While we might fume at the eviction of a whole village by its landlord, we only have ourselves to blame for allowing such power to remain in the hands of so few (An entire village in Dorset is facing eviction – proof that private money holds all the power in rural England, 28 June). Even socialist governments have balked at dealing with the issue of land monopoly, and we have failed to hold them to account.
In 1909, when landed power was largely synonymous with the aristocracy, Tom Johnston, later to become secretary of state for Scotland, noted that land titles had originally been created “either by force or fraud”. He urged the people to “shatter the romance that keeps the nation numb and spellbound while privilege picks its pocket”.
As George Monbiot’s article shows, land monopoly today is not confined to the aristocracy. The most effective way to neutralise its power would be through land value taxation, which would ensure that those who claim to own the country bear its running costs.
In 1910, the Inland Revenue initiated a full survey of land use, value and ownership across Britain. It was completed in five years, but the outbreak of war and a change of government meant the proposed tax measures were never implemented. Our present Labour government has four years to repeat the exercise and reform our broken tax system. It should start now.
John Digney
Stirling
The eviction of the inhabitants of Littlebredy in Dorset by their new owner Bridehead Estate Ltd, excoriatingly exposed by George Monbiot, has a strong historical echo from the 1770s at Milton Abbas, less than 30 miles away.
Lord Milton bought Milton Abbey, near Dorchester, in 1752. Capability Brown was brought in to “improve” the surrounding landscape. He faced the problem of what to do about the unsightly medieval village of more than a hundred households. The solution was to move it. In 1774 Brown drew up plans for a new “model village” of new homes. Over the next decade the villagers were decanted, some against their will, to new homes in Milton Abbas. Barely a trace of the old village exists.
Lord Milton is often cited as one of the worst examples of the callous ostentation common among the English landowning Whig oligarchy of the 18th century. But at least he felt obliged to rehouse his tenants. Judging from Monbiot’s piece, it seems that a corporate landowner in today’s Britain is not even obliged to do that when it decides to socially engineer an inconvenient community out of house and home.
Robin Gutch
London
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