At the end of March, the Brown regime announced plans to further nationalise the control of development in Wessex. Those who thought local opinion could not be sidelined any more than it is already will be sorely disappointed.Remember that when Labour took office in 1997 it inherited sweeping powers to interfere in local decision-making. WhitehallContinueContinue reading “The ‘G’ Word”
Tag Archives: Food
Bonfire of the Inanities
Should we have a new archbishop? Not just a new archbishop of Canterbury, but a new archbishopric. Of Winchester.Wales separated from Canterbury in 1920 and there is a similar demand for a separate Cornish Church today. So why not a separate Wessex Church? It’s not a new idea. Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester fromContinueContinue reading “Bonfire of the Inanities”
More is Less
Just before Christmas, Labour issued a draft of its new statement of planning policy on what it laughably terms ‘sustainable economic development’. It turns out to be no less than a manifesto for sacrificing our quality of life on the altar of globalisation.Buried within it is a proposal that henceforth housebuilding should be considered asContinueContinue reading “More is Less”
All the World’s a Picnic
It was, of course, insensitive to allow a teddy bear to be named Mahomet. What self-respecting teddy would want to bear a name that remains mired in such controversy? But if Sudanese folk want to make themselves and their religion the world’s laughing-stock by over-reacting, then that’s their business.The questions which the Gillian Gibbons caseContinueContinue reading “All the World’s a Picnic”
Food is the Future
We’ve nothing against townies. Many of us live in towns. Some exiles even live, in Babylonish captivity, in the very heart of London itself. But as Wessex Regionalists, we all know better than to believe that food grows itself on supermarket shelves.If only that realisation were universally shared. London, which grows next to nothing itself,ContinueContinue reading “Food is the Future”
Power Power
It was back in the 70’s that we first argued for the revenues from Wessex mineral resources (including Dorset oil) to be re-invested in the development of alternative energy sources, and in long-term regional employment opportunities, with the ultimate aim of achieving basic regional self-sufficiency.Today the oil is running out but the long-term perspective remainsContinueContinue reading “Power Power”
Two Cheers for Sir William
“The Green Belt is a Labour achievement, and we mean to build on it.” John Prescott, 1998Last Saturday, at the AGM of the Swindon-based National Trust, its chairman, Sir William Proby, announced plans to buy up Green Belt land threatened by Labour’s housebuilding craze. Sir William’s critics are wrong to see anything extraordinary about this:ContinueContinue reading “Two Cheers for Sir William”
Wessex Regionalists 