The war in the Ukraine seems to be moving to a new phase. I state again that I am a mere observer and not an expert. Russia seems to have accepted ‘defeat’ or ‘lack of victory’ around Kiev and the north. However it has economic reasons to push for a victory in the south and east. Cutting Ukraine off from the sea would give it a kind of victory as that would impose economic constraints on the country of Ukraine. The Russian speaking states in the east apparently voted to stay in the Ukraine a while back – so where does this leave the west?
GETTING THE BIG DECISIONS RIGHT
CORNWALL
Some facts our wonderful government paid £170m covid grants to Cornish holiday let businesses; Cost of 2nd home owners avoiding council tax to CornwallCC £17 million; There are 12776 second homes and more than 11000 holiday lets – and 21817 people on councils housing register. In the past year house prices in Cornwall were 7% up on the year before and 23% up on 2019 when they averaged at £270,554, now £330097.
SHIT
Raw sewage pumped into rivers 372533 times last year. Our wonderful government and the privatised companies which have dished out millions of £ to shareholders, have agreed to cut these discharges by 40% by 2040. Honestly this is not a typo, and the government say it is a step change! So in 18 years time there will only be 223520 discharges of raw shit into our rivers. What a fragrant government we have!
WATER
Water companies dumped sewage into our rivers and coast 372,533 times last year! How shitty is that?
NHS
More corruption by the government. NHS Trusts seem to be political appointments rather than being based on medical knowledge or even financial ability. The system is flawed, as the tories want it to be, so they can privatise it.
PMQ’S
What will Starmer say? Partygate? Ukraine – no point in anything other than support. The point of PMQ’s is the question. Energy costs and the budget. NHS parking? Will Johnson seek to either blame Labour (despite the years out of office) or what he suggests they would do? Suggestions of nationalisation would be good but unlikely.
Weak performance by Starmer again. He did ask for a resignation though. Why does he not respond to Johnsons lies?
ENERGY
National Grid Live Status shows that we are still very dependant on fossil fuels, especially at this time of year. We have become reliant on wind for renewable energy and not done enough to develop solar. As ever I am the worst sort of commentator as I have limited knowledge which may be worse than no knowledge!
Cutting demand is an obvious partial solution. Solar panels on all possible sites of offices and educational establishments that operate mainly in daylight is a no brainer. Governments and investors of all persuasions seem fixated on the large scale projects. Would lots of small scale projects undermine the privatised National Grid? I am surprised at the lack of HEP – water powered this country for centuries. Re-instated mill ponds would surely bring environmental benefits.
The stats show the continuing importance of nuclear power. I am cautious with Windscale, Three Mile Island, Fukushima, Chernobyl all in my memory, and we do not seem to have solved the nuclear waste problem. However, needs must. At this time of year we need an alternative that does not exacerbate climate change. The £13 billion pound cost of increasing the nuclear component from 16% to 25% it to passed onto the public. I am not sure the free market economy is working too well in this market. We have seen the privatised energy companies make huge profits (and the huge fossil fuel companies), whilst little has been done to help the poorest in our society. (I was fortunate to have been born with the benefits derived from a socialist government. The gap between rich and poor was still too large, but has grown exponentially recently). The current capitalist model is broke.
Apparently Tory MP’s with rural constituencies are opposed to relaxing planning rules for onshore wind farms. I suspect that 90% of people living in villages do not give a shit, it is the wealthy landowners they are talking about. I am sure the Daily Mail or Telegraph can run a spurious story linking wind turbines to cancer!
ROYALTY and the COMMONWEALTH
TRIVIAL NEWS
There is a lot to be said for the trivial occasionally. A little light relief. Thank you Will Smith for this. I do not condone violence ever – he could have made his point more forcefully with words. However I can understand his reaction to a very poor jibe about his wife. I think James Corden would have made ruder comments with less reaction as he would not have been so insensitive. Attacking an Oscar nominee personally would seem to be fair play, but their family has to be out of order, especially on a world stage. So he was totally wrong in my opinion – violence is not. It is misogyny – cave men should be consigned to cartoons.
Whilst interesting today it will be forgotten tomorrow as we return to the grim reality of Ukraine and climate change.