On June 2, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fair Elections held a joint event with Transparency International UK and the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax. The message was clear: it’s time for anonymous billionaires and oligarchs to stop buying up politics. Britain is long overdue for campaign finance reform: In 2023, the UK reached […]
It is yet another time when I turned out to be right, but it does not bring me any joy. Donald Tusk’s party’s candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski, lost the presidential elections to his opponent, Karol Nawrocki, an “independent” candidate supported by PiS. Why did that happen, what do The Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska – PO) make […]
Nigel Farage is making big promises – lower taxes, higher benefits, and sweeping cuts. But behind the soundbites lies a financial black hole. Let’s take a closer look. Last week, the country got to watch a livestream of Farage, leader of a party with only five MPs, telling us about his plans for the future. He […]
Hi there, my name is May and I’m a 17-year-old from East Devon who’s passionate about finding solutions to the climate crisis. Although local elections can seem less important than general elections, in reality they have a significant effect on setting the agenda for local policy, including on issues surrounding the environment and climate change. […]
George Monbiot’s article in The Guardian (27 May 2025) will resonate with many on the progressive side of politics, and especially with those who are involved in street campaigns to counter the alarming rise of the far-right. When we talk to people on the streets of south Devon’s towns, we consistently pick up a growing […]
Trump’s Budget has similarities with Truss’s – will his fate be the same? This article is by Mark E Thomas and Vincent Gomez of the 99% Organisation, a former investment banker and member of the Bank of England’s Citizens’ Forum. Liz Truss was UK Prime Minister from 6 September-25 October 2022. At 50 days, this is the shortest […]
Someone commented: “Farage is committing political suicide by aligning with Trump. He needs to distance himself from the ‘orange aubergine’ if he wants British votes.” 𝗠𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿: That’s the paradox. 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 – because his brand is built on the Trump playbook. Nationalism, scapegoating, culture wars, anti-media attacks, climate denial – it’s all […]
The preliminary exit polls published just minutes after the first round of presidential elections surely gave some people in Poland a proper scare. As for me: being a pessimist again paid off. My prediction turned out to be correct again. The most stressed must be those who believed that those elections were to be just […]
It may not look like a major uprising , but this is part of something huge. This was Exeter’s first Tesla Takedown protest against Elon Musk’s assault on democracy and human rights in the US, and his wider support for the far right. On Saturday, 3 May, local activists including Devon-based Americans demonstrated outside the […]
I am writing to express deep alarm and disappointment at your recent announcements opposing a youth mobility scheme and cancelling care worker visas. These decisions are not only irresponsible and damaging — they represent a political miscalculation of staggering proportions. They are accelerating the breakdown of our health and care system in an extremely dangerous […]
My father, a political journalist who spent more hours of his life in Westminster than is good for you, always told us not to be too cynical about politicians. For every bad apple, he would imply, there were five good ones. You might not share their politics, but you knew that most of them were […]
Nigel Farage put potholes at the centre of the recent local elections – and he had a point. Potholes are a pain. We’ve all felt it. That jolt as your car hits yet another hole in the tarmac. The grimace that inevitably follows. It’s a tangible irritation, a daily reminder that things aren’t working as […]
May 1 elections brought bad news for Britain’s main political parties but good news for the far-right. As the Financial Times reported, “Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on Friday claimed he now leads Britain’s main opposition to Sir Keir Starmer’s government after his party won the Runcorn & Helsby by-election, ousting Labour by just six votes.” Of […]
Reform UK’s boast that they’re ‘the voice of the people’ is quite a claim. Are they performing a combination of mind-reading and ventriloquism? That would bring to mind those unconvincing magicians on 1970s TV variety shows – probably not the image Nigel Farage and his crew are aiming for. No – they mean their party […]
Trump’s Cards Everyone seems to have been shocked by the disgusting, disgraceful conduct of Trump, Vance and their political and journalist cronies in the Oval Office on 28 February; it has been referred to as an ambush, a mugging, an invective-laden attack. I have yet to meet or hear of anyone who disagrees with this […]
Last month, I wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons asking for confirmation that Trump would not be given the honour of addressing Parliament during any upcoming State Visit. The Speaker replied, confirming that no such request had been received – at that time. Since then, however, Donald Trump has announced that he expects to return to […]
Dear Anna I am deeply concerned about the announcement this week that Derriford Hospital is expected to save £67m recurrently from its budget. The trust has taken away staff cups of tea and raised staff parking fees, but this is a drop in the ocean. The only way these cuts are truly possible is to […]
One of the government ministers I worked for in a former life used to say, “For every major political problem, there are at least five solutions that are, a) obvious and common-sense; b) quick and easy to implement; and c) absolutely the wrong thing to do from the perspective of the national interest.” His words […]
Like everyone else, I have been watching and waiting to see what Donald Trump will do next. I have been shocked at his apparently soft approach to Russia and hostility towards Ukraine. I have been amazed at his absurd demands to annex Greenland and make Canada the fifty-first state. I have been appalled and staggered […]
Trump despises the EU. He has historically backed the UK’s departure from the EU, notably during his first term when he praised Brexit saying it would be a “great thing” for Britain. Comprehensive reasons or what? Trump will continue to pressure Starmer that Britain must maintain its independence from the EU economically, as he wants […]
Dear Editor, Does anyone else wonder where our diplomats in the US have been over the past six months? All this madness keeps being presented as if it came out literally yesterday. Yet another way of isolating the UK, making Brexit even worse. It’s sobering to think that almost US $5tn [now $9.3tn] has been […]
Britain’s democracy is visibly malfunctioning. A government elected with just over a third of the vote now holds almost two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. Meanwhile, millions of people feel ignored, misrepresented, or completely shut out of decisions that affect their lives. The result? A political system that delivers neither fairness nor results. Our public […]
Dear Editor, Seaton Hospital is an issue in the local elections on May 1. The hospital steering committee submitted a proposal for using the threatened wing to NHS Property Services nine months ago. They have still not given us an answer. We have been fighting to save the hospital since 2016, when they first threatened […]
President Trump calls it “Liberation Day” – but what he’s launching is a global trade war. Sweeping US tariffs are provoking retaliatory ones from around the world. Everyone, including Americans, will end up poorer. Contrast that with the EU’s approach: cooperation, not confrontation. The Single Market offers tariff-free, frictionless trade among its 27 members. It’s […]
Our government faces stiff challenges and if it is to meet them and deliver the promised national renewal, it will need a rapid and significant shift in mindset. Before the 2024 General Election, Sir Keir Starmer explained that the UK needed a decade of national renewal. He was undoubtedly correct. The Chancellor recently commented that: “The world […]
The UK is grappling with its worst medicine shortage in four years, and the evidence points squarely at Brexit as a central cause. In 2024 alone, drug companies reported 1,938 supply disruptions to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – a sharp rise from 1,634 in 2023. The worst-hit medications include essential treatments […]
A Westminster Hall debate on an e-petition calling for the UK to join the EU is scheduled for Monday 24 March 2025, from 4:30pm. The debate will be led by Paul Davies, Labour MP for Colne Valley. The petition was initiated by a Robert McMaster, who stated: “I believe joining the EU would boost the […]
Hi there, my name is May and I’m a 17-year-old from East Devon who’s passionate about finding solutions to the climate crisis. On 12 March, I was a panellist alongside Natalie Whitehead (one of the Founders and Directors of Exeter Science Centre) and Regan Mudhar (PhD) at a film screening and panel discussion event organised […]
“Tax our wealth” – that’s the message from millionaires across the UK who are taking their campaign out on the road ahead of the Government’s Spring Statement. Patriotic Millionaires UK has commissioned a fleet of mobile billboards to tour towns and cities across the country to tell people and constituency MPs: a tax of two […]
In an era where democracy feels increasingly fragile, the story of how American tech billionaire, Elon Musk, casually sparked an internal meltdown in one of Britain’s rising political parties offers both a cautionary tale and, perhaps, a glimmer of hope for those of us concerned about the far-right’s recent momentum. It started, as so many […]