My gloss on an excellent little fact sheet produced by George Monbiot.
INTRODUCTION
This post was inspired by a fact sheet created by environmental campaigner George Monbiot which you can read in full by clicking the screenshot below:
CARS
This short piece outlines some very valid objections to the over-use of cars. However, the pollution aspect of the problems caused by the over-use of cars (which in this country has reached scandalous proportions) is more properly a criticism of the fact that the vast majority of cars continued to be powered by the infernal combustion engine. There are many non-polluting means of powering vehicles available these days. Addressing the pollution issue however does not address the problem of congestion. To avoid misunderstandings: Monbiot’s fact sheet is bang on the money, and everyone should read it in full.
As an example of my own approach as a non-driver, here courtesy of google maps is a suggested walking route from my home to the scout hut on Beulah Street, which I quite often have cause to visit:
My usual choices of walking routes are actually longer than those recommended above because I prefer routes that spend less time around roads even if they take longer (see this postfrom yesterday for examples of two routes that I used on Saturday). There is a bus route that I could use if so inclined – there is a stop close to the Wootton Road end of Beulah Street but for a journey of this distance I positively prefer Shanks’ pony.
However, I freely acknowledge that while cars are over-used for short journeys there is another reason why there are far too many cars on British roads, and that leads to the next section of this post…
BUSES AND TRAINS
British public transport is in a shocking state. There are many people, particularly in rural areas, who have no public transport options available to them, and even where there are public transport options they are overpriced and unreliable. It is only by creating a public transport system that works for those who use it that we can seriously reduce car usage.
I always like to include photographs in my posts, so to conclude this little post here is a shot of the front of King’s Lynn railway station:
This post is my response to Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK’s challenge to come up with a dream cabinet. I do not quite have a full cabinet here but I do have names, positions and explanations and/ or justifications for all my choices. I will start by listing the names and positions, and will then go into a little more detail in the next section about my reasons.
THE SELECTIONS
These are the positions I have managed to fill:
Prime Minister – Debbie Abrahams
Deputy Prime Minister – Angela Rayner
Chancellor of the Exchequer – Richard Murphy
Home Secretary – Kerry-Anne Mendoza
Foreign Secretary – Clive Lewis
Business Secretary – Rebecca Long-Bailey
Health Secretary – Jo Rust
Environment – Caroline Lucas
Transport – Thomas Sutcliffe
Neurodiversity Minister – Paddy-Joe Moran (askpergers.wordpress.com)
Education Secretary – Michael Rosen
Arts – Anna Bohlin
Sports – Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy)
Scottish Secretary – Mhairi Black
Disabilities – Paula Peters (DPAC)
Science – Patricia Fara
Work and Pensions – Mike Sivier
Women and Equality – Kate Osamor
Welsh Secretary – Leanne Wood
Defence – Emily Thornberry
Housing and Planning – Sian Berry
We now move on to the the….
EXPLANATIONS/ JUSTIFICATIONS
I will take each position in the order in which they appear above:
Prime Minister – Debbie Abrahams
Debbie Abrahams has impressed me ever since she entered the shadow cabinet to the extent that I was determined to put her in a top position, and in the end I opted for the top position for her.
Deputy Prime Minister – Angela Rayner
Another who has been consistently impressive since her promotion to the front bench. From what I read of her performance on Question time when she had to contend with three very right wing fellow panelists, a Liberal Democrat and the mloderator, Mr Arch-Establishment Dimbleby (I was not able to watch for myself as I refuse to let the BBC have any of my money) she seems to have done a fine job of further underlining her credentials.
Chancellor of the Exchequer – Richard Murphy
We need his kind of economic vision as a matter of urgency, and how better to get it and than have the man himself as chancellor of the exchequer.
Home Secretary – Kerry-Anne Mendoza
Editor of The Canary and author of many splendid articles. I am sufficiently impressed by what I have seen of her that I have no doubts about putting her straight into one of the four so-called “great offices of state”.
Foreign Secretary – Clive Lewis
He was always going to feature somewhere in my dream cabinet, and I have decided that this is the right role for him.
Business Secretary – Rebecca Long-Bailey
Someone else who has said a lot of the right things since joining the front bench.
Health Secretary – Jo Rust
The Labour Party candidate for Northwest Norfolk (my constituency) at the last general election, active in many roles and a passionate supporter of the NHS. Exactly the right kind of person to take on the formidable task of repairing the ruin caused by the likes of Lansley and Hunt.
Environment – Caroline Lucas
I want environmental policy in the hands of someone who is committed to protecting the environment, and to me no one ticks that box more definitively than Ms Lucas.
Transport – Thomas Sutcliffe
I am aware that it is always risky for selectors to pick themselves, but I believe I can justify this one. I have a lifetime’s knowledge of and commitment to public transport. Although I am creator of a London transport themed website, London would actually be at the back of the queue for attention from me is at it is less badly off transport-wise than the rest of the country.
Neurodiversity Minister – Paddy-Joe Moran
Paddy-Joe is autistic, the author of several books about autism and also writes the askpergersblog. Having decided to revive the idea of this post (see here for more details) it was a question of who to select for it. I wanted my Neurodiversity Minister to be neurodiverse themselves and in the end I went for Paddy-Joe.
Education Secretary – Michael Rosen
He would bring a lifetime’s knowledge and passionate commitment to the post. Education in this country would improve massively with Michael Rosen in this role.
Arts – Anna Bohlin
I do not know whether we could persuade her to come over from Sweden, but I am sure that she would be excellent in this role and would work well with her cabinet colleagues. For more details about her consult her blog.
Sports – Elizabeth Ammon
Also known by hew twitter handle – legsidelizzy. In addition to her cricket writing and commentaries she has made some very sound political points.
Scottish Secretary – Mhairi Black
Always assuming Scotland have not yet declared indepence, I would want Mhairi Black, who is the youngest but also one of the most impressive MPs currently in the house, in my cabinet, and this would seem the ideal role for her.
Disabilities – Paula Peters
I have gone for someone who is disabled and heavily involved in DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) for this important role.
Science – Patricia Fara
Author of a book on the history of science, a scientist herself and an impressive speaker (I have heard her give a talk here in King’s Lynn). She got the nod ahead of Brian Cox because I decided that I wanted a woman in charge of science policy.
Work and Pensions – Mike Sivier
Author of theVox Politicalblog, carer and very knowledgeable about the misdeeds of the DWP under the Tories he would be an excellent person to undertake the task of putting this area back on track.
Women and Equality – Kate Osamor
Like several of my other choices she has impressed ever since taking her place on the front bench, and she would be well suited to this role.
Welsh Secretary – Leanne Wood
Occasionally sounds too excitable for her own good, but says a lot of good things, and I believe would do them in this role.
Defence – Emily Thornberry
As shadow defence secretary (before being moved to shadow foreign secretary) she was quite impressive.
Housing and Planning – Sian Berry
She ran an excellent campaign for Mayor of London which deserved better reward than third place (in particular, it was a travesty that she ended up behind Goldsmith after he ran such a disgraceful campaign, but also for my money Khan could have had no complaints had she won outright). This is a position I would definitely want in the hands of someone thoroughly committed to protecting the environment. To reuse a remark I originally made as a comment in response to one of Anna’s posts:
Preservation of nature needs to be at the heart of planning decisions, not an optional (and often despised) extra. Your battle in Trosa is a battle for all of us everywhere.
PHOTOGRAPHS
After all that text here are some photographs for a bit of light relief…
The first seven pictures are from yesterday – this is the East Rudham (my parents’ village) egg shop
Starting with this one my remaining pictures are from today.
An account of the latest display of appalling behaviour by the downright dishonourable member for Shipley and a suggestiion for how to prevent repeats.
INTRODUCTION
The section of this post which gives it its title is largely comprised of embedded tweets about the appalling conduct of a Tory MP today.
THE TWEETS
This sequence of tweets summing up the Downright Dishonourable Member for Shipley’s latest display of contemptuous narcissism start and finish with mine, but those in the middle are from others…
The downright dishonourable Phil E Buster (Con, Shipley) at it again. https://t.co/0ekuSurbfx
— Alison Thewliss (@alisonthewliss) February 24, 2017
Philip Davies has 66 amendments to derail Istanbul Convention bill tmro. 616 women have died from male violence while ratification stalls https://t.co/XNnjHCqlXa
Spot on – I am preparing a blog post in which many of these tweets will feature and I will set out my own views on how to stop this stuff. https://t.co/nn8kE1QDhF
My renaming of Mr Davies as the Downright Dishonourable Phil E Buster (Con, Shipley) is because he has a long and disgraceful record of such behaviour and because in Britain this kind of behaviour is known as filibustering. It is right and proper to condemn this kind of behaviour, especially in relation to a bill that is about tackling domestic violence (being put forward by Eilidh Whiteford of the SNP), but that leads on to the next question…
WHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUT IT?
Tight time limits on speaking should be set in place as a matter of urgency and they need to be enforced rigorously. I believe that as well as being arrogant and contemptuous this “tactic” is deeply antidemocratic and cowardly (if you think you can defeat the bill you should present a coherent argument against it and back yourself to win the vote). The time limits should be a proportion of the total time set aside for the bill to be discussed, and will therefore vary according to circumstances. As for the punishments, I suggest a rugby style three tier approach, making the punishment fit the offences as follows:
For a first offence a ban on speaking for 1 weeks worth of parliamentary sessions (the equivalent of being sent to the sin bin).
For a second offence a ban on speaking for 1 months worth of parliamentary sessions (yellow card in rugby terms)
For a third offence automatic termination of parliamentary career on ground of unfitness for office, thus triggering a by-election, and of course debarring the offender from ever standing for elected office again. This is the red card equivalent.
This approach to dealing with what has become a serious problem mirrors my approach the curse of slow over rates in cricket, which I would deal with by the insertion of the following clause into the laws of the game:
The bowling side is required to deliver 30 overs per session (i.e 15 per hour) and at the end of each session if they have failed to achieve this their opponents will be awarded penalty runs for the unbowled overs at a rate of 10 per over or double the batting side’s scoring rate, whichever is the greater.
Note the inclusion of an insurance policy to make sure that the measure is absolutely guaranteed to be properly punitive.
PICTURES
Regular visitors to this site will know that I always like to include pictures in my blog posts, so here are some:
Kirsten, one of the people who runs the Musical Keys sessions at the scout hut playing the trombone on Saturday.The remaining pictures are of cigarette card lots that I imaged for James and Sons’ March auction (all taken on Tuesday).
aspiblog 