Section: Region

The First Past the Post voting system is used nowhere else in Europe bar Belarus. Its ‘winner takes all’ approach  coupled with voter tribalism has led to safe seats in which MPs are able to coast to victory even with less than satisfactory track records and often on a minority of the total votes cast.. […]

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, […]

I am getting increasingly fed up with hearing ‘Let us not forget that this is the Prime Minister who has consistently got the big calls right’. This particular quote comes from the Daily Express of June 7, 2022, but it originated in a speech by Johnson himself and has been parroted by Tory MPs, party […]

I’m sorry, but I’m not going to stop talking about the behaviour of Kevin Foster until we start getting some answers. Since the introduction of this new, disgraceful Rwanda policy, we’ve not heard any substantial justification from Kevin Foster. The facts are that Rwanda has: 1. Highly questionable political freedom. 2. A poor human rights […]

On a balmy summer evening a week before the poll, the electorate of Tiverton and Honiton lined up expectantly to pack out the by-election hustings at the Tiverton Community Arts Theatre at Tiverton High School. As they queued across the courtyard, a number of local activists unfurled a substantial banner – 18 metres (60 feet) […]

Dear West Country Voices, Here’s my list of reasons NOT to vote Conservative at the Tiverton and Honiton by-election. Austerity – 10+ years of needless ‘measures’ in a country with the 6th largest economy (GDP) in the world. Hit the poorest hardest. Brexit – it’s not done and it never will be; it was always a stupid idea. […]

Cornwall for Europe posted on Facebook, citing the letters received from Sheryll Murray regarding the vote of no confidence in Johnson, including a screenshot of her boilerplate, standard response. The post provoked lifelong Conservative voter, John Holloway, to write to Murray himself. Here is his letter: Dear Mrs Murray, I have been a lifelong Conservative […]

A group of people who live in the beautiful Devon town of Totnes, have come together in the Why This Field (WTF) campaign to support Totnes Town Council’s (T.T.C.) bid to purchase The Lower Field & The Elmhurst Site from K.E.V.I.C.C. school. The much-loved school is in need of funds to fix, revive and improve […]

On 24 February 2022, I saw the first footage of Putin’s invasion of a sovereign nation, Ukraine: the beginning of what will be a long journey of suffering for so many innocent civilians. I’m sure we all agree that this conflict doesn’t belong in the 21st century, whether here in Europe or anywhere else in […]

Democracy is under threat like never before and our reliance on the antiquated first past the post system, which in Europe is shared only by Belarus, that bastion of democracy, is a key factor in the mass disenfranchisement of voters, the sense of powerlessness and disengagement with politics. This is the most fertile ground for […]

We’re part of an ever-growing group of constituents in South East Cornwall who are very unhappy, frustrated and often angry at our ineffective MP Sheryll Murray. She is one of the 211 sycophants still supporting Johnson and they all need to be named and shamed. How on earth can anyone walk amongst their community knowing […]

If you have read our ‘About Us’ page, you will know that we are not affiliated to, supporters of, or the organ of, any political party. “Our political values are progressive and internationalist. We are party-blind but policy-focused and pro electoral reform. We believe in a kinder world that puts people before profit, that values […]

Back in May 2021, Boris Johnson’s former guru, Dominic Cummings, painted a scathing picture of the Prime Minister. Describing a culture of U-turns, policy changes and general chaos, he likened Johnson to “a shopping trolley smashing from one side of the aisle to the other”. Since then, Cummings’ tweets and blogs have often referred to […]

Ocean Rebellion (Torbay & South Devon) will be hosting an action “Our rivers are dying” at Steamer Quay Totnes, Saturday 11 June 15:30 to 17:00. The purpose of the action is to promote public awareness that UK rivers are in rapid decline and rivers globally are in poor biological health. Ocean Rebellion also intend to call […]

All but one of Cornwall’s Conservative MPs voted on 6 June to back a law-breaking prime minister and thereby brought themselves and their party into even greater disrepute. Their constituents’ reactions ranged from derision to weary despair, as Tom Scott describes. First to tweet in support of Britain’s worst prime minister in modern history after […]

Like hundreds of thousands of British people, we watched in dismay the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the plight of so many refugees. As part-retired empty-nesters we felt we had the time and space to offer to host Ukrainian refugees under the Homes for Ukrainians scheme and do something practical to help in this ghastly […]

You may remember Khaled from a piece we wrote more than a year ago. You may even have encountered his smiling face on Exeter’s streets as he helps to feed the homeless and needy. He’s been giving away food from his kitchen for a long time (all the way through the pandemic and before that, […]

Old ideas of what it means to be ‘Cornish’ are dead, and cannot be revived. Moving forward, Cornish identity must be redefined to suit the modern age, unless enough people want to start going back down mines for work, and speaking only in Cornish. To talk of the good old days is to languish in […]

Dear Sheryll Boris Johnson has again proven his unsuitability for office. Having first lied about breaking the law during Covid lockdowns, followed by breaking the ministerial code when actively lying about it in parliament, he has now changed the ministerial code so that lying and lack of morality is no longer a resignation offence.  No […]

Few BCP Council committees were more highly regarded than the Overview & Scrutiny Board (OSB), which tracked and challenged Cabinet policy, grilled the leadership, and benefited from a truly impartial chairman … Clearly it had to go. It was abolished under a proposal brought by the Council’s deputy leader, Philip Broadhead, on 10 May 2022. […]

In 2020 the anti-corruption group Transparency International UK published a paper on the potential for corruption in English local authorities. Fifty key councils were assessed on how they manage corruption risks such as lobbying, oversight and conflicts of interest. One council was deemed by far the worst in England: Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole (BCP). Why was BCP Council […]

Don’t miss this! As you will know, West Country Voices is a strong and vocal supporter of electoral reform – it’s essential for empowerment of citizens and engagement with the politics that affect our lives, no matter how much we may want to stay out of it or are bored or turned off by it. […]

So many towns and villages across our region desperately need more funding to support the poor, the elderly and the young. Levelling Up funds strike many of us as a bit of pump-priming disguised as an ideological commitment to close the growing, yawning gap between the haves and the have-nots (the consequence of twelve years […]

Industry backs it, business leaders are calling for it, charities are begging for it, but they still won’t do it. Why? In whose pocket do they live?Nothing more to say.

No one cares about Cornwall. Not even half of Cornwall cares about Cornwall. The Duchy doesn’t care about Cornwall. Westminster doesn’t care about Cornwall. The sooner we realise this the better. All politicians care about is power and doing the bare minimum they can, to cling onto popular support, and if we dare to complain, […]

If you go down to the beach today, along with the usual sand and sea shells, you might find a tide of plastic pollution waiting to greet you. Considering the world’s addiction to throw-away plastic, that should come as no surprise. The material is cheap, long-lasting and versatile, and today plastic waste is found all […]

Well, well! The ConservativeHome website makes for a fascinating visit. It seems applications are now open for a candidate to replace disgraced former MP for Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish, in the upcoming by-election. Anyone interested in standing needs to apply by 18 May. William Atkinson, the site’s assistant editor, writes: “Though traditionally safe, the […]

If you think your local government is chaotic, just take a trip to the Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole region.  BCP Council was only formed three years ago, but already we’re on our second administration, with possibly another change next year.  There’s been corruption fears, departments in special measures, budget scandals, and major concerns raised about everything from the […]

Moral and economic madness? That is the charge being laid at the door of Dorset Council, by local environmental activists, who question whether the Council understands the realities of the climate crisis. Just six months ago, the UK hosted the UN Climate Change Conference (‘COP26’) in Glasgow, in November 2021. That conference concluded with a […]