Archives for Opinion - Page 3
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
from our website Extreme Vandalism So a violent attack on elderly people by masked thugs and extreme vandalism of their property is effectively ignored by Sussex Police even though they…
Must It Be Done?
ROBIN HOLTOM recalls how Robert Oppenheimer described inventing the atom bomb as ‘technically sweet’, and wonders how this concept might apply to other technological advances. At the end of the…
Legitimate Protest vs Mob Rule
SIMON HESTER, convenor of Hastings Stand Up To Racism and chair of Hastings & District Trades Union Council says that, far from mob rule, marches like this Saturday’s in London…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Commons Transparency It is a shame Oli Smith sent his letter to HIP (Jess Steele: Questions to be Asked) before the public meeting held by Hastings Commons Community Land…
Rent Rage
TRACEY JOHNSON, who has lived and worked in Hastings for 27 years, decries local, private and often absentee landlords and says a secure affordable home is a basic human right. …
The Right to Rent
A private landlord, who has asked to remain anonymous, argues that high rents are a result of government policy, not individual greed. Understandably, private landlords get pretty short shrift from…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Housing, Not Amusements Dear HIP With reference to Year of Shutdown for Owens Refurbishment (HIP 241), what Hastings needs is housing, not a huge indoor games complex. How many…
The Scoundrel’s Plea
ROBIN HOLTOM argues that William Blake’s epithet ‘the general good is the plea of the scoundrel’ supports the view that Medical Ethics has become separated from Ethics generally. The chaplain…
Suppressing Dissent
As a Labour Press Officer under Neil Kinnock, ROSIE BROCKLEHURST helped make the party electable in the 1990s. But now she welcomes the resignation of Hastings Councillors from the party…
Shockwaves From Gaza
GUY HARRIS, the Hastings Liberal Democrat spokesman on national affairs, says Keir Starmer and other British politicians must do more to address the Israel-Palestine conflict – as must the wider…
Gifting a Noun
ROBIN HOLTOM Over Christmas, I heard people write and speak of ‘gifting’ something instead of giving it. This use of language is disconcerting. It seems to emphasise the thing as…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Shingles protection Dear HIP I would like to clarify the connection between chickenpox and shingles (Chickenpox Parties in HIP 240). Shingles occurs in people who have previously been exposed…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Drainage History Dear HIP Picking up on Martin Griffiths’ letter regarding the town centre flooding (HIP 239), I think we all need to be told of the usefulness or…
How Green is Local Labour?
DAVID EP DENNIS argues that the environmental agenda of the Labour council in Hastings is at odds with the national policies of the Labour Party … potentially to the serious…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Benefits injustice Your excellent article Huge Holes in Benefits Safety Net in HIP 238 described the terrible state we are in in this country, with people falling through the…
Invasion of the Dead Cats
ROBIN HOLTOM was struck by a line in the evidence of Dominic Cummings to the Covid Enquiry: “At one point in the autumn he told me to figure out how…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Bonfire Symbols Dear HIP, I went to the Bonfire night for the first time and was really impressed by the organisation and great family atmosphere of the event. However, I…
Water Woes
BEN BRUGES castigates the woeful record of Southern Water and wonders whether the company should be abolished. Recently Southern Water, for the second time, smeared excrement all over Bulverhythe and…
Weird Times
Nick Pelling In these weird times it is very easy to feel that the whole world is sliding towards something awful. The apocalypse narrative is everywhere. The planet is burning…
Opinion: Daylight Robbery
GRACE LALLY There is something deeply cynical about councillors lamenting selling off public land or cutting services when they are the ones carrying it out. When Extinction Rebellion ran a…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
We would love to hear from you. Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is necessary…
Simple Sword of Truth
KENT BARKER The Hastings Independent has published a couple of pieces recently that have come in for comment or criticism. On this Opinion page, Tin Foil Hatter, was about conspiracy…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
We would love to hear from you. Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is necessary…
Free at the Point of Delivery
Where should we stand on the creeping privatisation of the NHS? The question is topical because the Hastings Independent recently received a request to run an advertisement for a private…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
We would love to hear from write to: Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is…
Conspiracy Debate – Readers Respond
In issue 231 we ran an Opinion piece questioning to what extent conspiracy theories were real or whether they might be simply someone’s honestly held belief. A belief that was…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Northeye: Contrasting Views of Bexhill Demos Dear HIP I am writing regarding the article about Northeye in your last edition. Thank you for correcting the information about the petition. We…
Housing Crisis Solved
As official figures show more than 105,000 people in Britain are living in temporary accommodation, KENT BARKER looks to history to find a solution. As a small boy growing up…
Conspiracy of Silence
KENT BARKER considers the Conspiracy Theory: defined as ‘an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy by powerful and sinister groups, often political in…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
We would love to hear from write to: Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is…
In Praise of Digital Dyslexia
ROBIN HOLTOM Ba Kode I have a condition that might be described as Digital ;I panic when a computer announces that I have forgotten my password or, worse still, when I have performed an ‘illegal operation’.…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
We would love to hear from you. OWENS – A response from Town Deal Team Dear HIP With reference to your report Owens out, attractions withdrawn in HIP 227 we…
OPINION: Unintended Consequences
KENT BARKER wonders if objecting to small-scale housing developments might prove counterproductive. By almost any criteria, housing in Hastings is in crisis. It’s not just that nearly a thousand people…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
We would love to hear from write to: Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is…
Crown Jewels?
KENT BARKER argues that what we ask of our royal family is completely unreasonable. If there is one positive thing about the hullabaloo surrounding the coronation it’s that it affords…
Back to the Future
Kent Barker imagines what a dispatch from halfway through this century might be like. Dateline 2050 Looking back now from the perspective of 27 years after the event, we see…
Appropriate Identification
RUSSELL CRUSE On December 7 1950, Harry Willcock was stopped in his car by PC Harold Muckle, who asked Mr Willcock to produce his National Registration Identity Card. He refused…
Monstrous Censoring
DR JOSEPHINE DAVIES has shared with HIP her letter to Puffin Publishing House Dear Sir/Madam, in your new print run of Roald Dahl books, you have deemed it appropriate to…
What’s on Your Mind?
We would love to hear from write to: Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is…