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”
Tag Archives: Energy
Jeux Sans Frontières
Events in Paris this week have exposed Europe’s anxieties to the full. Let’s consider some of the possible reactions. On the far Right, and among the not-for-prophet movement generally, this is I-told-you-so time. Even those who disagree with the politics must find recent analysis strikingly prescient. And at least it’s an opportunity to highlight someContinueContinue reading “Jeux Sans Frontières”
The Extravagance of Austerity
Good chancellor, bad chancellor. George Osborne played a little double act with himself this week. It started with lots of spending announcements. A whopping £15.1 billion on roads and £2.3 billion on flood defences. Oh, and Bicester is to be a new town.Then there was the Autumn Statement, seized on with the claim that publicContinueContinue reading “The Extravagance of Austerity”
A Taste of Wessex
Political fiction has a long and influential pedigree, from More’s Utopia to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. One of our aims is fun: to make politics relevant and enjoyable. So here’s a brief glimpse into one possible Wessex of the future. A very Happy Scottish Referendum Day tomorrow to all our readers: may all be inspired byContinueContinue reading “A Taste of Wessex”
Leccy Goes Local
Until 1948, the electricity supply in Bristol, as in many towns, was run as a council department, with its own power stations at Temple Back, Avonbank and Portishead. In that year it was effectively confiscated by the London regime, without payment of full compensation, only to be sold on in 1990 as part of SouthContinueContinue reading “Leccy Goes Local”
Looking Ahead
It’s happened. The seawall at Dawlish has been washed away, leaving the main line railway track suspended in mid-air. Fortunately, the London regime is known for looking ahead, anticipating such problems as arise from climate change and planning new infrastructure to cope with them. It could have wasted tens of billions building unnecessary new linesContinueContinue reading “Looking Ahead”
Switched On?
Predictions of the death of the Internet seem premature, though not wholly implausible. There is no doubt that it constitutes a heavy drain on energy supplies but it also undoubtedly saves energy in facilitating transactions online that reduce the need to travel. A full energy ‘balance sheet’ of the existing and potential costs and benefitsContinueContinue reading “Switched On?”
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”
Fighting On The Beaches
Sussex isn’t Wessex. We don’t claim it and the Saxon chronicles, read attentively, back up us on that. Nevertheless, it’s fascinating to glance east at present.At Balcombe, environmental protestors are making life difficult for Cuadrilla, the firm that wants to frack for oil and gas. It’s been well described as ‘extreme energy’, a last desperateContinueContinue reading “Fighting On The Beaches”
Seismic Shift?
“Vote Blue, Go Green.” Remember that? And, of course, “the greenest government ever”? Listen as the peals of maniacal laughter echo down the corridors of power.Last week DEFRA launched its triennial review of Natural England and the Environment Agency. According to his foreword to the consultation paper, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson sees his job asContinueContinue reading “Seismic Shift?”
Wessex Regionalists 