The news broke last night when I was in one of my regular election campaign team meetings. Subject to approval by the Lords, there will be a general election on the 12 December. So we've started the countdown to what is being dubbed the most unpredictable and epic general election in living memory. The last December election was almost 100 years ago, and campaigning is going to tough, with dark nights, cold and possibly pretty awful weather. But despite the challenges of leafleting and door knocking, last night the air of excitement was palpable. We sensed the enormity and [...]
Devon County Council has reported that that the Environmental Performance Board has endorsed prioritising work on key points within my 10 Point Green Action Plan and so too, has the Farm Estates Committee, who will take some of this work forward. These key points are: - increasing pollinators - Reducing pesticides and fertilisers - Habitat protection, creation and tree planting - Soil health - Reducing water use I requested the report at the most recent full council meeting, which took place on Thursday 3 October. I thanked officers for the their work so far and have [...]
So the prime minister has just negotiated a deal with the EU. But I'm already alarmed at how the government is threatening parliament over this new withdrawal agreement, which is set to be voted on, on Saturday. Jean Claude Junker says he rules out an extension, HOWEVER, BBC Europe Editor, Katya Adler is tweeting that the rest of the 27 member states may yet take a different view. It appears that it if approved, the deal would signal the end of the United Kingdom due to the customs arrangements for Ireland, allowing the rest of the UK to leave the customs union - something the [...]
The government has an urgent responsibility to place the restoration of nature as a top priority, following the latest State of Nature report, which has been published this evening. One quarter of birds and nearly half of mammals assessed are at risk of extinction. The report states it is the intensification of farming, pollution from fertiliser, manure and plastic, the destruction of habitats for houses, the climate crisis and invasive alien species, that are to blame for the losses. And the report shows no significant improvement since the last one in 2016, which said the UK was [...]