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”
Tag Archives: Democracy
Write Lines
Although politicians from the London parties routinely associate the words ‘education’ and ‘choice’, the thing most striking about their policies is that they offer the electorate no choice at all. Would you guess, from following the roll-out of academies and free schools, the constant undermining of local democratic choice, which party was in power? TheContinueContinue reading “Write Lines”
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”
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 notContinueContinue reading “Stampede at the Sales”
A Broken Constitution
We’re SO all in it together. Professor Sir Peter Hall of University College London, an expert on regional economic policy, had this to say about the figures in George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review: “Even on capital spending, which Osborne claims to be boosting – actually only after election year 2015, but let that pass –ContinueContinue reading “A Broken Constitution”
Times of Tension
It was good to hear Nick Clegg last week distancing himself from the PM. We’re all Thatcherites now, claimed Cameron. Oh no, we’re not, insisted Clegg. Any reminder that the man is Deputy Prime Minister and not Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party is very welcome.So too was another breaking of ranks last week, whenContinueContinue reading “Times of Tension”
Kleptocracy UK
The MP for Maidenhead made a very interesting speech this weekend. Theresa May set out what some observers perceive to be her stall in a future contest for the Tory leadership. (Sad isn’t it, that the chatter is about what British politics can do for her career and not what she can do for British politics?)ContinueContinue reading “Kleptocracy UK”
Faith In The System
Is a fatal flaw. Vote for the same old crooks as last time and you’ll get the same old policies they promise and don’t deliver. Consider a couple of planning cases in Gloucestershire that were reported in the press this week.At Tetbury, nearly 300 homes at two separate greenfield sites outside the town were approvedContinueContinue reading “Faith In The System”
Give Fair Play A Chance
The Electoral Commission could be a small, well-managed organisation that looks after that tiny number of things that may, perhaps, best be done centrally if we’re to have something approaching democratic elections. An organisation that lets local administrators get on with their jobs and doesn’t try to micro-manage processes that constitutionally don’t belong to it.Instead, it’s a bloatedContinueContinue reading “Give Fair Play A Chance”
The Great Dictator
David Cameron told the CBI yesterday that he wants a war economy, with himself as Winston Churchill, to pull the country out of recession.Of course, it’s all ridiculous, prep school nonsense. The only real war is being fought by British troops in Afghanistan, despite public opposition. No-one in the UK is going to be shotContinueContinue reading “The Great Dictator”
Wessex Regionalists 