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NEWSROUND
SECOND HOARD OF SILVER COINS
by Paul Rutland
A second stash of historic coins has been found in the same Buckinghamshire field where the largest hoard of Saxon treasure was discovered last year .
Five coins with what looks to be an interesting story attached , were discovered in January , but details are only just coming to light thanks to an article in The Searcher magazine .
This latest find was dug up on a Lenborough farm just yards away from last year ’ s cache of 5,000 silver pennies . The latest mini-hoard numbers just
FIVE silver coins . But its discovery comes with a twist of pathos .
The coins , dating from 1555 to 1603 , were unlikely to have been lost but placed in the ground for safekeeping . Found in a purse that had been buried some time in the 16th or 17th century , it ’ s likely they were deliberately concealed due to the depth at which they were discovered . Although there ’ s no record of the person responsible for their burial , to find a cache buried so deep suggests that whoever placed them there , did so obviously hoping to return and dig them up at a later time .
“ It ’ s possible they are a hoard and they ’ ve been buried either to keep for later or to hide them ,” said Arwen James , Finds Liaison Officer at Bucks County Museum .
“ Because it ’ s such a small group of finds , it ’ s also possible that it is a purse drop , and that someone has accidently dropped them and not meant to put them there . It could be either .”
The five coins found have been identified as :
ONE Philip and Mary shilling dated 1555 ; THREE Elizabeth I sixpenny pieces minted in 1574 and 1591 ; and ONE James I sixpence struck in 1603 .
The latest of the coins would have been enough , at the time , to pay for a seat at Shakespeare ’ s latest play , Othello .
Buckingham is not for shale
By Didi Frank
Besieged residents of Buckinghamshire facing the menace of fracking can take comfort that some unlikely allies share their fears – black rhinos , African lions and Hamadryas baboons .
They are among a roll-call of inmates at Flamingo Land theme park zoo in North Yorkshire cited in the latest local opposition to the controversial gas-drilling process . Zoo trustees said the animals could be affected by the county council ’ s approval of test fracking near the North York Moors National Park .
Shale gas extraction plans have had an increasingly bad press across the UK , and
by Rabiatu Bobboi A constitutional time bomb has been set ticking amid the ongoing chaos at Westminster triggered by the EU Brexit vote and internecine leadership struggles of the two main parties .
Police are investigating possible electoral fraud in no fewer than 33 parliamentary constituencies most held by Tory MPs .
The investigation was kickstarted by a Channel 4 programme which alleged overspending by the Conservatives of more than £ 200,000 in elections over the past two years . According to electoral law , there is a limit on how much candidates and parties can spend in parliamentary elections .
There are , rather confusingly two types of spending which have to be recorded and for which accounts have to be made , says Prof bob Watt University of Buckingham electoral law expert .
Firstly , there is National Campaign spending - details must be filed with the Electoral Commission which has 12 months to determine whether spending complies with electoral law . Secondly ,§ there is campaign spending in support of individual candidates seeking to become MPs . no less so in Buckinghamshire since the Government invited firms to bid for two licences to drill in the north of the county – around Buckingham .
The County Council ’ s environment and plannning committee has to date approved no fracking exploration plans after considering several reports . And council leader Martin Tett said it was unlikely that fracking companies would be starting operations in the area .
Any fracking activities associated with shale gas exploration and production would require planning permission from the county council as the mineral planning authority .
Pandora ’ s Box opened
Channel 4 investigative journalist Michael Crick ’ s report detailed massive overspending in three crucial by-elections as well as the 2015 General Election .
But the Commission has no power to prosecute and can only refer complaints to the Crown Prosecution Service ( CPS ) who , in turn , decide whether to instruct police . Many election law experts believe current electoral law is archaic , much of it unchanged since parliamentary election Acts of 1868 and 1872 , and even further back . And it ’ s an unsatisfactory situation that urgently needs updating , they say .
That ’ s also the view of bob Watt who was interviewed for Channel 4 ’ s report .
“ The Law Commission and I and just about every election lawyer in the country believes that the election law needs updating ”, said Prof Watt .
“ I fear the UK Electoral Commission is toothless ! I have gone on record and I would repeat , we need a much stronger Electoral Commission in this country . I would like to see one set up along the Scandinavian model .”
At present the Commission must refer alleged breaches of electoral practice to