The heavy police presence in Southampton city centre yesterday told of concerns over an anti-asylum seeker demonstration which was set to unite ‘patriot’ groups from Southampton, Portsmouth, the Isle ...

By Neil Glasspool. Star rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ When Baz Lurhmann brought Moulin Rouge to the cinema it came with every drop of his flamboyant, maximalist screen-filling style. It remains in that sense, argu...

By Sally Churchward. It’s a crack, she’s back. It’s almost impossible to hear the name Rebublica without having the band’s evergreen earworm hit Ready to Go start playing on loop in your head. You don...

By Darren Grayer.  The thought of clocks going back towards the end of October is always something I look forward  to about as much as a trip to the dentist to have a filling. Dark mornings, short day...

By Southampton resident (details supplied). I first became aware that there were weekly protests outside an asylum seekers’ hotel in Portswood when I saw people gathering outside Highfield House Hotel...

Anti-racism campaigners are calling for a mass community mobilisation in Southampton for a ‘Southampton Takes a Stand’ counter demonstration next month. The march is being organised by local group Sou...

Messages of support from musicians and fans have been flooding in for Southampton-based musician Michael Kiwanuka after the multi award-winning musician revealed he recently suffered a stroke. His tea...

Words and pictures by Rhona Murphy. Sports Team kicked off their UK tour this week at The Brook in Southampton (22/9/26). If you’re not familiar with the band, they’re renowned for their lively and ra...

Photos by David Bretherton. A Southampton man has spoken of his horror when a tree fell in a city-centre park, narrowly missing him.  Sharing photos of the fallen tree on social media platform Bluesky...

By Rachel Jones.  Star rating: 5/5 One of the first things that caught my eye in the programme for The Haunting of Hill House at Salisbury Playhouse was the credit for an “Illusions Consultant”. It wa...

By Joy McKay. Star rating: 5/5 Matthew Bourne’s dance company New Adventures have returned to Mayflower Theatre as part of tour the UK for a new production of The Car Man. Although premiering in 2020 ...

By Darren Grayer. Music in the city took place in Southampton on Saturday (12/9/26). The UK’s biggest one-day multi- venue festival saw more than 400 live performances from artists across 60 different...

A community rally in support of the RNLI is being held in Poole this weekend. On Saturday (12/9/26), supporters of the charity which is dedicated to saving lives at sea will gather at Poole Quay from ...

Words and pictures by Mike Daish.  The RNLI has been named Southampton International Boat Show’s Charity of the Year for 2026, bringing safety advice and fundraising activities to the event, when the ...

A new anti-racism group has been formed in Southampton  – and it will be launching with a unity march in November. The newly-formed Southampton Anti-Racism Alliance (SARA) has been established to brin...

By Sally Churchward. Main image: Kasabian by Elliot McRae. More than 150,000 people headed to Southsea Common for Victorious Festival this weekend (28-30/8/26). And those 150,000 will have had as wide...

By Darren Grayer. As the summer festival season draws to a close, local venues are gearing up to welcome touring artists back to the south coast and its neighbouring cities. Already, there is an impre...

Anti-racism demonstrators will be back on the streets of Southampton on Friday evening, in response to anti-asylum seeker protests resuming outside a city hotel. After a break of some months, ‘Southam...

By Andrew Godfrey-Collins. Ahead of last year’s Pride, I wrote for In Common about the current Labour government’s frankly abysmal LGBT+ record. Under then Prime Minister Keir Starmer, it had become t...

By Laura McCarthy. Like the undead, I amble half-awake to Saint Pancras, after a sleepless night in the hottest hostel room in the history of the world. This is how I begin my trip to Belgium and, due...

By Darren Grayer.  Music in the City returns to Southampton on Saturday 12th September. Established in 2008, the event is a music festival celebrating local talent that aims to bring people together b...

By Darren Grayer.  Night Currents Music Festival  have announced three more acts to finalise their line-up.   That means 12 acts from the alternative/indie scene will now appear at The Wedgewood Rooms...

Words: Sally Churchward. Pictures: Chris Moorhouse.  Jennie Formby is far from the first person to leave the Labour Party in favour of the Greens in recent years.  But she’s probably the only one whos...

By Angela Chicken.  I just found out that on Sunday (9/8/26) Mettricks Guildhall closes its doors for the last time. I have to tell you that I find it heart-breaking. It’s going to be a huge loss for ...

By Nikki Walters, Chair, Southampton Action. This month marks 75 years since the United Nations adopted the Refugee Convention – a promise that people forced to flee war, persecution and violence woul...

Interview with Johnny Took of Australian band DMA'S ahead of the release of new album and UK tour in 2027.

By Sally Churchward. Additional reporting by Joy McKay. Image: Orlagh Scorey Auckland. Cheers and claps rung out in a Southampton City Council meeting this afternoon when Reform councillor Peter Crook...

By Sam Wise. Reform UK’s Councillor for Coxford, Phillip Crook, will tomorrow table a motion calling for only the Union, St George’s and Southampton City flags to be flown at council buildings, and fo...

By Southampton Stand Up To Racism. Southampton Stand Up To Racism is issuing the following statement on the motion brought by Reform UK councillors, due to be debated at Full Council on Wednesday 15 J...

By Sally Churchward.  A Southampton Reform councillor is bringing a motion before the city council on Wednesday (15/7/26)  that would ban the flying of a huge range of flags from the Civic Centre. If ...

Words: Sally Churchward. Images: Chris Moorhouse. Sunday afternoon’s Unity in the Community – Refugee Celebration March saw some 50 to 60 people march in the blazing sunshine from Southampton’s Civic ...

Image shows one of many Count Binface appreciation groups on Facebook. By Charlotte Ndupuechi.  British politics has always had its fair share of colourful characters, but the Clacton by-election feel...

By Chris Zardis. The hot weather definitely made me think, wouldn’t it be nice if we had a lido today. Unfortunately of course we don’t. And so I thought – there must be a campaign group for a lido in...

Photos by Rhona Murphy. Joint headliners Skunk Anansie and Garbage, with support from Du Blonde, put on an unforgettable show at Southampton Summer Sessions last night (23/6/26). See our photo special...

Words by Joy McKay. Photo credit: Marc Brenner. Star rating: 4 out of 5. The Importance of Being Oscar is a play first premiered in Dublin in 1960 written and performed by Micheál Mac Liammóir. It qui...

As Refugee Week comes to a close, Southampton Action is celebrating almost 11 years of supporting people seeking sanctuary in Southampton. in the  our series focusing on charities and community organi...

After the violent scenes on the streets of Southampton at a demonstration following the verdict in trial of Henry Nowak’s murder, the huge police presence on the streets of Portswood and beyond yester...

Photo shows Southampton Stand Up to Racism Protesters standing opposite anti-asylum seeker protesters in Portswood on Wednesday. Southampton anti-racist and community groups are holding a demonstratio...

Anti-racist demonstrators and anti-asylum seeker protesters faced off across Highfield Lane again last night in hostile scenes that have become all too familiar to local residents (17/6/26). Anti-asyl...

Southampton Ukulele Jam, ‘the hardest working ukulele jam in Southampton’ celebrate 18 years of uke-ing and raising money for charity with a very special documentary screening at Harbour Lights Pictur...

By Sarah Groeswski. Alex James’ Britpop Classical headlined the second night of Southampton Summer Sessions, supported by DJ Dan (13/6/26). I’d never heard of DJ Dan before, but a bit of research told...

By John Jess.  As an 82-year-old working-class man, I have spent my entire life opposing fascism. It deeply worries me to see what is happening on the streets of Southampton, Belfast and elsewhere tod...

Words and photos by Darren Grayer.  The Southampton Summer Sessions kicked off in fine style last night (12/6/26) with a stirring performance by Scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald. After a week ...