Rebecca Lucy Taylor – AKA pop phenomenon Self Esteem – is having a brew with actor Julie Hesmondhalgh and Big Issue. It’s mid-afternoon on the hottest day of the year so far, and the lunch rush is over at Oxford House Café in Bethnal Green. Stylish young profes – sionals tap at their laptops; sunlight streams through the windows.
But it sort of feels, Taylor remarks, like we’re in the dying hours of a house party. “Sorry, this is getting a bit 3am in the kitchen,” she jokes, concluding an impassioned reproof on the state of council arts funding. “No that’s good,” Hesmondhalgh interjects, “that’s good! [Those are] my favourite conversations.”
Big Issue sat down with British pop phenomenon Self Esteem and beloved activist and actor Julie Hesmondhalgh to talk music, politics – and how a good gig can change your life.
Read more in this week’s magazine.
What else is in this week’s Big Issue?
We could use the council tax hike on empty homes and second properties to build thousands of new community-led houses
Local authorities are now able to charge a 100% council tax premium on second homes left vacant throughout the year in England, following in the footsteps of Wales where councils were given the green light to hike rates last year. Here’s what they could do with that money.
Their children are in jail for murder – as bystanders to the crime. These parents are fighting to change the law
Sally Halsall collapsed screaming when her son Alex Henry was convicted for murder. She recalls a journalist describing her as a wild animal. As she was removed from the public gallery, she heard another mother wail when her son was also declared guilty. An ambulance had to be called because the woman fell ill with shock. Henry was convicted under joint enterprise law, meaning he was found guilty by association.
