Autumn Newsletter & Save the Date:  films, events, campaigns

Dear friends, supporters and colleagues,

We hope your summer has been a good one and provided you with some rest and recreation.

Below is our autumn update – there’s lots going on! We have some new projects underway as well as some key calendar moments around our three ongoing campaigns.

We hope to see you at one of our events!
Best wishes from all at TPNS.

DATES FOR THE DIARY: FILM

OPEN BETHLEHEM September 12th

Screening + Q&A at Friends Meeting House, Euston, 6.30pm. Supported by Quakers in Britain. Screening will be followed by a reception with light refreshments.  Leila Sansour will be in conversation with Yossi Mekelberg, Professor of International Relations and fellow at Chatham House. Tkts here. Meanwhile, ‘Open Bethlehem’ screening events continue across the USA

WE ARE MANY September 13th

Screening + Q&A with Amir Amirani & Deborah Burton. Hosted by People’s Assembly North Hertfordshire, at Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin. 7.30pm Tkts here. We Are Many is available on iTunes.

THE SPIDER’S WEB September 14th & 15th 

Screenings + Q&A with director Michael Oswald and producer John Christensen. Trailer here.

‘The Spider’s Web’ is a documentary film that shows how Britain transformed from a colonial to a global financial power. At the demise of empire, City of London financial interests created a web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it behind obscure financial structures in a web of offshore islands. Today, up to half of global offshore wealth may be hidden in British offshore jurisdictions and Britain and its offshore jurisdictions are the largest global players in the world of international finance. How did this come about and what impact does it have on the world today? This is what ‘The Spider’s Web’ sets out to investigate.

Sept 14th  RSA, London 7.45pm. With Michael Oswald, Nick Shaxson and John McDonnell (TBC). Book here.  Sept 15th Newspeak House, Shoreditch, E2 7DG  Q&A with John Christensen and Michael Oswald.  Book here.

Our ‘Tax and the Civilised Society’ event with John Christensen and Tax Justice Network led in part to our work on Attlee Nation (more below).  We are looking forward to working with John and Michael on their follow-up documentary to The Spider’s Web, planned for next year. 

DATES FOR THE DIARY: EVENTS

ATTLEE REMEMBERED  Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th October 11am-7pm

This is a new project from TPNS which wants to help address the fact that Clement Attlee, whom some have said was the greatest Prime Minister of the 20th century, is so little known about. This weekend will mark the 50th anniversary of his death in 1967 and will celebrate his entire life, one of extraordinary achievement.  It will also explore the legacy and lessons of 1945-51 for today and the nature of effective leadership. The weekend will have films, discussions and a theatre performance; contributors include leading Attlee biographer Francis Beckett; Ken Loach,  Jeremy Hardy, Melissa Benn, Kika Markham, John Christenson, Cat Hobbs, Dr Faiza Shaheen and Prof SallyTomlinson.

The venue is the beautiful Georgian Sands Films Studios in Rotherhithe.

We are still adding to the programme and will be launching a new website resource + full programme & booking details in mid –September which we will share via email and social media. Meantime, as there will be limited capacity and we expect good attendance, you can register interest at info@tippingpointnorthsouth.org
Simply indicate your preference for Attlee one day or two day reservation in subject box.  NB Ticket pricing will be kept low and affordable for all and we’ll get back to reservation list as soon as booking opens.

DATES FOR THE DIARY: CAMPAIGNS

FROM PINK TO PREVENTION  House of Commons, date TBC in late October

For Breast Cancer Prevention Month and association with the National Association of Women’s Organisations, we are planning an event on the implications of Brexit for chemicals regulations in the UK and therefore on environmental risks relating to  breast cancer. Our article on this subject is here.  Speakers and date will come in our October Breast Cancer Prevention Month email and social media later this month.  Meantime, check out our public education booklet Breast Cancer and the Elephant in the Room. Breast Cancer is at epidemic levels and must not be constrained to matters of  ‘lifestyle’. It is also a deeply political matter concerning government, breast cancer charities and industry.  We need this ‘framing’ of the issue to be more widely known and understood.

You can find From Pink to Prevention at https://frompinktoprevention.org/  and on Facebook  and Twitter.

MAKE APARTHEID HISTORY  Marking the Balfour Declaration centenary 2nd November

For the past 100 years Palestinian rights have been disregarded. With the Balfour Declaration the path was laid for their dispossession.

On November 2nd we will share our short film about Balfour & 100 years of ‘settler ‘ colonialism to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. Read our article on this here.

On November 4th  we will be joining the National Demo in support of Palestine  event. Meet midday Speaker’s Corner, Marble Arch in London to march to Parliament Square for a rally.

Find Make Apartheid History at https://makeapartheidhistory.org/  and on Facebook  and Twitter.

FIVE PERCENT  The UK and Arms Fairs, Poor Nations and Veterans’ Resistance

Mayor Sadiq Khan’s recent comment saying he is opposed to the annual Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair taking place in London are to be greatly welcomed.  Our work on military spending is focussed primarily on getting international development NGOs to appreciate that  ‘military spending is a development issue’ and that the UK has a major role to play in leading on this idea; a truth brought home by the terrible humanitarian catastrophe inflicted on the Yemeni people, where millions of civilians are now affected by a conflict led by the Saudi military, in turn trained and armed by the UK.

Sept 4-11th DSEI Arms Fair protest. We will be attending some of the actions planned prior to the annual DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) arms fair in east London, taking place 12-15 September.  Organised by Stop the Arms Fair network.

Nov 10-12th  Veterans for Peace UK are the UK chapter of Veterans for Peace founded in the USA in the 1980s.  If you want to find out more about who they are, what they do and how they bring their first-hand knowledge of the military to the wider UK, their annual gathering is the way to do that. The weekend will include their own, different, paying of respects at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. We will be at the VPUK annual event – find out more here

Funders

Our slate of projects, both ongoing and new, is as large as it has ever been. As always, we are indebted to the support of our funders and donors and to them all we give a very big thank you.

Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation (Five Percent); Ratcliff Foundation (From Pink to Prevention); Amiel and Melburn  (Make Apartheid History); to our major donors and regular givers, whose combined funding is vital to our core running costs.

If you would like to know more about how you might like to support what we do, email Deborah@tippingpointnorthsouth.org

Find us on Facebook and Twitter
www.tippingpointnorthsouth.org