By Martin Brisland. This year’s Beating of the Bounds ceremony and Court Leet will take place on Tuesday 29th September. But what are these ancient ceremonies, which date back at least 800 years, all about? The custom of Beating the Bounds was revived in 1957 after a gap of...
Articles with the Tag council
Reader’s letter: Reform flag motion – sowing division in our society
By Southampton Green Councillor Misty Burgess. I welcome the withdrawal of Councillor Crook’s motion ‘Southampton City Council: Flags’, which would have limited the council to only fly the Union, St George’s, Southampton City and Hampshire Flags from the Civic Centre Building. To me and many others, this motion appears...
Opinion: Reform’s Flag Motion is not a serious proposition
By Sam Wise. Reform UK’s Councillor for Coxford, Phillip Crook, will tomorrow table a motion calling for only the Union, St George’s and Southampton City flags to be flown at council buildings, and for the Union Flag to be flown/displayed at every council premises and council school. Let’s call...
Protest as Southampton Reform Cllr wants to ban flags including Pride, Armed Forces Day and Windrush Day
By Sally Churchward. A Southampton Reform councillor is bringing a motion before the city council on Wednesday (15/7/26) that would ban the flying of a huge range of flags from the Civic Centre. If the motion, being brought by Councillor Philip Crook, were passed, the only flags that would...
Reader’s letter: join emergency protest against banning of Pride flags in Southampton
By Trans Pride Southampton. Emergency Protest! It has come to our attention that Reform Councillor Phillip Crook has motioned for Southampton City Council to no longer fly Pride flags. We counter-argue that Southampton City Council should, in fact, fly MORE Pride flags than it does at present – specifically...
Opinion: Will a new Prime Minister bring the change that people in Southampton voted for?
By Cllr. Matt Renyard, Southampton City Green Group Leader and Ward Councillor for Coxford. At the May 2026 local elections, the message was clear – the majority of you wanted change. You wanted leaders who would genuinely tackle the growing gap between your wages and the cost of living, the squeeze...
Reader’s letter: why is council closing play area in summer and dropping splash pad plans?
By Charlotte Ndupuechi. Southampton has some amazing parks and green spaces. From the Common to the Sports Centre, they are places where families gather, children play and communities come together. They are among the city’s greatest assets. That’s why two recent developments have left me wondering what is going...
Reader’s letter: Southampton Stand Up To Racism responds to council debate and ongoing far-right agitation
By Southampton Stand Up To Racism. Photo by Milo Wilson. Southampton has a proud tradition as a welcoming and compassionate city. Yet the ongoing mobilisation of far-right agitators targeting asylum seekers at the Highfield House Hotel has placed that reputation under strain and created a climate of hostility for...
Interview: Katherine Barbour, Southampton’s first Green councillor, on her first months in office
Words and pictures by photographer Chris Moorhouse. Five months after Katherine Barbour was elected as Southampton’s first Green councillor, Chris Moorhouse asks how it’s going. Her smile at being elected in the early hours of the morning of May 6th was an abiding image of this year’s local election...