If this is considered to be anti-growth, then sign me up

I WAS listening to the radio late one evening, and heard the story of the middle-aged woman who had been arrested for trying to glue herself to a bridge in London to highlight the lack of action on the environment.

The interviewer, seemingly far from impressed, asked her what gave her the right to disrupt everyone’s daily lives because of her concerns?

Why couldn’t she go through the proper channels, and get her MP to lobby the Government over it instead?

She made the point that at other points in history, significant change has been achieved not just with the approval of authority, but with an element of civil disobedience.

The Suffragettes chained themselves to places they weren’t allowed, smashed windows and even resorted to arson to force the male-dominated authorities to give women the vote.

The civil rights movements of the 1960s too involved an element of civil disobedience, though ironically much less than the militant women who had gone before them.

The climate is the next hurdle we must clear, not just as a society, but as a race, a planet, a species, even – and other species are relying on us to take the steps necessary.

Compared to vandalism, arson, and rioting, gluing yourself to a bridge or a road, and maybe halting some traffic for a while doesn’t seem too outrageous.

The interviewer, Stephen Nolan, was having none of it. How dare this woman try to save the planet for the rest of us! But then, that’s probably why he’s on at a time when almost nobody listens to the radio, and not in the slot that more erudite interviewers such as Jeremy Vine are given.

Prime Minister Liz Truss has shown which side of the debate she is on by labelling environmental campaigners part of an ‘anti-growth coalition’ alongside unions and remainers, in a speech which caused more division and anger at a time when she badly needs to get her own party behind her.

This coalition she mentioned sounds like a good idea. I think we should run with it.

A group of people who care for the rights of workers, and helps pay to be made fairer, while also caring for the planet and getting along with our European neighbours? Sounds like a winner.

If you are still one of the people who thinks that ‘Things Are Fine Thank You Very Much’, and that those who disagree with them should be called things like snowflakes, lefties, or Remoaners, then consider this. A study recently found that microplastics are now present in the breast milk of mothers for the first time, with researchers concerned over the impact on the health of the babies.

Breast milk samples were taken from 34 healthy mothers in Rome, and microplastics were found in 75% of them.

There was no correlation between the diet of the women and the presence of microplastics in their milk, suggesting that it was the environment at large which was the contributor.

It’s probably the EU which put it there, the Brexiteers will likely argue, and their policies weren’t any better before we left, you know!

That last point is fair enough, to be honest, as EU policies haven’t been good enough, either, as this isn’t new. Back in 2019, a study found the average person consumes around 50,000 plastic particles a year – and breathes in a similar quantity. Imagine the effect on our health.

So, quite frankly, Ms Truss can keep her economic growth, if this is what it entails. I would rather join the coalition she mentioned instead – and live a bit longer.