
No, Glastonbury does not reflect a new England
Tickets sell out in minutes. Getting there costs a fortune. That's not the everyday Britain most people live in. Yes, millions of people in this country care about fairness, climate and compassion. But many are too exhausted to believe politics will ever work for them. They're not watching headline sets. They're dealing with rent hikes and bills they can't pay.
Glastonbury is a great vibe, but not the voice of the silent majority. To find that, the left needs to look somewhere less glamorous.Paul BerryLiverpool
We need a Bob (as demonstrated by Band Aid and Live 8), someone who can harness the power of the silent, stifled majority; someone who would shout loud enough to be noticed, who would point out the divisive hatred and hypocrisy of Nigel Farage. Someone to talk sense and act sensibly on climate change, migration and child poverty in this country. Someone to give us hope.
We can, and did, vote for the Greens, Liberal Democrats and independents recently in the council elections, but by splitting the vote we allowed Reform in the back door. So where's our Bob? We need you.Sarah Kerry Belper, Derbyshire
John Harris seems to believe that people he met at Glastonbury are representative of a new England. No, John, they are representative of a self-selected group attending an overhyped music festival, and no more representative of England than members of the MCC at Lord's.Jonathan HarrisPoundon, Oxfordshire
Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike
Labour's largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row. Members of the trade union, one of the UK's largest, also "overwhelmingly" voted to "re-examine its relationship" with Labour over the issue. They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council's leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for "bringing the union into disrepute". There was confusion over Ms Rayner's membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended. But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament's latest register of interests had her down as a member in May. The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday. Unite is one of the Labour Party's largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 - the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual. The union condemned Birmingham's Labour council and the government for "attacking the bin workers". Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made. 2:58 Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for "effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000", the union added. 'Missing in action' General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: "Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table." She had earlier said: "Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette. "Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts. "The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises. "People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers." Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said the government's "priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham". He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had "caused disruption" to the city. "We've worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council [...] as we support its recovery," he added. A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.


Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: Why is 16 too young for voting? Ask a brain scientist...
As the mother of two young adults (22 and 20), I am tentatively enjoying some early fruit of my parental labours. My daughter has just graduated with a first from Manchester (shameless mum-brag, guilty as charged), and my son is gainfully employed over the summer holidays in a job that not only gets him out of the house but also keeps him fit and fed (he's a busser in a restaurant). But the news last week that our glorious leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has followed through on his electoral threat to lower the voting age to 16 has rather dampened my mood. It is, quite simply, the height of idiocy. As any Year 11 teacher will tell you, most 16-year-olds aren't fit to tuck their own shirt in, let alone participate in the democratic process.


Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Middle class families could be hit with soaring water bills under Labour's new plan to subside the costs for Britain's poorest households
Middle class families could be hit with soaring water bills under Labour plans to lower the costs for Britain's poorest households. Ministers are being urged to approve a new nationwide scheme that would subsidise bills for low income families. The proposed national social tariff is due to be presented to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a review of the water industry on Monday. However, there are fears that middle class families could end up bearing the brunt of the charges and see their water bills increase. Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake told The Telegraph: 'Family homes across middle England face soaring water bills under the Labour Government, thanks to the triple whammy of above-inflation hikes, higher tariffs on multi-person households, and robbing Peter to pay Paul to fund tariffs for those on welfare benefits.' 'We can't just keep increasing taxes and charges – record taxes are already making life too hard for people,' he added. 'The Government should be standing up for the makers, not the takers.' There is currently no nationwide scheme to help poorer customers - with a patchwork of subsidy programmes in place across different suppliers. Consumer groups have suggested that a national social tariff could unify the level of support received and help an extra two million people get money off their bills. However, such a scheme was rejected by the previous Conservative government due to concerns about the impact it would have on wealthier households. On Monday, a landmark review of the water industry led by Sir John Cunliffe is due to be published. He announced his interim findings last month, when he revealed he would bring forward proposals to 'strengthen' the system of social tariffs. Sir John wrote: 'The commission is looking at how to more effectively support customers who are struggling to pay their bills. 'This includes looking at options to strengthen social tariffs and to tailor water bills to better reflect household consumption.' Currently, water firms can only raise money from their own areas and consult their customers on how much they would be willing to pay. However, more and more households are being placed on social tariffs as they struggle to keep up with the soaring costs of living. Statistics from water regulator Ofwat show that across Britain one in ten customers are now receiving support with their bills. But the data varies wildly per region with South West Water having the lowest number of customers on social tariffs. Meanwhile, United Utilities, which covers the North West of England, has the highest at 15 per cent. It comes after it was revealed that household water bills would rise by an average of £123 from April 1, equating to an increase of around £10 a month. The rise, confirmed by industry body Water UK, will take the average water and wastewater bill from £480 to £603 for the next year alone. Water firms are facing huge problems with their drains, reservoirs and sewers, leading to vast amounts of pollution spilling into rivers and waterways. That means firms are needing to spend billions on upgrading their systems. Because they are privatised, they also want to turn a profit so they can keep getting more investment from shareholders. To make matters worse, many face huge debt piles. The 10 biggest water companies have about £60 billion of combined debt. Regulator Ofwat has 'failed' and 'run up the white flag' by announcing rises in household water bills, the chairman of an environmental campaign group said. Charles Watson, from River Action, said: 'The shareholders in these companies are just laughing all the way to the bank.'