Once more unto the breach

 I have been persuaded that I still have something to contribute to local politics, so I am standing again for the county borough council and the local town (community) council. Any campaign messages will be confined to franklittle.mycouncillor.org.uk, but would add that anyone who wants to help with distribution of leaflets should get in touch with Robert Francis of Bryncoch (details on Facebook).

2021 By-elections: Greens and Lib Dems the big winners

An overall picture of principal local authority by-elections in 2021

[Thanks to ALDC for the graphic]

A net gain of 12 wards is an encouraging statistic for Lib Dems going in to May's local elections in England and Wales. On the other hand, the figures must be worrying for Labour, who showed a net loss two years into a parliament when, traditionally, opposition parties make gains. 

Even more worrying is that, in spite of their overall losses, the Conservatives continue to win wards, especially at the expense of Labour as in yesterday's result in High Peak.

 

An energy strategy at long last

Opposition critics of the paper published today are correct in pointing out that it does not address the current power emergency, but that misses the point. This is a strategy for the future and if it had been adopted a generation ago, the UK would not today be in thrall to the international market for fossil fuels, with the resultant kick to inflation every time there is a major international conflict. Indeed, with the astonishing rise in viability of wind generation and even of photo-voltaic arrays, we would probably be generating entirely carbon-free electricity 365 days of the year by now if previous governments had built on the lead we had in nuclear power generation. 

The strategy has its faults. Is there really a need for another quango ("Great British Nuclear") in an arena which has had more than enough of them? Why do China and France (Hinkley Point and Sizewell) still bulk large in the government's plans?

On the positive side, there is now a determination to clear up the commercial/political mess at Wylfa and actually make progress there, to the benefit of employment on Ynys Môn. There is approval for Rolls-Royce's Small Modular Reactor programme. 

On balance, this is a positive proposal. If it is pursued resolutely by this and succeeding governments, it should make sure that we can avoid the next international energy crisis. And there surely will be one.

Glamorgan's first home match of the season

 Wouldn't you know it? The weather in Cardiff is forecast to be blowy, with "bright intervals". Details of the county championship match against Durham are here.

Good luck to David Lloyd in his first match as captain. The committee has kept faith in him, even though the stats from his early seasons as a county all-rounder were not inspiring. His improvement has been steady, though, and he clearly has leadership qualities. He relieves Chris Cooke who will be able to concentrate on his wicket-keeping and his attractive batting, which his responsibilities as captain must have inhibited.

Turkey going green

 Yesterday's blog post drew attention to a stable democracy which is also an ecological paragon. The two things do not always go together. Last week revealed developments in the elective dictatorship of Turkey:

The World Bank has approved a loan of $341 million (€306m) as part of a project to support Turkey's agricultural sector and encourage the use of 'climate-smart technologies'.

The project aims to improve collection and use of information on 14 million hectares of soil and land, enhance disease surveillance in animals and help reduce carbon emissions, according to the World Bank.

Agricultural expansion in Turkey is creating significant environmental and climate pressure due to the inefficient use of land, water and energy, while accounting for more than 13 per cent of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions.

"We hope this partnership will contribute to putting the agriculture sector on a more competitive and sustainable growth path and help Turkey achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2053," says Auguste Kouame, World Bank Country Director for Turkey.

Warning signs in Costa Rica

Reuter reports a political shake-up in Costa Rica, the most stable and democratic nation in Central America and an environmental exemplar. The main cause appears to be the inevitable one of rising prices, though the perception of corruption has played a part.

The new man Chaves does not have an unblemished reputation. He was accused of sexual harassment while at the World Bank. It is also worrying that he proposes to use referendums to legitimise policy changes, bypassing the country's parliament. His predecessors in this are Napoleon and Hitler.

Bad news from Hungary

 The Fidesz Party of the unapologetically illiberal, racist and Putin-supporting Viktor Orban is practically certain to remain in power in Hungary as a result of yesterday's general election. It looks as if there will be another four years of disruption of the EU from Prague and of help for Putin in his quest to restore the Russian empire.

Slightly better news was that, although a government proposition to restrict LGBTQ rights received majority support in a referendum also held yesterday, the number of people voting did not reach the necessary threshold to make it binding.

A national bus network needs careful thought

 My immediate reaction to the broadcast news item that the Welsh government was planning a virtual nationalisation of bus services in Wales was that resources would naturally flow to the area where government was based, Cardiff Bay.

I was somewhat relieved to see that the sponsor of the White Paper is Lee Waters MS, who has a consistent record of supporting public transport, not to mention cycling. This was even after joining the Labour party, which has not been a prominent supporter of matters green in the past. 

There are certainly advantages in having a consistent ticketing system across Wales and certainly in ensuring that connecting services mesh. However, the small print needs study.

There is also the danger of a doctrinaire Conservative government in Westminster being obstructive. Will they allow amendments to the Competition Act? One recalls Mrs Thatcher breaking up the previous model of semi-commercial long distance bus and coach combined with municipal and commercial local services. This worked well in my experience and Wales will do well to better it.