Fire at William Rust House

Fighting Fund update

Sunday 3rd August
ANYONE who ever wondered about the possible effect of the Morning Star turning its toes up should have read the deluge of mail arriving at William Rust House since fire gutted our newsroom a week ago.

Immediate desperation and anguish over the feared demise of our paper gave way to firm resolution to do whatever was needed to help. And amid everything has been recognition of the truly heroic role played by every member of the Star staff, making light of difficulties and ensuring uninterrupted production of our daily miracle.

"I salute your collective determination to help. Keep it up," wrote a Swansea comrade.

"I was really horrified to read of the fire at the Star's offices.

Accordingly, I am enclosing my monthly donation to the Fund with a little bit extra," was the message from a Northfleet reader, sending £20.

A Cambridge supporter sent £500, explaining: "I was very sorry to hear of the fire, but impressed by the speed at which you are back to a 12-pager."

And a Woodford Green comrade gave £100, saying: "The hard-hitting editorials you have produced show that all obstacles can be overcome when the political will is there to get out the only daily paper which supports working people in their struggles."

From Liverpool came £600, "inspired by your obituary of Terry Fields. He was my mum's MP and we both went to Walton prison in support of his principled stand against the poll tax." And a Mitcham supporter sent £20, pointing out: "The people's paper has come through all its trials and tribulations, such as the WW2 ban, and emerged the stronger for it."

A £10 cheque arrived from Hull, describing our paper as "a beacon of light in a sea of darkness for advanced workers."

"Pleased to see the 12 pages back. Special thanks to all the staff and other who rallied round to make this possible," wrote an Oldham comrade, enclosing £200.

And a touch of irony, plus £100, from Leytonstone - "just what you need with TUC and Labour Party conferences coming up."

"What a dreadful shock the news of the fire at William Rust House is, but what a marvellous job the comrades there are making of dealing with the matter," wrote a Norfolk stalwart. "The readers have always been impressed by the paper they produce, but this surpasses their best efforts and they are entitled to our unstinted thanks and congratulations," he added.

Another veteran, now over 80 but she remembers selling our paper as a student, sent £100 from Sevenoaks, saying: "Our lives would be much poorer without you. So keep at it, as you obviously will." There were many more messages and many more donations that I could have detailed, but I think that you've probably got the picture.

Our staff have worked above and beyond the call of duty and our supporters are right behind them, morally and materially. We have also received offers of equipment and of help in clearing up the mess, but we have to be guided by the instructions of our insurers.

Every good wish, every contribution and every offer is greatly appreciated. They encourage us to maximise our daily efforts to produce the best possible Morning Star.

We have already received £19,886 for July's Fighting Fund, £3,886 over target with three posts to go. Our amended targets for July and August are as much as you can manage.

We need finance to see us through immediate problems, such as the transformation of our boardroom into a stand-in newsroom, pending the repair, refurbishment and re-equipment of our entire editorial floor.

Rising from the Ashes

Friday 1st August

Morning Star chief subeditor JAMES EAGLE proudly surveys a week when Blitz spirit and solidarity kept this paper's lifeblood flowing.

LIKE most journalists, I'm not a morning person. Late nights and late starts tend to come with the territory.

Like most workers in any job, I particularly don't like Monday mornings. And I especially don't like them when I get woken up by a phone call at 5.45am telling me that the Star's newsroom has been gutted by fire and it's possible that we may not be able to put a paper out for days or even weeks.

But sometimes days unfold like that whether you like it or not. And so it was that half-past-six on Monday morning found me standing around outside William Rust House with Star deputy editor Bill Benfield, who had himself learnt the bad news a couple of hours before from company secretary Tony Briscoe. He, in turn, had received an unwelcome 3am wake-up call from the fire brigade.

Things did not, if I may be allowed the understatement, look good. The armoured door which was intended to keep out thieves and fascists had also kept out the firefighters for well over an hour.

Although they eventually broke through it - getting through two cutting blades in the process - they were forced to smash a top-floor window so that they could get water on the blaze straight away.

At least that allowed some air into the blackened wasteland of the newsroom, which was still filled with the acrid stench of burnt plastic and coated in a thick layer of black ash.

The post-apocalyptic effect was topped off nicely by the fact that a great chunk of suspended ceiling had collapsed under the jets of water, covering the news desk and floor in mushy plaster. The power was out, the phones were off and the internet connections were dead.

Grim? Definitely. But fatal for the paper? Not a chance. Star journalists would move heaven and earth to avoid losing an edition - that kind of commitment comes with the territory too.

And we quickly realised that the new technology which your sterling fundraising efforts helped us buy last year meant that, against all the odds, we could still get the Star out that very day.

So it was that, after an hour or so spent wading around in ash and sludge salvaging what we could from the office, we became surely the first national paper in history to produce an edition from staff members' front rooms.

While Bill and Tony held the fort at William Rust House, working out how to get the office back up and running as soon as possible, news editor Daniel Coysh took his reporters round the corner to Bow to set up an emergency news desk in one of their homes.

And, with help from my deputy Charley Allan - who had uncomplainingly sacrificed his day off to keep the Star running - the subs desk installed itself in a terraced house in Hackney, with computers propped up on coffee tables and every square foot of floor covered in cables.

Hardly ideal working conditions, but there were no grumbles. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Blitz spirit took hold and staff doubled their efforts with smiles on their faces.

The first couple of days were just about survival and we were forced to cut back to eight pages to lighten the load. But no-one wanted to short-change our readers, which is why we went back up to 12 as soon as possible and why we've pulled out the stops to get the usual 16-pager out on Saturday - with extra colour as a bonus.

We're not out of the woods by a long way, though. We hope to move back into the admin floor at William Rust House next week, but the newsroom will be out of action for months for cleaning and repairs.

We'll get there, though, have no doubt about that. I can't lavish enough praise on our workers, both the journalists who've turned in unstinting work to keep the paper coming out and the admin staff who are slaving away to get our offices ship-shape again.

But, more importantly, all of us at the Star want to thank you, the readers, who have flooded us with messages of support and sympathy and with financial help to steer us through.

It's the worst crisis that we've had to face while I've been at the Star. Fingers crossed, it's the worst crisis that we'll ever have to face - I'm not sure any of us want to go through this again.

But the support that you've shown us makes it all worthwhile. It's that solidarity which inspired staff to these efforts in the first place.

I don't think that any other national daily could have kept publishing through troubles like this, but that's because they don't have what makes the Star so special.

James Eagle is chief subeditor of the Morning Star. He could do with a long holiday.

The Star bounces back - but there's still a long way to go

(Wednesday 30th July)

EAGLE-EYED readers may have noticed that today's Morning Star has already bounced back to 12 pages after a a couple of lean days caused by the fire which devastated our newsroom on Monday morning.

We've had a mighty struggle to get any kind of paper out at all, but everyone, staff and supporters alike, has rallied to the task of putting out the best Star that we can possibly manage.

Things are still chaotic and there's an awful lot of work ahead. The news desk is still quartered in a flat in Bow, the subs desk has moved yet again - this time to the left-wing heartland of Shadwell, just yards from the scene of the Battle of Cable Street - and William Rust House is a hive of activity as we try to get it back in working order.

There's plenty of good news to report on that front. We now have power, phone lines and the internet and, if all goes well, our journalists should be able to move into temporary offices in the admin department some time next week.

There's grim news too, though. We may have to write off all our computers and it's probably going to take at least two months of clean-up and repair before the charred ruins of the newsroom are fit for use again.

But spirits are high - and that's all thanks to you. We've been deluged by your messages of support and sympathy, many including vital financial backing. It's been a magnificent response to what must be one of the biggest crises that the Star has had to face.

And, although we're not out of the woods yet, we're sure that we'll get there with your help.

You can phone us on the normal number, (020) 8510-0815, or write to us at William Rust House, 52 Beachy Road, London E3 2NS to show your solidarity with the risen-again Star.

Fighting Fund update

Wednesday 30th July
THE prompt response by many of our supporters to the emergency created at the Morning Star by Monday's electrical fire has made it clear that we will reach July's Fund £16,000 target a few days early.

This is good news, especially since this means that we have achieved the Fund three months running, but I am asking you to do even more.

We have made it clear that we are insured, which means that all damaged equipment, furniture and decorations should be either replaced or repaired.

Unfortunately, this could well leave us with some extra expense, but, even more worrying, the need to immediately replace computers and air conditioning equipment, begin structural repairs and set up an alternative production network requires immediate expenditure.

Many of you were quick on the uptake and have already sent in special donations. We need even more of you to do so.

Specifically, I am asking, you, our supporters, to disregard the £16,000 target for July and to aim for as high as possible.

When August's Fund begins next Thursday, I shall be asking for the same for that monthly campaign.

We can't put an exact figure on our target because things are developing day by day. But we do know that we can count on our readers. You've shown that already.

"Dire news about the fire," wrote a Lancashire peace activist, sending £100 extra. "Socialists have a duty to rally to the Star in its hour of need," wrote a Southampton friend, enclosing £50.

"Thank you for the superhuman efforts to keep the Star going" was the word from Oldham, along with £20.

"You will bounce back," forecast a Mitcham donor of £20.

"I am gobsmacked but but not surprised by the resilience of all concerned," wrote a Crawley comrade who sent £50.

Other special donations included £20 from Fulham, £1,000 from Hampstead, £25 from Pimlico, £50 from a Brenchley reader who has supported our paper for 69 years, £10 from Hull, £100 from Sherborne and £150 from Bristol.

There was also £10 from Borehamwood, £100 from Leytonstone, £50 from Stamford, £20 from Somerset, £20 from Leeds and £8 from Devon CPB.

Thursday's latest Fund total of £728 leaves us just £1,235 short of our usual £16,000 target with six days to go. Please keep the messages of support and the donations coming.

To find out how to donate, visit here

Star still coming out

(Monday 28th July)

APOLOGIES to all our readers for the truncated size of today's Morning Star, which is the result of an electrical fire at our east London offices.

The fire, which broke out early on Monday morning, gutted about one-third of our news room and caused smoke and water damage to both floors of our offices.

Power has been cut off to the whole of William Rust House, necessitating an emergency transfer of operations to private accommodation in the area.

The response of Morning Star staff has been magnificent, turning up before their shifts were due to start, salvaging essential equipment and transferring to their temporary digs with good humour.

New journalists at our paper are always told that one of the joys of the job is that no two days are the same.

However, as much as we all like variety, we could have done without this latest addition to the spice of life.

It is a sad irony that, less than two days before the blaze, our paper's deputy editor and head of production Bill Benfield delivered an upbeat technology report to the management committee of the People's Press Printing Society, the co-operative that owns the Morning Star.

He told the committee that consistent investment in computer hardware and software in recent years had resulted in our paper enjoying a technological level on a par with the rest of the national print media.

It is too soon to say for sure how much of this has been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

We are, of course, insured for replacement of machinery, but these things take time and we are not even sure when we will be able to return to William Rust House.

Our offices will need drying out, repair, cleaning and refurbishment before we can install replacement equipment and restart usual operations.

This interruption of Morning Star business is not simply a problem of producing the paper. Our normal telephone communications are down, making it impossible for people to phone in with news stories, advertising, circulation requests and vital donations to our monthly £16,000 Fighting Fund.

However, we are still reachable by post and we can contact you through the pages of our Morning Star, so please don't let up on your support for our efforts.

Today's paper has just eight pages, which recalls a period that we felt confident of having left permanently behind us a decade ago.

The history of that decade has been of expansion, with more pages and greater use of colour, providing a unique service to the labour movement and all progressive campaigns. Earlier this year, we were able to restore distribution on the day of publication to Scotland northern England.

Our paper has, over the generations, faced many challenges to its existence, including a wholesalers' boycott, a government ban and nazi bombing raids.

We are determined to overcome this latest setback and to get back on the road to bigger and better things.

As always, we will depend on our readers for moral and material support. Please write to the editor John Haylett to let us know that you are with us during this difficult period.

Yes, this damn paper is still coming out!

(Monday 28th July)

THIS was the scene at William Rust House on Monday morning after a fire in the small hours gutted a large chunk of the Morning Star's newsroom and left us without electricity, without phone lines, with the ceiling half-collapsed, acrid smoke still hanging in the air and a thick layer of ash coating desks and computers.

As the morning wore on and grim-faced staff began to gather on the pavement outside, the situation seemed hopeless.

But the Star hasn't spent 78 years fending off far-right boot boys, financial ruin and World War II bombs only to miss an edition for the sake of a malfunctioning air conditioner. And no-one was in the mood to let that happen.