Listen Now

Keir Starmer had been enjoying a grace period. New characters gave the media new exciting things to talk about and with that came the praising of a forensic  leader who could make Labour an electoral contender again. That sheen is beginning to wear off,  the popular policies of Labour are not front and center anymore and there is worry on the left of the party that the radical eco socialist agenda has been put to the wayside and a return to neoliberal economics could be on the cards. So what is the policy direction of Starmers Labour? Is our new Shadow Chancellor returning to the center and will it be enough to tackle the twin crises of climate breakdown and economic inequality. On the pod this week we are joined by James Meadway  (@meadwaj). James is an economist whos' previous work includes being the chief economist at the New Economic Foundation  and also advising John McDonnell.  We discuss if Starmer has abandoned popular Labour economic policy,  what Labour has to do to stay relevant against the pro spending Tories and how a Green New Deal has to be about more than just state control.Shout outManchester Bus drivers going on strike against Go north Wests fire and rehire program. @Unite_NorthWestDiem25, celebrating their 5th Birthday@DiEM_25Prestwich environmental Forum@PrestwichForumBig tech workers attempting to unionise like the amazon staff in Bessemer, Alabama. @BAmazonUnion

Note: We interviewed Declan before the decision was taken by the Haldane society to censure Keir Starmer, we also had a few problems with Alexs mic! If you believe it's going to take a mass movement to stir humanity away from a climate disaster , you're probably going to want the Trade Union movement involved in that. Trade Unions have a long history of mobilising workers for their rights and that's the expertise we need right now.  This week on the show we are joined by Declan  Owens (@owens_declan)  for GMB for a Green New Deal.  We talk about securing a just transition for fossil fuel dependent workers, organising inside a union and what it takes to be a socialist lawyer. Shout outsFarhana Yamin-  lawyer and activist arrested at the shell XR action@farhanaclimateLydia Meryll - educator and climate activist for her stirling presentation on the U.Ns treaty on the proliferation of nuclear weapons.@lydia_meryll- Clive Lewis MP- for just being a legend.@labourlewis

If you like the show  let us know!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD2021 is hurtling in the same direction as 2020,  crisis upon crisis upon crisis. That is not even mentioning the underlying behemoth that is climate breakdown.  With the globe shadowed in unimaginable loss how are we to process it? to find the fight to carry on? This week on the podcast we are joined by Marion Grace (@maz_graz) and Pooja Kishinani (@Poojakishinani) from Climate Emergency Manchester (CEM) to discuss their recently published book "The Student Guide to the Climate Crisis".  Marion and Pooja talk us through climate grief and the importance of understanding our emotions in regards the climate,  the University of Manchester's slow movement on climate and CEMs campaign for a 7th scrutiny committee on climate for the city council. The students guide to the climate crisis https://climateemergencymanchester.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Student-Climate-Handbook-Final-1.pdfShout outs. Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson@ayanaelizaDr Kathrine Wilkinson@DrKWilkinsonkindling trust@kindlingtrustLabour MP Olivia Blake@_OliviaBlakeLucas Clay@LTMClay

If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODWe're back! Welcome to 2021 where the pandemic carries on the points don't matter! As long as Climate breakdown keeps happening we will keep talking and this week we are joined by the people who are down on the front line. Our guest this week is secretary of the Fire Brigades Union Matt Wrack (@MattWrack). We discuss the long left history of the FBU, what it's like taking on ever increasing natural disasters linked to climate change and what the trade union movement has to do to rebuild itself. Shout outsUnited Fire Fighters Union Australia dealing with bush fires this seasonhttps://www.facebook.com/ufuav.asn.auGMB gas worker who are striking against Fire and rehire contracts@GMB_unionGo fund me to support the workers https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/british-gas-strike-fundDavid Oliver @mancunianmedic for his clear and concise info on Covid and slapping down anti-vaxers and covid minimisers Sarah Wilson @sarahirwilson2 for her piece on rewilding Scotlandhttps://www.scotsman.com/interactive/rewilding-scotland-natural-ecosystem

If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODIt's our Christmas special! We shoot the merry breeze and look back at the shows of 2020, picking our favourite guest of this year and line up our dream guests for 2021. 

There is a sane man back in the White House, a Covid-19 vaccination is beginning to be rolled out and Bill Bailey won strictly, 2020 is really turning itself around. All that is left is to enact a Green New Deal that decarbonises the global powers and everything will be fine, right? As much as decarbonisation of the likes of the US and China is important, if getting to that point requires the global south to be metaphorically thrown under the bus is it even really a New Deal at all?   This week we are joined by Dr Leon Sealey Huggins (@Leon_Ayo) Assistant professor at Warwick University.  We discuss the racist underpinnings of capitalism, how international politics condemns the global south to a climate catastrophe and how do we design a Green New Deal that doesn't exploit those regions who are on the front lines of climate breakdown. LinksLeon's article on green capitalism https://novaramedia.com/2020/12/13/green-capitalism-will-never-succeed-in-tackling-climate-breakdown/Leon's paper "The Climate Crisis is a Racist Crisishttp://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/103485/13/WRAP-climate-crisis-racist-crisis-structural-racism-inequality-climate-change-VoR-Sealey-Huggins-2018.pdfClimate Justice activists Wretched of the Earth. A grassroots collective for Indigenous, black, brown & diaspora groups  demanding climate justice + in solidarity with  UK & Global South communities  @wretchedotearthShout OutsCOP26 Coalition . A coalition campaigning for COP26 to be built of a Climate Justice framework@COP26_CoalitionUNICEF- for feeding our children where the state fails to do so.@UNICEF_ukEveryone working hard to keep Ancoats green.Alan Good- campaigning for saving city center green field sites @AlanGoodLDSave New Islington Green@saveNIgreenTrees not Cars @TreesNotCarsSave Ryebank Fields@ryebankfieldsIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

**Apologies for some of the audio issues, Andrew had a night off**As the nights draw in and  the GND team snuggle up in our cozy, retrofitted, zero carbon  house of the future (powered entirely by the hot air supplied by Andrew) it's time for a catch up with the low traffic neighbourhood Santa Claus himself, Councillor Jon Burke of Hackney.This week we discuss the on going campaign to make Hackneys streets for people not just cars, the climate impacts of catering the world to cars and we debunk myths about low traffic neighbourhoods.Links Jons' article in the Huffington Post on electric vehicleshttps://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/electric-cars_uk_5fb64017c5b695be8300137cThe Hackney Citizen article on the journey from against to for LTNShttps://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2020/12/08/ltns-from-horror-to-acceptance/Shout outsClaire Stocks- XR and Walk Ride GM campaigner @stocksyatlargeChris Stark- chief exec at the Climate Change Committee (UK)@ChiefExecCCCScarlett West- Climate activist@ScarlettOWestAlice Toomer McAlpine - Manchester Meteor Co-editorIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

If there is one thing to be said about the last 40 years of Neoliberalism it's this. You can put a price on everything. If it can be quantified then it can be priced and sold. Even when it comes to the existential threat of climate breakdown and biodiversity destruction the strategy has been give it a price tag and then someone in the system can pay for the damage.  Existence has turned into a game of who will pick up the insurance policy excess.  Does the commodification of everything give us the tools to tackle climate change? Or are we green washing are way extinction?This week we are joined on the show by Adrienne Buller (@adribuller) Senior Research Fellow at Common Wealth. We discuss how green finance is a cover for some of the markets ecological sins, could UBS be a pathway out climate breakdown and how should the labour party  define its self, now the tories have supposedly become the big spenders?Adriennes' article on attaching market value to life https://novaramedia.com/2020/10/16/whats-the-value-of-a-whale/Dealing with the commodification of housing.https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/charting-a-just-and-sustainable-recovery-for-scotlandGoverning the Commons by Elinor Ostrumhttps://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/political-theory/governing-commons-evolution-institutions-collective-action-1?format=PBProgressive International https://progressive.international/wire/2020-12-02-common-wealth-to-makeamazonpay-reimagine-the-platform-economy/enShout OutsThe Standsted 15, here's a short film on their story. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/stansted-15-tell-their-story-through-filmSophie Yeo - @some_yeohttps://inkcap.substack.com/the Yard @theyard_mcr a fantastic venue/co working space in North Manchesterhttps://theyardmcr.com/Luca Rudlin- Amazing Videographer, editor and all round amazing dude@People_StaringIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

We find degrowth fascinating. For us as a show it really turns the world upside on what we should see a human progress. However, you'll be hard pressed to find its message front and center of any political parties commitments unlike the Green New Deal.  So are these ideas compatible? Can parties stand on a platform of Degrowth? Or is political hope too tied to the idea of growth?This week we are joined by Riccardo Mastini (@r_mastini) to discuss how the concept of degrowth fits inside a Green New Deal, the ideological frame work of Growth, is Modern Monetary Theory a boon for degrowthers? And are humans intrinsically good people?Shout outsThe Trouble Webzine on eco-socialism https://www.the-trouble.com/@thetroublemagPositive Money@PositiveMoneyUKThe tragedy of Growth https://positivemoney.org/publications/tragedy-of-growth/Common Wealth- think tank specialising in new ownership models.@CmmonwealthRetrofit Get in project Articles Mancehster Meteor @nickjwprescotthttps://themeteor.org/2020/11/12/theatre-workers-tackle-the-climate-crisis/The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/22/manchester-theatre-staff-upgrade-homes-covid-layoffs-retrofitting-schemeIssac Rose from GM Housing Action@_isaacrose@gmhousingactionCraft-D @Craft_DA letter to Corbynhttps://ditto.fm/letter-to-corbynIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

For decades, we were told that individual action was the best way to tackle the climate crisis. If only we would stop using plastic bags and straws, while taking care to recycle, through behavioural change we could prevent climate change. Yet the rise of XR and the school climate strikers, and their clarion call “system change not climate change”, suggests climate breakdown is an economic crisis rather than a moral dilemma. To fight against climate change is to fight against capitalism. But if we want to fight the good fight, first we must understand how capitalism works. Joining us on the podcast this week is Professor of Socio-legal Studies at the University of Liverpool, Professor David Whyte. We discuss David Whyte’s new book, ‘Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before it Kills Us’, in which David makes the case that we must rid ourselves of the profit-making corporation altogether. We delve into the architecture and history of corporate capitalism, the shortcomings of regulatory approaches to curbing the corporation’s ecocidal tendencies, and the complex role played by organised labour in fighting climate breakdown and international injustice.LinksDavid's book Ecocide: Kill the Corporation before it kills ushttps://bit.ly/36WZ4F6Green Peace oil and gas worker surveyhttps://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Oil-Gas-Workers-Report-Final-Web.pdfShout outsTina Louise Rothery-  Anti fracking activistAnne Roy- David's mentor and colleagueAll the people who love or live with people with learning disabilities in particular @SEND_Action and Liz CrowConrad Bower- Editor of the meteor @ConradBower1If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

www.retrofitgetinproject.comIt's been a pretty rough year to put it mildly. A planet ravaged by a pandemic and incompetent governance being the order of the day, hope has been hard to find. Politics has been listless at best. But being a member of the Labour Party isn't about waiting around for a CLP to tell you to go canvassing, it's not about waiting for a just government it's about taking on injustice and supporting each other. So instead of waiting for orders from on high, we got to work. The Retrofit Get-in Project is a scheme setup by  our own resident producer Andrew Glassford and Red Co-op (@RedCooperative) to support theatre and live events workers.  The project takes the multi-skilled talents of theatre workers and puts them to use tackling the climate crisis by retrofitting homes. The Retrofit Get-in Project provides good green jobs to a sector that is on its knees.  This week we welcome back Charlie Baker from Red Co-op and give a warm welcome to Rebecca Slack one of the workers on the project. 

Note: This episode was recorded before the results of the U.S election were published. How do we define the success of a city? Or a country? Or human civilisation all together? The last 60 years we've been tied to GDP, growth, trade surpluses, amounts of debt, the strength of currency. Economic strength has been the barometer for the majority of the world to look to when we want to know how we're doing. If stock and shares are high surely there can't be any problems? When an economy bifurcates massively between the haves and the have nots,  and to become a haver you need to extract from the environment considerably, measures of economic superiority really start to miss the point. So what's the alternative? Joining us on the podcast this week is Professor Julia Steinberger ( @JKSteinberger). Julia is a Professor in social ecology and ecological economics at l'Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and is currently working on the next IPCC report on climate change . We discuss the links between consumption and capitalist affluence, how epicurean philosophy has informed economics of the past 50 years and the balancing act of extraction for a greener future. Shout outsCouncillor Jon Burke@jonburkeUKMarcus Rashford@MarcusRashfordSwiss campaign for corporate accountability **LINKS**Scientists warning on affluence (co-authored by Julia)https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16941-yThe Flawed science of deep adaptation https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/faulty-science-doomism-and-flawed-conclusions-deep-adaptation/

As a blanket statement, Left politics is about establishing and maintaining mass movements, thousands hopefully millions of people into a cohesive group to fight back against concentration of power in the world.  At the same time left wing politics is classically factious with splinter groups and offshoots starting regularly.  Looking into a different sphere in 2011, 59 million people saw them selves as Christians in the UK.  So what is religion getting so right that maybe we're getting wrong? What do Christians in the U.K think about climate change? And what do they want to do about it? This week we are joined by Reverend Grace Thomas (@GraceREThomas) from Moss side to discuss, building communities, the christian approach to climate change and was Jesus really a socialist?Shout outsInspired by grace blakeley's new podcast A World to Win, where she recently interviewed Cornell West on Christian Socialism.  https://tribunemag.co.uk/a-world-to-win Cornel West @CornelWestGrace Blakeley @graceblakeleyGreater Manchester Savers network @GMSaversMoss Side Eco Squad@moss_side_ecoUpping it@UppingItHannah Malcom - researching climate greif@hannahmmalcolmChristian Climate Action @CClimateActionPrestwich Environmental Forum@PrestwichForumIncredible edible@IEPrestwichIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

After a technical hitch (some say Andrew tried to turn his whole house carbon zero with just a mirror and a kettle), we are back delivering high quality low carbon local environmental news! This week we are joined by members from the campaign to save Ryebank Fields, an area of re-wilded land in south Manchester. Julie and Tara talk us through the work that themselves and there comrades have been doing to stop Manchester Metropolitan University from developing the land and destroying the  green field site. We discuss the rare biodiversity in the area, the history of the land and if the arguments for housing stack up against  saving city ecology. https://www.saveryebankfields.org/"Shout outs"Dave Bishop- chair of Friends of Chorlton MeadowsYouth Strike for Climate Manchester @Youthstrikemcr research on rewilding to sequester CO2 by Rio de Janeiro University https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2784-9Cambridge zero carbon campaign@ZeroCarbonSoc   Marion Smith and Pooja Kishinani of Climate Emergency Manchester have developed a students guide to the climate crisis https://climateemergencymanchester.net/student-climate-handbook/@poojakishinani@GoGoSuperMarionIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

City councils don't often get the same attention as the national political movers. Important decisions are still being made though when it comes to our environment and the impact we  have on it. In hopefully the first of 96 interviews with Greater Manchester City Councillors we will delve into the heart of local politics and see what those who sit in power think about the climate emergency,  the repercussions of our actions on the climate and what our elected representatives at a local level think the city can do to save us from environmental collapse. This is an exercise in good faith and activists listening to the problems our representatives face. Joining us this week is Sam Wheeler, Labour Councillor for Piccadilly ward. Focusing on his patch, the city centre,  we discuss the history of Manchester council, how to allocate carbon produced across the region and does Manchester need a 7th climate scrutiny committee?If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

Get involved with the Retrofit Get-in Project https://vimeo.com/459003183The Green New Deal has been around for just over a decade, with it's origins beginning in the U.K. It made it's first big splash in the US with the likes of AOC and Bernie Sanders calling for the fundamental decarbonising of the US economy and economic justice for all citizens. The support for the GND and these candidates doesn't come from wall street but a ever growing grass roots campaign that wants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to be for all Americans. This week we are joined by Guido Girgenti from the Sunrise Movement & the Justice Democrats (@guidogir) to discuss how the GND plays in in US politics, How do you organise in such a large nation, how to appeal to young voters and people Bernies age and what work progressives have to do if Joe Biden wins the presidential election. linksSunrise Movement https://www.sunrisemovement.org/We shine Bright- New book by the Sunrise Movement https://bookshop.org/books/winning-the-green-new-deal-why-we-must-how-we-can/9781982142438Gabriel Wienant Chronopoliticshttps://nplusonemag.com/issue-37/politics/coronavirus-and-chronopolitics-2/Swarm wise by Rick Falkvinge https://falkvinge.net/files/2013/04/Swarmwise-2013-by-Rick-Falkvinge-v1.1-2013Sep01.pdfShout outJamall Bowman running for New York 16th district@JamaalBowmanNYLouie Beckett running the Moston miners community centerProgressive International and Pawel Wargan@ProgIntlManchester Green Summit@GMGreenCity Our retrofit projecthttps://vimeo.com/459003183If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

Apologies for some of a the audio quality, will be back on form next week.Over August bank holiday and early September Extinction Rebellion lead protests and direct actions in major cities in the U.K with the most news grabbing being the obstruction of printing presses outside Liverpool and London. How has this round of protests influenced the fight against climate breakdown and where is the movement going?This week we are joined again by XR Manchester member Lizzy and Joel to debrief on the actions. We discuss how are police tactics changing towards XR? How has COVID disrupted their acts of disruption, the realities and impacts of direct action on ourselves  and what the movement needs to do in the future. Links Reset Paper https://reset-uk.org/Shout outsDianne Abbot@HackneyAbbottGreater Manchester Savers@GMSaversPalestine action @Pal_actionUS firefighters tackling the climate wildfires of the west coast@CAL_FIREIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

As wildfires ravage the U.S west coast it has never been more pertinent  to think about what rising global temperatures are doing to our natural environments. The wild fires in Australia at the beginning of this year  killed nearly 3 billion animals, our choices and the choices of our leaders and governments affect the world around us all. If we are to tackle the climate crisis how do we defend and reinvigorate the natural world? Are we putting too much emphasis on counting carbon instead of the costs on the natural world itself?This week we are joined by Joshua Styles (@joshual951), from the North West Rare Plants Initiative (NWRPI). We discuss the current state of  flora & fauna protections in the UK, how the slashing of planning regulation is endangering some of our rarest wild life and is planting trees the best solution to our carbon problem?**Links**North West Rare Planet Initiative http://nwrpi.weebly.com/plants before Pandas- the guardian documentary on Joshhttps://youtu.be/qW_XnT-MjtUNick Moles episode on pesticideshttps://www.buzzsprout.com/919177/4360112 **Shout Outs**Chester Zoo@chesterzooLancashire Wildlife trust@LancswildlifeCity of Trees@CityofTreesMcrCladiators @McrCladiatorsLabour for a green new deal Legend Jill Axford@JillAxfordIf you like the show tell your friends!Find us onTwitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

We are back, after a holiday break and with a new theme tune! climate breakdown unlike other political and socio-economic crises has a tight deadline. If we don't tackle it within the next 10-25 years we're going to be heading to the Mad Max hellscape without the steam punk aesthetic. With a problem that is going to effect every generation and the ones yet to come it's no surprise people of all ages are stepping up to demand leadership on the climate.This week on the show we are joined by Fridays for Futures' Emma Greenwood to discuss why the young are picking up this gauntlet, how education in the UK needs to be updated to deal with our climate realities and what's in store for the political future of youth movements. LinksFridays for Futureshttps://fridaysforfuture.org/Servern Cullis Suzuki's speech at the U.N in 1992https://youtu.be/JGdS8ts63Ckshout outsYouth strike MCR@YouthstrikemcrRed Co-op retrofitters@RedCooperativeIf you want to get involved in retrofit jobs, fill out this formhttps://forms.gle/xqykPojVCLwA4mqV7Extinction Rebellion Manchester@XR_MCRGlobal Law Action Network who have taken the youth activists case the EU@GLAN_LAWIf you like the show tell your friends!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD

When people think of a Green New Deal their head immediately runs towards industrial policy; building solar powered cities, dumping fossil fuels, having sustainable public transport and good Green manual jobs. That's what we need to save the world from itself and we all need to get involved to do so. If that's the case then why are the majority of those industries dominated by Men? When the traditional "breadwinner" heads out to build the Solar farm who's looking after his family? His children, his elderly parents? Are these roles not vital too? Women make up the majority of the work force in care, education, health, unpaid domestic work, where is their GND? Why are men not seen as being the child rearers and carers of the frail?  Why are we only fixating on one part of the economy if we are attempting to save the planet? Joining us this week to discuss The Feminist Green New Deal is Maeve Cohen. Maeve is the co-author of "Towards a Feminist GND for the UK". Maeve is currently a researcher at The Sustainable Consumption Institute and former director of Rethink Economics. We unpick what a real social justice orientated GND would look like, what is intersectionality and why we should shape the post Covid economy around care. LinksFeminist GND Paperhttps://wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Feminist-Green-New-Deal.pdfWomen's environmental Networkhttps://www.wen.org.uk/Womens budget grouphttps://wbg.org.uk/Maeve's piece in Open Democracy about a feminist GNDhttps://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/its-time-to-talk-about-a-feminist-green-new-deal/Siliva Federici- Caliban and the Witchhttps://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781570270598?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvb75BRD1ARIsAP6LcqtoXf9WTXeqWMtIkLDW2AcZv1VmkV9l33Hoy9HE2TqBuG389YrAkvcaArzAEALw_wcBAdrienne Roberts @DrAdrienneRobTowards a Feminist Global Trade Politics https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/towards-a-feminist-global-trade-politics(1ef21053-eb60-4df5-9d5f-9359447907b8).htmlShout outsJudith Emanuel of Steady State ManchesterHarrie Larrington -Spencer@harrielspencerRest in PowerSheila Abdullah