The Norwich Radical - November 2025 Issue
Welcome to the November 2025 Issue of The Norwich Radical! As we write, reporting is continuing on the aftermath of COP30 the latest iteration of the often-impotent UN climate change conference. This year, however, the headlines offer a little more hope than commentators perhaps expected given the political shift against climate action that has characterised the Trump era, telling of a deal that does make a small step - "a faltering, inadequate step" - towards action on fossil fuels.
Hope will not solve the climate crisis, especially not in such small doses. But it is powerful. We saw a defining example of that this month as outsider Zohran Mamdani defied all odds to become the new mayor of the planet's most iconic city. The message of his acceptance speech was a simple one: 'Hope is alive'. A meagre claim, in some ways, but with the weight of his extraordinary achievement behind it, that hope is already driving others to action in communities across the US and the world.
Not all of us can be so lucky with our municipal officials. This issue of The Norwich Radical is headlined by a crucial investigation led by local activist group SiP the System, which reveals the worrying extent of Norwich City Council's failures as a housing provider. With a £350 million deal for the redevelopment of Anglia Square newly signed, we ask: are the current council leadership really the right people to carry this project forward?
Also in this issue: Howard Green takes a more theoretical look at local politics, through the ideological fantasy that is private vehicle ownership; Sunetra Senior assesses the 'purple' politics of Starmer's Labour and how they might be reimagined to challenge the rising fascism of Robinson and Reform; Carmina Masoliver shares her musings on the inter-linguistic poetry LP Muttertongue; and Kasper Hassett shakes us out of our reverie with a review of alt-rockers The Birthday Massacre and their recent London show.
You can support our work financially by visiting our Steady page to set up a recurring donation. If you'd like to volunteer with us as a writer, editor or artist, or to pitch a one-off piece, you can reach us at thenorwichradical@gmail.com.
November 2025 Issue - Contents
MIKE STONARD'S TRAIL OF FAILED VENTURES LEADS TO ANGLIA SQUARE
—
REVIEW: MUTTERTONGUE - WHAT IS A WORD IN UTTER SPACE
—
IS THE UK 'ONLY AS SICK AS ITS SECRET'?
—
REVIEW: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE LIVE @ THE GARAGE
—
BREAKING THE HEGEMONY OF PRIVATE VEHICLE OWNERSHIP
—
MIKE STONARD'S TRAIL OF FAILED VENTURES LEADS TO ANGLIA SQUARE
by SiP the System
Mike Stonard, the Labour leader of Norwich City Council, is championing a £350 million regeneration of Anglia Square. But an investigation into his business track record reveals a pattern of failed companies, hidden conflicts of interest, and millions in taxpayer losses—raising urgent questions about whether he should be trusted with the city's biggest ever development project.
REVIEW: MUTTERTONGUE - WHAT IS A WORD IN UTTER SPACE
by Carmina Masoliver
Muttertongue is a collaboration between Lillian Allen, Gary Barwin, and Gregory Betts, blending dub poetry with sound experiments, recorded in improvisation and accompanied by a textual exploration of the same name, published by Exile Editions.
IS THE UK 'ONLY AS SICK AS ITS SECRET'?
by Sunetra Senior
The latest from the soul-destroying state of UK politics has included the proposition of ID cards in order to work, a colossal fascist protest that occupied the whole of London Bridge, and Starmer’s announcement of green plans. The latter, presumably, partially in a bid to win over the parts of the electorate that may still be available to him where he recently proclaimed that “the UK will lead on tackling the climate crisis” while refusing to contribute imminently to the environmental fund that protects the Amazon rainforest, launched by Brazil as part of COP30, in the same breath. Here, it was very telling that the aerial view of the right-wing anti-immigration demonstration, led by Tommy Robinson, showed the multitudinous colours of blue, red and white of thousands of man-handled British flags melding into one sickly pallid purple: this reflects the wider perspective of an intensifying social crisis that is endemic where the terrifying rise of racism emerges as an alarming cultural symptom.
REVIEW: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE LIVE @ THE GARAGE
by Kasper Hassett
Given the opportunity to catch The Birthday Massacre on a fairly rare UK visit, I jumped at the chance. The Canadian alternative rock group had last played in the UK three years ago, popular enough to have warranted two stops in London on the same tour. This time, their 8th November London show at The Garage in Islington was sold out, and it marked the close of the tour.
BREAKING THE HEGEMONY OF PRIVATE VEHICLE OWNERSHIP
by Howard Green
British society, and wider humanity, is more than aware of the negative effects that overuse and overproduction of private vehicles has on our planet. And yet now, more than ever before, the luxury of having private ownership of a vehicle is treated as intrinsic to modern living.
Whether it is political action, engagement with theory, exploration of language, dancing your butt off, or something else entirely that lights the spark of hope in you, we urge you to warm your hands by that spark as cold days approach here in the UK.
In Solidarity,
The Norwich Radical Team
