Corbyn’s Christmas challenge

Mia and Jade are just a couple of ordinary Northern women – but they have a dream. Not only that, they have a plan to go with it.

Like many others, these two Lancashire ladies were devastated when the news broke of a Tory majority last Friday. They knew all too well what that landslide result will mean for Britain’s most vulnerable people. 130,000 unnecessary deaths due to Tory policy already is hard to ignore, after all.

Like true Northeners the pair decided not to wallow in despair, despite the disaster that has befallen the nation. They decided to sort things out.

As Mia told me

“It’s time for the many to look out for the few!”

Labour’s Brexit confusion?

For months now people have been telling me that Labour is confused about Brexit. The argument goes something like this…

Labour wants to negotiate a new Brexit deal with the EU and then vote against it. They can’t make up their minds what they want.

This argument is often persuasive but it’s also just plain wrong.

Labour’s confused Brexit from Left eye view on Vimeo.

Happy not Brexit day!

I really should have known better. I’ve seen threats of violence from right wing keyboard warriors come and go before. They rarely amount to anything much more threatening than a raised eyebrow and a bit more fash cash invested in mutual consolation down the boozer. So when far right numpties started threatening riots and civil war I shouldn’t have been concerned. I’ve been here before.
But I’ve also been around flash rioting before – and it wasn’t pretty. That was back in the Thatcher era. I was living in a homeless hostel in Lincoln when everything went tits up all around the city centre. It just seemed to happen, suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere. I remember the riots of 2010 in London and Manchester, the lives lost and the damage done. I know what can happen when a tory government pisses people off too much.
So I woke up yesterday with some trepidation. But I needn’t have worried. It’s all good.

What’s so complicated?

Why don’t people understand Labour’s plan re Brexit? It’s simple. It’s exactly the process mental health professionals recommend in anxiety management sessions when faced with something potentially catastrophic (like Brexit)…

  1. Identify the worst that can happen (no deal)
  2. Do what you can to mitigate the problem (negotiate a decent deal)
  3. Try to prevent catastrophe from happening at all (a new referendum ’cause that’s fair) & campaign to prevent catastrophe (remain).

That’s not complicated. It just isn’t as simple as the superficial crap coming from other parties. That’s because the Labour party is acting responsibly whilst the others are relying upon superficial soundbytes and emotive (but essentially meaningless) statements like “Brexit means Brexit” etc.

Is there anyone reading this who can honestly say that they don’t understand the Labour strategy as described above? Really? Is that too complicated for you or are you knowingly pretending it’s confusing to try and score points?

Hint: You won’t score points, you’ll just look stupid if you can’t get your head around something so simple.

Ha! You won’t shut me up quite so easily!

A little over a week ago the Brexit party came to my home town. I was lucky enough to watch them make fools of themselves on video. Of course, that video has been passed around quite a bit and is actually one of the most successful I’ve ever made, despite the rubbish camera work and impromptu interview questions.

All involved gave consent – they even consented on camera. Still they complained to YouTube and had the video taken down as a ‘breach of privacy’.

But the Brexit Party will not shut me up quite so easily. They gave their consent… it’s there for all to see and I kept my word, including honouring their request for me not to cut anything. They really should be careful what they wish for.

My response, as soon as I heard of the complaint was to move many of my videos to Vimeo and to begin this blog. Vimeo is less precious than YouTube so the chances are they won’t be able to get the video removed from there. I also made another video in which I interview the elderly victim of John Stanyer, one of the Brexiteers in question. He punched this elderly man unconscious during the referendum campaign in 2016. They won’t get that video removed either.