My Age Of Activism - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Coming back from a record-breaking steamy summer of lethargic lazing-about, it's been good to get back into the activism/journalism/police-get-off-my-back swing of things. I don't know what it is about September that kick-starts that mood, whether it's the sun saying goodbye for another year, or the fact students are back in action... either way, here's my latest editor's blog for Ctrl.Alt.Shift which features taking on the BNP and trying to evict a few corrupt Lords; a report that screams 'Boy, I've been busy!':

Editor's Blog
Ctrl.Alt.Shift blog specialist Bibi van der Zee once wrote how activists can get ‘lethargic’ and chillaxed over the summer period, as whatever beaming sun the UK provides is seized upon with tanning lotion and the shortest of short shorts. In hindsight, I dare not disagree, as my summer of potential love and rays was reduced to tears and sweat behind the confines of my office lap top, bitching at the cries of laughter coming from the happy-go-luckies outside. Call me bitter? Hell no, I love this job.

Minor self-sympathy put aside, the activism season is well and truly back in motion. Amped students are back in school and making movements, we all gear towards a vital time in the climate change battle (click here for more Road To Copenhagen info), and I’m pitching a FOR SALE sign on the House of Lords… okay, let me explain that last one.



The Lords have been the most unholy of creatures, in particular Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor. Earlier this year, the naughty boys got caught out by Sunday Times reporters posing as lobbyists seeking amendments to government legislation in return for cash. The Lords graciously agreed to help, putting the whole integrity of our legal system in jeopardy, and tainting any faith left that our government is a finely oiled democratic machine.

The punishment for such exploitation of power? On Monday (October 11th), the bad boys (still talking about Truscott and Harper here, not Will Smith and Martin Lawrence) just strolled back into parliament. Their six-month ban was over, but the distaste in my mouth was still there.

Please click here for more on the Lords scandal story...

So, what do activists do when the distraction of the summer sun disappears? Geared up by Don’t Panic’s Heydon Prowse and joined by fellow Ctrl.Alt.Shift star James Prosho, we all headed to the frontline, with a polished FOR SALE sign (also stating ‘F**king Corrupt’), and pitched it up right in front of the House of Lords gates. We all hoped the message would be read by the guilty parties, but who knows, as it took little more than eight minutes before the Met’s finest tore it down...

Read the rest of the action here