We’ve all trodden on it and got it lodged on the sole of our shoes; we’ve found it lurking under the rim of a table at a cafe or stuck to our clothes! The original chewing gum was made from chicle, a natural product from the sap of trees native to Mexico. Now it is […]
Listen up! Pay attention! This affects us all! There can hardly be a politician anywhere in the world who does not yearn for economic growth. It was the mantra that won Liz Truss the key to number 10, and now economic growth is central to Kier Starmer’s vision for the future: he wants to achieve […]
As a young man I took a holiday in the West Country in my van, carrying a small home-built sailing boat, looking for beaches and slipways from which to access the endless ocean. The map showed a slipway in one small town on a beautiful Cornish estuary, so I headed off the main road and […]
We are currently living under a regime which is happily removing rights willy-nilly and, in most cases, appearing to get away with it. It seems that most people are quite relaxed about the fact that a child born in England (specifically) today has fewer rights than one born 13 years ago. That should bother all […]
West Country Voices will have a permanent presence and drop in, chill out space in the Ship Studio throughout the festival between 10:00 and 20:00. Come and see us! Look out for our banners. NB: the festival is sold out. It is not possible to get in without a ticket. Friday 14: 17:00 Michael Young […]
Two women from the South West were among a group of campaigners at the Supreme Court last month fighting to ensure that fossil fuel developments are not given planning permission without a proper assessment of their climate impacts. Sarah Finch, from Exeter, fronted the case on behalf of a network of campaigners called the Weald […]
The banks have gone, post offices are closing, your minor injuries unit might be shut, your library closed or desperately trying to hang in there and if you don’t have a smartphone you can’t park the car that is your lifeline because there’s no reliable bus service. Welcome to the real world of rural living, […]
On Friday 14 July at 19:15, we will be hosting a panel event to be live-streamed from the Byline Festival, which is being held for the first time at Dartington Hall. The theme? Dartmoor’s future from political, agricultural, societal and environmental perspectives. Your panel for the evening: Caroline Voaden: the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for […]
Plastic Free July is an initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation, originally started inAustralia in 2011 and which has now spread worldwide. One of its core values is that “small changes add up to a big difference”. So, how about resolving to further reduce your ‘consumption’ of single-use plastic packaging? Start with baby steps and […]
Vote for the Changemaker of the Year Award! Voting is open from 12 June to 17 June. ‘The Changemaker of the Year Award celebrates devoted volunteers, individuals or groups who have gone above and beyond their role working in National Parks. Their passion is unmatched and their dedication to a future where National Parks and […]
I was beginning to despair about the state of our politics and voter apathy. The multiple assaults on democracy, the poor, the environment and the truth perpetrated by successive governments under Johnson, Truss and Sunak, voted in by a minority, have left our democracy looking very weak indeed. Many have tuned out of politics altogether. […]
I was recently invited onto the board of trustees of an inclusive cycling charity called Wheels for Wellbeing, which is doing amazing work, changing attitudes and the road network, to make it safer for everyone who cycles, regardless of ability or disability. I had to go to London for a meeting with the other trustees; […]
If you are incensed by the water companies pumping sewage into our rivers, waterways and seas and bitterly resent the fact that WE, the consumer, will be paying for them to clean it up, then join a protest! The water companies have been making huge profits, which they have partially distributed to shareholders, and paying […]
The head teacher of a Devon primary school wrote to us as follows: Since the first lockdown in March 2020, leaders and governors in our school have prioritised the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children, staff and families, recognising the far-reaching consequences of the pandemic for all members of our school community. We have […]
A number of local newspapers, including the Totnes Times and Ivybridge Today, published excerpts of a letter by the Stars are for Everyone (SAFE) campaign group to Totnes MP, Anthony Mangnall, complaining of bias and the “gaslighting of constituents” in his article published in the Totnes Times in February. SAFE invited Mr Magnall MP to […]
Not a single arrest of climate, ecological and societal crises protesters: a report from the front line at Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) United Action, April 2023 I and around 50 others from North Devon and Torridge attended the massive climate and ecological crisis event in London, on 20-24 April 2023. This report is from the XR […]
The Conservatives are now criminalising peaceful protesters for no more than demanding that we follow the science and stop drilling for new oil and gas. What are people supposed to do when their Government ignores the world’s scientific experts who say we are ‘firmly on track to an unlivable world’? Would you sit meekly on […]
We are so lucky to have so many creative, motivated people in our west country communities. People like Ashburton Arts Centre director and celebrated jazz musician Andy Williamson who puts together cracking events like the Ashburton Chamber Music Festival 13 – 23 July and the diverse, eclectic but accessible Tinners Moon Festival which kicks off […]
The mystery of the Dartmoor Gift Pony! This one is all about who’s going to pay for the independent review of farming on Dartmoor. At the Dartmoor debate the other day, Geoffrey Cox (MP for Torridge and West Devon) could not have been clearer in his call for an independent reviewer to consider the current […]
Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall, who received a £5,000 donation towards his campaign office in 2020 from Dartmoor landowner Alexander Darwall, stood up in the house today to ask that: ‘leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to publish proposals for a scheme to incentivise owners of land within […]
The fifth Byline Festival comes to Devon! You’ve read their articles, seen them on TV, applauded their values and their bravery in speaking out, and now you can see and hear them in the flesh! Some of the biggest names in the progressive media feature in the Byline Festival line-up, including: Carole Cadwalladr; George Monbiot; […]
Reading Tony Whitehead’s piece in West Country Voices (‘Failing nature on Dartmoor‘ ) exploring some of the realities behind the outpouring of protest from the farming industry and lurid claims that Natural England has a secret (and no doubt cunning) plan to “rewild” Dartmoor, has enthused me sufficiently to write a blog. I don’t intend […]
There has been much heated debate over the past few weeks about the future of livestock farming on the Dartmoor commons. Tony Whitehead takes a closer look at the issues … all is not what it seems … Throughout this tale, one key thing must be borne in mind. A large proportion of the Dartmoor […]
Thursday 30 March saw the first of a trumpeted series of open meeting events led by Anthony Mangnall MP to allow constituents the chance to “submit a question for South West Water”. After a media and public backlash over the dire state of Britain’s waterways and coasts, MPs have been scrambling to find a way […]
Dear Madam, It was a breath of fresh air reading this, perhaps because it confirmed my views! I am no economist, I am a retired plumber, living in Newton Abbot. What gets me is that I left school at 16, and I can see that the Bank of England policy is irrational. Fundamentally, if people […]
“I hate what Brexit’s done to this country”, one woman said, “I just hate it.” I looked encouragingly at her and she went on, “Britain’s just going down the pan, isn’t it?” It seemed that, once started, she couldn’t stop and, knowing she would get a sympathetic hearing, she told me about how her daughter […]
Most of us know the West Country as home of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their struggle for trade union rights. It is less well known that Dartington Hall in Devon is where the Labour Party manifesto Let Us Face the Future was written. This set the direction for the 1945 Labour government, founding the NHS […]
Junior doctors across England have undertaken three days of strike action from 13 to 15 March, during one of the busiest periods of the year for hospitals. This has been a long time coming, with years of stagnant wages and deteriorating working conditions forcing many to consider leaving the country or profession altogether. Six years […]
The trees planted to symbolise Plymouth’s ‘rebirth’ after the devastation of WWII have been torn up, chopped down and destroyed overnight. Luke Pollard MP: Overnight Plymouth’s Conservative council chopped down nearly 100 trees in the city centre. It’s a scene of environmental devastation and utter council vandalism. I’m appalled at the actions of the Tory […]
There is barely a day that passes where I don’t get more angry and more ashamed in equal measure about this so-called government. Their policies are like something from a dystopian novel. I am a straight, white cis man, so really I have nothing to fear from their political games. However, I actually take time […]