Political fiction has a long and influential pedigree, from More’s Utopia to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. One of our aims is fun: to make politics relevant and enjoyable. So here’s a brief glimpse into one possible Wessex of the future. A very Happy Scottish Referendum Day tomorrow to all our readers: may all be inspired byContinueContinue reading “A Taste of Wessex”
Category Archives: Housing
Housing Whom?
Oxford professor Danny Dorling is the rising star of radical sociology. Some of us heard him speak in Witney during the 2010 election campaign. He has his critics, but he has an impressive grasp of statistics and deploys them with devastating effect. A review of his latest book, All That Is Solid: The Great HousingContinueContinue reading “Housing Whom?”
The Plantation of Wessex
Last April, one of Eric Pickles’ Planning Inspectors opened a public inquiry in the Oxfordshire village of Bloxham. The Coalition promised localism – local decisions made by local folk, without interference from London – but – as we have mentioned many times – their localism is a lie. Under real localism, there would be noContinueContinue reading “The Plantation of Wessex”
Tarzan’s Monkey Cage
Localism. What does it mean? It seems to mean that local communities can decide whatever they like but if they ever make the wrong decision, as judged from London, they will be severely punished for doing so. And will know that they jolly well deserve it too. Who’s a naughty community then? George Osborne announcedContinueContinue reading “Tarzan’s Monkey Cage”
Come On, Wessex!
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 languageContinueContinue reading “Come On, Wessex!”
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 ofContinueContinue reading “Light Relief”
Growing Into What?
Labour announced last month that it will return to its bad old ways with a vengeance. Towns and cities will be given ‘the right to grow’, that is, the right to build over adjoining land. Neighbouring areas that resist will simply be stamped upon.It appears that Ed Miliband really is thick enough not to realiseContinueContinue reading “Growing Into What?”
The Wealth of Wessex
Here is a link to the case for Scottish independence, set out in maps and numbers. The second map shows the extent to which the wealth of England, measured in GDP per head, is concentrated along the M4 corridor. It’s our wealth: our answer to the claim that we all depend on London’s cleverness withContinueContinue reading “The Wealth of Wessex”
If Enough Is Never Enough
“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best.”Otto von Bismarck, 1867Bismarck’s most famous quote is characteristically double-edged. Understood passively, it implies working within the constraints of the world as we find it. But to what end? Understood assertively, it implies redefining those limits, steadily moving the goalpostsContinueContinue reading “If Enough Is Never Enough”
Contesting The Legacy
“There are certainly parts of the country that are more anti-her than others, but I think they tend to be the parts that have become relatively less important.”Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily TelegraphMoore spoke on the day that we saw the last of the Rt Hon the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. At leastContinueContinue reading “Contesting The Legacy”
Wessex Regionalists 