Letters

Silly ceremony Dear Editors, “I, […], do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and successors, according to law.” The above is the Affirmation of Allegiance required to be taken by applicants for British citizenship, at one of New Labour’s more inane gifts to the nation, the Citizenship Ceremony. Any applicant for British citizenship has to attend such a ceremony within six months of their application being accepted. Failure to do so means that one’s application is deemed unsuccessful, and that the whole tortuous process must be started again. I recently found myself attending such a ceremony as a guest, struggling to keep a straight face as the Lord Mayor of Bristol, in his full regalia, informed us, while standing in front of a picture of the Queen, that, in Britain, “No-one is above the law.” Twenty-three new citizens, plus their guests, were present to hear the Lord Mayor eulogise about the Greatness of Britain and its democratic institutions. Tellingly, however, he opened his speech by reiterating a couple of questions from the Citizenship Test (analogous to the Theory component of a driving test), which all of the new Citizens were required to have passed before reaching this stage. Unaccountably, not one of them could remember the literal meaning of Prime Minister or how many members the Welsh Assembly has. I took some small encouragement from the fact that slightly more citizens chose to take the Affirmation of Allegiance, rather than the Oath (which beings, “I […] swear by Almighty God). However, the overall effect reminded me of nothing more than a school assembly, with a hall full of bored students intoning words to prayers which they find more or less meaningless. And this, of course, is the point. The whole process has less to do with “citizenship” per se than with reminding workers who have often overcome massive difficulties and obstructions in order to be allowed to settle here (admittedly not the case for the person whose guest I was) of precisely who is the boss, and showing that they are expected to be good little boys and girls. Needless to say the proceedings ended with the playing of the National Anthem. Not wishing to embarrass my partner, I confess that I did stand up for the wretched dirge (albeit with my fingers firmly crossed throughout!). Surely the world can be organised more sanely than this? Why should it not be the birthright of every human being to settle in any part of our planet (or even to continuously travel around it, should one so require), and be accepted as an equal member of one’s community without having to participate in silly ceremonies to prove one’s worthiness to do so? Why should we have to swear (or affirm or whatever) Allegiance to anyone? As Leon Rosselson wrote in his song “The World Turned Upside Down”, “This world was made a common treasury, for everyone to share.” However, until the world’s working class unites consciously and politically to ensure that the treasury can indeed be shared, a minority class with retain control and the rest of us will continue to be expected to be grateful when we've passed enough of their patronising “tests” (and, of course, have sufficient funds) to be able to relocate from one part of the planet to another. SHANE ROBERTS, Bristol.

Contacts

UK BRANCHES &  CONTACTS LONDON Central London branch.   2nd Wednesday of the month at 18:30 at the Plough, 1st Floor, 27 Museum Street, Bloomsbury, WC1A. Tel: Tristan  0207 622 3811 Email: Enfield and Haringey branch. 2nd & 4th Weds, 8pm. Angel Community Centre, Raynham Road, N18. Corres: 17 Dorset Road, London N22 7SL. Email: South London branch.  1st Tues.7.00pm. Head Office. 52 Clapham High St, SW4 7UN. Tel: 020 7622 3811. West London branch. 1st & 3rd Tues.8pm,  Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace (Corner Sutton Court Rd), W4. Corres: 51 Gayford Road, London W12 9BY Pimlico. C. Trinder, 24 Greenwood Ct, 155 Cambridge Street, SW1 4VQ.  Tel:020 7834 8186 MIDLANDS West Midlands branch.   West Midlands branch. Meets every two months on a Sunday afternoon (see meetings page for details. Tel: Tony Gluck 01242 235615 NORTHEAST Northeast branch. Corres: John Bissett, 10 Scarborough Parade, Hebburn, Tyne & Wear, NE31 2AL. Tel: 0191 422 6915   Email: NORTHWEST Lancaster branch.  P. Shannon, 71 Coniston Road, Lancaster LA1 3NW. Email: Manchester branch. Paul Bennett, 6 Burleigh Mews,  Hardy Lane, M21 7LB.  Tel:0161 860 7189 Website. Southeast Manchester. Enquiries  Blanche Preston, 68 Fountains Road, M32 9PH

Bolton.  Tel: H. McLaughlin, 01204 844589 Cumbria.  Brendan Cummings, 19 Queen St, Millom, Cumbria LA18 4BG Carlisle. Robert Whitfield. Email: tel: 07906 373975 Rochdale.  R. Chadwick, 01706 522365 YORKSHIRE Huddersfield. Richard Rainferd, 28 Armitage Rd, Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield, West Yorks, HD4 7DP Hull. Keith Scholey. Tel: 01482 44651 Skipton.  R Cooper, 1 Caxton Garth, Threshfield, Skipton BD23 5EZ. Tel: 01756 752621 SOUTH/SOUTHEAST /SOUTHWEST Bournemouth and East Dorset. Paul Hannam, 12 Kestrel Close, Upton, Poole BH16 5RP. Tel: 01202 632769 Brighton.  Corres: c/o 52 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UN Bristol. Shane Roberts, 86 High Street, Bristol BS5 6DN. Tel: 0117 951119 Cambridge. Andrew Westley, 10 Marksby Close, Duxford, Cambridge CB2 4RS. Tel: 01223 570292 Canterbury. Rob Cox, 4 Stanhope Road, Deal, Kent, CT14 6AB Luton. Nick White, 59 Heywood Drive, LU2 7LP Redruth.  Harry Sowden, 5 Clarence Villas, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 1PB. Tel: 01209 219293 East Anglia East Anglia branch meets every two months on a Saturday afternoon (see meetings page for details).David Porter,Eastholme, Bush Drive, Eccles-on-Sea, NR12 0SF. Tel: 01692 582533. Richard Headicar, 42 Woodcote, Firs Rd, Hethersett, NR9 3JD. Tel: 01603 814343. Richard Layton, 23 Nottingham Rd, Clacton, CO15 5PG. Tel: 01255 814047.

NORTHERN IRELAND  Newtownabbey: Nigel McCulloch Tel:02890 860687 SCOTLAND Edinburgh branch.   1st Thursday 8-9pm. The Quaker Hall, Victoria Terrace (above Victoria Street), 2nd Wednesday at West Lothian as below.  West Lothian Also 2nd & 4th Wednesdays, The Lanthorn Community Centre,Dedridge Livingston,West Lothian J. Moir. Tel: 0131 440 0995 Email Website Glasgow branch.  3rd Wednesday of each month at 8pm in  Community Central Halls, 304 Maryhill  Road, Glasgow. Richard Donnelly, 112  Napiershall Street, Glasgow G20 6HT. Tel: 0141 5794109 Email: Website Ayrshire:  D. Trainer, 21 Manse Street, Salcoats, KA21 5AA.  Tel: 01294 469994. Email Dundee.  Ian Ratcliffe, 16v Birkhall Ave, Wormit, Newport-on-Tay, DD6 8PX.  Tel: 01328 541643 West Lothian. 2nd and 4th Weds in month, 7.30-9.30.  Lanthorn Community  Centre, Kennilworth Rise, Dedridge, Livingston.  Corres: Matt Culbert,  53 Falcon Brae, Ladywell, Livingston, West Lothian, EH5 6UW. Tel: 01506 462359. Email WALES Swansea branch. 2nd Mon, 7.30pm, Unitarian Church, High Street. Corres:Geoffrey Williams, 19 Baptist Well Street, Waun Wen, Swansea SA1 6FB. Tel: 01792 643624 Cardiff and District. John James,  67 Romilly Park Road, Barry  CF62 6RR  Tel:01446 405636

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS AFRICA Gambia. World of Free Access. c/o 21 Dobson St, Benjul. Kenya.  Patrick Ndege, PO Box 56428, Nairobi Namibia.  Anthony Amugongo, PO Box 1502, Oshataki. Swaziland.  Mandia Ntshakala, PO Box 981, Manzini ASIA India. World Socialist Group, Vill Gobaradhanpur. PO Amral, Dist. Bankura, 722122 EUROPE Denmark. Graham Taylor, Spobjervej 173, DK-8220, Brabrand. Germany. Norbert  Email: Norway.  Robert Stafford. Email: COMPANION PARTIES OVERSEAS World Socialist Party of Australia.  c/o Rod Miller, 8 Graelee Court, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia. Email: Socialist Party of Canada/Parti Socialiste du Canada.   Box 4280, Victoria B.C.  V8X 3X8 Canada. Email  : Website World Socialist Party (New Zealand) r> P.O. Box 1929,  Auckland, NI, New Zealand. Email: Website World Socialist Party of the United States P.O. Box 440247, Boston, MA 02144 USA. Email:  Webs