[thread] About halfway through the 2017 General Election campaign, this handsome guy, Simon Baker, cautiously crept into Labour Headquarters on Victoria Street. He’d been brought in on the recommendation of a very good friend & comrade. (1/9) 
Once through the ordeal of security, I shook his hand & we sat down for a chat. It was obvious that it wasn’t his natural environment. But within a few minutes, we were excitedly discussing the opportunities ahead. (2/9)
In the next few weeks, Simon worked his arse off, on @KenLoachSixteen cut material amongst other things. His joy at being given that job & the enthusiasm with which he went at a dozen other things, much of it beneath him technically speaking, was something to behold. (3/9)
We spent a lot of time, talking, strategising - with Simon providing all the creativity - right into the early hours, relentlessly problem solving until the minute the polls closed. (4/9)
In that same building were people who - the public now know, but we knew then - were actively sabotaging our efforts. For Simon, me & the rest of the Corbyn leadership team that were shipped in to Labour HQ for the duration of the election, it came with the job. (5/9)
For almost every decision you made, or idea you had, there were dozens of hoops to jump through. No accident. Simon was a genius, but also - like the vast majority of us - there to chip in, to give his all for a better, fairer, more equal & ultimately, a socialist society. (6/9)
Regularly, the leader’s team were the last ones out of that building, very often past midnight & the first in the next morning. Simon was at home, working even later, on his laptop, for measly financial reward. To them we were just “trots”. So be it, but the truth is truth. (7/9)
Simon died in July last year, having made countless films for the party. I miss him tremendously, as do many of us on the left. I know what he gave, physically & mentally, because he gave a shit. (8/9)
So, I’m happy for people to be treated properly, adhering to trade union principles. I’m happy for us to treat them with more respect than they ever did us. But forgive & forget? Nah, you’re alright. Not for me, not for Simon. (9/9)
