Ben Sellers

Just a reminder of the community organising / community wealth building workshop happening at the Peoples Bookshop Durham on Sunday, kicking off at 5pm. All welcome. DM me if you’re interested or want more details.

With thanks to Fleur & Bella at the bookshop for the bookmarks.

Sad to hear that Harry Barnes, former socialist Labour MP for North East Derbyshire (1987-2005) had died this morning at the age of 89. He was born in Easington in 1936. Here he is, in June 2013, delivering a WEA talk on the Webbs in Seaham, in the People's Bookshop Durham. Farewell, Harry.

The future of music education is in jeopardy On Thursday, my wife, Charlotte Sellers, was named Instrumental Teacher of the Year at the Music & Drama Education Awards in London.

🎻 Charlotte was so overjoyed to get her Instrumental Teacher of the Year award on Thursday & well deserved it was too, but the bigger issue is how we support music teaching in the future. That will mean more than warm words from politicians. My blog: open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...

It has nothing to do with threats, terrorist or otherwise, or the law. It’s part of a campaign, which has included the labelling of anti-genocide protestors as engaging in “hate marches”. Mahmood’s determination to appeal is no surprise, neither are their continuing lies.

The Government always knew that the proscription of Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation was connived & illegitimate, yet they did it anyway - precisely because it was always a calculated, political manoeuvre to criminalise & therefore delegitimise support for Palestine.

I’m leading a session in the People’s Bookshop on how we build power, looking at different methods of community organising & what Community Wealth Building might mean in Co Durham. All community activists & friends of the bookshop welcome. Sun 22 Feb, 5-7pm, People’s Bookshop, 19 High St, DH1 3UJ.

House of Cards.

Thank you.

And of course, it’s useful to understand the history of the indigenous peoples of Scandinavia & the Arctic in the context of Trump’s aggression towards Greenland. These territories are not just blocks of frozen land.

Lihkku beivviin! (5/5)

There are also ongoing campaigns for the governments of Norway, Sweden & Finland to acknowledge past mistakes & listen to native voices. (4/5)

The history & politics of the Sámi people in Scandinavia is both painful & fascinating & their battle for respect, cultural & political power & sovereignty goes on. (3/5)

I am still learning about Sápmi (what used to be called Lapland - considered outdated & disrespectful now). Sápmi stretches across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and parts of Russia. (2/5)

🧵 This was great to see from Bodo/Glimt - marking Sámi National Day by changing the colours in their club badge & tributes to the Sápmi national team. Obviously, these are gestures, but an important nevertheless. (1/5)

If this sounds like Trump’s baby talk to you …

… remember the adults are back in the room!

Goo goo ga ga.

Tony Benn on Peter Mandelson (1987):

“Today we had a meeting of the NEC & the Shadow Cabinet. Kinnock introduced the meeting & spoke for about twenty minutes. We went on to Peter Mandelson who said a few words. I find Mandelson a threatening figure for the future of the Party.”

Ben Sellers (@mrbensellers) The Epstein ring & the exposure of Peter Mandelson reveals a lot about how power works. On one level, the corruption - politically, morally, personally, sexually - of the super rich (their misogynist ...

The exposure of Mandelson tells a story much bigger than the rancid personal details. It’s about playing the game. Now that game has been revealed as vile, seedy, depraved, corrupt, violent, genocidal & illegal, I wonder if the penny will finally drop? substack.com/@mrbenseller...

Was made late to the footy today by this beautiful otter on the River Wear. Having a great time. I do love an otter.

The Labour right got their way on the one thing that would have seriously upset their business buddies at Deliveroo, Uber & all the rest. So, what’s going to be the response from the labour movement? 8/8

The Status of Workers Bill was a vital marker for the future. It could & should have been locked into the ERB. Instead, Starmer’s government are now talking about “assessing options”. I think we all know what that means. 7/8

It’s the key to stopping employers exploiting workers via bogus classification (e.g types of self-employment). If MPs are serious about tackling abuse, this is the first step. It’s not the end, but without it, there’s little way of those workers avoiding extreme exploitation. 6/8

I want to quickly tell you why (with apologies to those who’ve heard this before): This change of status for people working in the ‘gig economy’ (but also beyond) is so important. 5/8

But I don’t want people to forget the Status of Workers, because it was in many ways the most important part of the manifesto & the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) that followed. 4/8

This aspect of Labour’s employment rights package (which originated in the Corbyn manifestos of 2017 & 2019) was kicked into the long grass by those who took over the leadership of the party & ownership of that agenda. 3/8

The Bill would have created a single category of worker for millions who currently have fewer rights because of their status. 2/8

🧵 Four years ago, John Hendy (an incredibly well respected labour movement barrister, & chair of The Institute of Employment Rights) handed over his Status of Workers Bill to Andy McDonald MP in the House of Commons. 1/8

As Nye Bevan said many, many years ago:

"The right-wing of the Labour Party would rather see it fall into perpetual decline than abide by its democratic decisions."

That perpetual decline is happening. (3/3)

To be honest, this is long past being my fight, but the idea that the Labour right would ever put the interests of the country, or even the party itself, above its own narrow, factional advantage, is frankly laughable. (2/3)

Apparently Burnham is being blocked because ‘it would be a distraction to have him in the House in the lead up to the May elections’; ‘Reform might win the Manchester Mayor by-election’; ‘Andy’s just doing too good a job where he is’. (1/3)

Happy Birthday, Antonio Gramsci Alongside Tony Benn, my politics have been most shaped by Antonio Gramsci, who was born on this day in 1891.

Happy Birthday, Antonio Gramsci.

Alongside Tony Benn, my politics have been most shaped by Antonio Gramsci, who was born on this day in 1891. Here’s why: open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...

We have to challenge the academy model, not just academies Since my kids left school (relatively unscathed - and somehow miraculously avoiding any academies), I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the future of education.

Since my kids left school, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about education. I recognise that I need to do more reading, but there are some more instinctive principles that have hardened - opposition to academisation being at the top of that list. Here’s why: open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...