Tag Archives: Owen Paterson
Brexit will save us from the Obama Flatworm, claims #OPatz.
The impact of invasive species, so we are repeatedly told, is one of the biggest threats to the future of global biodiversity. Himalayan balsam rampages through the countryside, while Ash dieback has now reached about two thirds of the native … Continue reading
Owen Paterson is not fit for purpose
It’s probably no exaggeration to say the NHS saved my life last week. I had been having some odd pains for about a month which eventually turned out to be a kidney stone. This is unimaginably painful unless you have … Continue reading
Brexit: The Establishment is under attack – from an unlikely quarter.
A local MP here in Dorset has welcomed the victory for Brexit in the local paper. “Voters don’t want to be run or ruled by a growing undemocratic bureaucracy.” “They wanted to take control back.” “It’s simple – we wanted … Continue reading
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
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
Viscount Matt Ridley: The New King Coal
I have written many times (eg here, here and here) about Viscount Matt Ridley. Ridley styles himself as “The Rational Optimist”, is brother in law of former Secretary of State against the Environment Owen … Continue reading
Paterson-watch update OPatz fires off a salvo at the PM
No sooner had I posted my first Paterson-watch piece yesterday, when the man himself has surfaced and fired a salvo for Atlanticist free-market fundamentalism, in the direction of none other than the prime minister. Paterson will today say that the … Continue reading
Owen Paterson – watch
It may not be what normal people think of first on a damp grey November Sunday morning, but I wondered to myself “what’s Owen Paterson up to?” I’ll phone my therapist later. Paterson has launched a “think tank” called UK … Continue reading
Beavers: Common Sense may have broken out at Defra
The Beavers of the River Otter in Devon have been under threat of being “rehomed” in a zoo, thanks to pressure from The Angling Trust (no beavers do not eat fish). This was partly due to paranoia that the beavers … Continue reading
Owen Paterson calls for the use of nuclear submarines to power the UK
Owen Paterson wants the UK to run on electricity from Nuclear Submarines Owen Paterson is a bit of a submarine himself these days. He goes under, for weeks at a time, then pops up, fires off … Continue reading
