pasttensehistories.bsky.social
@pasttensehistories.bsky.social
London radical histories & mysteries. Obsessions: open space, gentrification, strikes, riot, music, drink, spycops.
https://pasttense.co.uk/
https://pasttense.co.uk/
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Solidarity with the Palestine Action activists in prison and on hunger strike 👇
#SocialistSunday
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
#SocialistSunday
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
‘Death risk’ fear for Palestine Action hunger strike activists | The Observer
observer.co.uk
December 7, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Solidarity with the Palestine Action activists in prison and on hunger strike 👇
#SocialistSunday
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
#SocialistSunday
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
#OnThisDay in London's bureaucratic history: Clarence Willcock refuses to show his ID card, 1952. The subsequent court case plays a part in the abolition of wartime ID cards…
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wp.me/p74yfw-fK
Today in London’s bureaucratic history: Clarence Willcock refuses to show his ID card, 1952.
During both the first and second world wars the government introduced compulsory ID cards as part of their emergency measures. ID cards were withdrawn within a year of the end of the First World Wa…
wp.me
December 7, 2025 at 9:52 AM
#OnThisDay in London's bureaucratic history: Clarence Willcock refuses to show his ID card, 1952. The subsequent court case plays a part in the abolition of wartime ID cards…
wp.me/p74yfw-fK
wp.me/p74yfw-fK
#OnThisDay in London herstory, 3-day Anarcha feminist conference begins at Centro Iberico, 1979.
More on the Centro at its various buildings:
wp.me/p74yfw-1nl
More on the Centro at its various buildings:
wp.me/p74yfw-1nl
Spotlight on London’s historical anarchist spaces: Centro Iberico
Centro Ibérico was an important meeting space and community centre, run by anarchists in London through the 1970s and early 1980s. It became a focal point for an international class struggle based …
wp.me
December 7, 2025 at 9:51 AM
#OnThisDay in London herstory, 3-day Anarcha feminist conference begins at Centro Iberico, 1979.
More on the Centro at its various buildings:
wp.me/p74yfw-1nl
More on the Centro at its various buildings:
wp.me/p74yfw-1nl
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
"Against the claim of the nation-state that there is an “immigration problem,” the response is that the country consists of everyone who lives there and works there and there is no such thing as an “immigration problem.”"
viewpointmag.com/2018/09/24/s...
viewpointmag.com/2018/09/24/s...
Socialists Think - Viewpoint Magazine
In the debates of the contemporary left, interventions often start with a variation on a particular theme: “Socialists think that…”
viewpointmag.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:29 AM
"Against the claim of the nation-state that there is an “immigration problem,” the response is that the country consists of everyone who lives there and works there and there is no such thing as an “immigration problem.”"
viewpointmag.com/2018/09/24/s...
viewpointmag.com/2018/09/24/s...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
This is an excellent read. The more you know. #Science 🧪
“… we were advancing toward elimination of hepatitis B in the United States,” says Ward “I am deeply concerned that if the ACIP rescinds this policy, they’re going to contribute to the spread of hepatitis B rather than its elimination.”
“… we were advancing toward elimination of hepatitis B in the United States,” says Ward “I am deeply concerned that if the ACIP rescinds this policy, they’re going to contribute to the spread of hepatitis B rather than its elimination.”
Hepatitis B vaccine guidance set to be rolled back for US babies: what the science says
A panel of US vaccine advisers voted to rescind a recommendation that all newborns should receive a hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
www.nature.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:29 PM
This is an excellent read. The more you know. #Science 🧪
“… we were advancing toward elimination of hepatitis B in the United States,” says Ward “I am deeply concerned that if the ACIP rescinds this policy, they’re going to contribute to the spread of hepatitis B rather than its elimination.”
“… we were advancing toward elimination of hepatitis B in the United States,” says Ward “I am deeply concerned that if the ACIP rescinds this policy, they’re going to contribute to the spread of hepatitis B rather than its elimination.”
#OnThisDay in London's art history: Camberwell Art College occupied by students, 2010.
wp.me/p74yfw-fR
wp.me/p74yfw-fR
Today in London’s art history: Camberwell Art College occupied by students, 2010.
During the wave of occupations of universities and colleges over the winter of 2010, part of a wider movement against increased student fees and cuts generally, students took the upper main room at…
wp.me
December 6, 2025 at 9:56 AM
#OnThisDay in London's art history: Camberwell Art College occupied by students, 2010.
wp.me/p74yfw-fR
wp.me/p74yfw-fR
#OnThisDay in London striking history: 1000s of Gate Gourmet workers march in Southall, angry at TGWU/TUC betrayal of their strike, 2005.
wp.me/p74yfw-d7
wp.me/p74yfw-d7
Today in London’s radical history: 700 Gate Gourmet workers sacked for resisting crap conditions, 2005
On 10 August 2005, 700 Gate Gourmet workers were sacked for resisting crap conditions at work at Heathrow Airport. The workers were gathered in a car park and told by megaphone that they’d lost the…
wp.me
December 6, 2025 at 9:56 AM
#OnThisDay in London striking history: 1000s of Gate Gourmet workers march in Southall, angry at TGWU/TUC betrayal of their strike, 2005.
wp.me/p74yfw-d7
wp.me/p74yfw-d7
100s of former #spycops have anonymity, their identities protected despite repulsive, exploitative, racist, sexist behaviour, agent provocateuring & more…
… But Tom Fowler is threatened with expulsion from @ucpinquiry !
ko-fi.com/post/Im-on-m...
… But Tom Fowler is threatened with expulsion from @ucpinquiry !
ko-fi.com/post/Im-on-m...
I'm on my last warning
Tom Fowler published a post on Ko-fi
ko-fi.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:57 PM
100s of former #spycops have anonymity, their identities protected despite repulsive, exploitative, racist, sexist behaviour, agent provocateuring & more…
… But Tom Fowler is threatened with expulsion from @ucpinquiry !
ko-fi.com/post/Im-on-m...
… But Tom Fowler is threatened with expulsion from @ucpinquiry !
ko-fi.com/post/Im-on-m...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
250+ LGBTQ people were subjected to Electric Shock Aversion Therapy in NHS hospitals between 1965 and 1972.
That’s (literally) shocking, right?
What’s also shocking is that so called ‘conversion therapy’ is still legal in the UK now.
It’s beyond time that all LGBTQ conversion practices were banned.
That’s (literally) shocking, right?
What’s also shocking is that so called ‘conversion therapy’ is still legal in the UK now.
It’s beyond time that all LGBTQ conversion practices were banned.
LGBT survivors tell of 'barbaric' NHS electric shock therapy
More than 250 people were subjected to painful electric shocks in NHS hospitals, the BBC discovers.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
250+ LGBTQ people were subjected to Electric Shock Aversion Therapy in NHS hospitals between 1965 and 1972.
That’s (literally) shocking, right?
What’s also shocking is that so called ‘conversion therapy’ is still legal in the UK now.
It’s beyond time that all LGBTQ conversion practices were banned.
That’s (literally) shocking, right?
What’s also shocking is that so called ‘conversion therapy’ is still legal in the UK now.
It’s beyond time that all LGBTQ conversion practices were banned.
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
In the November Critical Mass bike ride, hundreds of cyclists rode down Old Kent Road and New Cross Road last Friday, pausing by the Dun Cow Surgery to honour a cyclist killed there a week before. More here: transpont.blogspot.com/2025/12/crit...
December 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
In the November Critical Mass bike ride, hundreds of cyclists rode down Old Kent Road and New Cross Road last Friday, pausing by the Dun Cow Surgery to honour a cyclist killed there a week before. More here: transpont.blogspot.com/2025/12/crit...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Summary reaction at the end of the 4th & final day of the Undercover Policing Inquiry questioning whistleblower #spycops officer Peter Francis, lifting the lid on a range of outrages. @tombfowler.bsky.social is joined by the Undercover Research Group's Eveline Lubbers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usDe...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usDe...
Spycops inquiry reaction: end of 4 Dec 2025 - Peter Francis evidence, day 4
YouTube video by Cops Campaign
www.youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Summary reaction at the end of the 4th & final day of the Undercover Policing Inquiry questioning whistleblower #spycops officer Peter Francis, lifting the lid on a range of outrages. @tombfowler.bsky.social is joined by the Undercover Research Group's Eveline Lubbers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usDe...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usDe...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
🚨 New on Substack, my post on the postwar Regent’s Park Estate, St Pancras: ‘catering for the main bulk and backbone of our people’
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-regent...
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-regent...
December 4, 2025 at 8:48 AM
🚨 New on Substack, my post on the postwar Regent’s Park Estate, St Pancras: ‘catering for the main bulk and backbone of our people’
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-regent...
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-regent...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Our next online #LocalHistory talk is 'Sexual Reformers in Dulwich 1870-1925'. 6th January, 8pm-9pm. Proceeds go to Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers. www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/...
Online talk: Sexual Reformers in Dulwich 1870-1925 — Bell House
Join historian Duncan Bowie for a revealing, lively talk that uncovers just how surprising Dulwich’s past really is. £5.60 | In-person | Book here
www.bellhouse.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Our next online #LocalHistory talk is 'Sexual Reformers in Dulwich 1870-1925'. 6th January, 8pm-9pm. Proceeds go to Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers. www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Please buy a postcard sketch to raise money for domestic violence charities.
Or at least repost & share :)
Or at least repost & share :)
December 4, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Please buy a postcard sketch to raise money for domestic violence charities.
Or at least repost & share :)
Or at least repost & share :)
#OnThisDay in London's murderous policing history: Wayne Douglas dies in Brixton police station, 1995, triggering protests and a mini riot a week later
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wp.me/p74yfw-fH
Today in London’s murderous policing history: Wayne Douglas dies in Brixton police station, 1995.
Brixton’s long history of police harassment and violence against its black residents has included several deaths in custody, or police murders if you prefer. Amidst the constant litany of beatings,…
wp.me
December 5, 2025 at 8:44 AM
#OnThisDay in London's murderous policing history: Wayne Douglas dies in Brixton police station, 1995, triggering protests and a mini riot a week later
wp.me/p74yfw-fH
wp.me/p74yfw-fH
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
This is the first History Reclaimed attack on @davidolusoga.bsky.social’s BBC Empire series, in The Spectator. The thread on its recycled Telegraph version shows how criticisms of the representation of Mike Mountain Horse and the invasion of Ijebu are based on untruths. But else do they argue?
December 3, 2025 at 8:06 AM
This is the first History Reclaimed attack on @davidolusoga.bsky.social’s BBC Empire series, in The Spectator. The thread on its recycled Telegraph version shows how criticisms of the representation of Mike Mountain Horse and the invasion of Ijebu are based on untruths. But else do they argue?
#OnThisDay in London's radical history: a crowd prevent the official hangman publicly burning the satirical reform paper, the North Briton, 1763
wp.me/p74yfw-fB
wp.me/p74yfw-fB
Today in London’s radical history: crowd prevent the burning of the North Briton, 1763
“Well! but we have had a prodigious riot: are not you impatient to know the particulars? It was so prodigious a tumult, that I verily thought half the administration would have run away to Harrowga…
wp.me
December 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
#OnThisDay in London's radical history: a crowd prevent the official hangman publicly burning the satirical reform paper, the North Briton, 1763
wp.me/p74yfw-fB
wp.me/p74yfw-fB
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Live reaction at the end of day 2 of the Undercover Policing Inquiry questioning whistleblower #spycops officer Peter Francis who infiltrated anti-racist groups in the 1990s.
@tombfowler.bsky.social is joined by Jim Simpson of Bristol Counterfire.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjmt...
@tombfowler.bsky.social is joined by Jim Simpson of Bristol Counterfire.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjmt...
Spycops inquiry reaction: end of 2 Dec 2025 - Peter Francis evidence, day 2
YouTube video by Cops Campaign
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Live reaction at the end of day 2 of the Undercover Policing Inquiry questioning whistleblower #spycops officer Peter Francis who infiltrated anti-racist groups in the 1990s.
@tombfowler.bsky.social is joined by Jim Simpson of Bristol Counterfire.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjmt...
@tombfowler.bsky.social is joined by Jim Simpson of Bristol Counterfire.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjmt...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Just out: our report on #spycops boss Ben Gunn at the public inquiry. Managers have a lot to cover so reports are very long reads, but well worth it. Incredible admissions from Gunn: 'There was no legal basis for a lot of the work we were doing'
campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2025/12/02/u...
campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2025/12/02/u...
UCPI Daily Report, 20 Oct 2025: Dennis ‘Ben’ Gunn evidence
A long-read report on the Undercover Policing Inquiry questioning Dennis 'Ben 'Gunn, the Met Special Branch commander of operations 1988-91
campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Just out: our report on #spycops boss Ben Gunn at the public inquiry. Managers have a lot to cover so reports are very long reads, but well worth it. Incredible admissions from Gunn: 'There was no legal basis for a lot of the work we were doing'
campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2025/12/02/u...
campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2025/12/02/u...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
Senior officers who ran the #spycops unit that infiltrated Black justice campaigns were 'horribly & incredibly' racist, a whistleblower has told the public inquiry.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Two Met officers running spycops unit were ‘incredibly racist’, inquiry told
Undercover unit monitored Stephen Lawrence’s family, as well as thousands of mainly leftwing political activists
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Senior officers who ran the #spycops unit that infiltrated Black justice campaigns were 'horribly & incredibly' racist, a whistleblower has told the public inquiry.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by pasttensehistories.bsky.social
🚨 New post - my review of Ned Newitt's excellent new book, 'Housing the People of Leicester – a History of Social Housing'.
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/b...
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/b...
Book Review: Ned Newitt, Housing the People of Leicester – a History of Social Housing
Ned Newitt, Housing the People of Leicester: a History of Social Housing (Leicester Pioneer Press, 2025) When I started this blog almost twelve years ago, council housing was a strangely neglected …
municipaldreams.wordpress.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:56 AM
🚨 New post - my review of Ned Newitt's excellent new book, 'Housing the People of Leicester – a History of Social Housing'.
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/b...
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/b...
#OnThisDay in London radical history: A demo for political reform on Spa Fields, Clerkenwell, erupts into an attempted uprising, 1816.
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wp.me/p74yfw-fq
Today in London radical history: Spa Fields reform demo erupts into uprising, 1816.
“In consequence of an advertisement which was placarded throughout the metropolis, stating that a meeting of manufacturers, artisans, etc., would be convened in these fields, to take into considera…
wp.me
December 2, 2025 at 8:23 AM
#OnThisDay in London radical history: A demo for political reform on Spa Fields, Clerkenwell, erupts into an attempted uprising, 1816.
wp.me/p74yfw-fq
wp.me/p74yfw-fq
#OnThisDay in London's housing history: 140 squatters evicted from Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, 1976
wp.me/p74yfw-fE
wp.me/p74yfw-fE
Today in London’s housing history: squatters evicted from Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, 1976
In the whirlwind of the housing, development and gentrification crisis currently gripping London, it’s always worth reminding ourselves that this is a long process, with much fierce clearance and m…
wp.me
December 2, 2025 at 8:23 AM
#OnThisDay in London's housing history: 140 squatters evicted from Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, 1976
wp.me/p74yfw-fE
wp.me/p74yfw-fE