I am not impressed by the government saying there will be a Covid-19 inquiry but now is not the time. They seem to expect praise for saying that but it is crazy to think they ignore the findings of the Allparty Group that shows what a scandalous mess the government has made.
We’re on high alert now − but government failings have made the race against the virus more desperate
The tragedy of the hard Brexit pursued by the UK is that so many Europe-focused businesses have become instantly unviable, whether they’re selling Scottish langoustines to France, Welsh lamb to Germany or language services to the Netherlands. The Brexit impacts that are being disingenuously described as teething troubles are actually structural.
Next week MPs will decide whether or not to back crucial Lords’ amendments to the government’s Trade Bill. If these amendments are not passed, the health service will be treated like any business – its profitable parts privatised and its data (our data) sold to the highest bidder.
It’s January and the doorbell hasn’t worked for most of the previous year. We’ve kinda got used to it by now. I think my wife still believes I’m going to fix it, but it would be fair to say I’ve taken a relaxed approach to its repair. As I have to a number of other DIY issues.
In cities and villages alike, community life has long depended on key buildings. But how many of these beloved edifices will survive the pandemic?
Nine months after contracting COVID-19, Sophie Wilson has still not recovered from the disease and is enduring a range of physical and mental symptoms on a daily basis. She describes the debilitating impact that Long COVID is having on her health and her life.
The year 2000 promised to be a good one for transport campaigners in Eastbourne when East Sussex County Council (ESCC) published their first Local Transport Plan (LTP1). The plan was forward-thinking and exciting, but as the years have passed, little has been achieved. The promise has been broken.
Vivienne Griffiths turns the spotlight on the government’s decisions on re-opening schools. She exposes a predictable pattern of delays, U-turns and threats of legal action that jeopardise teachers’ and students’ safety, and cause anxiety and uncertainty among parents.
A group of East Sussex Remainers found a foodie way to not only beat the Brexit blues, but to continue to travel Europe even during lockdown. Ginny Foster reports on a Covid-secure idea to share good food, drink and company.
While citizen journalists in the UK work to combat mainstream media bias, other countries arrest and torture the brave voices who speak truth to power. Susie Courtault examines the treatment of two women journalists, in China and Saudi Arabia, and fears for the future of human rights protection in the UK.
Having had to flee Chile after Pinochet’s 1973 military coup, Rossana Leal and her family settled in Scotland, where they were welcomed with open arms. Now basedin Hastings, Rossana is managing a buddy project that provides practical and emotional support for migrants and refugees in East Sussex.
Johnson’s government is resisting the warnings of five former prime ministers and implementing major cuts to Britain’s international aid budget. Such significant reductions are grim news for people in the world’s poorest countries just as we are seeing the first year-on-year increase in extreme poverty in two decades.
On Saturday 12 December, shoppers in Lewes responded to the problem of food poverty by donating an astonishing 7,002 items of food and household products, up from the 5,661 items collected at Halloween. Organised by Mark Perryman, the 12-hour effort included entertainment from many of the town’s gifted performers.
Rod Watson traces the origins of inns and taverns from the Middle Ages through to the present time: coaching inns, gin joints, the Victorian pubs, the licensing laws and their subsequent liberalisation, the smoking ban and its profound effect on the trade – and the new gangster on the block, Master Covid.
Is a day out at the shops gone forever? The fate of our high streets and the retail brands that drew us to them, is in the balance. Mo Kanjilal explores whether new and innovative brands, and a radical rethink about what to do with existing retail space, can bring our dying town centres back to life.
To highlight lack of action to address the climate emergency, Extinction Rebellion activist Venetia Carter is fasting for seven days. She passionately believes that the catastrophe of climate breakdown isn’t a problem that can be solved by the people of the future; it is the responsibility of all of us – the people of the present – here and now.
In a democracy every citizen should have the right not only to vote, but also to have someone in parliament who speaks for them, which simply does not happen in First Past the Post races. For Sussex, and the rest of the country, a fair proportional representative voting system seems overdue.
The arts sector more than pays its way – and deserves the extra support it has received during the pandemic, whichever way you look at it.
Can one of the most ancient and last remaining bridleways in Mid Sussex be saved from being turned into a cycleway? Ginny Smith uncovers a controversy involving Mid Sussex District Council, furious residents, environmentalists, developers, landed estates, the vice-sheriff of West Sussex and a seemingly endless maze of complications.
Theatre maker Tamsin Shasha is passionate about the power of story-telling through live performance. Here she talks about two theatrical adventures during lockdown, in Brighton and in Berlin.
Hastings takes to the beaches with banners to defy the ‘migrant invasion’ narrative embraced by its MP and offer a warm welcome to refugees.
East Sussex MPs join ranks of Tories prepared to defy the party line
Brighton & Hove City Council has a problem. It represents a population where 12.4% are not white, yet there is only one councillor of colour and the employees of the council are only 7% non-white.
Lewes, the county town of East Sussex, does not fit the stereotype of communities where food poverty is on the rise – but beneath the surface there is very real deprivation. On Halloween dozens of volunteers turned out, collecting thousands of food items for people in need.
Our pre-Covid existence was not normal. We normalised greed, inequity and depletion. We should not long to return.
The government’s wanton destruction is bent on dividing us. We will resist. We choose unity.
The basic aim of this Code was to produce a dwelling built in an eco-friendly way from sustainable materials that generated a low carbon footprint
Lewes MP Maria Caulfield tries to wriggle out of media storm over free meals for hungry kids
The future of British food and farming is at stake