Sticky post
Important Update: The Packham 3 Defamation Case
BY THE EDITOR Dear All, Our legal team have today summarised the current state of play in the High Court case brought by Chris Packham against me, Nigel Bean and Paul Read (brought against us as individuals, not against the magazine). The summary can be read on the Crowd Justice site here or below the separator on this page. In short, despite the generosity of … Continue reading Important Update: The Packham 3 Defamation Case
IRA Victims Take Gerry Adams to High Court
The following press release – well worth reading, especially for CSM’s military followers – came through to the Squires from the law firm McCue Jury & Partners, linking to this Crowd Justice link: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/ivt/ Landmark legal action for truth and accountability London, UK, 25 June 2022 A high court civil action has been launched by victims of Provisional IRA terrorism against Gerry ADAMS. The claimants … Continue reading IRA Victims Take Gerry Adams to High Court
Dead-End Streeting
BY JAMES BEMBRIDGE & DOMINIC WIGHTMAN Just a month ago, as Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party was thrown in the air by Beergate, commentators began to laud the Labour MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting. Here was a man who: “Should be the next Labour leader” New Statesman. “Is the saviour Labour desperately needs?” Financial … Continue reading Dead-End Streeting
The Nasty Party?
BY STEWART SLATER “Any man who is not a socialist at age 20 has no heart. Any man who is still a socialist at age 40 has no head.” One of those zombie phrases whose origins are obscure, and so it gets ascribed to Churchill. Your correspondent, a cradle Thatcherite, always felt that such a characterisation was unfair for, while he has enough self-awareness to … Continue reading The Nasty Party?
Lord Geidt’s Peculiar Wikipedia Entry
CSM EDITORIAL Last Wednesday night Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, dramatically quit after conceding the Prime Minister may have broken the ministerial code over the Partygate scandal. In a statement released at the time, Geidt said: “With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as independent adviser on ministers’ interests.” Since his resignation Lord Geidt has been … Continue reading Lord Geidt’s Peculiar Wikipedia Entry
Cash Dethroned on the King’s Road
BY NIALL McCRAE Cash is not king nowadays. Certainly not on the bustling King’s Road in Chelsea, where my efforts to buy a coffee were frustrated by a ‘card only’ regime. On principle, my bank card stayed in my pocket, as I offered the exact coinage (typically over three quid for a flat white in this posh part of town). Consequently I walked a long … Continue reading Cash Dethroned on the King’s Road
The Burden of Independence
BY EFFIE DEANS The SNP apparently wants “independence in the modern world” as opposed to independence in the ancient world or indeed in the world of the distant future. It wants Scotland to be wealthier, happier and fairer, but these would be changed little by independence. My wealth depends on the job that I do, what I inherit or my luck in winning a lottery. … Continue reading The Burden of Independence
A Prayer for Focus
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that this Sunday prayer finds You well and healthy. This week I would like You to try and focus Your heart on Jesus. Our lives can often feel rushed and overwhelmed. With constant responsibilities and needs that press for our attention, there might be very little time we routinely set aside for rest and renewal in … Continue reading A Prayer for Focus
The Founding Myth
BY SARAH GREENWOOD The truth about the ‘Trail of Lies’ cartoon produced by Keep The Ban, with Chris Packham and Peter Egan. The recent cartoon, ‘Trail of Lies’, produced by Keep The Ban group, is as slick a piece of marketing as you would expect from a one man band who founded an ‘organisation’ dedicated to bigging up its profile, and intent on making a … Continue reading The Founding Myth
Disgusted of Clarence House
BY STEWART SLATER “Appalling” the newspapers screamed, reporting the Prince of Wales’ opinion on the government’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda, a story deemed important enough to make the front pages and lead the news bulletins. With Clarence House failing to deny the leak, what followed was one of those inversions which the Culture War occasionally throws up – the less than … Continue reading Disgusted of Clarence House
The American RICO Act & Animal Rights
BY RON THOMSON The American Racketeering and Criminal Organisations Act (1970) (The RICO Act) explains the character – or the ‘soul’ if you like – of the International Animal Rights brigade. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an … Continue reading The American RICO Act & Animal Rights
O Brave New Scotland
BY EFFIE DEANS Nicola Sturgeon thinks that If Scots could have predicted what would happen after 2014, we would have voted for independence. In that case we would indeed have been wealthier, happier and fairer, but not for the reason she thinks. We could have bought Bitcoin when each one cost less than a pound. We could have predicted the winner of the Derby and … Continue reading O Brave New Scotland
Janet Girsman – Journalist in Spirit
BY LIZ SAUL This weekend was the 2nd anniversary of the passing of the journalist, publicist and genealogist, Janet Girsman – a Country Squire Magazine investigator and writer – my mother. She died on June 11th, 2020, mostly because her cancer treatment had been paused during the first lockdown. At least I was able to be with her, being classed as a key worker myself … Continue reading Janet Girsman – Journalist in Spirit
Hunting With Dogs (Scotland) Bill
BY CAPTAIN ED SWALES The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act was passed in 2002 and whilst the title of this legislation sounds admirable enough, in fact its real aim was to do nothing other than ban hunting with dogs. At least this time around in the Scottish Government’s ‘salami slicing’ process of eroding our civil and rural liberties quietly and over a period of … Continue reading Hunting With Dogs (Scotland) Bill
Lord Ashcroft is Wrong about Trophy Hunting
BY JOHN NASH Earlier in May, The Mail published a piece by Graham Boynton explaining that our beloved government’s proposed Ban on the Importation of Hunting Trophies would be very, very bad for the remote people and wild animals of southern Africa. He wrote that supporters of the ban, including Lord Ashcroft, “have good intentions no doubt but, according to many Africans, their proposals are … Continue reading Lord Ashcroft is Wrong about Trophy Hunting
A Prayer for Ukraine
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that You are well and healthy this Sunday morning. Today, whatever You are doing, please spare a thought and a prayer for Ukraine. As You likely know already, heavy fighting, shelling and air strikes across Ukraine have had devastating consequences for ordinary people. Over 5 million people have fled the country in recent weeks, and many … Continue reading A Prayer for Ukraine
Solution to a Problem that Didn’t Exist
BY ROGER WATSON To the delight of Guardianistas, the viewing figures for Talk TV have plummeted and they seem to have done so by an order of magnitude from around 400,000 — when it was known as talkRADIO — to around 40,000. While I can confirm the figures for talkRADIO, I have not yet found similarly verified figures for Talk TV. However, regardless of the … Continue reading Solution to a Problem that Didn’t Exist
The Platform Monarchy’s Platinum Jubilee
BY STEWART SLATER In his youth, we are told, Boris Johnson formed a desire to be the “world king”, an ambition which, to be blunt, currently looks a bit of a stretch. Not only does his current popularity suggest that achieving such office is unlikely at the ballot box, but the position is already taken. For if the events of the weekend show anything, they … Continue reading The Platform Monarchy’s Platinum Jubilee
Conservation? Management? What Do These Terms Mean?
BY RON THOMSON After World War II, the League of Nations was dismantled and replaced by a new international organisation which called itself The United Nations (the UN). In 1948, the UN created a sub-division of its responsibilities which it called the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP’s purpose was to address itself to all matters pertaining to the environment. Dividing its responsibilities, UNEP established … Continue reading Conservation? Management? What Do These Terms Mean?
Social Currency – Fool’s Gold
BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN According to the later versions of the Brothers Grimm tales, when Rumpelstiltskin – the imp who spun straw into gold in exchange for a girl’s firstborn – was rebuffed: “He in his rage drove his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both hands … Continue reading Social Currency – Fool’s Gold