Articles

Recognising the ‘invisible’ Latin Americans in Lambeth

This article originally appeared on the Brixton Blog and in the newspaper equivalent, the Brixton Bugle. There are an estimated almost 200,000 Latin Americans in the United Kingdom, with the largest number in Lambeth and Southwark, yet they remain a largely invisible community. Brixton councillor Martin Tiedemann, himself of Latin American descent, explains why the campaign … Continue reading →

Community Freshview coming back to Brixton Hill

Community Freshview is a brilliant initiative. Council officers provide a few tools and a bit of know-how and local residents get to give their street a big clean-up. Hedges get trimmed, garden walls get painted and in many streets residents have created new planters to bring a bit of colour to neglected patches. Next weekend … Continue reading →

Interview with The Prisma: “Latin Americans are an invisible community”

I was recently interviewed by Francisco Castañón of The Prisma Spanish Language newspaper. The interview was in Spanish and has been translated for publication as below. A few bits did get lost in translation (I am not sure the prison is the Borough’s landmark!) but I welcomed the opportunity to highlight the recent QMUL report No Longer … Continue reading →

Brixton Hill campaign: helping people in challenging times

On January 17, voters where I live in Brixton Hill ward will go to the polls to appoint a third councillor to replace Steve Reed, now Labour & Co-operative MP for Croydon North. I am the Labour & Co-operative candidate for the seat. Brixton Blog has asked all seven candidates to write a short statement … Continue reading →

The scandal of Britain’s food banks

Luciana Berger, the fantastic Labour & Co-operative MP for Liverpool Wavertree, has made this powerful film about the scandal of food banks in the UK. 109,294 adults and children in the UK received at least days of emergency food aid between April and September 2012, with the figure expected to rise to over 200,000 by … Continue reading →

Updates from South London Co-op Area Committee

I’m an elected member of the Co-operative Group, representing consumer views and sitting on committees that distribute cash to local charities in South London and organise local events and campaigns. I have been putting updates of local news on the dedicated blog coopvoice.blogspot.com. There’s lots happening now – new stores in SE1 and SE16, plus … Continue reading →

Shoreditch nights

Paying tribute to Malcolm Wicks

Something I wrote for the Co-operative Party following the announcement of Malcolm Wicks, my first boss in politics and someone who inspired me for many years. Malcolm’s memorial service is at Croydon Minster on 19 October. Timothy Godfrey wrote a fine tribute for Malcolm for LabourList. It was announced over the weekend that Labour MP and … Continue reading →

Modern and mutual: How do we put people in control of public services?

This article appeared on ProgressOnline as a report on a session at Progress Annual Conference 2011: The odd blend of vague fudge and cynical spin that sums up the ‘big society’ inevitably blurs Labour’s response. Different strands of Labour, from the Co-operative Party to the thoughts of Tessa Jowell, Maurice Glasman and Blue Labour, have … Continue reading →

Lessons from the NFL: There is a better way of running our football clubs

I wrote this article for Left Foot Forward: Today sees Super Bowl XLV, pitting the Green Bay Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s no surprise that the Packers are back in the final – they have won more league championships than any other team in the NFL. On the other hand, however, for the Packers to still compete at … Continue reading →