ALAN SIMPSON
News from Somewhere Else
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It wasn’t the 130 forest fires raging across the USA that got to me, nor the UK’s moorland fires, the torrential storms hitting Belfast with 2 months rain in 2 hours, the lightning strikes that took out train signalling systems across the North of England, or the gales causing widespread travel disruptions. What stopped me…
When I was a child there was a low wall not far from my nan’s house. It was lined with the nobbled ‘knuckles’ of what had once been an iron-railing fence. Her explanation of why this was all that remained was very matter of fact. “It went as part of the war effort” she told us.
It was one of the biggest infrastructure projects in human history. For much of the 1930’s, and at a cost of 3.3bn francs, France built itself a 900-mile network of tunnels, underground bunkers…
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” (Greek proverb) Britain has 5.5 million men, and 6.5 million women, who are of pensionable age.
It is 4 years since the death of my friend and mentor, Tony Benn. I could argue that he turns up in every article I write, but that’s a poor substitute for the daily conversations into which he poured tea and optimism in equally copious quantities.
It was a message to warm the heart; a daughter thanking the care worker who took the time to dance with her dementia-suffering dad at the end of each home visit.
Transformation Moment
My pamphlet 'Transformation Moment' is intended to support the case for a radical shift in energy thinking; as much about democracy as technology, and about 'systems' rather than just supply.
Hunt: "Don't mistake politeness for weakness". Wouldn't "Don't mistake stupidity for strength" be a better description of the mess they're making?
The answer is easy. Labour (and the press) have to focus on the big issues that must urgently re-shape politics if we're to avoid runaway climate breakdown. Do this and we'll all discover there's a long way to go before we reach 'Peak Corbyn'.
Polls look bad for Labour. The only way they could win the election is if the government stumbled into some kind of political and economic crisis. https://t.co/S1QHDtjdNN
EU humiliation: a furious Theresa May insists Britain will still jump, with or without a parachute.
There is a point where leadership crosses into lunacy, and the leaders fail to notice. Wisdom is knowing when NOT to follow.
Ok, but at least lambast both for ignoring Garibaldi.
@AlanSimpson01 Alan, biscuits are a big issue.
Get a grip, Jim. You're great on big issues, but when Shortbread and Rich Tea don't count as straight answers to your biscuit question, Houston has a problem.
turns out neither Corbyn nor McDonnell can give a straight answer when asked by Mumsnet about their favourite biscuit
Hardly an endorsement. Publicly, Frackers said the US' huge tectonic plates meant 'fugitive' emissions were not a problem. Privately, they didn't give a stuff. We don't have that option...and nor does the planet.
@GayLabourYorkie @JamesAnthonyRN @hannahjoinson1 @AlanSimpson01 @RLong_Bailey @guardian And yet ex President Obama allowed it throughout his two terms.
Beyond Boris' huffing and puffing, I can't work out why membership of the WTO doesn't count as the same surrender of sovereignty? Perhaps corporate feudalism is his preferred form of surrender.
He also seems to have forgotten William of Orange. Don't they teach them anything at Eton? https://t.co/RK7W5gZOsl
Labour's position on #fracking is unequivocal: we will ban it. I have recently visited communities opposed to fracking in Lancashire, as have John McDonnell and Barry Gardiner. 1/
Labour is divided over its proposed fracking ban â Cuadrilla chief
Accusation comes only weeks before the UKâs first fracking in seven years
www.theguardian.com
Something we are assured won't happen on Planet Mogg and/or that Labour recidivists will claim to be entirely Corbyn's fault. Time for some serious politics?
BBC News - 'Climate change moving faster than we are,' says UN Secretary General https://t.co/8QaoFwsTbP via @BBCNews
Spot on. It really is sad that when Labour MPs sit at the edge of an ecological precipice, with no plans for dealing with extreme weather events (let alone extreme divides between rich and poor) and claim that Corbyn (not their emptiness) is the problem.
I have literally spent all of life fighting racism. And today is a sad day @UKLabour is NOT institutionally racist. If it was I would go. @ChukaUmunna & Trevor Phillips interventions are disappointing. Windrush, hostile environment that's a clear example of a racist institution.