Category: Ecology and animal protection

People need wild spaces and green spaces and other species need them too. Sharing our world with other species is part of the joy of being alive, when we cage and abuse them, or destroy their habitat, we demean ourselves in the process

Jenny works to increase green spaces and protect animals and wild space

Read on to see her latest posts on this these topics

Dear Conservatives who care

Published on by jonesjb

A few of you have told me that Blue is the new Green. That you have compassion towards animals and want to conserve the beauty of this world.

Last week one of you told me that the budget wasn’t the place to mention climate change, and I was too infuriated to argue, but I’d like to disagree. Every Government statement must mention it because it affects every area of our lives. Energy, housing, agriculture, transport, food, defence, the economy (no business on a dead planet) etc. Continue reading “Dear Conservatives who care” →

Farmer’s padlock their Roundup, but not gardeners

Published on by iwin1961

My oral question (see Youtube) on the use of Roundup put the Minister under pressure to act as several peers followed up with hard hitting points of their own. Roundup and Glyphosate herbicides can cause cancer, and farmers are required by law to keep their supply under lock and key. That law doesn’t apply to gardeners, who can store it and spray it where children regularly play. Continue reading “Farmer’s padlock their Roundup, but not gardeners” →

The police are making political choices about domestic extremism

Published on by iwin1961

Why are the police making political choices about who is and is not an extremist? The Hunt Saboteurs Association was founded in 1963 and advocating non-violent tactics, which has been put in a police document alongside such groups as Boko Haram, Taliban, National Action and Combat 18. This follows some regional police services including anti-fracking protestors in their Prevent material for schools and colleges. I can understand the argument that it is better for professional police officers to make specific decisions about organisations, rather than politicians via the Home Office, but that logic only holds true if the criteria are clear and the reasoning explained. Continue reading “The police are making political choices about domestic extremism” →

Briefing on Heathrow and climate change

Published on by iwin1961

Some MPs will argue that it’s okay to expand Heathrow while staying within the national limit for climate change emissions. The Airports Commission did come to this conclusion, but I doubt that these MPs read the report’s smallprint about the squeeze on regional airports and a huge price hike (read more about the nonewrunways campaign). Continue reading “Briefing on Heathrow and climate change” →

Football scuppers Lords vote on environmental protection

Published on by iwin1961

I love watching a good game of football, but I would never let that stand in the way of voting through environmental protections in the Lords. I’m furious that a ‘cross party’ group of peers have convinced Lord Krebs to drop the amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill today, just so that we can reach the amendment on giving the commons a meaningful vote before the game starts. Quite simply, the opposition whips were afraid that their peers would leave, while the Rugby and Cricket loving Conservatives stayed. This is no way to run Parliament and it’s time we replaced the Lords with an elected second chamber. Continue reading “Football scuppers Lords vote on environmental protection” →

Tuesday’s crucial EU vote in the Commons

Published on by iwin1961

MPs will vote on 15 key Lord’s amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill on Tuesday and all of them are crucial to the post Brexit future of the UK. While a lot of focus in the media is on the Lords’ amendment giving Parliament a final say if the negotiations break down, there are other issues that only greens will make a priority. Continue reading “Tuesday’s crucial EU vote in the Commons” →

No three line Labour whip for Animal Sentience

Published on by iwin1961

At yesterday’s debate in the House of Lords on the EU Withdrawal Bill I had to drop my amendment to retain the EU’s rules on Animal Sentience, as part of the Withdrawal Bill, because Labour withdrew its two line whip just as I was about to push it to a vote. My amendment was the same that Caroline Lucas put to the Commons and received a lot of support. Continue reading “No three line Labour whip for Animal Sentience” →

Lords can defeat government on EU rules

Published on by iwin1961
This is a busy week in the Lords as we have the chance to defeat the government on some key amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill which retain crucial environmental principles. I’m hoping for lots of votes. The Labour and Lib Dem whips mustn’t skip over anything crucial because they are worried about the Lords over stepping its role. If something is wrong with the legislation, then we need to say so. 

Continue reading “Lords can defeat government on EU rules” →

25 years before we stop putting ‘avoidable’ plastic waste into our Oceans?

Published on by iwin1961
The Government made a ban on plastics the centrepiece of its 25 year Environment Plan, but leaked documents have since shown it is lobbying against the 65% recycling target for urban waste by 2035 which the EU is proposing. The 25 year plan aims for “zero avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042″, which is just too little, too late.
If plastic is avoidable, then we should be avoiding it as soon as feasibly possible. Our seas are already choking on plastic – we can’t keep going on like this for another 24 years.

Continue reading “25 years before we stop putting ‘avoidable’ plastic waste into our Oceans?” →