Page 20 - link magazine

Colourful life story of councillor who likes any hue – as long as it’s red
Juliet Platt meets councillor Derique Montaut, former Swindon mayor, one time leader of the Labour Group and author of a small volume entitled
Wiltshire’s Industrial Heritage, has almost completed a fascinating memoir, as much a chronicle of life and times in the town during the 60s, 70s and
80s as it is a family history.
Born in Madras in 1941, during the England. Describing the period ment conditions for their fellow
dying days of the British Raj, Derique Derique said: “It was Alf Garnet’s workers, Derique acknowledges
is the unlikely product of a privileged England when there was a lot of that militant union activity in
Anglo-European heritage, and it was immigration and prejudice.” the 1970s and early 80s eventu-
in the post-colonial atmosphere of a After his parents’ marriage ally brought about severe legal
French mansion that Derique and his broke down Derique faced hard- restrictions on the right to strike
sisters spent their early life. ship unlike anything he was used under Margaret Thatcher’s gov-
Deliberately self-deprecating, the to in India, and was forced to ernments.
early chapters of Derique’s memoir take a range of jobs, including Whilst union focus had been
charts his progress from the privileges a spell maintaining the stock of on securing economic advan-
of his childhood to the difficulties he test rats and mice in a cancer tages for workers, it was to the
faced as a teenager arriving in 1950s research facility. detriment of health and safety
By the age of eighteen De- and wider social issues. Confront-
rique and his girlfriend were ing racism caused Derique some
Fancy working expecting a child, a deeply anguish. As an immigrant worker
himself Derique felt uncomfort-
shameful prospect at the time.
for yourself? It pushed Derique into harder started on his first day at the town’s called for job cuts to be confined to
able when fellow trade unionists
manual labour on the London rail-
Business Startup Pack ways. As the 1960s began, so did Pressed Steel car plant when he was Polish workers.
the outflow of London workers to exhorted in a mass meeting to choose
In 1986 his sympathy for Arthur
250 Business Cards Swindon, and Derique and his young between supporting a strike or the Scargill’s leadership of the National
+ 250 A5 Leaflets ONLY family were part of that migration. management. Union of Mineworkers strike resulted
Design service also available £69 His journey to become a militant Discovering a talent for negotiat- in a rebuff from Labour Party leader
Printed 4 colour one side only
trade-unionist and Labour Group ing workers’ rights, Derique gradu- Neil Kinnock during a visit to Swindon.
inc. VAT
leader in Swindon is plotted through ally moved up union ranks and led a Derique is now looking for a pub-
a number of significant events and number of ‘flying picket’ contingents lisher for this book. He said: “I’ve tried
experiences. While Derique is the to support industrial action at other to document my life as it was rather
MLL Print & Digital Unit 101 Basepoint Centre
Rivermead Swindon Wilts SN5 7EX first to admit that he was politically factories around the country. than how I’d want it to be. It needs a
Telephone: 01793 490490 indifferent for much of his early life, Although the strikers were able bit more research; some of the details
STLDFM-HALFPAGE-WYVERN_Layout 1 16/04/2013 13:19 Page 1 to secure more favourable employ- have the potential to upset careers.”
www.mllprint.co.uk
his trade-union career was kick-
FROM THE TEAM THAT CREATED ‘DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS’

BILL KENWRIGHT AND LAURIE MANSFIELD PRESENT
A BRAND NEW MUSICAL FULL OF ROCK‘N’ROLL CLASSICS!

BY LAURENCE MARKS & MAURICE GRAN FEATURING THE HITS OF
DOC POMUS & MORT SHUMAN AND MANY MORE...

‘A FEEL-GOOD MUSICAL DELIVERED IN RIP-ROARING STYLE’ SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH
FOR ONE WEEK ONLY! MON 10 – SAT 15 JUNE
BOOK ONLINE wyverntheatre.org.uk TICKET OFFICE 01793 524 481

20 swindonlink.com • May 2013

19 - 48 May 13.indd 20 19/04/2013 14:28