The Guardian, Laurence Weidberg and us

November 2024 Forums Off topic The Guardian, Laurence Weidberg and us

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  • #83117
    ALB
    Keymaster

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/29/unthinkable-snow-in-august

    This has been mentioned on Spintcom but should probably be recorded here too.

    Someone at the Guardian has a long memory, but it's true about Laurence Weidberg.

    #104787
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I remember seeing L Weidberg in Hide Park early 80s. I dare not repeat some of the things he said.  He was certainly unforgettable.  I believe his son was/is in the party.

    #104786
    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Vin Maratty wrote:
    I believe his son was/is in the party.

    I think I'm correct in saying that two of his sons were in the party.  Ronnie, the elder and more active of the two, sadly also died some years ago at a relatively young age.

    #104788
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Yes, Ronnie died in 1994.  He was an academic jurist and because of his father's proclivity to take legal action changed his name to Ronnie Warrington (after the town where Gerrard Winstanley was born) and wrote articles both for his work and for the Socialist Standard under that name as well as as RAW. For instance, this one on Miliband's father:http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1970s/1977/no-871-march-1977/open-letter-professor-milibandAfter he dropped out of the Party he ended up as a post-modernist:.http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Ronnie-Warrington/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ARonnie%20WarringtonA sad degeneration from his earlier work, when still a Party member, on the legal theory of the Russian Marxist Evgeny Pashukanis, as in R Warrington: `Pashukanis and the commodity form theory', International Journal of the Sociology of Law, 9 1 1981.For more just type "Warrington" + "Pashukanis" into a search engine.I think his brother became a Jewish patriot and went to live in Israel.Ah well.

    #104789
    rodshaw
    Participant

    Were / are the Weidberg family capitalists, or have I got that wrong?

    #104790
    Brian
    Participant
    rodshaw wrote:
    Were / are the Weidberg family capitalists, or have I got that wrong?

    Correct.  Larry made umbrellas.  Not sure how many he employed.

    #104791
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I seem to remember there were other capitalists in the party. nothing wrong with that! Wish I was a capitalist 

    #104792
    jondwhite
    Participant

    Was Weidburg one of the more abrasive speakers?

    #104793
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I would say he 'takes no prisoners'.

    #104794
    jondwhite
    Participant

    Why were speakers like that?

    #104795
    ALB
    Keymaster

    One of Weidberg's famous put downs was on the EC, when a member with a certain reputation said "Let's face it, we must …", he interjected "Which face would that be?".

    #104796
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Forgot to add that a member got in a comment on the Grauniad's article:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/03/eccentric-memories-and-summer-snow

    #104797
    Anonymous
    Inactive
    jondwhite wrote:
    Why were speakers like that?

     If you have ever spent time on a soap box in hyde park I think you will understand. 

    #104798
    Anonymous
    Inactive
    jondwhite wrote:
    Why were speakers like that?

    But they weren't all "like that".  A few were abrasive, one or two abusive even, but the majority of speakers, particularly those on the outdoor platform and considering the provocation they often had to endure from sections of the audience, showed immense self-control.

    #104799
    Brian
    Participant

    I'll never forget the time I was on the platform at Speakers Corner and receiving a battering from the organised hecklers,  who had obviously spotted a wet behind the ears naive new speaker from the SPGB who had no idea on how to deal with the absurd questions coming from all directions in a crowd of about 200.After about 45 minutes of organised mayhem and with no liquid refreshments to hand or any party member to take over I was starting to feel the strain.  To my relief I spotted Larry walking past the outside of the crowd and shouted over to attract his attention.  To my dismay he glanced over, smiled, and walked on.  As if to say 'Hard luck, get on with it'!  You can guess my thoughts at the time.Larry, was the only speaker I knew of who frothed at the mouth when on the platform.  And when you asked him a question it was wise to stand to one side before he replied.

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