Two months under our belt now and we are doing alright, I think. But we need to do better. As some of you may know this magazine was started in a fit pique when the Spectator’s drift leftward became too evident and when they changed their comments section to make it hard to have a decent debate.
Some of you may also know that it was started by a marine engineer with no previous experience of publishing or writing anything other than dry technical reports on ships and what went wrong with them.
Looking back at the last two months, it is amazing how lucky we have been. Somehow, we have picked up a posse of first-class writers, who have generously donated very good articles on a wide range of subjects. We have also gained a group of first-class posters, who have contributed high quality comments from which we have learned a lot.
But we want this magazine to grow and hope that what we think of as ‘family’, the writers and regular posters, will help in this process. It can’t be done without you. We want it to grow to the point that, possibly in co-operation with other like-minded sites, it will have some influence in conservative political circles, and with luck ensure that they stay true to their founding principles.
Organisations like political parties (and on-line magazines) frequently end up being the opposite of what they set out to be. First, they are true to their principles and good to their supporters; then they betray both to make things better for their business sponsors or clients. Then, they die. Like the Tories and, for that matter Labour, which is now dead as the party of the working class. We hope that FSB can achieve enough influence to keep parties like Reform true to their stated principles – and that our writers and posters will ensure that FSB does the same.
To achieve that we need more readers, writers and posters. Having no experience of publishing or marketing, we need your help to get them. Please let us know in comments or through the ‘contact us’ function on the Home page if you have any ideas on how to do this.
If you or somebody you know wants to write an article, please submit it. There’s also a ‘submit article’ on the Home page. Articles can be on any subject and from any point of view, Left, Right or Eccentric. Free Speech for all.
Please also subscibe to our (almost) regular Newsletters.
Also, feedback is very welcome. If there is anything you don’t like about the site, or if you have ideas on how to improve it, don’t hesitate to let us know. We cannot guarantee to implement all suggestions, but they will all be considered.
For example, we are thinking of issuing regular podcasts and are looking into it right now. Is this something that appeals? (If so, we might have to ask Zhang Yingyue to translate Armstrong’s Sunderland accent into understandable English.)
Another idea just floated on the Today (31 August) page, is to watch out for anything that can be construed as ‘hate speech’ by Labour politicians and prominent Lefties and make mass complaints about them.
We would also like to encourage readers to browse around the site. Use the tabs to find earlier articles. There are some good one, lurking in rarely visited corners. We have an audio function that allows you to listen to an article should you wish to.
Finally, we have raised enough in donations to cover four months of operations. Thanks to all.
And finally, finally, We would really like an article from someone who understands the subject, on how to help people protect the little wealth the State has left them being stolen by Labour in its first budget. Cany anybody help, or know someone who can?