lord of the blog

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Thursday, August 23, 2007

Message for Will

Will.

You sent a comment on Heathrow that I am happy to publish but I am being warned that some of the links might cause problems. Can you send it again without the links?

Heathrow and the Climate Camp

I sent the following letter to the Guardian yesterday. They published it with the exception of the comment about George Monbiot being rather too fond of calling people who he dislikes and who disagree with him "liars and hypocrites". (See penultimate paragraph).

Dear Editor,

I gather George Monbiot thinks a new political movement has emerged from the climate camp. I beg to differ.

A group of them turned up at my house in Acton dressed as clowns, face paint, funny noses etc. Some proceeded to lay a table cloth on my apology for a lawn and make jam sandwiches. Others decorated my house and garden with, amongst other things, plastic tape, a sock on a stick (helpfully labelled “wind sock”) and writing on the path saying “no third runway”. For some inexplicable reasons this was written with short pieces of string.

They expressed surprise when I suggested they weren’t taking climate change seriously. When asked why they felt it necessary to dress up and put on funny voices (why do some young men like to imitate the voices of young girls? There could be a PhD in this!) They said they didn’t want to frighten me!

My frustration is that climate change is very serious and so are the jobs of 70,000 workers at Heathrow and the 500,000 working in the aviation industry.

George Monbiot who is fond of calling those who disagree with him liars and hypocrites might like to consider the possibility that most of us think climate change is serious but we don’t necessarily think that he and his entertaining acolytes have the right solution.

As for a new political movement can I suggest George as the new play leader?

Yours sincerely,

Clive Soley Lord Soley of Hammersmith, Campaign Director, Future Heathrow.

Monday, August 20, 2007

A voice from the past!

The Future of this Blog

It has been five months since my last post so you would be entitled to think that I have ceased to exist in cyber space! In fact I have been thinking - yes, I know that's hard to believe but it's true!

I am now closer to deciding the future of this blog. I am hopeful that I will be able to create a Lord's of the blog' which is what some of you suggested to me a while back. I don't want to be too definitive right now but I am close to getting a structure that might work and hopeful of recruiting a number of Lords who will be able to make regular entries so that it no longer depends on just one person.

I have made the point a number of times that for politicians, especially MP's time is very precious and that makes regular individual blogging difficult if you are also to respond to comments.

Hopefully I will be able to indicate progress in the next month or two - so watch this space. (Even if it does seem like watching paint dry!)

Climate camp

Just to add to your entertainment I can report that about a dozen climate camp protesters turned up in my front garden tonight. They were in fancy dress -clowns etc - and having tea on the lawn (or my apology for a lawn).

I said that they were not taking climate change seriously enough. I know they feel strongly about the issue but there is a terrible arrogance in believing that you are the only group of people to take climate change seriously and to believe that you have the only answer.

There are 500,000 people working in the aviation industry in the UK and most of them also take climate change seriously and worry about their children's future. Like me they believe that we can overcome this problem without shutting down large sections of industry. Returning to a pre industrial society is neither necessary or desirable in confronting the problem.

I think most people want a planned reaction not a panic reaction. So my message to the climate camp activists is to join the real campaign which means listening to the views of other people as well as their own and finding ways to reduce carbon emissions without threatening jobs or prosperity and without hectoring. It is possible and just as we dealt with the ozone layer problem so also we can deal with this one even if it is much more challenging.