Friendship on the Left

We have got to listen to survivors

Croydon, Croydon.

Trigger Warning: This piece will briefly discuss abuse within left-wing circles

I was grateful to Andrea Marie for, in her excellent submission on prefigurative social relations in a million-member Labour Party, referring to my mention of the making of friendships in the course of the Croydon Central campaign. I wanted to share a few more words on friendship on the Left.

The place of friendship in political organising can be extremely important. I could talk again about the incredible friendships which were formed over the course of the campaign, and how they have now endured- a phenomenal sharing of knowledges and experiences between people who have grown to trust and care for each other.

Friendships can provide confidence and flexibility in organising. My first experience of politics, as a teenager in Maidstone establishing an anti-cuts group, would have been impossible without the network that I first formed in school. The…

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Southwark council’s appalling treatment of overcrowded families – join our online actions

Housing Action Southwark & Lambeth

Sign our petition here to demand Southwark council stop blaming victims of the housing crisis and give the families the help they are entitled to.

Join our twitter storm this Tuesday 2nd May from 1pm as well to demand immediate action from the council on these urgent cases. Please tweet housing councillor @steviecryan and council leader @peterjohn6

Tweet to @steviecryan and @peterjohn

Tweet to @peterjohn

Families who have faced homelessness and lived for years in unacceptable, overcrowded conditions are being denied priority on the housing register by Southwark council and the vital housing help they need.

A hateful and harmful decision by the council say that 4 HASL families caused their overcrowded housing conditions by a ‘deliberate act’.

No one would choose to live in these terrible conditions, with some families living in one small room for a number of years. In HASL, we’ve seen directly the impact this housing…

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Hope Needs Practice

We all need to practice this…

Feminist Mama

Uthina, Tunisia

I used to be a social media hyperactive addict until I deactivated Facebook for over a year.

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Leading from the front without leaving anyone behind

I have very similar thoughts…

Julia Bard

A  friend I haven’t seen for a long time contacted me out of the blue to ask who I was voting for in the Labour Party leadership elections. She was torn, she said, because, although she basically agrees with Jeremy Corbyn, she thinks he’s “a lousy leader”. This is the line being put by his opponents, including the charismatic Owen Smith himself. To paraphrase what seems to be the entire campaign: “Jeremy’s a nice chap, principled and all that, but not a leader.”

I’m so fed up with this claim that, with apologies to my poor friend who wrote me a quick three-line note and got this long reply, I decided to revive my old blog and publish my response to her.

Photo: Aziz Rahman

Yes, I’m not only voting for Jeremy Corbyn, I’m campaigning for him. I left the Labour Party in the 1980s because I couldn’t stand the…

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Why tactical voting is a terrible idea

whats all this phd nonsense anyway?

In a departure from my usual focus on my PhD in astrophysics, I wanted to write down my thoughts on tactical voting. Please note that I’m not a political commentator, nor was I ever trained in politics. This is my opinion, based on my new and strong engagement in politics over the last few years. My arguments focus on Green supporters voting tactically for Labour, but could just as easily apply to similar situations across the political spectrum.

Part of my political awakening was my involvement in the fossil fuel divestment movement.

Anyone I’ve ever spoken to about tactical voting agrees that it’s a shame that people feel the need to vote tactically. This, I think, transcribes into a relatively uniform agreement that our current electoral system in the UK is not fit for purpose. A system that sees some parties gain 5 times less seats than they win votes (e.g. Greens)…

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Watch “What Is Money ?” on YouTube

Watch “2/20/2015 — BOOM! “Professionals” make tectonic discovery = “the Asthenosphere”” on YouTube

Ted Talk Community How Planning Is Manipulated In Favour Of Public Assets Being Sold Off For Private Profit

Where are we now?

October 2014, finds us in a climate of public assets being sold off at knock down prices so that housing investors profit exponentially, way into the future with the production of high priced, highest capacity building, squeezing in families into rabbit hutched sized flats, we are finding that the local public land assets are becoming more and more valuable but what is value in monetary profit form when life is made unbearable in our local communities for vulnerable citizens.

The Ravens Of London team proposed to run the cafe at the Cape Youth Club as the facilities are there and we could at least arrange for isolated members of the community to be able to get out of their homes accasionally and feel safe in a wildlife reserve such as the Parkland Walk, ideal for passing custom and can be open when the youth club is not, to utilise the social space effectively, unfortunately what we are contending with is a lack of enthusiasm from the council and they would say they are sending us an evaluation form and then wouldn’t do it, the staff managing The Cape are positive but we are falling foul to council bureaucracy as usual.

So now as it stands Ravens Of London Co-Operative Limited has become more of a consumer purchasing co-operative, we buy bulk goods from companies such as Suma http://www.suma.coop/ where we can source our foods from an ethical company that prides itself on having fair trade & organic produce as well as household items that are not detrimental to the environment, something all our co-operative members feel strongly about, it also means that we are able to buy quality organic produce at a resemble price as well as know where our luxury goods such as chocolate are produced from without exploitation of the workforce.

So now, I’m involved with the Crouch Hill Hornsey Rise Steering Committee in order to develop a community forum to be able to use the Community Rights Bill for improvements to the local environment.

I manage a local central heating company so its sometimes difficult to find time to concentrate on new endeavours this is why its important to engage the community.

Hawthorn Catsup

We went to the London cooperatives social recently and took a bottle of Hawthorn Catsup with us to share with the people there. And get some feedback on the taste which it seems everyone agrees is delicious.

So here is the recipe.

Go pick some Hawthorn berries.  Probably best to pick from trees away from car pollution.

I just walked along a public footpath taking a few handfuls from each tree I came across. I left plenty for the wildlife. It was not that much work, in fact, it was a pleasure to wander along foraging for berries. I collected about 1kg.

In the kitchen they were added to vinegar and water (about 400ml of each). Bought to the boil, then simmered for 30 minutes or so.

Take the berries and liquid out of the pan.

Next comes the hard work. Sieve the berry pulp from the skins and seeds. It helps to add the saved vinegar/water mix to loosen the pulp in the sieve. Don’t try and process too much pulp  at once, a little at a time is easier.  In the end you’ll have a pulpy liquid; add 700 grams (or so) of sugar, simmer gently to dissolve it, then  boil for 5 minutes to thicken. Stir it so it doesn’t stick or burn.  Add salt and plenty of ground black pepper.

Bottle it in sterilised jars. Re-used glass ketchup bottles are fine. Use within a year. Goes well with pies and cheese. I imagine it would go well with meat, such as  sausages .

Worth doing.