When British troops quit Afghanistan in August it was only the latest retreat in 200 years of war. James Joughin examines the history of Britain’s doomed attempts to subdue this central Asian country, and the part played by troops from Sussex
Under Home Secretary Priti Patel, what was once the policy of fringe British National Party crackpots is now at the heart of government. Her response to the deaths of 27 refugees at sea is playing politics with people’s lives.
A Sussex lifeboat crew talks about what it means to face the awesome power of the sea to do their job, at any time of day, saving lives.
Back in August Sussex Bylines began its Toxic Shock series reporting on the sewage discharges polluting our rivers and sea shores. Public outrage grew both locally and nationally and eventually No10 had to act. It’s a start, but far from enough say campaigners.
As the COP26 Conference on Climate Change comes towards the end of its second week in Glasgow, the media circus has moved on, global leaders have departed in their fuel-guzzling private planes, and much of the real work begins
More stunning pictures to enjoy from the lens of Ben Muir. If you have any images of people and places you’d like to share, do get in touch with us at Sussex Bylines.
Greater species diversity would transform the South Downs National Park from ‘pretty’ sheep-grazing fields into a vibrant landscape for all kinds of wildlife. Bring back the bison and let nature take charge again, urges zoologist Ross McNally.
The RNLI lifeboat at Newhaven is a part of a hugely popular, publicly funded charity that inspires loyalty and devotion from its volunteers, who selflessly dedicate their lives to saving the lives of others. How and why do they do it? This is their story.
Free University Brighton offers its students learning outside the mainstream. And from the germ of an idea just under 10 years ago, it has grown into a success story, admired from around the world.
It’s far from being the case that most people hate ‘migrants’. In Sussex, Ginny Foster reports on a Sanctuary movement active in offering a welcome so lacking from our political leaders and mainstream press.
Since Sarah Everard was murdered in March by a serving police officer, 81 women have been killed in the UK at the hands of men. How are women supposed to feel safe on our streets if the very people whose primary job is to protect us are instead disregarding, mocking or killing us? Can women trust the police? And perhaps more importantly, should we?
Forget Starmer’s speech, McDonald’s resignation and Rayner’s expletives, says Sussex Bylines writer Rick Dillon, who attended much of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton this week. Far more important were the under-reported land laws reform proposals, some put forward by the Hastings & Rye local party and passed enthusiastically by delegates, that would stop the developers’ planning free-for-all and could finally fix our nation’s housing crisis…
The safety of our water systems is now threatened due to the shortage of HGV drivers who deliver the chemicals needed to decontaminate wastewater. This is therefore a problem stemming directly from the consequences of Brexit – and one which, among many others, was predicted in the government’s own Operation Yellowhammer report, which laid out disaster contingency plans in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which has now become reality.
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“Perhaps it is a tall ambition for Britain’s house builders, but why settle for a sentimental evocation of the past when you could aspire to an exciting journey into the future with all its possibilities?” New Sussex Bylines writer Joe Hamston, who is himself a house builder, makes the case for the urgent modernisation of our housing industry…
Sussex food partnerships are at the forefront of finding long-term solutions to the growing problem of food insecurity. Affordable food projects, community supermarkets and organisations who take surplus fresh produce from local farms and turn it into soups, are all playing their part in relieving the food poverty that exists in all of our communities…
We invited Sussex Bylines readers to share their personal experiences of how the government’s planned Universal Credit cut will affect them. We have already received some courageous responses that make for sobering – and in some cases, heartbreaking – reading…
Despite dire predictions and warnings, Johnson’s government seems determined to cut the £20 a week “uplift” payments for Universal Credit recipients. Yet as critics of the move point out, this cut is not only cruel and ill-timed, but doesn’t even make economic sense…
From Sussex to Scotland: Coat of Hopes just embarked on an inclusive, inspiring, and uniquely creative 500-mile, 60-day pilgrimage to the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. And at its centre is a community-made patchwork coat that is transformed as it travels…
Across Sussex, local food partnerships are springing up to address the myriad problems stemming from the UK’s flawed food system that is not only making us ill, but also harming our planet. And our central government is lagging far behind these growing grassroots community groups…
A spate of sewage discharges and spills into our seas and rivers is prompting protests as demands grow across Sussex for Southern Water to clean up its act and stop putting profits ahead of clean water. As a private monopoly it is accountable to its shareholders rather than its customers, but a growing number of campaigners believe it’s time to bring it back into public ownership.
Around 2 million people visited the iconic woodland home of Winnie-the-Pooh last year, Sussex’s beloved Ashdown Forest. But after losing its crucial EU funding due to Brexit, the Forest is desperately short of the basic funds needed to maintain and conserve it…
Raw sewage has been flowing into Sussex’s rivers and streams – often discharged straight from Southern Water treatment works. In the second part of Sussex Bylines’ Toxic Shock series we look at the effects of this pollution on our fresh waterways – and speak to some of those demanding it be stopped…
Pete Jones, the Sussex DJ who’s been giving a platform to up-and-coming musicians for 14 years on Brighton’s Radio Reverb reveals why he never gets tired of nurturing & promoting new local talent…
“Pristine countryside lost to concrete cannot be recovered: once gone, it is lost forever. Is that what we really want to see for this beautiful section of the South Downs?” Former Lewes MP and Transport Minister Norman Baker demolishes the persistent proposals to build a new four-lane highway that would decimate the Low Weald countryside, including ancient forests, protected wildlife, working farms and historic villages, and calls on the lead Conservative Councillor to change course NOW, before it’s too late…
Raw sewage is being pumped into our seas at an alarming frequency and the water company responsible seems unable to stop it. Sussex Bylines talks to the swimmers who are doing something about it, in the first of our series on the polluted seas and waterways of Sussex.
Author James Joughin joins a very polite and orderly ‘mass trespass’ on the South Downs – 300 people walking into a valley at Pangdean Bottom. This is not land owned by a caricature evil landlord but Brighton Council-owned and rented out to tenant farmers. The trespassers’ point was that it was totally unavailable for use by Brighton city residents and taxpayers, even though the footprints of walkers would surely do no more harm than the hooves of cattle.
It’s a little-known secret that you don’t have to shell out in excess of £20,000 to be the lucky owner of a Brighton & Hove beach chalet. You do need, however, a bucket-full of patience to wait for your name to rise to the top of the Brighton & Hove beach chalet rental waiting list…
“Being involved in Sussex Bylines since day one has shown me that there is another way; that there are so many of us out there who want to see a different, better world.”
Historic castles, ancient trees & spooky legends… Charlotte Rawlinson writes about her West Sussex upbringing, and some of the natural – and supernatural – aspects that made it so magical.