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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/05/letters-recovery-plan-must-not-endanger-the-earth
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| Recovery plan must not endanger the Earth | Recovery plan must not endanger the Earth |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| The government’s shake-up of planning laws threatens wildlife and habitats; the environment bill must be brought forward | The government’s shake-up of planning laws threatens wildlife and habitats; the environment bill must be brought forward |
| The government has repeatedly pledged to maintain high environmental standards. It appears, however, that important laws to protect the environment are now at risk. The prime minister has again claimed that environmental assessments hold up housebuilding, and has promised the “most radical changes” to the planning system since the Second World War. There are rumours of deregulatory measures, including those that weaken laws to protect habitats and wildlife. Furthermore, the government’s flagship environment bill has been delayed and its new body to enforce environmental laws after Brexit will not be ready in time. | The government has repeatedly pledged to maintain high environmental standards. It appears, however, that important laws to protect the environment are now at risk. The prime minister has again claimed that environmental assessments hold up housebuilding, and has promised the “most radical changes” to the planning system since the Second World War. There are rumours of deregulatory measures, including those that weaken laws to protect habitats and wildlife. Furthermore, the government’s flagship environment bill has been delayed and its new body to enforce environmental laws after Brexit will not be ready in time. |
| Countless reviews, including those commissioned by the government, have shown that environmental laws guide good development when implemented well. There is no public appetite for deregulation, with 93% of Conservative voters wanting to maintain or strengthen protections for habitats and wildlife. | Countless reviews, including those commissioned by the government, have shown that environmental laws guide good development when implemented well. There is no public appetite for deregulation, with 93% of Conservative voters wanting to maintain or strengthen protections for habitats and wildlife. |
| Rebooting our economy should be done in a way that doesn’t exacerbate the environmental and climate emergencies. Ripping up important laws and lowering standards would be a betrayal of commitments and reduce our international standing. | Rebooting our economy should be done in a way that doesn’t exacerbate the environmental and climate emergencies. Ripping up important laws and lowering standards would be a betrayal of commitments and reduce our international standing. |
| We urge the government to bolster environmental protection by dispelling rumours of deregulation and bringing forward the environment bill without further delay.Hilary McGrady, director-general, the National TrustCraig Bennett, chief executive, the Wildlife TrustsBeccy Speight, chief executive, RSPBShaun Spiers, executive director, Green AllianceRichard Benwell, chief executive, Wildlife and Countryside LinkTanya Steele, chief executive, WWF | |
| What are care homes for? | What are care homes for? |
| Before reforming the care sector, we need to answer the question: what are care homes for (“After the fear, now the reform: care sector debates future of our elderly”, News)? Are they to keep elderly patients alive for as long as possible, regardless of health and quality of life? Or are they to provide a setting for our elderly to die in comfort and peace? Until society decides how we want to approach death, which is a natural part of life, no reform of the sector will be a success.Jon BurdenLondon W14 | Before reforming the care sector, we need to answer the question: what are care homes for (“After the fear, now the reform: care sector debates future of our elderly”, News)? Are they to keep elderly patients alive for as long as possible, regardless of health and quality of life? Or are they to provide a setting for our elderly to die in comfort and peace? Until society decides how we want to approach death, which is a natural part of life, no reform of the sector will be a success.Jon BurdenLondon W14 |
| Starmer’s Scottish problem | Starmer’s Scottish problem |
| Andrew Rawnsley’s celebration of Keir Starmer’s centrism, coupled with his jibes at the Corbynist left, will go down much better in England than in Scotland (“Starmer’s sacking of Long-Bailey was vital to show that Labour is changing”, Comment). He should remember that the Blairite politicians who supported the Better Together campaign in 2014’s independence referendum came to be known as “red Tories”. The Labour vote subsequently collapsed in Scotland, to the point that Ian Murray is its only MP. | Andrew Rawnsley’s celebration of Keir Starmer’s centrism, coupled with his jibes at the Corbynist left, will go down much better in England than in Scotland (“Starmer’s sacking of Long-Bailey was vital to show that Labour is changing”, Comment). He should remember that the Blairite politicians who supported the Better Together campaign in 2014’s independence referendum came to be known as “red Tories”. The Labour vote subsequently collapsed in Scotland, to the point that Ian Murray is its only MP. |
| Corbyn’s failure in Scotland was due not so much to ideology but to the fact that many of his policies, like free university tuition fees, were already in place. With Starmer’s centrism, however, England sends to us a pseudo-Blairite electoral message; namely that a vote for any unionist party will be a choice between Tory and Tory-lite. At least, this will be the perception in much of Scotland. The name “red Tory” will be hard to live down. | Corbyn’s failure in Scotland was due not so much to ideology but to the fact that many of his policies, like free university tuition fees, were already in place. With Starmer’s centrism, however, England sends to us a pseudo-Blairite electoral message; namely that a vote for any unionist party will be a choice between Tory and Tory-lite. At least, this will be the perception in much of Scotland. The name “red Tory” will be hard to live down. |
| Alastair McLeishEdinburgh | Alastair McLeishEdinburgh |
| Bring back big government | Bring back big government |
| While Gordon Brown is correct in claiming that a Keynesian-like stimulus is needed for recovery, he fails to recognise that the instruments needed to deliver the recovery are broken (“We are in desperate need of a recovery plan. But the Treasury has gone missing”, Comment). | While Gordon Brown is correct in claiming that a Keynesian-like stimulus is needed for recovery, he fails to recognise that the instruments needed to deliver the recovery are broken (“We are in desperate need of a recovery plan. But the Treasury has gone missing”, Comment). |
| Financial markets that are wedded to speculation are the least likely candidates to finance innovative startups. Better to finance a new industrial bank from a levy on the banks. It is foolish to expect institutions geared towards short-term speculative activity to finance long-term innovative investment. Leaving economic policy with the Treasury is equally foolish. | Financial markets that are wedded to speculation are the least likely candidates to finance innovative startups. Better to finance a new industrial bank from a levy on the banks. It is foolish to expect institutions geared towards short-term speculative activity to finance long-term innovative investment. Leaving economic policy with the Treasury is equally foolish. |
| What is needed is a government department whose priority is economic and industrial recovery, rather than one whose members are committed to economic non-intervention. We need a new department of industry and trade, with the power to direct and manage the economy. | What is needed is a government department whose priority is economic and industrial recovery, rather than one whose members are committed to economic non-intervention. We need a new department of industry and trade, with the power to direct and manage the economy. |
| We also need a return of big government, a government powerful enough to manage the economy for the benefit of all. The free market has failed and it is time politicians recognised that.Derrick JoadLeeds | We also need a return of big government, a government powerful enough to manage the economy for the benefit of all. The free market has failed and it is time politicians recognised that.Derrick JoadLeeds |
| Fashion’s cruel past | Fashion’s cruel past |
| The sum of £293,000 for a Himalaya Birkin bag (“The enduring attraction of vintage fashion”, Focus)? That’s a bag made from the skin of Nile crocodiles – the bag from which Jane Birkin asked for her name to be removed, after being alerted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to horrifically cruel methods of keeping and killing crocodiles and alligators for their skins. | The sum of £293,000 for a Himalaya Birkin bag (“The enduring attraction of vintage fashion”, Focus)? That’s a bag made from the skin of Nile crocodiles – the bag from which Jane Birkin asked for her name to be removed, after being alerted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to horrifically cruel methods of keeping and killing crocodiles and alligators for their skins. |
| It’s not so much status symbol as a declaration by the owner that vanity outweighs any concern for animal suffering. According to Oriole Cullen at the V&A, “the landscape of fashion has completely changed in the last two decades”. I’d like to think that it has changed in the direction of compassion, with many designers now pledging not to use exotic animal skins or fur.Linda NewberyBarford St Michael,Oxfordshire | |
| A master class | A master class |
| I would like to support the view of Christina Jansen, director of The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, with a little history (“It’s time the art world ditched the term ‘old master’, says Tate director”, News). | I would like to support the view of Christina Jansen, director of The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, with a little history (“It’s time the art world ditched the term ‘old master’, says Tate director”, News). |
| The word “master” was used throughout medieval Europe and in earlier cultures, way before today’s “art world” existed. | The word “master” was used throughout medieval Europe and in earlier cultures, way before today’s “art world” existed. |
| All visual craft skills were economically viable trades, and every artisan had to follow a similar career path, ie to work under a master, first as an apprentice, then as a “journeyman”. Only after producing their “masterpiece” for the approval (or disapproval) of a group of masters could they become a “master”. | All visual craft skills were economically viable trades, and every artisan had to follow a similar career path, ie to work under a master, first as an apprentice, then as a “journeyman”. Only after producing their “masterpiece” for the approval (or disapproval) of a group of masters could they become a “master”. |
| The word was not gender specific. More “masters” were men than women only because of the way society was. | The word was not gender specific. More “masters” were men than women only because of the way society was. |
| Should we now alter that history for the sake of our own prejudices? Surely that would just be another form of cultural imperialism. The fact is the word “master” is appropriate to Old Masters but not so much to painters and sculptors since then, because the art colleges, which have been producing most “artists” since the late 18th century, do not provide the same degree of training. | Should we now alter that history for the sake of our own prejudices? Surely that would just be another form of cultural imperialism. The fact is the word “master” is appropriate to Old Masters but not so much to painters and sculptors since then, because the art colleges, which have been producing most “artists” since the late 18th century, do not provide the same degree of training. |
| Michael MaddenHastings, East Sussex | Michael MaddenHastings, East Sussex |
| Difference of opinion | Difference of opinion |
| As I could only find five out of six changes in your “Spot the difference” competition (the New Review), I’m presuming that the final one is that the Trump in picture 2 is denying what the Trump in picture 1 has just said.Ian GrieveSteyning, West Sussex | As I could only find five out of six changes in your “Spot the difference” competition (the New Review), I’m presuming that the final one is that the Trump in picture 2 is denying what the Trump in picture 1 has just said.Ian GrieveSteyning, West Sussex |
| • The first letter in this package was amended on 5 July 2020 because an earlier version omitted the WWF chief executive Tanya Steele from the signatories. |