Britannist

Thank you Anthony B. (posting above of 29.7.2005 at 4.37 pm) for reproduction of the most interesting article on CountyWatch. I wonder if this is the same Tony Bennett who was Veritas candidate at Harlow (and assistant to Kilroy) at the May 2005 General Election (and who quit Veritas soon afterwards).

Mr. Bennett talks of calling for the re-instatement of Middlesex as “extreme”. I see nothing extreme. Middlesex is a big county in population terms – far larger in numbers of people than the great county of Lincolnshire (where Mr. Bennett has – admirably – been moving road signs to the correct entry/exit points in the county). “Re-instatement” (the term used by Mr. Bennett in connection to Middlesex) is not quite the right word. Middlesex already exists under the 1997 Lieutenancy Act. What we seek is the removal of interference from the impostor so-called ‘county’ of Greater London and its bloated and hugely expensive Greater London Assembly. This can be realised by – at the very least –the Boroughs totally comprised of postal areas of Middlesex leaving the Greater London ‘county’.

In response to John C’s most welcome posting to this thread (of 26.7.2005 at 2.58 pm):

John C. – your point on the names of London Boroughs using the name ‘Royal’ is an excellent one. I must check on this – but I would have thought local authorities can call themselves exactly whatever they want. Londonderry in Northern Ireland became Derry (due to demands from a nationalist/republican majority on the local council there) and Grimsby became Great Grimsby and then North-East Lincolnshire. In both cases (unless I’m wrong) the local authorities had to apply for permission to do this from the Home Office – but approval was given.

On a slightly separate issue – I’ve just checked my council tax demand and notice that although the council calls itself by its London name in the address given (“The London Borough of…”) it does not include ‘London’ in its official logo where the name is clearly stated without reference to the capital.

I shall continue to look – John C. – INTO phpbb_whether there is any group campaigning for the revival of Middlesex . I’ve not found anything on the web yet – but have been so busy I’ve not had time for a proper, detailed search. I shall post to this thread (or a new one) if/when I locate something useful.

As Mr. Bennett does not appear to share our enthusiasm for the return of Middlesex (the fourth biggest proper county in the UK in population terms) we will clearly not find it beneficial approaching his group (CountyWatch) and relying on it to advance the worthy cause of Middlesex.

John-C

In reply to Britannist's last post on this topic, thanks for your further points. I was staying in Middlesex for a week last week and noticed that the council name (in this case the Borough of Richmond upon Thames) on certain signposts, including the one on entering it's area boundary said "Richmond upon Thames", with no reference to "The London Borough of".

All we need is the inclusion of the word Middlesex to make a start. (most likely in a borough such as Spelthorne, Hillingdon, etc. whose boundaries are all within Middlesex). There are a couple of websites on Spelthorne, with addresses such as CountyofMiddlesex too.

Prescelli council changed its name to "Prescelli, Pembrokeshire" Council, (before the re-introduction of a Pembrokeshire area Council. Perhaps we could see, "Spelthorne, Middlesex", or "Spelthorne-in-Middlesex", or the "Middlesex Borough of Spelthorne", Hillingdon, Harrow, etc.?.

Thanks,

John.

John-C

Have you found out any more yet, Britannist?. I have not, but there certainly is a need for a group to support Middlesex, and to try to persuade the Councils along the lines suggested above.

Russell Grant would certainly be worth contacting (a letter sent via the B.B.C. asking them to send it on to him should do the trick, if anyone's interested in maybe setting up a new group, or reviving an old group, or even asking as to the status of any previous or possibly still existing groups, such as the Friends of the County of Middlesex (of which he was Patron).

SGK

With regard to the Tony Bennett article:

He calls the reinstatement of Middlesex extreme, but isn't that because there are two different principles involved?
I support what he is doing, shifting signs, for more reasons than just mainting the tradition of the counties, but he is wanting to maintain the cultural borders whereas you are calling for a change in local government. These are two completely different issues, even if they appear to have certain aspects in common.
I would also have expected Tony Bennett to be wanting to put up Middlesex signs in London. I can't understand having a principle which only extends to certain chosen counties.
Is this the same Tony Bennett who is very active in the metrication argument? I can't remember which way, is he pro or anti metrication?

Inquizitor

Tony Bennett from CountyWatch was on BBC Radio 4 'You & Yours' today the 7th December talking about his and CountyWatch recent boundary movements in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Joe Ravetz was pitted against Mr Bennett, although do not think Joe was up to a fight on the subject. Whilst some Lancashire Lasbour Councillors have been reported at seeing 'Red' over CountyWatch recent activilty. ops: Russell Grant a keen pro 'Middlesex' advocate contacted the 'You & Yours' team post pronto!!

John-C

Does anyone know more about current pro-Middlesex activity, is there anything Russel Grant is, or anyone else is, currently involved in?.

FredSucks

Yes Russell Grant heads an organisation wanting save or reinstate the Traditional Counties.

For example Bexley and Bromley would need to go back INTO phpbb_Kent - and possibly Woolwich, Greenwich etc it you want to return to the 'true' traditional counties.

Its a tough one !

John-C

Thanks, do you know what that organization is called?.

It is possible to go for, say, one of the situations as proposed above on this one, for example, using the old L.C.C. area or some other arrangement that would recognize a proper area for London, but without "London" taking over everything within the M25 and beyond, as some would have it. LOndon proper does have an identity, but this does not extend out to include most of Middlesex or large parts of Surrey, Kent, Essex or Hertfordshire.

It seems that, in the case of some other ,large cities, this problem does not arise to the same extent, as, even in spite of nonsensical terms such as "Greater Manchester", West Midlands, etc., all you have to propose to reverse it is that Manchester is in Lancashire, and Lancashire exists officially as a county council, so all you'd need to do is extend the Lancashire county council area, or abolish county councils but ensure that Manchester (etc.) is recognized as being within it. Likewise for Birmingham, Wolverhampton, etc., and Warwickshire.

Do others agree here or am I wrong on this?.

One Londoner

If you want to make a pitch to re-instate Middx, you have a week to get your submission in to the ODPM. This is the consultation document on its current review of Greater London Authority powers:

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=...sNoticeID=2022

Closing date for submissions is 22nd February. There is more about this on the following thread:
http://www.ukipforum.co.uk/post-7568...ghlight=#75687

Livingstone published his submission yesterday at http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/powers/

Interestingly it appears that the ODPM is moving quite a bit from its original submission. Sadly though, this is mainly to the benefit of Ken.

smooveOp

I live in Middlesex and I can't really decide what I'd like to see happen.

One of the problems with the 'county' is that it is effectively split INTO phpbb_two parts: West Middlesex where I live (Hounslow, Isleworth, Twickenham, Heston, Southall, Feltham, Ashford etc.) and North Middlesex (Enfield etc.) with a large part of London separating these two parts.

My gut feel is that it would be impossible to return to the county of Middlesex.