BY STEWART SLATER The narrative, it is clear, has been set. It may be several years, and untold millions of pounds, before the Covid inquiry reports, but its conclusion is now obvious. Not in the sense of what it actually decides, but of what it will be thought to have decided. For, after the past weeks of testimony, it is certain that Britain had a … Continue reading Asking the Wrong Question
BY BERNADETTE SPOFFORTH You cannot shut down an economy without catastrophic long-term damage. The damage of unintended consequences permeates like the butterfly effect, reaching industries and supply chains not even originally considered. From copper to turkeys, all products are made somewhere, and all services are provided by someone. Those who enjoyed their 18 months of “rest” will blame Brexit for the inflation that hits their … Continue reading Lockdowns: Entrapment of the Global Economy
BY ALEX STORY It is often said that the genius of America’s founding fathers was to have crystallised the essence of life on earth by defining three unalienable rights: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Had they declared that every man, woman and child had the right “to happiness” rather than its pursuit, their declaration would have been dismissed as a Utopian document of … Continue reading The Pursuit of Happiness
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that You and Your loved ones are well and warm. It seems We name even the slightest storm these days but the Beast from the East does have a certain ring about it that makes one bring in sufficient logs for the fire. This week I would like to focus on patience. “Rejoice in hope, be … Continue reading A Prayer for Patience
CITY GRUMP I think the time has come to add a new word to the Oxford English Dictionary and that is Whittycism: The art of bamboozling the public with misleading statistics. The most recent example is the notorious solo graph that Whitty and Valance put up to suggest that by the middle of October we could be running at 50,000 new Covid cases a day. … Continue reading UnValanced by Whittycisms
BY QUENTIN PIGG Boredom. That’s the albatross around my neck. Whatever plans I had of sipping Chablis in the sunshine along with good company and stimulating conversation – lockdown measures permitting – my wretched liver had other ideas and protested with violent pangs. A nagging woman is one thing, but to have your own body disapprove of your lifestyle is quite another. How different life looks … Continue reading Wine, Wine Everywhere
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
BY JIM WEBSTER It’s an interesting question, how soon should we open up the countryside and tourist hotspots to visitors. I thought I’d visit Towngill situated in the south of the beautiful Lake District and ask a selection of people. First I was chatting to George and Mary. They retired more than twenty years ago when George was sixty. He was something in the City, … Continue reading Slicing the Chocolate Box
CSM EDITORIAL Christmas last year was rotten for the Big state pro-EU crowd, especially for those MSM activist-journalists and other partisans caught up in the Westminster bubble. The General Election result was a recurring nightmare in the week leading up to Christmas night for the Soubrys and Campbells. So, having Dominic Cummings snookered just five months later seemed like Christmas was here again – this … Continue reading Cummings
BY EFFIE DEANS Scotland entered lockdown at exactly the same time as the other parts of Britain. We did so because we were following the advice that had been given to the British Government by the SAGE committee of scientific experts. Boris Johnson announced a very cautious easing of this lockdown some time ago, but Nicola Sturgeon decided that nothing would change in Scotland. Why? … Continue reading Jockdown
BY AMELIA CROSBY It feels like forever since lock-down started and as with any turbulent or stressful moment that comes into our lives, everyone reacts differently. Analysis from King’s College London has revealed that our individual responses to the Covid-19 lock-down can be sorted into three distinct groups: the accepting, the suffering, and the resisting. The analysis based on an Ipsos MORI survey conducted in … Continue reading Which Lockdown Personality Are You?
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
BY NICK PEARCE The rise in visitors to the UK countryside during lock-down has continued. There is a tangible fear amongst rural folk who are meeting an increasing number of walkers on thin country lanes and footpaths crossing farmland. These walkers seem to think that social distancing no longer applies out in the fields and rural lanes, as if the countryside is somehow immune to … Continue reading Countryside Visitor Rise Causing Fear
BY PHIL DEEKS We’re stuck. There’s no way around it. Agree with the lock-down or argue in favour of the economy, clap for the NHS or wring your hands, we’re stuck, and that’s the way it is. Question is: How best to cope? My answer is simple: we adapt – or “improvise; adapt; overcome” to quote Bear Grylls. We may hate our situation, but it’s … Continue reading Stuck
BY THE EDITOR After you’ve mowed the grass, trimmed the hedges, marked your children’s verbal reasoning papers, walked the dogs, weeded the flowerbeds, polished the silver, dusted your books, done some office work, run out of things to put on the bonfire, struggled through the thoughts of Scruton with a claret, and watched all there is worth watching on Netflix and Amazon Prime, what the … Continue reading Lockdown Babies
