Spend it now

Britain braces for Ed Miliband, the radical left-wing chancellor

As Sir Keir Starmer looks to shore up his own authority amid expectations of heavy Labour losses in the local elections, the prospect of Miliband moving into the Treasury is no longer just hypothetical. Last week, the Prime Minister refused to say if Rachel Reeves would keep her job in a future reshuffle.

Miliband, the former Labour leader, certainly seemed buoyant last week when he addressed the Good Growth Foundation’s conference, striding onto the stage a few minutes after Jessie Ware’s aptly titled Free Yourself was blaring from the speakers.

The Energy Secretary’s speech – delivered to a standing-room-only crowd – made clear he intends to “double down, not back down” on net zero and that this would chart a path to economic growth.

When we thought it couldn't get any worse...

I'd like an argument please

From the video description- 

Rep. Rosa DeLauro got into a heated exchange with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Monday after he made a comment that the Connecticut lawmaker was not familiar with a Supreme Court ruling that dictates agency power.

Hope is contagious and science is our serf

Hope is contagious and science is king: 10 big lessons on ending the fossil fuel era

Liberation lifts the spirits

The single most important thing to come from the first Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference, in Santa Marta, has been a change of mood. Whereas the UN’s annual climate summits, or Cops, can often feel stuck and frustrating, with countries circling the same topics without resolution, nearly every delegate in Colombia felt liberated.

“The mood here in Santa Marta is euphoric,” said Tzeporah Berman, the founder and chair of the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty initiative. “After years stuck in endless debates about whether to phase out fossil fuels, finally we are focusing on the how. We are no longer fighting for recognition of the problem, but creating solutions. It’s like watching a dam break – all that pent-up experience, knowledge and passion suddenly flowing into concrete ways to phase out dirty fuels. The hope is contagious.”

Science has to come first

In a world of climate denial and misinformation, Santa Marta was a shining example of science-led decision making. Hundreds of experts, academics and scientists inspired and informed the launch of three major initiatives on the energy transition.

The emotional language is fascinating. 

Liberation lifts the spirits

mood

frustrating 

every delegate in Colombia felt liberated 

euphoric 

fighting for recognition 

like watching a dam break
all that pent-up experience, knowledge and passion 

The hope is contagious. 

a shining example

Hundreds of experts, academics and scientists inspired and informed the launch

This has no connection with the scientific method, technical feasibility or economics, it is wholly political and wholly emotional. Remarkably evil too, in its barely covert ambition to dominate everyone and everything all over the world.

As ever, follow the money.

Politically incorrect tumble dryers

Traditional tumble dryers to be 'phased out' under Labour

Traditional tumble dryers are set to be “phased out” in favour of green alternatives as the Labour government continues to push to reach net zero.

By gum - this says it all.

Compared to what they should be doing, phasing out politically incorrect tumble dryers must tell us something important about the pointless, meddling mess that is UK government. 

Not even tangentially sane. 

Floaters

Labour plans to blanket lakes with floating solar farms

Ed Miliband is preparing to blanket reservoirs and lakes with solar farms as part of Labour’s push towards net zero.

The Energy Secretary will launch a consultation to make it easier to build floating solar power plants, after a report that hailed their potential as a clean energy source.

Floating solar schemes use the same panels as land-based projects but are mounted on platforms floated in freshwater bodies such as reservoirs, lakes, quarry lakes and industrial ponds.

There is a hint of desperation about this, but also revenge against those who know Net Zero can't work and Ed Miliband is mad or bad and probably both.

I bet he's not even in the union

Health and safety-mad council threatens 'wonderful' Good Samaritan for cleaning gravestones

Ben McGregor, 25, who lost his father and best friend to suicide, voluntarily washes headstones in order to "do his bit for the community".

Mr McGregor manages his cleaning requests through a Facebook page, and said he always ensures he has the permission of the grave owners before embarking on any project...

A spokesman for South Tyneside Council said: "We greatly value the work of volunteers who help care for our cemeteries and work closely with several established Friends of Cemetery groups across the borough.

"A borough‑wide memorial inspection programme is currently underway and not all cemeteries have yet been inspected."

It added that it would be "inappropriate" to allow memorials to be cleaned in areas where standard checks for safety, risk, assessments, insurance and liability have not yet taken place, and has asked all volunteer groups to pause cleaning.

One of those entertaining jobsworth stories we never seem to run out of. We've been cleaning our daughter's grave for over thirty years, but we haven't done a risk assessment, insured ourselves or checked anything to do with liability. 

Don't tell anyone though.

Inside Europe’s propaganda apparatus

Luca Steinmann has a very interesting Brussels Signal piece on Italian journalist Thomas Fazi and his investigations into the EU propaganda apparatus. A familiar issue but well worth reading, particularly in the context of what USAID has been doing in the US.

Inside Europe’s propaganda apparatus: Thomas Fazi exposes how the EU influences media, NGOs, and universities

“The European Union is facing a geopolitical crisis that is difficult to reverse. In response, it has developed a wide-ranging propaganda apparatus to promote narratives favourable to its institutions and policies. This system operates through funding directed towards NGOs, newspapers, news agencies, and think tanks that produce narratives and analyses broadly aligned with the EU’s policy framework”.

This is the view of Thomas Fazi, an Italian journalist, writer and political commentator. He is the author of several books that critically examine the economic and political structure of the European Union. His latest essay, recently published in Italy, is titled The European Propaganda Machine. The Dark Side of NGOs, Media and Universities, in which he analyses the system of funding and relationships through which EU institutions support NGOs, media, and universities in order to build consensus around their policies.

The whole piece is a useful reminder of how far the EU goes and how much it spends to undermine democratically elected governments.

“Since the European Commission is not directly elected by national electorates, this amounts to an attempt to use foreign funding to pressure or weaken democratically elected governments.”

This, Fazi argues, resembles in some respects what USAID has done for decades, where formally independent organisations often pursue political agendas aligned with the interests of their funders. From this perspective, the issue is not simply the promotion of European integration, but the use of public funds to influence domestic political processes and public debate within member states. “From this perspective, the objective is not neutrality but influence over public opinion, particularly in countries with strong eurosceptic political forces”.