I don’t know if you’re familiar with P. J., but he’s an excellent writer, and he’s extremely, acerbically funny. With this book, as with his Give War a Chance, several times he made me spit my tea out and have to stop to wipe tea off the page. Read more

I was back recently in my old stomping ground of Bicester in Oxfordshire – it was not a happy visit. Read more

A while ago I blogged about the various open source programmes I’m using. I’m absolutely non-techie when it comes to IT. I have no interest in the technical underpinning of what I want to do with my computer, and this makes it difficult for technical people to explain things to me. Read more

Why do people who consider themselves ‘left-wing’ seem to embrace a raft of policies that appear unrelated? For example, if you’re of the left, and you believe in (say) progressive taxation, why should that also mean that you believe in gun control, or Read more

You may remember that we blogged an interview last summer with Guy Dorrell, who set up a ‘fishbox’, or ‘community-supported fish’ project, called ‘Faircatch‘. After interviewing him, my partner and I signed up to his scheme to try it out. I’m now reporting on how the idea worked for us Read more

In 1983, Richard Stallman launched the GNU free software project, on which many people could collaborate, and in 1985 he founded the Free Software Foundation, to promote and assist the development of free software. Here is a page from his website Read more

Monopoly is obviously based on capitalism, but the biggest difference between Monopoly and real-life capitalism is that Monopoly is just a game. Whatever happens in the game, it doesn’t mean that in real life Read more

Body Shop, Green & Blacks, Ben & Jerry’s and Innocent Drinks represented a Brave New World when it came to doing business – Fair Trade, sustainable, (slightly) less hierarchical, informal, friendly. Read more

It’s been a very confusing time for TTIP and other pro-corporate trade deals. There has been huge public opposition to them, often based around the fact that they would allow corporations to sue elected governments if they introduce policies that threaten their profits Read more

I’ve found that learning about how to change to open source software can be difficult for non-techies. Yes, you can easily find the websites that contain the information you need, but it’s almost never written in a style that non-techies can understand. Read more

Here are two sources of information about CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) – and both of them are completely biased. They are biased against the interests of the corporate sector and in favour of the interests of ordinary people and communities. That’s the kind of bias we like. Read more

I haven’t opened my old university economics textbook (Economics, by David Begg, Stanley Fischer and Rudiger Dornbusch) since the 1980s, so I was curious to see how I would respond to what I was taught 30 years ago. Read more

If UK campaigners don’t set the terms of our trading relationships, insisting they protect public services and standards, it will be left to Theresa May’s expensive army of corporate lawyers. Read more

Here is a list, agreed by anti-TTIP activists, of what we want / don’t want in any UK trade deals, whether EU or new UK deals. Read more

I went to visit Guy Dorrell from Faircatch the other day, and was truly blown away by what he’s up to. Now this is how we should get our fish. Here’s my interview with him. Read more

If you would like to build your own home on a smallholding, and produce food, fuel and other products for your family and your local community, but can’t see any way that it could happen, then the Ecological Land Co-op want to hear from you.  Read more

The Small Wind Co-op is a new co-operative, putting up three wind turbines on farms in Scotland and Wales. Anyone from anywhere in the UK can join – we’re offering good returns of 4.5% to 6.5% and even the opportunity to use the electricity generated in your own home. Read more

I think we all have stories about mad conversations we’ve had about Brexit since the referendum (or is it just me?). I was called a racist, for example, for suggesting that the UK is nowhere near the top of the league of ‘most xenophobic countries’, and I’ve been amazed by the vitriol this has stirred… Continue reading Moving forward without the EU: clouds & silver linings Read more

This is an interview with Jessica Smulders-Cohen of Greater London Fibreshed, who are trying to build a network of small-scale clothes manufacturers using natural materials produced in the UK. Read more

Despite its admirable qualities, the authors urge people not to lose sight of the fact that the “the main impetus behind the European Economic Union was the desire of big business to compete with the US” in economic terms. Read more