UK politics

My review of Hat Vickers’ documentary film ‘The Battle for Deptford’, now available for free on YouTube, which focuses on community activism and the long struggle to save the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and Reginald House, a block of structurally sound council flats, from destruction for a housing project in Deptford, in south east London.

Recently discovered videos of speakers at the rally for the closure of Guantánamo that was held in London in January 2022, featuring speakers including John McDonnell MP and myself, to mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the prison.

A fundraiser marking ten years of my photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, and marking five years since I began posting a photo a day from the project, plus accompanying essays, on Facebook. This is an entirely reader-funded project, so any help you can provide will be very gratefully received.

Publicising the new documentary film, ‘The Battle for Deptford’, directed by Hat Vickers, about the struggle to save the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and Reginald House from destruction for an inappropriate housing development, which culminated in a two-month occupation of the garden that I was involved in, followed by its violent eviction by bailiffs hired by Lewisham Council.

I’m delighted to publicise the first ever UK speaking tour — throughout March 2022 — by former Guantánamo prisoner, torture victim and best-selling author Mohamedou Ould Salahi (aka Slahi), with events in cities including London, Cambridge and Edinburgh, and also in Brighton and Tunbridge Wells, where I’ll be joining him. Some of the events will also feature screenings of ‘The Mauritanian’, the film based on Mohamedou’s memoir, ‘Guantánamo Diary’, featuring Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch.

For my birthday, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just published what scientists are describing as the “bleakest warning yet” about the perils of catastrophic climate change, and the need for urgent action now to try to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than For my birthday, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just published what scientists are describing as the “bleakest warning yet” about the perils of catastrophic climate change, and the need for urgent action now to try to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in an effort to keep the world habitable.

The latest quarterly fundraiser for my ongoing, reader-supported photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, for which I have no institutional backing whatsoever. Every day I cycle in London taking photos, choose a photo to post, research it and write about it, share it on social media, and interact with my supporters. It’s a labour of love, but if you can make a donation to support it that will be very much appreciated.

My photos of, and a report about the protest for the closure of Guantánamo that took place in central London on Jan. 8, 2022, with a march of 39 campaigners in orange jumpsuits and hoods, representing the 39 men still held, and speakers in Trafalgar Square.

Linking to, and discussing my recent interview with Chris Cook on his ‘Gorilla Radio’ show in Victoria, British Columbia, in which we spoke about the case of torture victim Abu Zubaydah, the 20th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, and the latest dispiriting ruling in the extradition case of Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange.

Events taking place to mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantánamo Bay on Jan. 11, 2022, featuring myself and Tom Wilner, with whom I co-founded the Close Guantánamo campaign in 2012. Some of these events are in the US, some are in the UK, and they are mostly online but with a few carefully managed Iive events.