Bushell, harry

Gary Bushell was born May 13, 1955 in the family of a London firefighter. He studied at Charlton Manor (and then Colfe's School ). After working for a while as a courier at Shell , he entered the Polytechnic Institute ( eng. North East London Polytechnic ), from where he moved to London Polygraph College ( eng. London College of Printing ), where he became an active member of the National Student Union ( eng. The National Union of School Students ), a socialist organization that used situational methods in its work.

At the age of 18, Bushell, an activist of the International Socialists ( International Socialists section), became a regular contributor to the Socialist Worker newspaper. At the same time, he wrote for “Temporary Hoarding”, “Rebel” and punk - fanzine “Napalm”, which he himself published. In 1978, Bushell became a regular contributor to Sounds (where he worked until 1985). Despite its reputation as the only one in Britain, “ oi! -Writer ", he was interested in other topics ( 2 Tone , The New Wave of British Heavy Metal , mod revival ). In 1981, Harry Bushell published the book Dance Craze - the 2-Tone story, in 1984 - Iron Maiden biography ("Running Free").

Openly expressing leftist views and trying to clear the oi ! -Movement from all sorts of associations with extreme right-wing organizations, Bushell was attacked by members of the "British movement", who (calling him a "communist"), made him on the list of "traitors to the British race." The National Front magazine, Bulldog, published Bushell’s home address: in 1981, he was attacked by neo-Nazis and was hospitalized.

In 1985, Harry Bushell moved to Fleet Street : he began working for The Sun (where he first led the column "Bizarre", then became editor of the show business department), The Evening Standard and The Daily Mirror. In The Daily Star, he wrote about current events in his column “Walk Tall With Bushell” and led the TV section. Starting in the mid-1990s, Bushell began to appear regularly on television, primarily as the host of his own program, Bushell On The Box (named after his column in The Sun). In 2002, he talked about this experience in King of Telly: The Best of Bushell on the Box. Bushell’s crime novel The Face (2001) was printed with a sequel to The Sun, but with its revelations the displeasure of editor-in-chief David Yelland, who refused to participate in the further fate of the book. Some time later, Bushell was fired. In recent years, he has almost retired from journalistic activities, switching to film scripts (“Join The Rejects - Get Your Killed”) and fiction. In May 2007, however, the Bushella column returned to the Daily Star Sunday. Beginning in the fall of 2007, he is the presenter of the monthly Total Rock podcast show and at the same time the Nuts TV television observer.

Bushell began as a socialist and a member of the Trotskyite International Socialists group, which soon became the Socialist Workers Party of Great Britain (SWP). The first signs of his disappointment by the extreme left have become noticeable since the mid-80s. When asked by the Independent correspondent when he became disillusioned with the socialists, Bushell replied: “When I worked at the Socialist Worker. There was such an information exchange service for pedophiles, and the socialists defended it from attacks. ” ^[3]

In his column “On The Soap Box”, Bushell launched a fierce attack on the middle class (which he claimed had destroyed the Labor movement) and was a staunch opponent of the creation of the European Union (and as a result, an uncontrolled influx of immigrants), believing that it causes a blow to the interests of the British working class.

Bushell writes a lot about English patriotism (as opposed to British) and individual liberties. He advocates the announcement of St. George’s Day as an official English holiday (similar to St. Patrick’s Day for the Irish). ^[3] Among his idols (on the MySpace page) Bushell calls George Orwell and Shelley .

In the 2005 general election, Bushell was a candidate from the Party of English Democrats ( English. The English Democrats Party ), whose program included demands for the creation of an independent English parliament and for England to leave the EU. Bushell scored 1216 votes (3.4%) in his district Greenwich and Woolwich, finishing 5th (out of seven), which the EDP regarded as a success. Bushell also represented his party in South Staffordshire, where he gained 2.51% of the vote. EDP ​​put forward the candidacy of Harry Bushell for the post of mayor of London (which re-election took place in 2008), but in January 2008 he refused to participate, urging followers to vote for Matt O'Connor.

In 1993, Bushell published an article calling for banning gay comic gay Julian Clary on ITV - shortly after the latter’s appearance at the British Comedy Awards ceremony. The Bushella campaign was unsuccessful. He himself appeared in the BBC program “All Rise With Julian Clary”, where he defended his position, denying his affiliation to homophobes (one of the country's most famous gays, radio host Dale Winton is the godfather of his daughter Bushell).

In August 2007, Bushell scornfully commented on the gay movement on talkSPORT on the Football First program, calling homosexuality a “perversion,” after which Ofcom accused the channel of violating broadcasting standards and “unreasonable use of offensive language.” It happened after a discussion about the finals of the European Champions League in Moscow turned into a discussion of the gay parade ban by the mayor of Moscow. Bushell mocked the gay movement activist Peter Tatchell (detained in Moscow in those days), and when the facilitator asked him what he sees funny in this situation, he answered: “I would refrain from interfering in the affairs of another country and imposing its people their views. I think we should tackle a lot of our own internal problems instead of preaching perversion. ” The talkSPORT channel was forced to make a statement that it considers Bushella to be "unacceptable".

• Hurry Up Garry (The Parson Farted), Crass
• Press Darlings, Adam Ant
• "Garry Bushell's Band Of The Week", The Notsensibles
• C'N'CS Mithering, The Fall
• "I Wanna Be A Star", Cockney Rejects
• "Wankers" The Exploited
• "Garry Bushell", The Warriors
• "The Sun Says", Cock Sparrer

• UK Press Awards: "Critic of the Year" (1994, 2002)
• Comic Heritage: “For Outstanding Contribution to the Development of British Comedy” (2002)

• Dance Craze - the 2-Tone story (1981)
• Running Free ( Iron Maiden Biography, 1984)
• King of Telly: The Best of Bushell on the Box (1999)
• The History Of Oi! (2001)
• The Face (novel, 2001)
• Cockney Reject (biography of Stinky Turner, preface of Morrissey , 2005)

• Harry Bushell website
• The Gonads website
• Bushell ... about what it means to be English
• Interview Bushella
• Campaign site for the election of Bushella as mayor of London