I don't know who Matthew Engel is, but he has written a nostalgic book about England which I have no intention of reading. He is also promoting it with an essay in the national press which, while rich in factual detail, does not impress me.
He laments the passing of many of England's old counties, which was the topic of my very first entry on this blog. England's county boundaries have changed many time over the years, and former counties have included Hallamshire and Bedlingtonshire. I have no interest at all in reviving those old counties, and I don't expect that many other people do as well.
England is a very different country from how it was in 1974 when our county boundaries were vastly reshaped. The engines of change include immigration and technology.
Technology tends to enrich our lives, whereas immigration has caused far more problems than it could ever hope to solve. Does Matthew Engel deny that at some point in our future we will have to cover all of England's green fields with new housing estates so that immigrants have somewhere to live?
Or maybe he has a plan to prevent that from happening. If so, maybe he could share it with the rest of us.
Previous related posts include:
In search of Rutland
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