Archives for Opinion - Page 2
Follow the Money
CHRISTOPHER DODWELL Over the past 50 years, changes in local government financing have significantly reduced the ability of local councils to make independent financial decisions reflecting the needs of their…
Academies Disaster
JOHN RANKIN Academy schools in Hastings have been a disaster since they were first introduced - an idea imported from the United States and used by New Labour to address…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Ark – A Parent’s View Dear HIP I want to express my thanks to you for actually writing a truthful article on Ark Alexandra Academy (Why Won’t They Behave?…
Our Broken Housing System
Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings, Rye and the Villages Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home. But for too many people in our town, this is not…
Human Cost of Universal Credit
FERDUSARA ALI I had been actively looking for work but encountered an overwhelming number of barriers – pre-employment checks, background criminal record scrutiny and reference requests from the last six…
Beyond the Job Description
Bexhill-based FERDUSARA ALI outlines the systemic racism she encountered while working in Children’s Services for East Sussex County Council and the endemic racial prejudice she and her siblings endured throughout…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter In Defence of Gaza Thank you for publishing Mr Bennett’s letter, In Defence of Israel (HIP 268) albeit with a disclaimer. If nothing else, it does present an opportunity…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Gaza: Decades of Atrocities Dear HIP Palestine Solidarity Campaign In the article Waiting for Answers by Rod Webb (HIP 267) you published a reply by our MP Helena Dollimore…
Trumping the Lord of Misrule
ROBIN HOLTOM muses on medieval customs that he believes are being unwittingly aped by the incoming incumbent of the White House It is a curious coincidence that the storming of…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
From our website Recycling Scheme Booking ‘Bonkers’ Bonkers. This will encourage fly tipping. Also – I parked outside (perfectly legal – no lines there) and walked in with two sheets…
Deus Ex Machina
ROBIN HOLTOM argues that through AI we have created machines that feed on people, making us in real danger of obsolescence I was in London’s Marlborough Gallery looking at photographic…
Andy Pandy Pandering
ANNIE LAWSON I always thought there was something sad about the Andy Pandy children’s TV marionette who lived in a picnic basket. Perhaps there is the same tristesse about Andrew…
Let Us Have Homes
Architect and planner KEN DAVIS calls for a public land company with statutory powers to force institutions to release unused plots for housing Site for tall block of flats off…
St Helen’s Woods Housing Threat
JANET HODGSON, a trustee of the St Helen’s Park Preservation Society, says urgent action is needed to protect the Sandrock Bends greenspace from housing that will impact on the woods…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Not Council’s Responsibility Dear HIP Your article in HIP 263 A Landslide for Local Democracy? about the Old Roar Gill makes no sense. If, as you say, the land…
Labour are No Different to the Tories
MAYA EVANS, formerly a Labour and then independent member of Hastings Borough Council, assesses Keir Starmer’s first 100 days in power and castigates the Labour government for taking freebies, voting…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
From our website Too Many Roundabouts Although I have been aware of this project for years (Finally, a Road to Somewhere in HIP 259), I have only recently taken an…
Throw the Fascists in the Sea
Protester FLO GRAHAM outlines the dangers of ‘groupthink’ perpetuating the very problems the protest is about Having attended the counter-right protest in Hastings recently, I felt a swollen sense of…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Hastings Housing Company Dear HIP, I write in response to the letter ‘Housing Company Needed’ from 13 August. Hastings Housing Company Ltd was incorporated on 1 September 2017 and…
Minimum Consideration
Student ALICE ROBEY-CAVE decries the practices of some Hastings hospitality employers The promised brighter future that Hastings and Rye voted for is in the hands of new leaders. Many seem…
Not Coining It
ANNIE LAWSON Five years ago, I was living near Hebden Bridge. There had been a gang of counterfeiters in the village in the 1760’s, known as The Coiners. Now I…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Housing Company Needed Dear HIP I am dismayed to learn that the Green-led Hastings Borough Council (HBC) is proposing to liquidate Hastings Housing Company (HHC) and sell its housing…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter PLAY FAIR Dear HIP My name is Juniper. I am 9 years old, and I live in Hastings. I am writing to you about the playgrounds in our town.…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Future of St Mary Dear HIP Christopher Cormack is right (Letter in HIP 255): St Mary-in-the-Castle is a gem, which is being allowed to fall into disrepair whilst available…
The Writing’s on the Lamp Post
INGRID ALLAN, a charity caseworker and political activist explains what jolted her out of apathy in the recent election campaign The enthusiasm with which I once participated in politics at…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Hostile to the Jewish Community Dear HIP I drew the short straw and attended what I knew would be a hostile Hastings hustings, in order to offer snarky live…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Dear HIP, We have written to all the General Election candidates in Kent, East Sussex, and some in Essex asking them to sign up to the Bring Back Euro Trains…
Blowing the Bloody Doors off
Our Downing Street mole, STUART ROBINSON, has uncovered a draft acceptance speech to be delivered by Rishi Sunak on 5 July, only not on the doorstep of … Thank you,…
Winning the Peace
KENT BARKER urges Labour to adopt manifesto policies from the party’s famous 1945 victory Keir Starmer’s task on 4 July is being widely compared to Tony Blair’s in 1997, but…
More Democracy
STUART ROBINSON argues that tactical voting following a ‘primary’ is the most likely wayto achieve a progressive victory in Hastings and Rother With Rishi Sunak’s ‘Drowning Street’ announcement, at least…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Goodbye and Thank You Dear HIP My husband and I ended up staying in East Sussex with our daughter due to the war in our home country, Ukraine. We want…
Castles in the Air
CHRISTOPHER CORMACK says that the continued closure of St Mary in the Castle is a disaster for Hastings, and that the boarded-up Pelham Arcade in front is a is needed,…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Trinity Triangle: Jess Steele Responds Dear HIP In response to Alex Moojen’s letter in HIP 249 about the Trinity Triangle High Street Heritage Action Zone (TTHAZ) programme, we would…
Academy Gravy-Train
JENNY SUTTON of the National Education Union says it is unconscionable for Academy Trusts to denude school budgets by creaming off excessive funds for ‘central services’, and that all Academies…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Future of Jack-in-the-Green Dear HIP HIP 249 ran an article headlined Jack-in-the-Green Future ‘At Risk’. Those of you who, like me, love this festival will be relieved to hear…
Profit a Man
Tesco has just posted an annual profit of well over two billion pounds while recognising that food price inflation was a ‘ little difficult’ for the public. KENT BARKER writes…
Surprise Surprise
ROBIN HOLTOM My art teacher wrote on the art room wall, in his excellent italic script, the following quotation from Leonardo da Vinci; “It is a poor pupil who does…
Bridging the Divide
PETER BOLWELL What makes for constructive dialogue between those of different life views? Collisions between people who view the world from opposing perspectives throw up unique challenges. It is not…
Class and Mobility
ROBIN HOLTOM The Independent Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, recently revealed that 10 private planes a day arrive in London without proper passport checks. He was sacked the…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Waiting for Improvement Dear HIP, On a recent evening my wife had a fall and I drove her to A&E at the Conquest Hospital. The time taken for triage,…