Time for Branson to Step Out of the Spotlight?
CITY GRUMP I see Richard Branson is not done with the investing public yet as “VG Acquisition Corp intends to sell 40 million units at an individual price of $10. The company said it plans to “search for targets that operate in consumer-facing industries in the U.S. and Western Europe.” It added it will focus on “businesses that provide consumer experiences in the sectors in which Virgin … Continue reading Time for Branson to Step Out of the Spotlight?
What’s the Point of S4C?
BY MARCUS STEAD You’re probably familiar with this exchange from Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde: CECIL GRAHAM: What is a cynic?LORD DARLINGTON: A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.CECIL GRAHAM: And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is a man who sees an absurd value in everything and doesn’t know the market price of any single thing. Public subsidies are always a … Continue reading What’s the Point of S4C?
Casting Hume into the Flames
BY EFFIE DEANS How does civilisation begin? It begins with agriculture. Prior to the development of agriculture all we have is hunter gatherers in small bands living from moment to moment intent only on the bare necessities of life such as obtaining food and shelter. What enabled the transition to agriculture? It was the division of labour. In order for people to settle down and … Continue reading Casting Hume into the Flames
Wheels Turn
BY SAM WHITE It’s time to be realistic. Liberalism will soon be dead. There has been a sustained attack on liberal values, from hijacked institutions that were former defenders of such liberal values (such as universities and the BBC), escalating for many years. For those who follow alternative media and the blogosphere, this is, of course, not news. No doubt, if you are reading this, … Continue reading Wheels Turn
Farming & Politics Don’t Mix
BY JIM WEBSTER As you can imagine, a slaughterhouse will get an awful lot of paperwork, and a lot of it has to be properly disposed of because it’s government documents. So a manager I know installed a shredding machine to dispose of it securely. Last time I talked to him he saved this paper for bedding up the pen in the lairage that they … Continue reading Farming & Politics Don’t Mix
Happy 2020
BY FRANK HAVILAND Doomsday forecasters rarely back a winner, but 2020 might just be their year. Anyone with a tenner on the end of the world coming by Christmas will be experiencing a nervous frisson around now, as 2020 has really stepped up its game. Tensions are also mounting at the Annus Horribilis Club, where rumour has it notable members 1914, 1929 and 1939 are … Continue reading Happy 2020
F for Fake
BY ANDREW MOODY I first read about Orson Welles’ 1973 film F for Fake in a compendium of conspiracy theories by the late author and Playboy editor Robert Anton Wilson, a huge fan of Welles and this movie in particular. “Perhaps the prime example of the post-modernist artwork, F for Fake is a somewhat faked film about the possibly fake biography of a truly great … Continue reading F for Fake
A Prayer for Our Readers
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that You are well and not too despondent as we approach yet another period, it seems, of Covid-induced restrictions. I talk to many people and most of them have simply written 2020 off as a dreadful year. Some I talk to have used the time locked down to write books or do things they never had … Continue reading A Prayer for Our Readers
Why are Remainers so Hostile to the UK Japan FTA?
BY DOUGLAS BULLOCH Hailed by Jean-Claude Juncker as “a message to the world about the future of open and fair trade” and sometimes dubbed the “cheese for cars” deal, the EU Japan Economic Partnership Agreement was heralded in 2019 as an enormously significant evolution for the future of world trade then descending into confrontation between the US and China. Why then, a mere eighteen months … Continue reading Why are Remainers so Hostile to the UK Japan FTA?
India Loves Agatha
BY RUCHIRA GHOSH She may well have been an icon of colonialism, pertaining to a bygone era, but modern-day aficionados of English literature in my home country India simply cannot do without Agatha Christie. This prolific author whose novels were outsold only by The Bible and Shakespeare (an unbroken record yet) still enjoys global popularity (including erstwhile colonies of Great Britain) decades after she walked … Continue reading India Loves Agatha
Time for Change
BY GAVIN CHAMBERS The start of Welsh devolution in the true sense was the creation of the Welsh Assembly by the Blair government following the 1997 referendum on the issue. It should be noted that not all were for it. The turnout was a low 50% of the electorate and the vote in favour of an Assembly was only above the vote against by a … Continue reading Time for Change
Cancer and Pisces
BY ANDREW MOODY Mick May, the author of Cancer and Pisces: One Man’s Story of his Unique Survival of Cancer, Interwoven with the Joy and Succour of Fishing was first diagnosed with Mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer caused by asbestos poisoning, back in 2013. (Mesothelioma) is a particularly vicious form of cancer. It is invariably fatal and the median life expectancy from diagnosis is around … Continue reading Cancer and Pisces