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Vaccines and Variants point to two alternative futures.
Variant. The word takes me back to sometime in the early 1970s and this car. Someone in the London suburb where we lived had a pale blue one, and I was fascinated by it. It certainly wasn’t a beautiful car, … Continue reading
Posted in covid-19, covid19, Uncategorized, vaccines
Tagged B117, covid19, vaccines, variant
5 Comments
Attempted Coups, Pariah States and Brexit-Trump
Writing this in the aftermath of the attempted coup in Washington on Wednesday is difficult and perhaps premature. Difficult because I, like I am sure many of you, am still processing what’s happened, the enormity of it. Premature because President … Continue reading
What a Year
I think “what a year” is how most people feel about 2020. It started with us wondering whether we would crash out of the EU without a deal, and ended with a deal being rushed through Parliament not only without … Continue reading
Farming After Brexit: Golden Age or Great Betrayal?
It’s now just 30 days until we leave the transition period (we already left the EU last January) and, depending on how you look at it, are once again a Sovereign State able to take back control and make our … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture policy, Brexit, Uncategorized
Tagged Agriculture, Brexit, Farming is Changing
4 Comments
Green Industrial Revolution or Greenwash?
Earlier this week I imagined, not altogether seriously, how Boris Johnson came to create his Ten Point Plan for the climate, or the Green Industrial Revolution, if you like. At the time there was no detail other than the Prime … Continue reading
The real story behind Boris Johnson’s Green Industrial Revolution
Imagine the scene. Our fearless Prime Minister is holed up in his flat above Number 11 Downing Street, self-isolating. He’s fuming, having received a message from Dido’s fabulous test ‘n’ trace App, that he has been exposed to covid19, again. … Continue reading
Posted in Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, Uncategorized
Tagged Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, green industrial revolution
9 Comments
All flesh is grass
Are we just slaves to a few members of the grass family – the gramineae? Is there something in these grasses that, like the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which elicits an increase in risky behaviour after infection, causes people to … Continue reading
Posted in grass, grasslands, Uncategorized
Tagged Berrier Farm, cereals, climate change, grass, Grassland, perennial rye-grass
3 Comments
Berrier Farm under Trees: 100 acres of peat bog, heath and wildlife-rich grassland destroyed by tree planting
England desperately needs more trees, we are constantly told. And it’s certainly true that tree cover here is lower than most other European countries. The data must he handled with care though, when … Continue reading
Posted in Cumbria, Forestry Commission, peat bog, tree planting, Uncategorized
Tagged Berrier Farm, Forestry Commission, peat bog, tree planting
15 Comments
Covid19 makes the case for Universal Basic Income unarguable
Well it’s no surprise that we are once again teetering on the brink of a national lockdown in England, after yet another unnecessary delay which will lead to the death of thousands of people, either directly from Covid or as … Continue reading
Posted in coronavirus, covid19, Uncategorized, Universal Basic Income
Tagged covid19, lockdown, Universal Basic Income
1 Comment
Jenrick’s Planning Reforms have nothing to say about tax dodges
It’s the last day for responses to the Government’s latest proposals to reform the planning system, to “level up” and solve the housing crisis, if you believe the spin. The proposals … Continue reading
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