'Economic League'

[Robin]

Does anyone here know what happened to the 'Economic League' and particularly
all the records that it kept on people that it thought held the "wrong"
political beliefs ie Tradeunionism, (old) Labour, etc.

Does anyone know if it is true that Dr Barnardo's Homes inc were members of the
Economic League in the 60s and 70s, (would fit in with the fact that trade
unions membership amongst it staff was not allowed in the old days, and that
Unison have only gained a formal recognition agreement at Barnardo's in the
very recent past).

I never cease to be amazed at just what a politically dubious organisation
Barnardos was at times in the past, so I suppose it's not beyond the realms of
possibility that it could have had ties with the Economic League.

Anyone heard of Caprim which is still around and does similar things to what
the Economic League did?


Robin

http://harritt.net

[Ray Ingham]

Post by Robin
Does anyone here know what happened to the 'Economic League' and
particularly all the records that it kept on people that it thought held
the "wrong" political beliefs ie Tradeunionism, (old) Labour, etc.
Does anyone know if it is true that Dr Barnardo's Homes inc were members
of the Economic League in the 60s and 70s, (would fit in with the fact
that trade unions membership amongst it staff was not allowed in the old
days, and that Unison have only gained a formal recognition agreement at
Barnardo's in the very recent past).
I never cease to be amazed at just what a politically dubious organisation
Barnardos was at times in the past, so I suppose it's not beyond the
realms of possibility that it could have had ties with the Economic
League.
Anyone heard of Caprim which is still around and does similar things to
what the Economic League did?
Robin
http://harritt.net

Would any names on this help?
http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/scotland/sitepages/page16-0724.asp

[Robin]

Post by Ray Ingham

Post by Robin
Does anyone here know what happened to the 'Economic League' and
particularly all the records that it kept on people that it thought held
the "wrong" political beliefs ie Tradeunionism, (old) Labour, etc.
Does anyone know if it is true that Dr Barnardo's Homes inc were members
of the Economic League in the 60s and 70s, (would fit in with the fact
that trade unions membership amongst it staff was not allowed in the old
days, and that Unison have only gained a formal recognition agreement at
Barnardo's in the very recent past).
I never cease to be amazed at just what a politically dubious organisation
Barnardos was at times in the past, so I suppose it's not beyond the
realms of possibility that it could have had ties with the Economic
League.
Anyone heard of Caprim which is still around and does similar things to
what the Economic League did?
Robin
http://harritt.net

Would any names on this help?
http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/scotland/sitepages/page16-0724.asp

Hi Ray

The 'Economic League' was a quite nasty organisation that kept a Rolodex
database on individuals that it considered to be trouble makers and then
provided that information to its member companies to try and ensure that those
individuals would not be be able to get employment. That is now illegal under
the DPA, but what happened to all of those records?

From the Guardian newspaper

'...The Economic League was set up in 1919 to fight Bolshevism and intervened
in industrial relations until wound up in 1994 after complaints of it holding
inaccurate information on individuals; under data law it would have had to open
its files. It had 40 current Labour MPs on its files, including the chancellor,
Gordon Brown, and prominent trade unionists, as well as journalists and
thousands of shopfloor workers.

Through Caprim, Mr Hardy [one of the directors of Economic League] continued
warning firms of those he believed could "weaken a company's ability to manage
its affairs profitably". He condemned the Ethical Investment Research Service
for "busybodyness" in drawing investors' attention to whether firms supplied
services to the defence ministry, or whether furniture firms used tropical
hardwoods. His monitor warned: "Companies need to be warned what these
organisations are saying and planning. Caprim provides this information. And
assesses the strength of the threat. And advises on appropriate action."...'


I believe in a Granada TV World in Action documentary I that saw many many
years ago it showed a list of members, there amongst all the industrial heavies
was Dr Barnardo's Homes, which always until recently has been quite anti union
in its own staff policy. If indeed Barnardo's did ever belong to the Economic
League it would be interesting to know how they used it and what information
they contributed to it and whether records of that information survive anywhere.

Robin

http://harritt.net

[Ray Ingham]

Post by Robin

Post by Ray Ingham

Post by Robin
Does anyone here know what happened to the 'Economic League' and
particularly all the records that it kept on people that it thought held
the "wrong" political beliefs ie Tradeunionism, (old) Labour, etc.
Does anyone know if it is true that Dr Barnardo's Homes inc were members
of the Economic League in the 60s and 70s, (would fit in with the fact
that trade unions membership amongst it staff was not allowed in the old
days, and that Unison have only gained a formal recognition agreement at
Barnardo's in the very recent past).
I never cease to be amazed at just what a politically dubious
organisation Barnardos was at times in the past, so I suppose it's not
beyond the realms of possibility that it could have had ties with the
Economic League.
Anyone heard of Caprim which is still around and does similar things to
what the Economic League did?
Robin
http://harritt.net

Would any names on this help?
http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/scotland/sitepages/page16-0724.asp

Hi Ray
The 'Economic League' was a quite nasty organisation that kept a Rolodex
database on individuals that it considered to be trouble makers and then
provided that information to its member companies to try and ensure that
those individuals would not be be able to get employment. That is now
illegal under the DPA, but what happened to all of those records?
From the Guardian newspaper
'...The Economic League was set up in 1919 to fight Bolshevism and
intervened in industrial relations until wound up in 1994 after complaints
of it holding inaccurate information on individuals; under data law it
would have had to open its files. It had 40 current Labour MPs on its
files, including the chancellor, Gordon Brown, and prominent trade
unionists, as well as journalists and thousands of shopfloor workers.
Through Caprim, Mr Hardy [one of the directors of Economic League]
continued warning firms of those he believed could "weaken a company's
ability to manage its affairs profitably". He condemned the Ethical
Investment Research Service for "busybodyness" in drawing investors'
attention to whether firms supplied services to the defence ministry, or
"Companies need to be warned what these organisations are saying and
planning. Caprim provides this information. And assesses the strength of
the threat. And advises on appropriate action."...'
I believe in a Granada TV World in Action documentary I that saw many many
years ago it showed a list of members, there amongst all the industrial
heavies was Dr Barnardo's Homes, which always until recently has been
quite anti union in its own staff policy. If indeed Barnardo's did ever
belong to the Economic League it would be interesting to know how they
used it and what information they contributed to it and whether records of
that information survive anywhere.
Robin
http://harritt.net

That is very interesting Robin. After your post I looked at them on the web
and there was quite a bit about them. I must admit I had never heard of
them until then.
Ray