Just as Thatcher ploughed ahead with her ideological totem, the poll tax, in the face of clear evidence that it was deeply unpopular, so her modern-day acolytes around Cameron seem determined to do exactly the same thing over fracking, with very likely the same results. Despite the intense resistance demonstrated against Cuadrilla’s plans to set […]
Posts under ‘Environment’
Privatised railways have failed passengers and taxpayers
Sep 10th, 2014 by Grahame Morris.This week began with protests at Northern Rail stations, including Seaham, campaigning against the introduction of higher fares, threats to rail services, and job cuts on the rail network. Northern Rail has been pressed by the Department for Transport to raise extra revenues as sixty nine percent of their costs are covered by subsidies they receive […]
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The ‘Black’ Route: a black day for Wales
Sep 3rd, 2014 by Nick Davies.In July 2014, the Welsh Government, which claims that sustainability is the central organising principle of everything it does, decided to build a motorway relief-road across a wetland containing four Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Anyone who cares about sustainability, who regards it as more than a pious aspiration or just something one says – […]
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Out of thin air – the (alleged) economic case for a third Heathrow runway
Sep 3rd, 2014 by Jeremy Smith.When I last twice travelled directly to Guangzhou, by China Southern Airline out of Heathrow, the flight was nearly full. But not – by visual impression at least – full of thrusting British entrepreneurs keen to visit the most vibrant economic region of China, thanks to this direct link from Britain’s hub airport. More like […]
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Time for Labour to lay out how it will re-set energy markets in 2015-7: here’s how
Aug 21st, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Current UK energy policy is a colossal failure. It is supposed to (1) deliver cheap and affordable energy to consumers, (2) provide security of supply, and (3) shift from carbon fuels to renewable energy as a key part of tackling climate change. But under the current privatised regime the UK is monumentally failing on all […]
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Osborne’s fracking oasis will rapidly turn into a wilderness
Aug 15th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The American story about fracked gas since 2007 and fracked oil since 2011 is that it will continue to surge for years, turning the US into a blissful energy Eden – and Osborne wants a slice of the action. But research undertaken by US experts in the field independent of the big oil and gas […]
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Privatised railways: a right royal British rip-off
Aug 9th, 2014 by Mick Whelan.The inflation figure used to calculate increases in regulated rail fares, such as off-peak and anytime day tickets, will be announced on Tuesday 19 August. The new fares will come in at the start of January and we know that, even if they are capped at the level of inflation, they will still be running […]
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Rebalancing the economy will never happen without dedicated government input
Aug 5th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.All parties are in favour of rebalancing the deeply lop-sided and grossly imbalanced British economy, but it isn’t happening. It’s true that Jaguar Land Rover achieved a 14% year-on-year increase in sales in the first half of this year and that the company (owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata) is one of the UK’s largest […]
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Publicly owned railways, not just right but popular
Jul 8th, 2014 by Diane Abbott.As the National Policy Forum in Milton Keynes draws nearer, all eyes are on Labour’s policy formation process. Left Futures has discussed bringing back rail into public ownership before. But it is worth returning to the subject because it illustrates everything that is wrong about the way that our party currently makes policy. We know […]
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Why won’t Ed Balls nationalise the railways?
Jul 7th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.If you were to glance at this headline, you might think Labour is tearing itself apart over rail renationalisation. It isn’t, but that the bulk of members and supporters think the rail should be taken back into public ownership reflects its popularity in the wider population. Pretty consistently, over half of the electorate would like to see this […]
