Tag: brexit

Books, International

In Service of the Republic

BY THE EDITOR In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy by Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah presents itself as a sober, technocratic intervention in India’s policy discourse. The authors, both esteemed former senior civil servants and professional economists, argue that India’s economic trajectory, particularly the marked deceleration after 2011, reflects a failure of institutional capacity rather than intent. Their diagnosis is … Continue reading In Service of the Republic

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editorial

The Ban on Cool Burning is an Act of Faith, Not Science

CSM EDITORIAL The admission slips out with increasing regularity from those responsible for prohibiting rotational cool burning on England’s uplands. Yes, they concede, it may take years for rewetted land to reach a state where it is naturally protected from wildfire. The honesty is welcome, if somewhat late. What they omit is that any such transition remains entirely speculative. There is no evidence base demonstrating … Continue reading The Ban on Cool Burning is an Act of Faith, Not Science

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Vicar

A Prayer for the Struggling Farmer

VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the ones who are finding it hard to be patient. The farmers who have sown and waited and watched, and whose harvest has not come. The ones who lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering how they will pay the bills. The ones whose hands are calloused and whose hearts … Continue reading A Prayer for the Struggling Farmer

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Culture, Religion

Raving in the Nave

BY SEAN WALSH The London nightclub Fabric (which temporarily closed in 2016 after just a handful of drug-related deaths) has agreed a four-year contract with St Paul’s Cathedral (consecrated to the worship of God in 604 AD). Why? This is how the club’s owner sees things: Over the next four years, we’ll present a broad range of artists from across the contemporary music landscape, with … Continue reading Raving in the Nave

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Government

Digital Magna Carta

BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN The British establishment’s resistance to artificial intelligence in governance masquerades, at best, as principled conservatism, a defence of the constituency surgery, the ministerial red box, the human touch. It is, in truth, a defence of administrative fiefdoms. The civil service, the silent colossus of Whitehall, has become the obstacle to the democratic will it was designed to serve. The answer is not … Continue reading Digital Magna Carta

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International, Wildfires

Have Spain´s Wildfire Communities Already Been Forgotten?

BY ED ANDERSON If you were to step off at Manuela Malasaña metro in Móstoles in July, you´d be greeted by a typical Madrid satellite town. A Basic Fit here, a baking Plaza del Sol there and a smattering of bars that thankfully won´t be changing you 5 euros a caña. Mercifully, there is not an instagrammer in sight. However, hidden away here and in … Continue reading Have Spain´s Wildfire Communities Already Been Forgotten?

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Opinion

Norcross Knows Cricket’s Soul

BY SEAN WALSH Traditions exist for the preservation of the truths, practices, and things which comfort us, so that we can pass these gifts on to people not yet alive. Modernism exists to disrupt all this via energetic historical revisionism and a continuous recreation of Year Zero. To the modernist, the inheritance rights of future generations are no more than useful fictions intended to serve … Continue reading Norcross Knows Cricket’s Soul

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Smallholder

Aspiga

BY ALLISON LEE Whilst we are all well aware of the rapid damage our planet is suffering, not everyone knows how they can help minimise environmental harm and social exploitation. Yet each of us can make a significant difference simply by considering where we buy our clothing. Fast fashion brands enable rapid production and target fashion-conscious consumers seeking trendy, low-cost clothes. This inherently drives environmental … Continue reading Aspiga

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Social Commentary

The Carnival

BY ALEX STORY The August Bank Holiday weekend fills the good people of Notting Hill with dread. Those who can flee do; those who can’t board themselves up inside their houses. Their front gardens, if they have one, front doors and outside walls will be used by the throngs as municipal facilities. A couple of years ago, after two fatalities, eight stabbings and over sixty … Continue reading The Carnival

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Design

Simple, Elegant & Functional

BY NICHOLAS ENGERT In a world of over abundance and hence over consumption, we increasingly fail to discern between what is truly beautiful and yet functional and the cheap or vulgar alternative. Consider three simple objects we use around our homes, namely a pencil, a flower pot and a tea towel. So pedestrian and mundane are these articles we fail to appreciate that their elegance … Continue reading Simple, Elegant & Functional

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countryside

The Wisdom of Entanglement

BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN The English countryside does not shout. It simply is. Consider the hedge. Not the clipped suburban thing, but the ancient wall of hawthorn and bramble, wild rose and blackthorn, woven against wind and time. The hedge-layer knows what we have forgotten. He bends the long whips nearly to the ground, wounds them so they send up thicker shoots. Strength lies not in … Continue reading The Wisdom of Entanglement

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Conservation

Hoarding, Hypocrisy, Hollow Promises

BY ALEC SWAN There comes a time, usually when the first frost bites hard and the last curlew’s call fades across a barren moor, when one must ask serious questions of those entrusted with the guardianship of our natural world. Are they merely incompetent, or have they, in the words of a more cynical age, simply come to see the public as an endless cash … Continue reading Hoarding, Hypocrisy, Hollow Promises

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Work

One Application Changed Everything

BY JACK WATSON Getting a part-time job at Dunkin’—the American fast-food chain famous for its donuts and coffee—was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Instead of spending my summer holidays as a nocturnal teenager glued to video games or parties, I took advice from my grandma and the editor of this magazine to create a CV and apply online (everything’s digital these days). … Continue reading One Application Changed Everything

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Vicar

A Prayer for the Gift of Rest

VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the quiet rebellion of doing nothing. In a world that constantly demands more—more productivity, more output, more engagement—the act of simply stopping feels almost dangerous. We have forgotten how to rest. We treat our Sundays like any other day, filling them with chores and errands and the endless scrolling of screens. The … Continue reading A Prayer for the Gift of Rest

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Smallholder

The Ryedale Show

BY ALLISON LEE The Ryedale Show is held annually on the last Tuesday in July; this year, it fell on the 28th. Established in 1855, it is a traditional agricultural show run for the farming and local communities, and it truly has something to offer everyone. Though much smaller than the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate, Ryedale remains highly popular. Set against the picturesque Duncombe Park … Continue reading The Ryedale Show

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Education

From DEI to Dystopia: Reclaiming the University’s True Purpose

BY STEPHEN PAX LEONARD The Arday scandal is a chance to ‘restore’ academia in Britain Following the tragic death of Jason Arday, the Prime Minister has called for a period of reflection. I agree. We need to reflect on how we can avoid such a tragedy happening again and how we can restore the intellectual rigour of academia in Britain. Instead of removing the systemic … Continue reading From DEI to Dystopia: Reclaiming the University’s True Purpose

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Social History

Who Rules Best? Lords of the Manor or Marxist Milibands?

BY NIALL MCCRAE Passing Port Talbot en route to Pembrokeshire for a family holiday, I gazed across the vast complex of furnaces, chimneys and warehouses, all lying silent since the Net Zero axe was wielded by Ed Miliband (until recently Keir Starmer’s minister for energy rationing). Most of the heavy industry of South Wales has disappeared, leaving rundown towns with high streets occupied by vape … Continue reading Who Rules Best? Lords of the Manor or Marxist Milibands?

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Socialism

The Progressive

BY ALEX STORY The Progressive haunts our public square. You will find him effortlessly promoting his creed on our screens, our universities, the HR departments of our largest companies, our civil service and our parliament. He is part of our “new establishment“, according to Andrew Neil, the veteran broadcaster. He is everywhere. You know him because he tells you, shamelessly, when he introduces himself. He … Continue reading The Progressive

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