Beale, Albert

Beale, Albert

Albert Beale

17 October 2012Comment

3 January 1946 – 28 September  2012

Peace News found itself involved – directly or indirectly – in several of the spate of political trials which were a feature of life in Britain during the 1970s. One of these was the ABC official secrets case; Crispin Aubrey, the 'A' of the trial's name, has died suddenly, aged 66.

Those of us editing PN at the time were hauled up before the lord chief justice for naming an anonymous witness due to give evidence in the ABC case, and both lots of defendants ended up…

26 September 2012Comment

Soon after PN first regularly added the subtitle 'for nonviolent revolution' to its masthead, Bob Overy (who'd worked on the paper not long before) wrote a two-part article analysing the many different takes on the subject. This is part of his setting the scene for the two pieces.

I've come to the conclusion that there are two basically different ways of looking at nonviolent revolution, and several different positions which might be accommodated to this label. This has not eased a sense I have that a great big rag-bag of a concept is being held out as a goal for pacifists, which will certainly be taken up because it sounds right and, as a slogan, has flair.

The danger, I fear, is that we'll begin to speak and act as if nonviolent revolution is the agreed…

2 July 2012Comment

PN columnist “Owlglass”, one of a number of powerful writers in the paper in the midst of the Second World War, takes a biting approach to both the war mentality in general and the war’s more extreme and barbaric methods.

Despite the abandonment of “Hate Training” by the military authorities, the nation is still confronted with the difficult problem - Exactly how much hate ought we to have?

There is a lamentable divergence of opinion on this matter. At one extreme we have the Archbishop advocating no hate at all and exhorting us to love the enemy while killing him. At the other extreme, the Marquis of Donegal advocates 100 per cent hatred and “German justice for 90 million German vermin”.

Both…

31 May 2012Comment

Arguments about nuclear power stations and nuclear waste were prevalent 30 years ago, as now – and PN played a key part. Ex-PN-staffer Paul Wesley tells of a campaign that succeeded.

The government’s abandonment of the nuclear waste burial programme is a fine victory for anti-nuclear campaigners generally and for Welsh groups in particular. For Madryn [Welsh anti-dumping group] it was the unexpectedly early culmination of two years’ campaigning which provides some valuable organisational lessons.

During the early public meetings it became clear that people felt it would be very wrong for any campaign to simply oppose dumping in this area alone, and so a policy of…

27 April 2012Comment

PN was a leading voice in the radical opposition to the Falklands War; though there was plenty of reactionary opposition too – from both ends of the orthodox political spectrum.

The stated British policy to regain control of the islands by backing up diplomatic pressure with military might, in effect using the task force as a political weapon, is bound to lead to confusion.

When does a military engagement leave the political arena and become a political weapon? ... Military means subvert the political process, and then, with the weakening of non-military action, an increase in military action becomes…

31 March 2012Comment

PN was naturally a leading voice in the opposition to the Falklands War, both in terms of its own editorial line and in its promoting of the views of the main British pacifist organisations and the international networks to which they were affiliated.

The prospect of war over the Falkland Islands has been viewed with enthusiasm by headline writers, and politicians of all persuasions have been competing in jingoistic declarations that Britain should show it is still a great power. They entirely miss the essential point that the outbreak of violence can only lead to deaths and casualties among the Falklanders themselves as well as servicemen.

This is the central argument of the statement by British pacifists we reprint here. It…

1 March 2012Comment

PN had made brief mention of the death of King George VI, saying – amongst other things – “Peace News records its deep sympathy with the Royal Family so suddenly bereaved...”. The item generated a lot of correspondence on subsequent letters pages.

Peter Green: We expect this dope from the capitalist press, but not from a paper which is “international” and “pacifist”. It does not help the cause of pacifism or internationalism to salute the head of a military and imperialist state.

Ethel Mannin: The king was probably... a good father and husband, and, according to his lights, what is commonly called “decent”. However, those lights and that decency are not our pacifist conception of goodness... The most astonishing assertion in…

1 December 2011Comment

Churches, schools and peace

Fasting not feasting

[Activists over a range of issues can find themselves less than welcome at famous churches.]

RI Jeffrey reports: "Pacifism is a political attitude and it is not our job to support it." Thus said the Dean of York in refusing his permission for the York Pacifist Group to hold a fasting vigil inside York Minster, from 7pm on Christmas Eve until midnight on Christmas Day, as a protest against war and the use of violence.

Not to worry - and…

1 June 2011Feature

Albert Beale makes a personal selection of a few of the more noteworthy images and pieces of writing that have appeared in Peace News over the last 75 years. Some of the items are chosen because of their eloquence, some because they typify PN's often lonely and unique take on the world, and some because they connect with major world events. And sometimes all three.


The paper reports from the first meeting of War Resisters' International after the Second World War (10 January 1947)

The Hitler question

One of the challenges still regularly thrown at pacifists today is the “But what about the Second World War?” question. This might be thought to have been even harder to deal with at the time. But James Avery Joyce rose to the challenge on the front page of PN on 26 September 1941.

“At this…

1 June 2007News

Questions about corruption dominated the questions to directors at the recent annual shareholders' meeting of Britain's biggest weapons merchants, BAE Systems.

In addition to some nominal shareholders organised by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), several “real” shareholders also embarrassed the board with related questions.
Outside the meeting too, street theatre (see picture) by CAAT activists featured in the financial pages of most serious papers the next day.

1 May 2007News

The Campaign Against Arms Trade, with Corner House Research, has now lodged its full application for a High Court judicial review of the Serious Fraud Office's dropping of a corruption case against BAE Systems, Britain's biggest weapons producer. The corruption relates to a massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
The application was on hold pending other legal proceedings to stop BAE's access to CAAT's internal documents relating to the High Court case -- see the February and March PNs…

1 May 2007News

On 21 April, over 2000 authorised demonstrations (mostly consisting of just one person) were held in the area around London's Parliament Square, all having been applied for -- and granted permission -- under the SOCPA regulations.
This world record was achieved thanks to a mobilisation (including a fine half-hour programme on Radio 4) by comedian-activist Mark Thomas. In one day, the total number of such authorisations since the law was enacted in July 2005 was more than doubled.…

1 March 2007News

For the third time, a trial stemming from direct action at “RAF” Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2003 - when activists tried to impede US bombing of Iraqis at the start of the attacks in March that year - has ended with a hung jury.

Josh Richards was charged with attempted arson, having being arrested while breaking into the base. He said he wanted to set fire to the tyres of planes so they could not be used to drop cluster bombs on Iraqi civilians, which would be a war crime. He also…

1 February 2007News

The Serious Fraud Office's dropping of one of its corruption cases against BAE Systems on government “advice” had led to widespread national and international condemnation, the threat of legal action against the government by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and Corner House ... and more BAE dirty tricks.

BAE Systems - British Aerospace as was - is Britain's largest armaments manufacturer, and faces accusations of bribery and corruption in connection with a whole string of…

3 July 2006Comment

According to press reports, the MoD is refusing to comply with the Information Commissioner's ruling that they should release details of the 500 civil servants employed to promote British arms exports because “they could be harassed by pacifists”.

Well, it's no wonder really. Everyone must have noticed those marauding hordes of militant pacifists, flaunting their white poppies, giving out leaflets about Gandhi, even trying to sell copies of Peace News - they're so…