Tag: Alexia James

countryside

The Grey Belt Mirage: A Greenfield Free-For-All

BY ALEXIA JAMES A revolution is unfolding across England’s cherished Green Belt, but not the one ministers promised. When the government introduced the concept of ‘grey belt’ land in late 2024, the public was assured it would target the unsightly and unused: disused petrol stations, abandoned car parks, and ‘poor-quality scrubland’ on town fringes. The reality, as stark new research from the countryside charity CPRE … Continue reading The Grey Belt Mirage: A Greenfield Free-For-All

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Politics

Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

BY ALEXIA JAMES Last week, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi decided to bid farewell to the Conservative Party. To be frank, her resignation could have been announced at two in the morning, and it would have given everyone a chance for a good night’s sleep without missing a thing. For those of us who have watched Warsi navigate the Conservative ranks with all the grace of a … Continue reading Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

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Government Waste

Scrap the Met Office

BY ALEXIA JAMES The Met Office, the UK’s ‘national weather service’, positions itself as an essential entity, yet it increasingly feels like a government-funded dinosaur lumbering through a tech-savvy age. With claims of offering over £1 billion in value to the economy, the institution looks less like a beacon of scientific accuracy and more like a costly façade that exists to justify its bloated budget. … Continue reading Scrap the Met Office

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Language

Popinjay

BY ALEXIA JAMES “Popinjay”—a word so charmingly obsolete. I propose that this gloriously colourful term merits a revival. In an age where “selfie” and “raw dogging” are seemingly integral to our vernacular, surely we can find room for a bit of old-school pizzazz? In 2018 Boris Johnson attempted a revival but the word has slipped back onto the linguistic scrapheap where it does not deserve … Continue reading Popinjay

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Investigation, Politics

Tory Recruitment Deficiencies Laid Bare

BY ALEXIA JAMES Last week’s election results were a shot in the arm for the Conservative Party. Hartlepool was a great success while gaining Northumberland Council was also a positive step forward – in 2017, the Tories had lost overall control of the council. Glen Sanderson, Conservative leader of Northumberland County Council, said he believed the party had “steady” and “solid” leadership following a turbulent … Continue reading Tory Recruitment Deficiencies Laid Bare

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brexit, Opinion

Brexit Already a Failure!

BY ALEXIA JAMES It seems that the diehard Remainers have already decided that Brexit was a waste of time and has resulted in abject failure – less than a month after the UK’s exit from the transition period. At the weekend Michel Barnier was busy painting a false picture of EU unity and pretending that now “we all see the cost of Brexit” – again, … Continue reading Brexit Already a Failure!

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International, Politics

America’s Dispiriting Dilemma

BY ALEXIA JAMES The population of the US is 328.2 million. That’s almost five times the UK population. So how come they end up with a presidential race between the venal Donald Trump and the senile pervert Joe Biden? Sniffing Joe is not all there. He makes Ronald Reagan’s latter Alzheimer’s years look coherent: Biden’s a sex pest? Don’t believe me? Watch this: As for … Continue reading America’s Dispiriting Dilemma

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Comedy, Media

Germans Are Not Funny

BY ALEXIA JAMES No, Brit Girl, the Germans do not now have a better sense of humour than the British. 30,000 people across 15 countries were asked to name both the “funniest” (“best at making people laugh”) and “least funny” nationality in a poll conducted by Badoo.com. The Germans came out last. They were even below the Belgians. Germans are as funny as Nish Kumar, … Continue reading Germans Are Not Funny

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coronavirus

Lockdown’s Strained Marriages

BY ALEXIA JAMES The Lock-down has been a real test for relationships. Weeks on end stuck in the same few rooms has been too much for some and yet other relationships which were getting stale have re-found their spark and are now flourishing. Close confinement and financial strife are cited as the key reasons behind the spike in divorce inquiries which Co-op Legal Services reported … Continue reading Lockdown’s Strained Marriages

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coronavirus, Media

Covidian Nonexistence

BY ALEXIA JAMES It must be said that mainstream media has become extraordinarily unalluring during this pandemic. People are learning to live without. On a Zoom business call just yesterday one of those present asked if anyone had seen Boris’ latest Coronavirus press conference and four out of six on the video call admitted they had not bothered tuning into even one. Meanwhile the newspapers … Continue reading Covidian Nonexistence

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Media

BBC’s Last Roll

BY ALEXIA JAMES It was always going to happen. Our public broadcaster the BBC is primarily funded by the licence fee, supplemented by income from commercial subsidiaries. And the number of licence fees received by the BBC has been decreasing markedly, principally because the word is out that BBC programmes are not worth £154.50 a year when competitors like Amazon Prime and Netflix return more value … Continue reading BBC’s Last Roll

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Interviews

Animal Co-Operative

Robert Adam’s ‘Animal Co-operative’ is the story of the EEC and the EU, up to recent times, told in the allegorical style of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. You can purchase it here. Country Squire Magazine’s Alexia James interviews Robert.   AJ: What drove you to write the book? RA: Ever since reading Animal Farm in English class at school (along with many millions of others over … Continue reading Animal Co-Operative

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brexit

We’re with Widdecombe

BY ALEXIA JAMES It’s good news that former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe has announced she is set to return to politics – for the Brexit Party. Widdecombe stands for many of us when she says she would still vote Conservative in the upcoming local elections (no reason to get rid of decent Conservative councillors who are likely personally to vote for the Brexit Party in European … Continue reading We’re with Widdecombe

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Politics

The Cameron Intake Errors

BY ALEXIA JAMES Remoaners like Philip Hammond and Nicky Morgan still don’t get it. The country voted to leave the EU – that does not make the 17.4 Million’s true representatives in the House of Commons, personified by the ERG, “extremists” as Hammond called them, nor does it make them “likely to leave the Conservative Party” as Morgan has suggested. Hammond now knows he is … Continue reading The Cameron Intake Errors

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Politics

Why So Arrogant?

BY ALEXIA JAMES I’d never previously paid much attention to Emily Thornberry, apart from making a mental note that she reminded me somewhat of snooty Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. Why should I? She seemed like yet another Corbynite letting down the word “shadow”. I mean, John McDonnell a shadow chancellor? Diane Abbott a shadow home secretary? Angela Rayner shadow secretary of state for education? … Continue reading Why So Arrogant?

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