Re-dedication of anti-fascist memorial

When the Tories took Nottinghamshire County Council after local election's last year, one of the first decisions new leader Kay Cutts made was to re-arrange the Spanish Civil War memorial.

Unveiled by the Spanish ambassador in 1993, the memorial remembers those who went from Nottinghamshire to fight against General Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

Cutts' alterations (seemingly carried out without reference to anybody else at the authority) saw wall-mounted plaques rearranged so that they were harder to read.

An explanatory plaque was removed and replaced with a swish, but generic panel remembering "the men and women of this county who have sacrificed their lives for others and for freedom."

Inevitably this was controversial, with the Trades Council and other protesting at the move.

The re-dedication is an opportunity to remember those who went to Spain to fight fascism and also to counter the blatant attempts to bury the memorial's still radical political content.

The event will be held at County Hall, West Bridgford, Nottingham, Saturday July 17, from 10.30am - 12 noon. There will be speakers from the Trades Council, International Brigades Memorial Trust, Labour Party, LibDems and the Spanish Embassy have been invited.

Entertainment will be provided by Nottingham Clarion Choir.

Following this, the city council will be hosting a display organised by the International Brigades Memorial Trust which is touring the country.

The exhibition called "Antifascista!" is about British and Irish volunteers in the civil war and will be on display in the Council House, Market Square from 12 noon Tuesday July 20 - Saturday 31 July.