Tony Lloyd
Tony Lloyd
‘Memory and spirit’ of brigaders saluted
An organization which works to preserve the “memory and spirit” of those who joined the fight against fascism during the Spanish civil war held its annual meeting in Manchester October 2022.
The International Brigade Memorial Trust’s meeting saw guests travel from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Spain, the organisation said.
They discussed democracy, monarchies and republics, history, and how the events impacted Spain, Catalonia and the Basque country today.
Unison hosted a reception for the meeting on Friday night.
North-West Unison’s Vicky Knight highlighted the links between trade unionists and those who supported the fight for democracy in the Spanish civil war and elsewhere.
Other speakers and guests included Tracy Delaney of Unison, the Lord Mayor of Manchester Donna Ludford, Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd, and Begona del Castillo from the Confederacion Sindical de CCOO in Spain.[1]
Parliamentary Friends of Colombia
Justice for Colombia works closely with the Parliamentary Friends of Colombia group formed of over 60 MPs and Lords from the British Parliament.
The Parliamentary Friends of Colombia group monitors the human rights situation in Colombia and the policies of the British Government towards Colombia.
The Parliamentary Friends of Colombia group is currently (2021) formed of the following MPs:
Co-Chairs: Jo Stevens MP and Tony Lloyd MP
Vice-Chairs: Ian Lavery MP and Lord John Monks.
2018 Justice for Colombia 2nd delegation
Jo Stevens MP, Tony Lloyd MP, John McCallister Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Stephen Cavalier Thompsons Solicitors, Nick Crook UNISON, Mark Fairhurst POA, Paul Glover UNISON, Sally Hunt TUC, John Metcalf ASLEF, Joe Simpson POA, Mick Whelan Justice for Colombia governing committee and ASLEF.
International Brigade memorial
Sam Russell, veteran of the war against fascism in Spain, led a crowd of around 300 at the International Brigade memorial in Jubilee Gardens on the South Bank of the Thames July 2008 in the annual memorial event for those who went from Britain, ready to sacrifice everything, to stop fascism in Spain in the 1930s.
Other speakers and dignitaries included Paul Preston of the London School of Economics, Tony Lloyd, who chairs the Parliamentary Labour Party, the Spanish Ambassador and International Brigade Association secretary Marlene Sidaway – who delivered La Passionaria’s Standing Down speech from 1938.
Paul Preston told the crowd that the war in Spain was “the first part of the Second World War” and that “if people had listened to the International Brigaders the Second World War might never have happened”.[2]