We will not stand by and let this happen. The RSPB has its roots in campaigning. Our founding mothers, the brave women who started the RSPB over a hundred and thirty years ago, never fought shy of making their voices heard. Because they cared deeply about birds and wildlife.
And this is what nature needs right now. It needs us to once again stand up and show we care. In our millions, up and down the country.
CPRE says
This is a fight we have to win.
On Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng, the new chancellor, revealed plans to strip away the protection of the planning system from swathes of the countryside [1]. These new “investment zones” are deregulation on steroids, threatening many of our most loved landscapes.
If these plans go ahead developers will be given free rein to industrialise our countryside, changing the face of rural England for generations to come. We cannot stand by and allow the wildlife and landscapes that make our country so special to be robbed from us, our children or our grandchildren.
We need to act fast to force the government to change direction.
Graham Stuart criticised over ownership of publishing business behind mag that promoted 4x4s and SUVs
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PLANET EARTH- Crime Scene
Jon Fuller tells us:
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Dear Susan,
Income Tax cut. Stamp Duty
cut. Business taxes
cut.
In our plan, we announced new Investment Zones across England which will attract new business which in turn will create well-paid jobs.
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Climate change is already here. We know fossil fuel companies are the most responsible. Right now, we can't hold them to account. This could change if destroying the planet is a crime. Tell the European Parliament to add harming our planet as a crime in our laws.
SIGN NOWWe will not stand by and let this happen. The RSPB has its roots in campaigning. Our founding mothers, the brave women who started the RSPB over a hundred and thirty years ago, never fought shy of making their voices heard. Because they cared deeply about birds and wildlife.
And this is what nature needs right now. It needs us to once again stand up and show we care. In our millions, up and down the country.
CPRE says
This is a fight we have to win.
On Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng, the new chancellor, revealed plans to strip away the protection of the planning system from swathes of the countryside [1]. These new “investment zones” are deregulation on steroids, threatening many of our most loved landscapes.
If these plans go ahead developers will be given free rein to industrialise our countryside, changing the face of rural England for generations to come. We cannot stand by and allow the wildlife and landscapes that make our country so special to be robbed from us, our children or our grandchildren.
We need to act fast to force the government to change direction.
Councillor Simon Bull and I have written to all BCP's Conservative councillors, calling on them to disown the Government's ‘attack on nature’. In an open letter, we have described plans to downgrade environmental protections as a ‘three-pronged assault on nature’.
Last Friday’s ‘mini-budget’ included plans for ‘investment zones’ which would make it easier to get planning permission. The Government has also published plans for a ‘sunset clause’ on environmental protections introduced when the UK was in the EU. In addition, reports have suggested that the planned Environmental Land Management Scheme is to be scrapped. This would have paid farmers to improve nature on their land. Instead, it is rumoured that payment-by acre will no longer be linked to any environmental measures.
Our local Conservative councillors represent the many voters across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole who will be up in arms about these Government proposals. They should not feel duty-bound to back the Government, because these plans are almost the direct opposite of manifesto promises and have never been put to the British people.
We should all be standing up for nature, particularly at this critical time where locally we have declared an ecological emergency. We can have robust local economies whilst also working in harmony with nature, not against it. Local Tories have a special responsibility to say NO to their new leaders, on behalf of our community, and our local wildlife.
The full letter reads:
Dear BCP Conservative councillors,
“This Government has today launched an attack on nature” ~ RSPB England
There is widespread anger in response to government plans to remove fundamental legal protections for our environment. Opposition has come from many organisations ranging from the RSPB and National Trust through to the Wildlife Trusts and Friends of the Earth.
Alongside the reckless approach to the nation's finances, the government seems intent on tearing up protection for nature. In a three-pronged assault on nature Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng plan to:
Of course just before these announcements we also saw Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg open the door to environmentally damaging fracking, a policy that is widely opposed, will do nothing to reduce energy bills and which the founder of Cuadrilla himself says is unviable [6].
The responses from those who care for nature have been overwhelming. Joan Edwards, director of policy for The Wildlife Trusts, says these policies will mean “polluters can get away with poisoning our rivers and countryside – even more than they are doing already.” [7] Hilary McGrady of the National Trust says, “environmental protections are dismissed as ‘burdens’, while investment and growth are pitted against nature and climate action.”
These proposals come as part of a ‘dash for growth’ package which is also spooking markets and ruining government finances. There is no mandate for these measures: they actually reverse the direction of travel on the environment in your 2019 manifesto and have never been put to the British people.
Yet we know people’s livelihoods and local economies can be put on a sound footing with a three pronged approach to investment: in nature recovery, in renewable energy and in home insulation to reduce energy bills. Research has shown that “Protection and use of environmental assets is key to evening out economic imbalances between metropolitan and rural areas” [8]. In other words, the recovery of nature and the revival of local living standards should and can go hand-in hand.
We call on you to make plain to your party leaders that these policies must be reversed. We ask for a public statement from your group leader on your group’s views about these policies.
There is no case for staying silent, and every reason to stand up for your communities and for your local environment by making it plain that you will not support the tearing up of environmental protection and the reversal of attempts to help nature thrive.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Cllr Chris Rigby
Cllr Simon Bull
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[2] Map of investment zones: https://twitter.com/RSPBEngland/status/1573366828222808064
[5] ““in return for funding, [farmers] must farm in a way that protects and enhances our natural environment” https://www.conservatives.com/our-plan/conservative-party-manifesto-2019
[7] https://www.birdguides.com/news/uk-government-launches-all-out-assault-on-environment/
[8] https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_918714_en.htm
If your local area has any Conservative councillors, please consider emailing them to express your support for our stance against the #AttackOnNature.
Alternatively you could help our action be seen by more green-minded local residents, by forwarding this email, or sharing our Facebook post and/or tweet. Thanks for anything you can do to help at this important moment.
Councillor
Chris Rigby
Chair
Dear Tobias Ellwood,
Copying in a brilliant provider (RIVERFORD) with their request.
As an environmentally illiterate Laura Kuenssberg fails to mention action on a collapsing biosphere to our premier in an hour's talk on the BBC yesterday morning
and as Liz Truss insanely stops the King's speech at COP27
I back the request of my family's wonderful organic providers (who also minimise reusable & compostable-packaging).
Riverford writes this to the local MP :
Riverford is deeply concerned about the government’s apparent willingness to reverse its manifesto commitment to a farming system based on ‘public money for public goods’. This policy shift is profoundly important in the face of a range of very serious environmental pressures – not least the catastrophic decline in biodiversity and the impact of climate change.
We were heartened to see the environment at the heart of new farming subsidies under the new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs). To hear that these are to be potentially scrapped under a new drive for productivity is a shocking U-turn.
At Riverford, we have been farming organically for 30 years, and are living proof that you can produce high quality, nutritious food on a commercial level while working in harmony with nature. These schemes would open the door for many more farmers across the UK to follow suit, at a time when we drastically need a change in how we produce food, restore nature, and address the climate crisis.
We urge the government not to turn its back on this opportunity. We have a chance to develop more resilient and competitive food and farming systems, which are better for farmers, better for consumers and better for the planet. This shift in agricultural land management could create a farming landscape that is part of the solution, not part of the problem – and in doing so, enable farmers to become justifiably respected and appreciated not only as producers of great British food, but also as custodians of our countryside for future generations. They can’t do this without a policy framework that supports this change.
This shift is needed now. To not pursue it would be a betrayal of those of who have worked so hard on developing ELMS up to now, including farmers across the country, and a betrayal of future generations who expect more from their leaders.
As the local MP to Wash Farm, our home in south Devon, we therefore ask that you support us in requesting that the development and implementation of ELMs remains a policy priority for the government. If Riverford can support in any way with progressing this policy, then please ask.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Dear All,
I would like to second Soo Chapman’s email and Riverford’s request to the government that the “development and implementation of ELMs remains a policy priority for the government”.
Riverford have also done their own ‘Sustainability Report’ which you can find here;
https://www.riverford.co.uk/planet-action/sustainability-report
Also you can see their ‘Ethics and Ethos’ here;
https://www.riverford.co.uk/ethics-and-ethos
We are all in this together, please support farmers such as Riverford who are, in my opinion, shining examples of what can and is being achieved. Please do not let us all miss out of this opportunity.
Kind regards
Mrs Zoe Tees
(constituent of Mr Tobias Ellwood – at my usual address)
UPDATE from Susan Chapman:
Dear BBC,
Kindly address your shocking LACK OF BALANCE in your reporting and interviews.
We are being cheated of our educational heritage from the BBC.
We note the current rage of wildlife and environmental campaigners, the policy vacuum for our growers and possible loss of hard-won Environmental Land Management (ELM) subsidies.
Why are those in charge so scandalously environmentally illiterate that they add fuel to our overheating home with our money? Trampling over the world of nature in their quest for dirty growth.
There was lots of weekend activity from climate groups in several cities that have been gaslit by the potty, environmentally illiterate, right wing press. Some of us were with Friends of the Earth, XR and Greenpeace by Bournemouth pier, leafletting and chatting with the public.
2 October 2022
Green Party co-leader, Carla Denyer, has said Liz Truss instructing King Charles not to attend the COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt in November is ‘shameful’. The news comes as Green Party conference agreed a motion calling for the establishment of a legal process to prosecute those most responsible for the UK having failed to protect people and habitats from climate breakdown.
Dear Representatives and all,
Big Dirty Corruption 🤬🤑has lied to us for 50 years. Have you missed the memo? The scientific briefings?
Big Dirty Energies owe us all a future.
Please let us know when Big Dirty Filth plans to repay this debt and restore poor old dying Mother Nature.
Climate criminality 💩must stop now. As must debt crises.
Looking forward to hearing your plan and educational programme for the growth, growth, growth of knowledge on the state of our planetary boundaries and on how we can all help restore
GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH of healthy
oceans, 🌊
rainforests,🌲🌳
islands,
thriving farms to starving humans,
peace and supplies to relocating humans,
mental and physical well-being for us all.
At speed. BEFORE it's too late. 416 parts 🔥per million CO2. Criminally high.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SCIENTISTS or MATHEMATICIANS THERE?
Looking forward as ever from hearing from you.
So far there are NO meaningful replies, NO healthy restorative plan on your websites.
SILENCE.
Have been waiting now for many, many years. Our only home is being destroyed.
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
Thanks so much,
Susan Chapman
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL:
Yesterday’s speech by the Home Secretary was frighteningly anti-human rights and offered a vision of a Britain which disregards our basic rights and freedoms.
Message from OPEN BRITAIN today;
Liz Truss certainly delivered something this morning: a hollow speech full of projection and platitude. It was a dull cocktail of her classic soundbytes robotically served up to her party and the public, offering no consolation for the destruction she’s caused and indicating no change of course whatsoever. She began it all by awkwardly walking out to a 90’s song which of course she had no permission to use.
This speech was Truss’s last chance to prove us all wrong. In all honesty, it was one more chance than she deserved. She utterly failed to show us that she was truly moving on from the chaos and corruption of the Johnson years. She doubled-down on her unpopular plans, and blamed all who oppose her for wanting to undermine her rotten agenda.
She even confirmed plans to let the government overrule ECHR decisions. The small victory that we celebrated when she postponed Dominic Raab’s anti-human rights bill can no longer be considered a win. She paused, but only to put some lipstick on the pig.
Early in the speech, Truss boldly claimed: “I love Britain”. She then went on to describe all of the people and organisations in this country that she doesn’t like, labelling anyone not on-side as part of a nefarious “anti-growth coalition”. This imaginary coalition would be massive if it actually existed, including the entire 60% of the country that disapproves of her short-sighted redux of Thatcherism. In reality, Truss only loves a dwindling, ideologically extreme minority within Britain – and only for as long as they continue to support her.
Truss branded unions, climate activists, and Brexit realists as an imaginary axis of evil, hell-bent on destroying her plans. In reality, these are groups genuinely advocating their vision of a better future – as is their right in a functioning democracy. In her world, they have no right to do so. They should just be quiet and allow her to wreak havoc on the economy and their livelihoods.
Absurdly, the PM also declared that “think-tanks” and “special-interest groups” are on her list of enemies. It’s this kind of reality-warping that puts this iteration of Conservative government in a class of their own. Truss’s government is increasingly just an expedient conduit for some shady right-wing think-tanks. The Institute of Economic Affairs, the European Research Group, the Adam Smith Institute, and others, all funded opaquely by American billionaires and foreign oligarchs, set her policy agenda. They designed her catastrophic budget, urged her to abandon climate pledges, fought for hard Brexit, and called for the slashing of public services. And she’s delivering billions of pounds to their donors on a silver platter.
These comments weren't intended to target the billionaire-funded organisations hell-bent on dismantling what’s left of the social safety net. She was talking about democracy campaigners, climate change advocacy groups, and social justice organisations – the parts of civil society that are fighting back. People like us. It was a condemnation of our own mission. Truss does not want a democracy that works for everyone, nor would she support any of our five objectives. Meeting those five goals would force her to acknowledge that only a self-interested minority wants her as PM.
The speech was interrupted halfway through by Greenpeace protesters, calling her out for arrogantly ploughing forward with an agenda that no one wants. They asked her, and the rest of Tory conference, one simple question: WHO VOTED FOR THIS?
Of course, she has no answer. Truss claimed that the British public are with her in her speech, but that just isn’t the case. The public is fed up with the bad policy, the arrogance, the corruption, the undermining of democracy, and the disdain for regular people under Johnson and Truss. Soon, the Tories may be asking us to stomach yet another corrupt and anti-democratic PM.
It may even be Johnson again. If they decide they want to avoid the lengthy mess that is another leadership race, they may see him as the best candidate. We’d be right back where we started.
Our 'petition with a promise' has now reached nearly 13,000 signatures. We’ve drawn a red line: we won't have another PM without a general election. If the Conservative Party wants to move forward with a draconian policy agenda that represents a fundamental departure from their 2019 manifesto, then they should have the decency to ask the nation for a mandate. Please sign it here and commit to joining us on the streets if they try to force another rotten PM on us.
All the very best,
Mark Kieran
Open Britain
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