OUR last answer — to the question “Is this land our land?” was No. “Our” land is owned by a ruling class of landowning, industrial and (increasingly) financial capitalists. And the relatively small amount (between 8 to 10 per cent which is publicly owned is, like our rivers, streams and atmosphere, being privatised and polluted in the interests of profit.

Land presents a paradox. It is a privatisation which dwarfs all others in value, yet today receives relatively little attention. It is less a focus of activism today than it was in 1867 when Karl Marx (or rather his translators) coined the term “land-grabbing” or in 1881 when Alfred Russel Wallace, co-originator with Darwin of the theory of evolution through natural selection, became president of the newly formed Land Nationalisation Society.

In 1909 Winston Churchill (certainly no Marxist) — declared: “Land is by far the greatest of the monopolies… the land monopolist has only to sit and watch complacently his property multiplying in value, sometimes manifold, without either effort or contribution on his part; and that is justice!”