Difference between revisions of "Economic League"

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An organisation set up in 1919 under the name [[National Propaganda]]. Its name was changed to the Economic League in 1924. Its main early functions were corporate propaganda and spying on the left.  From about the 1950s its main role became blacklisting workers regarded as being 'subversives' in some way.
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==Summary==
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Established in 1919 by conservative politicians and industrialists the Economic League was a pro-capitalist and anti socialist propagandist group. In public it conducted a “Crusade for Capitalism” targeted at the workforce of local members’ factories, and a against the ‘subversion” of trade union activism and left of centre political parties.  Behind closed doors it set up and ran a [[blacklist]] of allegedly “subversive” workers, accessed by their member company
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The League was closed down in the 1990s and a successor body, called [[Caprim]] set up.
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After the Second World War the  League continued  both strands of propagandist activity and continued to campaign for capitalism especially through partisan apprentice training, and against activism through pamphlets and media stories and more clandestinely through a blacklist made available to members.
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However from the 1970s its role in pro-capitalism lobbying became less important as a result of the changes to the structure of the workforce in the UK and the demise of Industrial training and apprenticeships, . The League focused on campaigning against trade union activism and continued to provide a blacklisting service for member companies. Construction and Engineering Companies paid an additional premium for this service in their industries and became subscribers to the [[Economic League Services Group]].
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The League’s income and importance as a pro capital and anti-activist lobbyist declined during the 1980s with an economic recession that reduced the number of corporate members, and Government sympathetic to their political views.
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Attempts to rationalise and restructure the League lead to internal disputes and at least one discontent employee leaking information and documents to journalists about the Leagues’s continuing blacklisting activities.  
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The result of this was there was a series of damaging media exposes, notably by [[World in Action]] and by Journalist Richard Norton Taylor writing in the guardian, and Paul Foot writing in the “Mirror”. This led the UK Parliament’s Employment Select Committee to conduct a public inquiry into the League’s activities. Its final report in 1992 was highly critical of their blacklisting activities.
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In 1993 the Economic League was placed in liquidation and wound up. It claimed that the blacklist had been destroyed. 
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The [[Employment Relations Act 1999 ]] made provision for blacklisting to be made illegal through regulations, these were not however enacted.
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In 2009 the [[Information Commissioner’s Office]]  raided the offices of an trade association called [[The Consulting Association]] run by  a former employee of the Economic League This group had continued to run the Services Group blacklist on behalf the construction companies who had subscribed to it, and he was prosecuted and fined for breaches of the data protection laws.
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Following this prosecution the Employment Relations Act 1999(Blacklists) Regulations 2010 were finally enacted making Blacklisting Illegal in the UK.
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There were more than 3,000 workers on The Consulting Association blacklist. A Blacklist Support Group was established with support from trade unions and trade unionist with high profile campaigns against  blacklisting companies and private prosecutions. These are continuing.
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In the UKParliament another Select Committee - The Scottish Selected Committee - decided to examine the current reality of the blacklisting calling number of former Economic League Employees and corporate supporters to give evidence.
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==History and People==
 
==People==
 
==People==
 
===Founders/Early days===
 
===Founders/Early days===

Revision as of 20:43, 21 June 2014

Summary

Established in 1919 by conservative politicians and industrialists the Economic League was a pro-capitalist and anti socialist propagandist group. In public it conducted a “Crusade for Capitalism” targeted at the workforce of local members’ factories, and a against the ‘subversion” of trade union activism and left of centre political parties. Behind closed doors it set up and ran a blacklist of allegedly “subversive” workers, accessed by their member company After the Second World War the League continued both strands of propagandist activity and continued to campaign for capitalism especially through partisan apprentice training, and against activism through pamphlets and media stories and more clandestinely through a blacklist made available to members. However from the 1970s its role in pro-capitalism lobbying became less important as a result of the changes to the structure of the workforce in the UK and the demise of Industrial training and apprenticeships, . The League focused on campaigning against trade union activism and continued to provide a blacklisting service for member companies. Construction and Engineering Companies paid an additional premium for this service in their industries and became subscribers to the Economic League Services Group. The League’s income and importance as a pro capital and anti-activist lobbyist declined during the 1980s with an economic recession that reduced the number of corporate members, and Government sympathetic to their political views. Attempts to rationalise and restructure the League lead to internal disputes and at least one discontent employee leaking information and documents to journalists about the Leagues’s continuing blacklisting activities. The result of this was there was a series of damaging media exposes, notably by World in Action and by Journalist Richard Norton Taylor writing in the guardian, and Paul Foot writing in the “Mirror”. This led the UK Parliament’s Employment Select Committee to conduct a public inquiry into the League’s activities. Its final report in 1992 was highly critical of their blacklisting activities. In 1993 the Economic League was placed in liquidation and wound up. It claimed that the blacklist had been destroyed. The Employment Relations Act 1999 made provision for blacklisting to be made illegal through regulations, these were not however enacted. In 2009 the Information Commissioner’s Office raided the offices of an trade association called The Consulting Association run by a former employee of the Economic League This group had continued to run the Services Group blacklist on behalf the construction companies who had subscribed to it, and he was prosecuted and fined for breaches of the data protection laws. Following this prosecution the Employment Relations Act 1999(Blacklists) Regulations 2010 were finally enacted making Blacklisting Illegal in the UK. There were more than 3,000 workers on The Consulting Association blacklist. A Blacklist Support Group was established with support from trade unions and trade unionist with high profile campaigns against blacklisting companies and private prosecutions. These are continuing. In the UKParliament another Select Committee - The Scottish Selected Committee - decided to examine the current reality of the blacklisting calling number of former Economic League Employees and corporate supporters to give evidence.

History and People

People

Founders/Early days

Reginald Hall

1940s-1960s

Lord Fraser of Allander |

1970s-1990s

Stan Hardy | Ian Kerr | Jack Winder |Sir Henry Saxon Tate of Tate & Lyle |

Resources

Publications on the Economic League

Economic League publications

Notes

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