Lector si monumentum requiris circumspice.(Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you.)The media had decades to prepare for the death of Margaret Thatcher, who checked out at The Ritz today. It still seemed this evening to have taken them by surprise. The BBC were the worst, like a bunch of prefects, busily orchestrating theContinueContinue reading “Among The Ruins”
Author Archives: WR_admin
On Banking And Being Boring
Ed Miliband spoke this week at the conference of the British Chambers of Commerce. He called for regional banks to be set up to lend to local businesses, an idea modelled on Germany’s Sparkassen. It’s an idea we first published in our 2005 election manifesto: “a Wessex regional government will support the formation and fosterContinueContinue reading “On Banking And Being Boring”
Kleptocracy UK
The MP for Maidenhead made a very interesting speech this weekend. Theresa May set out what some observers perceive to be her stall in a future contest for the Tory leadership. (Sad isn’t it, that the chatter is about what British politics can do for her career and not what she can do for British politics?)ContinueContinue reading “Kleptocracy UK”
Faith In The System
Is a fatal flaw. Vote for the same old crooks as last time and you’ll get the same old policies they promise and don’t deliver. Consider a couple of planning cases in Gloucestershire that were reported in the press this week.At Tetbury, nearly 300 homes at two separate greenfield sites outside the town were approvedContinueContinue reading “Faith In The System”
Upping the Occupation
Nearly a quarter-century after the Cold War ended, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond this week announced detailed plans for the withdrawal of British forces from Germany (along with the £600 million annual injection into the German economy that they represent). The Army’s presence there dates from the Second World War, nearly 70 years ago. We mayContinueContinue reading “Upping the Occupation”
The New Menu
“the merchant’s function… is to provide for the nation. It is no more his function to get profit for himself out of that provision than it is a clergyman’s function to get his stipend. This stipend is a due and necessary adjunct, but not the object of his life, if he be a true clergyman,ContinueContinue reading “The New Menu”
Negatives, Positives
An election with 14 candidates was always going to squeeze our share of the vote, making in-depth comparisons difficult. So we don’t view our 30 votes in quite as negative a light as you might suppose. Larger parties than us, that have polled much more in other circumstances, can limp in too; the English DemocratsContinueContinue reading “Negatives, Positives”
The Thinking Thirty
Colin Bex issued the following press release today:“Dear Eastleigh residents,This is to confirm my pleasure at having had the privilege of being able to offer you the opportunity of voting for two of the most necessary changes in government to prevent this part of your Wessex region from being targeted as a continued victim ofContinueContinue reading “The Thinking Thirty”
Ashdown Reveals Defection Terms
As we await the result of the Eastleigh poll, we can provide a little of the background to the coverage our candidate received on Wednesday’s Newsnight. (Catch it on iPlayer while you can: starting at 6:14 in and ending at 6:43.)Colin reports: “I was able to crash in on some publicity given to Paddy PantsdownContinueContinue reading “Ashdown Reveals Defection Terms”
Right Here, Right Now
According to London newspaper The Guardian, “the fringe candidates have been great value”. Colin “has spent many chilly hours on Market Street patiently explaining exactly where Wessex is and why the ancient kingdom should not be controlled by Westminster”.Ancient kingdom? Is that how Scotland, Wales or Cornwall would be described? Anyone would think we’re aContinueContinue reading “Right Here, Right Now”
Wessex Regionalists 