Oliver Letwin MP

Shock, horror!  Controversy rages in Bridport about 20 mph speed limit!

This, at any rate, is how it would have been traditional to represent the debate about Bridport town speed limits.

The reality, of course, is somewhat different.  The people of Bridport are actually having a perfectly sensible and grown-up discussion about a perfectly sensible and quite [...]

As everyone knows, we are entering an age of austerity. We need to get our public finances back into order. There are, of course, all sorts of difficult decisions that will be needed.

But we are also going to need some lateral imagination if we are to pull off the remarkable trick of saving money and, [...]

I remember, as a small boy, being impressed by a prayer written by Sir Francis Drake, in which he asks, roughly, for the strength to change what needs to be changed and the patience to accept what needs to be accepted and the wisdom to distinguish between the two.

If I were trying to construct [...]

Famously, youthful Americans in the 19th century were advised to “go west, young man”.

For many, this advice was sound. The vast, uncharted landscapes of western America offered boundless opportunities for settlers to farm their way into fortunes.

In a small and crowded island like ours, with strict planning controls on every inch of our land, today’s [...]

Over the years, I have frequently written in this column about what voluntary and community groups do in West Dorset.  Indeed, just last week, I commented on the incredible contribution that they make to our villages and towns.

But I have a sneaking suspicion that quite a lot of people, while welcoming all this voluntary and [...]

One of the special things about the countryside around Bridport is, of course, that it contains some of the most splendid and interesting landscape and coastline anywhere in Europe. That is why it is rightly a world heritage site.

But it is also a living landscape.

And that life does not just consist of farms, agriculture and [...]

Bridport News

For those of us who have an unfortunate love of food, the Bridport area has always presented a significant problem.

There are some worryingly good restaurants around – and the number of them has increased in recent years. There is the farmers’ market, as well as many really excellent permanent, local food shops and, of [...]