Category: Environment

The severe alert continues to agitate the ignorant. So far there have been 1017 wildfires recorded by the fire service, given that 99% are caused by humans that is at least 1000 caused either maliciously or by ignorance. These fires are not like a building fire, they move very quickly and cover huge areas – just one fire in the Peak District covers an area the size of 900 football pitches. Across the world an area equivalent to Spain, France and Germany combined has been burnt. The estimated cost in Europe is £16.3 billion with up to 1.5 million deaths due to smoke inhalation. And the Army has been called in to aid the fire service in the UK. Andy Burnham has also had a COBRA meeting. It has taken me a while to suss out why so many people are getting their knickers in a twist and their hackles up. At first I thought it was a political thing, lets knock the government ‘even if we do not have any facts’; but there is a deeper anger based on selfishness. Wild fires do not affect most people and empathy for others was destroyed by Thatcherism. Personally I do not have a BBQ (do not like greasy burnt food! ), no longer smoke and am intelligent enough to avoid situations where I might cause a wildfire. So should I be incandescent with rage over the governments severe alert (although I agree that it was rather loud!). Fortunately I do not consider myself to be selfish or egoistic, and neither are my family and friends – which is why they are all appalled at the ignorance of the moaners.

Andy Burnham is ‘minded’ to allow the development of Jackdaw and Rosebank gas/oil fields. This might make some sense, but only if it is accompanied with a supercharged environmental programme (actually I think opening up the fields would be abhorrent.

Another interesting statistic is that the triple lock on pensions was £10 billion more for the tax payer than if pensions had been linked to wage inflation. That is ridiculous. I get some arguements regarding pensions and poverty, but again the real problem is rent and property prices. I am fortunate enough to have paid off my mortgage and have 2 supplementary pensions, but the state pension, to which I contributed for 35 years (late starter!), is an entitlement that I paid for. The triple lock is ridiculous as there are many who rightly claim a state pension they paid in for, but should it reward above wages ? We have a welfare state to combat poverty, not supplement the wealth of the rich!

Leads on the severe alert saying thousands have switched the alert off. With the fire service not coping and calling in the Army, just what do they expect a severe alert to consist of? If 1205 wild fires so far this year with 43 in the last 24 hours, 38 homes burnt, 9 destroyed in Stourbridge, and no comments on the polluting impact of the fires. I am genuinely puzzled. An invasion of flying saucers orchestrated by Count Binface? Ok, but I genuinely cannot think of a better use of the system? I think we should now have a weekly Climate alert programme, accessible on all phones, there is too much ignorance. In the last year we produced 43.6% electricity from renewables and just 27.2% from fossil fuels. I am sure we could double the amount using renewables by sensible planning legislation. Announcing new initiatives for insulation measures, the number of EV charging points, together with weather events from around the world. Initiatives by countries like China, and an idiot of the week slot reserved for Trump, Farage, Badenoch and acolytes! It could be financed by a special tax on fossil fuel companies.

And with 2 trains derailed in the last couple of days there are still morons who buy ridiculous papers and beleive every word, even when they are reading shit about issues created by Brexit and the last government (very short memories regarding these issues by the aged!) nb. small boats (none prior to Brexit!), NHS waiting lists spiralled under tories, despite privatisation of swaiths of services. Why is water so expensive?- privatisation. And with AI likely to guzzle more energy than ever – maybe they should pay for new infrastructure?

European Athletics Championships have been spellbinding, not just for the niceness of the athletes, the near lack of nationalistic bollocks (the crowd clapping in time for a Bulgarian or basically any athlete). Maybe I was wrong in decrying the absurdly high ticket prices – it kept the knuckle draggers away! The crowd seemed generally enthralled by the exertions of the athletes before them!

The government sends out a Notification warning people of the dangers of wildfires. Brilliant, as most of the south is unlikely to get any significant rain for the next month, this is aptly timed. Will the Daily Mail and Express, Telegraph etc. complain about a nanny state, the freedom to have a BBQ wherever? Or will they congratulate ‘Andy’, surely not Burnham, for his decisive action. (I would like to see similar regarding Israel and fossil fuels, but whatever! Oh and water companes need to be nationalised NOW! So will the shite press run stories of how the fires are caused by nature lovers?

Tomorrow – standing charges for utilities. “I am selling potatoes’ but you will pay me so much per day whether you buy any or not!’ Rip off Britain. and would you report a neighbour for ……..

2 statistics to bear in mind. In the last election the turnout was 58.7% and Farage got 21255 votes If these statistics are down he will be a loser – it also worth noting that the tories got 12820 votes, so basically right wingers got 75% of the vote. Also of interest is how Count Binface gets on – this is a very British election! If he does not lose his deposit (by getting 5% of votes cast) it will be seen as a victory by those of us who hate Reform – with a passion. Therefore anything less than 20000 votes for the lunatic, a turnout of less than 50% and less than 75% of the votes will lead to an embarassed evil muppet. And then we will probably have to do it all again in a couple of months.

More shite from the right wing climate deniers, thhey are blaming nature reserves and conservation measures for the spate of wild fires across Britain. Whilst just about every species of wildlife in the UK is in decline they balme the victims rather than the perpertrators of the fires – 98% human induced. Perhaps they should be encouraging volunteering and school participation in wildlife rather than the wildlife protectors. And not a mention of climate change – evil bastards! In Scotland there have been calls for the Glorious Twelfth to be abandoned (The start of the grouse shooting season when rich people pay a fortune (for me) to shoot little birds for fun – is this a medieval tradition?). Is it better when the hunting is genuine and the birds shot eaten, rather than reared in sheds causing pollution? I am not vegetarian so my mind remains open on the issue (although we should all cut down on meat consumption for climate change. Maybe we should see more venison in the supermarket – or maybe the Bambi effect is too strong, but there are more deer in the UK than probably at anytime in history. Just thinking out loud1!