The irony is, of course, that repairing broken windows, creating traffic jams and the use of glue (often containing hydrocarbons made from fossil fuels) all have a negative impact on the environment. From the goggles, hammers and chisels that they used to smash the windows to the clothes, masks and make-up they wore, to the mobile phones used, much of these things contained hydrocarbons.
Almost two decades ago, I helped put a campaign together to raise awareness about domestic violence in my borough, especially amongst Bangladeshi women and those from diverse communities. The campaign was called “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” with an image of a man attempting to kick a woman. In a borough where I was the first elected member to bring police officers, mothers and community leaders to work together on searches for lethal weapons such as hammers used for street and gang fights, what sort of message does smashing bank windows using hammers labelled “Love and tools with “We A
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Lumley spends time in Bradford, where she meets a group of Muslim women who have set up an allotment gardening project to combat loneliness. Five of them originally took on the ladies allotment on Scotchman Road, a former pig farm now owned by the city council, and they now occupy three plots and their membership includes 25 women from a range of ethnic backgrounds. They grow fruit and vegetables including chillis and Kashmiri spinach, and Lumley samples chutney and rhubarb cake made from the ingredients grown on the allotments, which the women refer to as their green gym .
Joanna Lumley in the grounds of Whitby Abbey