WR President Colin Bex and Secretary-General David Robins were in Cornwall on Saturday, sitting in on the Annual Conference of Mebyon Kernow. The venue was what used to be New County Hall, Truro and is now Lys Kernow (‘the Court of Cornwall’). The building’s directional signage is all bilingual, in English and an expanding languageContinue reading "Come On, Wessex!"
That Artful London
After the 2008 financial crash, the investment bank Goldman Sachs acquired an unforgettable description, as a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money”. England has been struggling with its own undying vampire squid for centuries, in the form of London’s political, economicContinue reading "That Artful London"
Here We Go Again
The regions are being rebuilt, even under the Coalition. Last week a consultation began on the formation of a ‘combined authority’ for Durham, Northumberland and Tyne & Wear. It will take over transport, economic development and regeneration powers from the seven member councils. It’s almost the regional assembly all over again, and will be ifContinue reading "Here We Go Again"
Wallace versus Wonga?
The Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth, speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, warned of the social consequences of ending naval shipbuilding in the city, including that jobless families could turn to loan sharks as the lenders of last resort. Cue Labour’s latest, greatest initiative. And what an odd policy announcement it was: Ed Miliband commitsContinue reading "Wallace versus Wonga?"
Anchoring the Future
Popular history has it that the Royal Navy was founded by King Ælfred the Great. It’s not quite accurate – his father, King Æthelwulf also had a fleet of some sort – but the idea of England’s first sailor-king has maintained its powerful hold on the imagination. So if naval shipbuilding in England began inContinue reading "Anchoring the Future"
Switched On?
Predictions of the death of the Internet seem premature, though not wholly implausible. There is no doubt that it constitutes a heavy drain on energy supplies but it also undoubtedly saves energy in facilitating transactions online that reduce the need to travel. A full energy ‘balance sheet’ of the existing and potential costs and benefitsContinue reading "Switched On?"
Tunnel Vision
“You can’t play politics with our prosperity.” With these words, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin tried this week to push the lid down hard on the HS2 debate. You must do what corporate capital wants. Or else. It looks like we’re all in transition from evidence-based policy to policy-based evidence, and it’s a worldwide trend.It’s widelyContinue reading "Tunnel Vision"
Serfs For Sale?
“Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1738)If you’re going to keep on repeating lies, the risk isn’t that others will start to believe them. It’s that you’ll start to believe them yourself and end up trapped inside them.Thatcherites are now in that position, confronted byContinue reading "Serfs For Sale?"
Light Relief
Any fool can do irony. It takes an Eton education to do irony on the grand scale and get away with it. David Cameron’s regime announced with glee today that a multi-billion pound nuclear hazard, turning out radioactive waste that no-one knows how to manage sustainably, is to be built on the north coast ofContinue reading "Light Relief"
Stampede at the Sales
MK Leader Dick Cole bloggedthis week about the sell-off of Royal Mail, which has now taken place despite the opposition of two-thirds of the public. (Unsurprisingly, the strongest support for the sale came from an urban environment, London, but even there it was little more than a quarter of those polled.) He pointed out notContinue reading "Stampede at the Sales"
Wessex Regionalists 