“My Lords, a nation gets awarded the character that it deserves. By neglecting to promote some aspect of this character, that aspect becomes increasingly insignificant within the image which other nations regard as our worth. And this might also hold true for the way future generations of our own nation come to regard what weContinueContinue reading “History is Sunk”
Tag Archives: Portsmouth
Love the Land, Live the Life
It would make such a great slogan for our Wessex. It is in fact already taken, as the English-language slogan of the Normandy Tourist Board. There is such a thing, based not in one of the great cities – Caen or Rouen – but in a much smaller place, Evreux. It exists despite the factContinueContinue reading “Love the Land, Live the Life”
Anybody Listening?
The following extract from the current issue of Population Matters Magazine is written by its editor, Norman Pasley: “There is great concern in Fareham about plans for a new town called Welbourne to be built on farmland north of the M27 motorway. The debate is giving rise to many letters in the local paper, TheContinueContinue reading “Anybody Listening?”
Wallace versus Wonga?
The Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth, speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, warned of the social consequences of ending naval shipbuilding in the city, including that jobless families could turn to loan sharks as the lenders of last resort. Cue Labour’s latest, greatest initiative. And what an odd policy announcement it was: Ed Miliband commitsContinueContinue reading “Wallace versus Wonga?”
Anchoring the Future
Popular history has it that the Royal Navy was founded by King Ælfred the Great. It’s not quite accurate – his father, King Æthelwulf also had a fleet of some sort – but the idea of England’s first sailor-king has maintained its powerful hold on the imagination. So if naval shipbuilding in England began inContinueContinue reading “Anchoring the Future”
Ringing the Changes
A couple of weeks ago – before computer problems kept us from posting to you – Bournemouth found itself in the national news. It’s to become the first part of the UK to require landline users to phone the whole number, including the area code, for local calls, even to next door neighbours. Why? NotContinueContinue reading “Ringing the Changes”
Killing Community, Killing Democracy
Cornish patriots are gathering today beneath the Tamar Bridge at Saltash to protest against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. There is even serious talk of hunger strikes. What is it that has brought this on?The Bill paves the way for a referendum next May on replacing First-Past-The-Post with the Alternative Vote system. SoContinueContinue reading “Killing Community, Killing Democracy”
The Axeman Cometh
Political discourse in the Disunited Kingdom is now turning to public spending cuts. Brown continues to tell us that capital investment is his priority, as if new schools, hospitals and the rest are of any lasting use without the right professionals to staff them. Cameron promises us ‘an age of austerity’, relieved only by taxContinueContinue reading “The Axeman Cometh”
Minding Our Own Business
“Peace is a coin which has two sides – one is the avoidance of the use of force and the other is the creation of conditions of justice. In the long run you cannot expect one without the other.”John Foster Dulles, 1956Dulles was not a man whose actions lived up to his words. Nor canContinueContinue reading “Minding Our Own Business”
Who Cares About You?
Not the London-based parties. As MPs’ expense claims reveal, they’re far too busy shoving their snouts in the trough. With snouts down, eyes are off the ball and Wessex is being robbed. A couple of examples must suffice for now.First off, amidst all the hullabaloo over Inheritance Tax thresholds, some very interesting figures have beenContinueContinue reading “Who Cares About You?”
Wessex Regionalists 