A doughty campaigner for national independence, John Boyd died

Death of John Boyd, formerly Director of CAEF (Campaign Against Euro Federalism) and Co-ordinator of TEAM (The European Alliance of Euro-Critical Movements)

A doughty campaigner for national independence, John Boyd died on Saturday 26^th October

John was a vigorous leader of CAEF which was for many years an affiliate of CIB. Based in the labour and trade union movement (though not the Labour party) , CAEF added greatly to the cross-party scope of CIB’s campaign, making us aware of those aspects of EU policy which were particularly disadvantageous to working people. For instance, contract workers could be transferred from East European countries with low wage rates to undercut existing, agreed union pay rates in Western Europe. This happened with the crews of ferries and similar types of group employment.

We also had help from CAEF in ridding our area of EU propaganda vans which announced their intended arrival in the local paper. Using their trade union experience, CAEF colleagues from Birmingham came and showed us how to organise pickets in a very polite, well-mannered way. The van would pull into Derby Market Place or similar central point in a town and would be surrounded by three or four of our campaigners (with the guard changed every two hours) , encouraging people to go in if they wished but asking them to talk to us and take a leaflet of ours. The chief man in the van once got very angry and threatened to call the police. “You do that” said one of our CAEF friends, “We want to talk to them. They’ve got votes too!”. The constabulary never arrived. It did not take very long before the EU vans stopped coming!

Those of us, who are survivors of that time, look back with some fondness to the increased effectiveness of the independence movement when we co-operated with CAEF which was then under John Boyd’s imaginative leadership.

Our deepest sympathy to Margaret Manley and to John’s family, friends and close colleagues.

Edward Spalton

Hon. President Campaign for an Independent Britain