Category Archives: Identity

An Empty Space?

The second issue of Wessex Citizen, edited by Keith Southwell and Rick Heyse, is now online.  Many thanks to all who contributed.  Earlier this month we mentioned the current – seventy-second – issue of MK’s equivalent, Cornish Nation, which this time gave us a brief mention.  Joanie Willett, reporting back on the General Assembly ofContinueContinue reading “An Empty Space?”

Wessexit

Of all the reasons for remaining in the EU the most compelling arises from quietly contemplating the alternative.  Being marooned on a small island run by Gove, Johnson and IDS is a chilling prospect.  It also smacks of betrayal of those elsewhere working for a better Europe.  The Danes in particular fear isolation without theirContinueContinue reading “Wessexit”

A Tale of Two Cities

Bristol City Council is still weathering the storm it brought down upon itself for not marking St George’s Day this year, having argued that the city is ‘too multicultural’ for such an event.  Lack of interest might have been a plausible excuse, but not that all cultures are valued except one. Others do things differently. ContinueContinue reading “A Tale of Two Cities”

Gearing Up

Surveyoris the magazine for highways and transport professionals.  This month’s issue is headlined ‘Return of the Regions’ and opens to reveal an editorial by Dominic Browne, and more besides.  The editorial starts as follows:“In January of this year the Department for Transport (DfT) launched a small (by government standards) pilot competition for local authorities toContinueContinue reading “Gearing Up”

Pass It On

Nowadays, the Conservatives have a tree as their emblem, symbolic of the countless trees to be felled thanks to them and their allies (Labour, FibDem, even Green) as the urbanisation of England rolls onwards.  The emblem used to be a flaming torch, the same symbol that used to warn motorists of a school ahead, beforeContinueContinue reading “Pass It On”

The Progressive Patriot

Guest contribution by Nick Xylas, WR Council member The following is a review of The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging, by Billy Bragg, published in 2006 by Bantam of London.This is really three books in one. The first is an autobiography of Billy Bragg, the singer and songwriter who took the blues and theContinueContinue reading “The Progressive Patriot”

Our Three Europes

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.  To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.”The quote is attributed to Buckminster Fuller.  Another variation on the theme is that new ideas don’t triumph by changing opinions; they triumph because those holding the old ideas die out and those holdingContinueContinue reading “Our Three Europes”

The Wyvern Flies Again, No Thanks To Labour

News reaches us of a groundbreaking initiative by WessexSociety, the cultural association devoted to promoting our region’s identity.  To mark St Ealdhelm’s Day, which falls today, the Society offered Wyvern flags to all the county and unitary authorities in Wessex to fly outside their offices. There has been a good take-up from county councils –ContinueContinue reading “The Wyvern Flies Again, No Thanks To Labour”

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”