Politicians are tearing Britain apart. Instead of fixing our NHS, making housing affordable and reducing wealth inequality they are rolling out the red carpet for the far right. This racist package of hostility against people seeking safety will further divide our communities and create a two-tier society divided into people who are told they belong, and those who are told they don’t. Survivors of war, persecution and torture can’t properly rebuild their lives and feel settled in our communities with the constant threat of deportation looming over them. Deterrence policies like these may be a great distraction for a government worried about next week’s budget and wracked by political infighting, but they won’t stop Channel crossings nor build inclusive, thriving communities.

Our statement on the government’s abhorrent plans for people seeking safety.

Politicians are dividing communities, when they could be building affordable homes and strengthening them.

Well done @teamlabouruk.bsky.social. Your policies are now extreme enough to be endorsed by the hard right. Proud day.

Kurt Vonnegut

Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
— Kurt Vonnegut
writingforwellbeing.co.uk

The man really is a complete weasel, isn't he?

Yep. I wanted to go too. My mates insisted on golden circle tickets, £185 each. I decided against it.

Hell's teeth, this is bleak. A fascist rally in our capital and all the government can say is, 'Hooray for freedom of speech'. This isn't even Farage's lot, this is Tommy Robinson, Britain's highest profile racist and xenophobe. Can we not just call this what it is and agree that fascism is bad?

A Meeting in the Library SimeonW published a post on Ko-fi

NEW FICTION: A Meeting in the Library

I wrote this piece in response to a prompt for a story about a mysterious meeting. I don't often try to write humour (it's really hard!) but I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.

What do you think?

#writingcommunity #fiction

ko-fi.com/post/A-Meeti...

Eesh. Those corporate bots are so needy these days, aren't they?

Labour's cowardice in the face of extremism iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co...

We are a proud nation. We know who we are, we know where we come from and, as long as we remain true to those things, our future is bright. This is England. 15/15

We strive for excellence, we compete fiercely, we shut our ears to voices of hate and ignorance, we are generous in victory and gracious in defeat. 14/

I am proud to be English. I am proud to belong to a country that comes alive on the sports field. We are the country of Geoff Hurst, Mo Farah, Lucy Bronze, Emma Raducanu, Cyril Regis and Freddie Flintoff. 13/

We are endlessly, endlessly creative. We are countless voices, mingling together, each becoming stronger, clearer and more compelling by listening to the others. 12/

I am proud to be English. I am proud to belong to the country of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Wordsworth, the Brontes, Dahl, Zephaniah and Blackman; the country of Turner, Constable, Emin and Banksy; the country of Elgar, Holst, the Beatles, Amy Winehouse and Stormzy. 11/

I am proud to be English. I am proud to belong to the country of Wilberforce, of Pankhurst, of Nightingale and of William and Catherine Booth. We are a people who make the right sort of trouble, who see a grievous wrong, bring it to light and bring change, whatever the cost to ourselves. 10/

We are the country of Tim Berners-Lee, who created the most important communication medium of all time and made it his gift to the world instead of making himself rich. At our best, we English make life better not just for our own but for the whole of humanity. 9/

I am proud to be English. I am proud to belong to the country of Brunel, Stephenson, Sinclair and Cockerell. We are inventive, resourceful, tireless and a little bit bonkers. We are the country of the codebreakers, achieving the impossible, unseen and led by a gay, autistic genius. 8/

the overwhelming might of the Luftwaffe; we are the nation that opened its arms to Czech and Polish refugees, who repaid us by joining the fight and defending us and our way of life. We are a nation of principle, a nation of welcome, made stronger by that willingness to welcome. 7/

I am proud to be English. I am proud to belong to the country that stood alone against the dark and hateful forces of Nazism when the rest of Europe had fallen. We are the nation of the Battle of Britain. We are the few who prevailed against the odds, against exhaustion and against... 6/

would think of themselves as any better than the others. We are a nation of courage but also of equality and humility. It’s the country of Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe and Peter Pan; the country of adventure, curiosity and imagination. 5/

How’s this for a start?
I am proud to be English. I am proud to belong to the country of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and cynical and gave to the poor and forgotten. It’s the country of King Arthur, who led from a round table, so that neither he nor any of his knights... 4/

To have any hope of giving ordinary people a sense of pride in their country, while avoiding xenophobia, scapegoating and plain nastiness, we have to articulate who we are in a way that is bigger, more hopeful and more inspiring than the 'Englishness' peddled by right wing demagogues. 3/

Lucas makes the important point that the right wing have dominated the discourse on what it means to be English and to be patriotic, and the left have offered no meaningful response. 2/

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about patriotism. This is partly because of the flags-on-lampposts saga and partly because I’ve been reading @carolinelucas.bsky.social excellent ‘Another England’. This thread is a response to both of those things. 1/

'Is it time for the Government to drown innocent human beings for political advantage?' and other questions now apparently deemed acceptable in the British media

New fiction, live on Ko-Fi now. #shortstory #writingcommunity

ko-fi.com/Post/The-Cur...

Welp, I did it: 12 short stories in 12 months with Deadlines for Writers. The monthly prompts have been really useful and the community is super encouraging. The next step for me is to find folks who can give me slightly more direct feedback. Who wants to tell me 3 things that suck about my writing?

NEW STORY

'Xylo Syndrome' is live and ready for your perusal now. Come and get it while it's hot.

Content warning: This one is a little sweary. I felt like it needed to be, to be true to the characters. I hope you'll see what I mean.

ko-fi.com/post/Xylo-Sy...

#writingcommunity #fiction

Support SimeonW Welcome to the Strange World of Sim - home of the surprising, the off-beat and the slightly strange.

I finally did it. I've finally plucked up the courage to put some of my writing out into the world. If you fancy buying me a coffee for my trouble, that'd be lovely but I'm not expecting it. I hope you like what you read. Feedback very welcome!

ko-fi.com/strangeworld...

#writingcommunity #fiction

Russia isn't on Trump's tariff list.
Russia isn't on Trump's tariff list.
Russia isn't on Trump's tariff list.
Russia isn't on Trump's tariff list.
Russia isn't on Trump's tariff list.
Russia isn't on Trump's tariff list.