Just oil protesters are right

The Just Oil group have been causing a stir, with their direct action interventions, from Wimbledon and the Test match to the Chelsea Flower Show. The target has always been those with links to fossil fuel industry. There has been outrage expressed, often by the group of politicians who seem completely oblivious to the threat posed by climate change. What the protesters are saying is that this is an emergency, demanding a proportionate response. That response would be of the type seen for the COVID pandemic. It is no use just putting climate change on the back burner, waiting till a day when the actions required can be afforded. The evidence of the devastation being caused by the climate crisis is all around us. The soaring temperatures, droughts and floods. Those connected to nature, growing food and managing the land see the impact. Anyone who has a garden must be aware of the rapidity of change. A creaking infrastructure will require much investment to cope. Thousands are dying, every year, due to heat waves and floods. People are on the move. This government maybe fixated by the so called small boats but they ain't seen nothing yet. Watch out for the mass migrations that will come from the climate crisis. The protesters are right to take actions that highlight these issues. This head in the sand denial of so many people - not least the politicians - cannot go on. The British government having at one point been at the forefront of those seeking to tackle the causes, has now slammed into reverse. It has issued new oil and gas licences, as well as opening new coal mines. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak does not include climate as one of his five priorities for action. The government continues with the stubborn and ridiculous policy of blocking wind turbines on land. There should be a full scale switch to renewable energy sources. All new properties should be zero carbon, with a major program to retrofit older property. This was set to pass into law, until scrapped by David Cameron's government in 2015. The electric vehicles industry is another in need of heavy subsidy to bring down the price and build an adequate infrastructure. If the crisis were being taken seriously this would happen - not leaving it to the market to slowly respond. At the moment, politicians maybe listening but they are really not hearing what the likes of Just Oil are saying. It is the failure to respond that causes the protesters to move to more direct ways of protest. Their actions are certainly getting people's attention. Politicians across the spectrum from national to local government need to take this climate crisis seriously, give it the priority it deserves. We cannot just go on with business as usual. Nor is it any answer to simply criminalise the protesters whilst ignoring their message. We need urgent action now - not when it is too late for all of us. The protest must go on.

Time for common good to take centre stage

How different the world would be if things operated on the basis of the common good? So, policy would be made according to what was good for the mass of people, not the benefits of a few. Take the utilities. Thames Water is the first water company to run into trouble, with orbiting debt. It has been run for the benefit of shareholders, not customers. Billions have been paid out in dividends to shareholders, since privatisation in 1980s. At the same time it has been running up debts, which the tax payer may now be forced to pick up. Meanwhile, the underinvested infrastructure is creaking. Millions of gallons of water are lost every day due to leaks. Restrictions on water use once again loom for Londoners. Then, there is the problem of sewage being dumped in the rivers. And these problems are common to the whole privatised water network. Southern Water were given a record £90 million fine for discharging sewage into the rivers and coastal waters. None of this is for the common good of the population. As climate change bites deeper, the impact increases. Everyone needs to adapt and pull in the same direction. Water needs to be taken back under government control. Rail is another area, where funds that should be invested in the infrastructure are channelled off in dividends to shareholders. Ironically, the shareholders are often the state owned rail companies of other countries. So we effectively subsidise rail travel elsewhere. It is partly due to the way the railway is run that the ticket prices in this country are the highest in Europe. At a time when we need to get people off the road and onto the trains, the policy skewed toward individual profit is stopping this from happening. Utilities like water, rail and energy must be run for the common good of all of us, not the benefit of the few. The climate emergency now upon us is having impacts across the board. The common good must be the mantra, which means taking some of these services back into public ownership. Then, the country will be more ready to face oncoming threats that confront us.

Wanstead Beer festival in October

The Wanstead Beer Festival is set to join the calender of local events for the autumn. Save the date: 14 October in Christchurch Halls - for one day only! There has been a great response since the idea was first voiced back in February. A team of enthusiasts have come together, to bring the event to life. Never too late though to join in - all volunteers welcome. There will be an excellent array of cask beers on offer, mainly drawn from the local area but some from further afield. Craft, lager and wine will also be present, so catering for all tastes. It is amazing just what an ale centre East London has become over recent years. There are many brewers around the Blackhorse Road area of Walthamstow, including Beerblefish, Wild Card, Pretty Decent, Excel, Hackney and Signature to name but a few. The tap rooms of these breweries offer a real chance to try beer within a real brewing environment. Now, ofcourse is a time when the beer festivals come thick and fast. Ealing and Chelmsford have had festivals in the last week, with Epping & Ongar this week. Epping & Ongar has the added attraction of the trains going up and down the track between Epping and Ongar. Beer and steam trains, what's not to like? Then, there is the biggest of them all the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia, during the first week of August. All these festivals are run by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) who have done so much to promote ale, as well as pubs nationwide. The Wanstead Beer festival will draw on many breweries and volunteers in seeking to create our own unique event amid the picturesque setting of Christchurch. The WBF is a not for profit event, with excess money made being distributed to local charities. So don't miss out on this unique event, to come and enjoy a drink with friends and neighbours in the community. Tickets will soon be going on sale. So watch this space. See: wansteadbeerfestival.co.uk Contact: info@wansteadbeerfestival.co.uk

Positive biodiversity steps being taken but genuine conversion still required

The crisis in biodiversity does at last seem to be registering across the popular consciousness. The recent Chelsea Flower Show was notable for the biodiverse theme. Rewilding and re-use were at the heart of many of the designs. Locally, it has been great to see biodiversity taking a greater hold over the daily fabric of people's lives. More and more people have adopted tree pits and planters. The work of the community gardeners from the high street beds to the work around the tube stations and on Cambridge Park at the approach from the Green Man are fantastic to behold. The beds around the top of Draycot Road could warrant a place at the Chelsea Flower Show on their own.The move toward a genuine Greenway through Wanstead via Cambridge Park Road seems underway. Many shops along Wanstead High Street and Leytonstone High Road are doing their bit for biodiversity with some great planters. The Growzones on Christchurch and George Greens are bringing forward all sorts of natural surprises. There is also the start of a community orchard on Christchurch Green. The Growzone at the Roding Valley Park, neighbouring Elmcroft Avenue, has been supplemented with a tree planting program earlier in the year. All of these developments are positive but there needs to be more. And more means a human conversion to nature. The human being still seems determined to dominate rather than partner nature. Rewilding is the essence of living with nature. A walk across Wanstead Flats or in the park reveals wild flowers a plenty - if areas are left to grow. The Growzones epitomise the let nature breath approach. Yet move into the private sphere and what I call the window box mentality abounds. The human wants total control. This can involve concreting over areas, using artificial grass or simply regimenting everything rather than letting it go a bit. There is probably some deep psychological reasons for how people manage their open (and closed) spaces. A sign of the need to control and lack of conversion is evident in some of the objections to Growzones, such as the long grass etc. Some are desperate to control, others happy to let go a little. The best is when humans and nature work in unison, then the real natural creative spirit takes hold. But there needs to be a real change in lifestyles. Recycling a couple of yogurt pots is not going to save the planet, though recycling ofcourse should be encouraged. There needs to be substantial change in the way we all live. Far less waste far more preservation and sustainable growth. It is great that in so many ways things do seem to be changing for the better but there is no room for complacency. The world is in a biodiversity and climate emergency. Bold steps are urgently needed if the situation is to be saved. All is not lost and there are signs of recovery but everyone has a role to play. We can all do our bit for nature, whether in the domestic or public space, helping with tree pits, Growzones, tree and shrub planting. So let's double down on the conversion to an ever greener more biodiverse world.

Fear factor

Why is it that there seems to be a continual feed of things to frighten people with. The latest subject is Artificial Intelligence - this will be the end of life as we know it. The technology poses a threat to the very existence of the human race. It is no doubt right to be cautious about AI. There does need to be proper regulation but is the fear factor being overdone. Another recent phenomena used to maximum fear effect was COVID. Then, fear was used blatantly as a tool to control people. Remember the daily death and infection figures - a regular part of daily news bulletins. People were scared into complying The terror threat posed by one group or another is regularly run out to frighten people. Often, as a precursor to more draconian legislation, taking away people's human rights. Immigration and crime are other subjects regularly deployed to frighten the populace. At another level there seems to be a morbid fascination with life threatening illness. The number of news stories, documentaries and dramas on things like cancer, dementia etc is incredible. Not that it is wrong to educate and inform on these matters. People can learn about healthier lifestyles and maybe ways to avoid such conditions. Some inspirational stories portray heroic efforts to overcome adversity. The problem is more when this all fits into an overall picture that ensures fear and insecurity in people. Fear is certainly used to control. At the depths of the great depression of the 1930s, US President Franklin D Roosevelt famously declared that the only thing to fear was fear itself. A statement as true today, as it was then. There are certainly plenty of things around to be scared of but everyone needs to be aware as to how such concerns can be used to manipulate and control people.

Passing of Hugh Callaghan reminds that the travesty of miscarriages of justice remains with us

The recent death of Hugh Callaghan at the age of 93 brought back all the memories of the Irish miscarriages of justice of the 1970s. Hugh was one of six Irishmen who got wrongly convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974. Collectively they became known as the Birmingham Six It took 16 years of campaigning, that drew in Mps, bishops, cardinals, congressmen and lots of ordinary folk - including the men's families, to eventually establish their innocence. That day, in 1991, when the six walked free through the front door of the Court of Appeal was vindication for the men and all who worked so long and hard to secure their freedom. Hugh later wrote a book titled Cruel Fate, which told the story of the years of suffering. The graphic account of how the police, knowing Hugh was frightened of dogs, would let alsatians free in the cells, only calling them back at the last moment. The treatment of the six amounted in many ways to torture, seeking to force confessions out of them. The men were finally cleared but those responsible for their wrongful conviction were not held to account. In the Birmingham Six case, three middle ranking police officers were prosecuted but the cases collapsed. Indeed, the police seemed to spend a lot of time trying to prove that they were right all along. There were whispering campaigns, questioning the men's innocence. Even to this day the police have been pursuing veteran journalist and former MP Chris Mullin over his interview with one of the bombers. Mullin claimed journalistic confidentiality, regarding a source, which was recently upheld by the courts. Mullin played an outstanding role in securing the exoneration of the Birmingham Six and other innocent victims. He wrote the book Error of Judgement, as well as helping with the ground breaking ITV World in Action documentaries on the case. Mullin received much abuse over the years that he championed the cause. The campaigner then went on to pursue a successful career in Parliament, representing Sunderland South as an MP and rising to ministerial rank under Tony Blair. The former Sunderland South MP is also well known for his volumes of published diaries, depicting life in the corridors of Westminster. Witty and revealing, Mullin's diaries are regarded as amongst the best of recent times. Not that leaving Westminster in 2010, seems to have stopped the diarist in Mullin. He has just produced a highly entertaining volume covering the time after he left Parliament. Titled, Didn't you used to be Chris Mullin, the diaries take their title from a comment made to the author by another MP on a visit to Westminster. The diaries cover such events as Brexit, COVID and the rise and fall of Jeremy Corbyn. Indeed, Mullin castigates the way his fellow miscarriage of justice campaigner, Corbyn, has been treated by the Labour Party. So Mullin continues to write and campaign on issues that matter. For those victims of miscarriages of justice, life once back outside was not always easy. There was a populist view that the victims of miscarriages of justice all got handsomely compensated to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Little could be further from the truth. Most struggled with physical and mental health problems. Few ever worked again. I remember one member of the Birmingham Six saying how he could battle the Home Office and criminal justice system but dealing with the frictions in his own family was another matter altogether. Members of the Six did great campaigning work to set other innocent prisoners free. Billy Power named Prem Sivalingham and Sam Kulasingham, known as the East Ham Two, amongst the innocent. They were cleared of murder in 1994. Billy also campaigned for Irishman Frank Johnson, who was eventually cleared in 2002, after serving 26 years for a murder he didn't commit. Paddy Hill helped establish the excellent Miscarriage of Justice Organisation (mojo), which campaigns across the criminal justice system. Hugh Callaghan was the oldest of the Six. After, giving his account of what happened in Cruel Fate, Hugh faded from the public spotlight getting on as best he could with family life It is more than 30 years now since the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four, Judith Ward and others were freed but their legacy lives on. There are better systems now for those wrongly convicted. The establishment in the mid 1990s of the Criminal Cases Review Commission created a resourced process to look again at cases. This was a direct result of the Irish miscarriage of justice cases. There are though still many innocent people routinely convicted and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. Those caught up in such injustice always end up paying a heavy price. No amount of compensation can make up for the loss of liberty. What is important though is that the innocent victims are not forgotten. Lawyers like Gareth Peirce, MPs like Chris Mullin, campaigners and dedicated journalists all have a role to play in setting the innocent free and holding wrong doers to account. Hugh Callaghan RIP. * Did you not used to be Chris Mullin is published by Biteback Publishing, £20

Important to mark and celebrate Windrush Day

There has been much celebration over the past week of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMS Windrush. The ship was a troop carrier, that brought a group of people from the Carribbean to the UK in June 1948. The arrival of the Windrush marked the start of a migration from the Caribbean islands to the UK. This generation helped rebuild post war Britain, working in construction, the NHS, transport and many other areas. The welcome, though, was not always friendly. In fact, it was often aggressively racist . The Windrush Generation, together with the Irish migrants that went before, had to endure the ignominy of the no Blacks, no Irish and no dogs notices in the windows of available accomodation. Life was made difficult in many cases. There is an interesting reflection from the times at the London museum' s slavery exhibition. A Black resident of north London reflected that a third of the population are friendly, a third aggressive and hostile and the final third didn't care as long as Arsenal won on Saturday. The Windrush Generation continued to contribute against an often hostile background, contributing to the wealth and well being of the country, bringing up families, building community. Some protections came in with legislation like the Race Relations Act of 1971 - no more racist boarding house notices for one thing. Though, in time racism didn't so much go away as become more covert and hidden. Discrimination in the workplace, in education and particularly from the police force, toward the black community continued. It is still very evident today. The ultimate insult to the Windrush Generation came when the Home Office recently started sending people back to their countries of origin. Many hardly knew the country they were being sent back to, having lived in the UK for practically their whole lives. What a disgraceful way to treat a generation of people who came here to contribute and help rebuild this country. Unfortunately, the attitude that led to this injustice, with the Windrush Generation, pervades the British Government's approach to migrants, which is basically racist. Migrants are not looked on as net contributors to the economy, the culture and the community. Instead, the government spurred on by a right wing media, talk negatiely about numbers, drains on public services etc. The truth is that were it not for the migrants of the Windrush Generation and others most public services like the NHS, care and the public transport network would have collapsed years ago. The Windrush Generation must be celebrated for what they have brought and done for this country. Fortunately, most people recognise that contribution. The indices of the North London man may have changed ( certainly fewer will be concerned about how Arsenal do on Saturday!). But changes in attitude only come about with a constant effort to promote equality, diversity and tolerance. The Windrush Day celebration is a fine way to do this.