Walter Wolfgang
Encyclopedia
Walter Jakob Wolfgang is a German
-born British
socialist
and peace activist.
He is currently Vice President and Vice Chair of Labour
of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition
. He became an unlikely hero after cameras recorded him being forcibly ejected from the annual Labour Party Conference in Brighton
on September 28, 2005 for shouting "nonsense" during Jack Straw
's speech on the Iraq War, in an incident that provoked much media comment and embarrassed the Labour leadership.
In August 2006 Wolfgang succeeded in his bid to become a member of Labour's National Executive Committee
.
. As Jews, his family suffered persecution under the Nazis
, and in 1937 his parents arranged for the teenaged Walter to move from Frankfurt
to Britain (this was before the start of the Kindertransport
programme). Wolfgang attended Ottershaw College, Chertsey
, while his parents followed him to Britain two years later and settled in Richmond. During World War II
, Wolfgang volunteered to serve in the RAF
but was rejected due to a physical condition. After the war, Wolfgang qualified as an accountant
; he joined the Labour Party
in 1948. He allied with the left and was Secretary of the Bevanite
pressure group 'Victory for Socialism' from 1955 to 1958. He co-authored several of Victory for Socialism's pamphlets, including In Pursuit of Peace (1954) and The Red Sixties (1959); Wolfgang also assisted Hugh Jenkins in writing Summit Talks and on an unpublished work on Socialism in general in the late 1950s.
In 1956, Wolfgang co-wrote a pamphlet Tho' Cowards Flinch calling for all meetings of the Parliamentary Labour Party
to be made open meetings for the press to report, and for the abolition of the standing orders of the PLP in order to allow Labour MPs freedom to defy the Labour whip
. In the 1959 general election
, Wolfgang was Labour candidate for Croydon North East
, polling 15,440 votes, losing to sitting Conservative
Member of Parliament
, John Hughes-Hallett
.
(CND) in 1958, participating in the group's first march to Aldermaston
. After Hugh Gaitskell
vowed to overturn the 1960 conference's decision to support unilateral nuclear disarmament and won sufficient support to make it likely that he would do so in 1961, Wolfgang wrote a pamphlet called Let Labour Lead which asserted that those who supported unilateralism would adopt Gaitskell's slogan and "fight, and fight, and fight again" to save the Labour Party. Leading a revival of the Aldermaston March in 1972, Wolfgang asserted that there was a 50–50 chance that nuclear weapons would be scrapped before the world was destroyed by them.
Before CND, Wolfgang had been a member of the Direct Action Committee
and in 1961 he joined the more radical section of CND in seceding to the Committee of 100 where he became Chairman of the London Executive. He organised a protest on November 1, 1961 in which he delivered a milk bottle
labelled "Danger — Radioactive" to the Soviet Union
embassy in London in protest at the detonation of Tsar Bomba
, at 50 megatons the largest nuclear explosive to ever be tested.
As the delegate of Richmond-upon-Thames CLP
at the 1972 Labour Party conference, Wolfgang made two speeches, one calling for nationalisation of land and the other moving an amendment to withdraw Britain from NATO and abandon nuclear weapons. In the late 1970s Wolfgang was a leading member of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, which campaigned for reforms to the Labour Party structure to give constituency parties more power.
, Jack Straw
, in response to Straw's "We are in Iraq for one reason only: to help the elected Iraqi government build a secure, democratic and stable nation", Wolfgang shouted "Nonsense!". Some witnesses claimed he then may have added "That's a lie and you know it!" and/or "Pack of lies!".
In full view of the television cameras, several conference stewards, who were on alert for any attempts to disrupt the speech, then picked up and removed Wolfgang and confiscated his security pass. Erith and Thamesmead Constituency Labour Party
chairman Steve Forrest, who was sitting nearby, was also removed (more forcibly) for voicing his objections to Wolfgang's treatment. When Wolfgang attempted to re-enter the conference later the same day, his pass showed that he had been removed previously, and he was briefly held by police under section 44 of the Terrorism Act
.
said on the BBC
's Newsnight
that evening that the conference had the right to expel repeated hecklers. The following day McCartney appeared before the media with Wolfgang and personally apologised to him. Tony Blair
, the Prime Minister
, apologised to Wolfgang on the following day's Today programme
on BBC Radio 4
and BBC Breakfast
, stating that he should not have been removed.
Wolfgang justified his actions by saying "when you have an international debate that does not deal adequately with the international issues of the day, the least you can do, if someone is talking nonsense, is say so". He was quickly hailed as a hero by sections of the Labour Party and sections of the media. His expulsion, and the use of anti-terrorism legislation
, was condemned by both the political left and right as symptomatic of an increasingly authoritarian
tendency in the Labour Government and the gradual erosion of civil liberties
. It was even claimed that if Wolfgang had shouted "nonsense" twice, he could have been charged according to the Protection from Harassment Act which was ostensibly primarily created to deter stalkers.
Wolfgang's pass to the Labour party conference was at first withdrawn following the incident, but this decision was later reversed and he returned to the conference the following day to a "hero's welcome". In his closing speech at the conference, John Reid said "I'm sorry about yesterday. … We didn't want it, it shouldn't have happened, it's not the way we do things. Everybody is really sorry and we apologise for that."
slate of candidates standing for election to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee
, stating that he would be campaigning on a platform of opposition to the war on Iraq, rejecting the Royal Navy
's Trident missile
program, and making the Party more democratic.
On August 3, 2006 it was announced that he has been elected to the NEC, coming fourth in the election (the top 6 get seats).
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and peace activist.
He is currently Vice President and Vice Chair of Labour
of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....
. He became an unlikely hero after cameras recorded him being forcibly ejected from the annual Labour Party Conference in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
on September 28, 2005 for shouting "nonsense" during Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
's speech on the Iraq War, in an incident that provoked much media comment and embarrassed the Labour leadership.
In August 2006 Wolfgang succeeded in his bid to become a member of Labour's National Executive Committee
National Executive Committee
The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties,...
.
Background
Wolfgang was born in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. As Jews, his family suffered persecution under the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, and in 1937 his parents arranged for the teenaged Walter to move from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
to Britain (this was before the start of the Kindertransport
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
programme). Wolfgang attended Ottershaw College, Chertsey
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
, while his parents followed him to Britain two years later and settled in Richmond. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wolfgang volunteered to serve in the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
but was rejected due to a physical condition. After the war, Wolfgang qualified as an accountant
Accountancy
Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in...
; he joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in 1948. He allied with the left and was Secretary of the Bevanite
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
pressure group 'Victory for Socialism' from 1955 to 1958. He co-authored several of Victory for Socialism's pamphlets, including In Pursuit of Peace (1954) and The Red Sixties (1959); Wolfgang also assisted Hugh Jenkins in writing Summit Talks and on an unpublished work on Socialism in general in the late 1950s.
In 1956, Wolfgang co-wrote a pamphlet Tho' Cowards Flinch calling for all meetings of the Parliamentary Labour Party
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....
to be made open meetings for the press to report, and for the abolition of the standing orders of the PLP in order to allow Labour MPs freedom to defy the Labour whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
. In the 1959 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
, Wolfgang was Labour candidate for Croydon North East
Croydon North East (UK Parliament constituency)
Croydon North East was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1955 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...
, polling 15,440 votes, losing to sitting Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, John Hughes-Hallett
John Hughes-Hallett
Vice-Admiral John Hughes-Hallett was a British naval commander and politician. He was the Naval Commander during the Dieppe Raid of 1942.-Biography:...
.
Nuclear disarmament
Wolfgang was a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
(CND) in 1958, participating in the group's first march to Aldermaston
Aldermaston Marches
The Aldermaston marches were protest demonstrations organised by the British anti-war Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1950s and 1960s. They took place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of...
. After Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest...
vowed to overturn the 1960 conference's decision to support unilateral nuclear disarmament and won sufficient support to make it likely that he would do so in 1961, Wolfgang wrote a pamphlet called Let Labour Lead which asserted that those who supported unilateralism would adopt Gaitskell's slogan and "fight, and fight, and fight again" to save the Labour Party. Leading a revival of the Aldermaston March in 1972, Wolfgang asserted that there was a 50–50 chance that nuclear weapons would be scrapped before the world was destroyed by them.
Before CND, Wolfgang had been a member of the Direct Action Committee
Direct Action Committee
The Direct Action Committee against nuclear war was a pacifist organization formed "to assist the conducting of non-violent direct action to obtain the total renunciation of nuclear war and its weapons by Britain and all other countries as a first step in disarmament"...
and in 1961 he joined the more radical section of CND in seceding to the Committee of 100 where he became Chairman of the London Executive. He organised a protest on November 1, 1961 in which he delivered a milk bottle
Milk bottle
Milk bottles are bottles used for milk. They may be reusable glass bottles used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen. Customers are expected to rinse the empty bottles and leave on the doorstep for collection...
labelled "Danger — Radioactive" to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
embassy in London in protest at the detonation of Tsar Bomba
Tsar Bomba
Tsar Bomba is the nickname for the AN602 hydrogen bomb, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. It was also referred to as Kuz'kina Mat , in this usage meaning "something that has not been seen before"....
, at 50 megatons the largest nuclear explosive to ever be tested.
As the delegate of Richmond-upon-Thames CLP
Constituency Labour Party
A Constituency Labour Party is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular UK parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. The Labour Party in Northern Ireland has, since February 2009, been organised as a province-wide Constituency Labour Party...
at the 1972 Labour Party conference, Wolfgang made two speeches, one calling for nationalisation of land and the other moving an amendment to withdraw Britain from NATO and abandon nuclear weapons. In the late 1970s Wolfgang was a leading member of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, which campaigned for reforms to the Labour Party structure to give constituency parties more power.
2005 Labour conference incident
Wolfgang attended the 2005 Labour Party conference as a visitor and sat in the part of the hall reserved for visitors, which is at the back. During a speech by then Foreign SecretarySecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
, Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
, in response to Straw's "We are in Iraq for one reason only: to help the elected Iraqi government build a secure, democratic and stable nation", Wolfgang shouted "Nonsense!". Some witnesses claimed he then may have added "That's a lie and you know it!" and/or "Pack of lies!".
In full view of the television cameras, several conference stewards, who were on alert for any attempts to disrupt the speech, then picked up and removed Wolfgang and confiscated his security pass. Erith and Thamesmead Constituency Labour Party
Constituency Labour Party
A Constituency Labour Party is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular UK parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. The Labour Party in Northern Ireland has, since February 2009, been organised as a province-wide Constituency Labour Party...
chairman Steve Forrest, who was sitting nearby, was also removed (more forcibly) for voicing his objections to Wolfgang's treatment. When Wolfgang attempted to re-enter the conference later the same day, his pass showed that he had been removed previously, and he was briefly held by police under section 44 of the Terrorism Act
Terrorism Act 2000
The Terrorism Act 2000 is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland Act 1996...
.
Reaction
The Labour Party leadership quickly apologised for the 'heavy-handedness' of the incident, but Party Chairman Ian McCartneyIan McCartney
Sir Ian McCartney is a former politician, who was the British Labour Party Member of Parliament for the Makerfield constituency between 1987 to 2010, and served in the Cabinet, from 2003 to 2007, when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister...
said on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
that evening that the conference had the right to expel repeated hecklers. The following day McCartney appeared before the media with Wolfgang and personally apologised to him. Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, apologised to Wolfgang on the following day's Today programme
Today programme
Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...
on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
and BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
, stating that he should not have been removed.
Wolfgang justified his actions by saying "when you have an international debate that does not deal adequately with the international issues of the day, the least you can do, if someone is talking nonsense, is say so". He was quickly hailed as a hero by sections of the Labour Party and sections of the media. His expulsion, and the use of anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation designs various types of laws passed in the aim of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations...
, was condemned by both the political left and right as symptomatic of an increasingly authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
tendency in the Labour Government and the gradual erosion of civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
. It was even claimed that if Wolfgang had shouted "nonsense" twice, he could have been charged according to the Protection from Harassment Act which was ostensibly primarily created to deter stalkers.
Wolfgang's pass to the Labour party conference was at first withdrawn following the incident, but this decision was later reversed and he returned to the conference the following day to a "hero's welcome". In his closing speech at the conference, John Reid said "I'm sorry about yesterday. … We didn't want it, it shouldn't have happened, it's not the way we do things. Everybody is really sorry and we apologise for that."
NEC candidacy
Wolfgang has been a member of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, a group which campaigns to increase the level of democracy within the Labour Party. In 2006 he was chosen and elected as one of the Grassroots AllianceGrassroots Alliance
The centre-left Grassroots Alliance is a group of elected members on the British Labour Party National Executive Committee, founded in 1998. They represent members from a broad spectrum of the Labour membership, ranging from centrists to left wingers...
slate of candidates standing for election to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee
National Executive Committee
The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties,...
, stating that he would be campaigning on a platform of opposition to the war on Iraq, rejecting the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's Trident missile
Trident missile
The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile equipped with multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicles . The Fleet Ballistic Missile is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines . Trident missiles are carried by fourteen...
program, and making the Party more democratic.
On August 3, 2006 it was announced that he has been elected to the NEC, coming fourth in the election (the top 6 get seats).