Tag: Vicar

Letters

Labour Plans to Make the Countryside ‘Less White’

Dear Editor, I am writing to express my profound concern regarding recent coverage of the Labour government’s reported plans to make Britain’s countryside “less white.” Having read this article carefully, I find myself troubled not only by the proposals themselves but also by what they reveal about the current direction of cultural policy in rural England. According to the reporting, the Department for Environment, Food … Continue reading Labour Plans to Make the Countryside ‘Less White’

countrysquiremagazine
Politics

The Tipp-Ex Testament

BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN Truth does not arrive dressed as a choirboy. It arrives as a ghost at the feast, pale, knowing, and utterly without remorse. In this summer of 2026, that ghost bore the face of Peter Mandelson. For thirty years, the chattering classes have misunderstood him. They called him the Prince of Darkness as a tabloid sneer. They mistook his aesthetic for his essence. … Continue reading The Tipp-Ex Testament

countrysquiremagazine
Book Reviews

Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind

BY PAUL YOWARD ‘Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind’ by Gad Saad (Broadside Books, 2026) “Fare il frocio col culo degli altri” The Italian proverb lands with earthy bluntness: it is easy to be generous with someone else’s backside. The costs are never yours. This single observation captures the heart of Gad Saad’s 2026 polemic Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind. What masquerades as boundless kindness … Continue reading Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind

countrysquiremagazine
Vicar

A Prayer for a Nation That Deserves Better

VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust this Sunday finds you in good heart, despite the general thinning of common sense in high places. The garden, I am pleased to report, is coming along much better than the government. The peas have climbed their sticks with admirable discipline, the lettuces are forming tight, respectable hearts, and the early potatoes have that clean, hopeful … Continue reading A Prayer for a Nation That Deserves Better

countrysquiremagazine
Politics

The Downing Street Revolving Door

BY ALEXIA JAMES There is a peculiar species of political animal that roams the corridors of Whitehall. It has a brief, dazzling lifespan—rather like a mayfly with a security detail and access to nuclear codes. Its natural habitat is 10 Downing Street, and its average shelf life now hovers somewhere between “a Tottenham manager” and “a head of lettuce.” Yes, Britain appears to have developed … Continue reading The Downing Street Revolving Door

countrysquiremagazine
editorial

Britain Needs the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir

CSM EDITORIAL We have a habit in this country of treating farmers as a utility rather than a community. We see the tractor on the lane and curse the delay; we see the price of milk and tut; we see the rolling green hills and forget the bodies that break themselves in half to keep them green. Britain does not have a mental health crisis. … Continue reading Britain Needs the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir

countrysquiremagazine
Opinion

Progress Back to Naught

BY ALEX STORY The United Kingdom is no such thing. The disingenuous promises of the recent past, such as devolution, multiculturalism, and “gender” (also known as the politics of biology), have disunited the country. These have created irreparable fissures across our country’s body politic. The carefully laid mortar, built over centuries between the state’s institutional building blocks, is coming off. However, in the meaningless vacuum … Continue reading Progress Back to Naught

countrysquiremagazine
Vicar

A Prayer for a General Election

VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, As the first of the summer blackberries shows a blush of purple, I find myself turning from the garden to the news pages with a heavy heart. There is a particular weariness that comes not from honest toil, but from watching those entrusted with high office fail in their charge. The vegetable patch rewards patience and care. Westminster, … Continue reading A Prayer for a General Election

countrysquiremagazine
Conservation Crime

Wildlife Cop’s Job on Trial

BY BEN O’ROURKE Position vacant? UK wildlife cop’s job on the line after following RSPB’s persecution playbook. Steven Irvine has had ups and downs throughout his police career. But his latest mistake may just end it. Steven Irvine, one-time ‘golden boy’ at the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, has fallen from grace after manufacturing the prosecution of a falcon breeder. A couple of years ago, … Continue reading Wildlife Cop’s Job on Trial

countrysquiremagazine
editorial

Toast

CSM EDITORIAL Let’s not mince words. At time of publication, Sir Keir Starmer hasn’t officially left Downing Street yet, but let’s be honest — he’s been politically dead for months. The only question is how long the undertakers will keep pretending. He’s toast. Burnt toast. The kind you discover at the back of the toaster, prod with a knife, and realise it’s been there so … Continue reading Toast

countrysquiremagazine
Vicar

A Prayer for Those Who Bear Responsibility

VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust this Sunday finds you well, perhaps with the garden beginning to stir in earnest and the first of the summer roses showing hints of colour. There is a particular contentment to a Sunday in late spring, isn’t there? The hay is not yet ready to cut, the vegetable patch is planted and waiting, and there is a … Continue reading A Prayer for Those Who Bear Responsibility

countrysquiremagazine
Politics

Is Zack Polanski Demonic?

CITY GRUMP You could argue that the Green Party has been cruising along happily in its eco-bubble for years when, suddenly—a la Ridley Scott’s Alien—out of the body politic bursts one Zack Polanski, creating mayhem wherever he goes. But, as in Alien, will the Ellen Ripley equivalent (Kemi Badenoch?) do for him? I don’t think Polanski is a 2026 Alien, but for me, the question is more: … Continue reading Is Zack Polanski Demonic?

countrysquiremagazine
Opinion

The Unforgiveable Scarring of Britain

BY STEPHEN PAX LEONARD Let’s face a few difficult facts, the kind of facts that trigger that ever so British response: “Oh, well, we had best talk about something else” (before ‘heating the pot’ in the hope of redirecting the conversation to less saturnine matters). Over a short period of time, our country has become in parts unrecognisable. The apple orchards have been replaced with … Continue reading The Unforgiveable Scarring of Britain

countrysquiremagazine