Talking points NEWS 2313 February 2021 THE WEEKParish politics: amatter of order“Showmeasanemanand
Iwillcurehimforyou.”
CarlJung,quotedon
TheBrowser
“There’sonlytwokindsof
peopleintheworld–the
kindofpeoplewhothink
there’ssuchathingas
enoughmoney,andthekind
ofpeoplewhohavemoney.”
FranLebowitz,quoted
inTheNewYorker
“Youalwayshavetogo
toofartogetanywhere
atall,inartorlife.”
FrancisBacon,quoted
inTheSundayTimes
“AfterI’mdead,Iwould
muchratherhavemenask
whyIhaveno statue, than
whyIhave one.”
Roman senator Catothe
Elder,quotedon INews
“If Ihad to live my life
again,I’d make the same
mistakes, onlysooner.”
TallulahBankhead,
quotedin Forbes
“All politics is local.”
CongressmanTip O ’Neill,
quotedin TheTimes
“Nothinginall th eworld
is more dangerous than
sincereigno ranceand
conscientiousstupi dity.”
Martin LutherKingJr,
quoted on CNN
“In any dispute the intensity
of feelingisinver sely
proportional to the value
of the issues at stake.”
Sayre’s law, coinedbyUS
politica lscientist Wallace
StanleySayre ,quoted in
TheDaily Telegraph
“A peacock that rests
on itsfeathersisjust
anothe rturkey.”
Dolly Parton,quoted in the
KnoxvilleNewsSentinelForagovernmentthatlikes
toboastaboutitsgreen
credentials,thedecisionto
allowa£1 65 mnewcoalmine
inCumbriais“deeplyembar-
rassing”,saidSeanO’Grady
inTheIndependent.Boris
Johnsonhasset“evermore
exactingdeadlines”onCO 2
emissions,andplaces“huge
importance”ontheCOP26
globalclimatechange
conferencescheduledfor
GlasgowinNovember.But
latelyallthathasbeenovershadowedbythe
decisionofRobertJenrick,theCommunities
Secretary,towavethroughplanstobuildthe
firstnewdeepcoal mineintheUKin 30
years,atWhitehaven.Twoweeksago,the
Government’sownClimateChangeCommittee
saidJenrick’sfailuretoblockthelocal-council-
approvedplansgavea“negativeimpression”
oftheUK’sclimatepriorities;lastweek,the
influentialformerNasaclimatescientist James
HansensaidthePM faced“humiliation” unless
hereversedit. EvenJohnson’sfather,Stanley,
describedit asa“massivemistake”.Thisweek,
thecouncil itself decidedtoreconsiderits
approval,castingtheproject’s future intodoubt.
Thatwillcause dismaytothose whobelievethe
mineisa“necessaryevil”, saidBen Websterin
TheTimes. Ratherthanproducingcoalfor
electricity,it would turnout 2 .5 million tonnes
ayearofcokingcoal,amaterialessentialto the
steelindustry. The factisthatif theUK isto
makethingsoutofsteel(such
aswindturbines),itneedsthis
coal.Currentsuppliesmainly
comefromabroad:in 2 019,
theUKimported2.18million
tonnesofit.That’swhy
CumbriaCountyCouncilhad
originallybackedthemine,
saidDominicLawsoninthe
DailyMail.Itconcludedthat
itmightactuallyreduce
globalemissions,becauseit
wouldmakeitunnecessaryto
shipcoaloverlongdistances.
Politicianshadotherreasonstobackit,too.The
minewouldcreate 500 jobsinthearea.Atthe
nationallevel,itwouldbolsterthe“levellingup”
agendathathelpedtheToriesshatterLabour’s
“RedWall”intheMidlandsandtheNorth.SteelmakingisanimportantindustryfortheUK,
saidtheFT.ButiftheGovernmentiscommitted
toitsclimateagenda,itoughttobesupporting
waystomakethemetalusing,forinstance,
environmentallyfriendlyhydrogen–whichis
technicallypossible, but notyet acommercial
reality–ratherthanbackingcarbon-intensive
industries.For theGovernment,theproblemis
“squaringthe circle”betweenits promisesof
botha“greener”futureandtobringprosperity
topoorer areas,saidGabyHinsliffinThe
Guardian.It’snotimpossible todo,but the
timingistricky.Greenindustriesbring new
jobs,butthey “takeyearstodevelop”.In
post-industrialareas,people wantjobs,even
pollutingones,now.Cumbrian coal: green hypocrisy?Theminewouldcreate 500 jobs“Some day, surelythere will be
astatueto Jackie Weaver,”said
GabyHinsliffin The Observer.
Thelong-servingchiefofficerof
theCheshire AssociationofLocal
Councilsfound famelast week,
as the star ofan“unexpected”
viral hit.Footage ofafractious
Zoom meetingofHandforth
ParishCouncil’s planning and
environmentcommittee was
leaked ontoYouTube, and
millions endedup watching
this pettyand “terribly British”
powerstruggle. ItshowsWeaver
coolly dealing withaseries of
“pompous andaggressive men”,whotellher
to shut up,and rant and rage aboutpoints of
procedure. She emerges fromitasaheroine:
“thepatron saint ofwomen whoarehaving
absolutelynone of yournonsense”.
If yo uhaven’tseen theclip,you should, said the
playwright JamesGraham in The SundayTimes.
It’s aperfectminidrama,whichcapturesboth
the authenticflavour of local politics and“the
modernvideo-conferencingdystopiawe’re all
trapped inside”.Jack ie Weaver–always referred
to by herfull name –ist he outsiderwho has
beenparachutedin becauseafactiononthe
council are beingdifficultand
disruptive.But thefaction won’t
evenletherstart themeeting.
“Thismeetinghasnotbeencalled
accordingto thelaw,”complains
the chairman,BrianTolver. “You
havenoauthority here, Jackie
Weaver, noauthority atall!”
he declares –aline whichwill
“echo down the ages”. Butwith
aclickofher mouse, Weaver
banishes Tolver toavirtual
waiting room. At this, the
vice-chair AledBrewerton erupts
in fury, insistingthat he should
take charge instead. “Read the
standing orders,” he screams atWeaver. “READ
THEM ANDUNDERSTANDTHEM!”If an ything, Ithought theHandf orthlot were
“relatively mild”.said Emma Kane in TheDaily
Tele graph. Over theten yearsIspent on a
Cot swolds parish council,Isaw muchworse:
flamingrows,poisonpenletters,andthe police
called inover an alleged case of onion poisoning.
So Isympathisewith Weaver. But on“theissue
of thehour”, Ifearthatshe didnot in f acthave
the authorityto kickthechair manoffthe Zoom
call. In this game youhavetobecareful.“Hell
hathnofurylike aparish councillor scorned.”Jackie Weaver: no nonsenseStatisticoftheweek
Before the pandemic, 89% of
ten- to 15-year-oldsinEngland
and Wales said they went
online every day. Around one
in six (17%) said that in the
previous year, they’d spoken
toastranger online; an
estimated 5% had met up in
person with someone they’d
first met online; 11% had
receivedasexual message.
Office for National StatisticsWit&Wisdom