Dear Editor, This Volunteers’ Week (1–7 June), I want to pay tribute to the people in Cornwall who are quietly changing children’s lives. Across Cornwall, 16,372 children are eligible for free school meals, a stark reminder that for many families here, getting by is a daily struggle. Nationally, 4.5 million children are living in poverty: […]
I sat and watched Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, and I want to tell you what it looked like from where I am standing. Not from a green leather bench. From a desk, across from real people, every single working day — people on benefits, and every one of them struggling. So when I watched Kemi […]
As misleading headlines go, this Express headline has to be one of the worst. The figures show almost the exact opposite, so how did the Express get it so wrong? To be fair to the Express, the “shocking new study” they refer to in the subheading was a study released by the Centre for Social Justice, which also […]
As many readers will have spotted, Claudi lives and works in Scotland, but her lived experience and powerful analysis is just as relevant to people here in the West Country. The government has spent the last few days wringing its hands about “NEETs.” If you’ve not come across the term, NEET means Not in Education, […]
Sit down. This one is going to make your blood boil. In 2024-25, the Trussell Trust handed out 2.9 million emergency food parcels across the UK. Over a million went to children. One parcel every 11 seconds. Up 51 per cent in five years. Add the 1,172 plus independent food banks Trussell doesn’t count, the […]
Farage wants us out of the ECHR. Here is what that actually means. Nigel Farage and Reform UK want the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). They sell it as a quick fix for immigration. The truth is much, much bigger than that. Let me lay it out in plain English. […]
How a misleading headline turned NHS guidance into a culture war myth This Telegraph headline is not true. The subheading is not true. The first paragraph is not true. And I don’t believe any of this was a mistake… The story The Telegraph broke this story about diversity and inclusion training delivered by the Lancashire NHS Trust with materials originally published in […]
The Daily Mail’s claim falls apart the moment you read the actual guidance A post popped up on the Facebook feed of one of my lovely subscribers over the Easter weekend, and she asked me to take a look, for obvious reasons: “It’s grim when your child is banned from bringing home a picture of Jesus to […]
As a transplanted northern Californian, one thing I can’t get my head around, is the British way of naming foods. I’ve already talked about biscuits in an earlier article, but now I want to take on other foods that don’t actually say what they are. I’m bringing this up (so to speak) because it troubles […]
Buckle up, today will be a double debunk; Firstly the headline and article, and secondly, the online claims sprouting from this article. The Claim So let’s start with the claim that 67 dog breeds could be banned in Britain. The Daily Mail begins with: Sixty-seven dog breeds could be banned in Britain if new breeding guidelines set […]
This is no longer a distant conflict. It is at Europe’s door. On March 4, everything escalated again — and this time it hit a NATO member state. IRAN FIRES A BALLISTIC MISSILE TOWARD TURKEY Wednesday March 4 2026, Iran fired a ballistic missile that travelled through the airspace of Iraq and Syria before heading […]
I woke up recently to a Times headline: “Crime spree by Met Police officers waved through in diversity push.” As you can imagine, a headline like that got my spidey senses tingling! The article began: “A diversity panel at Britain’s biggest police force overturned vetting refusals, which led to rogue officers and staff committing rapes, assaults […]
In the boardrooms that control our cortisol economies, tech executives rub their hands with glee and continue, avariciously, to guard the profits they have earned out of children’s dependency. Many of my peers describe to me how they know the impacts of social media on their mental health but just can’t stop scrolling, feeling like […]
A myth-busting explainer on Tesco trees, ‘renamed’ cakes, and the real purpose behind these manufactured panics. I vowed I wasn’t going to do a ‘they’re cancelling Christmas’ Substack after doing a quick Bluesky thread on it, and talking about it very briefly on James O’Brien’s LBC show. However, I’ve changed my mind for several reasons: So buckle up for your […]
A few weeks ago, a Guardian article with this title described how a Spanish town took a very significant decision over the treatment of its migrants. But first, some background. The UK is not the only target destination for migrants seeking a safer or a more prosperous life; in fact, Spain receives considerably more migrants […]
A couple of weeks ago, we published Simon Chater’s account of the work of Care4Calais. Now the weather has changed – cold, wet and brutal and whilst Care4Calais usually see a dip in those needing their help in the winter months, this is not the case this year as war, climate and persecution drive more […]
Activists in Exeter will be joining a national wave of protest against the banning of Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist organisation’ this Saturday, November 29. Around 25 protesters will defy the ban by sitting quietly outside Exeter Central Station from 1pm, holding placards stating “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. It’s part of what […]
Plaudits from Robinson should be a flashing red light on any government’s dashboard. So, it’s finally happened. Tiny Tommy Robinson – or Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as his Irish immigrant mum christened him – has publicly endorsed the Labour government’s new immigration policy. “The Overton window has been obliterated,” he cheered. “Well done patriots!” For those of […]
As press and certain politicians seek to load all the ills of our society onto people arriving in small boats, it is high time we faced up to the fact that there are consequences to any country’s actions, not just in the sense of war and conflict, but also resulting from empire-building. And while the […]
In a field near Dunkerque, a circle of five chairs round a small table festooned with a jumble of scissors, clippers, oil, capes and towels. It’s refugees’ hair cutting time! Much in demand, hair cutting is one of the services provided by Care4Calais, a charity meeting the needs of refugees and asylum seekers stranded in […]
Last weekend, an elected member of parliament (Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin) went on Talk TV and said, “It drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people, full of people who are basically anything other than white people.” Let that sink in. We have reached a point in the political discourse […]
A handful of parents, a far-right outrage machine, and the damage misinformation does to real communities: A simple school assembly in Swansea, where a visitor from a local mosque spoke about her faith, became the latest culture war story fuelled by far-right activists, misinformation, a Reform councillor and GB News. Earlier this month, a small […]
The campaign organisation HOPE not hate‘s Weekend of HOPE will see hundreds and thousands of leaflets delivered to houses in the UK and thousands of people will take to the streets with a simple message: communities are stronger together. We live in an era in which certain politicians and oligarchs are hellbent on dividing us […]
Political violence doesn’t stay contained. It cascades – and democracy pays the price Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah yesterday afternoon. The news started coming in as I was settling down for the evening, and it instantly felt surreal. Even typing this feels somewhat surreal. The BBC update that pinged on my phone felt like […]
On a late August afternoon in Halifax, a woman who has spent fifteen years caring for patients in Britain’s National Health Service was racially abused and assaulted in front of her young daughter. Apple Moorhouse, a 42-year-old nurse originally from the Philippines, was walking with her family in Manor Heath Park when a simple request […]
We recently organised a free event for young people with activist and campaigner, Rob Hopkins, also of transition town fame and the author of many books, including the inspirational ‘How to Fall in Love with the Future‘. (You can read our review of the book here.) Held in Ashburton Arts Centre, which Andy Williamson generously […]
There are plenty of very stupid and wasteful consumer shopping habits, but top of the list must be buying something quite expensive for one specific job or activity, using it solely for that purpose, and then storing it away in your shed or garage and forgetting about it. We’re talking about things like carpet cleaners, […]
“Bigotry and prejudice are the hallmarks of those who fear what they cannot understand.” (a concise and accurate comment on a post in the Facebook page of ’ORDER! The Sir John Bercow Fanclub’) Migration Like many areas of the world, the British Isles have a long and varied history of absorbing immigrants from elsewhere. Recent […]
Rejuvenating our democracy is the ONLY sensible solution Britain’s electoral system has driven a full third of young people towards authoritarianism. Only fundamental reform can reverse this dangerous trend, and restore faith in democracy. Last week, there was much to celebrate for 18-year-olds up and down the country. A-Level results were published on Thursday, and […]
Like many, my heart has been broken by what is happening in Palestine. I have felt helpless and hopeless, but refuse to believe that there is nothing we can do. I’ve seen and shared the stories, images and videos coming out of Gaza – the horrific, endless and systematic destruction of people and place. Children, […]