Communists did not live in a world apart

‘My memories are not of Stalin’s death, but of stories of my grannies being out with other working-class women in the Glasgow rent strike,’ writes Frances McLennan. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

It feels to me that the confessional contributions of David Aaronovich, Alexei Sayle and Martin Kettle (Letters, 23 January) might throw more light on them and their aspirations rather than any search for historical truths. Are we seeing a new literary genre being born? Guardian readers should be clear that your contributors speak only for themselves. It would be foolish to deny individuals’ personal experiences. However, we should also be clear that personal memories of individuals’ families do not constitute historical enquiry. Nor should we generalise from one or two personal memoirs.

I grew up with communist parents in Glasgow during the period they refer to – my mother Mary was a lifetime communist activist and my father Gordon was Scottish secretary and then general secretary of the Communist party of Great Britain – and I do not recognise the kind of events and experiences they describe. I grew up in a close-knit, working-class extended family and we most certainly did not “live in a different world from normal people”. Other family members were of very different political hues, as were neighbours, but all respected my parents for being hard-working, funny, self-educated, rooted members of a wider family and community. I could not have wished for better parents and have no regrets, in that respect, whatsoever. 

My memories are not of Stalin’s death, but of stories of my grannies being out with other working-class women in the Glasgow rent strike; of my dad’s involvement in the Clydeside apprentices’ strike and the first Youth Parliament; of communists’ role in the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders fight.

I did not feel a world apart from ordinary people’s concerns, but rather, despite my working-class and council estate background, had opportunities in life because of my parents and family background. I am indebted to them and can only look back in awe at the amount they achieved – both personally and politically. No one can speak for the dead, but I would like to set the record straight for the living.
Frances McLennan
Edinburgh