Now Berkshire is unique in England in that it doesn't exist, almost!
Some bright spark in the Labour government of 1998 decided to make Berkshire alone in England as the only county bereft of a council. Hilary Armstrong (now Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top), reporting to John Prescott, pushed through a reorganisation which abolished the County Council. Like Middlesex (admittedly a weird shape wrapping west London and reaching the City) and Rutland (incorporated into Leicestershire), the Royal County of Berkshire was left without a county-wide voice. It was split into six separate unitary authorities.
“So what?” you might say. Well, I believe that county loyalties and ties are strong in England. I realise the EU has attempted to regionalise the UK – indeed, it's impossible to find GDP figures per county. Yet something (which I'd advocate few understand) called Gross Value Added figures are provided for each region. But not for counties. Why?
The 1974 Heath and subsequent Blair Administrations tinkered with the local authority system to streamline and modernise it. Yet insodoing they ignored local allegiences.
Middlesex still with a famed cricket team, is regarded by the Post Office as a county, yet has long passed into history. Following a protracted campaign by Rutlanders, John Major's government re-instated Rutland's county status in 1997. But Berkshire? Gone. It remains a “ceremonial county” meaning it's defined by the government as an area for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997. Frankly, outside the civil service and specialist academia almost no-one would know what that involves.
Abolishing Berkshire was impossible. There's just too much attachment to the place, as this list proves:
Abolishing Berkshire was impossible. There's just too much attachment to the place, as this list proves:
- Berkshire Chamber of Commerce
- Berkshire Dance Theatre
- Berkshire Age Concern
- Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue
- Berkshire Association of Clubs for Young People (BACYP)
- Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club
- Berkshire Cricket
- Royal County of Berkshire Show
- BBC Radio Berkshire
- Berkshire Pension Fund
- Royal County of Berkshire Sports & Social Club
- Royal County of Berkshire Health and Racquets Club
- Berkshire U20s Rugby
- Berkshire College of Agriculture
- Royal County of Berkshire Bowling Club
- High Sheriff of Berkshire
- Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Berkshire Gardens Trust
- Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
- Royal County of Berkshire Army Cadet Force
- Berkshire Maestros (young musicians).
County rivalries are rife. Few in Berkshire would not know which county they lived in. Yet, they have to contend with nebulous unitary authorities with names like West Berkshire and Windsor & Maidenhead to represent and govern them. Having an over-arching first tier of local government is every Englishperson's right.
Rivalry in business and sport induces enterprise and innovation. As England seeks ways to strengthen economic growth, county competition will provide thrust to development.
In America, state rivalry is renouned. Competitiveness between cities in the US creates economic dynamism. England's enterprise culture can be boosted by a similar attitude.
Having been the capital of the county for centuries, Abingdon was replaced by larger Reading as county town in 1867. Under Ted Heath's meddling Administration in 1974, Abingdon was removed from the county altogether and placed in Oxfordhire. Berkshire had shrunk.
Reading, Maidenhead, Windsor, Slough, Bracknell, Ascot, Sunningdale, Wokingham and Newbury are some of the main towns. Berkshire's population of around 825,000 live in an area of 1,262 sq km, which is bigger than Hong Kong and nearly twice the size of Bahrain. In fact, Berkshire is physically larger than around fifty countries.
As one of England's oldest counties dating from the 9th century, the least the Coalition government can do for the people of Berkshire is give them back their county.
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