Author Archives: WR_admin

Noz vat, keneil

Good night, friend. In Breton.Tuesday saw the funeral of Yann Fouéré, who died on 20th October at the age of 101. A life-long advocate of Breton and other minority rights, founder of the Movement for the Organisation of Brittany and other political and cultural movements in Brittany, co-founder of the Celtic League and the EuropeanContinueContinue reading “Noz vat, keneil”

Tackling the Taboos

“There are those who say the system is broke. It’s not. That’s how it was built. It is there to make rich people richer.”  Bilbo GoranssonIn parts of Wessex, second homes are an epidemic. In the coastal communities of south Devon, including towns such as Salcombe, second homes and holiday lets now account for overContinueContinue reading “Tackling the Taboos”

The Wrong Type of Railway

Transport developments continue to make the headlines this month. Figures for rail use so far in 2011 suggest that this will be a boom year, with the number of passenger journeys at its highest since the mid-1940s, and the highest in peacetime since the 1920s. The Independent (a London newspaper) commented in its editorial onContinueContinue reading “The Wrong Type of Railway”

Bright Sparks

Ten years ago yesterday there began a brief spell when our region had its own train company, Wessex Trains, which basically ran the former Western Region local services, excluding the Thames valley and south Wales. The original plans for the franchise would have seen it eventually take over the remaining ex-Southern Region diesel-hauled services onContinueContinue reading “Bright Sparks”

One-Way System

“Localism is about liberating the natural desire of local communities to become more prosperous. The notion that communities choose decline and reject prosperity is perverse, wrong-headed and not based on evidence.”So says Eric Pickles. Two questions then for the obese obfuscator.If he’s that sure that local communities, left to themselves, will destroy their environment, acceptingContinueContinue reading “One-Way System”

The Biggest Society

Communists and fascists agreed that an efficient society requires a strong element of focused terror – the fear of physical attack. We may think we have moved on but in fact, ever since the 70s, we have been moving back, back towards an older idea that an efficient society requires a strong element of unfocusedContinueContinue reading “The Biggest Society”

A Rock and a Hard Place

For those who value our environment, and those who care about the future, there is a distinct lack of choice on offer from the London parties. The Tories and their glove puppet want to turn the planning system into a developers’ charter, telling us that localism doesn’t, after all, do what it says on theContinueContinue reading “A Rock and a Hard Place”

New New New Labour

Time was, long ago, when among the London parties a leader’s speech to conference was about how best to put the party’s purpose into action. Not now. Today the leader is there to explain what the party’s purpose is. Or is this week. Or until the polls suggest the nuance isn’t quite honed yet. WhatContinueContinue reading “New New New Labour”