Wiring a new ceiling light

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

The advice you mentioned in the first post is what I'd expect to see in such a fitting. The black with red tape is known as the switched live and that is why the red tape is wrapped around the end. It is the return of the live from the light switch and definitely not the neutral.

There would often be 3 red and 3 black (included switched live), but it appears your lighting isn't installed on a loop, so one of each colour is missing.
Power in to the system comes in one one red (it doesn't matter which) and goes to the switch on the other red cable, so these should be joined.
The return from the switch is then on the black cable with red tape. This goes into your live connection on the lamp.
The other black cable connects to your neutral terminal to complete the circuit. Earth obviously connects only to the earth terminal.

You could wire the light fitting to a 13amp cable to test it works on a normal mains outlet in case there is a fault there. You Could also test the circuit by working out which of the two red cables is the supply and connecting that to L and the black (no tape) to N and turning the power back on. This will let you know if there is a problem with the supply or fitting.

[Lee]

Ooo yay, it works! The last thing Gav said got it working, but it wouldn't switch off, so tried what Mr Scrooge said and it works perfectly now

Many thankyous from all at Seaman HQ! Cupcakes on the way to you all.

[Gavin Scott]

Oh you didn't want it permanently on?

No, I must defer to Mr Scrooge on this. I have enjoyed the benefit of engineers and sparks at my disposal for many years, so haven't necessarily needed to work some things out.

[Lee]

Oh you didn't want it permanently on?

Well when people have gone to this much trouble to help you, plus all the screwing, unscrewing, taping, up and down ladders and fiddling with small wires (which results in achey wrists, mini headaches and a surge in tea-making), it seems a shame to turn them off again!