Red Robbo was not all that red - Letters for May 19
Sheep Race was a popular attraction at Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom in Telford, with visitors from across region to watch sheep negotiate a course with the promise of a good feed at the end. Racing is no more but the venue, now Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World, remains popular.
Red Robbo was not all that red
On reading Rich Von Duisberg’s earlier letter about the late Derek Robinson, I had some reservations about the research methodology of seeking input from random readers of the Express & Star. My reservations are perhaps justified by Alan Etheridge’s response (17 March). Essentially, that response is based on memories from half a century ago, with Mr Etheridge honestly admitting that he is unsure what his own job was at the time or whether sackings at one of his workplaces were a result of strikes at (British) Leyland or Ford. If the latter, the issue obviously had no connection with Robinson. Like Mr Etheridge, I have my memories of working life in the 1970s, including such manifestations of allegedly excessive union power as the absence of zero-hour contracts and the gig economy.
I believe that the consensus of scholarly opinion is that “Red Robbo” was not half so red as he is portrayed. A swift Google search throws up an obituary in the vapidly centrist Guardian, which was reasonably even-handed, as was a Wikipedia entry, with citation of sources. What is immediately obvious from the latter is that Robinson, while a conscientious union representative, was connected with an arguably bureaucratic approach to industrial relations typical of the Communist Party at that time.
The article cites statements of his that would have been very close in content to utterances of figures like Bill Jordan, routinely described as “moderate” at the time, while Robinson was trenchantly criticised from the left for what was perceived as his excessive collaboration with employers.
