This is my Mum, who died two years ago today in her 98th year. But this blog post is about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). I’ll be sending a copy of this blog post to my MP. When someone dies there is a fair amount of ‘sadmin’, sad administration, to do. There are…
Category: THE POLITICS: Ministers, MPs, government policy
Government to consult on changes to shooting seasons
Governments in Britain are to consult on shooting seasons for Woodcock, Snipe, Golden Plover, White-fronted Geese, Goldeneye, Pintail and Pochard (with different packages of proposals for each of Scotland, Wales and England) but it is proposed that Pochard should be removed from Schedule 2.1 across Britain. Consultation – click here. These proposals emanate from correspondence…
Land Use Framework for England
I’ve read this document – click here – several times, and I’ll need to read it several times more to get the most out of it. But my initial rating of it is 6.5/10 which is quite a bit higher than I expected. I’d be very interested in others’ views on this document and I’d…
England Land Use Framework – a textual analysis
I read a lot of words (and I write quite a few too). I try to take care to understand what the writer intended me to think so I read the words, think about them, and put together in my head what the passages mean. I’m also long-practiced in reading words from government departments and…
Ben Goldsmith to write Reform nature policies.
Well, this will be interesting – Ben Goldsmith will be advising Reform on its nature policies according to the Guardian – click here. Ben is a true, but quirky, friend of nature and Reform’s environmental policies were laughable at the last general election – click here. Clearly, if Reform were to challenge for power at…
Keir Starmer said what…?
I was listening to BBC R4 PM just now and this is what I heard Keir Starmer say: “Children should be able to go as far as their talent will take them. They shouldn’t have barriers. Poverty is a barrier to children realising their talents and being able to play their full part in the…
The badly valued uplands
It wouldn’t be true to say that the following was the talk I delivered at a conference in Sheffield on 1 October, but this is a close approximation to what I wanted to get across. Some of it is also in my book Reflections, some was in the Manifesto for Wildlife of 2018 and some…
The new Defra, all female, team
Following the departure of Angela Rayner, and a smallish reshuffle, the new Defra team is led by Emma Reynolds (in place of Steve Reed) and in comes Angela Eagle as Minister of State (replacing Daniel Zeichner). Mr Reed directly takes the place of Angela Rayner at Housing, Communities and Local Government – let’s hope he…
A daft quote from Defra – and an August challenge for anyone who fancies it.
This Defra quote, “Britain is a proud nation of nature lovers, and this government is committed to turning the tide on its decline after years of neglect. We are progressing plans to designate nine new national river walks, one in each region of England.” (see here) might win a prize for stupidity if only the…
RSPB reaction (and mine) to Keir Starmer’s speech
In response to the Prime Minister’s ‘Plan for Change’ speech, the RSPB Chief Executive, Beccy Speight, said: ‘Deeply worrying rhetoric in the PM’s speech today, singling out regulators as naysayers when they can often be an under-resourced and desperately-needed defence, holding the line on protecting our natural world. The UK needs homes, renewable energy and…