Alison was born in East Sussex and lives in Haywards Heath. She works for an endowed charitable trust based in London and in addition to writing, enjoys creating textile and stained glass pieces and playing the piano.
The recent successful arts festival in Haywards Heath highlighted the absence of a permanent arts venue, after the controversial closure of Clair Hall. Festival organisers hope this can be resolved before next year’s festival.
Local repair cafés are one of those developments that seem long overdue. The UK currently has over 200 of them, with willing volunteers repairing all kinds of stuff and baking for the café. They are an important step in the direction of community sustainability. Alison Rees visited the cafés in Lindfield and Chailey and was very impressed.
Many of the public are content to continue with a PM whom they believe to have deliberately misled parliament and the public over Partygate, despite the thousands unable to say goodbye to loved ones during lockdowns. Alison Rees wonders what it will take for people to demand Boris Johnson’s resignation, when standards in public life have already sunk so low.
Alison Rees argues that the West ignored warning signs from the buildup of aggression in Russia, including the annexation of Crimea and alleged influence of US and UK elections. Seeing horrific events in Ukraine unfolding from the safety of our homes, we feel some responsibility and guilt about our inability to influence the outcomes.
Brexit leaves us worse off, with UK-EU trade hit particularly hard. Many small businesses have ceased to import or export altogether. The government has consistently overpromised and overstated Brexit benefits. Unsurprisingly then, a recent survey found growing dissatisfaction with the EU-UK trade deal among both Remain and Leave voters.