The Socialist 8 August 2012 Our health, not their wealth!  End the insane cycle of youth joblessness March together on 20 October and then strike together to stop all cuts Sean Rigg inquest: damning verdict for police Gove sneaking unqualified teachers into academies Views on the Olympics and the opening ceremony Transport 'customer experience' staff still fighting for Olympics bonus Vote No in Unison's local government pension scheme ballot Swansea DVLA staff protest at embarrassment of job cuts Support Churchill cleaners, Tyne & Wear Metro Interview with Southampton rebel councillors TUSC: Keeping up the pressure on the austerity parties Socialist Students organise to fight fees and cuts Workers win Wales Austerity Games despite bosses moving the goalposts! Growing resistance to NHS cuts shown in Redditch Portsmouth fans fight to save Fratton Park Brighton pensioner jailed for non-payment of council tax Welsh Labour: Red flag or white flag? Obituary: Frank Mills, 1939 - 2012 Syria: Is there an alternative to the developing civil war? Markets force savage austerity measures on Spanish workers Trial resumes of Kazakhstan human rights activist |
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Home | The Socialist 8 August 2012 | Join the Socialist Party Obituary: Frank Mills, 1939 - 2012Frank Mills, good comrade and friend, has sadly passed away after an extraordinary battle lasting ten years against the illness that eventually killed him. He was born in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool and remained true to his class. Frank was an outstanding working class fighter, ex-seafarer and active trade unionist in the National Union of Seamen. On returning ashore, he became a member of the GMWU (now the GMB) and a shop steward and branch officer at Dunlops in the Walton constituency. When that plant closed he worked part-time for the union organising in the pub trade, during which he organised a strike at Maggie's in Bootle. Frank made an outstanding contribution as a leading member of the Liverpool socialist council in 1983-1987 when he stood shoulder to shoulder with his comrades and never flinched when the establishment and its media launched horrendous attack after attack on the 47 socialist councillors because they refused to carry through the cuts demanded by the then Thatcher government. He was part of the negotiating team that secured sufficient funding from the Thatcher government, which allowed the council to continue its electoral programme of building houses and creating jobs. In addition to his record as a fighting socialist, he was well known for his sense of humour, which he continued to display during his years of illness. He retained his passionate defence of the 47 and the ideas of socialism long after many had succumbed to the notion that the 'free market' was the 'only game in town'. He viewed the capitalist infiltrators into the tops of the Labour Party and their underlings with unbridled contempt and gave his utmost to campaigning for candidates who offered a socialist alternative to the cuts policies of the three main parties. Even during the latter stages of his illness Frank never lost his fire and capacity to laugh, shrugging off enquiries about his health with a brusque "I'll be alright". It was only last May that he made his car available in the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition mayoral campaign and drove it around the city calling for a vote for my candidacy. Frank joined the Socialist Party and was a loyal member until the end, attending meetings and making valuable contributions. He donated a pile of socialist books to the party which will form the basis of a socialist library. Frank will be hard to replace and he will be sadly missed. We send our deep condolences to Mary and his family. Tony MulhearnThis version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 3 August 2012 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist. In this issue Socialist Party news and analysis
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