With 11.5 million documents to read through, we’ve not heard the last of the revelations from the Panama Papers. David Cameron is on the defensive, though Jeremy Corbyn’s attacks are blunted by the fact that his party was once led by one half of the Blair couple, now rumoured to be worth a cool £60ContinueContinue reading “Keeping It Under Your Hat”
Tag Archives: Finance
Devo Min
There are quite a few bright spots for Wessex folk to cheer about in today’s budget – and not just a freeze on cider duty – but look beyond the headlines. It’s good to see money for children’s A&E in Southampton, but isn’t the rest of the NHS on life support? A “more resilient trainContinueContinue reading “Devo Min”
Letting London Go
Wastemonster has often voted for evil. And now for EVEL – English Votes for English Laws. Quite right too, as far as that goes. Which is not very far. The Daily Express, predictably, took it way too far, with a blustering piece by Leo McKinstry today about the great, tax-oppressed nation of England, paying forContinueContinue reading “Letting London Go”
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”
Bex & the Bankers
Colin Bex was on the march against austerity held in central London on Saturday (left). His attire included ‘that T-shirt’ from the 2005 election campaign in Dorset South. (The question ‘Westminster Diktat?’ appears above an image of the Cerne Abbas giant labelled ‘Clubmen Arise’ and beneath it the answer, ‘Roger & Out!’) Colin reports onContinueContinue reading “Bex & the Bankers”
Denial of Service
Today we were contacted by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. Yes, that Wall Street Journal. Would we like to talk to them about our aims and aspirations? Here are three reasons why the answer might not be a resounding ‘Yes’:One. Two. Three.
Useful Idiots?
This week saw a rally at Westminster in support of housebuilding. There’s no denying the heartache if you’re not adequately housed, but many demanding a cull of our countryside are being dupedby those who stand to benefit financially from a yet-more-bricks-and-mortar solution. There’s no sound case for adding to our housing stock if we can’tContinueContinue reading “Useful Idiots?”
Wanted: an NHS
“The power which causes the several portions of the plant to help each other, we call life… intensity of life is also intensity of helpfulness — completeness of depending of each part on all the rest. The ceasing of this help is what we call corruption.” John Ruskin, Modern Painters, Volume 5 (1860)Cornish academic BernardContinueContinue reading “Wanted: an NHS”
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”
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”
Wessex Regionalists 