Autonomous Mind waspishly but brilliantly explains here why David Cameron’s claims today that he will get rid of bureaucracy and stimulate enterprise are a load of hot air. The BBC, of course, uses the speech mainly as yet another pretext to pursue the corporation’s anti-cuts we-want-Labour-back agenda; there’s not a whisper in their Cameron coverage about the real enemy to growth and enterpise, which is the EU.
Meanwhile, without any sense of irony, Roger Harrabin reports about one of the most chilling documents I have ever seen. It was slipped out last week by DEFRA and is called Mainstreaming Sustainable Development. What it means in practice is that the incompetents at DEFRA (who have already wrecked huge parts of British agriculture, slavishly follow EU diktats, and masterminded such debacles as the response to foot-and-mouth) henceforward have a mandate to meddle in every sphere of British life to ensure that eco-loon measures are adopted at almost all and any cost. This really is eco-fascism in action and will ensure that taxes are jacked up in the effort to reduce CO2; all efforts to start new businesses in the UK are swamped by eco-regulations (on top of the thousands of pages already enacted by the EU); and waste management – already a total sick joke – will become even more complex.
For Harrabin and his cronies, of course, even this is not enough. His entire article is taken up by the usual eco-loons like Jonathan Porritt who are bellyaching and moaning that much stricter measures must be introduced and jackboot government must enforce them. Already we have been warned that electricity is going to become an intermittent commodity, and Britain’s energy policy is simply dangerously complacent. Mr Harrabin will not stop his one-sided ranting until we are back in the stone age.
So the UK catches up with Africa. Who’d have thought it?
Fela Kuti “Never Expect Power Always”,1985 (aka N.E.P.A.) also an acronym for the “Nigerian Electrical Power Authority”
Perhaps people in Africa should hold a rock concert for the poor and suffering people of the UK?
Agnes, pass the candle. No of course I’m not going to do that with it again (well, not tonight, anyway…) – we need to light it so we can read the electricity meter and find out when it’s our turn for an hour’s worth of current.
And stop wasting the batteries in that disgusting device, I need them for my depilator.
Thanks for linking and the kind words.
How unsurprising to see Harrabin give the playing field to one side of the argument. Bias by omission is alive and well at the BBC.
Some good laughs in that DEFRA doc:
page 4 “Action to tackle climate change”
(DECC’s first step will be to correct the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit and to ban solar cycles).
page 6 “The recent negotiations in Cancun are prime examples of how the UK has led the way on this agenda…” !!
Page 7 “The Ministry of Defence plans to deliver a long term sustainable development strategy..”
Yup – no ships, no carriers, no planes. no soldiers, sailors nor pilots. That should do the job nicely.
It’s funny the stultifying effect green propaganda has on one’s attitude towards the environment: A few years back I was a fervent recycler and all for reducing unnecessary waste of materials and energy. Now I feel like buying a V12 Dodge Viper, performing donuts in a cloud of tire smoke, and fly-tipping sanitary waste outside certain MPs houses.