Terence Fields(8 March 1937 – 28 June 2008) was a British politician and firefighter. A member of theMilitantgroup, he was theLabourMember of Parliament forLiverpool Broadgreenfrom 1983 to 1992. He was expelled from the Labour Party in 1991 with the rest of Militant. Earlier he had been on the executive of theFire Brigades Union.
Terry Fields | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament forLiverpool Broadgreen | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 16 March 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency Created |
| Succeeded by | Jane Kennedy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 March 1937 Bootle,Lancashire,England |
| Died | 28 June 2008(aged 71) Netherton,Merseyside,England |
| Political party | Labour(until 1991) Independent(after 1991) |
| Spouse | Maureen[1] |
| Children | Paula Fields Michael Fields Denise Foley (Fields) Stephan Fields[1] |
| Profession | Firefighter |
Early life and activism
editFields was born inBootle,north ofLiverpool,the son of a dockworker.[2]Educated at the Major Street County Secondary School and De La Salle Grammar School in Liverpool, Fields then spent two years onNational Servicein theRoyal Army Medical Corps,[3]an experience that he later claimed had radicalised him.[2]Despite eye problems (which caused him to wear dark glasses),[2]he became a fireman and later aFire Brigades Unionactivist.[4]
Fields joined theLabour Partyin 1968.[3]He was active in the Fire Brigades Union's national 1977–78 strike[1]and shortly afterward he joined theMilitantgroup.[1]At the Labour Party's special conference in 1980 on the question of how to elect theLabour leader,Fields spoke beforeDenis Healeyand said: "We need coordinated action by the whole of our class to get the Tories out, and the democracy that is being pumped out in the capitalist press is their democracy, not ours. We will find a new democracy when we have created a socialist state in this country... To the weak-hearted, the traitors and cowards I say: 'Get out of our movement. There is no place for you. Cross the House of Commons."[5]
Parliamentary career
editFields was selected as the Labour Party candidate forLiverpool Broadgreenfor thegeneral election in 1983.[5]This was a new seat, but it was estimated by theBBCandITNthat had it been fought at theprevious election in 1979it would have returned aConservativeMP with a majority of 565.[6]In line with Militant policy, he promised during his campaign that, if he was elected, he would be "a workers' MP on a worker's wage", a promise he kept by drawing only the equivalent of a fireman's wages and donating the balance of his MP's salary to trade union causes and, according to Doris Heffer, "to the party causes or, frankly, also to the coffers of Militant Tendency."[2]Fields gained the friendship of other Labour MPs, including Doris Heffer's husband,Eric.[2]
Fields made his maiden speech on 24 June 1983.[7]His interventions in Parliament focused on issues unique to Liverpool as well asCentral America,unemployment, and the coal mining and maritime transport industries.[8]
On 11 July 1991, Fields was jailed for refusing to pay hispoll taxbill of £373. In defence of the court's decision, Labour leaderNeil Kinnocksaid: "Law makers must not be law breakers. I have always made that clear."[9]Fields'ssentencewas for 60 days, meaning that he retained his seat in theHouse of Commons,as MPs only automatically lose their seat if they are imprisoned for more than a year. Labour Party members criticised Fields for his militant approach to the poll tax and his failure to support other Labour candidates, in particularPeter Kilfoylein aby-electionfor the neighbouring constituency ofLiverpool Walton,[9]following Eric Heffer's death.
Fields was expelled from the Labour Party in December 1991[9]along with other members of Militant, includingDave Nellist,then the only other MP who was a member of the tendency.
Later life
editAt the1992 general election,Fields stood as an independent, winning 14% of the vote, while the official Labour Party candidate,Jane Kennedy,was elected. After losing his seat, Fields ran The Mayflower, a pub on Fazakerley Street inLiverpool,for six months.[3]He did not join theSocialist Party,into which Militant eventually developed.[5]
In 2002, at the age of 65, he returned briefly to the limelight after entering a burning house to rescue a woman trapped inside.[5]
Fields died at his family home inNethertonon Saturday 28 June 2008, oflung cancer.Bob Wareing,a Liverpool Labour MP for 25 years, said at the time: "Even though we might disagree on the methods used by Militant Tendency, we in Liverpool could not but respect the sincerity and principled behaviour of Terry Fields."[2]A memorial meeting for Fields, held shortly after his death, attracted 200 people.[10]
See also
edit- Fiona Onasanya—Labour MP forPeterboroughwho was the next sitting MP to be jailed after Fields
References
edit- ^abcdTerry Venton,"Obituary: Terry Fields"Archived2 December 2009 atarchive.today,Scottish Socialist Website
- ^abcdefTam Dalyell"Terry Fields: Labour MP from the Militant Tendency Who Was Jailed for 60 Days for Refusing to Pay the Poll Tax"Archived25 September 2015 at theWayback Machine,The Independent,2 July 2008
- ^abcObituary: Terry FieldsArchived4 February 2019 at theWayback Machine,telegraph.co.uk, 1 July 2008
- ^Rob Sewell,"Terry Fields, Militant MP Dies – The Workers' MP on a Workers' Wage"Archived4 July 2008 at theWayback Machine,In Defence of Marxism Website, 30 June 2008.
- ^abcdFrancis Beckett"Obituary: Terry Fields"Archived1 December 2016 at theWayback Machine,The Guardian,1 July 2008
- ^The Times Guide to the House of Commons June 1983.London: Times Books. 1983. p. 280.ISBN0-7230-0255-X.
- ^Mr Terry Fields (Liverpool, Broadgreen),"Orders of the Day: Industry and Privatisation"Archived2 July 2009 at theWayback Machine,Hansard,24 June 1983
- ^Mr Terry FieldsArchived4 December 2008 at theWayback Machine,Hansard Online Index
- ^abc"1991: Anti-Poll Tax MP Jailed"Archived7 March 2008 at theWayback Machine,BBC On this Day, 11 July
- ^Paillard, C."Terry Fields Memorial Meeting"Archived10 June 2011 at theWayback Machine,The Socialist,3 September 2008. (retrieved 25 June 2010)
External links
edit- Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Terry Fields
- Terry Fields Archiveatmarxists.org
- Terry Fields' Maiden Speech in Parliament,Socialist Party(retrieved 25 June 2010)
- Ex-MP Terry Fields dies aged 71,BBC News(retrieved 29 June 2008)
- Terry Fields, Militant MP dies – the workers' MP on a workers’ wage,International Marxist Tendency(retrieved 30 June 2008)
- Catalogue of Fields' papers,held at theModern Records Centre, University of Warwick