Skip to main content

To: The UK Government

Pam's County Petition: Get Back Our British Counties

PETITION AND CAMPAIGN VIDEO: https://britishcounties.org/video

RESTORE the historic British counties to their rightful place. Make sure they are properly recognised, signposted and marked. Use them as a fixed frame of reference, for a variety of purposes, across all media.

*IF YOU are signing the petition, please state a reason why. This helps us know why people are supporting the campaign. Many thanks.

Why is this important?

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

How it will be delivered

To the government, online and printed names.

Links

Updates

2020-07-21 15:09:28 +0100

From: BRYANT, Chris [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 21 July 2020 2:28
Subject: RE: County campaign

Sorry, not really something for me.

Pam replies: It needs to be of interest as people want to maintain their traditional geographical references. These should not be denied and is grossly unfair. Buildings are preserved but why not counties. The counties were forcefully taken off us and so all knowledge of them is now denied, which is also grossly unfair.

2020-03-18 19:01:15 +0000

We had a very successful meeting in Shrewsbury with the English Democrats, led by Robin Tilbrook. Gerard and I both spoke about the counties, and the importance of saving them for all. We also had a stand with a pop up poster and leaflets, and the petition. We got 10 more people signing. One man said that our county destruction was due to a secret EU plan to destroy us, by destroying our history! So hence no mention of any previous counties ever, even in a historic context. So Turner the artist apparently visited the "North Yorkshire" Coast and Cumbria in the 1700s, 300 years before they were created... Pam 18/3/20.

2020-03-17 17:48:08 +0000

1,236 paper names as of 17 March 2020.

2020-03-17 17:47:12 +0000

THE BCC is getting on slowly. We have another supporting MP, Scottish, Alister Jack of Dumfries and Galloway constituency, secretary of state for Scotland. We lost Jake Berry, 'a proud Lancastrian from Liverpool,' but hope the new minister of local gov will support. Both the English Democrats, led by Robin Tilbrook, and Campaign for an Independent Britain, led by Edward Spalton support our idea, plus 29 MPs cross party, lead Henry Smith. Plus Andrew Gwynne as Shadow lead.
I recently did a Talk at a Middlesex U3A Group to an audience of about 70, of which about half signed the petition. Our new Tory Grimsby MP, Lia Nici, also supports.
Please contact your MP to support, contact your local schools to teach the subject and tell others and get them to sign our petition. Otherwise our historic counties will be lost forever, with their valuable history, how we evolved, etc. In whose interest is that? Thanks. Pam.

2020-02-13 18:41:20 +0000

Message of support from William Hague.

2020-01-25 19:15:54 +0000

Total increased by 30 after Pam and Gerard's trip to Spelthorne U3A, where we spoke about the background to the campaign, the reason for it, and the current state of play. This brings current paper signatures to 1,226.

2019-11-09 22:37:11 +0000

Hi guys, can we please ask everyone who has signed the petition to try to get one more person to sign the petition between now and the of the year? It would be great to get the total number of signatures up to 2,500 by then! Please get in touch with any queries, [email protected] Thanks!

2019-10-06 13:29:47 +0100

1,196 of these names are on paper, as of 1 Oct 2019.

2019-06-21 16:45:42 +0100

Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, offers his continued support of the campaign. For those who think there is a link between the UK joining the common market, and the destruction of our counties, even if only as children of the same time, this is good news. We must regain our counties as we forge a future as current non-members of the EU. Who knows what the future holds?

2019-05-09 14:00:33 +0100

29 MPs. Peter Bone new supporter.

2019-04-22 19:04:18 +0100

MP numbers now 28, Diana Johnson and Dan Jarvis being recent additions. Recent article in The Telegraph... https://bit.ly/2PlHth1
You can also see here, as one of our top posts: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BritishCounties/posts/?ref=page_internal

2019-01-10 22:41:14 +0000

Chris Chope has become the 26th MP (Christchurch) to support our campaign.

2019-01-05 00:18:02 +0000

Note the following recent article in the Sunday Telegraph. https://britishcounties.org/telegraph-30122018/

Our targets for 2019 are 4,000 supporters and 40 MPs (currently 25). Let's see!

2018-10-23 15:03:30 +0100

1,184 paper names as of 23 October 2018. Also, we now have 25 MP supporters, with Tim Farron, Andrew Gwynne and Andrew Rosindell being among the latest to support. Targets by end of 2019: 40 MPs and 4,000 names. We are running a Westminster Hall debate with Henry Smith in the next three to four months.

2018-09-28 02:20:50 +0100

NB, petition launched 30 July 2015.

* A portion of the signature total has been collected offline and has not yet been verified by 38 Degrees.