"They're all despicable as far as I'm concerned, and working-class people should turn away from them."
Mick Lynch found himself sat next to Reform's Laila Cunningham on Newsnight on Monday – and had some choice words for the party's mayoral candidate for London.
The former general secretary of the RMT trade union accused Cunningham's party of spreading hatred and "taking advantage of poverty" to protect the super-rich.
It's time to get bold about buses. That means more than bus franchising, it means treating public transport as critical infrastructure.
My article in @TheCanaryUK
📣TONIGHT📣
Join our reading group in Durham. Dip in or become a regular!
Even if you haven’t read the book or the chapter, you’ll probably learn something new and maybe even make a few friends.
#readinggroup#durham
"Reform is a project built on accelerating the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands, while simultaneously blaming all of the bad stuff that happens as a result of that on the most vulnerable."
After Matt Goodwin was announced as the Reform candidate for the Gorton and Denton byelection, @Kieran_Andrieu explains on Novara Live why the GB News host is joining a group of "dangerous snake oil salesmen".
"Progressive policies are popular and urgently needed. But as Jamie Driscoll says, “we must guard against shoppinglistism.”
Competency and collaboration can unlock a fairer society, but it takes hard work.
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Great evening with @KeirMilburn, discussing his book Radical Abundance.
Money and power is being sucked out of our communities by unaccountable billionaires and corporations.
It’s time to reverse that with investment decisions guided by communities.
#WeAreTheMajority
Times are tough, but we need to stop blaming our neighbours and start blaming the billionaires and politicians who’ve stolen our wealth and ruined our public services.
Join us today! 👇🏼
#WeAreTheMajority
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"Majority legends! ✊🏼
Come rain or shine (luckily it was shine today), our hardy Majority members hit the streets every week.
First talking to shoppers at our street stall, then standing together with refugees at the regular anti-racism demo.
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A huge victory for progressive policies and a beacon of hope in dark times.
“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands.
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📣Special event klaxon! 📣
Everything is broken. How do we take back control and build something better?
Join @KeirMilburn as we talk about his excellent book Radical Abundance on 20 Nov.
In true Majority style this will be an interactive event. Book tickets below ⬇️
Teesside offshore wind workers strike! ✊🏼
Loads of @GMB_union members picketing today, fighting for fair pay and conditions.
Majority supporting alongside @fburegion3, @SocialJParty, @friends_earth and @GreenpeaceUK members.
Let’s fight for good green jobs in the North East
Team cleanup! 💚
Today Majority members and @GreenPartyNT teamed up to clear fly-tipped rubbish in Shiremoor - removing bottles, cans, vapes, furniture and even a plastic Xmas tree! 🌲
Working together we can clean up our streets AND clean up our politics!
#WeAreTheMajority
3 weeks ago the far-right came to #Newcastle but were met by thousands of proud northerners, with diverse heritage, standing against their hate.
As one of the homemade signs at the demo read:
“Racism? Nah you’re alreet pet.”
#WeAreTheMajority
I’m guessing you know what friend-zoned means. Or clickbait. When we lack a word that succinctly describes a concept we can’t quite describe, it’s called hypocognition. When we find that new word or phrase something clicks. It helps us express our thoughts. There is power in naming something.
I would like to coin the phrase ‘fake crusader’. The fake crusader is someone who shouts angrily at an injustice for just long enough to get attention and feel self-righteous. Despite having no track record of actually doing anything about it.
“We’re shouting at this hotel to protect our women and children” is classic fake crusader behaviour. On one level it makes sense. All decent folk are appalled by sex crimes. Presumably these crusaders will now also stop listening to the radio, given how many former radio presenters are convicted sex criminals.
If you’re so keen on calling out sex offenders, why did you not protest outside cathedrals when Justin Welby resigned last year? The Church of England covered up brutal sexual, physical and mental abuse against more than 120 boys and young men. If you only call out dark-skinned sex offenders and remain silent about white-skinned ones, protecting women and children isn’t your cause. Racism is.
There’s a psychological process known as projection. A defence mechanism where a person unconsciously attributes their own unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or behaviours to others. It is well documented that 41% of far-right rioters were reported to the police for domestic violence against women and children.
So yes, do condemn grooming gangs from minority ethnic populations. But don’t claim it is because they are minority ethnic. I mean, come on, you can’t get more British than an Archbishop of Canterbury whose mother was Winston Churchill’s secretary. Except perhaps for Prince Andrew.
The truth is that native-born Brits are statistically more likely to be incarcerated criminals than foreigners are. But just slightly. Any large group of people will contain saints and sinners. It seems humans are human, regardless of race, creed or colour.
You see fake crusaders on other issues too. Labour MPs and Mayors courting headlines about how awful child poverty is. Who then voted to keep the 2-child benefit cap once they were in power. Or those who performatively labelled lifelong anti-racists as antisemitic for calling out the Nakba. Despite never having lifted a finger to stop the far right when they were denying the Shoah.
Social media is replete with posts saying, “Why are we helping foreigners when we have homeless people here?” from angry people who have never donated a penny to homeless charities. It’s much easier to shout at other people than to muster the moral courage to fix the problem.
That applies to governments too. Terrorism is heinous. But if you change the law so you can arrest peaceful protesters as terrorists, while you supply arms to war criminals, you are a fake crusader.
Some fake crusaders are at another level of denial. I was asked on social media, “Would you house a refugee?” by someone thinking it was a killer argument. My answer was, no, I wouldn’t. Nor do I plan to run into a burning building and carry people out. I leave it to trained professionals with the correct equipment, and I pay my taxes so they can do it on my behalf. That’s how the division of labour works.
The genuine crusaders are the professionals and volunteers rolling up their sleeves and feeding, healing and housing those in need. Running the foodbanks, the rape crisis centres, the rehabilitation centres. They’re underpaid, undervalued and underappreciated by successive austerity governments. The fake crusaders are a smokescreen hiding the real culprits – the mega rich skimming off everyone else’s hard work. If they want to do something good, stop shouting at people worse off than you are, and donate £20 to your local charity.