yoursay@plymouthherald.co.uk<\/a> to be featured.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s time for a new ship\u2019s captain at the helm<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister said, after the local elections made clear the unpopularity of Starmer and his Government, that he won\u2019t stand down and \u201cplunge the country into chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dark humour indeed. Starmer seems not to realise that, under his poor leadership, the UK is already in chaos. With Sir Keir at the helm, the ship of state is way off course and heading further into troubled waters.<\/p>\n
His lack of interest in Maritime Britain, his failure to invest right now in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, his not supporting the Merchant Navy adequately, leaves our island trading nation dangerously exposed to malign actors.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time for a new captain.<\/p>\n
Lester May<\/p>\n
Anger is too easily exploited in politics<\/p>\n
Reform\u2019s result in the May council elections was extraordinary. Huge numbers of people voted for a party promising their lives will magically get better if only they back Nigel Farage \u2013 the very same Nigel Farage who promised Brexit would make us all better off. How\u2019s that worked out?<\/p>\n
For most ordinary people, incomes have stagnated or fallen, bills have soared, growth has flatlined and public services are crumbling. Brexit brought more bureaucracy, less trade and less money in the national pot. The only people doing brilliantly are the already wealthy.<\/p>\n
Yet people still say Farage \u201ctells it like it is\u201d. Really? Reform openly says it wants to roll back workers\u2019 rights, weaken renters\u2019 protections and scrap parts of human rights law.<\/p>\n
That means more zero-hours contracts, more \u201cfire and rehire\u201d, fewer protections from bad landlords and fewer legal safeguards for ordinary people against the rich and powerful.<\/p>\n
I spoke recently to an elderly woman I like very much who said she\u2019s voting Reform. I explained all this to her. Her answer? \u201cBring it on. Reform is the future.\u201d But better for who exactly? Certainly not pensioners, workers, renters or anyone without serious money behind them.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s happening feels frighteningly similar to MAGA politics in America. Millions of people there were sold fantasies by Trump, watched their lives fail to improve, yet still cheer him on while billionaires benefit.<\/p>\n
Many Reform voters seem so angry with the current Government that they are willing to vote against their own interests without thinking through the consequences. Protest voting is one thing. Handing power to people who will dismantle protections ordinary families rely on is another entirely.<\/p>\n
If Reform wins power in 2029, people may discover far too late that anger is easy to exploit \u2013 and hard to live with afterwards.<\/p>\n
Peter Scott<\/p>\n
Optimism will be back next season<\/p>\n
The pain, the frustration, the agony and the realisation of the football season just ended \u2013 certainly in League One of the EFL \u2013 was somewhat a predictable script!<\/p>\n
Plymouth Argyle started with high hopes, only to come severely down to earth in the first half of the season, 24th in November 2025, due to several factors, not least crucial injuries to key players.<\/p>\n
A recruitment that needed to \u201cbed down\u201d eventually did so under a new head coach to such good effect that a dramatic second half to the season verged on a play-off slot, but not to be. Disappointing, but it was all catch-up. Argyle\u2019s \u2018problem\u2019 now is hanging on to the quality within the squad for 2026\/27!<\/p>\n
Exeter City, in contrast, started quite brightly, as they often do, and were relatively comfortable at the turn of the year, only to slide ominously and ultimately into a bottom four position which they were incapable of escaping from. One win in the final 20 games was relegation form.<\/p>\n
They changed managers late in the season and, with the well-known financial cramp and severe limitations, face losing any quality simply because they don\u2019t have the resources to retain, or indeed, recruit.<\/p>\n
The future looks ominous and simply relying on youth isn\u2019t going to resolve the issue. Non-League in 2027\/28 would appear distinctly possible!<\/p>\n
Torquay United sadly lost in the final of their promotion push back up the leagues – although to at least get there they were no doubt helped with a guiding hand on the tiller from Neil Warnock, and Jimmy Ball had a squad who responded well to his leadership.<\/p>\n
Both they and Exeter have limitations, be that ground capacity (and therefore potential gate receipts) and local parking.<\/p>\n
The \u201cthreat\u201d from Truro City faltered at the first attempt as they finished bottom of their league. Enough said.<\/p>\n
So, in summary, two near misses, and two relegations.<\/p>\n
The reassuring factor is that, come 2026\/27, optimism will re-emerge and it all starts all over again. Football fans at all levels endure this every season.<\/p>\n
Bob Gelder<\/p>\n
To see all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your area, enter your postcode below or visit the Public Notice Portal HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“With Sir Keir at the helm, the UK is in chaos and dangerously exposed” Prime Minister Sir Keir…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2363,157,13,8538,4347,12064,14,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-35353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-armed-forces","9":"tag-brexit","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-letters","12":"tag-local-elections","13":"tag-plymouth-argyle","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-royal-navy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116566941098849835","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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