Tag Archives: History

Despite the attempts of every man-made ideology to persecute and annihilate it, Christianity has survived. From Nero and Diocletian to Hitler, Stalin and Mao; from Roman dictatorship to Nazi and Communist atheism; it has survived. Paradoxically, as Tertullian observed, persecution has proved to be the seed of the Church. Christianity, …

Building work on Theodore House began on May Day 2017. This is the ruined Victorian mill in the heart of Lancashire’s Ribble Valley now being transformed into a residential centre for families, individuals, pilgrims, scholars, parishes, schools, groups, retreatants, and visitors to England’s Sacred County. A building that once fed …

On BBC 4 recently there was a very interesting documentary on the Pacific Northwest Indian tribes in Oregon and British Columbia. The programme dealt with the huge history and cultural development of the indigenous peoples and how their customs and way of life were handed down through the generations. The …

What do the latest imported smash hit musical from America and Britain’s historic vote for Brexit have in common? The answer, it turns out, is nearly everything. It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, …

Famous for its rich history and diversity, the County Palatine of Lancashire is home to almost one and a half million people – people from all faiths and none.  For many, it is the Sacred County – which, since its inception, in 1182, has been at the heart of religious …

Throughout history most politicians yearn to be liked, for the roar of the crowd, and for above all, power. Politicians have, to varying degrees, beliefs, but it is rare to find true statesmen or stateswomen. Today’s politics is, in many ways, similar to the late Roman Republic. The society is …

Religion: [noun]: “Belief in or acknowledgement of some superhuman power or powers  which is typically manifested in obedience, reverence, and worship; such a belief as part of a system defining a code of living, esp. as a means of achieving spiritual or material improvement.” – Oxford English Dictionary Earlier this …

Once more we have a commemoration of a First World War Battle. We have reached 1917 and the so called “Battle of Passchendaele”. What we haven’t reached is any sort of understanding of what the battle was about, what happened and why. This is reflected even in the name of …

It’s too often ignored just how big a part some Conservatives played in the fight to decriminalise homosexual acts in 1967. We have let section 28 overshadow the work of good men and women and the 50th Anniversary of the 67 Act is as good a time as any to …

Recent events have sparked much debate about what the UK ‘s role in foreign affairs should be. Brexit has led to a division about how the UK should associate with its European neighbours and the wider world. Russian incursions in eastern Europe, Syria and alleged tampering in foreign elections have restarted …

As 1899 dawned, the Era of Imperialism was at its height, yet Britain had already begun the process of winding down its Empire. It began with the granting of Responsible Government to many of its colonies. The majority of these colonies were settler-colonies such as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, …

In this, the third article of the series on the Commonwealth, we will discover how the grow of the British Empire following the victory in the Napoleonic Wars shaped and folded what would become the Commonwealth. Key to this was the development of a national feeling in many of the …

To understand any issue, it is often key to understand where it has come from; the history that has created the issue or organisation often sheds light on what the goals of the organisation are. For the Commonwealth of Nations, this is also true. As it has developed out of …

The NHS in Britain was formed in 1948 by a Labour Government with Clement Attlee as Prime Minister but the driver of this great institution as it was to become was the Welsh MP, Aneurin Bevan. Prior to 1948 Britons had to pay for health services. So, if you could …

For years, Russia, bordering on bankruptcy and in social chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union, had been ignored in international affairs. Its former allies in Eastern Europe such as Poland and the Baltic States had not only become part of the European Union but also joined the former …

Rising income and wealth inequality, consolidation of capital and influence into a handful of oligarchs, looming environmental catastrophe, dark storm clouds gathering over a newly nationalistic Europe. Sound familiar? From the way we talk about the issues of inequality, “breaking up the big banks,” and Syrian refugees, you’d think we …

The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost. Liberals and liberalism are on the retreat. The western world that has politically changed little in three decades has been sent a tremendous …

In the twenty years that followed the 1992 general election, debate on the constitutional framework of the country and ultimately on the Scottish independence referendum was conveniently limited to “The UK”, “the Union” or “the United Kingdom” but not “Great Britain”. This was new. As we shall see below, the …

Imagine yourself living in an economy so weak that even your own Prime Minister said “if I were a young man, I would emigrate.” Imagine fuel prices skyrocketing beyond affordable limits as fuel was not delivered to petrol stations as those who delivered it refused to work. Imagine the dead …

The following is an extract from the book: The Conservation of Liberty: An Examination of the British Conservative Tradition in a Little Blue Book. It is available for purchase at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conservation-Liberty-Examination-Conservative-Tradition/dp/1533341109/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471620402&sr=1-1&keywords=the+conservation+of+liberty The modern Conservative Party can trace its origins to a faction of the Whig Party which eventually came to embody a movement …