24 NEWS Talking points
THE WEEK 17 August 2019Is there anything Labour’s
leaders wouldn’t sacrifice “to
get their grasping hands on
the levers of power”, asked
the Daily Mail. We now
know Jeremy Corbyn and
his comrades would allow
the United Kingdom to be
destroyed, if it propelled them
into Downing Street. Shadow
chancellor John McDonnell –
widely seen as Corbyn’s brain
–abruptly reversed Labour’s
policy last week, revealing that
it would no longer try to block
asecond Scottish referendum
if it came to power. “The
English Parliament,”
McDonnell said, would not
defy the will of “the Scottish Parliament and the
Scottish people”. He meant the UK Parliament,
of course, “but this was more than justaslip of
the tongue”. He was showing his support for the
Scottish Nationalists. And it’s obvious why.
Labour has no chance of winningamajority at
the next election, but with SNP backing Corbyn
might be able to cobble togethera“shabby”
coalition. “The price would inevitably be a
second independence referendum.”McDonnell actually hadapoint, said Jonathan
Freedland in The Guardian. The notion of
Holyrood voting forareferendum, only for a
Labour government to stand in its way, would
be “hard, if not impossible, for any democrat to
defend”. Some might argue that Scotland had its“once-in-a-generation chance”
in 2014; but that’satricky
point to sustain when much
of Labour is committed to
holdingasecond referendum
on Brexit. Even so, the way
the shadow chancellor made
his statement “could hardly
have been worse”. He flatly
contradicted the policy of the
Scottish Labour Party, which
opposesasecond referendum,
in an “off-the-cuff” remark at
the Edinburgh Festival. It
“hardly conveys respect for
the Scottish Labour Party
–sooften derided asabranch
office–orfor the union itself”.“These are lonely times for Scottish unionists,”
said Alex Massie in The Times. Brexit has
turbocharged the case for independence, and
peering south, we don’t much like what we see:
“a Britain in which the choice lies between
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn”. Neither
the English Tories nor English Labour can now
“sensibly be considered unionist organisations”.
Arecent poll suggested that more than 60%
of Tory members would accept Scottish
independence if it was the price of Brexit.
Labour has lost Scotland, and McDonnell seems
very relaxed about it. This is no longer the party
of John Smith and Gordon Brown. “If there
remain any unionists in England, of either the
Tory or Labour varieties, now might be the time
for them to say something.”Pick of the week’sGossipScottish independence: adone deal?Whatever else we do to curb global warming,
it will be pointless if we don’t make drastic
changes to agriculture and human diets. In
particular, people in rich countries need to eat a
great deal less meat. That was the conclusion of
aspecial report published last week by the UN’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), said Quirin Schiermeier in Nature. The
report argues that moving toaplant-based diet
would free up millions of square kilometres of
land. If the world population ate no meat or
dairy at all, global CO 2 emissions would be
reduced by some eight billion tonnes per year
(total emissions last year were 37 billion tonnes).
Eating meat or seafood only onceamonth
would reduce emissions by six billion tonnes.Meat-eating is an environmental disaster, said
George Monbiot in The Guardian. In Britain,
an astonishing 55% of arable land (as well as
nearly all pasture land) is used to grow food
for livestock. If that land were turned over to
providing grains, beans, fruit, vegetables and
nuts for humans, “farming in this country could
feed everyone, without the need for imports”.
The land now used for grazing animals could be
left fallow, allowing natural eco-systems to be
restored. This would absorb an “astonishing”
quantity of CO 2 ,and help bring the world back
from the brink of “ecological collapse”. Actually,if you look at the IPCC report, it doesn’t tell
people to drop meat, said Charles Moore in
The Daily Telegraph. It merely suggests that
“diversification” of the agricultural system
might be beneficial. But that hasn’t stopped the
“green evangelicals” from telling us that meat
is morally wrong. What we are seeing is the
beginning ofaculture war. “Steakhouses will
be picketed. Planning permission for shops
selling meat will be objected to.” Children
from carnivore homes will be “re-educated”.The IPCC isn’t commanding people to turn
vegetarian, said The Times. But it does have
asensible message. The world population has
ballooned, and the number of animals reared to
feed them has grown still faster, placing great
stress on the world’s farmlands. This doesn’t
mean that we must stop eating meat altogether.
Grasslands, sustainably grazed, can have
benefits; while some crops used to replace meat
and dairy–almonds, quinoa, avocados–can
“wreak environmental havoc”. And Western
eating habits are only one factor inamuch
bigger picture described in the report: the
destruction of forests and wetlands and the
degradation of soil across the world. British
consumers can play their part by moderating
their meat intake. “But these are global
challenges and they will require global action.”Global warming: meat and moralsMcDonnell: change of directionSome civil servants have
an unofficial test for their
briefing documents. The
object is to make them so
clear that even the dimmest
of ministers can grasp the
essential points by the third
time of reading. Forawhile
it was dubbed “theAmber
Ruddtest” in honour of
one slow learner, but
when Rudd became Home
Secretary, it was decided
that she deserved more
respect. So the name was
changed–to“thePriti Patel
test”. Now, thanks to Patel’s
unexpected promotion to
same position, yet another
name is under discussion.Hugh Grant(pictured)
admits to allowing himself
one prima-donna outburst
per film, swearing at
inanimate objects to
disguise the fact that
he’s forgotten his lines. An
example is “F*****g cables!
How amIsupposed to act
when I’ve got cables all
around my feet?”–when,
he admits, there is nothing
actually wrong with the
cables. Even at 58, he told
Screen Daily,heis
“tragically nervous” about
acting, and can be put on
edge by the slightest thing.
“If my breakfast doesn’t
arrive on time in my trailer
Iamfurious.Ihave to
pretendIamstilladecent
human being, but inwardly
IamCher–I’m screaming.
Itry not to do it aloud.”The lateWillie Whitelaw
wasapolitical grandee with
the common touch. Touring
aprison while he was in
charge of the Home Office,
he stopped to ask one
inmate what he had
been sentenced for. “I’m
acontract killer,” came the
reply–towhich Whitelaw
replied, “Splendid, splendid!
Keep up the good work!”