Archives for Opinion - Page 4
Something is Brewing
by EVELINE TILSLooking at the growing list of strikers it’s heartening to know that more and more people see we need a drastic change in the way society is structured.…
Letters 219
St Mary Quite Contrary Dear HIP,Several years ago, there was a proposal to close the road behind the White Rock Theatre and extend the theatre backwards, with an opening onto…
St Mary in the Castle and Me
Glenys Jacques gives a personal opinion on why we need to defend St Mary in the Castle. Creative community passions run high in Hastings. Art and music flow through it…
Letters: HIP Issue 218
Extraordinary Dear HIP, Thank you for the article An extraordinary life in HIP 214. So lovely to read and keep as a record. I have known Peter D’Arcy Champney for…
Letters Issue 217
Joy of Singing Together Dear HIP What a splendid, exhilarating piece by Paul Greep in HIP 215 – Living with Parkinson’s: Why I joined ParkinSongsters. Singing together is simply one…
OPINION: Dumb Catch 22
Nick Pelling on this Year’s Dishonours List Welcome to the HIP 2022 accolades for monstrous egotism, silliness and stupidity: yes, it’s the incredible MESS awards. There have been some startling…
OPINION: Does Suella Braverman believe in Universal Human Rights?
Dr Mursheda Chowdhury, Chair of the Refugee Buddy Project, gives a personal analysis of our Home Secretary's philosophy. On Wednesday 10 August 2022, the Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP…
A Housing Crisis Debate
Reader's Letter: A Landlord's View Local resident/landlord Jamie writes to ’ve been reading through your recent commentary of the Hastings housing crisis with a mixture of sadness at some of…
OPINION: Royal Lucre
By Kent Barker Even the staunchest republican might, so soon after the Queen’s funeral, hesitate to step on her grave by raising the sordid question of money. But the new…
OPINION: Call it what it is – Class War
Robin Holtom gives a personal view of our current housing crisis The housing crisis that Louise Hester exposed so vividly in HIP 210 is no accident. And nothing this government…
OPINION
Totalitarian Tears By Nick Pelling Is it safe to come out yet? I don’t know about you, but I have spent two weeks or more hiding from the BBC. The…
OPINION: Unhealthy Hastings
Between them, Hastings and Rother councils contain the eight most deprived areas in East Sussex, with Hastings itself one of the most deprived towns in England. Deprivation contributes to higher…
OPINION
The Acceptable Face of Sexism? By Nick Pelling I like to think I am not a particularly sexist bloke. I read the Guardian for heaven’s sake. Even the godawful Weekend…
Vive La Republique?
These are difficult times for republicans. The widespread support for the Jubilee celebrations in Hastings as elsewhere in the UK shows just how revered is Elizabeth Windsor. As a person.…
OPINION: Two Cheers for a Trifle?
By Nick Pelling As you all probably know, a jubilee should begin with the blowing of a ram’s horn. This, I believe, was an ancient Jewish practice in which a…
OPINION: Without Representation
By Kent Barker Is there a case for the proposition that a hung Council better represents and better serves its electors than one where a single party has a substantial…
OPINION: Are you Dizzy in disguise?
Nick Pelling explores a Tory Tradition. Imagine a politician who was willing to say almost anything to get into power. Who claimed he was going to level up society but…
OPINION
To Take up Arms? Kent Barker poses some uncomfortable questions about opposing military might. Where does a pacifist-minded person stand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine? It may not be…
OPINION
Support, don’t punish By Tania Charman The drug problem here runs through most people’s lives. In a town like Hastings, substances in all forms are endemic, and it’s set to…
Beautiful Game – Ugly Times
By Nick Pelling One wonders how much the Russian führer will care that UEFA have taken the Champions League final away from his country. Or that even FIFA - formerly…
OPINION: Shouting Fire
Kent Barker argues that Neil Young unintentionally aided free speech when he removed himself from ; A hundred years ago a Supreme Court judge ruled the US constitutional guarantee of…
When Piglets Write the History
By Nick Pelling At what point does one know that someone is a liar? Occasionally there are helpful clues. Connie Francis had it sussed when she saw the ‘lipstick on…
January blues
By Nick Pelling If April is supposedly “the cruellest month”, surely January is the glummest? No one has any money, our wilting Christmas décor mocks us and we still find…
LETTER: Housing Provision article in HIP
Dear Hastings Independent, Looking at regulation that affects the provision of housing and its condition are all extremely important and should be continually lobbied for. The effect of holiday lettings…
LETTER: Compassion Fatigue
In this year’s joint meeting of Hastings and District Interfaith Meeting and Hastings Against War, retired ecological architect and Quaker Mary Roslin addressed the despair that many feel when confronted…
LETTER: Lit Fest
Good afternoon, I feel very strongly about the recent Hastings Lit Fest and what a wonderful addition it is to our vibrant communities in Hastings and St Leonards. I wondered…
READER LETTER: Brexit negotiations in serious trouble
Dear HIP, In case you didn’t hear the Commons debate on Brexit earlier this month, may I urge you and your readers to look at these extracts from Kier Starmer,…
READER LETTER: Where’s the Cancer?
IN RESPONSE TO ‘What on Earth are You Eating?’ from issue 108 available here. Your recent story on GM Crops and the herbicide glyphosate leads me to wonder why other media…
READER LETTER: Green Flagged
IN RESPONSE TO ‘Council scoops award for town's 'outstanding' parks’ from issue 107 available here In your 10th August issue, Bernard McGinley questions whether Hastings Country Park should have a Green Flag…
READER LETTER: Unaffordable Private Rents
IN RESPONSE TO ‘What on Earth are You Eating?’ from issue 108 available here. Re your article about renting. I am at the moment being evicted as the property no longer…
Is exercise the most effective method for losing fat?
Richard Angel If I could give one tip to anyone that is desperate to lose some fat, then it would be this: forget about endless burpees and think about what…
The Brexit Debate
Previously we pointed out that the very regions that voted most strongly for Brexit stand to be the worst off as a result. And Hastings is not immune. Now two HIP…
Brexit Fish Stew – Toxic and Incendiary
By Kent Barker It was one of UKIP’s key platforms before last June’s referendum – Nigel Farage, stately as a ship’s figurehead, lead a flotilla of fishing vessels up the…
Revised Observer Building planning consultation ending soon
OB planning consultation The consultation for the revised plans post University of Brighton plan to withdraw from Hastings, closes in the next week or so (one source says this Thursday…
Winter In Calais – Part 2: Survival and Escape
HIP Issue 55 carried a first hand account of the experience of a 22-year-old Iranian refugee entering the Calais Jungle camp last November. She, along with her mother and brother…
Winter in Calais Part 1: Entering the jungle
A refugee who fled Iran last autumn following a crackdown on her Christian group gives a first hand account of her arrival in the Calais Jungle camp in November last…
It’s goodbye from me
Hello, I’ve been your news editor for the past few months, and various other things before that. I’d like to tell you a bit about my experience of volunteering with…
To whom it may concern,
I am writing in response to the article titled 'Julian Assange is a political prisoner, not a fugitive from Justice' in the latest edition of The Hastings Independent. In my…
Julian Assange is a Political Prisoner, not a Fugitive from Justice
On February 5th this year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) ruled that Julian Assange is a political prisoner, and that the governments of the UK and…