD 1 has been transferred from the old vehicle - nicknamed the "rust bucket". And within the next few weeks the new car should be ready to drive the Mayor to civic engagements. - - - WHY RED RAG LOOKS SO DIFFERENT! Yes, of course, a rupture: from duplicating to litho printing; from the stencil-conducted passage of ink into recycled capillaries, to the cunning deceptions of the plate; from the open and above-board, to hidden and unknown chemistry. Watch out! Whatever the change bodes for easier submission of text (send in your own camera-copy?), for proper pictures (toned), for a sheet that folds and needs no staple - against all that must be placed the threat of creeping success: a cover price; typesetting; numeration of issues; bound volumes; the morgue of the library shelf. Those who remember the first 'Time Out' - a single folded sheet, spun off from Tony Elliott's Keele paper - know what to fear. 'Not Red Rag' may have to come, in due course. Let Theodor Adorno's matchless dialectic (from 'Minima Moralia', 1951) serve to warn: "Progress and barbarism are today so matted together in mass culture that only barbaric asceticism towards the latter, and towards progress in technical means, could restore an unbarbaric condition. No work of art, no thought, has a chance of survival, unless it bear within it repudiation of false riches and high-class production, of colour films and television, millionaire's magazines and Toscanini. The older media, not designed for mass-production, take on a new timeliness: that of exemption and improvisation. They alone could outflank the united front of trusts and technology. In a world where books have long lost all likeness to books, the real book can no longer be one. If the invention of the printing press inaugurated the bourgeois era, the time is at hand for its repeal by the mimeograph, the only fitting, the unobtrusive means of dissemination." /rk - - - BUSINESS NEWS We started this issue £47 in debt. Thanks to donations, we've paid that and can print this issue - with about £20 in hand. We still need your money (thanks to those who've made standing orders). Our treasurer has moved - send cheques to Sue Clarke at 31b Milman Road, Reading. - - - A REAL BARREL OF FUN England's defeat in the World Cup will, with a bit of luck, take the wind out of one of Readings least pleasant gas bags. I refer to the manager of a large and at times popular pub in East Reading. This pub has long been famous for its liveliness and for the wide range of customers who frequent it, so why - Courages put in a manager who is a self-confessed racist and rude to customers and staff alike is difficult to imagine. It has to be said that the man is a good manager in some respects, he puts on live music and special events. What he isn't consistent about is being tolerably polite. It is not tactful to sign oneself 'NF Steve' on the Pool table slate in a bar where Blacks, Irish and Asians drink, but he has done so. Nor do all customers want to listen to the English football squad's moronic warblings at painful decibel levels, but they have to, because it happens to be our Steve's idea of a good tune. Is it normal for bar staff to spend the afternoon rubbing the silver bits off 'Barrel of Fun' draw cards, and filling in the winners with false names? Is it right to allow landlords to misuse their power by picking on less assertive members of the community such as Asians and Egyptians? Can Red Rag readers do anything about this blot on the drinking landscape? YES! Write to Courage Brewery and tell them that racists are not wanted at the Junction. But write to someone a bit higher than their Area Manager, as rumour has it that he also 'stands for England, dun'he?' by Best Bitter. - - - Acorn's Bit If you ever wondered what people buy in ACORN - so did we. So we compile a "bestsellers list" every month. This is June's: 1. Bronowski lecture. Pamphlet reprint of Nicholas Humphrey's "Four Minutes to Midnight". 2. Fate of the Earth. New one by Jonathan Schell about the threat to survival. 3. Little Red Schoolbook. Still 30p, the all-time bestseller. -Guide to growing marijuana in the British Isles. The basic guide. -Beyond the Cold War. E.P.Thompson. The cheap end of the E.P.T. boom. Not the Dimbleby lecture. Also rans: Principia Discordia; Journey of Awakening (Ram Dass); Men's Liberation; When the wind blows(Raymond Briggs - not funny) Maggie Thatcher lots to do bumper fun book; Office worker's survival manual; Original Sins (Lisa Alther) Union Street (Pat Barker); Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (Hunter S Thompson meets Richard Nixon); Sweet freedom (history of the women's movement so far); Guide to British psilocybin. We treat pamphlets like books, cos we reckon they're at least as useful and more likely to be read! - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1982/1982-07-11.txt#5 $