Every year when we submit our accounts to the Electoral Commission we are also required to provide a ‘Review of Political Activities’ covering the year just gone.The 2014 Review has recently been forwarded to the Commission and here is what it says:“Coming between elections – Eastleigh in 2013 and the General Election in 2015 –ContinueContinue reading “Review of 2014”
Author Archives: WR_admin
Cider House Rules II
We don’t often get to discuss the politics of cider. Politicians are usually smart enough to leave cider alone. But it did make the headlines this week, with news of changes in EU rules that could have a devastating effect on small producers. This, of course, is the opposite of what should be happening, evenContinueContinue reading “Cider House Rules II”
Useful Idiots?
This week saw a rally at Westminster in support of housebuilding. There’s no denying the heartache if you’re not adequately housed, but many demanding a cull of our countryside are being dupedby those who stand to benefit financially from a yet-more-bricks-and-mortar solution. There’s no sound case for adding to our housing stock if we can’tContinueContinue reading “Useful Idiots?”
Wanted: an NHS
“The power which causes the several portions of the plant to help each other, we call life… intensity of life is also intensity of helpfulness — completeness of depending of each part on all the rest. The ceasing of this help is what we call corruption.” John Ruskin, Modern Painters, Volume 5 (1860)Cornish academic BernardContinueContinue reading “Wanted: an NHS”
Building: the Resistance
The resistance to building is building. There’s now a national alliance, Community Voice on Planning. Here’s what’s currently centre-screen on their home page: “Please don’t forget our DAY OF ACTION on 12 APRIL. The theme is ‘Listen to the People’s Voice on Planning’This is a sample of some of the Events that we know ofContinueContinue reading “Building: the Resistance”
The Aye’ds of March
Et tu, Nicola? It’s onething to have Plaid Cymru singing the praises of an anti-Welsh Green Party but today we had the SNP join the chorus. Nicola Sturgeon has urged folk in England to vote either for the Greens or for a Labour candidate that would challenge Ed Miliband from the left. We would likeContinueContinue reading “The Aye’ds of March”
Castles in the Air?
In our previous post we described the across-the-board hypocrisy of Wessex MPs who still claim to be able to deliver unlimited growth while simultaneously protecting all of the environment that locals cherish. Wednesday’s Western Daily Pressfurnishes a classic example. Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy was reported as initiating a debate at Westminster on the protectionContinueContinue reading “Castles in the Air?”
On Whose Side?
Population Matters Magazine, in its current issue, includes an article by Ian Grace, described as a professional planning officer with more than 30 years’ planning experience. It’s always good fun to watch when someone inside the system breaks ranks. The article makes points that are well worth extracting:“…If you want to house 100,000 people, youContinueContinue reading “On Whose Side?”
The Great Burh
“Paris… A city that must have been magnificent in the Twentieth century, Dimitri thought. He had few memories of it. He was only ten in 2016, when his family had fled the city plagued by anarchy and hunger to return to Russia. Most of the monuments had been burnt and destroyed, and its museums andContinueContinue reading “The Great Burh”
Labour: A Laugh A Minute
Do Labour have a clue what English devolution is? It seems not, judging by their latest offering on the subject, Reversing our democratic decline: Labour’s plan for Parliament and political reform. The detail is buried a long way in, right at the end of a 12-page document. It arrives only after they’ve swooned, over andContinueContinue reading “Labour: A Laugh A Minute”
Wessex Regionalists 