Author Archives: Miles King

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About Miles King

UK conservation professional, writing about nature, politics, life. All views are my own and not my employers. I don't write on behalf of anybody else.

A happy coincidence

I was walking through Covent Garden in London the other day, when I looked up and saw this plaque. Endell Street was the first hospital to be created, run and staffed entirely by women doctors and nurses and opened 100 … Continue reading

Posted in first world war | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

O Rose thou art sick: on bees, flowers and pesticides

It was national poetry day on Thursday. After reading something today I thought of this poem which was in an anthology I had long ago: O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the … Continue reading

Posted in bees, Neonicotinoids, poetry | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Ecomodernists split over links with neoliberals and libertarians

Ecomodernist Mark Lynas was rather rueful in his Guardian article yesterday, where he openly regretted having agreed to speak at Owen Paterson’s UK2020 “thinktank”, alongside ecovandal Paterson and his libertarian brother in law “rational optimist” Viscount Matt Ridley. He described … Continue reading

Posted in ecomodernism, libertarians, neoliberalism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ecomodernist unease as Paterson uses their platform to attack Green Blob

Necessity is the mother of strange bedfellows, according to an old adage. And it is presumably this maxim which led the Ecomodernists to jump into bed with arch-neoliberals Owen Paterson and Matt Ridley last week. They may well be rueing … Continue reading

Posted in ecomodernism, GMOs, Matt Ridley, Owen Paterson | 3 Comments

Countryside Alliance get into their stride attacking Kerry McCarthy for her vegan ethics

The power and influence of the Countryside Alliance extends far and wide through society, even as far as new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been forced to publicly announce that Labour has no plans to introduce a campaign (along … Continue reading

Posted in countryside alliance, Kerry McCarthy, vegetarianism | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Ecomodernism takes us back to an old future

The risk all utopians run is that entryists will use their idealism for their own ends. This would appear to be happening this week, as arch neoliberal brothers Owen Paterson and Viscount Matt Ridley, and others, seek to appropriate Ecomodernism … Continue reading

Posted in ecomodernism, Living Marxism, Matt Ridley, neoliberalism, Owen Paterson, People Need Nature | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Farmers and Bloodsports supporters are frightened by Kerry McCarthy’s ethics

Farmers and Bloodsports campaigners reacted with repressed fury, confusion and shock to the announcement that Kerry McCarthy  – A VEGAN – had been selected as Labour’s shadow secretary of state for the environment, farming and rural affairs. The farming press … Continue reading

Posted in countryside alliance, Kerry McCarthy, Labour, veganism | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

New Shadow DEFRA Team announced: emphasis on the urban and post-industrial

  It’s taken a while but Jerry Corbyn has finally chosen his shadow ministers. Working for Shadow Secretary of State for Defra Kerry McCarthy MP (who has set out her initial views on the post here) will be: Alex Cunningham, … Continue reading

Posted in Kerry McCarthy, Labour, Labour shadow DEFRA team | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

More on The Countryside Alliance Foundation accounts

Following my earlier blog about the Countryside Alliance and the relationship with its charitable foundation, I have had the following comment from a Chartered Accountant on the latest published accounts of the Countryside Alliance Foundation: “The charity should be following … Continue reading

Posted in countryside alliance, Countryside Alliance Foundation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Countryside Alliance, its Charitable Foundation and the Tory party.

  The Countryside Alliance, who you will remember launched a scathing (unjustified) attack on the RSPB earlier this year, and more recently against Chris Packham, is not a charity, though reports suggested it was planning to register as one last … Continue reading

Posted in countryside alliance, Countryside Alliance Foundation, Kerry McCarthy | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments