Wake Up Bradford!

Mike Barrett: An Example to Us All

Now partly retired, Mike Barrett set up the Bradford-based radical news sheetMagpie. Below are some extracts from Mike’s writings, along with other contributions which, I hope you will agree, have kept alive basic human values of freedom, peace and collective action, laced with wit and irony, at a time when such values are under threat. Drawing attention to events in the city, the sheet contains poetry, prose, notices of events and short articles. Below are some extracts from Magpie, intended to create a better Bradford. I am confident that the sheet will go from strength to strength under the new editor Shi.

Issue 1

The innovative Park&Ride scheme involves re-purposing City Park and Centenary Square as a huge car-park – the largest in Europe. Thus providing an instant revenue-stream for the cash strapped Council. Motorists then walk to the Interchange and arrive in Leeds in less than 40 minutes (except when a replacement bus service is in operation – when the journey make take a couple of hours).

In the same first issue, Mike refers to the original Yorkshire Building Society edifice, currently being converted into flats:

…constructed in the 1970s to withstand a direct hit by a nuclear weapon. Topped by multiple radio-masts, it houses the nerve-centre of the ‘Congress of the Magi’ – the sinister organisation which is secretly planning the ultimate destruction of the City and the enslavement of its citizens.

Issue 5

Let’s face it – we’re in a right pickle! According to the mainstream press, we are one of the poorest areas of the country with a crumbling City Centre, rats in the streets, criminal activities and corruption abound. It’s no surprise that many people in outlying more prosperous areas like Ilkley and Haworth are ashamed to be part of our district. Not to mention our struggling football team…BUT we are young, we are alive, we are diverse, we have faced hardship before – and we won’t stand any nonsense! Above all, we are creative human beings – so let’s show the World what we can do. We have nothing to lose.

In the same issue Si Cunningham of Bradford Civic Society wrote:

Bradfordians have had enough of derelict building sites and empty concrete boxes looming over them –  they want parks and places to play. This comes at the same time that the government wants to “tear up red tape” to allow more empty office blocks to be converted into poky studio flats…we must ensure that we are making spaces that put people before profit. Give Bradford garden squares, pocket parks, and even more fountains to play with. It won’t solve all our ills, but it will be a bloody good start.

Also in issue 5, a Mr Johnston wrote the following, advocating street art:

If you are new to Bradford, my advice is to give its people a chance and they will give you the same in return. If you’re nice to people, the waters are safe to try new things. People will come out in support. And if you are deeply connected to Bradford like me, may I remind you that there is no one to give you permission or invite you. This is our city – do it yourself!

Issue 6

Nail bars, phone-shops, pay-day lenders, an offal-rendering plant, pawnbrokers, betting shops, sub-prime loans, vaping emporiums, tanning parlours, pound shops and money-laundering enterprises all flourish in Bradford’s town centre. These major industries provide an excellent model for urban development in post-brexit, post-COVID Britain…The Bradford Approach is a marketable package of exemplars which can put Bradford back on the map as a model for all dysfunctional towns in the North of England.

Thanks Mike,

Simeon Scott