No money and frustrated at illegal migrants...pub visit shines light on country's ills

THE Neptune in Derby is about as proud and Derby-mad as you can get. It sits at The Spot opposite the main entrance to Derbion, its walls are clad with Derby County merchandise, and, from late October to mid-November, the pub is adorned with poppies for Remembrance.

- Oscar Fisher visits a pub

They even have a volunteer out in the cold and rain selling poppies, and have done for years, often raising tens of thousands of pounds for the Royal British Legion.

Landlord Steve Kirk was rewarded with the Freedom of the City last year after raising more than £120,000 for various charities - a true credit to the city.

So, what better place to speak to people about our country? I wasn’t out fishing for particular opinions or things that would cause outrage, just a quick chat with whoever I could find.

But the last thing someone in a city centre pub likely wants to do is speak with some baby-faced journalist about current events. So they were in for a treat.

What I noticed from my first encounter was quite striking, and continued to be a theme of the day. People are reluctant to share their names when discussing politics nowadays.

There is a real fear that their words could be spun into something different, framing them as some sort of racist or xenophobe if they are on the right, or some woke snowflake if they are on the left.

I asked the first man what he thought of the state of the country today, what has gone wrong, and how it can be saved, if it indeed needs saving.

The man, who was in his 70s, said: “It’s clearly not what it was five years ago, let alone 10, 20, 30 years ago.