Is an Eton education good value for money? From the public’s point of view, it seems not, given Boris Johnson’s underwhelming analysis of European history. He lit up the weekend with his dire warning that the EU is little better than a Fourth Reich. For others, it’s the EUSSR, but we’ve learnt to recognise thatContinueContinue reading “Post-Truth Politics”
Tag Archives: Conservatives
Izzy, Whizzy, Let’s Get Bizzy
Or maybe ‘Ozzy, Wheezy’. What is the sound of one hand clapping? George Osborne ought to know, following his announcement this week that business rates will be ‘devolved’ to local councils, along with the one-directional power to lower them. Osborne’s understanding of devolution is that it’s that degree of autonomy that allows others to takeContinueContinue reading “Izzy, Whizzy, Let’s Get Bizzy”
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”
Choosing to be Beggars
Last week, an environmental coalition – Butterfly Conservation, the League Against Cruel Sports, the Mammal Society, the Ramblers, the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts – held a ‘Rally for Nature’ at the Palace of Westminster. Why? To lobby MPs ahead of the next election, reminding them of how important nature is. MPs need reminding. BecauseContinueContinue reading “Choosing to be Beggars”
Seeing the Light
Here’s a story from the North Somerset Times, a story with outlines applicable throughout Wessex, and maybe across other regions too: “A long-standing member of North Somerset’s Conservative party has resigned from the organisation which he believes ‘has no interest’ in the area’s issues.Arthur Terry, who is the representative for Portishead’s East Ward on NorthContinueContinue reading “Seeing the Light”
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 byContinueContinue reading “Serfs For Sale?”
Ins & Outs
So, what is the Conservative Party’s settled policy on Europe? Not one to be written without a regular check over the shoulder in the direction of Monsieur Farage. Expect many more gimmicks like the one we saw recently: in effect taking scarecrows on wheels around the inner cities, urging illegal immigrants to get the messageContinueContinue reading “Ins & Outs”
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”
Among The Ruins
Lector si monumentum requiris circumspice.(Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you.)The media had decades to prepare for the death of Margaret Thatcher, who checked out at The Ritz today. It still seemed this evening to have taken them by surprise. The BBC were the worst, like a bunch of prefects, busily orchestrating theContinueContinue reading “Among The Ruins”
Eric the Ostrich
The Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has an assured place in history as the man who oversaw the first regulations to officially recognise the flag of Wessex. Although the Wyvern has a long pedigree, the current design of the flag dates from 1974, meaning that it took just 38 years to go from an idea toContinueContinue reading “Eric the Ostrich”
Wessex Regionalists 