Events don’t only impact people – buildings are also at risk
In cities and villages alike, community life has long depended on key buildings. But how many of these beloved edifices will survive the pandemic?
Category: East Sussex
Where the rubber hits the road: the politics of local transport in Eastbourne
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.
From a dictator’s clutches to a ‘buddy’ helping those who flee
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.
Town’s seaside message for refugees – and its MP
Hastings takes to the beaches with banners to defy the ‘migrant invasion’ narrative embraced by its MP and offer a warm welcome to refugees.
Rebel rebel − the MPs who step out of line
East Sussex MPs join ranks of Tories prepared to defy the party line
Taking action? Brighton & Hove City Council takes steps to address its diversity problem
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.
United in the storm
Our pre-Covid existence was not normal. We normalised greed, inequity and depletion. We should not long to return.
Let us have unity, not division
The government’s wanton destruction is bent on dividing us. We will resist. We choose unity.
Code Six: the “new” standard for a zero carbon house is actually an ancient concept
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
MP’s re-heated excuses over free school meals
Lewes MP Maria Caulfield tries to wriggle out of media storm over free meals for hungry kids
After Brexit, a future that could be hard to stomach
US trade deal will usher in lower food standards, warns expert
Taking aim at the BBC
The future health of our democracy depends on the existence of an impartial and engaging public broadcaster
Cold comfort for farmers in post-Brexit free-for-all
The future of British food and farming is at stake
All at sea over a Brexit deal – and fishermen may be left high and dry
The fishermen of Hastings once dreamt of a return to a Britain that charted its own course, freed from having to share its coastal waters and fishing opportunities with French, Spanish and Dutch rivals. It was a powerful message behind Brexit – symbolising ‘our island nation’, which once ruled the waves and now had to […]
Sussex MPs fought the law – and Loughton abstained
The dark days for British democracy are coming in battalions at the moment, but Tuesday’s House of Commons vote on the Internal Market bill still stands out. MPs approved the bill by 340 votes to 256, despite fears that it could lead to the UK breaking international law. The bill is controversial because it contradicts […]
Not Living The Dream: has the British dream of entrepreneurship failed?
Small firms are indispensable to the creation of jobs and of wealth Margaret Thatcher, speech to small business conference in 1984 Thatcher’s Britain claimed to be about creating a nation of entrepreneurs starting small businesses and thereby generating wealth and jobs. In her 1984 speech to the Small Business Conference she said, “you will see […]
Holes in the self-employed support scheme are swallowing millions of people alive
When the government announced the furlough scheme for workers hit by the coronavirus lockdown, they initially forgot about the estimated five million self-employed people in the UK. After campaigning from several MPs and lobbying groups, they did announce a scheme for the self-employed, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), on 26 March. This caused temporary […]
Let us pray, Prime minister
This government’s ridiculous attempt to criminalise a movement that sees the planet as sacred’
Caulfield’s grasp of oven-ready deal proves half-baked
it is extremely concerning that an elected MP has such an inadequate grasp of the issues
Plumpton College joins call to Save British Farming
Plumpton College joined a national call to Save British Farming yesterday amid claims that the double-whammy of the government’s agriculture bill and a no-deal Brexit could drive one in three farms out of business by 2025. Local campaigners warned that smaller farms would be worst hit. Thanking Plumpton College for its support, Save British Farming […]
Sussex villagers who took Syria to their hearts
Syrians fleeing their war-torn country have had a mixed reception in Britain – depicted as besieging our borders in Nigel Farage’s infamous ‘Breaking Point’ poster. Elsewhere they have been welcomed, and in some unexpected quarters. Such as the leafy Sussex villages of East Hoathly and Halland. The villages (pop 1,600) may seem an unlikely link […]
Eviction threat recedes, but anxious winter ahead
Thousands of renters will have breathed a sigh of relief as the government further extended the deadline that protects them from summary eviction. As well as the new deadline of 20 September, there is a six-month ban on most evictions taking place until the end of March 2021. So those who would have risked losing […]
Our World in Our Words: can creativity drive change?
This summer, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the USA, there has been a reigniting of the Black Lives Matter movement around the world. There have been widespread protests, many of them driven by, and attended by young people from a variety of backgrounds. For some, even if they want to […]
More power to the pushers in solar revolution
Solar power has brought with it many benefits – though perhaps not the current flood of cheap high-quality heroin to our shores. Today, Afghan opium production has seen a sharp rise with the arrival of solar power and the ability to pump water from depths of 100m. Being able to irrigate barren deserts has turned […]
Local needs are not part of new planning ‘revolution’
The government’s ambitious new White Paper, ‘Planning for the Future’. promises the biggest shake-up in the planning system since 1948, with a ‘fast track for beauty’. We urgently need to build more genuinely affordable homes, especially in the South East – but this White Paper won’t achieve that. It misunderstands the reasons why houses aren’t […]
How the government’s algorithm has failed Generation Covid
On 13th August, thousands of students in Sussex and across the country anxiously opened their A-Level results, many to bitter disappointment and confusion. This included me. After spending half a year turning in extra essays, often working from 9am to 11pm, and using all my spare time working in the library, I was confident my […]
An algorithm for change
I have been a secondary teacher for 15 years, working my way up to Head of English and now Senior Leadership Team. I have always worked in ‘challenging schools’ serving areas of significant deprivation. It’s never been an easy ride and it often feels like the odds are stacked against our students and their communities. […]
On a beach in Sussex, ‘migrant’ myths exposed
The recent hot weather brought with it calm seas, and the calm seas brought with them an increase in the number of refugees crossing the Channel in small boats. To look at the reaction from the government and the right-wing press, one could be forgiven for thinking this was a massive invasion. What we actually […]
Keeping It Local – Lewes’ new party allies show the way
While Westminster politics remains resolutely tribal, out in the country things are changing. As more people begin to tire of yah-boo confrontation, Lewes provides a fascinating example of how successfully different political parties can work together and run a complex district council. After the May 2019 local elections, the Conservatives emerged as the largest single […]
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