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”
Tag Archives: Economy
New New New Labour
Time was, long ago, when among the London parties a leader’s speech to conference was about how best to put the party’s purpose into action. Not now. Today the leader is there to explain what the party’s purpose is. Or is this week. Or until the polls suggest the nuance isn’t quite honed yet. WhatContinueContinue reading “New New New Labour”
Peak Credulity
Must be conference season for the London parties, no?
Cycling At The Edge
“Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.”Kenneth Boulding (1910-1993), founder of evolutionary economics and co-founder of General Systems TheoryOne of the philosopher Bertrand Russell’s best analogies was ‘the inductivist turkey’. A repeated experiment apparently gives the same answer every time. Has anContinueContinue reading “Cycling At The Edge”
The Infamous Five
In 1945, the Labour Party campaigned to destroy Beveridge’s ‘five giants’ of want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. In 1997 and each subsequent election it tried the same trick, the latest pledges being to “secure the recovery”, “raise family living standards”, “build a high tech economy”, “protect frontline services”, and “strengthen fairness in communities”. AllContinueContinue reading “The Infamous Five”
Remaking Politics
“I do not believe in struggling to take power, but to build it.”Hugo BlancoGrowth is what everyone wants. Apparently. So we can pay the banks the interest on the money they created out of nothing.We could join in too and become a pro-growth party. Just like the other ‘choices’ on offer. All hurtling towards theContinueContinue reading “Remaking Politics”
No State To Be In?
Lord Deben – the former Tory MP John Selwyn Gummer – wrote approvingly this week of the Coalition’s decentralist agenda: “People who feel that they cannot influence big decisions in a globalised world are adamant that they should control the space around them. It doesn’t help to call it nimby. It is more ‘ideah’ –ContinueContinue reading “No State To Be In?”
First Impressions
Colin Bex, WR Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, was out in Witney today testing the ground for a possible challenge to David Cameron. No final decision has been made on the choice of constituency to be fought but the Leader of the Opposition does make a very good target. Voters who’ve had enough of the Government’s voodooContinueContinue reading “First Impressions”
Keep Off the Cider!
Alistair Darling’s last budget before the election took a widely predicted swipe at cider drinkers. This afternoon he announced plans to raise the excise duty on cider by 10% over inflation, singling out our region’s choice for special mistreatment. Taxes on beer, wine and spirits will rise by just 2% over inflation, so Labour’s champagneContinueContinue reading “Keep Off the Cider!”
Organising Murder
“War is organised murder, and nothing else.”Harry PatchAnd so the extraordinary life of Harry Patch, the last Tommy of the First World War, has ended at his home in Wells. His years as a centenarian were spent as an eloquent spokesman for the Lost Generation of 1914-18, imparting what he could of experiences beyond theContinueContinue reading “Organising Murder”
Wessex Regionalists 