Sherryl was elected in 2010 and wasted no time in getting to work, most notably in the Commons bar. The Tories had to apologise after accusations that she drunkenly insulted a doorman before attempting to vote on the minor matter of the 2010 Budget. The media then gate-crashed the party, following which – though I’m […]
“Our transport network will be fairer, greener and more efficient thanks to our exciting new post-EU freedoms. We will introduce digital licences…” – wrote Grant Shapps on his Twitter. “Cool”, I thought to myself, “finally some benefit of Brexit!” But is it? I had heard about digital licences somewhere before. Where was that? Ah, I […]
On 10 June and 29 June 2021 we published a pair of articles highlighting the lack of engagement by Somerset County Council Highways Department with those seeking to develop rural cycle paths. We turned the spotlight on local ambitions for a short extension to a path near Wells which offered a useful commuter route to […]
Dear Editor-in-chief, Nearly a fortnight ago the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, resigned after taking personal responsibility for nearly 17,000 deaths from Covid-19. This, in a country of some 126 million people which has recently hosted the Olympic Games. Many in Japan thought the games should be delayed again, but they compromised by not allowing spectators […]
The role of leader of the opposition can be a curse, as well as an opportunity, and just now – as Johnson completes his second drive-by reshuffle – must be the perfect moment for Sir Keir Starmer to pause and take stock. The worst government in living memory is beset by crisis after crisis, and […]
Eagle-eyed viewers and journalists have identified the BBC’s desperate efforts to avoid according any blame to Brexit for the dire consequences for importers and exporters up and down the land and the knock on effect on inflation. Here’s a BBC interview with a fish wholesaler that went viral yesterday, tweeted by Bylines Network director, Dr […]
The prime minister has put Michael Gove in charge of “fixing” Britain’s food supply chains, quipping that he “doesn’t want to have to cancel Christmas again”. The Times, 15 September No turkeys for Christmas? Time to stiffen the upper lip, have a drop of that Dunkirk spirit and think how our grandparents managed in the […]
Dear EiC Many thanks for Anthea Simmons’ pair of enlightening pieces on Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh. Having cast my line into the Register of Members Interests, I caught a couple of interesting minnows which supplement her arguments. The first article suggested Mr Fysh felt he had acquired some expertise in epidemiology and virology. Well he’s […]
Dear Editor, Further to your article “Lying and Liars are killing our democracy“, here are two pertinent quotes: George Orwell: “The inflated style itself is a kind of euphemism. A mass of Latin words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outline and covering up all the details. The great enemy of clear […]
MP for Yeovil Marcus Fysh is on fire at the moment. He’s become an expert epidemiologist and virologist in the space of a few days and now he is acting like a business development exec for private healthcare insurance companies. At first it seemed as though he and Newton Abbot MP Anne Marie Morris were […]
We are upcycling this old one because – guess what – they (you know who we mean!) are at it again…running own the NHS to soften us up for health plans and privatisation. YouGov (which has a certain bias…) have conducted a poll which managed to make 58 per cent of us feel dissatisfied and […]
Thursday 9 September, evening: the UK Government published their long-awaited proposal for a new UK data protection regime. The new framework is the peak of a journey which Open Rights Group has followed closely, starting from the National Data Strategy and down to the TIGRR report and the Digital Regulation Plan. We will analyse and react to Government consultation thoroughly, […]
Threats to democracy come in many guises. Sometimes they are dramatic, as set out clearly in Julian Andrews’ recent article in West Country Voices. Sometimes they come more quietly but are no less dangerous for being obscure. A series of articles this year has recorded the systematic sidelining of local democracy in Somerset. In March, […]
As a young National Service infantry soldier in 1957, nothing gave me greater excitement than riding on the deck of a Centurion tank at high speed across Salisbury Plain and witnessing their ability to hit a target almost a mile away while speeding across the grasslands. I could not help but envy the tank crews: […]
Make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence “The Government should introduce legislation to make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence. This would mean that all MPs, including Ministers, would face a serious penalty for knowingly making false statements in the House of Commons, as is the case in a […]
Dear Mr Parish I am a ‘floating voter’ in your constituency and deeply concerned at the provisions of the Elections Bill, which has its second reading today, 7 September. This bill is the biggest threat to democracy the UK has ever faced and, because the Conservatives have such a large majority, it has every chance […]
If you are thinking of laying bets on winners and losers in the next reshuffle James Heappey, MP for Wells, may be one to watch. He is desperately loyal, not associated too closely with a current scandal, and, unlike some of his colleagues, can speak his lines clearly. Most importantly, he can repeat official nonsense […]
This is a compilation of some of the interviews, tweets and videos documenting deeds, lies, ignorance and incompetence that in any other time would have resulted in sackings and resignations. We feel it is important that these are neither normalised nor forgotten. These people are serial breakers of the ministerial code and unfit for office. […]
Most mornings, over tea and toast, I read the online newsletter by Heather Cox-Richardson. She’s a history professor at Boston College and has a huge global following. I find her daily accounts of events in the US – current and historical – make fascinating reading and fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge. […]
Last Christmas was effectively cancelled by Boris Johnson and his cohort of incompetent ministers. Johnson had promised that this would not happen but, as with most of his “guarantees”, he unashamedly reneged. This Christmas may well be completely ruined as well. The Covid-19 pandemic, which had been brought under a semblance of control over the […]
There are widespread reports this morning that the Tories are planning at least a one per cent increase in national insurance to fund an increase in spending on the NHS of an equivalent amount. To describe a policy so poorly thought out as ill-conceived is to be overly polite. Let me point out some of […]
Eric Gates imagines a very necessary briefing for President Biden in the wake of the withdrawal from Afghanistan: Mr President With the main elements of the US drawdown from Afghanistan complete, it is perhaps appropriate to brief you on the impact that this has had in the United Kingdom. I appreciate that many Americans have […]
Confusion reigns over whether or not the prime minister is currently on holiday in the west of England with his latest family. According to a Number 10 spokesperson, he is definitely not on holiday and is “continuing to work”. Whether or not this is government work was not specified. Perhaps he is labouring at his […]
There SHOULD be pay rises in most sectors, including HGV. But pay rises won't solve the staff problem, and here's why. For arguments’ sake, imagine we give a 20 per cent pay rise to HGV drivers. This attracts 20,000 people from lower paid jobs. HGV problem solved (in a year or so) But… The industries […]
About a fortnight ago we saw medics and commentators expressing concerns over shortages of blood bottles. Research indicated that this was a worldwide phenomenon created by the massive hike in demand as a consequence of the pandemic. Now it appears that Brexit is exacerbating an already difficult situation with supply chains interrupted by border issues […]
On 19 August Health minister Sajid Javid tweeted that he was on his way to open “one of the new 48 hospitals” promised by his government. Only he wasn’t. He was going to open a new cancer unit, part of an existing hospital: the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, Cumbria, opened by Tony Blair in 2000. […]
Of all the distressing images coming out of the chaos and fear at Kabul airport, there was one which I found particularly moving. It was not one of those showing desperate Afghans clinging to the fuselage of a huge transport plane as it took off from the runway. It was not one of those showing […]
Liz Truss, the cheese obsessive who counts rollover trade deals as the sign of the dawn of a new era for ‘global Britain’ and crows about flogging a few stiltons to the famously-lactose intolerant Japanese has hit diplomacy for six with her gleeful appointment of Brexit-fanatic Botham as trade envoy to Australia. Ennobled for his […]
The TV pictures from Kabul last weekend were apocalyptic: thousands of desperate Afghans converging on the airport, families and a handful of belongings crammed into their cars. Already refugees in the face of the breaking wave of Taliban at the city’s gates, many of them chose to spend the night parked up around the airport […]
Operation Enduring Freedom was the code name for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by allied western forces, chiefly American, which was followed by Operation Enduring Sentinel, and which ended last week in Operation Disastrous Farce. There is no humour, no satire, to be drawn from this, but there is contempt for both the Taliban’s extremism […]