Growing up in post-war Britain, in a strict Catholic household, Claire Hill and her friends were given strict rules about behaviour and dating at her convent school, but sex (like the war) was never mentioned. Inevitably, rule breaking resulted.
In the local elections, there were successes for Labour and Greens. There was a historic win for Labour in Worthing, and Labour also took back charge of Crawley, but the Greens ended Labour control in Hastings. Rick Dillon argues that these wins were as much to do with local issues as with Partygate.
Highly bureaucratic and difficult to navigate sums up the process faced by those fleeing to the UK from the war in Ukraine. The Nationality and Borders Bill and plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda are the latest examples of a hostile environment which turns refugees into criminals. Vivienne Griffiths argues that we need safe routes for all refugees.
James Cory-Wright takes a sideways look at the world, from graffiti in Berlin to loo breaks in Snowdonia. And just who are the real ‘gentle sex’?
Pro-European campaigners have written to Sir Keir Starmer to urge him to moderate his hardline view and think again about rejoining the EU. In the light of recent polls and evidence that Brexit is not going well, Grassroots for Europe supporters are asking Starmer to consider the possible benefits to Labour of a more moderate standpoint.
“It’s some years now since I could say I felt proud to be British.” The British government’s sense of entitlement and lack of humanity towards refugees have changed Richard Haviland’s feelings of pride in being British to shame about what the government is doing: “I don’t hate my country, I just hate what they’ve done to it.”
The Tory decision to privatise Channel 4 is biased and short-sighted, argues Henry Foster. It will not save money, but will be an immeasurable loss to the country’s creative industries.
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.
Nearly half of Britain’s bees are designated as nationally or globally threatened. Leading factors include habitat destruction and the use of chemical pesticides. Ross McNally argues that the introduction of bee bricks into new buildings will not make much difference to bee survival; it’s more important to ban pesticides in gardens, streets and agricultural land.
Claire Hill finds it a great comfort to walk in the countryside with her dog. It gives her time to think and here she talks about what’s important to her in life – including food, shelter, good healthcare and a decent government – and not forgetting earrings.
Thousands gathered in the capital in a sea of blue and yellow. Tamsin Shasha describes the recent Stand With Ukraine march in London: “Our hearts soar. We are proud to be here. We are proud to challenge this government’s despicable response to the refugee crisis and their insistence on bureaucratic visas.”
James Cory-Wright takes a sideways look at the world, from fish to politicians to marketing gobble-de-gook. And let’s not ignore the petals.
We must call out lies and lazy language when it can cover up the truth or cause hurt and offence to others. With the language used in the new populism at play in this and a number of other countries, it is important we develop a new form of hearing-aid – one which can distinguish between excuses, lies, bigotry and truth.
Margaret Thatcher did much to hasten the decline of our hedgehog population, argues Ross McNally, who points to rampant road building, privatisation and individualism as contributing factors.
More high winds like Storm Eunice can be expected, so before thousands more face prolonged power cuts, it’s time for some practical solutions, says Jeremy Tucker-Wall.
In any other country, the buying of seats in the legislature, the donation of huge amounts of money to one political party in return for favours, and billionaire oligarchs purchasing property in the heart of the capital, would rightly be described as corruption. Why should Britain be treated any differently, Tom Serpell asks.
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.
Two weeks into Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, millions are fleeing the country in the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since the second world war. EU countries are welcoming the refugees with open arms, offering automatic protection for up to three years without the need to apply for asylum. But what of the UK – is our government doing enough to help?
Whilst two in three people in high income countries have been vaccinated, only one in eight people have been vaccinated in low income countries. The Director of the World Health Organisation calls this a “shocking imbalance” and argues that “Vaccine inequity is the world’s biggest obstacle to ending this pandemic and recovering from Covid-19.”
Globally a third of all food produced is never eaten, while many go hungry. As well as cost-ing us millions, wasting food is a major factor in the climate crisis. Here are some actions you can take to change the situation.
Following the deregulation of the City of London and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, former KGB operatives and spymasters with expert knowledge of Western economic systems looted billions from the Soviet state treasury and stashed it into accounts in Europe and the US. Ginny Smith traces the rise of the Russian oligarchy in Britain and exposes its reach deep into the British establishment, the City of London and our political system.
Sussex Bylines writer Ginny Foster is moved to tears by the grief and bewilderment in the voices of young Ukrainians at a vigil in Brighton.
Honours handed out without merit devalues those awarded to the selfless and hard-working. Surely it is time to find a better model, writes Tom Serpell.
In 2020 the Government approved an eye-watering £27bn for major road construction despite the rising costs of dealing with Covid. Here in Sussex several schemes are planned over the next 10 years by a government that seems hell-bent on encouraging travel by road – at the expense of bus and rail.
The Conservatives may need to elect a new leader within weeks if Prime Minister Johnson, already precarious in his role, is removed either by his own hand or by his fellow MPs, if not by the Metropolitan Police. Nonetheless, could a weakened Johnson be politically more attractive in No.10 than any of the alternatives?
Does your voice get heard at elections? Probably not, unless you live in one of a few key ‘marginal’ seats. Robert Ellson reveals some shocking facts about our so-called democratic system – and why we need to fight for something better.
The post-Brexit decision to allow sugar beet farmers to use a harmful insecticide is the latest deadly threat to our ecosystems and to vital pollinators such as bees, writes Ross McNally,
Highlighted by MP Nusrat Ghani’s description of the discrimination she has faced, Islamophobia remains deep-rooted within the Conservative Party against a background of supportive media headlines and the implementation of policies that discriminate against people of colour and ‘othered’ faiths. Is the Tory party setting itself up for a fall?
Our bees are once more facing an existential threat. The powers-that-be have given permission for neonicotinoids to be used to control aphids on sugar beet. The very existence of these pesticides is a sword of Damocles being held over our bees, other insects and our countryside.
The real magic money tree is maintained and watered by government, argues Michael Green. Which explains some of the economic mess we are in.