One of the contentious issues between Westminster and Holyrood of latehas been the future of the Crown Estate in Scotland. UK-wide, the portfolio of property and other investments brings in £285m a year to HM Treasury and pays for HM herself and any hangers-on who, unlike the Duke of Cornwall, aren’t funded from other publicContinueContinue reading “Crown Jewels for Sale”
Tag Archives: Land Ownership
The Plantation of Wessex
Last April, one of Eric Pickles’ Planning Inspectors opened a public inquiry in the Oxfordshire village of Bloxham. The Coalition promised localism – local decisions made by local folk, without interference from London – but – as we have mentioned many times – their localism is a lie. Under real localism, there would be noContinueContinue reading “The Plantation of Wessex”
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”
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”
All At Sea
Cornwall is bigger than Wessex. Yes or no? It depends on definitions. Land area is one thing, but there are some rights of sovereignty that extend out to the 200-mile limit of the Continental Shelf. And it’s not just sovereign states who have clearly demarcated areas of seabed to their name. So do the devolvedContinueContinue reading “All At Sea”
Rights & Wrongs
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise.”VoltaireThe London regime has invited comments on a UK Bill of Rights. But where do ‘rights’ actually come from? The official line is that they’re concessions made by government towards the governed. Politics is defined by the struggle of theContinueContinue reading “Rights & Wrongs”
Cradle of the Crown
“Whereas the liberties of England, its laws, statutes, system of justice and administration, had their beginnings in the Kingdom of Wessex;Whereas that Kingdom in its heyday was at once the cradle of the English language and culture, and the bastion of freedom against the marauding Danes and Norsemen;Whereas the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty is directlyContinueContinue reading “Cradle of the Crown”
Embracing All
A frequent objection to decentralisation is that small-scale jurisdictions are prone to takeover by well-organised, highly motivated bands of fanatics. History furnishes examples, from Savonarola in Florence to the Anabaptists in Münster and the Calvinists in Geneva.The threat is real but centralisation does not remove it. All that it does is magnify its consequences. ThereContinueContinue reading “Embracing All”
The Land is Whose?
The Forestry Commission is a big player in Wessex. Within our borders we have two of the great royal hunting forests, the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the New Forest in Hampshire, both still regulated by their mediæval Verderers’ Courts. Treasured parts of our heritage. Except that for Cameron, Clegg & Co they areContinueContinue reading “The Land is Whose?”
Wessex Regionalists 