Wherever you stand on Brexit, it’s hard not to take some comfort from the government’s proposed Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. This is the post EU strategy to introducing new ways of funding farmers with public money – moving from the basic payment principle to the “public money for public goods” approach. I heard a… Continue reading
A favourite Middle England marque joins the EV revolution
The only time-passing diversion at Milton Keynes station at midnight yesterday, as I waited to pick up a very late family member, was a series of rolling electronic adverts. The display had the desired effect, because here I am imparting the case for the all-electric Vauxhall Corsa-e – “Milton Keynes to West Yorkshire on a single… Continue reading
Scoop! How Mr Jones flew with Hitler
Mr Jones, the movie, opened in the UK in Feb, 2020. It’s the story of a Welsh journalist who breaks the news in the western media of the state-induced famine in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Director: Agnieszka Holland; Writer: Andrea Chalupa. Starring: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard. Scoop! A scoop is rather prosaically defined… Continue reading
Peak District tourism website relaunched
I recently came across a useful walkers’ website – www.10adventures.com/england/ . This is a page looking at the Roaches ——— Promoting a destination through a website has been obligatory for some time, if the place wants to attract today’s web-savvy travellers. But now we are into the second and third generation of tourism websites, and the… Continue reading
Silent Seven go green in Central London
Update Feb 2020. A ban on selling new petrol, diesel or hybrid cars in the UK will be brought forward from 2040 to 2035 at the latest, under government plans. It’s been a slow start for the small electric city car. I wrote the following piece in 2011, in that optimistic pre-Olympics age. In… Continue reading
Former government chief scientist Sir David King calls for urgent climate action
It’s encouraging that the need for urgent action on the climate emergency is finally being being widely accepted by politicians, business and the wider public. The message must be relentlessly proclaimed throughout the 2020s. Until recently so many opportunities have been squandered, so many experts ignored. One is the former government chief scientist Sir David King. I remember an… Continue reading