‘When the Rain Stops Falling’ is an intergenerational play about family, betrayal, abandonment, forgiveness and love. It is set across continents in London, Adelaide, Alice Springs and the Coorong on the Southern coast of Australia and Uluru near Ayer’s Rock. It is also set over a series of time scales from 1959 into the future in 2039.
Henry Law is a very interesting character acted by Brighton Little Theatre veteran, Leigh Ward. Everything seems to be in place in his life in London until his wife makes a very devastating discovery. In the opening scene of ‘When the Rain Stops Falling’ he is in Australia and the question for the audience is why. How did he get there and why is he so far away from his family? Charlotte Atkinson provides some sparkling conversation and the scene, initially, is of domestic contentment. They have a son unexpectedly, later in life called Gabriel.
Gabriel Law is a young charmer on a road trip when he meets Gabrielle York acted by Holly Everett. This couple embody some of the fluidity of modern relationships as they try to work out what they want. It is good to see Daniel Carr take on a bigger part. He is convincing and at ease throughout the performance. A lot of the warmth in the play arises as we observe these young lovers.
Gabriel makes a flying visit to see his mother and we encounter Suzanne Heritage (Elizabeth Law older) who makes some tough decisions to protect her son that he does not understand.
One of the themes of ‘When the Rain Stops Falling’ is the need to let go of the past. The implication is that ghosts will haunt you, if you let them.
There is a lot of drama in the second half of the play. Tess Gill acts as Gabrielle York older and is very convincing. She is reaching the end of her life which could have turned out differently. Tragically, even as a youngster she did not feel, that lasting happiness was in her grasp.
Shocking revelations about Henry Law bring the play to a climax. His despair is palpable. The final scene is very clever with the whole cast on stage for lunch and much, as ever, remains unsaid.
Bovell’s play,‘When the Rain Stops Falling’ is very realistic, containing awkward silences and mundane conversation as well as moments of connection and insight. It’s a depiction of everyday life where secrets are buried deep in the depths of a man’s soul. I recommend it, be warned, it contains adult themes.
In Europe, there is deadlock regarding the supply of German Leopard tanks to Ukraine. She should be given military tanks: as many as possible, with full spare parts, ammunition and training, licenced for single end use in the war against Russia.
President Zelensky has asked for 300 Leopards to defeat Putin. With one thousand tanks, they could overthrow the Russians altogether. It’s an absolute necessity that Putin is defeated. Nothing else will do.
I am not German and therefore I do not fully understand the national guilt caused by Nazi atrocities. Concentration camps blight their landscape and paralyse their politicians in the face of war. Mr Scholz, Germany’s Chancellor, does not want to escalate the war in Ukraine. No-one does, not even Mr Putin.
Germany must send leopard tanks to defeat Russia herself. She must not prevent Poland and other allies, including neighbouring countries, export permissions for their German leopard tanks. For Poland, defending herself against Russia, is a matter of necessity and survival, not choice.
In order to defeat the present monster threatening Western democracy, that is Russia’s Putin, Germany must let go of her national guilt.
President Biden and Boris Johnson understand this. I very much hope Rishi Sunak, who is rightly our Prime Minister, and Emmanuel Macron of France make sure Mr Zelensky gets all of the German Leopard tanks and other military equipment he needs, as soon as possible.
If European politicians do not supply all necessary ammunition to win the war, they will have the blood of Ukrainian men, women and children on their hands.
-ENDS-
On 24 January, the day after this article was published, Germany agreed to authorise European countries to send German Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Germany will match Poland and the UK who are sending a company of tanks (14) each ahead of an anticipated Russian Spring offensive.
Roald Dahl’s books draw us into a land full of magic and talking animals. James and the Giant Peach is no exception, he takes his friends on an adventure in a giant peach to Central Park in New York. This Christmas play sizzles with fun for the whole family – after several pitiful years in the care (if you can call it that) of his two aunts, James manages to escape and his adventure begins.
Dahl’s characterisation is excellent in James and the Giant Peach with each insect having a distinctive personality and none of this is lost in David Wood’s abridged adaptation for the stage. Special mention must be made of Patti Griffiths who organised the make-up and wigs, as well as overseeing the movement of the creatures on stage – sparkling faces abound smiling throughout and drawing the audience into James’ world. Costumes are very well developed which is not easy – how exactly does one dress insects?! Laura Johnston and Christine Fox show they are up to the task.
Samuel Masters is welcomed back to the company to play James, the main protagonist, in James and the Giant Peach. He has energy and builds a team, rallying the spirits of his friends in times of trouble. Look out for Samuel, he’s a scriptwriter and director as well as an actor.
Aunt Spiker, Frankie Knight, is glamorous and knows it but her face is warped by large purple boils – an indicator of her nasty nature. Her interaction with Sponge, acted by Phaedra Danelli, and the incessant bickering never ceases to entertain.
Neil Turk-Thompson is very convincing as Old-Green-Grasshopper. His facial expressions, including his eyebrows and movements provide endless entertainment and place him in a class of his own. He is James’ greatest champion.
Oliver Russell makes his debut performance at BLT as the rather arrogant centipede. Russell is a seasoned actor but new to Brighton and a good addition to the company. Ladybird acted by Ellie Mason is a lovely character.
Olivia Jeffrey is elegant as Miss Spider and Kirrily Long can be applauded for taking up the part of Earthworm late in the day. Earthworm is a very funny portent of doom who heroically saves the day when the peach is in trouble.
James and the Giant Peach runs for about two hours excluding the interval which makes it perfect for children who can still be tucked up in bed by 10pm. Rapturous applause at the end was evidence of how much the audience enjoyed the show.
It is no mean feat to have 12 actors and a complex set on a stage as small as Brighton Little Theatre. Joseph Bentley clearly had a lot of fun as director. He writes of James and the Giant Peach: “I remember the joy of childhood and the promise Dahl made to us all that anything is possible if you believe in yourself, the love you find around you the family you build, and the adventure.”
I recommend this energetic adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book. The show engages, excites and entertains, it’s great fun for the whole family.
Stephen Lightfoot addressed sixty members of the public online in the latest public engagement exercise to explain the vision behind the new integrated care strategy from NHS Sussex on Thursday 17 November. The strategy is a long-term, health and care five year plan which will build on existing health and wellbeing strategies in East and West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. Mr Lightfoot is the Chair for NHS Sussex, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) for Sussex covering hospitals, GPs, mental health services, pharmacists and dentists.
In putting the strategy together Mr Lightfoot and his team have taken advice from the Department of Health and other partners including the voluntary sector, social enterprises and the public.
The plan aims to improve the health of the population of Sussex (1.7 million) and reduce inequalities, particularly in access and outcomes. Difficulties with access can be due to geography or due to other demographics such as ethnicity and age.
Sussex Health and Care Assembly with a broad membership will oversee the development and approve the integrated care strategy on 14 December at a public meeting at the University of Brighton.
Mr Lightfoot said there is a growing need and demand for services due largely to a growing and ageing population. Research has shown that the population of Sussex has grown by six percent, however, those aged 65+ has grown by 19 percent while the population under 65 has only grown by three percent. There are 1.7 million people living in Sussex and there are wide geographical disparities. Twenty two percent of the population is over 65 years old.
In Mid Sussex people have a healthy life expectancy until they are 69 years old, in Hastings the age drops to 62. He said research has found the most deprived areas have the worst access to services. Mr Lightfoot said the population with the greatest needs should get the best services. At the moment the opposite is true across Sussex.
Our NHS system is large and complex, comprising 1100 different NHS organisations and locations including GPs, pharmacies and dentists, as well as hospitals. Mr Lightfoot said at the moment, care is disjointed, patients are referred to hospital by GPs which incurs delays.
He said we need to make better use of technology. For 95 percent of the population, technology will help but we do need to be mindful to avoid digital exclusion. NHS Sussex gets £3.6 billion. We need to make the best use of these resources. Every organisation has its own buildings and the NHS estate is ageing. Services should be close to the communities they serve.
Integrated care strategy public engagement has been carried out in 23 cities and towns across Sussex which each have a population of more than 10,000 people.
We agreed the case for change at a meeting in October.
“The Assembly has selected three system-wide priorities for the strategy:
… Development of Integrated Community Teams
… Development and support of our Workforce
… Maximising the use of Digital Technology and data”
Mr Lighfoot said: “Over the last many, many years the NHS has been an incredible organisation but it has been built around organisations. So services have been developed out of hospitals and GP practices almost regardless of where people live…We need to provide health and care services to each of our communities across Sussex and build services around where the population live, rather than where the hospital or GP surgery is based.” To do this, he said, the NHS must better understand need (or demand) for services and integrate services at a local level.
He said the strategy will encourage more local engagement, joined up services and more partnership working. Communities are not just about geography, children and young people are another community. There is a pressing need to address the mental health of the community of children and young people. Then there are cancer survivors and communities of people with different sexual preferences and different religions. He said: “We need to build care around people, not around existing organisations. That’s frankly our big ambition.”
NHS Sussex employs a workforce of 35,000 people and are the biggest single employer in Sussex. We always have vacancies. It’s not an accident that there are three university vice chancellors who sit on the board from Brighton University, Sussex University and Chichester. Rebecca Conroy represents FE colleges in Eastbourne, Hastings and Lewes.
Mr Lightfoot said we need to grow our workforce and retain existing NHS staff. We need to develop attractive career paths for graduates to work in Sussex instead of going to London, Kent or Hampshire. He said NHS Sussex needs to address the cost of living crisis head on. He said: “We can’t renegotiate salaries but we can think about everything else to make one Sussex workforce a reality.”
He said one of the three priorities of the strategy is to develop an integrated digital platform to share information. Mr Lightfoot said patients should share their experience once, not every time they meet a new professional which is not great for the patient experience. The NHS should provide services digitally.
Some people would prefer virtual online discussions, they would prefer telephone appointments and do online research on the internet about health issues. Doctors and nurses still need to see people. “Patients do want to book appointments online, not ring up in the morning, they do want to access blood test results and appointments on their phone instead of getting a letter a week later.”
Fifty percent of the population of Sussex has signed up to the NHS app which provides a better experience and greater access but that is not universal yet. I think we need to get every GP surgery on the NHS app. Mr Lightfoot would like ninety percent to use the NHS app. Digital technology will make us more efficient and give a better experience and provide more access to our services.
This is work in progress, the final strategy has not been fully drafted yet and has not been approved yet by the assembly until 14 December. He said: “What are we going to do about specifically the support and health of children and young people so they can start their lives well? There’s going to have to be services that support people to live well, particularly if they have complex conditions and multiple health issues.
“We’ve got to help people to age well, and I think part of that is to help people to stay healthy and to live independently for as long as they possibly can. So they can get care as close to home as possible rather than always having to go to a hospital for that. We need to address waiting lists so that people get the care they need when they need it in an area that they need it.”
On 14 December the strategy which is the vision will be approved at the assembly as above. From January to March 2023 the Delivery Plan will be developed – who is going to do what and when with what resources. Mr Lightfoot said the NHS Board will approve the delivery plan that sits under the strategy on 05 April next year.
Hove MP Peter Kyle joined councillors and about 150 local people for a community meeting about practical responses to climate change on Thursday evening (10 November).
They met at Holy Cross church hall, in Poet’s Corner, for presentations about the “climate and nature emergency” and discussion aimed at answering the question: “What can we do in our community?”
The event was organised by a small team including researcher and content strategist Tamsin Bishton.
And several small businesses from the area were represented, including Timeless Toys, in Portland Road, and Harriet’s of Hove, in Blatchington Road.
Katie Eberstein, the Brighton and Hove environmental education officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust, said: “Give young people skills, knowledge and an attitude to tackle climate change.”
The former teacher, who runs the website Our City Our World, works with about half the schools in Brighton and Hove and added: “Adapt the curriculum to discuss climate change. Equip schools to make their structure carbon neutral.”
She said that being in nature inspired young people and said that young people and families should be empowered to take action both individually and collectively.
Katie works with half the schools in Brighton and Hove. She said 97 percent want climate education in schools. Being in nature inspires young people. Katie encouraged parents and pupils to talk to their schools and tell them what they want, tell them that sustainability matters.
Charlie Peverett from Birdsong Academy is a naturalist who has been identifying birds by their song for thirty years. During the pandemic, he founded ‘Up with the birds’ which is a dawn chorus shared on zoom. In Spring 2020 did the birds get louder? He said people had more time to notice what’s around them. He shares the sounds of live birdsong on zoom with the help of crowd funding.
He asked: “Why are birds so hard to find these days? It’s a moment of truth.” Birdsong academy and the dawn chorus are free. He also produces a weekly newsletter from January to June and he runs a ten week online course as well as walking workshops at Stanmer Park. He said: “Tune into what’s already here. It’s essential to the work that we need to do.”
Carbon
Councillor Elaine Hills is a Green Party member for Hanover and Elm Grove who sits on the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee. She said we have a target of being carbon neutral in Brighton and hove by 2030.
She said: “We have 200 electric charging points in Brighton and Hove, we reduce, repair and reuse, we recycle. We protect promote and prioritise. But we are facing a biodiversity emergency and extreme weather. We have a circular economy programme. As a city we will move away from wasteful ways of doing things. We have a food partnership project and foodbanks. As a council, we will make more sustainable choices.”
Paul Loman runs the ‘Real Junk Food Project’ that intercepts food before it is sent to landfill or incinerated to help tackle climate change. He said: “One third of food production goes to waste. Many people don’t have enough food. Food is sent to landfill which produces methane and is worse than carbon dioxide. Supermarkets waste food, they take it off the shelves and send it to incinerators or landfill.
“We rescue food and feed people. We have relationships with supermarkets and we go through the front door. We take the food to Bevendean, log it, and send it to pay as you feel cafes at St Luke’s in Hove and Fitzherbert’s in Kemptown. We take donations. One third of food is wasted, cook wisely, freeze, grow food, compost.”
Michael Kennard disrupts food waste and composts it. He said: “There is lots of food waste, tonnes of food in landfill, 600 kilos of carbon, if you compost it, you end up with 9 kilos. We have a market garden and run the Compost Club. Compost is a beautiful life cycle.”
Circular economy to help tackle climate change
Harriet Dean-Orange runs Harriet’s of Hove on Blatchington Road with her husband, Mhiran. The shop is free from single use plastics and provides refills of pasta, lentils and other dry foods. She used to be a nurse and found there was a great disparity between work and home. Customers bring in their own containers and buy by weight. You can buy Daal for £1. She said she is selling behaviour change: “By shopping at Harriet’s of Hove, you are using ethical and sustainable wholesalers. Re-sterilisation. No new plastic. Recycling.”
Susan Luxford owns ‘Timeless toys’ on Portland Road. She said: “Toys are rarely mentioned when discussing climate change. Toys come in unwanted plastic and break easily. Toys are the most intensive plastic industry, 90 percent are unrecyclable. BHF found 1 in 3 parents admit to throwing away toys in the UK every year. They end up in landfill or the ocean. 58 London buses of toys end up in the sea every year. There are toy rental schemes. She asked: Is our legacy to our children, to bury toys we are actually buying for them?”
Home Energy
Tim Beecher from BHESCO, the energy cooperative, reduces the environmental impact of buildings. He was inspired by the natural world to tackle climate change. Twenty four percent of carbon emissions come from our homes. He said we need to: “rescue the street, terraced housing by putting in external wall insulation. We will reduce the cost individually if we come together as a community. Cooperate and collaborate. You can invest in BHESCO and buy shares which will fund renewable energy.”
Transport
Councillor Carmen Appich is leader of labour group and sits on the social care and health and wellbeing committees. She said Brighton and Hove has a local walking and cycling plan which is out for consultation at the moment. People should use public transport. She has introduced rounded street corners on Portland Road, there will be a car share project, starting in Hanover with two cars in Westbourne Ward next summer. Then there is the ‘Mini Holland scheme.’ Additional pedestrian crossings, crocodile crossings, school streets, bike share hubs or car hubs. She said the council needs to know what people actually want so get in touch.
Sarah Forbes has been blogging about reducing plastic waste since 2020. She has been helping people feel safer to cycle in the city. She welcomed the Old Shoreham Rd cycle lane. She has a neurological condition which has not stopped her enjoying cycling. Sometimes she uses an E bike. She is a member of Bricycles.
Tamsin Bishton was the organiser of the event. She has lived in Poet’s Corner for 18 years, her children went to Goldstone Primary School and Hove Park. She said her step Grandad fought for something in the war and we need to protect it for the next generation.
Tamsin Bishton organised the event
Kate and Marianna were at the event representing Extinction rebellion. Marianna spoke, she has a fifteen year old son who sleeps in a bunk bed because he is terrified of the sea level rising. She said: “We are facing a climate and ecological emergency. She mentioned the sister organisation, animal rebellion protecting methane gas. She said becoming vegan was the best thing she has done. And there is money rebellion. East Sussex County Council have divested their pension fund from fossil fuels. Between 14-19 Nov we are targeting Barclays bank. There is a march on Saturday at 12 noon.
Hove MP, Peter Kyle was the last speaker of the evening and he gave a summary of what was happening in Parliament to tackle climate change. He is Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a Labour MP.
He said: “I have been actively involved with students since 2021. I have also been talking to Southern Water about the sewage dumped on our beaches. My emphasis is on what they have done, billions poured down the drain. We need water back in the reservoirs.
He said: “We have reached a plateau with food waste and recycling. We need to do much more: green waste and composting. There is an Environment bill. It will impose regulations on every Local Authority. We can’t upgrade the Hollingbury recycling depot until the regulations are published in March. I have frustrations on behalf of our community. All 3 MPs, created a road map for ourselves with different levers to help the council. We all visited Hollingbury and the incinerator in Newhaven.
“I do drive, I choose not to have a car. There was lots of resistance to the Rampion offshore windfarm. Urban areas are not connected to where power comes from and where waste goes to. We need to grow up. We are connected to power now. Labour pledge we will have clean energy in Brighton and Hove by 2030… We need to double the off shore wind farms by 2030. Labour proposes a multi-year green fund to recapitalise our economy. Carbon reduction.”
Hove MP Peter Kyle
Question and Answer
How sustainable are the prices of public transport? It costs our family of three £15 on the bus and £5 in the car. Ms Appich said: “There are costs to running a car. We bid for money, we were awarded £27m, we have a private bus company with shareholders. There is no national will to fund transport properly. Government doesn’t want to run the bus company, they don’t trust us, they have taken away a lot of money.”
One member of the audience said civil disobedience is important to the freedom movement. Mr Kyle said: “Protest is incredibly important and it has to be legal. Keir Starmer agreed with harsher penalties. I am a gay person, all gay people protest and it’s legal. Do it within the law. Change the law.”
Mr Kyle said: “There is a problem with the new bill. We don’t support the new bill. Certain protests are so counter-productive. (For example, Extinction rebellion.) We don’t support disrupting ambulances. Suella Braverman’s chinook was in breach of the noise regulations in her law when she visited Manston.”
Another member of the audience asked the last question. She lives in Benfield Valley. There are 12 garages near Portslade. She asked: “Why don’t you knock them down and build there rather than on Greenfield sites?” Councillor Appich said the council needed to include some green field sites in the city plan. Nothing will be built without planning applications. Councillors can reject them. Whitehawk Hill. We needed to fulfil the requirement of the planning body.”
Mr Kyle said: “We need green growth, greenhouse emissions fell by 20%, we have more wind turbines than any other country. We are about to enter a recession. High intensity energy, steel, we need clean steel. We have to get the economy moving, buses, public services and the city needs investment, smart investment.”
A shortened version of this article was first published today in Brighton and Hove News.
Stones in his pockets is about two lads who are taken on as extras for a Hollywood film. The action takes place in the Blasket Islands of County Kerry in Ireland. The play is a good humoured exploration of how you start out in the film industry and exposes the precarious nature of life as an artist. Charlie Conlon tries desperately to get the lead actor and directors to read his script throughout the play with limited success.
Ciaran O’Connor acts as Jake Quinn, newly returned from America. He is native to Blasket Islands and related to half of the community. Jake is straight talking, compassionate and a deep thinker. He doesn’t run away from reality, even in his darkest moments and he takes everything to heart.
In the course of the play, Ciaran plays six other cameo parts and the character of Mickey, the professional extra, deserves special mention. Ciaran has been with the theatre company for twenty years and should continue to seek leading roles. In Stones in his Pockets, he is very understated as Jake and a delight to watch.
Ben Hayward, cast primarily as Charlie Conlon also has credits to his name and is making his debut at Brighton Little Theatre Company. He moved down to Brighton during the pandemic and works hard as a junior doctor in his spare time. He plays a lot of the cameos involving the film crew, particularly the part of Caroline Giovanni, an alluring American film star. Charlie Conlon is a young man trying to find himself. His video shop folds and he arrives in Blasket Islands in pursuit of dreams and may be running away from some ghosts.
At the heart of Stones in his pockets is a clash of cultures between the film crew who are restless and ruthless, always pushing forward and the sleepy, close-knit Irish community that cherishes family, friendship and their cows. Tragedy strikes at the end of the first half and then Jake and Charlie have to come to terms with what has happened. There is a whisper of romance.
Direction by Harry Atkinson is excellent and the set works well. Characters change in a matter of seconds which is a great achievement. Ciaran O’Connor and Ben Hayward are on stage throughout the full length of the production which takes stamina and grit – their acting is outstanding. The script was written by Marie Jones and is a little slow to get going in the first half but mention of lemon meringue pie makes the audience laugh from the outset.
I thoroughly recommend Stones in his pockets brilliantly executed by Brighton Little Theatre. Expect a lot of laughs underpinned by poignancy as an Irish community comes to terms with loss. A twist at the end brings hope, purpose and fulfilment.
Over 70 suicide prevention and mental health groups join together today, Saturday September 10 across the UK to highlight how suicides can be prevented.
One in five people in the UK have suicidal thoughts, one in twenty will attempt suicide. It’s estimated in England and Wales, at least 140,000 people go to hospital each year having attempted suicide.
Suicide is preventable and not inevitable. That’s why on World Suicide Prevention Day, Grassroots Suicide Prevention, a UK leader in suicide prevention, is launching an online suicide prevention hub, including a section on understanding suicide. This includes potential warning signs to look for, suicide myths that create stigma and shame and how to talk to someone you are concerned about.
Their pioneering app called Stay Alive is recommended by the NHS for those experiencing suicidal thoughts or those concerned about loved ones who are thinking about suicide. It has been downloaded over half a million times. It has helped 76% of at-risk users stay safe from suicide and 80% of people using the app have supported someone else and said it helped them keep the person safe from suicide.
Ian Stringer, born in Blackpool and now BBC Leicester Sports Commentator used the app when he was struggling. He said: “The Stay Alive app is a life saver. This is not just a turn of phrase, but it actually saves lives of those who have thoughts of suicide.”
Around 135 people are affected to some degree by every person lost to suicide. It can devastate communities and have a lasting impact on loved ones left behind. Grassroots has a free, online interactive film called Real Talk that helps people have those life-saving conversations.
Dr Lisa Edwards, a bereaved parent and Grassroots Suicide Prevention trustee said: “Suicide is the biggest killer of young people, both male and female, aged under 35 years in the UK. Not only does the person who dies by suicide lose their life, those who love them, family, and friends, are devastated too.
“When my 16-year-old son, David died by suicide, my life changed forever, I entered an abyss of grief. My broken heart will never heal. Yet, suicide can be prevented but we still do not talk about it openly.
“Talking about suicide not only reduces the stigma, but also allows individuals to seek help, rethink their options. We know that having the right conversation with someone if they’re suicidal can protect them.”
Grassroots has trained over 50,000 people on mental health and suicide prevention. It trains over 300 organisations a year on mental health and suicide, including organisations like the British Army, Shelter, Waitrose, and the NHS. This year as part of World Suicide Prevention Day they are offering a FREE one-hour, online training to media professionals and journalists on how they can help prevent suicide.
Rachael Swann, CEO at Grassroots Suicide Prevention says, “What we know is that in most cases, suicide is not inevitable and can be prevented with timely intervention, and anyone can learn these life-saving skills. At Grassroots we are committed to supporting people and organisations to understand that their actions, however big or small, could bring hope to someone who is struggling and help save their life.”
Grassroots is a national charity that offers resources, expertise and training to organisations, communities, and individuals around suicide prevention.
Are the kids at a loose end this summer? Why not pop along to Brighton’s Open Air Theatre (BOAT) to see Mike Kenny’s adaptation of the Railway Children? It’s a heart-warming story of a middle-class family who strike hard times when father, who is the breadwinner, is suddenly taken away in the dead of night.
Joanna Ackroyd is convincing as hard-pressed mother who needs to keep the family running and the money coming in when father is taken away. However, the shining stars of the performance are the children. Sophie Davis is the eldest, Bobbie, Chris Church (whom we have seen in Blink and Anne Boleyn) is Peter and Chantelle Winder is excellent as the youngest child, Phyllis.
The children are on the stage for most of the play in two acts and Chantelle is building up the credits, having acted in A Midsummer Night’s Dream last summer and in the Twits. Chantelle has great presence as Phyllis and generates at least half the humour in the play, rivalled only by her brother, Peter and Perks.
Chris Church excels at humorous characters and often steals the attention when on stage. He is a very versatile actor and works hard in the Brighton Little Company. Sophie Davies is the eldest child, Bobbie (short for Roberta.) Bobbie is the responsible eldest child who holds the key to finding her father. Acts of heroism distinguish her although she is a little too old to be cute like Phyllis.
Bobbie’s character was acted by Jenny Agutter in the 1968 BBC production and 1970 film, (Agutter acts as Sister Julienne in Call the Midwife) and you can watch The Railway Children Return at the Odeon at the moment starring Agutter. However, you will miss the charm of Brighton’s outdoor theatre which is one of my summer delights and the intimacy that only the theatre brings.
Direction is excellent. Tess Gill and Steven Adams team up to co-direct the play and bring out the banter between the children beautifully. At the theatre, you really do put aside the day and enter into the lives of the characters, never more so than in the Railway Children. Tess is a seasoned director at Brighton Little Theatre as well as an actress.
Steven Adams makes a brief appearance on set in a critical role. Look out for him. This play has a cast of 13 and many of the actors double up to help with production when they are not on stage. Brighton Little Theatre company is a lean machine and is actively recruiting back stage helpers at the moment.
Leigh Ward deserves a mention as Perks, the train conductor. I saw him acting as Henry VIII in Anne Boleyn and he was commanding. In this play he is still in charge but in a comic role and his wife, played by Nettie Sheridan has a small and very funny role. They bring warmth to the play and straddle the class divide much more evident in society in 1906 when the book was written, than in modern times.
E S Nesbit wrote the book at the turn of the last century and it has been a classic family favourite ever since. Mike Kenny’s adaptation is excellent, sticking closely to Nesbitt’s plot while writing colourful dialogue throughout to add pace to the stage production.
I think the Railway Children is charming and very close to the book. Adults will enjoy the play as much as children. At its heart, it’s a play about a family ripped apart and making the best of difficult circumstances: the children show great resilience, as kids always do. Chantelle stands out as the youngest actress and I think she is easily as good as the rest of the company.
On a summer’s evening, I can think of nothing better than to pop along to Brighton Open Air Theatre and put your feet up over a glass of wine. The play runs until 13 August at BOAT and then in the equally charming Brighton Little Theatre from 16 to 20 August.
Worthing Museum has thrown open its doors to a very different type of exhibition. It’s called ‘Invisible People’ and features work by Guardian cartoonist, Henny Beaumont and young people with learning disabilities.
‘Lily the Dog’ by Beth Beaumont
This is part of a larger campaign towards celebrating the successes of young artists with learning disabilities in collaboration with Superstar Arts and Rocket Artists. Henny’s daughter, Beth Beaumont, who has Downs Syndrome, learning disabilities and a fantastic sense of colour has contributed a painting, ‘Lily the dog.’
Henny said that only 5% of adults with learning disabilities in the general population are in paid employment. She said: “In Beth’s college 65% of students’ progress to paid employment, it shows what can be done with the right training.”
When talking about challenging perceptions about people with learning disabilities and autistic people, she said: “There is still huge ignorance. As a parent, you feel invisible and your children’s needs are invisible. The young artist who painted the Harry Styles painting came along to Worthing to see it displayed. It was wonderful to see how pleased she was – I can’t say it was validation for her – but that is my hope, that it helps people to feel validated and seen.”
Betsy King is a young woman with autism who came along to the exhibition with her Mum, Kathleen King. She is studying drama and was not diagnosed with autism until she was 16. This is not uncommon with girls. She said the assessments were “quite exposing” but she really benefits now from group therapy and the support network as well as access to 1:1 therapy.
Betsy’s favourite painting by Henny is of the court system, showing a judge surrounded by books that are toppling off a pile and crushing young people with learning disabilities underneath.
Additional support for learners with learning disabilities can transform their time in education and greatly improve their chances of progression into employment. It is tragic that for many parents there is such a battle to access the support.
Henny was commissioned by Bild to explore the social care world – the barriers facing young people with learning disabilities and the system that sometimes makes it very difficult for families to get help.
Ben Higgins, Bild Chief Executive, said: “We have been privileged to have Henny Beaumont working with Bild and Respond on our recent trauma-focussed project and webinars. All the images have been co-produced through listening to professionals and people with lived experience. Henny has created incredibly impactful images, providing a powerful visual representation of people’s experiences of trauma.
Henny Beaumont with her art
“Far too many people with learning disabilities and autistic people have experienced complex trauma.
“This project and the accompanying images have helped deepen awareness of understanding of trauma across education, health and social care.”
A lot of Henny’s work emphasises the trauma experienced by young people with learning disabilities and the multiple barriers they face to inclusion.
Henny also teamed up with Brigit Connolly to produce the ceramics (plates and mugs) during workshops. They can be made to order for a limited time while the exhibition is underway.
Henny has worked tirelessly in Stoke Newington with Kate Revere and Stoke Newington Business Association on ‘Invisible people N16,’ an exhibition in over 90 shops, where art work by people with learning disabilities, autistic people and people from marginalised communities was displayed in shop windows.
Look out for Henny’s book; “Hole in the heart. Bringing up Beth.” Henny will be doing a book signing at the museum in the autumn.
‘Invisible People’ exhibition will run until 30 October at Worthing Museum.
Justin King who heads up the Sussex Coast gull and bird voluntary network is at the end of his tether trying to rescue seagulls and pigeons, many of whom have contracted bird flu.
Mr King said the closure of Roger’s Wildlife Rescue in Woodingdean had come at the worst possible time and other wildlife rescue services and volunteers were having to pick up the pieces.
Brighton Council has issued guidance for how to report birds with symptoms of bird flu in public places and how to dispose of them safely if found in your garden. The risk of human beings contracting bird flu is low but the public are advised not to touch infected seagulls.
East Sussex Wildlife Rescue Ambulance Service (WRAS) and Seahaven Wildlife Rescue are also helping sick gulls, although their centres are no longer able to take them in to protect the animals already being cared for there.
Mr King said: “I have rescue requests coming out of my ears, hardly anyone to help and I’m now running a makeshift hospital from my garden. All wildlife centres have turned their backs on gulls, the council (whose offices are still closed since Covid) are not helping.
“Gulls are being dumped everywhere imaginable, including the doorsteps of the seafront offices and DEFRA has done nothing to help other than to provide a phone number that offers nothing.”
Mr King said: “Volunteers are drowning with no support. We are beyond breaking point, with two hospitalizations of staff including myself. Some are losing their jobs.
“Wildlife sites are closed and volunteers have been abandoned to do all of the rescue work. Baby birds are now having to be quarantined by us if they have bird flu and sent to people’s houses and gardens to be raised until august.
“Apart from the council proposing to erect signs on the beaches which provide no helpful support, they have offered nothing.
“It is us who are doing all the work and we have done since May when the last wildlife site in Brighton shut its doors. There has been no mention of the mental impact it is having upon us and we are having to rely upon donations, NOT from the media, NOT from the council, NOT from Defra, but yet again, from the public.
“Now we are in flying ant season and these symptoms are further confusing things for us and being confused with bird flu.
“Furthermore the violence and neglect towards these birds has increased 100 fold. Things are getting worse for all of us.”
Mr King has therefore launched an urgent appeal. He needs volunteers, drivers and people to adopt birds as well as donations of crates, puppy pens, soap powder, cat and dog food and towels. The water and electricity costs are huge from all the washing they have to do.
The campaign has already raised £1,222 on the just giving website but more money is needed to save the seagulls. You can donate here.
Alternatively you can donate using go fund me which has a target of £5,000.
King Henry VIII steals Anne Boleyn’s heart, having seduced her sister, and then has to work out how to marry Anne. Expect intrigue as the politics of love unfolds in the royal court. Anne is feisty and different. She was sent to the French court when she was fifteen and is therefore more streetwise and less naive than your average courtly young lady. Thrown into the spotlight by Henry’s affection, rumours about Anne Boleyn abound. Thomas Cromwell knows them all, arch Machiavellian schemer that he is.
Kemi Greene acts as Anne Boleyn and has great presence although she is still relatively new to the Brighton Little Theatre Company. Whenever she is on stage she makes sure to capture the audience’s attention. Her characterisation in the script is very good and she delivers her lines with alacrity: she oozes complexity, dancing a dalliance with Henry and flirting zealously with William Tyndale.
The context of this love story is the English Reformation triggered by Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn. William Tyndale, acted by Daniel Carr, wrote the first English Bible in the vernacular, previously they were all written in Latin and owned by monks, priests and scholars only – the elite.
Expect some time travel (an artist’s licence) to the reign of James I who was also James VI of Scotland. He is a totally different character, irreverent with acerbic wit – I wouldn’t want to cross James I. I have seen Chris Church before in Blink. He is great fun and acts a range of quite different roles with the same passion, attention to detail and humour. Look out for Chris Church and Kemi Greene, they are both very talented.
I feel the best lines in the script are reserved by Howard Brenton for Cardinal Wolsey masterfully acted by Peter Jukes. In what felt like an effortless performance, Wolsey’s intellect (as well as his love of food) is evident for all to see. Some of his lines are poetic and all of them have substance. I really enjoyed the script and particularly the large number of actors in the cast, demonstrating theatre at its best. It’s good to see some new faces too.
I don’t have the space to mention every actor and direction is faultless. I did enjoy Kez Price’s performance as Thomas Cromwell whose eyes and ears are in every nook and cranny of the court. Like Kemi (as Anne Boelyn), Kez has great presence, submitting only to Cardinal Wolsey and manipulating Henry as craftily and poignantly as all his subjects. Kez is part of the fabric of Brighton Little Theatre and clearly a great asset to the company.
I enjoyed Leigh Ward’s sympathetic presentation of Henry VIII, it feels very natural. Howard Brenton is kind to Henry in his characterisation, arguably at Anne Boleyn’s expense. It is often thus, particularly and not exclusively in period dramas, where men are lifted up and women cast aside or denigrated.
Finally, I must mention Chloe McEwan who plays Lady Rochford. Among the women, Lady Rochford is all-powerful and yet is putty in Thomas Cromwell’s hands on more than one occasion. The politics and misogyny of the court are exposed by Lady Rochford’s plight and fatally Anne Boleyn’s, revealing the powerlessness of being a sixteenth century woman.
I thoroughly enjoyed this play and highly recommend it for its authenticity and humour. It’s not easy to bring to life sixteenth century court in the 21st century and Brighton Little Theatre has done it superbly well. I like the fact that as the audience we know who each character is and there is not too much hat-changing and doubling up. I like Neil Fitzgerald and look forward to seeing more of his work.
As a post-pandemic play, it could hardly have been better to bring the company together, including a significant number of new members. I look forward to seeing more of them in future.
Tobias Ellwood MP, Chair of the Defence Select Committee was interviewed about Ukraine by Cathy Newman on Channel Four News, 06 April 2022. I contacted Mr Ellwood for comment and this remains his position:
We need to protect Odesa and link it up with international waters to prevent Ukraine becoming landlocked and to protect the economy (and potentially find a humanitarian corridor. Moving Ukrainians into the middle of the country only puts civilians at more risk of extermination or starvation.)
Here’s a transcript of Mr Ellwood’s interview:
Cathy Newman: We’ve just witnessed yet more apparent evidence of appalling brutality, you know a body covered in human faeces for example, barbaric, I just wanted your reaction really.
Tobias Ellwood: “These are terrible scenes and you have to ask yourself what will it take for the West to really react and perhaps move up a couple of gears to support the Ukrainians in their hour of need. Britain has done well to support Ukraine prior to the war in providing weapons systems and indeed afterwards but we’re not doing enough to allow Ukraine to push Russia back, we’re not doing enough to stop this sort of brutality.
“In fact we’ve almost given a greenlight for this activity to take place through our hesitance, through our timidity which is being exploited by Putin. I make it really clear we are going to see more scenes like this as Kharkiv and other places like that are eventually exposed.
The Russians are pulling out of Kyiv, Pushing into the Donbas region.
“There’s every likelihood they will take the port of Odesa. If they take the port of Odesa, then Ukraine becomes landlocked, the economy is then destroyed and Putin then will continue his objectives way beyond Ukraine so this should be a massive wake up call for the West.
Cathy Newman: … Originally you were asking for a no-fly zone. Nato reiterated it didn’t want to escalate things. Is that the right response or are you now saying well we’ve got to move from defensive weapons to offensive weaponry or something more when you talk about moving up a couple of notches?
“When I served in the armed forces I fired many of these weapons, there is nothing defensive about an anti-tank weapon, nothing defensive about a rifle. These are offensive weapons, I can’t believe we are still having semantic debates about this. We see Czech Republic wanting to give tanks, Poland wanted to move it’s mid 29s across.
“We could easily provide a humanitarian zone around the port linking the port to international waters. That would be a robust stance to take against Russia. It would be monitoring this from an escalatory perspective, which wouldn’t see everything suddenly ratcheting up to world war three or a nuclear war which is what we seem to be spooked about.
Cathy Newman: Are we already in this war?
“Yes, this is why I don’t understand why it’s taking so long to get where we’re going. Yes, we’re learning fast, we’re doing enough that Ukraine doesn’t lose but not enough to allow them to win. They are doing all the heavy lifting here.
“The MOD recognises this, it wants to do more. Britain needs to break away and form a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in the way it is requesting.
“Not just Britain but other nations as well. They are running out of ammunition, running out of fuel, running out of lethal weapons that they are requesting, the large and small ones. Until they get these systems in we’ll see more scenes from Bucha and Mariupol take place as well. I stress there’s another chapter to this war, it’s far from over.
Cathy Newman: Isn’t Russia looking for an excuse to target beyond Ukraine?
Mr Ellwood: “You have seen how Russia twists the message, how they’re selling this as some form of patriotic war, the majority of Russians actually continue bizarrely to support Putin.
“We are finding excuses not to help Ukraine. This won’t stop with Ukraine. We are seeing Germany and Poland increase their defence budgets because they recognised we’ve entered a new era of insecurity. This is not just about Ukraine, this is about European security and what we’re going to do about it… (Re war crimes) Ensure we collect evidence. It takes many, many years for these people to be brought to the Hague… Russia pulled out of the ICC… Putin is here to stay. There’ll be no purge, there’ll be no coup in Russia.
“This is very much a war that we need to develop the statecraft that we saw during the cold war to better build assessed risk and indeed take calculated risk.”
You can watch Mr Ellwood’s full interview and more about Ukraine on Channel Four News here.
Stop the War Coalition organised a protest at Brighton’s Clock Tower in support of Ukraine yesterday, Sunday 06 March. One of the organisers, Paddy O’Keefe, said he was very concerned about the threat of a “nuclear holocaust.” He said: “The bombing of the nuclear plant, it’s the first time a nuclear installation has been exposed to battlefield conditions and been bombed. It is interesting, Stop the War has been criticised. It is hypocritical of UK politicians to complain about the protests. Keir Starmer said we were either ‘naïve’ or ‘facilitating Putin.’”
Nicky Brennan who is now an Independent Councillor for East Brighton hosted the event. She read out a statement from Stop the War Coalition saying the war in Ukraine was a disaster for the people of Ukraine. “We demand the withdrawal of all Russian troops.” She said the coalition also opposes NATO expansion and sanctions that will affect ordinary Russian people.
Jake Easby-Robinson from the Peace and Environment Centre spoke about the importance of community. He is a Peace volunteer and he said: “Communities are torn apart and pitted against each other. We see each other and communicate with each other. When communities lose their role models, it is difficult to rebuild them.”
He said Ukrainians do not want to fight each other but there are factions from previous conflicts. “Communities have to have role models.” He said there is millions of displaced people in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan etc. “Our government is not doing enough for refugees. We need to rebuild democracy. It’s not just what’s on our TV screens and our phones. We need to understand the root causes of the conflict.”
Jake Easby-Robinson from Brighton’s Peace Centre with Cllr Nicky Brennan
Ellen Graubart spoke of the racist element in the disproportionate media coverage of the war in Ukraine. She said: “These wars are being instigated and carried out by the imperialist agenda of the US and its little brother the UK to gain and retain control of natural resources and put in place puppet regimes around the world. The winners are the large corporations and the Military Industrial Complex, and the losers are always the ordinary people who just want a decent life and safety for their families.
“There is a huge racist element to these wars and conflicts, as countries where brown and black people live don’t rate the coverage that a white country like Ukraine is getting: note that brown and black workers and students trying to escape Ukraine are being stopped at the Polish border; apparently Eurostar is giving Ukrainian refugees free passage to the UK, while black refugees are left to drown in the Channel.
“The combination of the advance of NATO towards Russia’s borders, which the US and the West promised would not happen, against a cruel dictator with an enormous axe to grind, and who is hell-bent on defending himself against the threat to his position and as he sees it, an attack on his dignity – is bringing us nearer and nearer to midnight in terms of the possibility of a nuclear Third World War.
“There never has been a more urgent need for this insanity to stop. There will be no winners if we descend into nuclear war.
“We are already facing one enormous threat to life on this planet with global warming. We need to stop the war more than any time in history.”
Ellen Graubart
Phil from the National Education Union (NEU) said: “We support the peace movement in Russia, the NEU solution is not more war. The solution is diplomacy, negotiation and solidarity. We see the missiles take off but we are not used to seeing the shells landing. People now understand what it means to be a refugee from war. We need to open the doors. The invasion is an outrage.”
Andy Richards representing Unison at Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “Putin is a fascist, imperialist Kleptocrat. Unison sends solidarity to the Ukraine people and calls for Russia to withdraw its forces…
“I am proud that Unison members working at the Isle of Grain terminal refused to handle Russian ships this week as did the Unite members in New England (USA) and Orkney (Scotland).
“We offer our solidarity to the Ukranian people, to Russians courageously opposing the war, to workers taking action against the war. We demand the UK Government open doors to Ukrainian refugees.”
Andy Robinson with Stop the War protestors
Tom Hickey from the University of Brighton UCU Union said: “We stand with the Russians who have lost their jobs and the 10,000 Russians arrested in dozens of cities for opposing the war. Every country is entitled to fight for self-determination.
“We cannot stand for imperial power – the tiny minority that wants to justify and excuse the invasion. There is no excuse and no justification. We must not ourselves be silenced because an explanation is not justification. There is a war of propaganda by politicians in this country. We need to successfully support the Ukrainians.
“The Government says it stands for humanity in the face of Putin’s brutality.” He reminded us that Priti Patel, the UK Home Secretary said she would not take refugees from Ukraine. Mr Hickey said: “Our borders should be open for refugees from war and we should be welcoming them.”
“There is no excuse for Putin and no excuse for our leaders either. Stop the War Coalition will stop the war and the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people will stop the war.
“Notice some people still escape sanctions: Abramovich is selling his football toys. Generalised sanctions to attack Russia will affect ordinary people in Russia. The Tory Defence Secretary said we will go to war for weeks and months. There is Western Imperialism by Nato as well.
“Putin said the problem in Ukraine is created by the Bolsheviks – Putin blames Lenin. The affinity between nations recognises self-determination. Ukraine needs to be supported. Putin and his gang of thugs need to go.”
Tom Hickey from the University of Brighton
Jeremy Weinstein from the campaign group Stand up to Racism, said his grandparents were chased out of Ukraine by the Tsar. He said: “My son is living in Slovakia. He has just taken in a refugee. His daughter’s best friend is living in the metro sheltering from Putin’s bombs. He said he listened to Thought for the Day on Radio Four today. They were talking about refugees with blue eyes and blonde hair. Back in the seventies they welcomed Eritreans, Afghans and Syrians. We say: ‘They are welcome here.’ Let them in because they are welcome here.
“There is a Stand up to Racism March in London on Saturday March 19. Protestors will leave Brighton Station at 10.15am. There is a public meeting on Wednesday. They are welcome here.”
Jeremy Weinstein from Stand Up for Racism
I spoke to a couple, one of whom was Polish. Her partner said: “She has real concerns. Where will it stop?” She addressed the crowd and said: “I am so proud of the Polish people. We don’t like refugees. You fight with France, we fight with Russia. The Ukrainian people fight now. I want to support the average person without big politics. I came here to stand with the people of Ukraine now.”
Nadia from Care for Calais gave a broader speech about the plight of refugees. She said: “We are refugees. Since World War Two five million Palestinians are under UN protection, there are eight million refugees from Afghanistan and Syria. In Ukraine 10% of the population could become refugees.
“Refugees don’t start wars. Stand up for refugees… we are slow to welcome refugees. We turned back refugees in Calais. Families are living in a hostel in Calais while they wait to come to the UK. Some people from Sudan live in scraps of plastic as a home for years.
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister said: “Europeans are not refugees. They are educated with blonde hair and blue eyes. BAME refugees are unable to cross to Poland. Much more needs to be done. There is a stark difference between the main stream narrative today and refugees from earlier years.
“There are new laws to criminalise people claiming asylum. If you arrive by Eurostar you can claim asylum in the UK. We say all refugees are welcome here. We want a free, safe passage from Ukraine and all other parts of the world torn apart by war.”
Polish Couple
Jim said: “We will be leaving on the 14 March from Newhaven with a small convoy to the Hungarian border. We will take medicine for kids and nappies. I am so proud. Europe is getting together to help Ukraine. We will need documentation to take kids nappies out of the country. I have never felt like a rat in a cage as much as I feel right now in the UK.”
I spoke to Emma Fairall, Estelle Barton and Andrea from Slovakia. Andrea said: “Originally I was angry that this had been allowed to happen. We are here showing people that we care. In 1968 Russia invaded E Europe. I can’t believe it’s happening again. There was lot of disinformation in 1968, history is repeating itself.
“Putin’s advisors are lying to him because they don’t dare to tell him the truth about the resistance. He tricked young people into going to war by telling them they were doing military exercises.”
Estelle said we care about the people of Ukraine. “Peaceful protest is a good start.”
Emma Fairall, Estelle Barton and Andrea from Slovakia
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbur,y is visiting Brighton this weekend. He had breakfast with the business community and gave his reflections on leadership in our times and the challenges we face today, 05 March, at St Peter’s Church.
In a speech that was both witty and self-deprecating, Mr Welby said the average member of the Church of England was a woman in her thirties who had a 50:50 chance of living in a war torn part of the world.
He said the world had changed as a result of the pandemic. He volunteered as a chaplain in a London hospital during the pandemic and said: “It’s easy to forget the fear and apprehension of two years ago.” He reminded us the NHS didn’t know anything about the virus at the beginning nor how many people would die. He paid tribute to the NHS staff and acknowledged their courage walking into hospitals every day. He said: “We are beginning a lengthy period of change and disruption.”
Mr Welby said that scientific developments brought hope – decoding of the human genome meant that a vaccine was developed in 15 months by decoding DNA which would previously have taken ten years.
He spoke throughout his speech about the war between Russia and Ukraine – another disrupter. He said we have not faced war on European pavements since 1939 and he said it was an unprovoked war and a “war of choice”, “a deeply wicked act” and a top-down war.
Mr Welby spoke to a military strategist about ethics and how Artificial Intelligence was affecting the military. They discussed the difficulty of programming machines to have compassion and said armies need to be willing to take prisoners rather than kill the enemy. According to the UN, there are 49 conflicts in the world at the moment.
He said there will be more refugees with more refugees from Ukraine in Eastern Europe and millions more displaced because of climate change. By 2050, it is estimated there will be between 800 million to 1.2 billion refugees with many areas of habitation incapable of supporting human life when the temperature rises to 43 degrees and above.
He said there is a link between climate change and conflict: Different people will “bump into each other” more often and they will fight because they are fighting for their lives. Again, he said, hold onto technology – malaria, AIDs and the coronavirus are under control because of scientific developments.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
On Radio Four at the moment, Mr Welby is interviewing interesting people in a series of programmes. He met Tony Blair who said the difference between countries that prosper and those that don’t is governance and leadership, not natural resources.
He contrasted the leadership of Russia with Ukraine and said President Zelensky is very honest, like Churchill, about the depth of the threat there is. Leaders need to be courageous and take personal risks. Mr Welby said in the Christian tradition there is an acknowledgement of failure and sinfulness which should lead to transparency.
He mentioned John F Kennedy’s humiliation at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba as a lesson for the president not to surround himself with ‘yes men.’ He said: “Cuba instilled challenge, candid debate, diversity and courage.”
As a leader himself, Mr Welby starts by recognising: “I am a sinner and since I am a sinner, I am going to get it wrong.” Tony Blair once said to Alistair Campbell: “The papers say I am surrounded by ‘yes men’, where are they?” The Archbishop said he looks for people who are cleverer than him. He said: “Leadership must involve acknowledgement of one’s weakness, challenge, courage, risk-taking and imagination… A safe pair of hands becomes elegant management of decline. Surround yourself with people who challenge you.”
He invited the business leaders to look at the pattern of Jesus. “Jesus did not sin. He offers freedom from guilt.” He said God brings this pure, true gift of his son to humanity: “The Lord is God who knows every part of us. It is the measure of Jesus that he engaged with people whom he loved and served. It was servant leadership. It’s a pattern of sacrifice. President Zelensky is prepared to put his life on the line.”
Recently, Mr Welby visited Pakistan where a peace centre was blown up killing 60 children and 90 adults. The residents are building a reconciliation centre there. He said: “This is God… don’t be impatient, be curious. I am insatiably curious.”
He encouraged us to reimagine the context where there is difference and disagreement without hatred and conflict. Is Russia a separate country from Ukraine? “The wickedness is the armed force instead of discussion and dialogue. Leadership is the greatest challenge we face in the next generation.”
Questions and Answers
When asked what was the biggest risk, facing the Church, he said: “The Church needs to risk her money. We are not a poor Church. The risk is to live as if Jesus lives… loving one another. Strength and resilience come from Jesus Christ… We must serve those we disagree with.”
Andy Winter who is the Chief Executive of Brighton Housing Trust, a homeless charity in Brighton and Hove said: “My thanks to everyone who has prepared this lovely spread. But I couldn’t help but notice as I arrived that homeless people were being served breakfast from a kiosk in the car park. What does the church need to do to ensure that those in the car park are more comfortable in the four walls of a church than those of us enjoying this breakfast?”
Mr Welby said: “The Church needs to go out to them and listen, not trying to make them, who the Church wants them to be. He said there was a homeless man in Crawley who the Church was trying to help and they told the Archbishop they got it “totally wrong” at first. They tried to get the man off the streets before he was ready. He said: “Start with respect and listen, set the tone… God offers us choice and free will. I come from a family of alcoholics… My father died of alcohol, my Mum has been teetotal for 50 years. It’s your choice. I can’t stop you drinking. I can help you but you have to stop.”
Martha is an Associate Vicar in Eastfield. She said: “Representation of ethnic minorities is not great. How can we recruit more people who are minority ethnic?”
Mr Welby said: “I recognise that the Church has had opportunities and missed them. We analyse the problems well and know that we need to be more inclusive of BAME people, people with disabilities and physical disabilities and women. We recognise we have gone wrong.
We need to engage alternative selection panels where clergy have BAME backgrounds. We need people to be willing to ask questions. We should encourage applications from BAME people and understand that the application forms will look very different, they will have a profound respect for the panel …” He then asked the question why BAME applicants were getting on shortlists and not being appointed? He mentioned Colossians where, “all are one in Christ. When we are not recognising diversity, it’s about sin. We are sinning when we do not appoint people from ethnic backgrounds.”
Mr Welby was then asked a question by a young person facing adversity with few Christian friends: What should she do?
He said: “We should train missionaries in our own faith to know they are infinitely valued by God” and their identity is secure. He mentioned Michael Ramsay who was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1960s. He was once heard banging his head on his desk in Lambeth Palace. When a Chaplain went to see if he was OK, he said: ‘I hate the Church of England.’
First we need to train young people as missionaries of today, not the future, young people need to know they are loved by Jesus Christ. Otherwise it’s the ‘Book of Laws’, who wants another one of them?”
Elizabeth James who is a GP asked about how to deal with conflict in the workplace. The Archbishop said: “We are working on the ‘Together Project’ with Brendan Cox, husband of the (late) Jo Cox. We have a working group to help address fracture and incapacity in the workplace to deal with difference.
I interviewed Clare Moriarty, who was the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the EU. She took over early in 2019. On the same day as her mother, she was diagnosed with cancer and then made redundant early in 2020. She is now running the CAB.
She is a Christian and in her workplace everyone would sit in small groups and recognise the ‘spitting ball of fury’ for thirty minutes every week. They would then think of next steps for thirty minutes and move forward, while recognising conflict. She was very calm, measured and very, very clear… In the military, you need sacrifice by the leader, listening undefended, good communication of why an objective matters to build ownership and the least bad use of resources.
Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Alan Robins, said he has an ambassadorial role in Brighton and Hove and he’s like a salesman. He said: “People don’t always remember what you say, they remember the way you make them feel.”
Mr Welby said his role was similar: “I came to Lambeth Palace nine years ago and the place was full of levers of power but they weren’t really connected to anything. Good leaders enable decisions to come. The character of leadership is the most important. There is a need for vulnerability and transparency. Do not pretend to be other than you are. People often forget what I said but they often remember when I say sorry.
General Slim in 1945 was involved in the Burma Campaign. His number two in command who was a field marshal, lost his leg because Slim advanced too quickly. General Slim regretted this deeply. He should have been more restrained. But he was open about his failure. I remember that story more than any other story in the book.”
Archbishop Welby will be visiting a series of community groups including refugees across Brighton and Hove during his visit this weekend.
Dr Vivienne Lyfar-Cissé is a warrior in the fight for racial justice within the NHS. She leads the national BME network and until September 2017, she was Associate Director of Transformation at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) NHS Trust and chair of its BME network. She worked her way up within the trust over 34 years, first as a biochemist before becoming Associate Director in 2014.
She is now locked in a legal battle with her boss, Marianne Griffiths, who will be retiring from the trust, now called University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust (UH Sussex), this summer. A reconsideration hearing of the Employment Tribunal was held last Tuesday and Wednesday, 22 and 23 February.
At the centre of this dispute is the question of whether, as the newly appointed Chief Executive from 01 April 2017, Ms Griffiths, had the legal right to revisit a disciplinary procedure that had already concluded in 2016 in order to increase the sanction of a final written warning (which was accepted by the BSUH Board) to dismiss Dr Lyfar-Cissé.
Ms Griffiths told the Employment Tribunal that her decision “flowed” from Ms Cashman’s disciplinary investigation outcome, following another investigation by The Honourable Mrs Justice Hill and Mr. Abbi Alemoru. She cited Some Other Substantial Reason (SOSR) to justify her dismissal decision on the basis that the charge of discrimination, harassment and victimisation by the doctor, was incompatible with her role and also meant she failed the fit and proper person test (Regulation Five) as a senior manager.
Dr Lyfar-Cissé argued that Ms Cashman had considered her role as a senior manager in deciding her sanction of a final written warning. Therefore, Dr Lyfar-Cissé said there was no lawful process by which Ms Griffiths could increase the sanction to dismissal, because she did not agree with the outcome of a due process.
Dr Lyfar-Cissé also argued that the true reason for her dismissal, and all the actions short of dismissal, including the application of Regulation Five; was because of her previous employment tribunal claims, which were protected acts. She believes her dismissal was premeditated.
Earlier Tribunals had upheld two of the doctor’s claims of racism and victimisation against the trust and the trust had also settled a third claim ‘out of court’ whilst accepting liability for racial discrimination and victimisation of the doctor.
In March 2019 the Employment Tribunal found that Dr Lyfar-Cissé’s dismissal was fair. Her appeal against the Judgment was stayed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) to first allow the reconsideration hearing to take place.
Last Tuesday at the reconsideration hearing, the employment tribunal heard that new evidence had emerged. Ms Griffiths said, at a roundtable meeting of the Health Service Journal (HSJ) on 08 July 2019, that previous employment tribunals against the Trust had contributed to a “toxic”, “extremist, anti-organisational” BME structure at UH Sussex that had to be challenged.
HSJ’s minute of the meeting states that Ms Griffiths said upon arrival in her post as CEO in 2017: “There was also a need to lead from the front: the trust had to do some ‘brave things’ which led to employment tribunals but was a signal to the organisation that they were taking the issues seriously.”
In 2019 Ms Caroline Browne, on behalf of the members of the BME network, brought a separate claim of victimisation against Ms. Griffiths’ because of her comments in the HSJ article above. Ms Griffiths’ Counsel, Mr Kibling, stated in his written submissions that her: ‘reference to the Employment Tribunal cases in the HSJ published minute were specifically in relation to Dr Lyfar-Cissé’s claims’ and not anything that Ms. Browne had done. A fact that Dr Lyfar-Cissé argued supports her claim of victimisation against Ms. Griffiths, that the real reason for her dismissal were her employment tribunal claims.
At the reconsideration hearing, Employment Judge Balogun dismissed the case. She found that Dr Lyfar-Cissé had inferred that Ms Griffiths’ reference to employment tribunals was a reference to her in the Health Service Journal minute of the meeting. She disliked the fact that the minute was not a verbatim account and was not written by Ms Griffiths.
However, she said that Mr Kibling’s written submission in the Caroline Browne case was not factual evidence, rather it was an argument put forward by the trust when defending the claim and she did not allow this evidence. The judge said there was no new evidence and no prospect that the original judgment would be overturned.
Judge Balogun said: “In light of the above, we find that there is no reasonable prospect of the original decision being overturned. The application for reconsideration is therefore dismissed.”
Dr Lyfar-Cissé said: “I have submitted an application to the Tribunal for a reconsideration of the Judgment given paragraph 11 is incorrect. It should be amended to correctly show that Mr Kibling’s two written submissions before the Tribunal, explains it is Ms Griffiths’ reference to Employment Tribunal cases in the HSJ article, that is a reference to my Employment Tribunal claims. I intend to appeal.”
UH Sussex was approached and said: “The Trust is aware of the judgment of 23 February but has no further comment.”
Dr Lyfar-Cissé’s full appeal hearing before the EAT will commence after the reconsideration process has concluded. The appeal will decide whether Ms Griffiths had the legal right to revisit the concluded disciplinary process in order to dismiss her and whether Regulation Five did indeed apply to her role. It was BSUH’s policy that it did not apply to Dr Lyfar-Cissé’s role.
A review of Regulation Five by Tom Quark QC in 2018 ruled that whilst, directors at Board level are clearly covered by the regulation, the reference to others performing similar functions was ambiguous. He said this ambiguity could lead to NHS trusts using the test as a ‘last resort dismissal.’
Mr Quark wrote that Regulation Fivewas used: “as a vehicle for Trusts to have another bite of the disciplinary cherry by using the FPP (fit and proper person) test as an add-on measure to remove individuals on the ground that they were not FPP compliant, after disciplinary proceedings had been concluded with only a warning or suspension.”
Blink is a very touching tale of two quirky young people who find themselves unexpectedly alone in the world. Jonah acted by Chris Church comes from a repressive religious community in the country and is a bit of a geek. He comes to London upon the advice of his mother and is befriended by Sophie, Kez Price, who lives downstairs.
Their friendship begins in an unusual way by sharing space through a screen. The couple eventually go on dates without speaking. They do not speak for a long time. They get to know each other in other ways. Surveillance does not feel menacing in Blink because there is consent, unlike the mendacious witch hunt I have experienced at the hands of the media. I did not consent.
When disaster engulfs Sophie, Jonah is there by her side. Over attentive at times, faithful and loyal. As with many friendships, there are highs and lows. Characterisation is excellent and charming. Jonah’s character is more eccentric and therefore easier to define – there are stereotypes of people who live in the country and of strict religious communities. Sophie is a Londoner: we all know Londoners and perhaps we don’t notice their eccentricities. She is no less credible, just more normal if such a phenomenon exists.
Blink’s central question could be: How do introverts meet and how do they interact? Sophie is told at work that she “lacks visibility” and this statement haunts her. She is criticised because she did not go drinking in the pub after work, which is probably the only issue; but as introverts do, she worries that she is actually becoming invisible. Words hurt and people do not forget how criticisms make them feel, long after the words themselves and details have been erased from memory.
Masterfully directed by Nettie Sheridan, Blink is making her debut at Brighton Little Theatre and I very much hope they will invite her back. Kez Price and Chris Church work hard – they are on stage together throughout the play for one hour and fifteen minutes. Kez Price was part of the BLT production of The Mill on the Floss which won the Minack Trophy Award in 2019. Like Nettie Sheridan, Chris Church is making his debut at BLT after five years with Seaford’s Synergy theatre. Phil Porter, who wrote the script, has written adaptations of Shakespeare, Opera and libretti for children demonstrating his considerable range as a playwright. Blink was first performed at the Soho Theatre in London.
Blink is thought-provoking and needed in our time. How many of us have been hidden away during the pandemic? Isolated and alone, some of us have found new ways to connect. Above all, the play is about friendship and love between two people of the same age. If you would like to find out how their friendship develops, you must go and see the play.
**** Four Stars
Brighton Little Theatre has a policy of wearing masks throughout the production at the moment and only allows drinks in the bar which is ventilated. They are taking the pandemic more seriously than many institutions including churches and should be commended for it. The theatre seats 75 and it felt like a safe and thoroughly enjoyable night out.
The 39 Steps is a timeless spy story written by John Buchan in 1915: it’s the forerunner to the “man on the run” genre that is with us to this day. Alfred Hitchcock turned the 39 steps into a famous film in 1935 and the BBC last broadcast it in 2008.
Slightly at a loose end, Richard Hannay, our protagonist, aged 37 with, I am told, a very fetching moustache, finds himself at the theatre. He is inadvertently drawn into a web of spies by a member of the audience who seeks shelter in his flat. He becomes a target for the Germans because they think he holds sensitive information about the Luftwaffe.
Philip Keane offers us a stirling and very natural performance as he sprints through a Scottish moor, seduces a woman on a train to hide from the Police and addresses a political rally. He is always falling in love and always on the run.
His love interest in three different guises is Lou Humphries. From the original spy to a young woman trapped with a bad tempered man in a Scottish croft, many of the characters are humorous caricatures.
Patrick Barlow is responsible for this tongue-in-cheek adaptation of the adventure story that may otherwise, appear quite dated. I laughed through every scene of this play.
Special mention must be given to Suzanne Heritage who among other roles, plays the arch villain, Professor Jordan. After a fair amount of hype and a reputation which precedes her, we eventually meet the Professor in a remote part of Scotland. Like all good spies, she has embedded herself in her community.
It’s up to Richard Hannay to prove her villainous intent and his innocence. The odds are stacked against him. His photograph is on the front page of every paper and his love interest, Pamela Edwards proves a prickly target.
You can see why Hitchcock needed a big cast for the 39 steps. There are three clowns who between them portray 30 different characters from paper boys to mock detectives and actors. The play is action packed with 33 scenes masterfully captured by a cast of five.
Direction was excellent and complex. The actors brought the props on and off themselves and rearranged a sparse set scene by scene – remember there were 33 of them.
For a small theatre company, I think this play is a triumph. It’s very funny, makes great use of irony, flashing blue lights to symbolise the Police and a digital screen acting as the main set. The production was innovative and fresh.
If you can get to the Brighton Little Theatre this week, go. It’s a small theatre of 75, ventilated where possible, with a charming bar. You won’t regret seeing this very humorous adaptation of the 39 steps.
Jarel Robinson-Brown is fighting for his life, his very identity, which he says is under attack because he is a black, gay Anglican priest. His voice matters in the Church of England which often refuses to recognise the right of gay people to have sexual relationships and silences black people, taking their zeal and commitment for granted. He currently serves as Assistant Curate at St Botolph-without-Aldgate, in the City of London.
He’s written a compelling narrative in the tradition of black, liberation theology about the double barriers of being black and gay in the church which is often white and stubbornly heterosexual. He
In conversation with Sekai Makoni, he said at his book launch on Saturday, 09 October: “It’s hard to know the route back to our ‘original place’ if we are Black and British – we are, no matter what we might imagine, and as many, it seems, are keen to remind us – far from home. To be in this thing that some refer to as the African Diaspora is to be filled with a searching, a yearning…for some place, somewhere…where we are free, and whole.”
His grandmother was born in Cuba to Jamaican parents. Both grandparents came to the UK in the 1960’s with the Windrush generation. Mr Robinson-Brown was born British and claimed Jamaican Citizenship in adulthood by descent through his grandfather.
During his opening remarks, he poignantly recounted all the passages in the Old Testament and in Paul’s letters that condemn gay Christians. In his book he argues that Jesus did not condemn homosexuals or transgender people whose identities are always under attack.
Jarel Robinson-Brown at his book launch.
Mr Robinson-Brown writes that if grace is not for all, then it’s for no one: ‘I am not interested in a church or a gospel that offers the love of God with a page full of terms and conditions. Either all people are made in God’s image or they are not. Either Christ came, died and rose again for all or for none. Either the church exists for every soul or for not a single soul.’
God created every human being in his own image including those who are homosexual, lesbian bisexual, transgender and intersex. It’s the Church, he writes, that has rejected many LGBTQ+ Christians and these people still say their prayers to Jesus privately at home.
In Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, he knows her and he does not shame or humiliate her. She then tells everyone about her meeting. He writes: ‘This is what happens when Jesus, the joy of God, meets us where we are. When his wounds touch our shadow places, when his tenderness meets us in the closets of our lives, when his love enfolds the parts of us we hide, we come to know the joy that Jesus brings.’
He suggests the Church is dying because it excludes people who are black and LGBTQ+: ‘There is a death-ness in the Church today of which those of us who have been pushed towards the door know and have diagnosed for some time. It is a diagnosis rooted in both the cowardice of the Church as an institution and its crisis of identity.’
As Christians, he writes, there is a ‘call to a simplicity in the practice of love (which) is no small task for the people of God who call themselves Christian. It asks the Church to see the world as the place where God in Christ is already at work, and to follow that God in all the places Jesus would go.’
Mr Robinson-Brown is a radical priest and a free thinker advocating that inter faith peers should be appointed to the House of Lords. He said: “I want a church that is weaker, that hasn’t got privilege, a servant church. We have too much power and look what we do with it. When we don’t have power, we’ll do church better. For the church to change, I will lose out. I am willing to lose some of that privilege.
“The House of Lords should be an interfaith space. It should not be dominated by one denomination of one Church. My Christianity is not threatened by other people of other faiths in the House of Lords. I don’t know why we are so scared about losing some power.”
The law has recognised the criminalisation of gay relationships as the abomination that it is and embraced LGBTQ+ relationships in the Civil Partnerships Act. Yet, the Church, particularly evangelicals, continue to reject and exclude gay Christians who are not celibate.
He digs deep into black LGBTQ+ culture, citing James Cone, James Baldwin, Professor Pamela Lightsey, Toni Morrison and many others who write about how their very identity is under threat in the UK, Europe and America because of white, heterosexual supremacy.
Mr Robinson-Brown has written a robust, theological challenge to the church to live as Jesus lived. That is, to understand that every human being is made in God’s image, to be inclusive, to care for the poor, those in exile and to embrace people whose sexual orientation or gender is not ‘heteronormative.’
He writes that the Gospel is both personal and social: ‘Those who dismiss what they call the ‘Social Gospel’ in favour of a Gospel of personal salvation are making a division where none exists, nor can exist. There are not two Gospels, but one.’
Mr Robinson-Brown has a prophetic voice, desperately needed in our time. He said: “So I write, and exist – as someone walking the line between despair and resurrection light – it’s a wounded, crucified, entombed kind of hope if it is hope at all – and I write as one who has diagnosed a famine at the heart of the Church which can only be remedied when we become honest about what being in our bodies really means.”
Set in a cosy 70’s living room, Absent Friends centres around a tea party at Paul and Diana’s house. It’s a domestic comedy that Ayckbourn is known for, where secrets unfold and relationships hang in the balance. Ayckbourn invites the audience into the lives of six individuals and their two absent friends. There are moments of dramatic tension leading up to disclosures, defused by comedy throughout.
Direction by Ann Atkins is good with symmetry between the actors enhancing the comedy at times. Diana is played by Frankie Night who is a born communicator and sits at the centre of the drama. She is a Brighton Little Theatre veteran: this production is her eleventh with the theatre company. She is very witty and her tea party falls apart when she withdraws.
Paul Morley who plays Paul is married to Diana. He is the ‘bad boy’, frustrated and stifled in his marriage. He injects a fair amount of humour into proceedings and generates quite a lot of sympathy along the way.
Holly Everett is Evelyn and her facial expressions from the moment she arrives on stage are priceless. She is a disinterested young Mum who according to her partner, John, never laughs.
Ciaran O’Connor acts as John and has been a member of BLT since 2004. He is generally happy-go-lucky but watch out for his phobias – they’ll have you in stitches.
Marge played by Kate McGann, is very down-to-earth and quite frankly, a godsend at a dysfunctional tea party. The odd faux pas aside, she looks after people, including Diana and tries to bring secrets into the open.
Daniel Carr acts as the enigmatic Colin – the guest of honour at this tea party. Recently bereaved, he is in much better shape than may be expected. He dominates the audience’s attention, oblivious to the undercurrents and tensions that unfold.
A lot of the actors have acted in A Midsummer Night’s Dream showing their skills and versatility.
Absent Friends by Alan Ayckbourn is quite simply feel good fun – a production that invites a lot of laughter. Characterisation is very good, the set is excellent and the intimacy of Brighton Little Theatre enhances the audience’s involvement in the tea party.
Brighton has a proud history of welcoming refugees and has become a City of Sanctuary.
People of Brighton & Hove turned out in force yesterday, 17 October 2021, to ‘show they’re all heart’ in support of refugees. More than 200 people from across the city joined together to form a huge, human, orange heart on Brighton beach – the symbol of welcome to refugees.
The event, organised by Sanctuary on Sea and University of Sussex Student Action for Refugees took place as part of the Together With Refugees week of action, which is taking place between Monday 18 to Sunday 24 October 2021. Thousands of people across the country are joining forces during the week of action to protest against the Nationality and Borders Bill and to call for a kinder, fairer and more effective approach to how the UK is supporting and welcoming refugees.
Paul Hutchings from Refugee Support Europe organised the crowd to form a large human heart which has become a symbol of refuge with Maozya, a student from the University of Sussex who runs ‘Student Action for Refugees’, (STAR) on Brighton beach. The orange heart is a symbol of welcoming refugees. It uses the colours of the refugee nation flag created by refugee Yara Said, for the first ever refugee team in the Olympics in 2016. The colours were inspired by a lifebelt representing hope. The heart was developed in 2021 in consultation with refugee organisations and people with lived experience.
The event was a protest against the Borders and Nationality Bill that has already had its second reading and is in the committee stage of its passage through the House of Commons before going to the Lords.
Mr Hutchings said: “The Bill complies with illegal immigration and does not solve the broken refugee crisis as it is. It proposes to assess people who arrive in the country based on how they arrived not on the basis of need.
“For many refugees, the only way to arrive, is irregularly. Lots of asylum seekers are taken to large processing centres like Napier Barracks where there is a history of mistreatment. There is a provision in the Bill to send people to a third country which resulted in abuses and a legal challenge when they did this in Australia. It’s contrary to international law. I do not want to live in a country that doesn’t respect international law.”
“Today is a sticking plaster. There are no fair, safe routes to seek asylum in the UK anymore. This assumes refugees are not deserving. All the refugees I know have two things in mind: To get somewhere safe to live and to build a better life for their families. Offshore detention centres are a breach of human rights. The UK should be welcoming refugees and compassionate.”
Maozya Murray, President of STAR and co-organiser of the event, said: “It was great to see so many people gather today in solidarity with the refugees, asylum seekers and members of our community who are being violently attacked by Home Office policy.
“This Bill passing through parliament is cruel, inhumane, and a flagrant breach of international law. The existence of the Bill, and the support it has received, is yet another example of the hostile environment policies that seek to dehumanise and oppress people. This country should be welcoming and celebrating difference. We stand with the thousands of people across the country calling for a compassionate, effective and moral approach to this bill. It is clear to me that this could only mean voting against it.”
“So many people oppose this violent act as an abuse of humanity. We are on the beach to show that we welcome people onto our shore. We call for compassion and welcoming refugees onto our streets. The Bill is cruel and inhumane and seeks to criminalise and endanger those of us seeking safety and refuge in the UK.”
The week comes as MPs return to Parliament to consider the Nationality and Borders Bill currently making its way through the House of Commons. According to the coalition, the new legislation would mean that most people who would be accepted as refugees under the current rules – meaning those confirmed to have fled war or persecution following rigorous official checks – would no longer have their rights recognised in the UK due to their method of arrival. Half of these would be women and children and includes those left behind in Afghanistan.
The new rules would mean that all those who claim asylum after arriving in the UK through an irregular route would face removal to a third country, with their asylum claim only progressing if removal is not possible.
People who arrive irregularly who go on to be granted refugee status would only receive temporary protection with reduced rights and entitlements. The vast majority of people who claim asylum, are unable to access ‘regular’ routes (entering the UK with a valid visa and/or passport) with their only option being to enter irregularly (by boat or in the back of a lorry).
The Refugee Convention makes it clear that people should not be penalised for entering a country irregularly for the purposes of claiming asylum.
Mel Hughes said; “People don’t want to see this ‘all for nothing’ bill where only people who are deemed worthy, are able to stay. The Government is getting rid of the illegal trade in refugees. The Bill is not stopping the criminal aspect. It’s making people unwelcome and not addressing the problem at source. Britain already has a pretty poor record (about immigration) on a European level.”
Oskar from Denmark said: “The Bill is a violation of human and European rights. It’s just another step in the wrong direction, it has all been anti-refugee, anti-immigration rhetoric in the last few years. It’s a disgrace really in the UK, Europe, humanity really, criminalising refugees and their right to seek asylum which is their human right. The UK has just left the European Union and suddenly it’s OK to breach the EU code on human rights.
Russell and Maria were driving up to Heathrow Airport. They said for them, travel is relatively easy: “We saw a line of young men taken from the back of a truck. They looked very frightened right in front of us, on the motorway. The young men were about our son’s age.”
Anthony from Kenya wanted to show support to refugees. He said: “Often what they’re doing, there’s a lot of stigma in the papers for them to address. People can show support. These are the small wins that we can be proud of.”
Nicola Jackson said: “I have befriended Syrians, given them holidays and campaigned for Freedom from Torture. I have been to Afghanistan in the 1970s. I am against the bill in Parliament. The government treats refugees as if they will be a drain on resources. They are taking away legal routes to get here. People should be able to find new homes where they like and not pushed offshore to claim legal rights to seek asylum.”
Together With Refugees is a growing coalition of more than 300 national and local organisations who believe in showing compassion and welcoming refugees fleeing war and persecution. It was founded by Asylum Matters, British Red Cross, Freedom from Torture, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and Scottish Refugee Council.
The coalition is calling for a more effective, fair and humane approach to the UK’s refugee system that: 1) allows people to have a fair and efficient hearing for their claim for protection, including those who endured traumas and struggle to get here; 2) ensures people can live in dignity in communities while they wait to find out if they will be granted protection; 3) enables refugees to rebuild their lives and make valuable contributions to their communities; 4) and where the UK works with other countries to do its part to help people forced to flee their homes.
