Category: Environment

Jenrick is trying to be nastier than Braverman whilstLocal Government Minister, Lee Rowley told S.Cambridgeshire District Council to stop an experiment with a 4 day week immediately. Evidence provided by the secretly funded right wing numbskull tank, Tax Payers Alliance suggested an unjustified cost of £30bn. These people seem to hate any signs of improving peoples lifestyles. Evidence suggests better job retention and efficiencies. As James Nash, leader of Bassetlaw District Council said “It is not for the government to say that you must work a 5 day week”. Little creep Gove disagrees and says people must work a 5 day week. It is after all only an experiment. The same people would have complained about the abolishment of the 6 day week and paid holidays.

The railways are also getting a backnash from plans to cut ticket offices., Mean while the Government has failed to comment on the fact that South East Water spent £232mill on dividends(£162m) and interest repayments over the last 2 years, but only £179.8m on upgrading the infrastructure. Nationalised public service companies working for investors not the public.

Today is forecast to be quyte warm,25C here and 30C in London. Nothing like the temperatures being experienced in China where temperatures in Beijing have exceeded 35C for 14 consecutive days. Torrential rain has also hit many areas with at least 15 deaths in the floods. With El Nino looming we can expect more “biblical” disasters this year and an increase in environmental migrants.

Yet the government is talking about abandoning net zero targets, along with the environmental diversity ones already being missed. With Braverman becoming ever more beligerent and the growth of a Fortress UK mentality I fear for my grandchildren.Will they see the wonderous sights I have? The kingfisher hovering above a lake in Devon, Adonis Blue butterflies on the South Downs, Dolphins whilst crossing the Tagus by Lisbon, Arctic terns on the beach at Seaford. All little things but very memorable to me. With to present government we will continue to use petrochemicals and pollute the environment, put off energy efficiences in housing and permit tye use of harmful agri-chemicals.

The Mail has got Dorries to. slag off electric cars – basically fuck the environment, lets use up oil and gas and pretend that the sea ice around Antarctica is not melting or that sea temperatures around Britain are not at record highs. And Tessla anounce a record 466000 cars sold worldwide in the last 3 months. Whatever MadNads complaints the government needs to up the number of charging points and increase generation of clean electricity. A trade in scheme for old deisel cars would be good. It is all part of the culture wars theme – it is almost an anti-young war, after all the young are the most concerned about the environment.

So Zac Goldsmith has resigned with a bang! He has spelt out the PM’s indifference and eregious apathy to climate change, animal welfare and international treaties. What this means on a practical level is a set back for the endangered wildlife of this country. Is it too much to surmise that he will now put all his eggs into the culture wars and migration issues? People may be subsumed by the credit crisis and the cost of living but they are not blind to the woes of our planet? The LibDems are ably placed to pick up votes from environmentally minded toriesm whilst Starmer will need to stop pandering to the economic growth at all costs element of the centerist Labour Party.

The main stream right wing media will continue to bang on about “Just Stop Oil” whose rather childish tactics are seen to be futile. Jeremy Corbyn will be criticised for his allotment whilst Sunak may offer a bail out the sewage shovelers.

Boss Sarah Bentley resigns without making te reason public. Could it be that the job is impossible? Thames has a £14bn debt pile it has built up over successive ownerships – largely the Aussie bank – Macquarie, it is owned by a number of pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. Besides its awful environmental record it has seen leakages increase, whilst all the time paying out high dividends and wages to its management, and the increase in interest rates will mean higher repayment costs. Will it default and be taken back into public ownership – another blot on Thatchers record? There would seem to be 2 scenarios – both disasterous for the government. Hiking water costs by 40% has been suggested by some (Thames Water charges went up by 11.6% on 1st April; this would be completely unpalatable given the mortgage hikes and cost of living crisis; or, let it go bust. The government may find this impossibkke given the sovereign wealth funds including China (8.6%), Abu Dhabi (9.9%) (and pension funds including Ontario (31%) and British Universities Staff Pension Fund (20%). Presumably the Universities fund would need to be underwritten by the government, but allowing the companny to go bust could cause all sorts of knock on impacts for foreign investment? Present profit is £1 billion, but whilst leaving the EU has halted some of the fines they would have accrued, they can expect an increasing public pressure to cut the sewage and price rises. OFWAT is tasked with moderating costs and setting targets – now is the tie to do so.

This also has implications for Starmer who seems set on wining approval from the city

TW claim that the weather hasincreased the leaks in its system, at present thought to be 650m litres a day! Note to TW – in summer the UK regularly gets periods of drought. Perhaps less spent on dividends and more doing your job properly would help? Plans to pump 100m litres of treated sewage should be refused as we know that important environmentally altering chemicals and medicines are not removed. Further plans to transfer 155million ltres a day from Wales should also be refused. Measures to reduce consumption with mandatory planning rules should be imposed by the government, water butts subsidised. Our weather seems to becoming warmer and more settled – this year we had a prolonged period of daily rain followed by a dry period with easterly winds then another dry spell.

My water butts have received some water but are not full.

Some innovative new plans from Labour regarding renewable energy. Given the financial black hole waiting for the next government it needs new ideas. OK so they arecopied from Germany and Denmark – but community owned renewable energy schemes look like a positive response to the problem. Could a similar scheme be introduced for water supply? 52% public ownership with water rates for households. And Sunak continues to talk about things whilst the migrants pour in, inflation and interest rates rocket,

Meanwhile the Mirror leads with lockdown party at Tory HQ, the Torygraph has a foeld day targeting Sue Gray, Whitehall civil servants and Macron all on the front page (no wonder they are the only spreadsheet!), the Mail continues with blue on blue attack on Sir Bernard Jenkins, and the Observer feeds the Sunak supporters with space.

Gove says report was excellent but he will abstain on Monday.