And so after finally finishing Simon Hannah’s superb Radical Lambeth, I’ve started to watch some of the related videos to accompany the book.
It turns out that not only am I a slow reader, Im also a slow watcher of YT videos that are clogging up my browser tabs.
It’s a fascinating period in Lambeth politics, and one that also shaped and framed the national picture as well.
Hannah’s book documents the period roughly between 1978 through until 1990 in the borough. It tells the story of the rise and fall of radical politics at the Town Hall.
A follow up would be most welcome, explaining how the right wing cabal was able to take control, with the legacy still inflicting great damage for residents throughout Lambeth today.
But anyway.
Back to the videos.
Hannah has helpfully put together a standalone page that links to the relevant content. This includes relatively recent interviews with ex-Leader, Ted Knight.
Ted passed five years ago. Some of the conversation in the 2018 video interviews are already sounding very dated.
Even in his later years, he was still a powerful and eloquent speaker. You can see how at his pomp, he was able to mobilise thousands of residents to march with him to Westminster. You can’t see the current Cabinet fostering such political loyalty.
Some of the archive shots throughout the videos capture the borough and the associated protests of the time. The early 1980’s were a very different way of life.
Steve Nally from the Anti-Poll Tax Federation makes some powerful arguments:
“Be prepared to wage battle against the forces to survive.”
Forward Ever - Backward Never, etc.