Category: activism
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For the many

What I’d do is draw up a list of the main policy pledges from the 2019 manifesto — you know, the one that drew on the then Labour Party’s then policy forums — the one with all the really popular policy options in it, like British Rail, the People’s Post Office, and really saving the…
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The most evil people in the world?

“Why did they kill the children? Even the most savage beast in the jungle isn’t that brutal.” Go on, guess the country, guess the year. It’s not Palestine and it’s not 2025. (Five book recommendations and a musing — well, it’s been raining out there!) I read The Kite Runner a few years ago, and…
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A marriage made in…?

Today I saw the announcement that Skwawkbox (which I use a lot, to read all the bits that get left out of mainstream media stories) and The Canary (which I dropped because they appeared to be way too sold on gender ideology) are uniting in order to unite the left. I really want to know…
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The big row in Hastings (round two)

So, let me see if I can get this right. Hastings Women’s Voice, who wouldn’t let the Women’s Rights Network have a stall at their last do because WRN stand up for women’s rights (Women’s Voice think people who stand up for women’s rights are anti-abortion) are standing up for Queers for Palestine because Hastings…
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Nobody here is innocent

I wrote elsewhere about the weekend I spent at Winchester Writers’ Conference, way back in – oh I don’t know, the early years of the 21st century. It was great – Terry Prachett was the guest speaker, and brought a jazz band along. Carol-Ann Duffy and Michael Morpurgo were there doing signings. I went to…
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Two out of three ain’t bad, Zara Sultana, but we need all three

Like the hundreds of thousands of people who’ve been so happy to see the New Left Party project get rolling, I read NLR’s interview with Zara Sultana with keen interest. Has she got what it takes to build on what the Corbyn movement in the Labour Party did a few years ago? There are so…
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Out Promenading with Hastings Friends of Al Mawasi

Hastings Friends of Al Mawasi had a sponsored walk along the seafront a week or two back, and had a bit of bother from some of those people who don’t understand why we defend Palestine (it’s because settler-colonialism is a particularly violent form of illegal occupation and in Palestine, it’s escalated to genocide.) So, to…
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Helena Dollimore sent me another letter

When the Handala was attacked and boarded by Israeli occupation troops, and its crew abducted, I wrote to my MP asking her how the government is supposed to respond to acts of piracy. Just as when the Madleen was attacked, she responded with a letter full of her opinions about Israel / Palestine. Here is…
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Here’s how to help bring down this dreadful government from the safety of your own home

Step one is watching the Handala tracker. Step two is making sure you have the email addresses of your MP and the Foreign Office to hand. Why is this such a powerful opportunity? Because there’s plenty of evidence that Keir Starmer and his associates were seriously put out by our reactions to the attack on…
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Pirates ahoy!

A cry central to the history and spirit of Hastings — I wonder if an understanding of that will outlast the determination of commercial developers to fill the town with those who can afford affordable (and even unaffordable) housing. The Stade and all who sail in her It’s a favourite twist in Hastings history, the…