'The Tories are getting working-class conservatives wrong'

'A working class Tory is something to be'

Philip Collins in The Times

The Tories are "getting working-class conservatives wrong", writes Philip Collins. Historically, these voters' support was "rooted in the aspiration for a better life"; in "hope more than fear". Neither the "Braverman bullies" nor the "communitarian wing" and its "stay-at-home conservatism" will win them over now. Working-class conservatism "wasn't about anger" or "staying put", but "about getting on" – something Rishi Sunak's government "fails to understand". 

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'I'm an Uluru youth ambassador because I don't want to tell my grandchildren how close we got to real change'

Kishaya Delaney in The Guardian Australia

Australia's upcoming Indigenous Voice referendum offers an "exciting proposition", writes Uluru Youth Dialogue Ambassador Kishaya Delaney. Many voters "are searching for answers about what it actually means to vote in a referendum" and "factual, reliable information" is "not always easy" to find. But people are "taking the time to find out". So "while 'Don't know? Vote no' seems like a catchy slogan", voters "shouldn't be taken for fools in this debate". 

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'Russell Brand's sexual apocalypse'

Jenny McCartney at UnHerd

Russell Brand's social media platforms provide a "bolt-hole from cancellation" from which he "accuses the mainstream media, or 'MSM'" of "seeking to silence him", writes Jenny McCartney. But he is "a creature of the MSM" – the media "built him up" and "handed him the keys to the sexual 'Wonka factory'. And if its previous record is anything to go by", then his stint in the "'reputation chokey' may not last long". 

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'Ireland relies heavily on the community and voluntary sector – it is at breaking point'

 Ivan Cooper in The Journal

Ireland is facing a "true structural crisis", writes Ivan Cooper, CEO of The Wheel, the national association of charities, in The Journal. The country's "'hybrid model' of providing public services" is "suffering from a chronic lack of care" as a "direct result of a widening pay gap". Civil service salaries are around 12% higher than those in "similar, often identical, roles" in charities. The sector's "looming collapse" poses a "full-blown public crisis", and "the time to act is now". 

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