A retired school teacher living in Lostwithiel has been selected to read her poem “I want my country back “at a major rally in Parliament Square on Saturday 10 September. Nicola Tipton, a retired drama teacher, has been asked to read out her poem in front of thousands at the first national Rejoin the EU Rally. […]
Here’s a tribute with a difference to our outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson. Well, I say tribute… a review, at least. Hum the tune of “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” as you read. The lyrics have been modified to reflect Boris Johnson’s “achievements” as Britain’s worst prime minister since World War II (according to a […]
What Emily Maitlis seemed to me to be saying in her Edinburgh lecture was that there are truths that need to be told that can be stated as facts without requiring rebuttal. A short thread to discuss this….. There is, for example, a phenomenon called climate change. No broadcaster need balance that opinion with the […]
Look, it has to be said, Mr. Rushforth is sorry about your poke bowl or whatever it is you have instead of a decent breakfast, but ever since word got out that a majority of Tory MPs, including our Prime (pork and cheese) Minister-in-waiting, Liz Truss, voted against amending a bill to stop water companies […]
I am fed up with Tory attacks on lawyers who defend people against injustice, discrimination, abuse and deportation using the laws parliament has created when they say nothing about those right-wing lawyers who spend their time attacking almost everything of value. This cover from The Mail today is typical of the attacks on lawyers. In […]
From “Cameron Cutie” to “Johnson Jingle” – so-called because she is one of the last to sing the outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson’s praises, albeit out of tune with the public – Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Truss has had a meteoric rise over the past twelve years of Conservative government. It is all the more astonishing […]
I have been a Tory supporter since I was a child. My parents were as Tory as they come, our home hosted MP surgeries. Our front room was often piled high with election literature and envelopes. That is my dad in the photo. I have had the privilege of meeting three Prime Ministers: Macmillan, Heath, […]
On 25 February 2014, the European Parliament voted on an EU fund to provide food aid to those suffering extreme poverty in the EU. The EU offered up to £22 million to help subsidise Britain’s food banks, but the money was blocked by the UK government. Thirteen million people live below the poverty line in the UK. […]
One fact shows the sheer scale of the Conservative defeat in the elections for the new Somerset County Council. The 61 Liberal Democrat councillors elected to the new unitary authority will form the largest group from that party on any elected assembly in the UK. Only the House of Lords – not of course an […]
More than a year ago we published this article about two small businesses being ruined by Brexit. We now have an update from the second of those profiled – Steve Shovlar. Over to you, Steve. (Oh, and just to explain, ‘Sir’ Steve references the ludicrous award of a knighthood to Gavin Williamson, a serial failure […]
Some years ago, while staying in the Loire Valley, we were taken by our French host to visit a memorial to seven crew members of an Avro Lancaster shot down over the Commune of Grez-Neuville in June 1943. It was special to him, since he was responsible for its upkeep, a role in which he […]
As some of you might expect, the latest banshee howl that is #TheWeekInTory is quite lengthy, and I advise a deep dive into your preferred sedative before beginning. Let us begin where the last one ended, which is, astonishingly, a mere five days ago [cue wobbly screen]… 1. Having spent a week insisting there was […]
If we continue to delude ourselves about Putin’s agenda, we will reap the whirlwind. Andrew Levi explains why we have to face up to what drives Putin in this hard-hitting article. Clueless in Europe’s Chancelleries You’ve probably never heard of Lars Klingbeil. If you have, you know more about German politics than most. He’s a […]
On 4 December last year you published a letter from me that expressed my theory that the leadership (and subsequently the policies) of this country is finally decided by some 180,000 Conservative Party members, plus 370 sitting Tory MPs and a small number of press barons. Obviously, we can now add a number of Russians who […]
Many of us are watching the disintegration of democracy and the UK’s reputation for trustworthiness and integrity and (naively) wondering when the rule of law, standards of conduct will reassert themselves. Surely someone, some authority will step in and stop the canker from spreading? Andrew Levi tells it like it (unfortunately) is… It won’t take […]
This edition of #TheWeekInTory fell on April Fool’s Day, and there was an obvious temptation to slip a fib into this. I didn’t. So if you feel fooled, it’s only because some of you voted for these gibbering apes. Anyway, here we go, with the longest, stupidest one yet… 1. Grant Shapps (who has more […]
This article by Mark E Thomas explores whether the Johnson government is the worst in recent British history. You can read the ‘summary’ or delve into the supporting articles. Either way, it’s a compelling and damning reckoning. All politicians (and all people) occasionally lie. But Johnson is “probably the best liar we’ve ever had as […]
Online here European Movement CEO, Anna Bird, addresses UK with Ukraine rally in London. – YouTubeand reproduced below, more or less as delivered, is the text of Anna Bird’s speech at the London Mayor’s ‘vigil for Ukraine’ in Trafalgar Square on Saturday. It is excellent that European Movement UK (EM-UK) was involved in organising this […]
Russ’s epic and epigrammatic summary of the madness and horror that is the current UK political scene. We’ve left the numbers in so you don’t get lost! Buckle up! I was going to do #TheWeekInTory, but try as I might, I can’t find a single thing they’ve done wrong this week. Only kidding. It’s been […]
I am sure that a lot of people, like myself, wrote to their Tory MPs urging them to support the Lords’ amendments on the Borders Bill. Clearly they did not, but voted to make it even harder for refugees to come here. MPs are supposed to represent their constituents. Maybe, just maybe, my MP got […]
How low can he go? Equating a conned 37 per cent of the electorate voting for ‘freedom’ from Brussels with the Ukrainians’ valiant, tragic, determined battle to stay free from Russian rule (and to be able to join the EU, of course) is an absolute disgrace and a gross insult to the people of Ukraine. […]
Watch and share! Jon Danzig is an independent campaigning journalist and film maker who specialises in writing about health, human rights, and Europe. He is also founder of the information campaign, Reasons2Rejoin You can follow Jon Danzig on Facebook and LinkedIn
In the first of a series of interviews with politicians, environmentalists, campaigners and creatives in our region, Anthea Simmons spoke with Ben Bradshaw at his constituency office on 4 March 2022. We got stuck into Russia immediately. Way back in 2016, Ben was one of the very first to question the role of the Russians […]
Dr Sarah Wollaston left the Conservative Party to join the LibDems, leaving a rock-solid seat-for-life for some lucky Tory. The Conservatives needed a new candidate for the election that was to come later that year. Would they pick another local candidate, known in the community? Anonymous reveals the ‘interesting’ selection process. In 2019 the fate […]
Reaching out across the seas Hold out our hands to refugees Make the world a better place To put a smile on everyone’s face Stop the bombing, join together International friends forever This poem by primary school children, read by Exeter’s Pete the Poet, opened a rally organised by Stop the War Coalition. More than […]
Tom Scott investigates the role played by the ‘whataboutists’. If, like me, you have a lot of left-wing friends on social media you may well have seen posts from some of them asking what right people in the West have to condemn Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine, when western countries have themselves perpetrated war crimes […]
We have written many times about the seemingly endless resources of petty unkindness and more serious inhumanities employed by the Home Office. The Ukraine crisis has furnished Patel and her team with more opportunities thrown up by the human tragedy itself and the cover it provides for other actions. After concerted efforts to get the […]
I keep thinking about this. It’s extraordinary that the Mail on Sunday is allowing self-declared Putin admirer Nigel Farage to be given space to talk about anything, let alone to embark on such a poisonous and dangerous agenda. This is a man who declared his admiration for Putin longer after Grozny had happened. Long after […]
“We don’t need stuff, we need cash” says the Mayor of Rabka Frome has a direct link to the war in Ukraine – and a way for you to help Ukrainians fleeing from the terror. Frome is twinned with three European towns. It is a four-way twinning, with representatives of three towns each visiting the fourth on […]
