Theresa May has said the “best long-term decision” the government can make is on climate change because action is integral to the “long-term future” of the UK.
Speaking in the debate on the King’s Speech yesterday, the former prime minister suggested the government was not being sufficiently “strong in ambition” to meet the 2050 net zero target.
…
The King’s Speech contained plans to have licences for oil and gas projects in the North Sea awarded annually.
There have recently been questions raised about the government’s ability to meet its 2050 net zero target, with its climate advisers warning the UK risks falling behind without much faster action.
In its latest progress report, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the “expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with net zero“.
later: The King’s speech is today whereby King Charles reads a speech prepared by the UK government with details of what the government intends for the new parliamentary session. The UK government must call a general election before 17 December 2024.
One of the many occasions climate change denier and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.
Briefly, Liar and cheat Boris Johnson won the 2019 general election with a huge majority. He achieved this by lying and misleading the UK electorate promising to “Get Brexit done” and an oven-ready deal and similar associated lies. The UK electorate were tired of the Tories Brexit BS and wanted it finished. It’s still unfinished of course.
Image of Elmo (left) and former Prime Minister Tory idiot Boris Johnson (right)
Boris was deposed as a result of the Partygate Scandal – repeatedly lying that there were no parties at Downing Street when there were so many at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when such social meetings were forbidden.
Then we briefly had Liz Truss replacing Boris. She trashed the UK economy with her and Kwasi Kwasi Kwarteng’s bonkers budget. It may be worth investigating who has benefited financially from that budget.
Lettuce complains about being compared to Liz Truss.
Sunak replaced Liz Truss as Conservative Leader and therefore UK Prime Minister. His government has made huge assaults on the right to protest and is in thrall to the fossil fuel industry pursuing a climate-denying programme of fossil fuel expansion with huge fossil fuel subsidies. Many regard his climate-denying actions as criminal. He must be aware of the effects of his actions.
We have idiots like Lee Anderson repeatedly attacking the poor, Sue-Ellen Braverman wanting to take tents away from homeless people so that they die of exposure, open sewers full across the UK with UK abandoning EU pollution regulations.
The UK government is to diverge from the EU’s standards for monitoring the quality of water in England.
An exclusive report by the Guardian this week revealed that instead of being covered by the EU’s water framework directive (WFD), as it was when the UK was in the European Union, the government will use its own, as yet undisclosed, methodology to assess the quality of England’s waterways. Under the WFD, a national chemical and ecology survey was carried out every year. But from 2016, the government made the decision that water quality under WFD would only be tested every three years, instead of annually.
The last time a full water assessment of England’s rivers took place was in 2019, when just 14 percent were found to be in good ecological health. None however, met good chemical health standards.
According to the report, government officials told stakeholders about the change at a meeting. A source from an NGO who had attended the meeting said: “When asked how this would affect assessments against the target set out in the government’s environment improvement plan, officials commented that this data would no longer be used for that purpose, and that Defra were looking to use the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) process to assessment performance. I question how developed the work on the NCEA is and whether this is suitable.”
Campaigners have warned that diverging from EU environmental standards will lead to England’s rivers and waterways becoming even more polluted if the new measuring methods are less rigorous. They also warn that it may make it more difficult for the state of England’s rivers to be compared with those in the EU, meaning the public will be left in the dark about water pollution and sewage.
SUELLA BRAVERMAN’S attack on the homeless plumbs new depths from a minister already known for kicking downwards.
It combines a xenophobic jibe at foreigners with brazen victim-blaming, ludicrously terming rough sleeping a “lifestyle choice” when the rise in homelessness is demonstrably the fault of the Conservative government.
The Home Secretary knows that the homelessness crisis cannot be swept under the carpet.
Rough sleeping has risen by 74 per cent since 2010, according to the government’s own figures. The rapid provision of safe accommodation to thousands of homeless people during the pandemic showed rough sleeping can be ended almost overnight where there is the political will: but as soon as the lockdowns passed the will disappeared, and a 26 per cent rise in rough sleeping last year alone points to the devastating impact of the cost-of-living crisis. Homeless Link CEO Rick Henderson pointed to the causes at the start of the year: “A shortage of affordable housing, an often punitive welfare system and increasingly stretched health services.”
The results are visible everywhere. It is now rare to take a journey in one of our larger cities without encountering beggars. This is an indictment of 13 years of Tory rule.
25 Just Stop Oil mothers arrested for slow marching London 6 Nov 2023.
A group of mothers and grandmothers were arrested this afternoon while slow-marching in London in support of Just Stop Oil’s demand for the government to end new oil and gas.
33 Just Stop Oil supporting mothers and grandmothers began marching down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square. Metropolitan Police kettled the group before arresting them, including a grandmother aged 79 and a great grandmother. They were detained for allegedly breaching Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023.
Since Just Stop Oil’s most recent campaign began a week ago, police have refused to respect their rights to protest and have opted for immediately arresting slow marchers, but this group of mothers refused to be intimidated.
The mothers say that they refuse to stand by while government policies continue to support the fossil fuel industry, leading to global suffering on an unprecedented scale. The marching mums carried placards explaining why they felt compelled to resist: for their children, for all the world’s children and future generations.
25 Just Stop Oil mothers arrested for slow marching London 6 Nov 2023.
Gill Tavner, a mother of two daughters, aged 19 and 21, from Stroud said
“We’re marching here to oppose corporate greed with maternal love. For years we’ve watched in mounting disbelief as global leaders have failed to take the necessary action to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. This government is travelling in completely the wrong direction.
“It’s crazy that in asking for a liveable world for our children we are vilified and criminalised. My heart aches when I think about the difficulties ahead for my girls, and even more so for less privileged children in the world. If we could rely on responsible leadership, this action would not be necessary, but politics is broken and so I’m compelled to take action. It’s the most important thing I can do as a mother.”
Angela Holland, 79, a mother of three and grandmother of five, from Bristol said:
“I’m inspired to march and risk arrest by my grandson and whole family. Their determination has pushed me to read the research on climate breakdown, to understand the urgency for action and to try and adjust my lifestyle accordingly. As George Monbiot says, survival requires disobedience!”
25 Just Stop Oil mothers arrested for slow marching London 6 Nov 2023.
Her daughter, Sophie Holland aged 52, a speech therapist and also a mother of three, said:
“I’m here because where else would I be? The world is disappearing before our eyes – flooded, burnt, species after species vanishing. Scientists are telling us, loud and clear, this is our last chance. The UN secretary general, the International Energy Agency, Sir David Attenborough, Chris Packham are all saying we are facing catastrophe if we continue to burn fossil fuels. Why isn’t everyone who has children, or knows children, or sees pictures of already displaced and starving children; on the streets, demanding change from our self-serving, criminal government?”
