This is, colleagues in Scotland in particular note, an England only policy announcement:
We consider that the use of commas in existing constituency names is currently inconsistent and sometimes does not aid clarity. We have therefore taken a policy decision that commas will no longer be included in the names of constituencies.
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16 Comments
Mind = blown.
So, let me get this straight: the Scots can still have constituencies with commas while the English can’t? I see a new debate coming on, a debate to make the West Lothian Question pale into insignificance by comparison…
Has the deadline for Emergency Motions passed?
This should make VLOOKUP’s so much easier!
thechristophe wins the prize for comment even geekier than the announcement … 😉
Philistines.
Of course it does not apply to Wales either and we have additional vowels and consonants in our alphabet 🙂
Malcolm, I think he is not using his apostrophe correctly. My apology for furher pedantry. Are any of these issues only applicable in England also?
Sorry. For older readers, “Not also but only”.
And for an additional bonus point… this set of boundary changes will mark the demise of the last English constituency where the names of two places are joined by a hyphen rather than a comma, the word “and” or any such modern contrivance.
At last something worth talking about
Will the Boundary Commission be consulting widely on their new draft proposals on commas? 🙂
Is there any chance of a new series of Yes Minister – this is perfect!
I do think the poor old comma, along with its flightier cousin the apostrophe, is much over used. However I think we should be given a complete list of the affected constituencies so that we can consider each separate proposal on its merits. If anyone is going to be adversely affected by this dictat then please let us all know so that we can campaign on your behalf. We probably ought to appoint, no – elect – a commissioner and maybe have a worldwide petition.
Just what qualifications in the use of grammar do these boundary commissioners have, anyway?
They haven’t been entirely consistent. Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner retains its comma.
I think they should rename the appropriate constituency Westward Ho! because the exclamation mark is part of the village name. This would help to make up for the reduction in commas.