Section: UK

Over the centuries, and particularly in the last hundred years or so, there’s been a decrease in wealthy land-owning aristocrats, an increase in “self-made” rich businesspeople, and therefore a larger number of owners participating in the real estate market. Yet shockingly, around half of England is owned by just 1% of landowners, and they are almost entirely a mixture of corporations, oligarchs and aristocrats. Tom Serpell asks: should anyone actually be entitled to claim ownership of land?

Because adultery and abortion are considered sinful in the Catholic Church, a large number of Christians (who take their faith very seriously) are appalled that a serial adulterer, and someone well known to have abandoned his children, could get away with taking the sacraments in Westminster Cathedral. Yet reinventing himself is part of his raison d’être. I suspect he has no particular attachment to being able to take the sacraments and went along with the whole process because he had no strong opinions either way — and that is exactly what a trickster would do.

The new Mastermind show host, Clive Myrie, reveals how his dream of becoming a journalist was given wings while at Sussex University in an exclusive interview launching their online Festival of Ideas (9−12 June).

Protest organiser Carol Mills explains how a demo against the government’s new Police Bill in Eastbourne has changed the face of a once true-blue Tory town.

Many activities that prolong exposure to heavy breathing have been given the go ahead for indoor activity, such as working out at the gym, laughing with mates down the pub or chatting over a meal at a local restaurant, not to mention thousands of fans gathering at a football stadium to watch a game, no doubt doing what fans will – hugging, celebrating, chanting and singing! So why has the Government banned all amateur choirs from rehearsing indoors?

A retired, lifelong left-of-centre activist ponders what constitutes a meaningful legacy, and worries his generation is failing to leave the next with the right kind of wealth…

AC Grayling, philosopher, author, eminent academic, journalist, social media activist…and champion for Remain is profiled by Ginny Smith in Sussex Bylines’ popular Defenders of Democracy series.

This week’s Bylines Network podcast features three young hosts, who are all also involved in various regional Bylines: Kerry Pearson in Grantham, Jules Greenbank in Bristol, and new host Chris Davis in Brighton.

Social media has great power. In a world increasingly dependent on technology and digital appliances, our lives are well connected and shared with ease. The miles between us are no longer obstructions, just mere inconveniences undermined by online messages and the occasional video call. But, as we all know, with such great power, comes even greater responsibility to understand social media’s impact on everyday life.

A young man leaves home for the first time to begin his adult life adventure. Excited to be off to his first choice university where surely learning opportunities are guaranteed and his physical and mental welfare safeguarded. But Covid19 and the subsequent lockdown put Manchester University to the test and it didn’t score well.

Why the EUnity Remainer Dinners with Friends group won’t be celebrating Europe Day at the pub

Brexit has up-ended the lives of thousands of EU citizens, and thousands more, who have yet to apply to settle in a country they have lived in for decades, are facing a tight deadline. They share their concerns, fears and distress via this in-depth feature by Paula Wilcox.

Sunday 9 May, is Europe Day: an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe and the anniversary of the historic ‘Schuman declaration’. Here we feature some personal testimonies from Sussex people who feel strongly connected to Europe and the EU.

Bob Dylan will be 80 this month. Superfan James Joughin looks back at the music legend’s long career and wonders … will he return to Brighton for his Big Day?

Today is Stephen Lawrence Day. It falls on the anniversary of the teenager’s death – April 22, 1993 – and marks an annual celebration of Stephen Lawrence’s life and legacy.

Local elections are happening across the UK on 6 May 2021. Their results affect us all. So why do the vast majority of voters not bother to cast their ballot?

“Leave Spotify on and go live your life for a couple of hours. Then come back and see what Spotify has selected for you. 90% won’t do much for you but that other 10% … that could be life-changing.”

Eco anxiety is real and defined as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”. But how can we as individuals really make a difference? Group action has achieved positive change already and it can again. This article highlights six practical steps you can take this week to tackle the climate crisis, including switching your bank to a more ethical provider, changing your energy supplier to one which uses 100% renewable energy, and pledging to rewild your garden.

The parallels between 1920s Spain and 2020s Britain are unnerving to say the least. Tom Serpell sounds a warning from history

Structural racism is endemic in our society, but it can be challenged. Sussex Bylines shines a light on the nature of unconscious bias, the racial inequalities highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic and hears from Shamser Chohan, creative director of the social enterprise Communities Inc.

Susie Courtault and Vivienne Griffiths interviewed five women aged between 12 and 72 about their experiences of male violence and abuse. They conclude that boys need to be educated to process their emotions and to understand that sexual harassment and violence are never acceptable.

Watching the Meghan Markle interview triggered difficult emotions for Paige Furlonge Walker, a young black British woman. The interview felt to Paige like an attack on all black people and all non-white folk. Paige felt angry, with nowhere to direct the momentum it gave her. This article is her doing something about it.

Take heart, if everything’s connected, holistic theory will help us through the pandemic. Rod Watson’s uncle had the answer …

While nurses are offered a 1 per cent pay rise, multi-million pound Covid-related contracts have been awarded to “friends” of the government, often secretly and without going out to tender. Viv Griffiths reveals the cost of some of this cronyism and how it is being successfully challenged in the courts and even by the UK’s medicine agency (MHRA).

Conservative orthodoxy tells us that balancing the books of the public economy is both good business and good for business. The last ten years suggest that this is partially or wholly untrue. But why is this model so broken? Michael Green gets his hands dirty digging into the economy’s oily bits.

This week’s Bylines Network podcast comes from Sussex: Mo Kanjilal and Stephanie Prior in conversation about the importance of encouraging representation at a local level.

Meghan Markle talking about British society stirred up a lot of feelings for Mo Kanjilal and many other people of colour. The fragility of your legitimacy in being British if you are not white is always there. It might not be on the surface all the time, but it is always there, and you don’t know when it’s going to come to the fore.

“In the UK, only 21-25% of science research grant applications are successful, meaning that over 75% are rejected…Additionally, the system drives competition, leading to inequalities. Managing a work-life balance is more difficult when you are constantly being made to feel that you could achieve more if only you worked more.”

Terry Reintke attributes her growing awareness of inequality and the injustices in the world to the fact that she grew up as a German. Living with the knowledge that my grandparents and great-grandparents had a duty as citizens in a democracy to speak up for the rule of law, for minorities, and they didn’t really do that. That knowledge brings a level of responsibility and it is why politics and democracy have always played an important part in my own thinking.

In January, when bees are huddled together for warmth in their hives, the government decided to allow farmers to use Thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid, to treat sugar beet seeds as 2020 had been a bad year for the beet. The government must be made to see that neonicotinoids must never be used as they will always be a threat to bees, to nature, and to its much-vaunted green revolution.