
Sark really is a world apart - bradstreet
https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/04/19/sark-really-is-a-world-apart/
======
PaulAJ
Having grown up on Guernsey and been to Sark several times, I have a slightly
less romantic view of the island. The Sarkees regard tourists as another form
of cattle, there to be milked. Everything costs, and by the time you have paid
for seats on the toast rack, bike hire for the day, lunch, and of course the
boat fare, its quite an expensive day out.

The bit about the Barclay brothers is actually a bigger issue than this
article really makes out. The Barclays are buying Sark property whenever it
becomes available and then simply closing it. See for instance
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-
guernsey-30035969](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-30035969)
and [https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/01/barclay-
brothers-t...](https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/01/barclay-brothers-to-
close-sark-vineyard/). Given that the Barclays could buy the whole of Sark out
of pocket change were it to become available, this is as clear an example of
economic bullying as any I have ever seen. I'm surprised that a Marxist outlet
like this didn't make more of it.

~~~
biomene
Not sure you can still call Spiked a Marxist outlet these days. They have more
in common with /pol than Marx.

~~~
pmyteh
Very much so - they've got a very weird position on the right, and have done
for some time now.

There's an interesting article at the LRB that explores the Spiked/IoE/related
nexus: [https://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n13/jenny-turner/who-are-
they](https://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n13/jenny-turner/who-are-they)

------
KineticLensman
I visited Sark some years ago, while the Barclay brothers were still investing
in the island. There was indeed incredible tension between the pro and anti-
brother Islanders, as per the article. There was also tension between those
who thought that Sark's horses should have Sunday off vs. continue to pull
carts for the tourist incomers, or whether their day off should be Monday.

Definitely a different world.

------
pjc50
See also the FT coverage:
[https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/01/30/1548828002000/Alphavi...](https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/01/30/1548828002000/Alphaville-
spent-36-hours-on-the-island-of-Sark--Here-s-how-it-went-/)

(While this article is non-political, I would caution readers against Spiked
magazine; it is the inheritor of _Living Marxism_ , and produces a lot of
clickbait contrarianism.)

------
rolleiflex
‘...It was at this location where, in 1859, the islanders gathered to greet
Queen Victoria, who was expected to stop off at Sark on her way to Jersey.
They had prepared a lavish banquet, and the quay was decorated with flowers,
flags and a red carpet. But the queen and her entourage simply sailed by. To
make matters worse, by the time they got back to the Seigneurie the dining
room where the banquet was to be held had been trashed by peacocks.’

Ouch, royal rejection is a whole another kind.

------
AndyMcConachie
Is this the Spiked magazine that's funded by the Koch brothers?

