New Index shows the British economy plummeting & lacking resilience to future shocks. This is going to be a vital publication for community & political activists, trade unionists & campaigners. Read The Democracy Collaborative’s ‘UK Index of Systemic Trends’ here 👉 ukindex.democracycollaborative.org

Ok, question for you all. Who do you think were having the better time today? Those at #DurhamPride, or those sitting at home, tapping away on their phones, moaning their silly little arses off about it?

Hope there is a real, big turnout for #DurhamPride today, to stick it to our ridiculous & vicious Reform UK council, who thrive on division & hatred. ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I agree with Laura on this. Naive & enraging. But equally important, I don’t think there is anything like enough discussion about the structural dimensions of prostitution, or understanding of feminist critiques of the various justifications for prostitution.

Haha. Someone in this house wants to go to #DurhamPride. 💃🕺🏽

Haha. Someone in this house wants to go to #DurhamPride. 💃🕺🏽

I've just signed my name calling for the government to investigate Brits who have returned from serving in the IDF - you should too! @DeclassifiedUK.org secure.declassifieduk.org/page/189081/...

Don’t want to be too cynical, but isn’t there just a small possibility that Josh Simons, neck-deep in the Labour Together scandal, was going to have to resign anyway & just saw an opportunity to rehabilitate himself by “putting the people I represent & the country I love first”?

It sounds obvious, but if the Labour left doesn’t want go down with the sinking ship, it’s going to have to do much more work to distinguish itself from this leadership & the party in Parliament. This isn’t a time for clever games.

Be wary of the idea that Reform will somehow ‘self-subvert’. The roots of this go much deeper than that & require deeper, more active engagement. open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...

We have to reverse the inevitable, dreary trajectory leading to Reform.

No elections in Durham today. We’ve already got our Reform council - though the only way you’d know these days is because of the endless stream of resignations. They are absolutely clueless. Some of the contests I’ll be keeping an eye on though: substack.com/@mrbenseller...

Screening followed by Q&A with film-makers Phil Miller and Alex Morris chaired by @LauraPidcock Saturday 9th May at 2pm | Star and Shadow Cinema, Warwick Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1BB Tickets here 👉 secure.declassifieduk.org/page/189526/... secure.declassifieduk.org/page/189526/...

I’m not sure the wild antisemitism allegations have the same currency that they used to. I think particular thanks should go to Asa Winstanley for writing ‘Weaponising Antisemitism’ in 2023 👉 substack.com/@mrbenseller...

Four Days in Dublin, Ireland: Igniting CWB for Transformative Change - by Neil McInroy. Neil was part of The Democracy Collaborative team of international experts helping Bohemians launch their new Community Wealth Building Strategy: www.democracycollaborative.org/blogs/four-d...

The textbook has been opened & we’re only on page one.

🧵 Alongside the rise of Reform & the far right, what we’ve seen is a big spike in support for vigilantism, mirroring the MAGA trajectory in the States. (1/6)

Delighted to have been (lightly) involved in this over the last couple of weeks, as part of my Democracy Collaborative role. Bohemians are a very special club - fan owned since its foundation in 1890. Read more about Bohemians Community Wealth Building strategy here: bohemians.coop/home/

Happy International Workers’ Day - or May Day. May Day is a chance for the labour movement across the world to celebrate the core values that trade unionists stand for: www.ier.org.uk/news/interna... #MayDay2026

Your Party, Our Party, Their Party - what went wrong? My thoughts, on Substack: open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...

This is the stuff that makes a mockery of @ukparliament.parliament.uk. The whole country knows Keir Starmer is a liar. He lied about antisemitism; he lied his way to the Labour leadership; he lied about the manifesto pledges & Israel’s genocide. But God forbid anyone should say it.

As we sit here, waiting to see if the maniac in the Whitehouse will carry out his threat to obliterate a whole civilisation, the people who’ve spent their precious time undermining the peace & anti-war movement bear a heavy responsibility. What unbelievable arrogance & stupidity.

🧵 Once again, when examined in detail, the Employment Rights Act is shown to be woefully inadequate. www.ier.org.uk/publications... (1/8)

Fair Work Agency’s priorities criticised days before its launch. Cornerstone of the UK’s Employment Rights Act ‘in danger of becoming a dead duck’, says @unitetheunion.bsky.social General Secretary. Look out for our detailed Briefing on the FWA tomorrow. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

A bonafide lunatic. Happy Easter everyone. 😬

🧵 Everyone seems to agree that our schools are full of brilliant teachers, support staff & heads, undermined by a lack of funding & a system that breeds inequality, between schools & pupils. There are reasons for that. The focus for trade unions & many educators is funding. (1/13)

What’s wrong with academisation? My latest Substack: open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel... @nasuwt-official.bsky.social

Tony Benn was born on this day in 1925. This is one of my favourite speeches by him, later called ‘The Issue is Thatcher’, made on the 22nd of November, 1990 - as she was resigning. It’s worth listening to the whole thing, but this bit particularly hits the mark.

A simple but very important point: it’s not just the extension of academisation, but the academy model that is the problem. Therein lies the difference between the kind of anti-academies campaign we need, and the one we’ve settled for over the last few years.

This is a great read & very useful in terms of understanding American power. Joe Guinan writing on the Geopolitics of the Iran War for the @democracycollab.bsky.social: www.democracycollaborative.org/blogs/geopol...

In his famous two-volume biography, Michael Foot tells the story that when Aneurin Bevan was a young man, he would go into Tredegar public library & come out with armfuls of books - anything & everything he could get his hands on: history, biographies … (1/4)

Pleased to see that the following motion, ‘End academisation, bring back local control’ was passed at National Education Union Annual Conference today (vote delayed from yesterday), along with Amendment 37.3 (composite): #NEU2026 (1/5)

🧵 An even more important motion at National Education Union conference today is Motion 37: ‘End Academisation, bring back local control’, proposed by Newham NEU branch & seconded by Lewisham. (1/6) #NE2026

At @neunion.bsky.social conference this morning, the following amendment is being placed to modify the statement on the government’s White Paper. #NEU2026 (1/5)

This is real Through the Looking Glass stuff. “They gave us a present and the present arrived today. And it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money." 😆

Teach children to love stories & reading & all sorts of amazing things will flow from that.

So, the President of the United States brazenly lies about negotiations with Iran; oil prices plummet; Iran’s leadership deny all talks; oil prices rise again & a whole load of disgustingly rich people make themselves even more disgustingly rich. Where have these people taken us?

Almost unnoticed, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson & the Labour Government has changed its policy on academy schools. Labour’s Education White Paper may have changed the language used, but fundamentally accepted the case for full academisation: substack.com/@mrbenseller...

Asymmetric war & AI: I have no doubt that both Israel & the US are hiding the damage that is being inflicted on them. However, there are certain realities that apply. By focusing on AI fantasies, we are missing the real story. My latest Substack: open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...

Tony Benn died on this day 12 years ago. Benn always said that he wanted to remembered by one, simple epitaph: "He encouraged us". What’s often forgotten about Tony, however, is that he left behind some of the most astute political writing of the socialist left in Britain. (1/3)

Quite clearly, the US should not be hosting the World Cup if they cannot guarantee the safety of national football teams that have qualified to get there. This is a fundamental principle any global sporting competition, surely? #WorldCup

Unite’s executive have made a decision to cut the union’s affilation donation to the Labour Party, to the tune of 40%. (1/5)

A timeline of Trump's stream-of-consciousness nonsense throughout yesterday. It’s kind of appropriate that the only people stupid enough to be even slightly persuaded by Trump’s dribble are the gamblers in the financial markets. 📈 📉

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, because in amongst all the mess of everyday life, you sometimes fail to acknowledge and appreciate where you came from. #InternationalWomensDay2026 #IWD2026

Great to see people out on Framwellgate Bridge, demonstrating against the ongoing genocide in Palestine & Trump’s War in Iraq. Durham has a long & very proud tradition of peace activism & we’re going to have to draw on that again in the coming weeks & months. #StopTheWar

A few months ago I started my own Substack - basically a place where I can gather thoughts together & develop them, rather than be at the mercy of ‘hot takes’ that come & go by the hour. Please do follow / subscribe to me on there & tell me what you think: substack.com/@mrbenseller...

The War on Iran cost Washington $3.7bn in its first 100 hours.

The trade union statement against the illegal war in Iran has now been signed by 16 general secretaries. It reads: (1/3)

The latest steps in this crumbling rules based order were taken when Israel, backed by the US, Britain & half the world’s governments, carpet bombed civilians in Gaza, with absolute impunity. Of course, it gave the green light to Trump. Why wouldn’t it? He’s a maniac.

Unless we want to pass onto the next generation (and the generation after that), a cannibalised education system which fails all but a privileged layer of kids & treats them as commodities, I don’t think we can ignore the battle over academisation. 👉 open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...