Are you getting a bit bored with Brexit? You are aren’t you? I confess to feeling a little that way myself sometimes but I always shake myself out of it – and so I’m writing this to shake you out of it too. Brexit will be a disaster for wildlife – it doesn’t necessarily have…
Category: THE POLITICS: Ministers, MPs, government policy
Defra – political purgatory?
I couldn’t help smile at Jeremy Paxman’s opinion of Therese Coffey in this article from last year. But it was Paxman’s remark that Defra was… … a place of political purgatory, where ambitious politicians suffer torments in hope of preferment somewhere else https://www.ft.com/content/17bedfec-da71-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482 …that really caught my eye. We’ve had some shocking ministers in Defra…
Coffey says no!
A grouse shooter’s moll and Defra minister. Photo: Natural England In a closely argued, fact-packed and loquacious answer to a short question from Rachael Maskell MP (Central York, Labour) we learn much about the workings of Therese Coffey’s mind. Surely, rather than ‘no’, the grouse shooters’ moll meant ‘no comment, no comment, no comment‘? Michael…
Responsive MPs (2)
Thank you if you have already written to your MP about the Manifesto for Wildlife. If you haven’t got around to it yet then do please give it a go – here is some information and advice. Here are MPs from whom you have told me that you have had substantive replies (I’m sure there…
‘To save the environment from a Conservative government’ – Michael Gove
I’ve never used an autocue but they can work out a bit badly. I’m pretty sure that Michael Gove said in his speech something about saving the environment from a Conservative government. Well, maybe he said something about how there is lots of action, to save the environment, from a Conservative government. Maybe the autocue…
Your wildlife champions?
There are plenty of reasons why MPs were unable to attend the Walk for Wildlife in London on Saturday – and plenty of good reasons too. And there are plenty of good reasons why lots of other supporters of the event were unable to attend. But of the nearly 40 MPs who have signed up…
A Conservative MP responds to the Manifesto for Wildlife
One reader of this blog, who was unable to attend the Walk for Wildlife on Saturday was quick off the mark in contacting his MP about the Manifesto for Wildlife – and his MP was quick to respond. ‘I read it and I think I got to page 67 before I found something I could…
Three more gone – Defra’s plan is wholly inadequate.
Hen Harrier, Hilma. Photo: Steve Downing. Hen Harrier, Octavia. Photo: Steve Downing Hen Harrier, Heulwen. Photo: Guy Anderson. Three more young Hen Harriers have disappeared – all in areas of driven grouse shooting. See the RSPB Skydancer blog for details. Rory Stewart’s Hen Harrier Inaction Plan is working very, very badly – just as many…
Labour and rural ‘eco-zealot’ voters
This post is about the Labour Party, as seen through the eyes of one member (me) who is wondering how to vote in the NEC elections. I am being careful not to name names but I am going to give you a flavour of how I have approached my voting decisions and how frustrating the…
Jeremy Corbyn is a goal hanger.
I heard the phrase used on the radio (it must have been Radio 4) a while ago; ‘Jeremy Corbyn is a goal hanger’. It took me right back to my youth, and teenage games of football played in farmers’ fields where the goalposts were piles of jumpers, the boundaries of the playing surface were as…