THE 92 traditional - some say "historic" - counties of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales often date back more than a thousand years. They are an important part of the culture, geography and heritage of the United Kingdom. The public understand what they are, and they help create an identity that binds communities together.
Since the 1960s-70s, in particular 1974, huge confusion has been caused to county identity in England, Scotland and Wales through successive legislative acts seeking to change administrative areas.
These acts have eroded the role of the historic counties in the life of our nation, despite assurances by successive governments that the counties would be preserved as the basis for local identity.
All this has happened against the wishes and despite the protests of ordinary people, who have been forced against their will into living in new so-called administrative or "ceremonial" areas that do not correspond with their true county.
We want - and need - legislation to ensure there is just one type of county in this country, namely the historic one. We seek to achieve this by removing all other "county" definitions, and by aligning all ceremonial boundaries to those of the historic counties.
Further, great care must be taken with the names of councils and service areas all over the country, and the counties must be marketed to preserve them into the future.
Pam Moorhouse, who started the petition in 2015, says: “I remember in 1974 when the government sent people all over the country setting up new councils and telling people they had to live in new areas. This was completely against the people's wishes. It upset millions. Why was this acceptable or fair?
"To this day, councils continue wiping out our history and denying it, on TV, in the media, in schools, even in museums, but people feel loyalty towards their traditional area. It is also vital young people know about what happened, otherwise our history will be lost forever.
"People, not the government, should decide where you live. We need to make sure the changes of the past are undone. We need to get our counties back, and make sure this never happens again.
“Please feel free to get in touch with your comments. All views are welcome. If you agree with the petition, please sign it. We want an initial 100,000 signatures to help get the support of enough parliamentarians to get our bill enacted.
"We look forward to your support."
You can find additional information on our website, comment on our social media pages, or contact British Counties Campaign chair Gerard Dugdill:
[email protected] or call +44(0)7900 267988
If you want to contact Pam directly, please click on her name on the top left of the petition page and fill in the form.
Website:
https://britishcounties.org/NB. The map shows the 92 traditional counties of the UK.
www.britishcounties.org/video
