Surely the primary duty of any democratically elected government is to protect the people it serves? And that must include all the people, not just those favoured by whichever political party is in power.
So why, time and time again, have successive UK governments failed us in this duty? Could it be because money talks? Or is it just a coincidence that many of the politicians who strongly oppose action on the environment receive funding, one way or another, from sources with fossil fuel interests?
The most serious dereliction of duty by the present Labour government has been its resolute refusal to adequately acknowledge and deal with the severity of the environmental crisis that is clearly now upon us. The Government’s failure to engage with and promote the National Emergency Briefing (NEB) in November last year, and the subsequent lack of reporting of the event by most of the media, effectively withheld vital information from the general public.
To counter this, the NEB organisers are producing a film of the event called the Peoples’ Emergency Briefing (PEB), and environmentalists around the country are arranging public screenings. There will be a number of such showings here in North Dorset sometime in April and May, so watch this space and contact me if there is somewhere you would like to have the film shown, including village halls, church halls and other community spaces,
The present first past the post/winner-takes-all electoral system gives us governments that only represent a minority of the electorate. Proportional representation can’t come soon enough, but in the meantime, there are clear signs that voters are increasingly rejecting the lies and toxic divisiveness of right-wing rhetoric that has dominated the conversation for far too long. The recent election of a fifth Green MP in the Gorton and Denton constituency has been a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Green Party membership has surged again and is now three times what it was just five months ago.The days of two-party politics are over, and we can look forward with hope and determination to create a better future together.
Ken Huggins
North Dorset Green Party
