I live in a flatshare. Late one evening a few months back, we needed some emergency maintenance done – needing a fix sharpish, we called someone out and paid upfront. The next day we asked our landlord to reimburse us for the cost of this maintenance; he replied with a text saying that he was unwilling to cough up because the tone…
It may seem obvious that every person ought to have the right to live, freely and securely, in their own village, town or city. But in these increasingly hyper-capitalist times, this does not always seem to be the case. The more economic privilege you possess, the more freedom you have to make full use of the area you live. The more disposable…
I really have trouble understanding people who think of politics as a dry topic, or who view it as all wonkery and triangulation. Politics is completely insane and weirdly emotional (did you know Peter Mandelson once phoned Gordon Brown to tell him, “I love you, but I can destroy you”?) and it leaches into the lives of activists on all fronts. It’s…
A few months ago, I found myself debating with some politically like-minded friends whether or not religion could be ‘compatible’ with socialism. The broad consensus went something like this: individual religious belief is fine, provided it’s confined to the private sphere, some of the great socialists of history were also people of deep faith, but ‘Organised Religion’ –– like, say,…
I am privileged enough to work for a Labour MP in a marginal seat that the party managed to hold on Thursday, bucking national trends and polls on the night to increase our vote share. Friends and family and acquaintances and all manner of people have, since this result was announced, been calling me and messaging me to say congratulations; to say…
It is impossible to overstate what a catastrophe the result last night means for vulnerable people in this country. We can’t wait five years. There must be a mass mobilisation of people on the ground to run community projects and expand existing ones. We did not lose because our activists lacked energy or drive. We must channel this into projects that can…
After weeks of solid campaigning, one thing I keep hearing from activists up and down the country is that we’re all speaking to voters who say they’re still undecided. They’ve read the manifestos, watched the interviews, met the candidates, but they still say they’re not sure whose name to check at the ballot box. But if there’s one thing we know for…
There are few things about which I am ardent and zealous and universalist, entirely assured of the cold clear correctness and blanket applicability of my own position. It’s just not the soft left way; that kind of certainty is for tankies and Baptists. There is one cause, however, to which I offer the kind of blind and unquestioning devotion usually reserved for…
