We need a full investigation into the extent of illegal blacklist

When applying form Jobs I'm afraid I don't announce that I am responsible this blog on my CV .

I suspect announcing to potential employers that I write a Blog called National Left may not help my prospects.

I doubt that I'm on any blacklist as I'm not important enough and this Blog to be frank is pretty obscure.. So whilst if I was  in the political bubble it may be useful on my CV . I doubt that it will help to announce my daily rantings.

Still Blacklist exists .

Today's Guardian reports that :

Solicitors acting for thousands of construction workers are appealing a decision by the Metropolitan police not to investigate claims that officers supplied information to an illegal blacklist of construction workers.

Christian Khan solicitors, representing the Blacklist Support Group, submitted a complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Met in November. But it has now emerged that the complaint was "non-recorded" with a spokesman for the IPCC saying it was too general.

Sarah McSherry, a partner at Christian Khan solicitors, called the police response "deplorable".

"The complaints process is the only forum in which criminal allegations against police officers can be investigated yet the [Met's] directorate of professional standards refuse to record the complaint, suggesting that our clients 'should report the matter as a crime in the normal way' as the 'complaints process is not the correct vehicle to forward their concerns or allegations'", McSherry told Building magazine. "This smacks of a complete lack of knowledge of the Police Reform Act and indeed the very function of the directorate of professional standards." McSherry added that they would be appealing the decision.

The Guardian, Friday 1 February 2013

Half of the top 20 construction companies were involved with the blacklisting company, the Construction Association, in 2009, paying an annual £3,000 a year subscription plus £2.20 for each blacklist check.

Ian Kerr, chief officer of the Consulting Association, told a committee of MPs last year that firms had used the blacklist in relation to the Olympic Park and projects including Portcullis House in Westminster, the Admiralty, the Ministry of Defence HQ in Whitehall and Wembley stadium.

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, said:

 "This goes on today, just because you're a trade unionist, you stand up for health and safety or simply because you want to ensure justice and fairness at work. I want the inquiry to examine all those things in the past but I want an inquiry that opens up the doors and invites people to come forward with evidence."

We need to have a full investigation into this we need to to know the full extent of this Blacklisting  and whether it extended beyond Trade Unions to include people with other Left associations. and who provided the information.

On the  197O Ross , McWhirter co-founded the ultra right wing political organisation National Association for Freedom now The Freedom Association).

 The organisation initiated a Blacklist  against the trade union movement in the United Kingdom, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND),and other groups they disapproved of .

I don't know if such a list exist today the Freedom association fell away under the Thatcher Government as they broadly agreed with it.and its anti-union policies.

I know that there's a danger of entering the world of Conspiracy  Theory here but the recent revelations have proven such blacklists do exist and the worry is that it may be just the tip of an iceberg. 

The idea that serving police officers may have been involved in supplying Names to go on a blacklist is disturbing and rasised quuestion of whether they can be trusted to investigate the full extent of this 


Speaking in the Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron said: 

“The blacklisting that occurred was a completely unacceptable practice. I think the previous government was right to bring in legislation to make it unlawful.

So if the law was broken lets find out the extent and work to make sure it doesn't happen again . Though I doubt that there's any real will of the current government to do so.