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Paul Hebden

@paulhebden.bsky.social

680 followers 2K following 2.1K posts

I help people and organisations to speak human: https://www.campaignsalience.co.uk/ Code apps: https://campaignsalience.shinyapps.io/NewsApp3/ Write: https://campaignsalience.substack.com/

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Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · Aug 12

FWIW - this is how food prices spiked in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and how the cost of essentials is spiking again now.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 2h

6 - sure you need to be aware of who your opposition/s are. But don't allow more than 20% of your effort to be taken up focusing on them.
7 - set your own terms of debate
8 - find ways to make them react to you.
9 - always have each other's back.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 2h

4 - Critique is important, but if you find you often lead with critique, understand the demolishing impact your words can have on others.
5 - (related to 4), for every negative thing you say, utter 4 positive things. It really matters.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 2h

A few things about left organising spaces I really want to flag. Partly because I know I need reminding too.
1 - Stop making perfect the enemy of the good.
2 -Big up every win, no matter how small.
3 - If you're in a position of leadership, show up with a smile: always be relentlessly positive.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

NB - when I say "not housing" I mean a house for personal use. The value in other additional property should absolutely be part of a wealth tax if you're worth £10 million+.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

If such a tax raises a few quid, great, but there's an urgent prior need to save our democracies too. And reducing wealth inequality by clipping the wings of the top 0.01% is absolutely the right thing to do.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

I personally think that a 2% tax on the wealth of people with more than £10million in investments (not housing) is a basic matter of fairness, regardless of the money it raises. Money and wealth have corrupted western democracies and wealth inequality is ruining our lives.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

It is now impossible for a chancellor to go on TV & talk about public services & taxation, without being asked " what about a wealth tax?"
That's a consequence of yrs of campaigning (since 2020 actually).
So yeah guys, we know there's a suite of wealth taxes out there and now... so do you!

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

I first knew that the campaign for a wealth tax was starting to be successful when Boris Johnson introduced his idea of a social care levy (tax). The clamour for a wealth tax had already begun and he was forced to explain, in the commons why he wasn't using a wealth tax to pay for social care.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

There was always a contingent in the tax justice space who - while supporting a wealth tax - knew that raising the salience of a wealth tax would have the effect of raising the salience of ALL WEALTH TAXES.

And here y'all are, talking about wealth taxes.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

But everyone in that movement also knows that a wealth tax is a Trojan Horse idea. Something that polling and public attitudes research always showed was popular and easy to explain with the public.

Tax Strategic Comms 101: tax is v boring, it's v hard to understand, people don't like paying tax

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

But they don't seem to realise that they literally wouldn't be talking about all those other wealth taxes if tax justice campaigns hadn't deliberately gone out to make a wealth tax such a big fricken deal.
Sure, there are organisations out there that do want to see a wealth tax come into law >>

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 3h

Centrists on here love to slag of the idea of a wealth tax and I honestly thing it's great.
Likewise, the fact they have all suddenly become "expert" in telling all of you that, in fact the UK already has lots of wealth taxes. That "a wealth tax is just one in suite of wealth taxes ackshually" >>

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 4h

There are millions, perhaps billions of women out there who struggle, really fucking struggle. Day in day out to survive and end up with nothing. They leave this world with less than they came into it with. So sorry if I appear unsympathetic that Netflix gave her £20 million for this documentary.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 4h

I appreciate life isn't sometimes easy for these stars, but honestly I have no sympathy for lavish, wasteful cretinous people like that. None.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 4h

After 20 years of having zero idea what the numbers are in this "enterprise" Victoria Beckham's business continues to eat £6-£7 million a year, despite £100 million + revenues, sales up etc etc. Like for fuck's sake. You could be successful, you could have "a role" in life, but do something else.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 4h

Victoria Beckham has spaffed tens of millions - literally something like £70 million, so she can cosplay being a Spice Girl Versace. Sure, it's (literally) her husband's money to burn, but it's also an example of the foul excesses of a weatlhy moron.

£70,000 a year on office flowers

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 4h

I just happen to be working on a project where I speak to alot of very, very wealthy people. And 1 thing they say consistently, is that once you have wealth (a few million) the world is literally designed so that you make more & more & more & more. You'd literally have to be a moron to LOSE money.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 15h

Watching the Victoria Beckham documentary. She says "I" alot.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 15h

Watching the Victoria Beckham documentary. She says "I" alot.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 19h

Actually, my original tweet read really badly. So fair play for picking me up on it. I was going for irony, but re-reading it, you were right to call me out.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 20h

Yep, and see my second tweet. I'm under no illusions about this.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 20h

The Nobel Prize was set up by an arms dealer, btw.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 20h

Ha! A Venezuelan female activist won the Nobel, in the biggest snub imaginable to Trump, who's rumoured to be planning an illegal invasion of Venezuela.
The Nobel committee showing more nerve than most western heads of state.

Reposted by Paul Hebden

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 21h

A ward that has gone from 85% combined Con and Lab vote, no Reform or Greens standing to 69% Reform and Green vote, with 24% for Con and Lab combined.

Volatile times...

Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 23h

Bretforton & Offenham (Wychavon) Council By-Election Result:

➡️ RFM: 43.5% (New)
🌍 GRN: 25.9% (New)
🌳 CON: 20.1% (-35.4)
🌹 LAB: 4.0% (-25.9)
🔶 LDM: 3.8% (-10.8)
🙋 Ind: 1.5% (New)
🙋 Ind: 1.2% (New)

Reform GAIN from Conservative.
Changes w/ 2023.

Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 21h

Yeah, I had this. When I woke from surgery they had an arrow pointing to the wrong knee!!!
Thankfully they realised the mistake before the op!!
Hope you're recovery goes well.

Reposted by Paul Hebden

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 1d

That England has had its three worst harvests on record inside the past five years really should be being treated as a much bigger cause for concern than is currently the case. www.businessgreen.com/news/4520171...

'This is what farming with climate change looks like': England endures second worst harvest on record

New analysis confirms three of the five worst harvests on record have occurred in the past five years on the back of extreme heat, drought, and rainfall

www.businessgreen.com