Section: UK

Saying the quiet bit out loud: Tories suddenly get ‘honest’

Editor-in-chief

Flippant image, serious message. ‘When a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’ (Maya Angelou) On the one hand, it’s quite a relief to have some of the far right shed the final scraps of respectability and reveal their true, ugly selves. But, on the other, the abandon – even relish […]

The week in Tory…

Russ In Cheshire

For a change, I’m going to begin the latest edition of The Week In Tory with some news about Labour. Don't think this makes things any better, because it doesn't. I implore you, by all you hold dear, not to read this. Under Labour, NHS wait averaged 9 weeks. After 13 years in power, the […]

Fascism: time to believe the evidence of our eyes and ears as the ‘good chap’ model disintegrates

Anthea Simmons

‘It couldn’t happen here.’ ‘This is not Nazi Germany.’ ‘It’s completely over the top to use the ‘F’ word.’ ‘Fascism? Come on! That’s hyperbole!’ As regular readers will know, we’ve been strongly opposed to the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill and watched in horror as the Lords’ amendments were disregarded. Indeed, Braverman then proceeded […]

Is the country safe in the Conservatives’ hands?

Mark E Thomas

After 13 years in power, the Conservatives want us to believe that the UK is safe in their hands. This article explains how, given a just a few more years, they can complete their transformation of the UK into a playground for their donors – at our expense: There has been a successful, but gradual, unwinding of […]

Political gunslingers

Andrew Levi

The Labour Party’s recent ‘attack ad’, suggesting the prime minister was soft on sexual abusers of children, raises profound, urgent questions about how a tolerant society can best defend itself against those who would wreck it, says Andrew Levi. You want to fight fire with fire? Easy to say. Who should pull the trigger, when […]

State of denial

Andrew Levi

Brexitism is destroying Britain, says Andrew Levi. If our political parties fail us now, we face an existential threat. Munich, 1938 During the United Kingdom’s long march into the European Communities, leading to membership in 1973, then the referendum in 1975 on whether to stay in, ‘anti-marketeers’ invoked the appeasement of Hitler at Munich to […]

Labour – your silence on so many issues carries a price

Richard Haviland

I learnt two things about the subject of child grooming gangs on Monday’s edition of The News Agents podcast.  Firstly, there’s no evidence of over-representation of any ethnic group within these gangs. Secondly, some allegations have indeed been ignored because of “cultural sensitivities”. It's right to be horrified by the latter while recognising the vitally important […]

Send MPs on a Brexit awareness course – letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear West Country Voices, This week we heard of a six-month ban and a speeding fine levied against Robert Jenrick, our esteemed immigration minister. He is the one who has to appear in parliament when his boss, Suella Braverman, either can’t be bothered or doesn’t feel up to answering difficult questions. Most of us will […]

Would you accept this for YOUR child?

Daniel Sohege

When working at Love146UK we researched this. We campaigned against this. Biological age assessments are notoriously unreliable, and incredibly traumatic for children who have been through war and persecution. It is part of a pattern with this government to put immigration enforcement ahead of child protection, though. They are abandoning the very principles of safeguarding […]

Stop gaslighting us! The CPTPP deal is PANTS!

Anthea Simmons

Let’s leave aside for a moment the whole issue of democracy, sovereignty and ‘taking back control’ which is covered in this article from Jon Danzig, and instead call out the abject gaslighting and lies being spewed out to defend a lamentable deal that has some real nasties hidden inside it. It’s not for nothing that […]

When did WE have a say on this?

Jon Danzig

Britain is joining an 11-member Asia-Pacific trade bloc, the CPTP. The UK government thinks this is a suitable replacement for our membership of the EU. But when did we have a say on this? When did Parliament consent to this? Brexiters often claim that the EU is undemocratic and that we should have had a […]

BBC… or is it Pravda? Letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear Editor, Once again, I find myself in complete agreement with the analysis of one of your contributors (Jim Grace, writing about the Conservatives’ capture of the BBC). Although I don’t watch Match of the Day, following the Lineker debacle I made a formal complaint to the BBC about long-term right-wing bias within that organisation. […]

Johnson isn’t a liar… he’s a bullsh*tter

Russ In Cheshire

Boris Johnson is not a liar. He is a bullshitter. There is a difference. A liar knows (and cares) what the truth is, and is attempting to conceal it. A bullshitter doesn't care. For a bullshitter, whatever he says becomes the new truth. Bullshitters don't think they're "lying", because (in their minds) the utter shite […]

The postal vote mailshot from the Conservatives – legit or not?

Eleanor Rylance

Many people across the country will this week have seen an envelope from their local Conservative Party slither its way through their letter box. Inside, if they live in an area where the Conservatives do not control the local council, they may have found a letter of dubious literary merit, telling voters how terrible the […]

We smell burning…

Anthea Simmons

If you didn’t watch the Johnson lie/excusathon, here’s a potted summary. Disappointingly, the King James Bible did not spontaneously combust at the touch of the former PM’s mendacious fingers, but the smell of burning boxer shorts was definitely in the air. The Privileges Committee’s questioning, under Harriet Harman’s quietly authoritative chairmanship, was a model of […]

Hunt’s defeatist budget needlessly fails to tackle our problems

Mark E Thomas

Hunt’s latest Budget shows the UK heading for a dismal future. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK is now facing two years with the sharpest fall in living standards since records began. The economy will contract again this year. The level of taxation is at the highest for many decades. Our growth […]

The Conservative capture of the BBC and why it matters

Jim Grace

The issue of BBC capture by government is serious. BBC capture by one of the parties is even more serious. But the worst scenario is what I think has actually happened: BBC capture by an extremist right wing fringe group that was no more than a weird sect within one party. The ERG / Brexiters […]