Category: Politics
How Labour supporters in Tiverton and Honiton and LibDem supporters in Wakefield can both make their votes count

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.. […]
A message to voters in Tiverton and Honiton

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, […]
Johnson got the big calls wrong – the voters in Tiverton and Honiton have the chance to get a big call right

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 […]
Battle of Hustings – Tiverton and Honiton by-election

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) […]
Letter to the editor: an A to Z – why nobody should vote for Johnson’s Conservative in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election

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. […]
Lifelong Conservative voter challenges Sheryll Murray’s support for Johnson – updated.

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 […]
Democracy is being undermined by this government. We need to make votes matter

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 […]
Brexit bravado: building immunity

Even as some hard-core Brexiters concede that the project isn’t working for the country, they reach for tired claims that there have been benefits in certain high-profile areas. The reality is very different, as Andrew Levi explains, in the case of the Covid vaccine public health response. Radical Remainers ‘The Great British, world-beating, Covid vaccine […]
The week in Tory…it’s a cracker.

A round-up of a typically marvellous #TheWeekInTory 1. Loving crowds of flag-waving patriots loudly booed Boris Johnson, the one-man game of shag, marry, avoid who is still – amazingly – our PM. 2. Priti Patel, the Shetland Pony of the Apocalypse, told Tory MPs not to attempt to sack Johnson because of the Jubilee. 3. […]
Sheryll Murray – Johnson’s puppet

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 […]
Tiverton and Honiton by-election – time to send Johnson an unequivocal message: the party’s over

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 […]
Johnson’s housing speech gets the treatment it deserves!

Boris Johnson press conference. He just said the UK will have the worst performance in the G7 next year cos “we came out of the pandemic first, so had a faster recovery”. So [deep breath] we’re doing badly because we’re doing so well. Then he said we need to build 300,000 more homes. Then he […]
Just like Mr Toad…sorry not sorry

As news comes out that Johnson boasted to MPs that far from regretting the partygate scandal/crime, he “would do it again”, it is not hard to see why this excerpt from The Wind in the Willows has been doing the rounds on social media. It’s all part of Johnson’s modus operandi: apologise ostentatiously and fulsomely […]
“He got the big calls right” Best for Britain debunks the mantra

Let’s start with Brexit. These are the latest figures from the OBR. UK trade levels collapsed during the pandemic and have failed to rebound, unlike those of other G7 countries. 2/ Pre-Brexit, the UK was a world leader in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) – and had been since the 1970s. Between 2017 and 2020, […]
Tory leadership : potential candidates given the Russ-in-Cheshire treatment

Contains strong language! Well, it would be hard not to, wouldn’t it? Editor The Horny Honey Monster is on the ropes, so I think it’s time to take a quick look at the runners and riders poised to take over from Boris Johnson. It's an inspiring list. Liz Truss The kind of foreign minister you'd […]
“How did we end up with these bandits in charge?” A response

I’ve asked myself the same question endlessly; as we all no doubt do. Of course the voting system is a particular root cause. But, for me, the ultra-significant factor is the quality of political education and understanding of the electorate. This frustrates and depresses me in about equal measure. We disgorge our 17 and 18 […]
“The Party [BBC] told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell

The BBC opted to dial down the boos when they repeated footage of Johnson arriving at Friday’s service in a later part of the live broadcast. There are claims that this is all to do with video editing to prioritise the new commentary, but it does not get away fron the fact that the booing has been suppressed. Laura Kuenssberg’s replacement, Chris Mason went so far as to suggest the boos were orchestrated. This is, frankly, disturbing and feels like another step in our descent towards an authoritarian state more akin to Putin’s Russia or Kim Jong-Un’s North Korea than a modern European democracy.
From lockdown booze to jubilee boos – the game is up

The wannabe world king must know by now that it’s game over for his plans to force the UK into a dictatorship, under his chaotic, narcisstic rule. As Sam Bright wrote: “Iconic political moment here. The moment Johnson and the Conservatives surely must realise they’ve lost the people.” “This is a crowd of royalists – […]
The sick man of Europe – letter to the editor. UPDATED

The phrase ‘the sick man of Europe’ originally applied to the Ottoman Empire and has been used to describe various countries since, including the UK in the 1960s and 1970s as well as Italy, Greece and even Germany following unification. The UK lost the label after joining the EEC and concentrating on trade within Europe […]
Putting their foot in it…the great Tory tweets and retweets of Sunday 29 May

Thought I’d take a look at what some of the esteemed minds that were elected to run this country were tweeting about this fine Sunday morning… First up, we have Andrew Rosindell retweeting about how it is “common sense” to regress over fifty years: Here we have Fabricant, Redwood, and Karl McCartney apparently completely unaware […]
“Breaking the rules and then changing them to suit yourself is not acceptable” – letter to Sheryll Murray

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 […]
How to facilitate an autocracy in six years – an MP’s tale

How it’s done, little by little… In accepting the vote, pretend you now think Brexit is a great idea even though you were a strong advocate for remain. Claim that any debate about the nature of Brexit is anti-democratic. Conflate opposition and scrutiny, on any issue, with attempting to thwart Brexit. Conclude that all opposition […]
Is BCP the most corruptible council in England?

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 […]
The Liar-in-Chief’s power grab to ensure his self-preservation: our democracy is under grave threat

What do despots do to hang on to power? Silence their enemies. Shut down critical media and fill the rest with propaganda. Surround themselves with cronies, sycophants and the enslaved compromised. Bung public funds to private donors. Normalise corruption. Suppress opposition votes. Shut down protest. Play the patriotism card. Blow the racist dog-whistle. Politicise the […]
To the hero of the hour…

We are delighted to publish this re-writing of Kipling’s If by formidable political journalist, Julian Haviland. Written in July 2019, it resonates even more strongly today – more’s the pity. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you If you can take offence at all […]
Rishi Sunak delivers a package to set the world on fire

Unfortunately, it will do this all too literally, by driving up new oil and gas extraction while doing far too little to address the acute poverty that now faces millions. Tom Scott lays bare the shocking truth. The U-turn in government policy that everyone was expecting finally arrived today, when Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a […]
“They’re sacrificing everything to keep this monstrous ego floating around Downing Street” says Rory Stewart

I recall a conversation with a Boris fan when I was on a street stall, campaigning for a second referendum to review the Brexit deal and decide whether it was what the country wanted. “I’m backing Boris!” he shouted gleefully, as he skipped past the Brexitometer with its mass of stickers in the “No to […]
Why #Partygate cannot be forgotten: letter to Sheryll Murray

Dear Sheryll Murray I noted a tweet by Kwasi Kwarteng and other Conservative ministers today telling us, in effect, to move on from the series of events known as Partygate. He said that the government had important things to get on with. Reflecting on a selection of current crises: the cost-of-living crisis was created […]
Politics needs to be purged of the Johnson poison

Truth doesn’t matter? Integrity doesn’t matter? Honour doesn’t matter? Is all that matters remaining in power to prosecute an agenda of enrichment for cronies and supporters, a grave reduction in human rights and a whole slew of policies which will serve to widen the inequality gap and deepen poverty and deprivation? It would seem so […]