Crispin Flintoff

Crispin Flintoff     ( political activist)
Born	17 September 1970
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Interests	Labour Grassroots

Crispin Flintoff is a British political activist who used to be a fundraiser for the Labour Party. He founded Stand up for Labour in 2012 and, in a five-year period, organised over 200 comedy nights across England, Scotland and Wales that raised over £150,000 for over 100 CLPs.

Host on Zoom

Not the Andrew Marr Show

For over 3 years, Crispin Flintoff hosted the "Not the Andrew Marr Show" on Sunday mornings and "Not PMQs" on Wednesdays, which were broadcast on Zoom and sponsored by Labour Grassroots.

The Crispin Flintoff Show

From Sunday 4th August 2024, NTAMS relaunched as The Crispin Flintoff Show. Flintoff said:

"It will have a new logo, new artwork and a new website. And I'll get my hair cut.

"I would to use this rebranding as an opportunity to improve the show and it would be great if you could help by giving me feedback in this survey.

"Thank you to everyone who has donated towards the cost of rebranding. If you would like to help, the bank details are here:"

Crispin Flintoff

TSB

Sort code: 776663

Account number: 03934060

Expelled from Labour

Interviewing Mick Lynch on the picket line

Having interviewed RMT union leader Mick Lynch on a GMB union picket line in South London on 26 June 2022, Flintoff emailed his supporters the following day as follows:

After the high of interviewing Mick Lynch yesterday morning live from an NHS picket line in South London, I came down to earth with an email from Labour saying I have been expelled from the party.

From the beginning of lockdown I tried to keep people together in the party who were isolated by Covid restrictions and we have uncovered many Labour members who have been unfairly treated by party bureaucrats. Decent people who have been smeared, abused and bullied. I called it out.

In April, the Labour Party's solicitors sent me a threatening letter that called on me to stop featuring Ben Timberley's investigation into party officials. They also sent me a notice of expulsion letter for threatening a member of Labour staff.

Last Wednesday a panel of NEC members met and decided to terminate my membership of the party.

I'd be honoured if you would join me for my Expulsion Lunch on Wednesday's "Not PMQs" (1-2pm).

Ben Timberley will also be back with another investigation in "Behind Labour". And we will also feature music, poetry and book recommendations. It certainly won't be all doom and gloom.

Register to receive a Zoom link.

All the best

Crispin Flintoff

"Not PMQs"

Building relationships and communities

On 26 March 2025, Flintoff posted on Facebook:

A month or so ago, I posted about how I have heard a few people in their 70s saying they are looking forward to dying as they find the state of the world so depressing.

I put it down to the way Starmer has sucked all the hope out of us, but there is more to it than that.

Many people have been struggling with depression or low spirits for a considerable time and I think I can trace why this is from personal experience.

I feel more isolated than I have ever felt in my life. My social circle is very small. I don’t tend to make an effort with friends and family. And I have noticed that other people feel the same from posts I've been reading on here.

I can trace how things changed for me back to 2010 when I was made redundant from my last permanent job. From my first job at Charing Cross Hospital in the 1980s, delivering medical equipment to wards and laboratories; to collecting trollies or working on the till at Sainsburys in the 1990s; or sub-editing really hard-going articles on the law, medicine or shipping in the 2000s: I loved the camaraderie of the workplace.

We’d have tea breaks together, fag breaks, go to lunch or to the pub after work. Or we’d go to parties at each other’s houses. Some workplaces had social clubs – working men’s clubs – and people would feel a sense of belonging for their entire lives through their job. At the time, I didn't realise that I was living the dream.

But, since 2010, I've had no job security and none of the places I've worked at have kept me on for more than a six or nine month contract. And it's felt like the other workers don't want to know you once you've done your time.

The end of job security has had a massive impact on people’s mental health. At the same time as job security has become a thing of the past, our social lives have started to revolve around communicating online - especially on social media or WhatsApp.

People don’t bother ‘catching up’ with each other as much as they used to as I can just check someone’s Facebook posts or send a Whatsapp maybe with a couple of pictures.

This situation was even more pronounced during lockdown. With lockdown, we became fearful of other people.

On Sunday I spoke to someone who is still isolating and doesn't go out if it is not essential. There are apparently two million people in this country who don't feel safe enough to go out. And who can blame people for feeling scared when our world view is shaped by what we see on mainstream media and also on here - most of which is deliberately alarming click bait.

Social media also produces a feeling of being ‘less than’. People filter their images and their lives to look as glamorous as possible and this can make people feel they are not good enough.

This online culture also feeds personal attacks and cancel culture. People argue about who is right and wrong and put themselves into groups. They then reinforce their idea they are in some kind of tribe with only people they agree with. God knows how many friends I have lost through this.

Bickering on social media divides us all and weakens any opposition we have to constant attacks being made on us by the government.

What we call ‘the Left’ is in a terrible state at the moment because of this.

We need to build real relationships again and build communities that have gone. Our spirit is being broken. I am sort of trying that with the Zoom show every Sunday morning and I’ve got a 'Curry on Comrades' coming up at the end of April. These things keep me going!

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.