One of the most intractable problems in British politics is voters’ perception that they should be enjoying a Scandinavian standard of public services while only paying American levels of tax. No wonder governments get into debt as they struggle to balance the books. The solution, of course, is to decentralise so that what voters getContinueContinue reading “Northern Lights?”
Category Archives: Regionalism
Labour in Vain
What a joy today to hear again from war-crimes suspect Tony Blair! He’s never sounded more panicked, falling over his words as he warns Labour not to be true to itself. He clearly shares the anxiety of so many of his fans who fear the Left is about to steal their party from them. That’sContinueContinue reading “Labour in Vain”
The Founding Fixers
Avon Local History & Archæology – ALHA – does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s an organisation for local history and archæology in the Avon area, serving some 80 affiliated societies, with a collective membership of about 10,000. Founded in 1976, it has outlived Avon County Council, recognising the economic and social –ContinueContinue reading “The Founding Fixers”
Zombie Zones
Last Saturday, a ‘Northern Citizens’ Convention’ was held in the West Riding town of Huddersfield. Those attending shared a determination that the new politics now saturating Scotland should not stop at the border. Our Northumbrian friends have good reason to see themselves as having more in common – politically, economically and culturally – with ScotlandContinueContinue reading “Zombie Zones”
The Long And Winding Road
The vilification of Nicola Sturgeon in the London press is delightful, not because it is at all pleasant but because here at last is a phenomenon that ‘they’ can do nothing to stop. No matter what their rage, no matter what their war chest, they cannot win, and the SNP cannot lose. The only detailContinueContinue reading “The Long And Winding Road”
The Great Burh
“Paris… A city that must have been magnificent in the Twentieth century, Dimitri thought. He had few memories of it. He was only ten in 2016, when his family had fled the city plagued by anarchy and hunger to return to Russia. Most of the monuments had been burnt and destroyed, and its museums andContinueContinue reading “The Great Burh”
Labour: A Laugh A Minute
Do Labour have a clue what English devolution is? It seems not, judging by their latest offering on the subject, Reversing our democratic decline: Labour’s plan for Parliament and political reform. The detail is buried a long way in, right at the end of a 12-page document. It arrives only after they’ve swooned, over andContinueContinue reading “Labour: A Laugh A Minute”
I See No Ships
Horatio Nelson is often misquoted as saying these words; relying on the London media might leave you equally in the dark about the ways in which the governance of Wessex is changing. On Friday, the Coalition announced yet more devolution to Wales. An extensive package in fact, even though, as Plaid Cymru have noted, itContinueContinue reading “I See No Ships”
The War on Identity
“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was. The world around it will forget evenContinueContinue reading “The War on Identity”
Christmas Crackers
In the run-up to the festive season, all three main London parties set out their stalls on English devolution. On the whole, they’re rather against it. Labour were first, with a promise to devolve power to ‘city regions’ and ‘county regions’. Anything but region regions. These areas appear to correspond to those of the LocalContinueContinue reading “Christmas Crackers”
Wessex Regionalists 