A popular technique among propagandists is to take a single example of something, distort it, and then present it to those they wish to persuade as a disgraceful but typical example of something or somebody they wish to attack. It’s cheap, easy and mendacious. Commercial promoters have also long used the technique to big up the product or service they […]
Something to ruminate about
I was an early enthusiast for “rewilding” at a time few people had heard of it and vividly remember a reporting visit to the nascent Carrifran Wildwood project in southern Scotland 25 years ago – in a snowstorm. At that time the Carrifran valley was like most of the Moffat Hills – grazed into nothing much ecologically by sheep and […]
The value of matrimony
“Political change can itself introduce barriers in the operation of the planning system,” said the Royal Town Planning Institute’s latest State of the Profession report. Who knew? Local authority planners and politicians have had a long and turbulent marriage ever since the 1947 Act took them to an austerity registry office wedding. Now, after three-quarters of a century of bickering, […]
An “inflection point”
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves rounded off yesterday’s Mais Lecture by saying that, as in the late 1970s, we stand at an inflection point. Her speech made a case for widespread reform – to stimulate investment, remove barriers to productivity, fashion a new economic settlement and create growth that is broad-based, inclusive and resilient. OK, that all sounds good, though a […]
Three cheers? Maybe not
I think it was Voltaire who said that the odd thing about the “Holy Roman Empire” was that it was none of those three things. Much the same could have been said about New Labour’s 2003 “Sustainable Communities Plan” which began an ill-planned demolition of its own work on the urban renaissance and attempts to create sustainable communities. Much the […]
The food fight
“Do you not eat?” NFU president Minette Batters recently flashed back at wildlife campaigner Mark Avery after he criticised farming’s record on protecting nature. The exchange took place on what used to be called Twitter, but which now, in its musky X-rated dotage, is rapidly descending into an international shouting match. Yet I reflected they’re both right, in a sense, […]
Hitting the green
Golf courses – those in prosperous parts of England anyway – have increasingly become a target for the house building and land speculation sector. Follow their “yimby” lobbyists on social media and you’ll be told green belts around London and other wealthier southern cities are mostly given over to rich people’s golf courses. It’s purely coincidental, of course, that such […]
Darkness, light – and light-pollution
The ancient religious philosopher Mani believed in a stark dualism between the spiritual world of good and the materialistic world of evil. Manichaeism has predictably since become a clumsy description of any binary dispute. Perhaps it’s time for a revival of his more sensitive teachings. We do, unfortunately, live at a time of sharply divided opinions on most issues and […]
Storm warnings
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Government’s decision to scrap Phase 2 of HS2 and press ahead with Phase 1, the decision has thrown into stark relief the nation’s weak infrastructure and lack of plans to deal with it. Yes, I’ve always been critical of the whole HS2 scheme which, from the start, was over-specified and ill-integrated with the […]
Red corner blues
It’s 26 years since a Labour government with a big majority replaced a tired Conservative administration. People who look back on the New Labour years, however, are inclined to bemoan its lost opportunities – a key message for the current Labour Party, as it tries not to get too complacent about the general election. Although many people, looking back on […]