George Osborne doesn’t get the environment and he doesn’t seem to like it. These are the most relevant parts of the Coalition Government’s (yes, the LibDems are in there too) thoughts on the Habitats Directive (which was largely written by that ultra-leftie, Stanley Johnson (yes, Boris’s sire)). This passage comes from that part of the…
Category: THE POLITICS: Ministers, MPs, government policy
Nature Improvement Areas – nature conservation’s ‘Strictly’
A few days ago Natural England put the list of 20 short-listed areas that have been proposed as Nature Improvement Areas onto their website and apparently didn’t tell anyone. And Defra didn’t tell anyone either it seems. How odd? It’s like not mentioning the penultimate episode of Strictly Come Dancing. Perhaps it’s because this is…
Francis Maude – misquoted
Francis Maude is widely regarded as the hard man of the Cabinet Office – if you look at the photographs of Cabinet Office Ministers he can’t even manage a proper smile, more of a ‘I’m coming to get your quangos‘ leer. Having said that, Oliver Letwin, who is a cultured gent and so tends to…
The environmental content of David Cameron’s Conference speech
“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………”. Please check against delivery here. And comment here, here, here, here.
Chancellor mentions environment shock!
George Osborne felt confident enough to say it as he saw it at the Tory party conference yesterday. “Yes, climate change is a man made disaster. Yes, we need international agreement to stop it. Yes, we must have investment in greener energy. And that’s why I gave the go ahead to the world’s first Green…
Are you a European?
I was just too young to vote in the referendum of 1975 but as a politically-aware sixth former I followed the debate and the arguments about whether the UK should stay in the European Economic Community (which the UK joined in 1973 (alongside Ireland and Denmark, swelling the original six members (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium,…
Big Society and Small Government
Yesterday morning I was up early and doing my first Breeding Bird Survey visit of the year. I started at 6am and it was all a bit dull weather-wise, but by 730am the sun was out although the easterly wind was quite strong. I’ve written before about how this volunteer/NGO/government agency/government partnership is a good…
Stand up for natural justice
Please support the RSPB’s campaign to stop the government scrapping wildlife legislation. I see Jonathon Porritt blogged on this issue – it’s well worth a read. But Jonathon is a bit slow in posting comments on his blog – mine hasn’t appeared yet. And I can’t yet see much rage being expressed by other nature…
Don’t let them get away with this
The question is – has the government gone mad or is it just wicked? The Red Tape Challenge potentially opens up any regulation anywhere to challenge but the government has included biodiversity, wildlife and natural environment regulation in this mix. Following the disproportionate clobbering that Defra received in the Comprehensive Spending Review compared with other…