Category: Politics

We CAN talk about morality and compassion and we MUST

Richard Haviland

The aim of so much of the ‘commentary’ which blights today’s UK is to persuade people there is no legitimate public conversation to be had about morality or compassion. To persuade them that there is only “virtue signalling”, “wokery” and “sanctimony”. Once enough people accept that premise, you are in deep trouble. Think about it. […]

The orchestrated campaign to get the BBC to self-sabotage

Erika John

Cancelling Sir David Attenborough, Gary Lineker and the BBC Singers and reducing BBC orchestra numbers all in a single week does seem like a bit of an orchestrated PR campaign to get the BBC to self sabotage. To quote Ian Fleming: ‘Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.’ There has been a long-running campaign […]

Is market fundamentalism compatible with morality and religion?

Richard Playford and Mark E Thomas

Traditional Conservative politics, as the name suggests, amongst other things, places a significant emphasis on the conservation of the tried and tested, the reliable, the traditional, and so on. Traditional conservativism prioritizes practical experience over abstract theorizing, and prefers gradual changes, organically developing and emerging from the local community, to sweeping changes imposed from above. For a […]

The ultimate political tomato joke…

Richard Scott

A man walks into a greengrocer and asks for a kilo of tomatoes. The greengrocer tells him, “That’s £50, please, mate”. The man is shocked. ‘£50? Last week these tomatoes only cost me £2!’ ‘Well, today it is £50.’ ‘But why £50? You’re having a laugh!’ The greengrocer says, ‘I’ll explain it: – £2 for […]

The Teignbridge ‘Newton Abbot says no’ scandal

Stuart Reynolds

Here’s the story so far in the Teignbridge – “Newton Abbot Says No” scandal. It’s really quite a shocker! Basically a “complaint” was made about the conduct of two councillors on Teignbridge Council. The councillors represented the South Devon Alliance. I’ve never met any of this group, but basically they were born out of the […]

Sunak and the single market: proof that Brexit is absurd

Jon Danzig

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, admitted today that Northern Ireland is in a better position than the rest of the UK by having unique access to both the EU Single Market and the UK market. He excitedly told workers at the Coca-Cola plant in Co Antrim that this made Northern Ireland, ‘The world’s most exciting economic […]

Putin’s Brexit: letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear Editor I couldn’t agree more with Jon Danzig’s latest article on Brexit/Putin. I took this image on a placard, on the ‘National Rejoin March’ in October 2022. Putin acts like an old-fashioned Tsar and has even built a Louis XIV-style palace on the Black Sea coast, but he’s also a competent strategist. With the […]

A state of denial

Richard Paul-Jones

As the Conservatives continue their race to the bottom it is clear that they are in denial. They deny that Brexit was an act of stupidity and wanton self-harm. They deny that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng caused a disaster. They will deny that ‘Levelling Up’ has died in a ditch. And they will deny […]

Important corrections to Anne Marie Morris’s ‘newsletter’

Anthea Simmons

Newton Abbot MP, Anne Marie Morris, has released her weekly column. It was so packed with untruths and gaslighting statements that it just had to be unpicked. “The UK has been an independent nation for three years this January”. Hmm. It was already an independent nation, actually. Think the word you are looking for, Anne […]

A vote for Brexit was a vote for Putin

Jon Danzig

The main beneficiary of Brexit? Vladimir Putin, argues Jon Danzig. A vote for Brexit, was a vote for Putin Putin’s fingerprints are all over Brexit. There have been suspicions of this for some time, but the evidence is now compelling and urgently needs proper investigation. Motive is the key incentive for any crime. There have […]

Rishi Sunak is in trouble…

Martin Day

In fairness, it’s not an exceptionally observant point to make: anywhere you look, pundits are noting the unshakeable air of malaise around Westminster. It’s nothing compared to the death spiral of Johnson’s regime, or the barely-controlled hysteria of Truss’s brief reign of economic terror, but it’s there. The waters may be calm, but there are […]

Countdown to chaos: the incredible rise and fall of Drew Mellor

James Bean

A controversial and chaotic political reign ended last week, as Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) leader Drew Mellor resigned after two years in the hotseat. His leadership was littered with scandal and leaves the fledgling council on the verge of bankruptcy, less than four years after its formation. His reversal comes just 80 days before […]

Is it a job-seekers’ market? Bournemouth Jobs Fair

Phil Lucas

Brexit has been blamed for creating a shortfall in workers across many sectors, so it should be a good time to be looking for work, or to boost over-stretched pay-packets. The Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth hosted a ‘jobs fair’ at the start of February, giving employers a chance to showcase opportunities to interest potential new […]

Nobody gave informed consent for Brexit

Jon Danzig

Nobody gave ‘informed consent’ for Brexit. That’s because, in the 2016 referendum, the electorate was not sufficiently informed. On the contrary, we were grossly misinformed. Legally, informed consent means that consent has been given with full knowledge of: ▪ the risks involved,▪ the probable consequences,▪ and the alternatives. – During the referendum, we were not fully aware of all […]

Is the UK the modern day Titanic? Letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear West Country Voices, The Titanic was advertised as being unsinkable. Its owners, the White Star Line, were facing great competition from Cunard in the burgeoning market to transport folk to the USA. Not just business men and rich people, but also those leaving for a new life. The Titanic had to be built as […]

The question they couldn’t answer: what does LEAVE mean?

Jon Danzig

𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲: Here’s a question for you, I wrote in my report of February 2016: ‘𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲?’ No, me neither. But that’s what those campaigning for Britain to leave the EU were expecting voters to do – vote to end our membership of the […]

Brexit remains a nonsense – Michel Barnier

Jon Danzig
Michel Barnier

The truth: Brexit offers no added value to Britain. Speaking to The Observer this week, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, spoke common sense. “For me, for many of us, Brexit remains a nonsense,” he said. “Taking into account British national interest, there is no added value to being outside the Single Market and […]

A grim fairy tale for our times

Anthea Simmons
a deep, dark wood

Once upon a time, there were some men who made a lot of money from doing things that were wrecking the planet. They had known for ages that they were putting toxins in the air and water, causing global warming and damaging the health of their employees and the general public and the environment, but […]

What is the market fundamentalist agenda?

Mark E Thomas

This is a long post from Oct 2019, and some of what it says would have seemed seem hard to believe back then. But now? Now when we see cuts to public services, the increasing wealth gap, steady defunding of council services, the running down of the NHS and talk of the use of artificial […]

Why the EU referendum was invalid – by former Brexit Secretary

Jon Danzig

The EU referendum was fundamentally flawed according to criteria set by ardent Brexiter and former Brexit Secretary, David Davis, on how referendums should be “done properly”. In July 2016, the Tory MP and then Chief Brexit Negotiator in Theresa May‘s new government, Mr Davis lauded the result of the EU referendum as fair, legal, and democratic. But […]