Environment
Prison converting single cells into doubles prompting fears of overcrowding
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor HMP Oakwood near Wolverhampton, and it operated by G4S, is making single rooms into doubles to attempt to accommodate an increase in prisoners, but it has raised fears of serious overcrowding. The prison, the UK’s largest privately-run jail are to start sharing cells this summer, after it was told by the Government to cram in another 500 prisoners this July. This move has worried campaigners who see this move as a recipe for overcrowding and...
Tories sneak in Land Registry sell-off just before Easter hols
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Conservative Party sneakily announced their plans to sell-off the Land Registry just before Parliament shut down for the Easter Holidays, at 5pm last Thursday. The Chancellor has been trying to off load the agency for several years. The Land Registry is responsible for controlling all property transactions in England and Wales. During the coalition years a plan to privatise the agency was blocked by the Liberal Democrats. However, George Osborne resurrected the idea in...
Coal & gas investment globally less than half of clean energy
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor 2015 was a record year for renewables, which also saw investment by developing countries overtake that of the developed world. It was the first time that renewable energy made up a majority of all the new electricity generation capacity under construction around the globe. This can only bring hope that we can begin to successfully tackle the dangers of climate change. $286bn (£200bn) was invested globally in renewable energy in 2015, more than the previous...
Rise in homeless families raises doubts of compassionate Conservatism
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A sharp increase in figures for homeless families has meant that David Cameron’s compassionate Conservatism is “dead on arrival.” There has been a 103 per cent rise in people who have been forced into emergency B&B and hostel accommodation, since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. The number in December was 69,140 over 100 per cent higher than 2010. Additionally, the number of homeless households went up from 41,780 in 2009 to 56,500 last...
Global warming increasing at ‘alarming rate’, UN climate body warning
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor An “alarming” and “unprecedented” rate of climate change taking places across the planet, the World Meteorological Organisation has warned. The WMO, which is a United Nations body, reported on a number of climate and weather records that were broken last year. These included increased rainfall, droughts, unusual cyclone activities, heatwaves and global temperature highs. WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas wrote: “The year 2015 will stand out in the historical record of the global climate in many...
Penguin swims 5,000 miles every year to reunite with man who saved its life
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The most heartwarming story of 2016 so far, comes from a beach in Brazil. A South American Magellanic penguin who swims 5,000 miles each year to be reunited with the man who saved his life. Joao Pereira de Souza, 71, lives in an island village just outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, found the tiny penguin, covered in oil and close to death, on his local beach in 2011. He cleaned the oil off the penguin’s feathers...
Tory minister claims some homeless people decide to sleep rough
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor There has been anger after Tory minister Baroness Williams said homeless people chose to sleep rough. Charities have said "rough sleeping isn't a lifestyle choice" after her remarks in the upper house during a debate. The Communities Minister made her controversial statement as she argued with other peers over the amount of beds available to get people off the streets. Labour's Baroness Armstrong, said rough sleeping had more than doubled since the Tories took power...
Dairy Cows Are Mothers Too
Mother's Day gives us a ready-made opportunity to express our love and gratitude to those who raised us. Lots of us also recognise other caregivers in society, but how many will be extending their thoughts to other species? Very few, probably, but the reality is that the billions of animals used in the food, clothing and entertainment industries will not be spending Mother's Day, or any other day for that matter, with their offspring. Farmed animals get the worst deal,...
Use of fossil fuels must fall twice as quickly to contain global warming
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A study has revealed that the available carbon budget is half as big as thought, if the 2C limit is going to be kept. It is troubling news for the 195 nations who agreed to the limits in Paris in December, they will now have to cut fossil fuel use at a rate nobody had predicted before and puts the agreement in France in doubt. Joeri Rogelj, research scholar at the International Institute for Applied...