Westminster Hall debates are important ways by which Parliament can discuss matters of importance outside the House of Commons chamber. Earlier this month there was a Westminster Hall debate on Wildlife Crime sought by the members of the Environmental Audit Committee to give the Government a nudge after the EAC published their excellent report on…
Tag: Natural England
Toffs
A couple of days ago I suggested that the recent Defra minister Richard Benyon might be called a ‘toff’. This was greeted by a stream of comments angry on the toffish ex-Minister’s behalf. Let’s just get the meaning of this four-letter word out of the way first. Toff – a member of the upper classes,…
Now that the Party (Conference) is over…
Did you comb the speeches of the Party leaders, at their Party Conferences, for mentions of the environment? Nick Clegg did best – he said that it was the Liberal Democrats who were keeping the Government ‘green’ and had ‘saved’ Natural England from the axe. Nick Clegg didn’t mention ‘wildlife’ or ‘nature’ but he did…
Wuthering Moors 37 – if you go up on the moors today, you’re in for a big surprise
Wuthering Moors 36 – FoI/EIR to NE on Appropriate Assessments for Walshaw Moor
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Dear Natural England This is a request under the EI Regs and/or Freedom of Information Act. It is a simple request for copies of three documents. It is not a difficult request to fulfill. Please send me the information within 10 working days of this request, ie by 20 September 2013. This request refers to…
Wuthering Moors 35 – response to Defra’s case
Here are a few points on Defra’s response to the RSPB’s complaint to the EU Commission in the Walshaw Moor affair (see blog of 12 noon today). 1. Five tracks, five car parks, two ponds dug out of the peat, earthworks? 2. Some of the alleged damage may not ultimately be restored. 3. NE has…
Wuthering Moors 34 – the Defra response to the EU Commission
Further to this morning’s post, here is the information levered out of Defra on their response to the EU Commission regarding the RSPB complaint to the EU over the Walshaw Moor affair and its implications. WMEL below refers to the Walshaw Moor Estate Limited. I will post my early thoughts on this, here, at 1500…
Unholy alliance?
Ian Lindsay is Director of Education at the GWCT and he writes in the September NFU Countryside magazine about reintroductions. Do they, he asks, make conservation sense? His punchline is ‘…in the context of our declining wildlife, are reintroductions a part of sound conservation management addressing key environmental priorities, or an expensive, cynical and high-profile…
M&S – a response
This response from M&S at 1653 this afternoon – just so that you know I haven’t been sitting on it. It seems that M&S are beginning to get their heads around these matters. No promise to do anything about labelling on the issues surrounding lead. I suggest that either M&S label all their shot game…
M&S, the grouse, the lead and the hen harriers
I am a fan of Marks and Spencer (M&S) – but maybe that is going to change. I am signed up to their email newsletter (which only yesterday was telling me about offers on champagne and lingerie – how sadly they misread my lifestyle!), I tend to seek out their stores in London to buy…