Climate hot air from this private jet posse
WHICH gave off the bigger stench in your view last week? The diesel fumes belching out of the 300 plus private jets used to ferry world leaders, global business figures and other assorted celebrities to the talking shop that is COP26 in Glasgow? Or the overpowering odour of hypocrisy from those who’d been ferried in luxury – in some instances halfway round the – world to lecture us on how we must adhere to their diktats?
Speech after doom-laden speech told us we are at one minute to midnight before destruction and on the verge of being incinerated to a crisp if we don’t listen to their grandstanding views and demands.
We must ditch our petrol or diesel vehicles and “go electric” irrespective of how much that could cost us. We have to bin our boilers, insulate our homes and wear an extra sweater.and we also have to prepare to fork out an additional £1,700 in taxes for the dubious privilege.
All of this delivered by a group of people many of whom use private jets in the same way you and I might get the bus, only travel in motorcades and are often accompanied by a fleet of helicopters. Indeed US President Joe Biden needed a convoy of 22 vehicles to get him from the airport to the conference.
To get this straight, I’m not for a moment suggesting Prince Charles, Boris Johnson or Angela Merkel should have to fly Ryanair or take the overnight coach from Victoria for 14 quid. But surely the first class section on a scheduled flight with proper security should be good enough? And why does anyone need a motor convoy involving more vehicles than on the grid for a Formula One race?
Credit where it’s due and at least the high priestess of the eco-world, Greta Thunberg, is good to her word. No one can question her devotion to the cause as she continues to traverse the globe by ship or train, always eschewing air travel.
Away from her, this is a group of people who never fear the gas bill dropping on the mat and who could switch to electric vehicles with the seamless transition of a hybrid engine.
This is why, to date, this bloated talking shop, complete with more than 10,000 delegates, is proving to be far more bad cop than good cop. As the speeches rolled by, it was as if they were all gripped by some collective sense of hysteria to use the wildest hyperbole imaginable. That ended in the usually sage and calming Archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby, somehow comparing inaction over climate change to Nazi Germany. The minute you hear anyone likening almost much anything to Nazi Germany, you know the argument is a pretty dud one.
As this is COP26, ask yourself this: since everyone in Glasgow agrees we are on the very edge of global destruction, just what have the preceding 25 COPS achieved? For most of us looking on, the entire situation has worsened immeasurably.the truth is the planet is in a deeply precarious posi
right, tion and is crying out for meaningful and targeted leadership, not a posse of poseurs desperate to burnish their green credentials.we need to hear from people who do as they say rather than telling us all what to do as they climb from their limos.
The ultimate insult in this country has to be Prime Minister Boris, who, having told us we were four goals down and needed to do a lot better, used a private jet to get to London... so he could keep a dinner date at a members-only club!
That behaviour is contemptuous, and history shows that prime ministers who treat voters with contempt often live to rue their actions.
WHAT a difference just a few weeks make! After the early death of James Brokenshire and the tragedy of the killing of Sir David Amess while trying to help his constituents, Parliament came together to pay tribute to two of the most popular figures to have graced the House of Commons for some years.
Can it possibly be the same place where, last week, the Government conspired to rip up the rule book in a bid to save a disgraced pal? And then were forced to watch as their grubby dealings collapsed.
While some of this can be put down to loyalty to a friend who’d endured a personal tragedy, the Prime Minister’s colossal lack of political nous is breathtaking.
He managed to go from climate change hero to clodhopping zero in record time, helped by his gasguzzling private jet.
BOYS, as well as male teachers, at Castleview Primary school in Edinburgh were urged to go to school last week wearing skirts. This was, supposedly, in an attempt to “promote equality”.
In truth, it causes confusion for children who are at an age when they should be allowed to live their lives in their own manner without being pressured to dress in a certain way.
School is about learning, not seeking to embrace pressure groups or political causes.