Tomasz Oryński is a Polish freelance journalist based in Glasgow, writing mostly on Polish politics. Since he is also a great passionate of transport and works part-time as a truck driver, he has a good chance to observe challenges to the haulage industry in the UK caused by Brexit.
Shamima Begum is a London-born girl, who some years ago, aged 15, ran away from her parents to join ISIS. She wanted to be a mother to the children of martyrs. On 23 February 2024, the British court decided that stripping her of British citizenship is a rightful decision. I believe this is a day […]
Media all over the world are writing about the stand-off in the headquarters of TVP, Polish public broadcaster. As some voices try to frame it as an assault on democracy and freedom of speech, I thought I might need to write a small explainer. 1. Background. TVP and Polish Radio are an equivalent of the […]
The issue of a blockade of the border crossings into Ukraine carried out by Polish haulage companies made mainstream news. The disagreement between Poland and Ukraine has been going on for nearly a year now, but Ukraine is winning the PR war, so the reports in both mainstream and social media are very unfavourable for […]
This Sunday, when driving past Polish consulate or cultural centres, you might see queues of people. It’s because Poles are going to the polls in the most important elections since 1989. Depending on the results on Sunday, Poland will either sail back to the bright side – the world of European, democratic values and rule […]
When I lived in Britain, the drivers were sharing tips with each other: “do go work for this company, you can earn good money there, as there is plenty of overtime”. I even saw a discussion on UK trucking subreddit today when a young guy is asking about becoming a trucker and they say to […]
A sticker with Ukraine appeared on my car just after Russia began its new wave of invasion into Ukraine. I know, it’s just an empty gesture, but I simply wanted to express somehow my solidarity with the victims of Russian imperialism. For the 6 months of 2022, while I still lived in Scotland, this sticker […]
Recently I saw a story on West Country Voices. Two women wanted to sign up for a meeting with an MP to ask him an inconvenient question. As a result, they have been paid a visit by the police officer. This story never got attention it deserves. And it should. Because this is not only […]
The Queen was undoubtedly loved by the nation, but a frenzied media can lead to mass mourning being taken too far and backfiring, argues Tomasz Oryński… and he has two case studies from his native Poland to act as a warning to the UK. The Queen died at the beautiful age of 96 years. After […]
Tomasz is our ‘resident’ Polish writer. We preserve his unique voice in this challenging, thought-provoking piece on the reality of Putin’s Russia and the implacability of evil. In the first days of this war I was really hoping it’s true, that this is just a madness of one man, that those poor boys were lied […]
When it comes to modern hybrid war, the propaganda is almost as important as the troop movements on the ground and the language has as much power as bullets. When it comes to hybrid war that Putin just waged against the West, Britain is already losing by giving up to Russia’s narrative, argues Tomasz Oryński. […]
You might remember my articles from last year, when I explained why people don’t want to work as lorry drivers anymore. I came with several reasons why Britain suffers from a driver shortage. Surely now, when we have established that the economy does needs truckers, companies would be doing everything to attract them, right? Surely […]
A disturbing report from our Polish reporter which preserves his authentic voice. At the moment of writing these words, thousands of migrants are trapped between Polish border fence and Belarusian army near the major border crossing in Kuźnica Białostocka (see more here (in Polish, but with pictures)). Whole families are sitting around campfires while temperatures at […]
There is that map circulating the internet, used by Brexiters to show that driver shortages are nothing unusual across Europe, and thus the situation in Britain is not specific to this country only and, surely, it has nothing to do with Brexit. You can find that map for example in this Daily Mail article; for easiness […]
“It’s only one garage”, I was told when I mentioned that there was no HGV diesel at Lomond Gate earlier this week. But is it really not an issue when only some garages have no fuel? A thread: Lomond Gate is the last garage on the A82 going north that is really suitable for trucks. […]
Thousands of people who shop in the UK have probably noticed shortages of products in British supermarkets. The supply problems are blamed on the shortage of HGV drivers and the government is taking steps to tackle it: the driving hours have been extended and there is a talk about bringing the army drivers to help […]
Thousands of people who shop in the UK have probably noticed shortages of products in British supermarkets. The supply problems are blamed on the shortage of HGV drivers and the government is taking steps to tackle it: the driving hours have been extended and there is a talk about bringing the army drivers to help […]
“Our transport network will be fairer, greener and more efficient thanks to our exciting new post-EU freedoms. We will introduce digital licences…” – wrote Grant Shapps on his Twitter. “Cool”, I thought to myself, “finally some benefit of Brexit!” But is it? I had heard about digital licences somewhere before. Where was that? Ah, I […]