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Lockdowns have made us realise the role of nature and the land in helping with mental and physical health

Dexter Twycross

Sajid Javid

17 November

Dear Sajid Javid,

The coronavirus pandemic of the past two years brought several deep societal issues to the forefront of public conversation. For many, it crystallised problems that had previously seemed intangible, shining light on failing healthcare systems, inequality, the role of welfare, and growing mistrust towards scientific consensus. However, along with this raised public discontent, there has been a growing appreciation for other aspects of society that may have been taken advantage of in the past. The role of nature and the land in helping with mental and physical health is but one example that’s been gaining increasing recognition, and the one I’d like to garner your support for in this letter. Natural areas and green spaces became places of refuge during the first lockdown, and having access to them was a blessing; the forests and fields of the English countryside provide benefits to their visitors that far outweigh those of our concrete jungles. It is safe to say that people have a renewed respect for our countryside because of the pandemic and I believe that such appreciation is representative of a far wider, but subtler, demand within our society: one for the land. Half of all England is possessed by just 25,000 landowners, less than 1% of the population. The largest two groups here are the aristocracy, having controlled it for hundreds and hundreds of years (and still owning over a third), and corporations, many of them off-shore [1]. Moreover, only about 10% of the land is legally accessible to the public. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) has made leaps and bounds in establishing freedom to roam on “open country” —mountain, moor, heath and down— or registered common land since 2000 [2]. I would posit that this foundation doesn’t stretch far enough into opening our country’s land for the many, not the few. The act still excludes the vast majority of our country’s fields, pastures, and forests, and so our nation remains blocked from within to anyone who wants to experience its majesty in full. With concern about mental health on the rise [3], along with our government’s persistent struggle to effectively tackle the obesity crisis [4], I believe it to be actively detrimental to stop the public from making use of this country’s landscape in a recreational manner. A policy reversing the damaging precedent of the past would be inexpensive to implement, and is one of the first steps that needs to be taken in order to address the aforementioned issues. At a time where strain on the NHS is high, we need to look for measures which tackle the root of our health problems so that the greatest cost-reductions can be made. To clarify here, I’m not advocating for the free use of people’s gardens and homes. There’s a major difference between the necessary private sanctuaries that provide us with our own personal space and the sprawling thousand-acre estates owned by the country’s wealthiest. Nor is private ownership itself the issue, but the fact that the public are unconditionally barred from making use of something as vital to our health and culture as land strikes me as a grave mistake on the part of our leaders. The boons of the legislation I’m suggesting are diverse and numerous: allowing people broader access to nature has immense environmental, health, and social benefits. While it’s commonly stated and universally accepted that getting time outside in the fresh air is beneficial for both mental and physical health, our actions don’t necessarily reflect this. Medical evidence on the subject has been present for years; modern science suggests that spending time in nature is a powerful reliever of stress and leads to a reduction in cortisol levels, decreases the risk of depression, increases memory and attention-spans, and leads to a general quality of life increase [5]. When it comes to physical health, green spaces not only facilitate exercise and help reduce obesity rates, but can even boost immune systems. This is due to the fact that trees release phycenotides, chemicals that protect them from germs and insects, which may protect us too if inhaled [6]. Air pollution also dramatically decreases in green spaces, most significantly in areas of woodland, which has a wide array of positive health effects [7]. If these advantages are true, then what crucial activity are the majority of private woodlands used for instead? It can, unfortunately, be largely put down to one slightly pathetic cause: pheasant shooting. Annually, 35 million partridge and pheasant are released into our country’s estates for the enjoyment of the aristocracy. Mark Avery, the author of Inglorious (a book that looks at the terrible effect grouse shooting has on the environment and local communities), estimates that only 5,000 individuals across the entire country engage in such activities. With less than 0.01% of the population making use of it, why is so much of our land devoted solely to this outdated pastime? It reeks of inequality. The need for the public use of this land stretches far further than just health and recreation. It’s also about education. As an example, “Forest Schools” are becoming increasingly prevalent in primary education due to their ability to counteract a lot of the developmental deficiencies caused by an increasing reliance on social media. This loss was only exacerbated by multiple lockdowns and missed schooling. Social skills, communication, and confidence are reported to develop more easily here as it facilitates unstructured play in a stimulating woodland environment. Young children are also taught about the important role the environment has to play in our lives, its systems and structures, and why protecting and conserving it is so necessary. One of the concerns many have over furthering “Right to Roam” laws is that environmental degradation would occur: people would leave crisp packets and plastic bottles in what would once have been a pristine natural environment. Education is a remedy towards this and yet it’s certainly lacking. The government has spent less than £1 million on teaching people about the “countryside code” and their responsibilities to others since it was created in 2004, no wonder so little care is taken. By opening-up our countryside and encouraging education to occur here as well as just recreation, we can foster a broader understanding and respect for it. It is undoubtedly unfair to cut people off from experiencing nature and then expect them to have fostered a sense of care towards it having had relatively little exposure. Education and respect for the environment amongst the populus is essential if we’re to avert Climate Change and its disastrous consequences —a problem that only becomes more apparent with every passing year. Evidently, we need to actively construct a greener society through the creation and incorporation of natural spaces into cities. As it stands, though, the broader, further-reaching, and ultimately cheaper part of the solution is opening up more of Britain’s land for public access. The Green Belt for example, while largely made up of pastures and cropland, covers 13% of England and is the most immediately accessible countryside to over 30 million people [8], yet so much of it is still blocked from common use. The template to model our changes on already exists just over the border. In 2003, Scotland’s “Land Reform Act” made the “Right to Roam” one of the basic freedoms its citizens could enjoy [9]. This piece of legislation recognised the importance of the nation’s land in uniting people together and creating communities, as well as the culture and heritage it is so intrinsically linked to. The decision was ultimately made that it was unfair, given the significance land has, to lock it away out of reach of the vast majority of people. Private ownership of land was superseded by the public’s “Right to Roam” on it. With a few exceptions, all types of land were made available to the public for recreational and educational use. Non-motorised vehicles were allowed anywhere; wild camping was legalised and is now more popular than ever. With these newfound freedoms, the Scottish Government was careful to implement regulations to protect property and the intention of these laws. They’ve also invested in making sure the public properly understands them and can behave accordingly. Access to buildings and domestic gardens is obviously not included in the right, nor is fixed machinery, tents, or anything that provides people with shelter. Active cropland, quarries, construction sites, and school grounds aren’t open access, nor are locations that request paid entrance. Camping must be done discreetly -no loud music, no trace left- and one cannot stay in the same place for more than three nights. Dogs must be kept under control at all times and on leads while near animals and throughout the nesting season. Lastly, landowners have a responsibility to “use and manage land responsibly” and facilitate public use: it is now unlawful to place obstructions that stop people from exploring the country. I would argue that there are sufficient regulations here to prevent destructive use of the land by members of the public (with more to be included with the introduction of new legislation). A key point that my proposal raises though is that it’s unjust to preemptively punish people by blocking them from land for the crime of “potentially causing damage”. Vandalism is a crime to be taken as seriously as any other, but providing a collective punishment for actions that haven’t happened yet goes against so much that our country would otherwise stand for. As seen in the Scottish example, the vast majority of people are very respectful towards the land of others’. There is of course the odd case of indiscreet camping, damage, or large-scale littering, but these are exceptional and rare occurrences when put relative to how many use it. The frequency of damage happening here is hardly high enough to justify a blanket ban on all but a tenth of our country’s land and it’s wrong to make everybody pay for the actions of a few. I wish to make one more point on a more personal level. I have benefitted immensely from growing up with acres of open land on my doorstep. I only turned 16 earlier this year, but I’ve lived almost all my life in the suburbs of East Oxford. Crucially, I’ve had Shotover Country Park just up the road for as long as I can remember. This 240 acre wood is an incredibly important location for everyone in the surrounding villages and it provided a safe haven and a getaway to all who lived nearby during lockdown ; the forest was bustling with more people, dogs, children, and families than I’ve ever seen it hold throughout the summer months of 2020. I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours navigating the forest’s many hills and valleys, adventuring down the hidden deer tracks with my labrador (also proven to have a positive effect on mental health), climbing trees and making rope swings that carry you out over a green carpet of ferns and bracken. While I haven’t joined them in quite some time, local teenagers have devoted countless summers to developing part of the woods into a mountain biking area. Dirt jumps and tracks are dotted everywhere in their chosen corner and it’s become a communal ground for them as much as a sporting one (last summer they established a fire pit and a tarp so that they could still meet up on a rainy day). Something that always makes me laugh to see are the trails of flour you’ll find dotted mysteriously along the paths. This is the work of children playing raucous games of “Fox and Hound”, along with hide and seek, capture the flag, and tag. Anyone who says that “kids and teenagers don’t know what it’s like to play outdoors anymore” clearly hasn’t visited this park on a sunny day, but I take it as evidence that the “outside world” is still very popular with those fortunate enough to live close to it. I also refuse to accept that the idyllic stories of childhood exploration and adventure that my grandparents have so fondly recounted are now a thing of yesteryear. Why does this obvious source of adolescent joy have to remain so undiscovered by the “Social Media Generation”? Instead I acknowledge that it’s harder to get people to leave their devices at home for a few hours, and that I’m one of only a lucky few people my age to currently have access to nature on such a great scale. I see this policy though, and all the additional ideas and initiatives that may spring from it, as an important development that must be made to improve the wellbeing of our nation. I conclude then with a request: please see the benefits that liberating this land could have for the population. Young people and future generations serve to gain vast amounts from it - as well as countless adults. England’s green and pleasant land should be unlocked for all to see and wonder over, not compartmentalised and held as the stomping ground for only our wealthy elite to enjoy. The social benefits are huge, the health benefits even greater, and the cost (even when taken out of context of such gains) is minute. Thank you for your consideration. References: 1. “Who owns England?” - Guy Shrubsole 2. Open access land: management, rights and responsibilities 3. Mental health 4. Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England, 2020 5. The Science Behind How Nature Affects Your Health 6. The Claim: Exposure to Plants and Parks Can Boost Immunity (Published 2010) 7. Human Health and Sustainable Forest Management 8. The State of the Green Belt 9. Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

Dexter Twycross

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Dear Paul Krugman, In Britain, we have been mired with a series of right wing governments that were elected on platforms of cheap populism and empty economic soundbites. We suffered a long decade of austerity with a repeated insistence that we must all “tighten our be...

How can we deal with our region's growing litter problem?

Christopher Crompton on 5 April

Responses: 1

Dear Andy Street, Where I live in Walsall, we have a constant and growing problem with litter. It feels like almost every street, every bit of green, is choked up with everything from cans to fly-tipped freezers. I see the same issue all around the region. There's an ...

Issues and opportunities for the local council

Christopher Crompton on 22 April

Responses: 0

Dear Councillor Rose Burley, Thank you for your recent letter in support of your renewed candidacy as councillor for Bentley and Darlaston North. You may not remember me, but I rang you during the early stages of Covid regulations after Walsall Council had taken the decision to ...

The UK's cost of living is a crisis.

Eleanor on 22 April

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, The cost of living crisis is spiralling out of control in the UK. Your time in power has coincided with the entirety of my adult life, and I have spent that adulthood watching my country become a steadily more difficult place to attain even the most ...

Where is UK public transport going?

Eleanor on 23 April

Responses: 0

Dear Louise Haigh, In November last year, I noticed that you placed an update on your website regarding the franchising of public transport, and the new Enhanced Partnership in South Yorkshire between the local authority and bus operators in the region. Having spent so...

Uncrush Our Spirit, Obama

Joshua Dubrow on 26 April

Responses: 0

Dear Barack Obama, America: so much hope and so much disappointment. It seems almost too much to bear. Where is the optimism of 2008? You know how much we have changed? We changed so much that we had more hope and more optimism at the dawn of the second Great Depressio...

Re: Russian invasion of Ukraine

Tobias Lim on 5 May

Responses: 0

Dear Garry Kasparov, For full disclosure, I am neither a political scientist nor a military strategist. As an outsider, I am watching the horrific events between Ukraine, Russia and the West unfold from afar. So I am writing to you from an uninformed place, in hopes you ...

What do you think about a platform that's healthier for MPs' mental health and incentivises better leadership?

Oliver Kraftman on 19 May

Responses: 0

Dear Catherine West, Many MPs, especially female MPs, get a lot of abuse online. The problem is so bad that a parliamentary investigation found it could hamper democracy by discouraging those worthy of public office from running; the weight of public lifebeing just too m...

Your open letter to Boris Johnson on child junk food advertising should be posted on Collate instead.

Oliver Kraftman on 19 May

Responses: 0

Dear Jamie Oliver, When I was in primary school, your ideas on healthier school meals were coming into force. We complained a bit, but that’s just a British cultural habit (drilled in from birth!); a few days later everyone had forgotten about the changes. So much so, ...

Investing in affordable rail.

Eleanor on 20 May

Responses: 0

Dear Jo Stevens, I have been a Cardiff resident in your constituency for around a year now, and am writing to you regarding my experiences of train price rises across Wales. I have not travelled by train in perhaps more than a year due to the constantly increasing pr...

Re: A Cure for Aging and the Roots of Progress

Tobias Lim on 23 May

Responses: 0

Dear Jason Crawford, Early in May, you tweeted something that fascinated me. You asked “how would society change if we cured aging, and people could have as many healthy years of life as they wanted?” [1] The idea is alluring indeed. I myself wish that I could live long...

The notion of banning the importation of foie gras into the UK is an immoral affront to the human rights of a minority

Michael Kraftman on 23 May

Responses: 1

Dear Zac Goldsmith, I am writing to strongly object to the notion of banning the importation of foie gras into the UK. British farmers have been banned from making this food since 2006, so those of us who enjoy it have had to rely on imports. I understand that a propose...

Let the Lords see Burnley, for we are what Britain is truly about.

Dale Joseph Ferrier on 25 May

Responses: 0

Dear Michael Gove, I hope this finds you well. I am writing to you as a hopeful resident of Burnley, for which you suggested as a potential location for the House of Lords whilst Parliament gets it's long over due refurbishment. I wish to offer my sincere support of t...

To Professor Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate, in response to '70 Notices'

Christopher Crompton on 26 May

Responses: 0

Dear Simon Armitage, In response to '70 Notices' You spent a long time looking hard to notice seventy things between greyscale streetlit troughs and Dark and White Peaks, saw a full moon bottled in a drop of dew, felt the full weight of Sheffield and Manchester come ...

Responsibility and regulation on the internet.

Eleanor on 27 May

Responses: 0

Dear Damian Hinds, I am writing to you with some thoughts on the practice and practicality of the Online Safety Bill, which is currently at Committee stage in the House of Commons. The subject of regulation and responsibility on the internet has long been of interest t...

Keeping Cardiff tidy and litter-free.

Eleanor on 3 June

Responses: 0

Dear Sue Lent, I am a local resident in Cardiff, under the purview of your council appointment, and I am writing with regard to the persistent problem of litter around my area. I moved to Cardiff approximately a year ago, and have noticed that there seems to be a r...

On Systemic Racism in Police Shootings

Matt Thornton on 7 June

Responses: 5

Dear Ali Rizvi, Is systemic racism causing American police officers to disproportionately kill black suspects? George Floyd’s death on May 25th [2020] angered a nation. Everyone on all sides of the political spectrum agreed what the officers did was abhorrent. In t...

The future of Britain's food security

Christopher Crompton on 8 June

Responses: 0

Dear Jim McMahon, I am writing to you in your capacity as Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the critical issue of our nation’s food security. In a time of short-termist, sticking-plaster politics, we need a serious, credible, long-term ...

Arts and creative industry development in Cardiff.

Eleanor on 12 June

Responses: 0

Dear Peter Wong, I am a Cardiff resident in your Council area, and I noticed recently that the Cardiff Council website notes that you have had some involvement with the organisation Artes Mundi, which is of course an important charity in supporting and developing the...

A public thank you to the Rt Hon Valerie Vaz MP

Christopher Crompton on 14 June

Responses: 0

Dear Valerie Vaz, I’d like to take the opportunity afforded by the Collate platform to thank you publicly for the excellent work you have been doing to represent your constituents as Member of Parliament for Walsall South. I contacted you in 2020 on behalf of my loc...

The meaning and legacy of humanism: a sharp challenge from a potential ally

Andy Norman on 17 June

Responses: 4

Dear Yuval Noah Harari, My name is Andy Norman, and I count myself a fan of your work. I admire your clarity, your passion for big ideas, and your commitment to clear, accessible writing. I think your books—Sapiens and Homo Deus—are landmark achievements, destined to stimul...

Space, NASA, and the Problems on Earth

Tobias Lim on 23 June

Responses: 0

Dear Mae Jemison, As you know, the Biden-Harris administration has requested an annual budget of $26 billion for NASA in 2023 (with similar sums projected for the years ahead). [1] While this is less than 0.5 percent of yearly U.S. government spending, it is not an in...

An attempt to 'canonise' young adult fiction.

Eleanor on 4 July

Responses: 0

Dear Jacqueline Wilson, I read your books widely as a child and teenager, and they were very impactful in helping me grow up. Now an adult, I’m a musician and artist, and was struck recently by the development of ‘Poptimism’ within music criticism, and wondered whether a si...

The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously.

Rishi Sunak on 14 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with deep sadness that I am writing to you to resign from the Government. It has been an enormous privilege to serve our country as Chancellor of the Exchequer and I will always be proud of how during the pandemic we protected people’s jobs an...

Prime Minister, you have lost my confidence

Sajid Javid on 14 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It was a privilege to have been asked to come back into Government to serve as Secretary of State for Health & Social Care at such a critical time for our country. I have given every ounce of energy to this task, and am incredibly proud of what we ha...

Tonight I handed in my letter of resignation to the Chief Whip.

Simon Hart on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, I had desperately hoped that I could avoid writing this letter, but alas there seems no other option left but to step down from my role as Secretary of State for Wales. You will be remembered as a Prime Minister with energy, vision, determination an...

A decent and responsible Government relies on honesty, integrity and mutual respect.

Brandon Lewis on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with regret that I submit my resignation from the Government. It has been an incredible honour to serve in Government over the last ten years under three Prime Ministers, most recently as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Through the ch...

With great sadness I must resign from government.

Michelle Donelan on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It has been the privilege and honour of my life to serve for our country in the department which I believe is the most important, the true engine of opportunity, the Department of Education. I have spent my career dedicated to trying to create oppor...

With deep regret I am resigning from the government.

John Glen on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, After much thought and with deep regret I must inform you that I have made the difficult decision to resign from the government. It has been a great privilege to serve as Economic Secretary to the Treasury under three Chancellors, but I can no longe...

I cannot defend the indefensible.

Alex Chalk on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, With great sadness I am resigning as Solicitor General. To be in government is to accept the duty to argue for difficult or even unpopular policy positions where that serves the broader national interest. But it cannot extend to defending the indefe...

I have no confidence in your leadership

Mims Davies on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with deep regret and with a very heavy heart that I tender my resignation as Employment Minister. It has been a privilege to serve in your government and in particular this role where I have helped give work opportunities to many thousands of ...

A jocular self-serving approach is bound to have its limitations.

Jo Churchill on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It has been an enormous privilege to have been asked to serve my country as a Minister. I was honoured to be a Health minister during the pandemic and to work collectively with others to deliver care to the vulnerable and drive solutions to the chal...

There comes a time when you have to look at your own personal integrity and that time is now.

Stuart Andrew on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with real sadness that I write to tender my resignation from HM Government. I have been honoured to serve in a number of roles within government over the past few years, most recently as the Minister for Housing. This is a role, although havin...

There are only so many times you can apologise and move on.

Helen Whately on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, With sincere regret I am resigning from HM Government. I stood for Parliament because I want to make our country a better place to live. I am grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to serve as Arts Minister, Care Minister and Exchequer Secret...

Government simply cannot function with you in charge.

Guy Opperman on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It has been the honour of my life to serve as a government minister, under three successive Prime Ministers, including these last five years as Pensions Minister. My view is that it is important to work as a team and deliver on the priorities that m...

It was difficult to put aside previous transgressions. It must now be obvious that this is no longer even remotely possible.

James Cartlidge on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, I write to resign and, with regret, to leave the post of Courts' Minister. I felt duty bound to remain in post given the very challenging circumstances facing the criminal courts. I took the view there had to be some semblance of Government in this ...

More important than any government or leader are the standards we uphold in public life.

Damian Hinds on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, With regret, I must resign from the government. I was grateful to you for asking me to return as security minister last year. It has been a particular privilege to serve in this role, and to have the opportunity, alongside dedicated officials, to su...

The chaos in your Cabinet & No10 this month is destroying our credibility. It can’t go on.

George Freeman on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with huge regret that I am writing to let you know that I no longer have confidence in your leadership of our country, Government or Party and am writing formally to Sir Graham Brady to register my support for a change of Conservative Party lea...

The cumulative effect of your errors of judgement and domestic actions have squandered the goodwill of our great Party.

Caroline Johnson on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with deep sadness that I am writing to you to resign as Vice Chair of the Conservative Party. This is not a decision I have arrived at lightly, and it has been an honour to work as part of your team. I have been loyal and supported you through...

Loyalty is directed to the party, our values, and ultimately the communities we represent, not any one individual.

Luke Hall on 18 July

Responses: 0

Dear Boris Johnson, I write to resign as Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party. I had taken the view that there must be parliamentary oversight of the inevitable leadership contest. However, there are others who can provide that. The current situation is clearly unten...

The role of grow-your-own in Britain's food production and security.

Christopher Crompton on 7 September

Responses: 0

Dear Ranil Jayawardena, Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Among the many weighty responsibilities of your new position is the oversight of Britain’s agricultural policy and food security strategy. You will alr...

Community reporting for more effective policing of drug crime

Christopher Crompton on 7 September

Responses: 0

Dear Simon Foster, Your remit as West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner of course encompasses a broad spectrum of crime prevention, mitigation and policing, so it must be a challenging task to decide where to prioritise attention and resources. I appreciate that y...

Channel 4 privatisation: ideology and reason

Christopher Crompton on 9 September

Responses: 1

Dear Michelle Donelan, Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. You must be all too aware that two of the key issues you have inherited with the office are the privatisation of Channel 4 and the question of the future...

On the death of Her Majesty the Queen

Christopher Crompton on 9 September

Responses: 0

Dear Internet, I alternate my car radio between Classic FM and Planet Rock, as the mood takes me. Yesterday evening, as I headed off to a music event in Birmingham, the radio was still set to Planet Rock from the day before. Yet rather than soaring guitar solos or ...

Let the Train Go, We Want to See Our Queen

Dale Joseph Ferrier on 13 September

Responses: 0

Dear Internet, [h1]Let the people see their Queen[/h1] [justify]The passing of Her Majesty last week marked a time of collective sorrow for the nation, a time where we have put aside our petty differences, and shelved our ongoing worries over inflation to simply re...

This letter is about the socio-political consequences of knee-jerk reactions to increased violence in communities in NYC.

Jawanza James Williams on 13 September

Responses: 1

Dear Internet, To New Yorkers, and Conscientious People Everywhere, I wrote this in February 2022, and subsequently published on Medium. I am adding it here on Collate because I sense this is a place being constructed with the most useful powers social media in mi...

Farming, fungi and the future

Christopher Crompton on 23 September

Responses: 0

Dear Ruth Jones, I am writing to you in your capacity as Shadow Minister for Agri-Innovation and Climate Adaptation. At present, Britain clearly has a long way to go to arrive at a sustainable system of farming. While piecemeal changes are being made, we are not seei...

The Importance of General Aviation

Dale Joseph Ferrier on 28 September

Responses: 0

Dear Anne-Marie Trevelyan, [justify][highlight=transparent]Firstly, I congratulate you on your appointment to the Department for Transport - a cornerstone for our Levelling Up agenda. I want to write to you to highlight a small but highly important area of the transport sector...

What do you have to say to the people of Birmingham?

Eleanor on 1 October

Responses: 0

Dear Jacob Rees-Mogg, As preparations for the Conservative party conference are underway in my home city of Birmingham, I am writing to you in your position as Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This is a very salient time for me to write to you, as your party’s co...

What are your views on the state of American politics and leadership today?

Tobias Lim on 2 October

Responses: 0

Dear Erik SuarezΦ, [highlight=transparent]I saw your tweet about Collate a few days ago. [1] As an early adopter of the platform myself, I have to agree. I’ve been using Collate as an opportunity to reach out to public figures, to improve my writing, and to muse about ...

RLD party is continuously committed to fight for the rights of farmers.

Yash Chaudhary on 9 October

Responses: 0

Dear Internet, I am a politician of RLD party and this party is the party of the thoughts of former Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh ji. We are working to take these ethical ideas to the masses. Our party is continuously fighting for the rights of f...

Truss was the first Tory leader in decades to wrap herself in the image of Thatcher. But would the Iron Lady have approved of Trussonomics?

Sir Anthony Seldon on 24 October

Responses: 3

Dear Lord Charles Moore, [color=rgb(34, 34, 34)][highlight=transparent]It is an honour to be corresponding about Lady Thatcher with the most distinguished authority and interpreter of her in the world. [/highlight][/color] [color=rgb(34, 34, 34)][highlight=transparent]Brit...

Learn from Liz Truss’s mistakes, but don’t let them put you off economic growth

Jason Reed on 28 October

Responses: 0

Dear Rishi Sunak, In taking over as prime minister from Liz Truss, you have inherited a difficult economic and political situation, to say the least. As a Tory who leans libertarian, I opposed your leadership bid over the summer and was thrilled by Truss’s refreshing ...

Please, can you tell us how to protect democracy?

Tobias Lim on 7 November

Responses: 0

Dear Jennifer Dresden, [highlight=transparent]I am an ordinary citizen who is concerned about the future of democracy. You know better than I that the US midterm elections will be a bellwether for things to come.[/highlight] [highlight=transparent]You gave a fantastic int...

Love, Terror, and Brainwashing — How can we stop cult-like politics?

Tobias Lim on 15 November

Responses: 0

Dear Alexandra Stein, [highlight=transparent]In light of recent political developments, I was looking for books and papers to better understand the nature of human organization and social structure. I found your research on cults especially illuminating. So t[/highlight]h...

What are your plans for Cressbrook Dale?

Christopher Crompton on 21 November

Responses: 0

Dear Rachel Elnaugh, I have been visiting the Peak District National Park for many years and regard Cressbrook Dale as one of its gems of natural beauty and biodiversity. The woodland and wildflowers through the seasons are a particular joy, and as National Park access l...

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