One can read too much into local election results, of course, but Labour leaders’ response to their electoral pounding suggests that, like the Bourbons, “they have learned nothing and forgotten nothing”. Keir Starmer will cling to power as long as he can, helped by Labour supporters who believe he should stay until Andy Burnham can secure a route to the […]
In defence of political backbone
I think we can all agree that warfare is bad for the environment. Nuclear, biological and chemical warfare would be utterly disastrous, but conventional warfare is massively destructive too. Just look at the vast amounts of oil being burned or spilled in current conflicts. Look at the huge swathe of eastern Ukraine – Europe’s bread basket – destroyed by the […]
Sprawl’s Silver Jubilee
Given this country’s propensity for bad policy to flow out of Whitehall, I sometimes wonder if we should have jubilees celebrating the moment long-term destructive policies were launched. It’s coming up to the 25 year Silver Jubilee of John Prescott’s defenestration and destruction of his powerful Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, following the 2001 general election. A […]
When is a “new town” not a new town?
While international analysts pick over the combatants’ ambitions in the Iran conflict, Smart Growth UK has been looking at what the Government imagines it’s achieving with its “new towns” policy. Those inverted commas are significant. Our report examines the New Towns Taskforce recommended sites for 12 “new towns” and finds them to be a bizarre mixture of the greenfield sprawl […]
End of the NeolibLab Pact
“There is a tide in the affairs of men…” etc., etc.. Shakespeare, of course, pointing out in his characteristically thoughtful way that flood tides actually mark a turning point, not an irresistible force. Brutus was soon to find this out to his cost. Blue Labour, neoliberal Labour, Labour Together, the Labour Growth Group, Labour Yimby and the rest of them […]
The Shadow Empire strikes hard
It’s been a busy few weeks for populist influencers, especially those whose mission is crude debunking of environmental policies. Presumably some of them will have at least got rich in the process; it’d be odd to think they do all these harmful things for no reason at all. This month has seen a big two-fold campaign, attacking the science behind […]
Enemies within
A rather plaintive little tweet from Ed Miliband complaining about the hostile reaction among populists on social and national media to his announcement about new offshore wind licences. “In the past 18 months, a well-funded right-wing network has waged a relentless war against clean power,” he writes. “When we set out our mission, they said it couldn’t be done, or […]
For whom the bell tolls…
It’s become something of a cliché to say that the 2020s are starting to feel like the 1930s – with international crises building upon international crises and reliable allies proving to be anything but. There is, however, one big difference to the decade which saw a tsunami of extremist threats. Our predecessors back then weren’t also facing climate disaster. Wise […]
Tipping losers
The well-funded, young, neoliberal influencers currently popping up all over social media are a weird bunch, espousing equally weird causes. But few are as weird as those claiming to be defenders of our public realm against threats like fly-tipping or graffiti. Tackling such things, of course, necessitates well-funded public regulators and public cleansing operations, two things neoliberals are usually anxious […]
The renewal we urgently need
Planning a journey on the West Coast Main Line today proved near impossible yet again, thanks to widespread delays and cancellations. I was reminded for the umpteenth time that our rail network’s drainage system, designed for the Victorians’ chilly but stable climate, is no longer fit for 21st century weather that’s getting ever more extreme. While populist politicians try to […]