Crown Jewels

Sporting fixtures on terrestrial television? This is the main news? I can think of a few real crown jewels:

- the monarchy, and closest possible ties among the Realms and Territories sharing it;
- the Union;
- the Commonwealth;
- the supremacy of British over EU law;
- the United Kingdom’s historic, internationally lawful fishing rights;
- the assumption that everyone can speak English, whether or not they do so at home or elsewhere;
- preventative policing based on foot patrols;
- no identity cards, and no control orders;
- no admission of anonymous evidence other than from undercover Police Officers, and no conviction on anonymous evidence alone;
- the right to trial by jury;
- the right to silence;
- the burden of proof always on the prosecution;
- no conviction except beyond reasonable doubt, i.e., unanimously on the part of the jury;
- no Police confiscation of assets without a conviction;
- no Civil Contingencies Act, no Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act, and no Official Secrets Acts;
- a Bill which runs out of parliamentary time being lost at the end of that session;
- grammar schools, O-levels, excellent Secondary Modern schools, and Special Needs Education;
- Christian RE and assemblies in the state schools of Wales, and the traditional role of both Catholic and Protestant clergy in the state schools of Northern Ireland;
- a legal presumption of equal parenting, the tax allowance for fathers, paternity leave available at any time in the first 18 years of the child’s life, and the State guarantee of the economic basis of paternal authority in the family and in the wider community;
- manufacturing, agriculture, small business, and British ownership of our utilities and key industries such as binds together the United Kingdom;
- village services;
- field sports;
- the historic regimental system, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force;
- the Welfare State;
- full employment;
- consumer protection;
- fair taxation;
- a strong Parliament;
- strong local government;
- no one’s tax-free income falling below half national median earnings;
- free prescriptions, free eye treatment, and free dental treatment;
- employment rights beginning on day one of employment and applying regardless of the number of hours worked, as promised by John Smith;
- council housing, and all council services back in house;
- renationalised utilities and railways;
- a national network of public transport free at the point of use;
- a base of real property from which every household can resist both over-mighty commercial interests and an over-mighty State;
- British soil and waters free from nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons;
- strong trade unions, co-operatives, credit unions, mutual guarantee societies, and mutual building societies;
- nuclear power and clean coal technology;
- British overall control of our defence capability;
- no British participation in needless wars that do not concern us;

And many, many, many more.