by Charlotte Ndupuechi. It feels like we are falling down yet another rabbit hole of totally ridiculous situations in the UK. The Credit Crunch, the Bankers Crash, Covid and now the cost of living crisis. It seems the incompetent UK government are set to drive us from one absurd situation...
Opinion Pieces
Letter: Southampton councillor Barrie Margetts responds to not being permitted to stand for reselection by Labour Party
by Cllr Barrie Margetts. “I am disappointed to not have been permitted by the Labour Party to put myself forward for reselection to stand in the upcoming Council elections as a Labour candidate. I remain supportive of the current leader of the local party, Councillor Kaur. Councillor Kaur is...
Reader’s letter: NHS patients and staff are suffering – and the government are to blame
“The NHS is safe in our hands.” Remember that quote from David Cameron? Twelve years on and the current crisis in Emergency care is anything but safe. Seeing long lines of ambulances unable to deliver their patients to hospital is shocking. Harm is undoubtedly being caused to patients and...
Opinion: How I learnt to stop worrying about The X Factor
by Lewis MacLean. Recent English Eurovision contender and runner up Sam Ryder needs no introduction. He will go down in history as the closest we got (since Bucks Fizz) to winning what England generally condisers the most biased and contentious global competition of all. However, enthusiastic Sotonites who turned...
Reader’s Letter: Levelling up – how about providing free school meals?
by Charlotte Ndupuechi. “Levelling up? What better way than to provide free school meals. With this week‘s big PR push from the government about the so-called levelling up agenda, this got me thinking. Child poverty continues to rise with 4.3 million children now living in poverty in the U.K....
Reader’s Letter: we oppose far right group’s attempts to sow hatred and division in our communities
by Southampton Stand Up To Racism. “The far-right group Britain First is planning to hold a regional meeting in Southampton on February 7th. We oppose this attempt to sow hatred and division in our communities and stand united in defending our multicultural and diverse city. Britain First was founded...
Reader’s letter: Tips for trying Veganuary
Hints for those trying Veganuary: 1/ Don’t throw away meat and dairy you have already in your fridge/freezer/cupboards. Eat it as you go along but don’t buy anymore. 2/ Avoid vegan forums/pages etc because there will be ‘that’ vegan who burns anyone who slips or asks an innocent question....
Experience: I cut down on eating meat and ended up going vegan
by Charlotte Ndupuechi. I went from being a huge meat eater to being plant based and haven’t looked back. Like many others I was consciously trying to reduce my impact on the planet. For years I had been recycling and trying to find more local produce. I had changed...
Reader’s Letter: there’s no excuse for hate speech against autistic people
Since Andrew Tate made THAT tweet and got burned by Greta Thunberg big time I’ve seen a massive increase in really nasty vitriol towards #actuallyautistic people. It’s almost like non-autistic people think we can’t read or don’t have feelings and can’t be hurt by the stuff they’re saying. We’re...
Reader’s letter: please respond to the Southampton City Vision consultation
I am writing to urge all Southampton residents to respond to the Southampton City Vision consultation by 3rd January! It’s your chance to say how you would like to future proof the City. At Transition Southampton we’ve put together a handy guide: Southampton Local Plan Consultation (transitionsouthampton.org) – just...