Throughout his years of political activity, Bernie Grant was a staunch internationalist and anti-imperialist voice within the Labour Party. He viewed events, no matter their specific location, within their wider global context, and drew attention to the shared conditions faced by oppressed groups in Britain and abroad. His Pan-Africanism was also evident in his handling of issues affecting Africa and the African Diaspora, and in particular he worked hard to forge connections between Black communities in Britain, Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, the USA, and elsewhere. Grant’s anti-imperialist stance influenced his outlook on major global events that were taking place during the late 20th century, including Western military intervention in the Middle East and the Caribbean, the Apartheid Regime in South Africa and the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and humanitarian crises and natural disasters tirelessly held the government to account on its foreign policies, alongside organising practical initiatives in times of humanitarian and environmental crises.
South Africa
During South Africa’s brutal Apartheid regime, Grant was forthright in condemning the historic racist ideology underpinning Apartheid. After the successful struggle for majority African rule he then supported the transition to a post Apartheid society. He worked alongside many other prominent figures in the global Anti-Apartheid movement, including US Civil Rights icon and former congressman Reverend Jesse Jackson, members of the African National Congress (ANC), Labour Party’s Black Sections and the highly influential Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK. Indeed, as one of the nation’s most respected spokespersons for Britain’s Black communities, Grant was a major advocate for solidarity movement with one of the century’s most long running and significant Black freedom struggles. In his capacity as Member of Parliament, he criticised the government’s failures to support Nelson Mandela during his imprisonment, and indeed Britain’s collusion with the leaders of the Apartheid regime. Grant frequently publicised the plight of South Africa and its people in the House of Commons and within the community.
Away from parliament Bernie Grant’s voice was just as loud. In August 1989 he made his debut as a hip hop artist hen he featured on ‘Beyond the 16th Parallel’ i by hip hop group B.R.O.T.H.E.R. Grant provided the introduction to this track with a powerful speech, which was written by him in the studio with the rap group, within the space of just five minutes. His feature on this track, but perhaps more significantly the group’s invitation for him to participate, lends valuable insight not only into his reputation as a fervent supporter of the Anti-Apartheid struggle. It also reflected the high regard he was held in by many artists, activists, and young Black Britons, who identified and connected with both his domestic and international anti-racist perspective, The song’s title was in reference to a notional geographical line drawn by white people in Angola as a segregationist measure. In his speech on the track, Grant drew comparison to the physical boundaries drawn by Apartheid regimes across southern Africa – in South Africa, Angola and Namibia, and the metaphorical line drawn by racism in British society which limited the progress Black people could achieve. The song was recorded as Namibia was set to achieve independence from its illegal colonisation by Apartheid South Africa, after a long liberation struggle led by the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).
This was just one respect in which Grant used his position to pursue the struggle against apartheid. As leader of Haringey Council, he had ensured disinvestment from Apartheid linked enterprises and promoted the cause alongside the Haringey Anti-apartheid campaign which included several notable exiled activists, such as Oliver Tambo. Haringey Council resolved in 1984 “to campaign to end all links between the Council and the Apartheid regime of South Africa”. Once in Parliament he was asked to become a member of the Executive Committee of the ANC and attended its International Conference in Tanzania in 1988. However. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher viewed Nelson Mandela as a “terrorist” and supported the Apartheid regime in South Africa, due in large part to Britain’s significant financial investment in the South African economy. At this time, British firms made up 50% of foreign investment in South Africa, and had been the country’s biggest foreign investor between the 1950s-1960s. These were the challenges that Grant and the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain struggled against. Despite great financial investment by British firms, an overwhelming amount of the British public, as well as many organisations and businesses, stood against Apartheid and boycotted South African goods. For instance, in July 1986, it was estimated around 27% of British people boycotted South African products. As an elected official, Grant held businesses to account to uphold the boycott movement.
In September 1987, Grant wrote to the manager of Tesco’s Tottenham store, to “express my profound refusal” at the store’s stocking of goods originating from South Africa, and wrote that his disapproval was also shared by a large majority of the Tottenham community. Over the course of Spring and Summer of 1988, the SuperMarketing newspaper led an exposé of a scandal wherein stores were duped into buying goods which displayed false country of origin stickers to mask their South African origins. The newspaper reported Grant as leading the charge against Apartheid South Africa in the House of Commons. SuperMarketing quoted Grant as saying “We need a few MPs to work on something as big as this”. Indeed, while Grant often led racial and social justice campaigns in the House of Commons, a large part of his energies were directed at mobilising other MPs to follow suit in support. While much of the British public and businesses were opposed to Apartheid and committed to the boycott, the far right movements proudly boasted of their ongoing support for Apartheid South Africa, as evidenced by the National Front’s public declaration that it was encouraging its members to buy “South African fruit, tinned fish and wines” as a direct response to Grant’s efforts.
In early February 1990, the under the auspices of the Parliamentary Black Caucus, he organised for Jesse Jackson to speak at a mass rally at Hackney Empire Theatre, in collaboration with the Anti-Apartheid Movement. In January 1990, as rumours of Mandela’s release began to emerge, Grant joined the delegation of Rev Jesse Jackson to South Africa and was thus present on the day Nelson Mandela release. On 11th February 1990, Nelson Mandela was finally released from prison after serving 27 years behind bars. On his return, he gave a number of speeches which reported on what he saw, and what South Africans had told him about the situation there.
As he outlined to a crowd at the Selby Centre in Haringey, the situation in Soweto was “at boiling point” and the South African police force were “part and parcel” of the right wing elements in the country. His speech was also full of lighthearted anecdotes that portrayed the great sacrifices made by South African Anti-Apartheid activists, such as the remark that serving prison sentences were viewed as a badge of honour. In the House of Commons he described the extreme police brutality made possible by the Apartheid regime’s declaration of a state of emergency, and urged Thatcher’s government to honour the economic sanctions placed on Apartheid South Africa by the international community, amidst its attempts to lift them. Grant’s speech was also significant for articulating the gravely complex task that lay before Mandela and other activists of the ANC as they entered into negotiations with the Apartheid government, after having been illegalised, imprisoned, or forced into exile. Grant was, in his own right, an Anti-Apartheid campaigner, and contributed this insight to British politics. In addition to his speeches, Grant also supported a number of Early Day Motions, including one on 12th February tabled by Conservative MP Robert Hughes, to commemorate Mandela’s release, support the intensification of the struggle against Apartheid, maintain sanctions, and for the British government to abandon attempts to lift the sanctions. The Motion received 144 signatures. On 13th February, Grant met with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and suggested the government provide financial support for the emergence of democracy in South Africa.
On 3rd March, Grant received a letter from Thatcher which reacted positively to Grant’s suggestion. Mendi Msimang was a key figure in the ANC, and was its chief London representative , located at 28 Penton Street in Islington. In 1992, Grant reached out to Msimang to announce a new internationalist project – the Organisation of Africans in Europe. As described by Grant, this organisation was formed to provide mutual support and a voice for Africans in Europe. The vision for the organisation arose in the context of discussion about a ‘New World Order’ that was emerging in the context of the demise of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. In a letter to Msimang, Grant expressed plans for a mass rally in Britain, which would cover key international topics including the situation in Cuba, North Korea, Libya, Palestine, and other countries and regions that were affected by Western imperialism. The mass rally was also set to highlight the Black struggle against racism in Europe and the USA. Grant sought Msimang’s help to secure Mandela as one of the rally’s speakers. The Organisation for Africans in Europe would have no doubt been expansive and impactful, however after its founding, its objectives weren’t fully realised and it remained an incomplete project, which was overshadowed by Grant’s preoccupation with the Reparations movement. It did however, in its short lifespan, have close contact with the Organisation of African Unity, and correspondence with Zimbabwe, Libya and Ethiopia.
Although the mass rally didn’t go ahead as planned, Mandela famously visited Britain on numerous occasions during the 1990s it was on the first of these occasion that Grant renewed his acquaintance with him, on several occasions, including on his visit to Haringey. In 1993, he paid a visit to the family of Stephen Lawrence after his racist murder. The visit highlighted the links between anti-racist causes here in Britain, and the struggles against colonial rule and racist systems globally. A year later, on 10th May 1994, Apartheid in South Africa came to an official end, and Mandela was inaugurated as the first Black head of state, and the first to be elected in a fully democratic election. As a longstanding supporter of the cause Grant was invited to the inauguration event in Pretoria , and continued his support for South Africa in its new chapter. Part of the challenge of newly democratic South Africa was to implement the many necessary political changes throughout the country, to promote racial equality after so many years of white minority rule and Apartheid restrictions. As part of this work, Haringey Council provided practical support as an example of a positive local government system. In 1996, Mandela again visited and addressed the Houses of Parliament, eluding to the issue of neo-colonialism, and therein the need for African Reparations, by reminding those in attendance that “the [African] continent bleeds still, struggling to service a foreign date it can neither afford or afford to repudiate”. As the chairman of the African Reparations Movement and figurehead of the British-based Reparations movement, Grant expressed his gratitude toward Mandela, noting that his speech “leaves us all Africans now”. In Grant’s view, Mandela’s speech left an indelible imprint on Britain and particularly Britain’s Black community, having raised two issues very close to Grant’s heart.
As he expressed in a press release in the aftermath of Mandela’s speech, it left two major tasks ahead for Britons: “This means two things. First of all we must ensure that young people, both Black and white, are taught about Africa and its history. Secondly, Black Britons must strengthen their links with Africa”. Much like other mass political movements, there exists a lot of memorabilia and ephemera from the Anti-Apartheid Movement and related campaigns, much of which is held at Bishopsgate. Grant possessed a few items which speak to his involvement in the movement, including badges, pins and mugs. These items provide insight into Grant’s role as an activist and campaigner, both within Parliament and as part and parcel of grassroots movements led by campaign groups and driven by people throughout Britain and across the world. In South Africa itself, Grant’s longstanding support of the development and education of the South African people amidst their struggle against Apartheid was well recognised. As a technology wizz himself, he aided the establishment of an IT training centre sponsored by Dell and Microsoft, and the building was subsequently named in his honour: The Communal Information Technology Centre: Bernie Grant Complex.
Libya
Interventions in Libya by the West have been ongoing since the 1980s. In 1986, the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque was wrongfully blamed on Libya, and provided the US and British military forces with justification to retaliate with air strikes, called ‘Operation El Dorado Canyon’. Then, in 1988, Libya was again accused of being responsible for a terrorist attack, on a Pan Am flight which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland and killed all on board and 11 people on the ground. This led to heavy UN sanctions, which Bernie Grant firmly opposed. Grant recognised the treatment toward Libya at this time as imperialist, and was as such an outspoken advocate for an end to these sanctions. Grant was involved with the ‘No Intervention in Libya’ campaign, and travelled to the country on a fact finding mission with his staff in 1991, where he met with Gaddafi and other political representatives to offer his solidarity. In 1992, the Libyan government attempted to try the two accused persons of the Pan Am terrorist attack, but the British government requested the two be handed over and tried in Britain. Grant, utilising his platform in the House of Commons, argued for Libya’s right to self determination, and indeed for the government to adhere to the 1971 Montreal Convention in this case. Grant further explained his advocacy for Libya in the House: “As a person of African descent, I am particularly concerned about the plight of African countries and their peoples. That is why I am so keen to see justice done in the case of Libya. I am also opposed to terrorism, and keen to see the perpetrators of this horrendous crime brought to justice—but not tried by a kangaroo court”. In 1999, Gaddafi eventually agreed to hand over the two accused to be tried in the Netherlands, where one was found guilty and the other accuitted. In 2003, 8 years before his assassination, Gaddafi formerly accepted responsibility for the attack due to the pressure of international sanctions, and agreed to pay $1 billion in compensation for the families.
Palestine and the Middle East
Bernie Grant was a supporter of the Palestinian struggle for self determination, recognition of Palestinian statehood and freedom from illegal occupation. Grant’s involvement in the Labour Party’s Black Sections helps to paint a picture not only of his support for the Palestinian struggle, but also the solidarity with Palestine practised by Black socialist projects here in Britain. Black Sections was formed in 1983, and in 1988, released a publication entitled The Black Agenda, which outlined its collective stance on a myriad of issues related to the Black struggle in Britain, elsewhere, and the connected anti-colonial struggles in Ireland, South Africa, and Palestine. The Black Agenda reported on the resolution passed at Black Sections’ 1987 annual conference “condemning the repression of Palestinians in the Gaza, the West Bank and within the pre-1967 borders of “Israel””. The conference had also “expressed its solidarity with the Palestinians fighting the repression and the occupation”. Indeed, not long before The Black Agenda’s writing, 200 Palestinians had been killed during the first Intifada (uprising) against Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Of course, concerned MPs raised the issue of the Palestinian Struggle within Parliament itself. In 1992, Grant was one of 70 signatories to an Early Day Motion calling for Israel to comply with a UN resolution to withdraw from the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip, and recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The Gulf War took place between the years 1990-1991, and Britain participated as part of a coalition of nations against Iraq and Saddam Hussein. The foremost nations in this coalition included the USA and Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), aligned itself with Iraq, and indeed Iraq has been a consistent supporter of Palestine’s right to recognised statehood. During the early stages of the Gulf War, Grant went to lengths to assess the situation outside of pro-war media portrayals, and joined a peace mission toBaghdad on behalf of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement, to better “establish” Iraq’s position. In the aftermath of this trip, Grant met with the PLO’s Afif Safieh on the 10th January 1991, who was also serving as Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Much of their meeting revolved around discussions on the likelihood of successful international negotiations and the bringing about of peace. It was at this meeting that Grant offered to represent the PLO in Parliament, and having been recently elected chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, invited Safieh to join, which he did. Later, in 1992, Safieh wrote to Grant to thank him for his continual support for “peace in the Middle East and justice for the Palestinian people”. Grant was concerned throughout the conflict, to represent a socialist and non-Eurocentric perspective, and convey the repercussions the conflict would have on third world nations.
On 10th January, he wrote to the Speaker of the House requesting he be called to speak at an upcoming debate on the Gulf Crisis. When the debate took place, on the 15th January, Grant relayed his perspective based on observations from the peace mission: “We were there to find out what the Iraqis thought because the media over here had not been putting the Iraqi point of view…I am opposed to much of what has been said tonight and to sanctions against Iraq. I think that there should be an Arab solution. If the Arabs got together without any pressure from the West, they would be able to resolve the issue”. His campaign against sanctions continued throughout the conflict, and in October of the same year he organised a meeting at the House of Commons titled ‘Sanctions Against Iraq: The Human Cost’, which presented academic research and a documentary film for attendees to “hear and see first hand accounts of the economic and social effects of UN-sponsored sanctions against Iraq”. Hostile relations between Iraq and the West of course continued into the late 1990s, and during a House of Commons debate on Iraq in 1998, Grant called out the hypocrisy of the British government for condemning the atrocities committed by Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and not that of Israel against Palestinians: “I find it amazing that hon. Members can, quite rightly, condemn Saddam Hussein for his atrocities but say nothing about Israel and its atrocities against the Palestinians and others”.
The Caribbean
For many Bernie Grant became known as the MP for the Caribbean, as he relentlessly took up the concerns of the region, its economy and its people throughout his political career. He was especially critical of the effect of Tariff and Trade agreements on their small economies.
Guyana
Naturally, Grant maintained a close interest in political developments taking place in his home country of Guyana. His election to the British Parliament was greatly celebrated there in 1987, and he was formally invited as a guest of the Guyanese government shortly after his election. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and its founder and leading figure, Cheddi Jagan, was at the forefront of the socialist and independence movement in Guyana. In 1953, Jagan made history as the first popularly elected Chief Minister of Guyana, and himself and the People’s Progressive Party were elected as the party of government in 1992. As has been widely covered, and outlined by Human Rights Watch, since independence from Britain in 1966, Guyana had suffered election rigging and fraud, which greatly threatened the influence of Leftist political movements such as the PPP. During the upcoming elections in 1991, the PPP wrote to Grant requesting he join their appeal against election rigging, and help to publicise their plight in British newspapers. After great national as well as international pressure, the election went ahead and resulted in a positive outcome for the PPP, with Jagan becoming Prime Minister . Grant wrote to Jagan in October 1992 to offer his congratulations, stating the importance of the victory as an example of Leftist success in national politics. He wrote again in 1993, offering support on behalf of himself and fellow longstanding figurehead of the Labour Left, Tony Benn MP, who were both eager to organise a delegation to visit Guyana. Grant also suggested to Jagan that skilled workers from the UK could be deployed on projects in Guyana, to help mitigate the high rates of unemployment. At this time, Britain was experiencing an unemployment rate of 10.3% out of the overall labour force.
In 1981, during his time as a trade unionist and councillor, and prior to his Parliamentary career, Grant founded the Black Trade Unionist Solidarity Movement (BTUSM) to ‘promote the interests of Black workers in the workplace and in communities’. The breadth of the BTUSM’s concerns stretched farther than the confines of the British nation. As a pro–worker, anti-racist and anti-imperialist project, the BTUSM took a stand against the infamous US invasion and counter-revolution of Grenada in 1983, which shook the Caribbean region and indeed the international community. The US invasion of the Caribbean nation destabilised its political system and resulted in the death of the revolutionary leader of the New Jewel Movement, and Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. As Prime Minister of Britain at the time of the invasion, Margaret Thatcher publicly supported the invasion. Grant and many other spokespeople of the British Left vehemently opposed the invasion, and the violation of Grenada’s right to self determination as an independent country. The BTUSM accordingly released a statement condemning the event itself, as well as the ‘treachery’ of those Black-led nations who helped facilitate or collaborated with the US in the invasion and occupation (this included Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Antigua and Barbuda). The organisation pledged financial support for the New Jewel Movement in Grenada, authorised its members to release statements in support of Grenada, organise demonstrations, mobilise the Labour movement on the issue, and enlist the support of Black groups in the US.
Jamaica
Grant advocated for the island of Jamaica and its people on numerous occasions throughout his career. One such instance was in the aftermath of Hurricane Gilbert, a grade 5 hurricane that struck Jamaica in 1988, leaving widespread damage and causing over 300 deaths. The Afro-Caribbean community in Britain swiftly mobilised to provide help and resources to support the rebuilding efforts. As head of the Tottenham Labour Party, Grant directed its response, which focused on organising a fundraising event at the local West Indian Centre. Grant wrote to potential performers to request their participation in the event to encourage attendance and donations. The social justice charity NACRO, which supports the resettlement and care for ex-offenders, under the steer of the late Pauline Wilson, launched a training expedition for ex-offenders both from Jamaica and Britain, to embark in a trainee programme to acquire construction skills and support the rebuild efforts. Wilson wrote to Grant for his support on this, and indeed Grant and NACRO were in frequent dialogue regarding criminal justice, police discrimination and welfare projects for formerly incarcerated people.
Montserrat
The Caribbean island of Montserrat, unlike the majority of the British-speaking Caribbean, remains a British Overseas Territory, and therefore Britain still bears a level of responsibility to the island and its population of 5,000. In 1997, a major volcanic eruption devastated the island of Montserrat. It left the south of the island uninhabitable and resulted in the evacuation of half the island’s population. Many Montserratians came to Britain as refugees, having lost their homes and livelihoods in the eruption. Bernie Grant took up this issue, and pressed the government to support Montserrat and its people during this tragic time. He very quickly became aware of shortfalls in the British government’s reaction to the disaster, and its failures to support those refugees who required accommodation and general support after having arrived in Britain. He was alerted by situations of neglect by many Montserratians themselves. One such issue he was made aware of was, some refugees were being offered unfurnished permanent accommodation, which in some cases meant not even adequate flooring. Having escaped a disaster, and without money and jobs, many were also being denied benefits, and therefore had no way of buying furnishing and other necessities. Grant raised this with the Junior Foreign Office Minister, Baroness Symons, in early November. It also soon appeared that, those local authorities who were assisting the bulk of Montserratian refugees were not receiving adequate funding to do so, due to a discriminatory funding scheme.
This resulted in further neglect for the refugees as highlighted by Grant in a second letter to Baroness Symons in late November 1997. The general approach and reaction from the British government shocked Grant to the point that he condemned the government’s lack of generosity and personally travelled to Montserrat and negotiated with the Prime Minister. During a later debate in the House of Commons, Grant stated he was “astonished by the chaos that I found when I arrived… I was pleased that, soon after my visit, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for International Development went to the island to continue the dialogue and assure the Montserratians that the British Government took their plight seriously” A year later, the British government were engaged in housing schemes to contribute to the rebuilding of the island. Grant pushed for Black Housing Associations to be involved in the quest for the recruitment of a housing officer. However, as reported by George Foulkes MP in a letter to Grant on this matter, five housing companies were approached, and none of them Black-run. This particular push by Grant symbolises the work he was attempting in ensuring Black companies and communities in Britain were given better opportunities to lead on projects which were directly related to Black nation-building and internationalism. Although in this case, Grant’s suggestion was not taken up.
