Obituary

During the 1970s Bernie played a leading role in fighting the National Front, which in the 1970s came within 60 votes of winning a seat on Leicester council and enjoyed 25 percent of the vote.

As secretary of the Leicester Anti Nazi League and later Inter-Racial Solidarity, Bernie fought tirelessly against the NF, at one time leafleting nearly every house in the city!

His house was frequently attacked by the NF, but he was never intimidated by fascists.

Bernie's mother was Austrian, and he frequently spoke of his hatred of fascism, and how in Graz in Austria the Nazis had hung trade unionists from the trees for people to pass on their way to church.

Ultimately in 1979 the fascists faced a pitched battle in Leicester when they attempted to march through the city - and then faded away. Bernie continued to fight racism wherever it appeared.

He was a member of the International Marxist Group and a faithful supporter of the Fourth International in later years.

Bernie was also a leading member of the Troops Out Movement, helping to organise the Bloody Sunday commemoration in Leicester in 1982, which went ahead despite being banned.

He often visited Ireland, assisting Republican prisoners and their families.

As a life-long trade unionist in the Gas industry, Bernie was a prominent member of Leicester Trades Council, and worked all-out for the National Union of Mineworkers during the miners' strike for nearly a year.

Bernie also organised Anti-Apartheid events, including a picket of the Tigers rugby ground during the Apartheid era.

Bernie sacrificed his whole life to the cause of humanity and socialism. In January 1999 he was speaking with enthusiasm about the gains for the USFI (United Secretariat of the Fourth International) in the Philippines.

To the end he was an outstanding Marxist and a fighter for the working class.

Paul Winstone, Vice Chair, TGWU General Branch, Leicester.