The Spring Green Fair
The AGS election campaign kicked off at the magnificent Spring Green Fair on 9th April. It was a busy weekend, but many people managed to stop off between the papal funeral and the royal wedding to sample the array of organic and fairtrade food and clothing and buy bargains in bric-a-brac and books.
Brides and prejudice
A gaggle of women in wedding dresses were among the protesters at the Anti-deportation Rally in Manchester on Saturday April 2nd 2005. New Labour has introduced legislation that prevents us from marrying non-EU citizens without permission from the Home Secretary. More information here.
Oil wells that, well, end...
Anyone who expects the US to pull out of the Middle East any time ever has not been paying attention to the phenomenon of Peak Oil - the demand for oil has outstripped the resources to supply it, and possibly even the resources to manufacture, transport and erect alternative generators of energy. Readers who wish to immerse themselves in post-apocalyptic barbarism will find much to chew on here.
Iran-alam-a-ding-dong
Peak Oil makes for strange alliances. Although Iran is described as a terror state and part of the axis of evil, and is widely believed to next on the Bush hitlist, it hasn't stopped the US buying as many of its petroleum exports as possible through third-party arrangements. But all this is about to change. As China Daily reports:
Zhuhai Zhenrong, one of four government-backed crude oil importers in China, has agreed to buy more than 110 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran over 25 years, which could be the largest LNG purchase deal in the world.
More on this and other cunning challenges to US hegemony here.
A quick review of climate change
There has been a flurry of reports on the question of global warming.
The largest and probably the most accurate was published by the world's most prestigious science journal Nature. They are predicting that temperatures could rise by up to 11 degrees C. Their estimates are considerably more than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which has estimated a rise over the next 100 years of 1.5 to 5.5 degrees C. The panel's estimate of sea-level rise was from 9 to 88 cm. The Nature report says this is a serious underestimate and calls for drastic action to cut CO2 levels within the next 5 years; otherwise it will be too late.
We are running out of time and air
Government figures show that carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 2.2% between 2002 and 2003. Elliot Morley, the New Labour minister responsible for the environment, said the rise was disappointing but the government should still be able to meet its Kyoto targets.
However, following on from the equally large rise in the previous year it is clear the government is in some trouble. The vast majority of the rises have come from domestic and motoring use. The Blairites have made no attempt to tackle the issues and they have no intention of doing so.
Calls from environmental organisations such as Friends of the Earth will be ignored in favour of New Labour's paymasters and friends in big business.
More at Friends of the Earth.
See you later, alley-gater
Meanwhile, back in Chapel Allerton, scores of angry residents from the St Martins, Scott Halls and Riviera Gardens turned up at Technorth on 19th March to confront MP Fabian Hamilton about the upsurge of vandalism, drug dealing and arson in the ginnels. Although the MP listened sympathetically he did not offer any solutions, and the policeman by his side boasted about the great job he had done reducing crime in Chapeltown ... by exporting it uphill. But said he didn't have the manpower to do anything about this new crime wave.
After 20 minutes, Fabian left, pleading another engagement, and was replaced by Councillor Mohammed Rafique who spent an enormous amount of time helplessly blustering on and ignoring suggestions from the audience, until eventually people got fed up and walked out. Many of these people remembered getting a letter just before the last council elections from the then councillors Neil Taggart and Eileen Moxon promising that the ginnels would be gated off. What became of that promise? None of the present ward councillors seem to know.
My friend in the locality was not best pleased to receive a letter a couple of weeks later signed by councillors Dowson, Hamilton and Rafique suggesting that she ring Crimestoppers or, er, Pest Control. She was slightly more mollified to receive a gushingly sympathetic letter from Fabian Hamilton assuring her that something was being done - until she noticed that he had addressed her as "Mr". My friend has a unisex name, so it was a simple (if sexist) mistake to make - except that my friend has known Fabian for over twenty years and was warmly greeted by him on her arrival at the meeting.
What does Fabian Hamilton do?
So Fabian Hamilton does not write his own letters. Well, he's a busy man. Or is he? According to his entry at They Work For You, despite claiming more expenses than any other Leeds MP, he's in the bottom 100 for attendance, answers only a third of his correspondence within two weeks, and this year has spoken in only two debates and asked only three questions; of such penetrating insightfulness as:
Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the divisional commander of Chapeltown police, Chief Superintendent Howard Crowther, and his team on an operation last month that resulted in the removal and arrest of 180 drug dealers from the streets of Chapeltown?
Updating his website is not a priority either. Visitors to http://www.leedsne.co.uk/ looking for a profile of the constituency have been greeted for the last few years with a message saying: "This page is currently being updated, please return soon." The website also gives Fabian's age as 46, which will come as a surprise to the people who sent the Hon Member greetings for his fiftieth birthday on 12th April.
Nuclear blogging
From the Middleton Blog of Stuart Bruce: Leeds' own ultra-Blair baby:
The nuclear option
The Daily Telegraph obviously isn't Labour's biggest fan, but still I was interested in this article on "Labour plots new nuclear power plants" (requires registration but you can visit http://www.bugmenot.com/ to avoid this). My personal feeling from talking to ministers and members of Labour's National Policy Forum is that the tide is turning. Ministers are beginning to recognise the urgent need for a coherent energy policy that takes a realistic approach to issues such as sustainability, global warning [sic] and climate change.
His sudden interest in the viability of nuclear power could be connected with the fact he spent most of February campaigning for the parliamentary seat of Copeland. This seat covers Britain's largest nuclear facility at Sellafield.
Pip pip
-- Half-Celestial Khan
