• The council elections get closer: click here for information from West Berkshire and here for Vale of White Horse on how these will be conducted. Wiltshire and Swindon will not be holding elections this year. (If you want to know which councils hold elections when – it’s not straightforward – click here.)

• We mentioned last week that Newbury MP Richard Benyon was criticised in the Sunday Times for claiming expenses for equipping his new office, including spending £6.80 on a toilet seat. I said at the time that this was a non-story: but now I’m not so sure. It was pointed out, in a comment to last week’s Local News, that £6.80 is a hell of a good price for a half-decent loo seat. I haven’t bought one for some time so am not sure. Is there, I wonder, some special deal that MPs get for buying these things? Is is a perk of the job that we don’t know about? Would anyone like me to launch a FoI request to find out more?

• At present we appear to have a government of national unity composed of the PM and Jeremy Corbyn. It remains to be seen what it will accomplish. The last time we had one of these was during WWII, which shows how far things have slipped. This seems like a good time to have a quick look at what other governance options the country has tried in the past…

Rule by parliament. We’ve had this for the last few weeks. We also had it from 1649 to 1653 and 1659 to 1660. None of these was a huge success. Oliver Cromwell dismissed the so-called Rump Parliament in April ’53, allegedly with the words ‘You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately – in the name of God, go!” MPs, you have been warned. Then we had…

Rule by a Lord Protector (1653 to 1659). Cromwell was never quite sure what his role was or ought to be. So confused was he and everyone else about this that in 1657, in an attempt to get things back to a relationship that was at least well understood if sometimes antagonistic, parliament offered him the crown. After a lot of characteristic dithering, he refused it. The problem now would be choosing who a Lord (or Lady) Protector might be. Cromwell kind of chose himself. Who would you nominate? Exactly.

Anarchy. This is most associated with the reign of King Stephen (1135-54) when the barons were almost equally divided between those who supported him and those who supported his cousin Matilda. As the two sides were evenly matched and as Matilda was rude and pig-headed and Stephen weak and indecisive, nothing got sorted. Not recommended.

Foreign invasion. The last time we had this was in 1066 but there were some other close shaves, notably in 1216, 1799 and 1940. It’s worth remembering that the reason this hasn’t happened more often is not because of our innate brilliance but because of the English Channel. Many claim that a foreign invasion of one sort or another has happened by stealth over the last 30 years. Why did it happen in 1066? Simple – because William the Conqueror was involved. He really got things done. We’re talking about a man who decided to do a survey of England when there were no maps, no internet, no Uber cars, nothing. The customs, topography and language of the country were wholly unfamiliar to the people he sent out on this mission. The result, the Domesday Book, was one of the most comprehensive documents about England ever produced. This is the best bit, though: from start to finish, the whole thing took just over a year. Now, it would take that long just to agree what it would be called. Respect is due (though he wasn’t what one would call PC). Another military invasion from northern France is likely to solve more problems than it poses, so let’s rule that out.

Royal absolutism. It could be argued that this applied throughout the Middle Ages but there were quite a few things that held the kings back, not least of which was being able to make it clear to everyone what they wanted them to (unless they were William the Conqueror – see above). The purest form probably happened when Charles I had a try at it from 1629 to 1640. It didn’t end very well. Margaret Thatcher was toying with it when she used the royal ‘we’ in 1989. Today, though, it would be very different. The Queen has technical powers she never uses but they don’t require any legislation to kick-start them. More importantly, she has a Twitter account, which solves the communication problem. We’ve tried everything else. What have we got to lose? Let’s give it a go for three months.

• If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you and your family can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021, regardless of any deal that the UK government may or may not make with the EU. Click here to see the help that’s available with the application process from West Berkshire Libraries.

• Would you like to live here? No? Exactly. This is what can happen under permitted development rights, by which property owners can change a building’s use from commercial to residential without having to apply for planning permission.

• West Berkshire Council has published its Economic Development Strategy 2019-36 which you can read in full here. It lists several strengths of the area (including location, the stone digital/tech sector and the well-qualified workforce) and several weaknesses (including lack of  affordable housing, an ageing population and a social-mobility gap). Among the notable achievements, ‘electrification’ is mentioned: I presume this applies to railway line but, if so, this only runs as far as Newbury. There are aspirations to attract a university presence to the area. The council also intends to ‘enhance our leisure offering’ which will include ‘revitalising provision’ at the Northcroft Leisure Centre, which might spell some good news finally for the future of the football ground. The council also plans to make ‘green’ choices (the cynic in me feels that the messy typo in the first line of this section, which may since have been corrected, suggests suggests that it was added quite late in the day), to promote the AONB as a ‘living landscape’, to support high streets and to provide the infrastructure needed for electric vehicles (though this seems to have got off to a slightly false start in Eastfields and Westfields, according to this week’s NWN) and to consider expanding the business-rate relief schemes. There are also some mentions of individual areas which are referred to in the relevant sections below. It’s very broad-brush and aspirations, as these documents tend to be but there are several yardsticks which can be used to measure its achievements.

• However, I’m rather less happy about its timing. We’re now in the period of pre-election purdah during which councils are restricted in what they can or can’t say. One restriction is that they should not publish any material that, in whole or in part, appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party: although no party is mentioned in this, much of it reads as an apologia for the current administration. I also understand that they should not announce any new policies or initiatives: by any reading of the document, there are plenty of these. It also rather assumes that the new council (and regardless of the numbers from each party there will be a considerable change in membership as a number of councillors are not re-standing) will agree with it. It should have been published before 15 March or, better still, left until after the election.

• Community groups and schools across West Berkshire are being invited to apply for a grant to help improve opportunities for local physical activity through the Let’s Get Active fund.

• If you’re looking to get started in journalism, whatever your age or background, the Breaking into News initiative run by the Media Trust, in partnership with ITV News, may be of interest. Its intention is to discover diverse new talent and identify top broadcast journalists of the future. Closing date is Friday 5 April, so get your skates on.

• According the the Wantage & Grove Review there’s some confusion surrounding the figures supplied by Thames Valley Police for speeding offences on the A34. The number of incidents fell between 2017 and 2018 but this isn’t because we’re driving better. The police admitted that the deployment of fewer officers was the reason for a 16% drop but it now appears that, due to ‘technical difficulties’ with a system changeover had led to some inaccuracies, with the actual fall being more like 30%. Collecting statistics is a tedious business, to be sure, but if they aren’t done consistently year on year it’s also a largely pointless one.

• Click here if you run a business and are interested in being involved in West Berkshire Council’s Small Business Saturday event which will take place later this year. 

• Click here for details of the consultations by West BerkshireCouncil  into proposed parking review amendments, which  seek ‘to improve road safety at identified problem locations, mainly near schools in this case. The consultation closes on Thursday 18 April.

• The animal of the week is several animals, including armadillos, lizards and butterflies who might, according to this report, be instrumental in the fight to stop Donald Trump’s wall/fence thing being built on the Mexican border.

• The letters pages of the Newbury Weekly News this week includes criticisms of West Berkshire Council’s handling of the bus station, the London Road enquiry; the ground at Faraday Road and the councillors’ general interpretation of their code of conduct; a plea to remove track-side rubbish near Newbury station; and reiteration of the point made here last week (and referred to again above) that the Benyontoiletgate ‘story’ was a waste of ink.

• A number of good causes have received valuable support recently, including: Great Western Hospital (thanks to Audley Inglewood); the Little Princess Trust (thanks to Levi Creed); Cancer Research UK and the Motor Neurone Disease Association (thanks to Newbury Rugby Club); the Treehouse School in Cholsey (thanks to the Bunny Run).