Yeah, I agree with you on that. I just didn't want to over complicate my post. But you're right. That's still government policy that's done it.
Whilst it is true that a large proportion of the PLP is Blairite I must observe that against a similarly beleaguered Tory administration Blair had a thirty point lead and went on to gain a 160 seat majority. Corbyn on the other hand is behind in the polls and heading to quite possibly be third in the share of the vote behind the LD's. He has been an absolute disaster for the party. The lady who chaired the conference Brexit vote is typical of Corbynite appointees, put there merely because they can be easily manipulated.
I have a lot of sympathy with this. The thing that Blair did, and he actually told the members he was going to do this, was that he had to move certain values of the Labour Party to the centre ground to get elected. That doesn't sit well with a lot of people but it worked. He and Brown took the party out of the wilderness and into power. And for quite a while the UK felt a little bit better about itself. Even if they lost, the LP became electable again. At the moment clearly they're just not there. That's either through leadership or policy. I've said before, I think Jeremy is a good person, and a leader of a party of protest. But I don't think he can lead a party pushing for government. He misses too many opportunities to point the way, when the present government is in a state of total disarray. He'd be ok as an interim PM, in my opinion though because he'd have other leader party leaders behind him. Jo Swinson might be right about JC, but she needs to reconsider for the public good.
I just wonder that if the climate emergency is going to take such radical changes to avert, are we all being short-sighted thinking that economic growth, hence tory government can possibly be sustainable. I'd sooner radically change my lifestyle knowing that my government was doing things for the people and the environment rather than share prices. I think that the huge changes that need to happen can only happen under a socialist, interventionist government and that we need to forget about how we ran things in the past, and what constitutes sucess
And yes, whilst it won't necessarily require hard socialist measures, it will take a more left wing approach to calculate the true cost of capital projects. Other than Brown sites, the environment is barely ever taken into account. However, if a government initiates a carbon tax and proper measures to calculate the environment benefit or destruction to an area or atmosphere then, without even providing incentives, green initiatives will lead the way. What seems to be invisible to this government is that clean industries are capable of employing thousands of people, because there is a whole infrastructure that could be changed and upgraded. And now that new technologies like low or zero-CO2 concrete can be made, we can build without significant damage too. As for carbon capture tech - use nature. Plants are great. Bamboo is fantastic. And a good fibre and building material too. All that is needed is a wartime will. Do it that way and we could get it done in way under a decade. What's the betting they don't.
I guess every nation is waiting for somebody else to take the plunge first...i think it should be us.
We flew to Cork from Bristol and back in one of these this week: That’s an ATR 72-600 twin turboprop, which Aer Lingus claim has a 40% lower carbon footprint than the equivalent size jet. A lovely ride, too, and much quieter than a 737. But why not go the whole hog and have an electric-powered airliner of this size?
Thing is, is that being in the EU, we have been doing it together. Some projects are easier, or even just possible, on a larger, unified scale. And the environment is not something you can just set aside and let one country take all the measures, because damage to the environment doesn't recognise barriers. Sure, you get localised damage, but mainly it's a global thing. So we have to tackle it on a global basis. As I've said before, I've recognised this and spoken to people about it for about 30 years. But I'm no Greta Thunberg, because I was an informed adult mature student back then. If we had started tackling this back then we'd have been late, but we would have had it under control by now. But this is last chance saloon time. I keep saying to people, and writing here, that you have to change your lifestyle. Not next year, not next week, now. Me, I changed a long time ago to minimal impact, and I could still change a bit more and plan to. Football, Brexit and whatever else mean fcuk all, compared to this.
But the EU relies on globalism and growth so it's a massive jugganaut to turn in another direction. If we are as close to disaster as is being stated, that model needs to completely change, as do nearly all our preconceptions of what constitutes value. Football is an example - at what point does the entertainment value get outweighed by the environmental cost of transporting teams and thousands of fans, sometimes around the world just to provide 90 minutes of entertainment? Big Big changes required, but I don't think people will accept it, and will carry on doing what they want as we watch the place become uninhabitable for half the population. Talking of which, how do we reduce the global population to a potentially sustainable level?
I was actually agreeing with you - reluctantly - up until the last two sentences. I think it's the electorate that's easily manipulated, but that's hardly surprising given the extent of the relentless orchestrated smear campaign the media have conducted against Corbyn since day one.
Rachel Johnson, yes that’s the Prime Member’s sister, was alluding to Boris being under pressure from pleasant fellows like Odey to deliver No Deal. Wouldn’t it be ironic that if we manage to stop it happening, rather than the full extent of the law crashing down on the Buffoon, it ends up being used to protect him from people like this?
And here’s an article from the excellent Byline Times with a lot more detail. https://bylinetimes.com/2019/09/26/...qipOqDpcws2y4RHXn8Ep84dAl_hr3Ehdg57naXEpINNo0 This is what has driven the whole, nasty, stinkingly corrupt Brexit process. The poor deluded 17.4 million who voted for it will never see any unicorns. They, like the rest of us, are disposable.
We know the electorate are easily manipulated. That's why you have to resort to their tactics. Sadly the electorate are influenced by seeing people like Corbyn and Diane Abbott who are poor communicators attempting to communicate a message that they are very easily turned against. They don't help themselves by coming out with things like repossessing public schools, it's too easily portrayed as The Politics of Envy and that works very well in turning people against Labour. My argument isn't necessarily against their policies, I would happily scrap Trident for example and save £100 billion. But you have to be smart. Sadly Labour are not and that is why they are going to get a hiding in the election.
The fact the electorate are easily manipulated is the main reason major decisions should be left to the MPs
Actually, there is evidence and talk amongst a few commentators that there will be a population collapse happening in the next 3-4 decades, so it may take care of itself. The problem with the population getting radically smaller is that, until it stabilises, there will be a glut of very old people and relatively few younger people to look after them. So there will be this lopsided average age until the older ones die out. That's me and you, the baby boomers and post-baby boomers. As to changing our lifestyles, there won't be a huge upheaval, provided we start going in the right direction now. The EU proposals to transfer to green alternatives are in front of the UK. Certain countries have their own issues, but in a lot of areas the UK is being dragged along to better standards. This is a lot of the reason why people want to get out of the EU because they perceive that there are too many environmental regulations, when in fact we need new ones. I don't trust this UK government as far as I can spit to do the right thing by the environment. In Europe they are turning the ship around. We have our great push for Wind power. That's good, but we need to roll out massive solar plans too. We need to get out of our cars, or get into electric ones, the next time we buy new. Hybrids won't cut it. You can always lease. For those with existing cars who can't afford new - get out of that petrol or diesel or make sure they are running in tip-top condition. Combine as many journeys into one as possible, because then the petrol or diesel will operate cleaner, because it is at operating temperature. If it is a short journey, consider a bicycle or public transport. Above all, don't buy another FF car ever again. Electric vehicles are already cheaper to own than FF cars, and they've only just got started. There are literally tonnes of things we can do, and I could write all night on my birthday. But I don't want to dwell on this subject, because it saddens me at the lack of progress. Tell you what, do one thing. Buy a book on the subject. I've recommended this one before because it was published this year and it is aimed at helping people make the change. Here are two online links, but you can go into a bookshop and find it: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/There-Is...528880&hash=item4b6aa027f0:g:jd0AAOSwReJdeAj8 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1108439586/?tag=not606-21 Buy it. Read it. Digest it. You can dip into it at any moment too. I guarantee you will start to get a good grip on the situation and how you can reduce your own personal impact.
