ALAN SIMPSON
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What a mess we are in. Labour loses the Hartlepool by- election with a 16% swing to the Tories. A new North-South divide is opening up. With the exception of London, Labour no longer holds the hearts and minds of its conventional heartlands. So much for new leadership, new vision. What on earth is going…
Labour is lost. I say this in sadness more than anger. Anger is no substitute for answers. It clouds the fact that the Left could be just as lost as the Right. Boris Johnson has bought himself some ill-deserved credibility; slowly loosening the lockdown rules and stepping up the vaccination programme. Both are welcome. But…
I find it hard to accept it is 7 years since Tony Benn died. I miss his wisdom, foresight, kindness and humour. Worse still, whether the country realises it or not, we are all the poorer for the loss of Benn’s political acumen and vision. Faced with some of the biggest existential challenges in human…
We do ourselves no favours by treating the current Policing Bill just as an outrageous assault on a public right to protest. It is…Of course it is. But the violence targeted towards the police in Bristol (and the preceding violence by police themselves towards peaceful protesters) masks the scale of the assault on civil liberties…
Do not underestimate the scale of the democratic crisis facing Britain. Don’t kid yourselves either that it isn’t going to get a lot, lot worse. Brexit opened up wounds that will not easily heal. Mythical claims, wrapped up in sovereignty and identity politics, looked a lot different when viewed from the rotting mounds of…
Radical constitutional reform is no longer an option, it is an unavoidable necessity. The internal conflicts within the structure of the UK must be resolved. This paper is a contribution to the start of that debate, and sets out the reasons for reform, the principles upon which any future reform should be based, and the process for getting there.
Transformation Moment
My pamphlet 'Transformation Moment' is intended to support the case for a radical shift in energy thinking; as much about democracy as technology, and about 'systems' rather than just supply.
Truly horrendous but important thread on how Palestinians are being treated. You don't see this on the news. #IsraelPalestineconflict
"The (corporately) richest probably have to pay for the lifestyle changes needed. Politically, someone must find the courage to say this. One way or another we will all have to live within carbon budgets that contract by 10%, year on year" - @AlanSimpson01 https://t.co/T8XMyLHbao
Anneliese Dodds was one of the few MPs who really grasped that the climate emergency requires a complete rethink of economics. When the Labour leadership can’t even agree to publish Alan Whitehead’s book on Local Energy this doesn’t look like an embrace of radical fresh thinking.
Nuanced take from @PickardJE @GeorgeWParker on Labour's choice for shadow chancellor https://t.co/wwrjEWvd9r via @financialtimes
There's no legitimate public policy reason for introducing photo ID for voting in elections in the UK. Between 1983 and 2015 there were a total of 79 convictions for personation at elections (and not all of these related to in-person fraud) (1/)
Welsh election results: Labour set to stay in power.
As the only winning ticket, does this make Mark Drakeford the new (de facto) Labour Leader?
Welsh election results 2021: Labour set to stay in power
The party has matched its best ever Senedd result, winning exactly half of the 60 seats.
www.bbc.co.uk
Losing the (climate) plot
Net-zero, not-zero and ground-zero
Shared by Alan Simpson
www.icloud.com
So I posted a 15 second TikTok video saying I am the first Romanian Labour County Councillor. Woke up with it getting over 55,000 views and over 600 comments, at least 200 racists and xenophobic comments, including one who said they’ll complain officially to Labour. Go on mate.
“You’ve got to stand up and say here is the alternative vision, here is how we can rebuild this nation into something completely different… and it frustrates me to see Keir Starmer just dithering”
- @GeorgeMonbiot
Boris says Britain’s current ‘bumpy’ relationship with France is like the relationship between brothers. So hang on for the news that Macron will soon work for Dyson and billions of UK contract work will go with him.
Brilliant. This is all about desperation in the fossil fuel industry. ‘Sod the planet, just don’t leave us with stranded assets’.
Fossil fuel industry representatives have suggested that, when it comes to decarbonising buildings, hydrogen is their get out of jail free card. No need to insulate buildings. Just replace the fuel.
Here's why their argument is deeply flawed and false.
https://t.co/sXR6rQjp0v