Info, news & debate
Commons economy
Are you interested in becoming a smallholder and building your own home? Help the Ecological Land Co-op make it happen
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.
Here’s how to get your electricity from a new co-operative with medium-sized wind turbines on farms
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.
Moving forward without the EU: clouds & silver linings
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 …
How can we get our clothes from sustainable and non-corporate sources?
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.
Why global capital fears Brexit
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.
The EU referendum from an environmental perspective: are you willing to be challenged?
Almost all of my friends, and people whose opinions I respect, are intending to vote ‘Remain’ on Thursday. Here are the four main reasons I hear:
The Ecological Land Co-op has purchased more land to create ecological smallholdings
Here’s a quick overview of what the Ecological Land Co-op does, before going on to their latest news. The problem that they were formed to solve is that many people who would like to build a home made from local, sustainable materials,
My meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and corporate representatives, and the rules they want to impose on us
At the end of April, I went to a Trade Commission ‘civil society dialogue’ meeting Brussels in which Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malmstrom was seeking input on how to push forward the WTO globalisation agenda via the mechanism of the EU.
Re-thinking liberalisation – to counter corporate takeover
‘Liberalisation’ – sounds like a good thing, right – like ‘freedom’? It’s rarely named or explained, but underpins the trade agenda and ‘globalisation’. It allows corporations to become mega-transnationals.
Do you want to co-own a community wind farm – from £50?
We are really excited to be re-opening the Share Offer for our community windfarm. We raised £734k from our first Share Offer before Christmas and now want to hit the £1,000,000 target.
Ha Joon Chang: ‘increasing corporate power is at the heart of TTIP’
Ha Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism and Economics: The User’s Guide explains that TTIP is not about ‘free trade’ – trade is already more-or-less free. TTIP is about helping corporations to sue countries if they dare to do anything – anything at all – that can be shown …
Can you think about sending this letter (or something similar) to your MP about TTIP?
Can you take 10 mins to send this letter, or something very similar, to your MP? People have been asking MPs some of these questions and getting silly answers, which suggests we are hitting a nerve – so we need to keep on hitting it.
The 6 main approaches to changing the world; which one do you subscribe to?
We received an email recently with these sentences: ‘This idea of those evil corporations is mistaken because we are all involved in society and economy. There is no us and them we are all part of it and need to take responsibility for that.’
Public support for TTIP has plummeted in Germany and the US to 17% and 15% respectively
A report for the Bertelsmann Foundation has shown plummeting support for TTIP in Germany and in the US – down to 17% in Germany and 15% in the US, with 18% of Americans and a full third of Germans saying that it is ‘a bad thing’.
If the BBC advertises Tesco, why is there a licence fee?
Just listened to a ten-minute advert for Tesco on ‘You and Yours’ on Radio 4, masquerading as news. I have some questions:
How the CEOs of Europe’s biggest corporations write EU policy
There’s an organisation based in Brussels called the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT). It’s a club – invitation only, not transparent, not democratic – just a private club.
Should the TV licence fee be scrapped?
It’s a tricky one. The argument for the licence fee (and one that I used to subscribe to until I watched the Panorama corporate propaganda piece – see below) is that the Beeb produces drama of a quality not found anywhere else.
More on the EU referendum from a low-impact perspective: is another Europe possible?
Is the European Union an empty vessel into which any political content may be poured? Can it accommodate not just neoliberal conservatism but also Keynesian social democracy, hard-line greenery and even pro-nationalisation democratic socialism?
The EU referendum from a low-impact perspective
We’ve got a referendum coming up in June that Cameron didn’t want, but was forced to promise at a time when it looked as though votes lost to UKIP might have cost him the election. His arguments now are largely based on the number of jobs that could be lost if we leave.
Artists against TTIP, and how the new ICS differs from ISDS (spoiler – not much)
‘Corporate interests have got to stop coming first’ – well said, Juliet Stevenson. A group of artists including actors Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott and Juliet Stevenson and designer Vivienne Westwood are fronting a campaign (artistsagainstttip.org) to raise public awareness of the trade deal TTIP