I had a long discussion with a radio producer on what I thought was wrong with the Autumn Statement. We discussed the numbers but what I said is most important is not what was said, but what was not. That’s where the frightening bits are. It was a very long time ago that I realised […]
As a photographer, I have frequently had to temp to top up my income. Working in customer service for social housing providers was the worst job I had. In the wake of the horrifying, avoidable death of Awaab Ishak, this is a record of my experiences. In training I was told how to “overcome objections” […]
Dear West Country Voices, I think I distantly remember a time when governments cared for their people, nurtured them, assisted them, spent our money neutralising the corrosive causes of poverty and criminality. I get the sense that the ‘nouvelle vague‘ of the ultra-right wing is using us like lab rats in an experiment. Shrink the […]
Benefits on Trial is based on my work in Cornwall since 2012 as a volunteer advocate with adults who have a learning disability. In recent years, that work has increasingly concerned benefits cases: helping people with their applications for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA); accompanying them to assessments; requesting reconsideration […]
There is much to be angry about in the UK in 2022… but the last few months have been exceptional. Unfortunately, so much Tory turmoil has absorbed our capacity for anger, distracting our attention from the real underlying issues which should be the focus of our outrage and provoke the question: “What has this bloody […]
The Conservative Party have now been in power in the UK for 12 years. Over that time huge economic and social problems have emerged. It is clear that the UK needs a change in direction. And this is what Truss and Kwarteng promised. They have now shown very clearly how they intend to tackle these […]
Dear Sheryll Murray, I see that Kwasi Kwarteng, the least competent chancellor in living memory, has gone against all sensible economic advice and announced fiscal policies that almost instantly tanked the pound. Please tell me your thoughts on a tax cut for the highest earners, whilst the absolute majority of your constituents will get almost […]
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 […]
Johnson has a strong claim to be the worst UK PM so far in terms of “… wages, economy, COVID, poverty, … preserving democracy, etc, …” But before the history books are written, he will be eclipsed by Truss, argues Mark E Thomas. It is true that Truss has inherited (and played an active part […]
Prof Danny Blanchflower and I issued a press release yesterday calling for radical reform of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (BoE MPC). We think this is really important to protect people from economic harm in the recession to come. The MPC has set BoE interest rates and made all the vital decisions on […]
The team at West Country Voices wish to commemorate the passing of Her Majesty the Queen and the ending of the second Elizabethan era. Most of us have lived our entire lives with Elizabeth II as our monarch. She has been a rare constant in a rapidly changing world and the embodiment of public service […]
“Your government?! What a joke that is!” That was the sniggering reaction earlier this afternoon, albeit not in so many words, from our Danish neighbours in the Spanish village where we are spending a few weeks. OK, so it’s human nature to find it easier to recognise other people’s problems than to acknowledge our own, […]
Danny Blanchflower had a longish discussion pn August 17 in which we agreed that the inflation that is dominating economic discussion about our economy at present is a passing phase. That does not mean it is not important. Far from it, in fact. But what it does mean is that when discussing inflation we have […]
The Tory leadership election is offering the party faithful an image of a land about to flow with milk and honey, so good are the prospects arising from the so far unspecified benefits of Brexit. The reality is about as far from that is it can be. In reality, this morning we have news of […]
How many people lived in fear in the summer of 1914, dreading what might happen? Come to that, what about 1939? People must have known that they were living on a precipice then, just as we are now. A disaster is about to happen, but there seems to be denial all around. The disaster that […]
Dear West Country Voices, Even if we aren’t remotely interested in sport, I think we can all rejoice unequivocally at the success of the England women’s football team in the European championships; it’s an achievement to be celebrated. I’m sure I’m not alone in being delighted at their win if only because they have done […]
Andy Steel, from Devon, believes police failed to act appropriately when their urgent help was needed: Just because you live in a hidden, rural village doesn’t mean you can escape hit-and-run drivers. Not long ago a 17 year-old with a chequered motoring history ploughed into the front of my parked 1.8 tonne Land Rover with […]
This is quite some story. It was news to me, but perhaps you know someone who has also been a victim, or maybe you yourself, in which case this will resonate painfully. I am keeping the names and places anonymous for obvious reasons, but here’s the tale. A friend decided to sell her 4×4, partly […]
The sky was overcast and the air felt dank when we emerged from the gloom of the underground at Regents Park station. My friends and I turned down a nearby street in the hope we were going in the right direction. There is a unique grandness to London’s maze-like streets that kind of makes you […]
Our children’s services are there to protect and care for vulnerable children in our communities, providing a lifeline for those in difficult situations. But doesn’t it seem wrong that private companies are able to run these services and prioritise profit over the children they are meant to protect? The government recently dropped its unpopular plans to reduce council responsibilities […]
To my surprise, I find myself agreeing with Katharine Birbalsingh, who tweets under the slightly eccentric name of “Miss Snuffy”. Birbalsingh is regularly referred to in the less serious type of newspaper as “Britain’s strictest headmistress” and her views go down well with the Conservative rank and file. I suspect that it is her strong […]
Like hundreds of thousands of British people, we watched in dismay the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the plight of so many refugees. As part-retired empty-nesters we felt we had the time and space to offer to host Ukrainian refugees under the Homes for Ukrainians scheme and do something practical to help in this ghastly […]
O beautiful for RemingtonFor Smith & Wesson, ColtFor rapid-fire assault weaponFor barrel, stock and bolt America! America!God gave thy guns to theeTo spill the blood that spreads its floodFrom sea to shining sea! O beautiful for massacreSo swiftly carried outBy terrorist or teenagerBy godless or devout America! America!God gave thy guns to theeTo spill the […]
I wrote to President Obama, in 2012, when the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre in Newtown CT was fresh in the news. My outrage and suggestions were all about gun control laws then. Second Amendment stuff. How can we allow these obstructionist lawmakers to continue? Stuff. I didn’t write again though. Not when shootings kept […]
On 25 February 2014, the European Parliament voted on an EU fund to provide food aid to those suffering extreme poverty in the EU. The EU offered up to £22 million to help subsidise Britain’s food banks, but the money was blocked by the UK government. Thirteen million people live below the poverty line in the UK. […]
Dear West Country Voices, I saw this chap on TV the other day. Odd cove, but apparently one of us, albeit with a strange haircut and not quite the right accent. Lee something or other. Anyway, he said that we can feed ourselves for 30 pence per meal, if we can be bothered to cook […]
New data from The Food Foundation shows 7.3 million adults went without food in April. Of these, 2.4 million had not eaten for a whole day at least once in the past month. Yet there is no shortage of food in the UK, or of money. This is not a ‘cost of living crisis’ but […]
Susanna Reid interviewed Boris Johnson on ITV yesterday morning. He had no answers to her questions on the recession we are now facing, but there are plenty available. The most telling question Reid asked was about what he would do to help a pensioner whose fuel bills appeared to have increased fivefold, swamping any increase […]
Dear West Country Voices, When the ‘porn in the Commons’ story hit, I felt there was something odd about it. Even with as low opinion as I have of most of our Tory MPs, I couldn’t quite believe someone was sitting on those leather benches wantonly browsing PornHub. It felt far more likely that it […]
As the Chief Executive of Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services, I am calling for a radical rethink in our approach to pornography after a Devon Conservative MP referred himself to the Standards Committee for allegedly watching porn while sitting in the House of Commons. I’ve heard many politicians say this week that ‘sunlight […]