Connie

Mental Health Nursing Apprentice

[Richie Floyd @richiejfloyd]

I wish we lived in a world where I didn't feel constantly compelled to post this video, but until then here's Tony Benn speaking on war with clarity and moral conviction that you won't see from the evil people running the world today

[Shehab Khan @ShehabKhan]

Just interviewed Labour MP Clive Lewis and he doesn’t hold back.

Says Keir Starmer is an ‘interim Prime Minister’ who ‘will not be here for very long’ and ‘doesn’t deserve to be here for much longer.’

Says Labour sounds like a ‘pound shop Reform’ and has burned its base.

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

.@ZackPolanski: "Once again Reform are spreading misinformation & smears, and the press & the media seem to repeat them.. its really important that the media.. take responsibility so when Reform or Farage says something they don't just keep repeating it"👏👏👏

[Owen Jones @owenjonesjourno]

Good morning.

If you've just woken up, the politics of hope (@GreenPartyHan) just crushed the politics of fear and hatred (Labour-Reform).

It wasn't even close.

40.6% for the Greens. Reform second on 28.7%, Labour third on 25.4%.

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Full victory speech of The Green Party's Hannah Spencer who wins the Gorton and Denton by Election:

14,980 - Greens
10,578 - Reform
UK 9,364 - Labour

"Okay. with me because this is a lot"

"I didn't grow up wanting to be a politician. I'm a plumber"

"And two weeks ago, during all this, I also qualified as a plasterer"

"Because even in chaos, even under pressure, I get things done"

"I am no different to every single person here in this constituency. I work hard. That is what we do"

"Except things have changed a lot over the last few decades. Because working hard used to get you something"

"It got you a house, a nice life, holidays. It got you somewhere"

"But now? Working hard? What does that get you?"

"Because talk to anyone here and they will tell you, the people who work hard but can't put food on the table, can't get their kids school uniforms, can't put their heating on, can't live off the pension they worked hard to save for, can't even begin to dream about ever having a holiday, ever

"Because life has changed"

"Instead of working for a nice life, we're working to line the pockets of billionaires"

"We are being bled dry"

"And I don't think it's extreme or radical to think working hard should get you a nice life"

"And I don't think that if you're not able to work that you should still have a nice life"

"I think that absolutely everybody should get a nice life"

"And clearly, I'm not the only person who thinks that"

"Because I've made clear my position and my commitment to working class communities, the community that I am from"

"People in their thousands told me on the doorsteps and at the ballot box, that what we are sick of is being let down and looked down on, that we are sick of our hard work making other people rich"

"I lived in this constituency at one of the most difficult and challenging periods of my life"

"I saw how strong the community was at holding things together"

"But I saw how much harder life is when the things around you are broken, the litter, the fly-tipping, the dirty air"

"And when I moved, it became even clearer. And this is why I am fighting for the community that I lived in and that I still work in"

"Because I absolutely refuse to accept that we should ever have to move and leave our our communities for good schools, a thriving high street, and clean air. And I will not accept a society where having more money gets you a longer life expectancy"

"And so when it came to fighting for people here, to stand in this election, well, how could I not fight? Because here, this is what we do"

"We fight for each other in this very diverse constituency, where our struggles might not always be the same, but where we know how hard life can be and we stick together"

"Whatever our beliefs, our backgrounds, our color, or our level of education, we stick up for each other"

"And to those who voted for me, I know that earning your trust starts now"

"One vote on one night is not something I will take for granted or assume will happen again"

"I will earn your trust"

"And to those who didn't vote for me, I will always work hard for you, and I will always be honest, and I will always be decent"

"To our Muslim communities, who this week suffered an attempted attack during Ramadan, whilst I was being welcomed by women at a mosque in Longsight, someone just down the road walked into a mosque carrying an axe"

"And whilst we were gathered and eating together, an act of terror could easily have taken place"

"And I can't and won't accept this victory tonight without calling out the politicians and divisive figures who constantly scapegoat and blame our communities for all the problems in society"

"My Muslim friends and neighbors are just like me, human"

"And of course, to our White working class communities, the background that I have become so proud to be from"

"We know how it feels to be looked down on, maybe because we didn't do well at school, maybe because we do dirty manual jobs, because we are shut out of places we should be in"

"To people here in Gorton and Denton, who feel left behind and isolated, I see you and I will fight for you"

"Because whilst our communities may sometimes be labeled in different ways, the thing everyone seems to have underestimated here, especially over the last few weeks, is how similar we all actually are. How we have common ground, how we get along, how we stand up for each other"

"The cracks that were starting to show can be healed, and I believe that it is through offering people hope and a chance to do things differently and do things better"

"Now to my customers, I'm sorry, but I think I might have to cancel the work that you have booked in, because I'm heading to Parliament"

"And when I get there, I will make space for everyone doing jobs like mine. We will finally get a seat at the table"

"And to Layla, the little girl who had the pleasure of meeting and holding this week, I promised you I would try and improve the world that you are growing up in. I told you that I am not perfect, but that I always try my best"

"I always try and do the right thing"

"Now something exciting is definitely happening and I invite you all to be part of it"

"Come and join the Green Party so that we can spread hope and win everywhere across the country"

"Our strength will grow as more and more of us come together. We have shown that we don't have to accept being turned against each other"

"We can demand better without hating each other. We can do that together"

"We ran a hopeful campaign backed by thousands of volunteers and activists"

"We defeated the parties of billionaire donors"

"We have shown that we don't have to accept being turned against each other at all, and we did this with the people who live here side by side, shoulder to shoulder, just as we have always done in this constituency and in the whole of Greater Manchester. Because this is is Manchester and we do things differently here"

"Thank you so, so much to everybody"

"Thank you"

[The Green Party @TheGreenParty]

The World Inequality Report shows that 0.001% of the world’s population hold 3 times as much wealth as half of the world population.

The 1% in the UK have almost 5 times as much wealth as 50% of the population combined.

Inequality is a political choice. It's time to tax wealth.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Believe it or not, I had an old school friend on today’s marches in London. He sent me some photos from the crowd.

We went to middle school together and grew up on the same Eastern District council estate in Northampton.

I asked him why he was there. He gave me two answers:
1.“The government doesn’t listen to us.”
2.“I want to feel proud of my country again.”

He wore a Union Jack, not a St George’s Cross as he said that one had been hijacked by racists.

He wasn’t there for Hopkins, Musk, or any of the professional ‘grifters’ as he put it. He was there to feel part of something bigger, though he admitted there were a lot of, in his words, “assholes” there.

He’s an electrician. He’s smart. He’s not racist, but he’s not “PC” either. He’s not a fan of Keir Starmer but he also believes Farage would be a disaster.

Oh yes, he’s a bundle of contradictions! But aren’t we all?

I don’t know what ‘box’ we put him or the millions like him in. And I think pretending they’re all racists or fascists would be a massive mistake.

Some were. But not all.

This is about something bigger than immigration slogans or GDP numbers. For decades we’ve hollowed out our national life, underfunding and undermining the very institutions that once brought us together.

Karl Polanyi, writing in The Great Transformation, argued that when markets are “disembodied” from society, when land, labour, and life itself are treated as commodities
society pushes back. He called this the “double movement”: people seeking to protect themselves, to reclaim dignity and meaning when everything solid seems to melt into air.

That’s what I saw in my friend’s photos. Not just anger, but a demand for belonging.

We’ve replaced collective experience with atomisation. Without getting too nostalgic, programmes like the BBC’s Generation Game once pulled in millions every Saturday night, giving us something we could all talk about on Monday morning. Now we watch Netflix, Disney+, Prime, or Paramount, alone, in algorithmic silos.

Football used to be affordable and rooted in community; now it’s millionaires playing for the profitability of billionaires. The NHS, the post office, the railways - all chipped away, run down, sold off or centralised, leaving people feeling powerless and disconnected.

And don’t get me wrong: some kind of “Hovis Labour” nostalgia for the 1950s isn’t the answer. The country back then was often intolerant, grey, and deeply unequal. But what we’ve built since is a society that gives people little to hold in common, no collective story about who we are or what we’re for.

I reckon that’s partly why my mate marched. Not because he wants to turn back the clock. But because he wants to feel pride again. Pride in a country that is inclusive, fair, and offers a role for everyone. Pride in a nation that has a respected place in the world, tackles grotesque inequality, and gives people something real to believe in.

Polanyi warned that when democracies fail to provide a humane alternative, the backlash can turn authoritarian. This is how fascism grew in the 1930s, not because everyone became a true believer, but because millions felt abandoned and looked for strength, identity, and meaning wherever they could find it.

If Labour and progressives don’t offer that story of renewal, if we don’t rebuild our national institutions, restore collective pride, and re-embed markets within society, the far right will do it for us, in their own image.

And by then, it will be too late.

[Ash Sarkar @AyoCaesar]

The 'revelations' about Peter Mandelson this week were nothing new – they just added colour and depth to what was already known about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

So why did Keir Starmer think he was an appropriate pick for ambassador in the first place?

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

🙌🏼 Yeah

Maybe "Polanski Bounce" is actually now a thing? Time for a Tiktok dance?

From London to Llandudno!

Lower bills. Nationalise water companies. Fund public services.

https://t.co/0qbagSwgNX

[Ash Sarkar @AyoCaesar]

Zack Polanski got around 6 times the vote of Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay. That's some mandate from the membership.

[Owen Jones @owenjonesjourno]

Woaaaaaaah, a massive landslide for @ZackPolanski.

A very straightforward message:

Green Party members want an unapologetically radical agenda - which redirects anger at the right targets, and offers hope in an alternative.

[Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 NICE 爷爷 @MichaelRosenYes]

As a tribute to the six Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza, here's the poem I wrote a few months ago:

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

Because he doesn't believe Palestinian lives are equal to Israeli lives.

Because he's totally lost his humanity in his bubble where he sees peoples lives as bargaining chips.

And because the man is devoid of all principles and compassion.

Next question.

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

Palestinian statehood is not a bargaining chip.

It is not a threat.

It is an inalienable right of the Palestinian people.

Our demands on this shameful government remain the same: end all arms sales to Israel, impose widespread sanctions, and stop the genocide, now.

[Karishma @KarishmaPatel99]

Over 100 BBC staff have signed a letter criticising the board’s choice not to air the Gaza medics film. In my latest @guardian piece, I talk about the BBC’s cowardice over #Gaza, and what it was like to spearhead staff organising while I was a journalist there.

[Harry Eccles @Heccles94]

Don't you just love it when you find an extra £80,000,000,000 to spend on war after you've been cutting welfare and public services to the bone because 'there is no magic money tree'

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

.@ZoeJardiniere lists 3 previous instances where military aircraft have been targeted by campaigners in order to prevent them being used in war crimes, and she describes the govt banning @Pal_action as terrorists as an abuse of state power.

Well said.

[Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana]

You can repair a plane. You can replace a broken window. But you can’t bring back the dead.

We must defend the right to protest.

Solidarity with Palestine Action 🇵🇸

[Philip Proudfoot @PhilipProudfoot]

Ever wonder why Starmer/Lammy won’t admit Israel’s crimes? Because once the genocide is formally recognised by ICJ, British officials who aided it will face prosecution under the Genocide Act (1969).

They're delaying. But they can't stop it. Prosecutions are coming.

[John McEvoy @jmcevoy_2]

The Times has published an article urging war on Iran which is co-authored by someone who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes.

A new low for the British media.