- RSW 03 Page 15 -
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This is an interesting addition to the very small stable of British publications of 'parapolitics'. Notes is edited and largely written by Larry O'Hara - a controversial figure, to put it mildly, whose name at least is known to many anti-fascists in the UK. The headline feature in this issue is a timely analysis of the antics of the renegade MI-Fivers, David Shayler and his girlfriend Annie Machon. Anyone inclined to think that such defectors are 'a good thing' should definitely read this.
There's a firm belief amongst many of the traditional left in this country that the forces of history are stronger than these clandestine counter-revolutionaries. Those who hold this view often refer to Victor Serge's account, in "What Everyone Should know About State Repression", of how much the Bolsheviks had been infiltrated by the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret service. 'They didn't stop the Revolution in 1917!' goes the refrain. True, but given its subsequent development, the revolution didn't appear to stop them either.
This benign view of the world of spies, agents-provocateur and informers - summed up dismissively as 'conspiracy theory' - is not shared by those who've been on the receiving end. Ask any refugees from Chile, South Africa or other places where the action got real.
Nor, apparently, was it shared by Karl Marx. According to David Pegg (of whom I know nothing). In 1860 Marx took a year out from writing "Das Kapital" to produce a book called "Herr Vogt: A Spy in the Workers' Movement". He considered it an urgent task because of the activities of this agent of Napoléon III in churning out counter-propaganda and disinformation from his base in Switzerland, which sowed confusion amongst, as well as trying to entrap, revolutionaries and their supporters. Marx was also clear that it couldn't be safely ignored.
NFTB isn't aiming to replace the long-running Lobster, or more recent productions like Open Eye and Statewatch. Under O'Hara's direction it will surely continue to concentrate on British domestic spies and their agents, as well as fascist/antifascist politics. Whether it survives may depend on the quality of his fellow-contributors, as much as on the appetite of readers for this kind of fare.
Subscription £5 for 2 issues, cheques payable to Larry O’Hara