Never forget: grassroots protest is a crucial driver in securing positive changeby Ian SinclairMorning Star16 October 2023 The mainstream political culture – from the media to politicians to academia – often has a hard time recognising the decisive role of grassroots activism and protest in securing political change. For example, last month the Guardian reported […]
The ULEZ and the fight for clean air: Interview with Laura-Jane Smithby Ian SinclairMorning Star22 August 2023 Following the Tory win in the Uxbridge byelection last month, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer pressured Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to pause the rollout of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the outer boroughs of the capital […]
Beware the anti-democratic liberal centreby Ian SinclairMorning Star24 July 2023 If you have read the seemingly endless work of US dissident Noam Chomsky you’ll know he regularly cites twentieth century US intellectuals to highlight the elitist, anti-democratic thinking of the so-called liberal centre. The public are “ignorant and meddlesome outsiders” who should be “spectators, not […]
Book review: Saving The People’s Forest: Open spaces, enclosure and popular protest in mid-Victorian London by Mark Gormanby Ian SinclairPeace NewsJune-July 2023 Following the January 2023 mass trespass on Dartmoor, the campaign to stop the felling of trees in Sheffield and the government U-turn on the privatisation of the forests in 2011, Saving The People’s […]
More Power Than We Know: Public opinion and government pandemic policyby Ian SinclairMorning Star27 April 2023 The 100,000s of WhatsApp messages sent by government ministers during the pandemic and leaked to the Daily Telegraph led to days of news coverage last month. However, other than the being published in the Tory-supporting broadsheet, one important part […]
Research for the Revolution: Interview with James Ozdenby Ian SinclairMorning Star8-9 April 2023 Set up in 2022, according to its website the Social Change Lab “conducts and disseminates social movement research to help solve the world’s most pressing problems”, with a particular interest in environmental protest. This research, it hopes, will “inform advocates, decision-makers and […]
Unkillable myths: Corbyn’s Labour Party and antisemitismby Ian SinclairMorning Star9 February 2023 “I’m afraid Jeremy only has himself to blame for the situation he’s in because of his failure to apologise for what happened in the Labour Party, when he was leader, on antisemitism,” Labour MP Liz Kendall said, speaking alongside Jeremy Corbyn MP, on […]
Book review. A Strategic Nature: Public Relations And The Politics of American Environmentalism by Melissa Aronczyk and Maria I. Espinozby Ian SinclairPeace NewsDecember 2022-January 2023 ‘We seem trapped in a world where fossil fuel producers and financiers have humanity by the throat,’ United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated in June. ‘For decades, many in the […]
Economic Growth vs. A Liveable Planet: Which Side Are You On? by Ian SinclairMorning Star29 October 2022 “There is no final victory, as there is no final defeat. There is just the same battle to be fought, over and over again. So toughen up, bloody toughen up.” My main takeaway from Tony Benn’s wise words is […]
The food industry vs. the nation’s health: interview with anti-obesity campaigner Tam Fryby Ian SinclairMorning Star11 October 2022 The UK has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe, according to a May report from the World Health Organisation. As the research noted, obesity is associated with many diseases, including musculoskeletal complications, Type 2 […]
