Sign in

Ben Sellers

@mrbensellers.bsky.social
386 followers 26 following 877 posts

“It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”

PostsRepliesMedia
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Can’t wait to get stuck into Taj’s book, ‘Come What May, We’re Here to Stay’ (MUP). Then onto the People's Bookshop, for the first session of our new Political Education series, with lots of interesting & thoughtful discussion & some plans to move forward. More on that asap.
031
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Really fantastic afternoon, first listening to @tajali1.bsky.social & Heather Wood talk about solidarity, racism & anti-racism, trade union struggles & South Asian resistance at @redhillsdurham.bsky.social
141
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Looking forward to listening to @tajali1.bsky.social talk about his new book, ‘Come What May, We’re Here to Stay’ at Redhills Durham this afternoon. Important lessons to learn. I believe there are still tickets available if you’re around. Will be worth it: tickets.redhillsdurham.org/event/taj-al...
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Congratulations 🎉 & End the Occupation.
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
By the way, this is precisely why people were cautioning against @andyburnham.bsky.social 1/7
120
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Three years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza: In numbers. Three years of attacks has devastated Gaza, killing tens of thousands, destroying homes, and collapsing essential services. This is the real story, that the media & political establishment is ignoring: www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10...
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
My own view, I think uncontroversial & no doubt shared by the vast majority of people on both sides of the Green Party vote, is that it is the Palestinian people who must decide their own future. 👇
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I think this is a good statement by @pscupdates.bsky.social: palestinecampaign.org/solidarity-w...
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Three Years of Genocide: Tomorrow, Saturday 3rd October in Newcastle. Meet opposite the Haymarket Metro from 12 noon, then march to Baltic Square.
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you’re part of a community group, involved in any community activism in County Durham or the North East - or if you’re just interested in what’s happening out there, please have a look at the Redhills Assembly programme below. 1/3
100
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Building …
100
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Awkward facts.
031
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Great speech by @lyndarooke.bsky.social of @equityuk.bsky.social at #TUC2026 in support of motion C02, making the v important point that many other workers in the creative industries & gig economy are excluded from basic rights, while the Single Status of Workers has been kicked into the long grass.
110
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
25 years ago today, me & Charlotte got hitched. That’s a long time to be with someone, and I think it’s fundamentally about friendship - and being kind to each other, when sometimes the world isn’t. Happy anniversary Charlie.
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Incredible display at St James’ Park today. We know how to honour our heroes & Kevin Keegan was the best of them. #RIPKevinKeegan
030
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
#RIP King Kev. Everyone will have stories. Here are a couple of my own. open.substack.com/pub/mrbensel...
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Devastated at this news. It would have been so like Kevin Keegan to somehow escape this one, but cancer, man. My one genuine hero as a kid. RIP King Kev.
080
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Shouldn’t we be talking about a New Lucas Plan? I would say so. Luckily, some of those involved in the original plan & a new generation of activists have already done a lot of the work. Here: lucasplan.co.uk
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
A wonderful day at the Durham Miners' Gala. I made a decision a little while ago that I was going to try to experience the Big Meeting as a punter, rather than an organiser - shedding some of the self-inflicted pressure & just enjoy it. It makes you realise, again, why people love it so much.
040
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Never, ever tire of this view. Another brilliant Durham Miners’ Gala today. #BigMeeting #DurhamMinersGala
070
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The #BigMeeting’s strength has always been the ‘big’ part - it’s the labour movement at its most expansive & least corporate. The past we inherit, the future we build. (2/4)
110
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Really looking forward to the Durham Miners’ Gala on Saturday. It’s a special day, not just for us in Durham and the North East, but the whole movement, from all four nations & beyond. (1/4)
110
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
In 2023, 21.1% of all Britons lived in poverty (a 52.9% increase from 1970). For children, the rate was 30.5% (a 122.6% increase) and for working-age adults it was 19.3% (a 153.9% increase).” 5/7
111
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Never mind all this politics, what about the Mandarin Ducks, I hear you say. Well, I happened to be passing the Boathouse today & spotted them, diving around all over the place, annoying the Mallards. Female & six ducklings (one less than before, but looking much bigger & very healthy). Love it.
041
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Having a quiet celebratory pint. Not because I think Starmer’s resignation fundamentally changes anything, but just to acknowledge that this has been a long time coming. He has not just been toxic for the Labour Party, which I left in August 2022, but for the country as a whole.
040
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Two books are key to understanding who Starmer was and what his legacy will be. They don’t paint a pretty picture & a lot of the information was already there for those who looked. They are Oliver Eagleton’s ‘The Starmer Project’ (2022) and Paul Holden’s ‘The Fraud’ (2025). (4/5)
132
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Joe Guinan puts it very simply - and he’s absolutely right.
040
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
🧵 Pretty convincing win for @andyburnham.bsky.social in Makerfield. I’m sure he’ll go on to despatch Keir Starmer - who has categorically been the worst Labour leader we’ve ever seen & is a despicable human being on top of it. 1/6
161
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
15 years ago today, I opened the Peoples Bookshop in Durham. I had just been made redundant by the TUC & decided to do something that I’d always wanted to do. Read on Substack: substack.com/@mrbenseller...
031
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Today marks 50 years since the #SowetoUprising. I’m for reconciliation, but let's never forget, actual, real history. Because it does matter. It always matters.
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The Index is a really key tool, not just for academics, think tankers & politicos, but for activists, in making the links between different parts of the crisis & the systemic response we require.
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
On Sunday, I’m hosting a workshop at the People’s Bookshop in Durham, using Saul Alinsky’s ‘Rules for Radicals’ as a jumping off point for a discussion about how we organise at a moment where the far right are fanning the flames of racism & Reform are winning in former industrial heartlands. 👇
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Really is incredible to think that we’ve just sat through the most terrifying bloodbath, a genocide in Gaza, with a daily illustration (via live-streamed footage) of what the latest generation of weaponry & military technology can & will do to entirely innocent human bodies… 1/3
120
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
🧵 This is ridiculous. AI tutors for 450,000 pupils on free school meals to ”close the attainment gap”. So far from a ‘solution’ to the crisis in our school system, it’s beyond belief. (1/6)
110
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
🧵 Last minute reminder that this is happening today at Northumbria University, Newcastle - starting at 2pm. The Democracy Collaborative are an organisation that have focused on Community Wealth Building & economic democracy throughout … (1/3)
100
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
🧵 The reason why Tommy Ten Names legged it down to Southampton wasn’t simply to cause a riot, it was part of a targeted political campaign on so-called ‘two tier policing’: the ludicrous idea that ethnic minorities are treated better by the police than white people. (1/5)
143
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Ok, question for you all. Who do you think were having the better time today? Those at #DurhamPride, or those sitting at home, tapping away on their phones, moaning their silly little arses off about it?
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Hope there is a real, big turnout for #DurhamPride today, to stick it to our ridiculous & vicious Reform UK council, who thrive on division & hatred. ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ - Martin Luther King, Jr.
020
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
I agree with Laura on this. Naive & enraging. But equally important, I don’t think there is anything like enough discussion about the structural dimensions of prostitution, or understanding of feminist critiques of the various justifications for prostitution.
110
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Haha. Someone in this house wants to go to #DurhamPride. 💃🕺🏽
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Haha. Someone in this house wants to go to #DurhamPride. 💃🕺🏽
000
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Don’t want to be too cynical, but isn’t there just a small possibility that Josh Simons, neck-deep in the Labour Together scandal, was going to have to resign anyway & just saw an opportunity to rehabilitate himself by “putting the people I represent & the country I love first”?
020
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
It sounds obvious, but if the Labour left doesn’t want go down with the sinking ship, it’s going to have to do much more work to distinguish itself from this leadership & the party in Parliament. This isn’t a time for clever games.
231
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
We have to reverse the inevitable, dreary trajectory leading to Reform.
001
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Screening followed by Q&A with film-makers Phil Miller and Alex Morris chaired by @LauraPidcock Saturday 9th May at 2pm | Star and Shadow Cinema, Warwick Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1BB Tickets here 👉 secure.declassifieduk.org/page/189526/... secure.declassifieduk.org/page/189526/...
011
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I’m not sure the wild antisemitism allegations have the same currency that they used to. I think particular thanks should go to Asa Winstanley for writing ‘Weaponising Antisemitism’ in 2023 👉 substack.com/@mrbenseller...
022
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
The textbook has been opened & we’re only on page one.
021
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
🧵 Alongside the rise of Reform & the far right, what we’ve seen is a big spike in support for vigilantism, mirroring the MAGA trajectory in the States. (1/6)
110
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Delighted to have been (lightly) involved in this over the last couple of weeks, as part of my Democracy Collaborative role. Bohemians are a very special club - fan owned since its foundation in 1890. Read more about Bohemians Community Wealth Building strategy here: bohemians.coop/home/
010
Ben Sellers @mrbensellers.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
This is the stuff that makes a mockery of @ukparliament.parliament.uk. The whole country knows Keir Starmer is a liar. He lied about antisemitism; he lied his way to the Labour leadership; he lied about the manifesto pledges & Israel’s genocide. But God forbid anyone should say it.
140