THE new “in” word in British politics, heard in House of Commons speeches and TV interviews, is “transparency” — the latest way of describing open-ness in Government. Information should be kept “in the public domain”, they say.

Alas, the words which are being stressed in Whitehall are not being echoed in the town halls of local government.

There was further evidence of the hush-hush attitude of councils in a Herald headline on 23rd February: “‘Secrecy’ fears over planned Eden Council revamp”.

In this case, misgivings arose from a proposal to introduce a cabinet system, with an executive board of seven councillors under a leader.

Because of the nature of their job of trying to keep the public informed, journalists detest secrecy and a tendency, over many years, for local councillors to go behind closed doors for vital debates because of “the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the Local Government Act”.

Exempt information! The suspicion was that councillors retreated into privacy because they did not want the public to know their views on disagreeable matters.

Many councillors of old seemed to see themselves as company directors, with the same claims to confidentiality.

Local government is very public business, in which every ratepayer is a shareholder who should not be denied information on how his money is being spent or what the council proposes on his behalf.

This is the era of the Freedom of Information Act. Whatever the eventual decision on the new system of administering Eden, councillors must be aware of the rights of the public and the press and discard the threat which undue secrecy poses to local democracy.

HAPPY TO BE ENGLISH?

The question is bound to be asked: If Berwick-on-Tweed favours becoming part of Scotland once again, renewing a former link, will Cumbrians seek a similar tie-up because of an earlier association, a thousand years ago?

County folk in 2008 may not fancy wearing kilts and sporrans, or tucking into haggis, but, according to campaigners in Berwick, they will get a better financial deal from the Scottish Government than they do in England.

There is ample proof that Cumbria, or part of it, once lay North of the Border in William Furness’s History of Penrith: “The Norman invasion and conquest found Cumbria under the rule of the kings of Scotland, who held it as fiefs of the Crown of England.”

Cumbria was not an integral part of England, writes Furness, and Penrith, while under the rule of Scottish kings, made “considerable progress”.

A great part of Cumbria, including Penrith, was omitted from the Domesday Book because of this chapter in their history.

So part of the existing county of Cumbria has the credentials, historically speaking, to follow the lead of Berwick-on-Tweed in requesting to be in Scotland again.

After a thousand years, without a murmur of support for a renewal of the allegiance, the possibility seems too remote for words.

Natives had enough of change in 1974 when the old counties of Cumberland and Westmorland were removed from the map and Cumbria took their place.

Remember the stand taken by Appleby to change the name to Appleby-in-Westmorland?

There is a hypothetical case for Cumbria to be returned to Scotland, but nobody would have dreamt of the idea had it not been for the Berwick bid and the support it received from a majority of townsfolk.

Canny Cumbrians seem unlikely to be moved by history, although the possibility of more cash being lavished on the area cannot be ignored.

Will there be a call for a poll, on the lines of that at Berwick?

CASE FOR A SPORTING STATUE?

Statues were once erected to honour kings, queens and politicians, but the Cumbrian town of Egremont is more original in its choice of a distinguished figure.

According to a news story, a 6ft bronze statue of Ron Looney, who was the gurning champion at Egremont crab fair no fewer than eight times, is to be put up at a cost of £6,000.

A memorial to a man famous for making funny or frightening faces must surely be a first!

Perhaps other county towns and villages will follow Egremont’s lead?

Dominance of a gurning contest may be rare but so is the feat of Charlie Short, a Penrith footballer of the 1940s, who scored 102 goals in a single season.

A century of successful strikes — powerful headers, blasting right-footers and close range tap-ins — would inspire massive headlines in 2008, but the old centre forward’s spate of goals, over 60 years ago, is either largely forgotten or unknown.

Charlie scored the 100th goal in a home match and the crowd applauded and shouted words of approval, as every player on the field shook him by the hand. It was a unique fragment of local sporting history.

Posher, fuddy-duddy Penrith may scorn the idea of a statue of a footballer, but it is certainly worthy of consideration, possibly as a feature of the proposed new stadium at Frenchfield, where the club will play when work commences on the Southend Road redevelopment.

NEWSPAPER’S MEMORIAL

What an appropriate gesture by directors of Joseph Cowper Ltd., old-established chemists in King Street, Penrith, whose shop has just been extended to include an adjoining property, once used as the offices of the Penrith Observer, the town’s other newspaper until it closed down in 1968.

By way of a memorial to the weekly journal, which served Penrith and district well for more than 100 years, Cowpers have given the name “The Old Observer House” to an office suite at the back of the extended premises, facing on to Rowcliffe Lane.

A brass plate above the doorway will remind future generations of a plucky little newspaper, published each Tuesday (market day) until it became one of many casualties of a tough, demanding industry which takes no account of journalistic endeavour if advertising figures dwindle.