We’re just settling into the second week of the Festival of Rest and Resistance which I’ve curated at Battersea Arts Centre. As a two-week festival it’s the longest event we’ve programmed and we’re trying to make sure we practise what we preach – allowing ourselves time to rest and relax amongst all the amazing action.…

When Teresa May called a snap general election just seven weeks ago I felt a flash of hope, followed by an overwhelming feeling of apprehension.

I desperately want to be part of a society that’s more socially just, where there aren’t massive discrepancies in life expectancy depending on where you live, and where millions of people aren’t forced to use food banks to survive.…

I woke up a few moments ago and pulled up my bedroom blind. The sun’s shining boldly through a cloudy sky. Just as I was drifting off to sleep last night my phone bleeped with people checking that I was alright after another brutal attack in London.…

After I another continuity shift for E4 this evening my support worker Fran and I found ourselves in Shepherds Bush, outside Westfield Shopping centre, at rush hour on Black Friday. The traffic was at a standstill so we had to walk some distance to where our cab home was waiting.…

On May 8th, in Brighton, I woke up to the crushing news that the Conservative Party would again be forming the next Government, this time with an overall majority. Straightaway I determined to turn my great sadness at this outcome into positive action.…

Any long-term readers of this blog will know that I have an uneasy and often difficult relationship with the police. I’ve been warned about shouting bomb, told to control myself, and I’ve even struggled not to smack their bums.

So it came as something of a shock this morning to find myself in a conference room full of police.…

Leftwing Idiot and I were on a bus earlier when two police officers got on. The presence of police often leads to an increase of potentially inflammatory tics. My brain instantly latches on to all the things I shouldn’t say and my poor impulse-control means I start saying them.…

This morning I got a call from a police officer who’d been looking at burglary patterns in our area over Christmas. He wanted to ask me about the attempted break-in at the castle on Christmas Eve.
 
I hadn’t spoken to him before so I explained that I had Tourettes and that I’d be making some unusual noises.…

I took the day off work today. It wasn’t because I was ill or had a relaxing holiday planned but because I wanted to be at a protest against the drastic cuts to disability and sickness benefits that are putting countless lives at risk.…

Waiting for a train with Fran and Bunny the other day I was shouting, ‘Bomb!’ amongst many other things, and a policeman, who’d been standing nearby with some colleagues, came over to us.

Policeman: Do you think that’s a sensible word to be shouting?…