How is it possible for Boris Johnson to be so far ahead in the polls as we near the election day? What sections of society are left that he hasn’t offended or discriminated against?
Here’s a list of people that shouldn’t be anywhere near Boris Johnson and the conservatives, and why.

Christians

Boris Johnson and Tory policies are incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus says: “If you have two coats and another man has none, then give him a coat.” Boris says: “If I have two coats and you have none, how much are you prepared to pay me for this spare one?”

Muslims

Boris is on record for comparing Muslims wearing the Burka to ‘letterboxes’ and the Conservative party has a recurring issue with Islamophobia.

Jews

The antisemitism in the Conservative party extends back throughout its history and would be well documented if it wasn’t for such a right-wing press. One recent example was of a Tory candidate having to step down for calling British Jews ‘brainwashed extremists’.

Ethnic minority communities

Boris doesn’t like black people. If he did, he wouldn’t call them ‘picaninnies’ or describe them as having ‘watermelon smiles’. He wrote in his own column that ‘seeing a “bunch of black kids” used to make him “turn a hair” and run away’. Boris is the embodiment of white privilege and a meritocratic society. Racist prick.

Women

While covering a Labour party conference as a journalist and commenting on the women in attendance, he wrote: “The ‘Tottymeter’ reading is higher than at any Labour Party conference in living memory,” and added: “Time and again the ‘Tottymeter’ has gone off as a young woman delegate mounts the rostrum.” While at the 2012 London Olympics as mayor, he wrote of the “magnificent” experience of watching “semi-naked women playing beach volleyball … glistening like wet otters.”

LGBTQ communities

Boris doesn’t like gays, or lesbians, or anyone in the LGBTQ community given his voting record on opposing equal gay rights and same sex marriage – he’s compared gay marriage to bestiality. He’s also referred to gay men as ‘bumboys’ just to make sure you were definitely offended.

People who use the NHS

Boris is going to screw over anyone stupid enough to not be able to afford private health insurance by selling out the NHS to the Americans. You ask American people what they think about the NHS and they’ll tell you they wish they had something similar. If the Conservatives get into power just make sure you don’t get sick.

Environmentalists

What’s the point of the Amazon rain forest if I can’t spend millions on a new yacht? Boris has voted 8 times AGAINST measures to prevent climate change.

Animal Lovers

Boris wants to kill foxes. That’s right, he wants to reverse the foxhunting ban. He’s a killer. He probably doesn’t even like kittens and puppies. Evil bastard.

Pacifists

Unlike Jeremy Corbyn (and any normal person) Boris likes bombing innocent people in faraway countries. He voted for the Iraq war four times and has voted to replace Trident with a new nuclear weapons system 5 times.

Low income households

Screw you guys. If you’re dumb enough to not go to Oxford and Cambridge or weren’t smart enough to get born into a super wealthy family, then you deserve everything you get – which will be nothing by the way.

Anyone with a moral compass

This is just a catchall for anyone that slipped through the gaps above, but who isn’t a complete arsehole. If you’re still thinking of destroying Britain by voting for Boris then there’s clearly no getting through to you. Enjoy the Armageddon.

Disclaimer:

We’re not saying ‘vote Labour’ we’re just saying vote for whoever you need to in order to keep the Tories out. They are destroying the country on the falsehood of the American dream. It will not end well.

Despite the hyperbole and right-wing propaganda, Jeremy Corbyn will not turn us all into communists. He’s also not a ‘terrorist sympathiser’ (when Corbyn had an open dialogue with the IRA the UK government were meeting them secretly). Corbyn believes in communication, not war. These myths are fabrications to stop us electing someone who will take the rich and powerful to task.

So look deep in your soul and think about whether you fall into one or more of the categories above. The only people that don’t are a handful of rich old white men – and who wants to be on their side anyway?

You can check out the voting records of Boris Johnson and of Jeremy Corbyn for yourself.

Read both and think about which person you’d rather have setting new policies in the UK.

The problem with democracy is that it returns the popular opinion, not the most sensible.

How can we let the popular opinion dictate our lives?  We’re not responsible enough to vote responsibly.  We’ve voted for a dog to win Britain’s Got Talent – twice.  We were asked to name an important new scientific research boat and the popular opinion was ‘Boaty McBoatface’ – interestingly in this case a different name was eventually chosen (so much for democracy).

Families aren’t run as democracies, businesses certainly aren’t (I’m sure there are one or two examples out of millions that are the exception to the rule).  In a family with two parents and three kids you don’t have a democratic vote on what’s for tea/dinner every day otherwise you’d be eating pizza and ice cream non-stop until you ended up on statins and insulin.

Instead you, as responsible parents, make the judgement call because you have more knowledge, experience, and information than the kids and you know what’s best for them.  You have more balance of Id and Superego – borrowing Freud’s theory on the human psyche – to make the right decisions.

This is what we expect of our politicians.  To do the right thing for the benefit of the majority of people.

It’s what we expect of business owners, our employers, to do the right things to keep us in a job.  If you want a perfect example of how business and democracy don’t get on then look no further than the break-up of the trade unions by Thatcher in the 80s.

There are politicians who don’t act in the interests of the people.  There are business owners who don’t care about their employees (Thomas Cook anyone?).  There are (sadly) parents who don’t act in the best interests of their children.  But this doesn’t mean that businesses and families should all start operating democratically – nothing would ever get done.

When you allow popular opinion to affect such significant events and actions through voting, the system is open to abuse.  The influence on people’s thoughts and actions can be so imperceptible that people are outraged when you suggest they’re being influenced.  But as any marketer, psychologist, or data analyst will tell you, it IS possible to make people think and do different things.

Nudge theory, behaviour change, big data, NLP (neuro linguistic programming, not natural language processing btw) – all used to make people do things and think things that they might not otherwise have done, or thought.

Now this might all be too much for some people to take.  The outrage you might have that people have fought and died for the right to vote – the right to have a say.  That’s an incredible sacrifice that I can’t possibly understand.  But this right to vote should come with its own health warning.

Even our political system with general elections every 5 years creates problems.  Five years is too short to implement real change in almost all areas of life.  To make many things better, there usually needs to be a period of unsettling change and sometimes a little hardship.  The benefits of real change may take 10-15 years or more to come to fruition.  Not fast enough for a government working on a 5-year cycle to stay in power.

As we stand, several years after an event that might be one of the most defining moments in the history of the UK, there is a minority of politicians acting against the will of the majority to push for an exit from the EU, regardless of the impact on the general public.

This is a flagrant dereliction of duty by MPs – people tasked with acting in the national interest.  There was, and still is, no obligation to leave the EU following the results of the ill-conceived and illegally-contested referendum.  It was advisory.  Taking the ‘temperature’ of the public at the time.  A temperature that has cooled considerably since June 2016 now that the significance of the impact is finally being realised.

People were manipulated in the build-up to the referendum.  Whether that was through targeted Facebook advertising, pressure from friends and family, or through decades of consuming propaganda from right-wing euro-bashing newspapers.

Do we really want to be controlled by popular opinion?  Do we really trust ourselves to choose the right path?  Do we have enough knowledge and information to actually make an informed decision, rather than one that comes from a learned culture and environment?

The solution may well be to abandon democracy once and for all.  To find a genuinely lovely person and instate them as a benevolent dictator over all the world with a grandiose new title befitting of the level of responsibility they’d have.

Dicky McDictatorface perhaps?

You may have heard about palm oil and the devastation it’s farming has caused to the natural environment.   But we don’t often take into consideration those people who rely on farming the produce and the impact that banning or removal of this product might have on them.

For some Indonesian communities palm oil farming and production provides essential jobs and stability and is enabling them to achieve better economic status.

Project Sumatra believes there is another way and has been working alongside the Sumatran farming communities to bring back the natural balance of their beautiful environment.

Initially set up to create an educational documentary the non profit project aims to highlight the issues facing Orangutans and their natural environment in Sumatra.

In conjunction with the Orangutan information centre in Sumatra, the project focuses on the charismatic and well loved Orangutan as an umbrella species to represent the entire eco system.  The project hopes to educate, promote conservation and empower local communities to promote change.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a recent fund raiser for the project which was held at Tampopo (who have been sponsoring the project since 2017) in Manchester’s Corn Exchange.  Guests enjoyed an evening of food, drinks and fund raising activities,  followed by a fantastic talk from the projects founder Jack Wootton – who was fresh back from Indonesia and bursting with passion and enthusiasm for the project’s next venture.

Jack’s vision for the documentary is that of a positive one, aimed primarily at educating the viewer but also at encouraging hope and a focus on how we can change things for the better through knowledge, understanding and active engagement.

The documentary is a completely non-profit project and when completed will be a free educational resource, available for download online. As a continuation of Project Sumatra’s work they will also be touring with the finished documentary on a filming and debate tour across universities and colleges.

This small but incredibly dedicated team really are an inspiration.  They have been fundraising for over two years to make their last trip to Sumatra – so please give them a hand if you can.  Donate, like, or share and help them to continue making a difference.

If you would like to know more about Project Sumatra or get involved contact them via their social media pages, (don’t forget to like and share) and look out for details of fundraisers and their next talk at Reaseheath College, Cheshire later this year.

Instagram Project Sumatra
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/projectsumatra
Twitter @ProjectSumatra

https://gofundme.com/project-sumatra

Christianity and Conservative politics are completely incompatible.

Voting for the Tory party and for Theresa May is electing a government that doesn’t care about the ordinary people.  A government that wants to cut funding to vital services such as the NHS and the police, services that take care of us all, but importantly look after the more vulnerable people in society.  Cutting those services is in direct opposition to a Christian belief where Christians are tasked with taking care of those less fortunate than themselves.

For years the Tories have mismanaged our economy, paying billions to prop up bankers, but not offering considerably less to help nurses. Their ongoing desire to reduce the state and allow big companies to exploit our systems has increased the gap between the elite and the rest of us – and we all know the love of money is the root of all evil.

And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

Luke 3:11

You might be a Conservative voter.  You might not realise or fully appreciate the harm that party does when in control of our society.  You should care very deeply though, as it is set to get much worse.

The growth of food banks in the UK shows no sign of slowing.  Many of these are funded and operated by local churches up and down the country.  The Tory government expects you to foot the bill and pick up the fallout of their damaging policy decisions.

The Conservative election pledges on the environment are in stark contrast to Christian beliefs too.  They want to provide MPs with an option to bring back fox hunting and allow fracking.  They have been criticised by the Green Party for a ‘scandalous’ lack of focus on the environment. Christian’s first purpose on this planet was to look after it – the Tories are not the party to make this a reality.

 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Genesis 2:15

If you are a Christian Tory voter, you should consider very carefully how you can possibly rationalise the two beliefs.  You should consider very carefully whether what the bible and Christian teaching tells you about helping the poorest and weakest, about the feasibility of a rich person to enter heaven, and about the obligations to care for our environment.

If those things matter to you as a Christian – and if they don’t you should consider finding a new religion – then your vote should be for anyone but the Tories on Thursday.  There is even a website to help you work out the best way to vote to do just that – https://www.tactical2017.com/

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

Acts 4:32

What Would Jesus Do?

 

(image credit)

Have you read the manifesto for each of the main political parties? No?  Not sure what a manifesto is or who the main political parties are?  Don’t panic – we’ve digested all the key points from the Conservative (Tory), Liberal Democrat (Lib Dem) and Labour party manifestos (election pledges) and made it simple to understand below.

If you’re suffering from voting fatigue, not really sure what the fuss is all about, or simple have no idea how to mark your card on June 8th at the polling booths then read on for our analysis.  We promise it’s (probably) the easiest guide to understand in the world.

First, some basics.  Feel free to scroll down if you’re not a politics beginner.

General Election Beginner’s Guide

The general election to be held on 8th June is a vote to decide which political party will run the country and make the key decisions for at least the next 5 years.  Everyone over the age of 18 and who is registered to vote is able to have a say in who they want to win.

The day of the election people will head down to their local polling stations (often a school or church hall) and vote for who they want as their local MP – the main choices are between Labour, Lib Dem, and Tory but some areas have strong support for the Green party and Scotland is predominantly the Scottish National party.

The main difference between the political parties is their views on how the country should be managed in terms of the relationship between private companies and the state.  This is sometimes referred to as capitalism versus socialism.  Capitalism favours private companies and a small state, socialism favours nationalised companies (a larger state) and more equality.

If you imagine a horizontal line then Capitalism (the Tory party) is regarded as being on the right and Socialism (the Labour party) is on the left.  The Lib Dems are somewhere in the middle but slightly more towards the Labour side. This might make sense of the terms ‘left wing’ and ‘right wing’.

Criticisms of the left:

People tend to use the argument that privatisation is good as it creates market forces that compete to find efficiencies in services and production – thereby driving down costs for consumers.  They say the wealth created by people at the top will ‘trickle down’ to improve wealth and life for everyone else.

The criticism of the left and the large state is that these market forces don’t exist without private companies and the state is inefficient and unable to develop as quick as the private sector.

Criticisms of the right:

It tends to be much easier to criticise the right. A small state and deregulation of markets to allow privatisation has seen huge growth in inequality in the UK.  The ‘trickle down’ argument has been shown to not work in practice and putting large amounts of power and wealth in the hands of a small group of individuals is incredibly dangerous.

Privatisation of traditionally public services (trains, water companies, energy suppliers) has not seen the desired effect in terms of forcing down prices and improving services.  In fact the taxpayer now pays more to private rail operators in subsidies than it did when the rail system was nationalised.

The Media

Unfortunately, due to privatisation and deregulation over several decades, our media is mostly controlled by a handful of people who are very much supportive of the right wing and are being increasingly criticised for portraying labour in a negative light.

Just three companies own more than 70% of the national print circulation. One of the biggest – The Sun newspaper – is very right-wing (as it is owned by Rupert Murdoch) and has previously taken credit for ‘winning’ the elections for the Conservative party.

Social media is playing a more important role in political PR and has a similar problem in that there are only a handful of people controlling the information displayed and promoted through social channels.

What are the parties promising this election?

There are a number of key areas that the three main parties focus their election pledges on, these are:

• Health
• Education
• Economy
• Brexit
• Tax/Spending
• Immigration
• Environment

We’ll summarise their promises for each of these areas and then provide our take on it all with a quick overview to help you decide how to vote if you don’t have time to read through the summaries or you’re struggling to make sense of it all.

Health

 

 

Who gets the points?

Labour 3

Lib Dem 2

Tory 1

Our verdict:
Labour is the only party fully committing to properly funding the NHS.  If the government can spend £85 billion on bailing out bankers, it should be able to spend more than £8 billion over five years on our health.

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Education

 

 

 

Who gets the points?

Lib Dem 3

Labour 2

Tory 1

Our verdict: The Tory proposal to pay for primary school breakfasts means a budget of 7p per child – 10 times less than budgets for prison food.  Labour costings have also been criticised leaving Lib Dem top of the points in this category.

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Economy

 

 

 

Who gets the points?

Labour 3

Lib Dem 2

Tory 1

Our verdict: Tories originally pledged to eliminate the deficit by 2015 and now say by 2025.  They also removed previous pledge not to increase NI or income tax.  Labour’s plan to renationalise the rail companies is a popular one with the public.

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Brexit

 

 

 

Who gets the points?

Lib Dem 3

Labour 2

Tory 1

Our verdict: Liberal Democrats are the only party to offer a second referendum once a deal has been reached with Brussels and we know what leaving looks like.  Experts are suggesting the Brexit vote is now impacting on households with rising costs and falling wages and say being part of the EU increases security against terror attacks.

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Tax & Spending

 

 

 

Who gets the points?

Tory 2

Labour 2

Lib Dem 2

Our verdict: This very much depends on who you are.  Older people have been upset by Tory pension plans while businesses would prefer the further cuts to corporation tax.  Those wanting more investment in health might like the Lib Dem plans on tax increases ring-fenced to spend on the NHS.

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Immigration

 

 

 

Who gets the points?

Tory: 1

Labour: 1

Lib Dem: 1

Our verdict: Another tough call on a highly emotive subject.  We need net migration to the UK to fill jobs but the unemployment rates of migrants is around three times higher than across the UK generally.  A focus on migration for skilled workers should be the key for all parties.

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Environment

 

 

 

Who gets the points?

Lib Dem 3

Labour 2

Tory 0

Our verdict:
Clear win for the Liberal Democrats here and if it was possible to give minus points then the Tories would be in trouble with very little commitment to the environment in their manifesto. The fact Theresa May appears to want to bring back fox hunting says it all.

 

FINAL SCORES:

Liberal Democrat = 16

Labour = 15

Conservative = 7

 

How To Vote On Election Day

You need to weigh up what’s important to you and then look at what the situation is in your constituency.  If you lean towards Labour but the seat in your area is contested between Lib Dem and Conservatives then you’d be better represented voting for the Liberal Democrats as their policies are more closely aligned to Labour then the Tories.

The reverse is true for those Liberal Democrat voters.  The Conservatives are so far from what your party is standing for that you’d be better served voting for Labour to prevent the Tories from being elected.

There is a website on how to vote tactically to ensure the Tories don’t get in if you’re that way inclined – you just enter your postcode and the computer magically lets you know who to vote for. https://www.tactical2017.com/

 

On a Greener note:

The Green Party have no chance of being elected just yet – which is a shame.  They have some excellent policies on the economy, health, education and of course the environment.  If you’re in a constituency where the Green Party have a shout of winning then you’d be doing a good deed by voting for them.

 

Why didn’t Remain get a catchy little moniker that was attached to the Leave campaign?  The entire issue has been reduced to the portmanteau ‘Brexit’ – even before voting we were bombarded with media coverage promoting the idea of Brexit; a not-so-subtle attempt to normalise the idea of voting leave.

Why were most MPs previously opposed to the idea of leaving, then so determined that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ once the referendum results came in?  The fact that more people voted to remain than voted in the Tories in the general election seems to have gone under the radar.  The fact that many leave voters were doing so on the basis of lies and impossible promises and have now changed their minds also appears swept under the carpet.

Why is this happening?  Why aren’t MPs – mandated to look after our best interests – heading blindly towards a scenario that is going to be economic carnage for the majority of Brits?  It *has* to be about money.  There are some clues – one hedge fund manager made £220million betting on the outcome of the referendum by shorting on property companies and moving his funds into gold (which shot up in value as the pound plummeted).  Many others continue to profit from the ongoing choppiness of the markets.

The recent triumph (albeit possibly just temporary) for the Remainers in the High Court ruling parliament must vote on triggering article 50 is a decision the government are now appealing.  Ironic that May is determined to uphold the misplaced votes of many in opting to leave the EU but is attempting to overturn the court’s decision.

Does this mean people power can trump the legal system now?  If enough of us vote to lock up the cast of TOWIE with no particular legal reason then the government will make it happen?  Don’t forget this is a country that twice voted a dog as Britain’s ‘most talented’.  We aren’t responsible enough and too easily manipulated by the media to make decisions on long term foreign policy.

Instead, our MPs, those that we chose to represent us, are charged with making important decisions about our future where we don’t have all the information or the requisite intelligence (supposedly) to make these choices ourselves.

We can see the damage caused already by the referendum and it will only get worse.  Just this week a leading ratings agency is preparing to further downgrade the UK’s rating as it warns of a bleak outlook for the economy.

The High Court ruling that requires MPs to now vote on triggering article 50 (as long as it’s not overturned at appeal) gives all sane Brits the opportunity to lobby your local MP to vote against pulling the trigger.

Make sure you contact your local MP and ask them to vote against article 50 and campaign to remain in the EU, or at least for a second referendum once we know the terms on which we would leave.  We need MPs to realise that the public vote was tainted and what was promised is not what is deliverable.  It’s time the politicians stood up and did something useful.

If I asked you to describe your closet, what adjectives would you use? Messy? Colourful? Large? What about your fashion habits? Do you save up for expensive purchases like Italian leather bags and hand-stitched dresses, or do you visit fashion chains like Primark and H&M on a regular basis, always on the hunt for a bargain?

If you’re like most Western consumers, your wardrobe is extensive but does not contain many high-quality, expensive products. You have lots of pieces that you wear two or three times before getting rid of them either because they go out of style within just a few weeks or fall apart after you wash them twice. Sound familiar? If so, you’re part of the fast fashion culture that dominates the global apparel industry.

Fast fashion is exactly what it sounds like: a rapid model of garment production and distribution that results in new trends and products being introduced in retail stores as often as fortnightly. This is a significant departure from fifty years ago, when fashion changes coincided with the four seasons, and people saved their money to buy quality products that would last them for years. Most fashion is no longer made to last, and consumers are prepared to make purchases more regularly.

Just as consumption habits have changed significantly, the nature of production has shifted. Most products are no longer made and sold in the same location. Now, fashion brands participate in global production systems in which suppliers in developing countries produce goods that are sold in retail stores in developed countries. Garment workers are paid meagre wages and often can’t afford to buy the clothes they make. They experience other challenges too, such as unsafe working conditions, long hours, wage and gender discrimination, and lack of benefits or employment rights.

Fast fashion practices put extra demands on workers, as tight timelines and cost pressures result in production practices that are detrimental to workers. Thousands of garment workers have lost their lives in factory fires and collapses over the past decade, tragedies which often go unreported by the media. In the fast fashion industry where “you get what you pay for,” it’s the workers who end up paying the ultimate price.

Here’s where you come in. Start to educate yourself on where the clothes in your closet are coming from and who is making them. Sources like Free2Work www.free2work.org/trends/apparel, The Good Shopping Guide www.thegoodshoppingguide.com/ethical-clothing-directory, and Ethical Consumer www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/clothing/clothesshops.aspx provide information on how to determine which fashion companies are “ethical.” Consider making a switch if necessary. Tell your favourite brands that you care about the conditions under which the clothes you wear are made, and that you’re willing to pay a couple extra bucks if they can guarantee workers in their supply chains are being paid fair wages. And maybe reconsider your shopping habits. Sometimes less is more. You, as a consumer, have a voice, and perhaps the meaningful way it can be expressed is through your wallet.

 

This throwback thursday article written by Anna Rohwer was originally published in Artmuso in August 2014

_­Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hommes et femmes, caballeros y senoras, damen und herren.

If you’re looking for toilets then we’re here to point you in the right direction.

While some toilet door signs may be confusing – who knows which is which in Ireland (Fir and Mná) or what the WC toilet sign means (it stands for Water Closet) – a shocking 2.4 billion people on the planet do not have access to a proper toilet.

That’s roughly one in every three people.

November 19 marks the third World Toilet Day, established by the UN to raise awareness of the scale of the global problem in sanitation.

Without proper toilets, children can be exposed to human waste causing a number of diseases that prevent them being able to absorb nutrients in their food. This can have deadly consequences for children.

1000 children died each day in 2013 from preventable diseases caused by poor sanitation.

In communities where people go to the toilet in the open, diseases like diarrhoea are easily spread and in turn cause undernutrition.

Making sure people have equitable access to basic toilets, and changing behaviour to ensure these toilets are used, is vital to improving the nutritional health and development of children, and giving every child a fair chance at life.

The new international development targets launched earlier this year (the Sustainable Development Goals), call for universal access to toilets and proper sanitation for all by 2030; a highly ambitious target but one that could have significant benefits.

For example, every $1 spent on water and sanitation returns a saving of $4.3 in reduced health care costs – a good investment for aid donors and recipients alike.

Get Involved in World Toilet Day

UN-Water and UNICEF are leading the campaigns around World Toilet Day 2015 and have a number of ways you can get involved.

If you’re in New York then head over to the UN Building to see the inflatable toilet, and to have your picture taken in a photo booth in the UN lobby as part of the ‘be a thinker’ social media campaign, or make your way to Washington Square Park to experience the See Through Loo – a transparent toilet!

You can take part in #BeAThinker campaign by considering how people feel when they don’t have access to a toilet and have to go in the open, and the implications of this for children and women especially.

Simply pose as a ‘thinker’, take a selfie, and post on social with your thought and the hashtag #BeAThinker

For more information on World Toilet Day visit http://www.worldtoiletday.info/