I’ve just watched the Westminster Hall debate on moorland burning. I’ve seen quite a few of these in my time and my expectations are not very high, but this one wasn’t too bad. Having said that, I suspect many readers of this blog could have done a decent job on the subject, but you have to realise that these debates are backbenchers only (apart from a minister having to say something) and are often used to give new MPs experience of standing up and talking.
So, in a way, the most important thing is what the minister says, because they (in this case, she, Rebecca Pow) are not going to promise too often things they can’t deliver. Ms Pow leant more towards the Opposition point of view than, I suspect, many of her male Conservative colleagues would have wanted. Ms Pow couldn’t, or at least didn’t, tell us when the government was going to publish the England Peat Strategy (although I expect it will be ‘soon’) nor when burning of heather on peatlands will be banned. She did say something like ‘my civil servants are working out how it will be possible to phase out rotational burning’ [Transcript; ‘My officials are continuing to work out how and where we might be able to phase out rotational burning’] but she didn’t say how they were getting on with that. It may just be that bad news for grouse moors is coming soon but she didn’t want to say that in front of her fellow Conservatives.
This was a debate between Left and Right, women (Olivia Blake MP, Holly Lynch MP, Rachael Maskell MP and Stephanie Peacock MP) and men (Robert Goodwill MP, Sir Edward Leigh MP, Richard Holden MP and another male Conservative (who spoke well – Robbie Moore MP, I see from the transcript), climate evidence and biodiversity stories, not so old and not so young, the present/future and the past/present.
One could easily believe that the Minister would rather have been on the side of the other women in the room rather than her male colleagues.
Jim Shannon MP (DUP) was present, he is always present to wave a Unionist flag and tell the world he is a shooter and conservationist. And the SNP was represented by Owen Thompson MP.
This was not a debate that would give much succour to grouse moor managers – there was no rowing back on DEFRA’s (particularly Lord Goldsmith’s) promises to tackle this issue and the call by the Committee on Climate Change to end burning on peatland this year wasn’t really questioned, except that Sir Edward Leigh prefers Beefy Botham’s expertise to anyone else’s. Sir Edward has had a long parliamentary career but his rude attacks on the RSPB and his love affair with Beefy suggest he is not the face that shooting would really want to show to the world these days. You should watch the debate and listen to the Minister’s words carefully two or three times (that’s what I will do) but the most fun can be had from Sir Edward’s Edwardian views.
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Thanks for this, Mark – after the appalling behaviour of the Tory MPs at the Grouse debate I couldn’t face watching another one, and would have been at work when it was live anyway.
It’s interesting that this one had the same optics; a rank of old white entitled Tory men vs Labour women. Hopefully the Tories weren’t quite as nakedly misogynist this time, but even so does no-one in Tory Command think about these things? or do they just not give a monkey’s? I suspect the later. Its shameful. And bad politics. Again.
It may be cruel, but I always refer to Edward Leigh as ‘Sir Talbot Buxomley’ as he puts me in mind of the character from the Blackadder episode.
Quote: “we might be able to phase out rotational burning”. No. You can do it, and you must, and as soon as possible. There is no possible reason not to, except your destructive get-rich-quick pals.
Also fun can be had by counting the number of times he fumbles saying four simple letters. RSPB isn’t that hard to say is it? Turned into RSPCA at one point too plus various other variations.
Luke – yes, just a bit spluttery wasn’t he.
The response from my MP on this issue said “the Government plans to publish the England Peat Strategy before the end of the year which will detail further how we can protect, restore, and reduce damage to our peatlands so that they deliver benefits for climate and wildlife.” Let’s see.