Ken Montague: 'He made the seemingly impossible happen...and without fuss'

Tributes to Ken Montague from Campaign Against Climate Change

We are deeply saddened at the death of our friend and great climate campaigner and socialist, Ken Montague, who passed away last Friday.

Ken was secretary of the Campaign Against Climate Change trade union group and a member of CACC steering group for many years. During that time Ken played an invaluable role in developing the work of the trade union group and especially the One Million Climate jobs report and campaign.

Ken's work was unseen and often unsung but without it much of what the CACC trade union group have done in the last few years would not have happened. Ken's work allowed the trade union group to campaign increasingly effectively within the wider trade union movement, to develop a deeper understanding of the climate crisis, its relevance to the struggle of working people and to counter the false narrative that jobs and the environment are mutually exclusive.

Ken had so many skills that he put to use in the climate campaigning work which he prioritised in the final years of a lifetime of campaigning for a better world. Most especially Ken was a great organiser, he made the seemingly impossible happen and always without any great fuss.

One of his greatest feats was the organisation of the climate jobs caravan which involved organising two low emissions vehicles and the co-ordination of many, many people and events across the UK. The two week long event was hugely creative and successful. Arriving in towns and cities with a visible display of the campaign on the sides of the two vehicles, the tour was able to put the case for trade union campaigning on climate and for climate jobs in towns and cities across the country. It was a huge logistical operation, the bulk of the work carried humbly, as usual by Ken and was a testament to Ken's organisation, perseverance and equanimity.

Ken was also a great negotiator of situations and especially people. He had insight and empathy into individuals, their concerns and complexities. He used this regularly to great effect to help progress work in which there were conflicting views about how to take things forward. Ken didn't slide over differences of opinion but he always looked for ways through which encouraged understanding between people and more often than not a solution.

Such skills were last employed in one of Ken's last successful achievements before the news of his illness which was the organising of the first official fringe meeting for the CACC trade union group at this year’s TUC conference.

This time last year Ken was in Paris alongside 10,000s of climate activists from across the world, demonstrating for climate justice, despite a ban imposed by the French government. Many of us have wonderful memories of Ken from this time and the meetings and protests that he took part in. Coming out of Paris, Ken shared an optimism and determination, alongside others, about the growing climate movement and the necessity of an even more effective movement able to make connections and alliances in order to deliver the changes needed to tackle climate change.

It was as a result of the meetings and discussions that Ken had in Paris that he proposed to the CACC trade union groups the idea of a conference on climate change and refugees. Ken took the initial steps of setting this up, putting in place, despite as ever many logistical obstacles, the key organising group, speakers and venue in the months after his proposal. This important conference will take place next year on February 11th.

When Ken informed us only weeks ago that he was ill with cancer and his illness was terminal we all hoped that Ken would be able to be with us for this very important conference he had initiated. Unfortunately, Ken will not be there. But the conference should be and will be a huge testament to the work that Ken did and the immeasurable contribution Ken made to fighting for an equal, just and sustainable world.

We will all miss him greatly. He leaves an enormous gap which we will find hard to fill. We will miss his hard work, determination and positive outlook. We send our deepest condolences to Ken's family - his partner Janet and children Brendan, Kate and Alex, who have lost Ken far too young.

Suzanne Jeffery - Chair

On behalf of CACC steering group and CACC trade union group



Ken Montague died on Friday. When we heard the news, Nancy said, ‘How incredibly sad. He was so very nice.’

‘Yes’ I said, ‘He was nice. It’s incredibly sad.'

It stood out. Ken was nice because he was such a good man. He was kind. When people talked, he listened. He sympathised.

Another way he was good was in his dedication. He was a dogged, determined man, but not harsh. Ken was a trade unionist all his life. He was the secretary of Brent Trades Council during the Grunwick dispute, and secretary of his further education teachers branch for many years. He was a loyal member of the International Socialists, and then the Socialist Workers Party.

In his sixties Ken dedicated himself to climate activism. For the last several years he was secretary of the trade union group of the Campaign against Climate Change. It would be wrong to say Ken worked tirelessly, because he got tired. But he kept on working.

There was a thing that happened over and over at our meetings. We would be going through the agenda, generating jobs that needed doing. Then there would be a silence while none of us volunteered. Someone would suggest that Ken do it. Ken would nod. Someone else would say that we had already asked Ken to do too much, and other people would nod. But then another person would say, but Ken will actually do it. And heads would nod. Ken would say, I’ll do it, because he knew it needed doing. And also, he knew that actual human labour was what changed the world.

He did it because he cared. To listen to him talking about the planet, or socialism, or trade unionism, was to see someone putting his whole body, a whole world of emotion, into what he was saying. There was something about his shoulders, and the way he leaned forward. But he was never loud. Ken was passionate and gentle.

People said Ken was modest, but the word isn’t quite right. He was humble, really. He thought humble people should rule the earth. I think the way he saw it was, he was doing what he could. He held our one million climate jobs campaign together. He organised all our conferences. He talked to people. He put his heart into organising for a climate jobs presence at the Paris climate talks in 2015.
He never claimed credit, never pushed himself forward as a speaker. In fact he was shy about
speaking. But we started asking Ken to speak all round the country about climate jobs. I asked people how he was a speaker, and they said wonderful. Then I listened carefully as he spoke a few times. Ken was not showy. He was not loud, though everyone in the room could hear him. There were no rhetorical flourishes. What he did, I began to realise, was that he explained the situation we found ourselves in and what we had to do about it. And he explained it so clearly that everyone in the room could understand. I realised I was listening to an experienced, and very good, teacher.

I think that was at the core of Ken’s humility, his goodness and his dedication. Always it was for the other person. He wanted people to understand, so we could do something.

Ken was my friend, too, and I’m proud of that. After they found the cancer he died so much faster than anyone expected. Our thoughts are with his partner, Janet, and his children, Brendan, Kate and Alex.

Jonathan Neale

Ken Montague: an appreciation

Ken Montague, a well known and respected local Brent activist who had recently moved to Brighton, died on Friday not quite a month after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

In perhaps his last email to friends and comrades after the diagnosis Ken finished by saying, 'Please pass on the word to those that need to know and say that I am relying on you to keep up the fight for better and more sustainable world. My only regret is that I'm bailing out so early. In comradeship, Ken'

I have offered to host tributes on Wembley Matters and begin with this from his colleagues in the University and College Union:

We regret to announce the death of Ken Montague, known to many of us as a socialist, climate change activist and member of the UCU London Retired Members branch. His contribution will be sorely missed. We send our condolences to his comrades, friends and family.

Merilyn Moos, vice chair of the retired members branch, who knew Ken for many years, has written this obituary.

I knew Ken as a comrade and friend from when we were in our early 20s. His sudden death, at 70, is a terrible blow, politically and personally.

Ken became an FE lecturer, first in what was then Kilburn Polytechnic (where I taught), then at Barnet. Before he retired, he did some part-time teaching at Middlesex. His main area was literature but he was deeply involved in Media Studies. His students loved him, especially those he took on annual pilgrimages to Cannes so that they could witness the iniquities but also the ‘alternative reality’ of the film industry for themselves. He was the Branch Secretary for what I suspect he felt was far too long, fighting the college management’s petty vindictiveness as well as the grander issues of conditions and pay. One of the crucial (and ultimately successful) campaigns he was crucially involved in was for the reinstatement of John Fernandes, a black lecturer at the College of North West London who was being dismissed for revealing the racist content of essays by police cadets whom he taught.

He was a member of IS, (International Socialists) then SW (Socialist Workers Party), an organisation which, with a couple of outs and ins, he remained a member of for all his life. He was passionate about his politics but never became a hack nor did he become bureaucratically compromised, retaining a fundamental commitment to grassroots struggle all his life.

The first massive class struggle I remember him in was at Grunwicks. He was the Secretary of Barnet Trades Council at the time and was on the Grunwick strike committee. From the beginning he stressed the importance, especially given the concealed racism, of solidarity between white, male, manual workers and Asian women and was vociferous in demanding, mass pickets to shut down Grunwick. As Ken wrote in SW: ’There was lots of talk of support from the top of the unions but it was mostly just talk.’ Indeed, as I remember vividly the turning point in the dispute came when, after a few weeks of mass pickets, the TUC (in the figure of Jack Dromey, then of Brent Trades Council, and indeed, Scargill,) marched us away from the gates. Ken would not have been in agreement with that.

 
Ken continued to be active, campaigning for example for the Respect candidate in Brent in a number of elections. But his next major and long-term involvement was over climate change, which, in recent years, including campaigning against fracking. He emphasised throughout the importance of trade union support and organisation. He was instrumental in setting up the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group (CACCTU) and became its Secretary. He took a leading part in organising and promulgating the influential ‘One Million Climate Jobs’ booklet and campaign, both in Britain and internationally (supported by Jeremy Corbyn though one wouldn’t know it).

Last year he attended the Paris Climate talks as part of the Global Climate Jobs movement. Global Climate Jobs is the network of all the national climate campaigns, which he was instrumental in setting up. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) held an alternative summit in Paris, attended by approx 40 climate jobs activists from 20 countries, which launched a Global Climate Jobs campaign. Ken always emphasised the crucial role of trade unions.

As he wrote afterwards about Paris:

It is clear that the leaders of all the countries in the world have failed us. They did so because nowhere did we have the political and social power to make them take decisive action on climate… We have to mobilise... After all, we need cuts of 80% in global emissions, as soon as possible.

We have to fight to leave the coal, gas and oil in the soil, he said. So we need to replace fossil fuels almost entirely with renewable energy. Ken could always be found doing the organising, writing and distributing the leaflets, speaking at meetings and rallies (which he didn’t enjoy), making the contacts, arguing with rank and file trade unionists - but never claiming the lime light.

The last event he was organising was the Conference Climate Refugees, The Climate Crisis & Population Displacement. Building A Trade Union & Civil Society Response (to be held on Saturday 11 February 10pm - 5pm, NUT, Hamilton House) Let’s support it.

Ken died too young and we shall all miss him.

Pete Murry, fellow UCU member and Brent Green Party and London Green Party TU Liaision Offcer, Secretary of Green Left wrote: 

For much of his life Ken lived in Cricklewood and was active in many local campaigns against, council and goverment cuts, against racism and against war. He was the founder and backbone of the Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and a key organiser in Campaign Against Climate Change nationally and its Trade Union group. It was an honour to have worked with him on these campaigns and as a fellow UCU member.

Fracking is neither cheap nor safe

Given the current interest in the issue after the Brent Council statement on fracking I reproduce below a posting from the Brent Green Party blog:

Fracking: neither cheap nor safe

Frontline article by Ken Montague (reproduced with permission from http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=12389)

The growing resistance to fracking - the "hydraulic fracturing" of deep level shale rocks to extract natural gas - promises to reignite the climate movement after years of demoralisation following the failure of the UN climate talks in 2009.

A feature of the recent march and blockades at Cuadrilla Resources' drilling site near Balcombe in West Sussex was the diversity of the people involved, as well as the numbers. Local residents were central to the protests, as they have been at Fylde, near Blackpool, where two Cuadrilla fracking operations led to minor earthquakes.

Today there are 45 anti-fracking groups around the country preparing to take action when further licences are issued. Given that 64 percent of England sits above shale gas and oil deposits, and their commercial exploitation could mean thousands of fracking sites, the protests are likely to increase and erupt into a full-scale war of attrition against the Cameron government and its dash for gas.

What has made fracking such an explosive issue is the evidence after 20 years of drilling in the US that the process is inherently unsafe. This is due to the uncontrolled leakage of methane into the air and groundwater, and the possible risks to health of the chemical additives in the fracking fluid used to prize the rocks open. Methane is a neurotoxin, which can cause early-onset dementia. The mix of additives, which in America has found its way into drinking water, includes chemicals that are known to be toxic or carcinogenic.

The British government says that fracking will only be permitted under strict regulation. But this ignores the fact that we do not have the technology to ensure that the cement barriers encasing the drilling shafts can withstand the pressures involved or that gas can be prevented from escaping from the pipelines and processing units.

Studies in the US showed that in 45 percent of cases the barriers failed at some point in the process and 5 percent of rigs leaked from the start.

The other, broader, issue is the government's intention to make gas a "core part" of Britain's energy mix "well into and beyond" 2030. This flies in the face of the warnings by many authorities that, with the unabated burning of fossil fuels, the world is on course for an unthinkable temperature increase of 4 to 6 degrees above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.

A recent report by Lord Stern and the Carbon Tracker think-tank made it clear that, if we are to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change, we have to switch to renewables now, and leave 80 percent of coal, gas and oil reserves "in the ground".

Last year the government's decision to cut investment in renewables and make Britain "even more attractive" for the oil and gas companies provoked an angry letter from its independent Committee on Climate Change stating categorically that gas-fired power generation "could not form the basis for government policy" if it was to meet its carbon reduction targets.

Of course there are apologists for fracking who argue that gas can be a "transitional" fuel because it emits only 50 percent of the CO2 emitted by coal. In a recent speech on climate change, US president Barack Obama even referred to it as "clean" energy. This overlooks the effect of the leakage of methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

For natural gas to be cleaner than coal, methane emissions would need to be kept below 2 percent of annual production, but recent studies by the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration at gas fields in California, Colorado and Utah found that leakages ranged between 2.3 percent and 17 percent of production.

As well as giving tax breaks to the fracking companies and cash sweeteners to local communities, the government tries to sell us fracking by saying it will offer unlimited cheap energy and create thousands of jobs.

The Committee on Climate Change, however, has shown that extracting gas is actually more costly than installing renewables and even Cuadrilla admits that the impact on fuel bills would be negligible.

Leaving aside Green MP Caroline Lucas's comment that "there are no jobs on a dead planet", there is clear evidence that renewables generate more jobs than fossil fuel industries. A study by the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute suggests that a million dollars invested in gas would create five jobs while the same amount invested in wind and solar power would create around 13 jobs. This is the kind of argument behind the growing campaign in Britain for a million climate jobs.

Fracking for gas is not safe, not clean, not cheap, and nor the best way to create jobs or to tackle climate change. Nonetheless, Lord John Browne, the government's chief adviser on the subject, says it's the way forward. He should know; he is chairman and 30 percent owner of Cuadrilla.

Ken Montague is the secretary of the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group and Secretary of Brent Campaign Against Climate Change

Brent project seeks to reduce fuel poverty and carbon emissions

The Brent Campaign Against Climate Change, of which I am chair, has had preliminary discussions with Cllr Roxanne Mashari, lead member for the Environment, on the possibility of setting up a Low Carbon Zone in the borough after our Secretary, Ken Montague, made a presentation to the Brent Executive.

That is selecting an area where a concerted programme of measures aimed at reducing energy consumption through structural changes (roof and wall insulation, double glazing, micro-generation) and educational initiatives. It would include housing, businesses, schools and public buildings in the area. The LCZ would serve as an exemplar, that after valuation could be rolled out across the borough in due course.

We pointed out that  money was available through the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) which is designed to tackle fuel poverty, affordable warmth and carbon emissions at zero cost to those in highest need.

I therefore welcome a report that goes before Monday's Executive which sets out a tender process to find a project partner to deliver an ECO programme in Brent. LINK

The report sets out the project aims:

The project’s key objectives are to:-

• Improve the energy efficiency of properties and reduce energy consumption

• Reduce carbon emissions,

• Reduce consumer energy costs and alleviate fuel poverty; and,

• Safeguard and create employment opportunities.

As the project’s primary requirement is to deliver the required improvements to domestic properties, the delivery partner will be required to treat domestic properties as the service priority, i.e. marketing its services, facilitating customers, explaining and securing the sign-up and installation of appropriate energy efficiency improvements across the Borough. 

It is envisaged that a significant portion of the market and therefore a key target for the project will be ‘hard to treat’ domestic properties i.e. those that cannot accommodate cost-effective measures and may therefore have missed out on previous energy improvements. These properties will have the potential to access ECO funding. Given the priority to be attributed to domestic interventions over non-domestic the balance of the finance, scope and value of the opportunity will favour the former. It is likely that any scheme will include the HRA stock as a priority but it should be stressed that fuel poverty and energy efficiency issues affect the growing private sector and there is an expectation that any scheme will seek to address these issues. 

Furthermore, in order to achieve long term investment in the Borough’s supply chain and employment opportunities, some form of confidence in the longevity of this market locally is required. Consequently a 5 year contract (with up to a two year extension if necessary) is sought, with a break clause included at the end of the first phase of ECO to safeguard against any major changes in legislation/obligations.

The report recognises, as with the LCZ, that an area by area approach may be beneficial:

The ECO is measured in terms of meeting carbon reduction targets; different types of energy efficiency works therefore attract different levels of funding. In addition, the situation of the existing tenant or homeowner can influence the level of funding given. A commercial partner may be likely to seek to meet its ECO obligations in the cheapest and most efficient way, for example by carrying out work on an estate or area basis to achieve economies of scale. Any commercial imperative will need to be balanced against the council’s own priorities in terms of the greatest benefit to low income households. 

There will be occasions whereby an area by area approach is the most appropriate and could offer wider regeneration opportunities and it is likely that stock within the HRA will fit this model. The position may be complicated by the presence of leasehold homes within a block - for example, if in a low- rise block of flats, external ECO funding was available to cover all of the social housing properties but within the block, 5% of flats were privately owned and considered ‘able to pay’. The position of leaseholders varies according to the terms of the lease: in some cases, the council is entitled to re-charge for improvements while in others this option may not be available. Since the expenditure in this case is not incurred by the council, it is envisaged that any re-charge would be waived. Additional staff resources may also be required to support the project and contract manage the partner. The specification will include an expectation that any requirement for this will be funded by the partner. Any other costs, which will include officer time, will be met from existing budgets.  

The Council has an existing long-standing SLA arrangement in place with ‘Energy Solutions’ and their role in this project in terms of stock analysis, encouraging take up and identifying our most vulnerable residents who require assistance needs to be formalised. 

Brent Council gets school students involved in climate change battle

New York today

 As Hurricane Sandy lashes the Eastern Coast of the USA and Canada at one level and Year 5 at Wembley Primary take to Twitter to research their half-term homework on severe weather events at another it is appropriate that Brent Council today announces a Climate Change Competition for Brent schools.

I declare an interest here as Chair of Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and because I have had a minor role in organising the Schools Conference on Climate Change that will take place in March 2013.

Brent Council is launching a competition in partnership with the College of North West London and Brent Campaign Against Climate Change for young people to present ideas showing how to help their community improve its understanding of the effects of climate change and how it might be addressed.

Brent Student Climate Change competition is open to anyone aged from 11 to 21 years who lives, works or studies in the borough. It invites young people to submit a piece of work that either raises public awareness of climate change or offers a practical means to lessening or adapting our lives to deal with its effect.

Young people can use any of the following media to present their ideas:

• new media forms including apps for tablets and phones, websites
• music, art, poetry, video, drama or performance
• 3-D models
• poster or technical drawing
• written proposal of 1, 000 words such as a business plan for a small firm.

The winning entry for the competition will receive a £100 voucher and a certificate signed by the Mayor of Brent Councillor Michael Adeyeye, and the five runners-up will receive a letter of commendation also signed by the Mayor. The certificate and letters of commendation will include the name of the entrant's school, college or youth club, who will receive copies for display. The six winning pieces will be displayed in the new Brent Civic Centre and during a schools' conference on climate change in the borough, which is being planned for 20 March 2013.

Councillor James Powney, Lead Member for Environment and Neighbourhood Services, said:

"The competition will help to increase awareness of climate change in Brent. It is excellent that young people have been invited to put forward their suggestions because it is that generation who could be most affected by climate change in the future.

"It also offers schools and youth clubs the opportunity of receiving valuable publicity for their organisations while motivating students whose projects and ideas can form part of their normal coursework. I'm looking forward to seeing the innovative ways the boroughs young people tackle such a current and relevant issue such as raising awareness of adapting and tackling climate change."

Ken Montague, secretary of Brent Campaign against Climate Change, who is coordinating the competition, is available to visit your school or club venue with a Brent councillor to explain the competition. He can be contacted if a school or youth club emails environment@brent.gov.uk .

The deadline for submissions is 13 March 2013, but you must register by 8 February 2013.
Entries will be judged by a panel of representatives from Brent Council, Brent Campaign Against Climate Change, and The College of North West London. For more information about submitting your entry email environment@brent.gov.uk .

Stimulating and provocative Green Party speaker at Willesden Green Library

Derek Wall

Economics lecturer, writer and Green party activist, Derek Wall will be at the Willesden Green Library Centre on Monday 20^th February at 7.30pm to talk about his book, the “No-Nonsense Guide to Green Politics” and a book he is currently completing on the history of the commons.

 

This event is the fourth in a series of “Environmental Writers” meetings at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where authors read from their books with environmental themes and discuss them with the audience. The series is organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change in liaison with the Brent Library Service.

 

Derek Wall is an economics lecturer and writer. He has been a member of the Green Party since 1980 and was Green Party Principal Speaker from 2006 to 2007. Derek is a founder of the Ecosocialist International and Green Left. He has written a number of books on green politics including the No Nonsense Guide to Green Politics and has a blog at http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/. He works closely with Hugo Blanco - the Peruvian green activist who publishes Luca Indigena (Indigenous fight). Derek is currently researching a book on the environmental history of the commons and is a parish councillor in North Ascot.  He lives in Berkshire and has three sons.

 

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says, “Derek is a stimulating and provocative speaker who is bound to stir up a debate about politics and the future of our planet. I am especially looking forward to hearing more about his new book, which I’m sure will make us look at British history in a new light.”

 

The discussion will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 20^th February in the Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF. This is a free event and all are welcome.

 

This meeting is in the tradition of stimulating public meetings at Willesden Green Library which will be demolished under regeneration plans. The rather sketchy proposals for the replacement Willesden Cultural Centre do not appear to include plans for public meeting rooms.