Saturday 16 May
The Today programme interviewed Daniel Levy, a member of the Jewish Bloc at our London marches against the Gaza genocide, and Lord Mann, the government’s anti-semitism advisor. Levy defined intifada as an awakening, uprising and call for justice. Mann said it was a call to attack Jews and their property. The Today presenter, Justin Webb, failed to pursue this crucial difference. The police take Mann’s view and regard chants of ‘Global Intifada’ as a criminal offence. That is bizarre. Levy was calm and persuasive, Mann ignorant (he thinks that our marches take place near synagogues, which they don’t) and out of touch: he is an excellent advertisement for replacing the House of Lords with an elected second chamber. I note that Mann is given office assistance in his role by Antisemitism Policy Support, which receives funds from Jewish charities. If this sounds OK, then Mann’s prejudiced views show that it is not. TV reports of the march failed to spell out in detail what the Nakba is, why it is remembered annually by so many of us and why it is not a thing of the past. We held our own well-attended rally in Barnstaple - thanks to Brian Garman for the photo below.
Monday 18 May
There is a furore in the Labour Party about rejoining the EU, especially as highlighting the issue might impact negatively on Andy Burnham’s chances in the Makerfield by-election. This sums up Labour - its unwillingness to face up to a major problem, be honest about it and deal with it vigorously. Last week I heard a discussion on Radio 4 about the UK’s current malaise and ‘ungovernability’. No one mentioned the obvious cause of the problem - the 6-8% loss in our GDP post-Brexit (which I’ve also heard estimated at 3-8% and 5-8% in the past few days). That affects everything. The catastrophe of Brexit should be front and centre in the Makerfield by-election - with a strong emphasis on Farage’s culpability. (This week’s The Nerve addresses the £5m payment to Farage by Christopher Harborne and the former’s advocacy of Bitcoin).
I went to the council offices on Monday to sit in on a Strategy & Resources Committee meeting. Members were due to discuss renewable energy and the siting of solar panels on buildings rather than fields. As the cllr who had initiated the discussion was not present the item was postponed. I have heard people say that solar panels render the ground beneath them permanently unproductive. That always sounded wrong. Cllr Ricky Knight has shared news of experimental work by the French National Research Institute for Agriculture: ‘France Proves that Installing Solar Panels Over Farms Increases Both Food and Energy Yields on the Same Land’. The panels, which can be tilted, protect the crops beneath from excessive sunlight / heat and loss of moisture. There is an article here: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/19/france-agrivoltaics-trials-show-early-crop-and-livestock-gains/
Photo: Spring flowers in the kitchen, including a nosegay brought by a friend
Wednesday 20 May
The UK’s Climate Change Committee published its fourth report: ‘The UK was built for a climate that no longer exists today and will be increasingly distant in years to come. While efforts to keep global warming well below 2°C above preindustrial levels must remain a priority, the world is not yet on track for this. At a minimum, the UK should prepare for the weather extremes that will be experienced if global warming levels reach 2°C above preindustrial levels by 2050. At the high end of possibilities, reaching 4°C above preindustrial levels by the end of the century cannot yet be ruled out. This should be considered as part of effective adaptation planning’. (From Baroness Brown’s introduction). The full report is here:
If you have not come across it, this might appeal:
Petition: Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks
Created by Christopher Packham
Closes on 20 November 2026
Thursday 21 May
I attended a Public Policy Exchange webinar on ‘Growing the UK’s Cultural and Creative Industries: Meeting challenges and harnessing opportunities in a changing world’. There were good talks on reviving town centres faced with the widespread problem of empty shops, reviving declining craft skills, and reforming the educational system so that arts / crafts have an appropriate share of the curriculum. The stand-out talk was the final one about the threat to all our creatives from AI, given by Ed Phelan of the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM). The facts are below:
Unfortunately, as a Freedom of Information request revealed, the government has been meeting AI company bosses privately while drafting the new Copyright Bill. The Bill cannot allow AI companies to scrape creatives’ content and use it with impunity. The ISM demands recognition and remuneration for artists whose work is copied.
Photo: the Taw from Newbridge with 20 invisible Swifts
Wildlife sightings - one early evening, driving to a meeting in Barnstaple, I met a Red Deer fawn on the Codden Hill Road. It made its way unhurriedly through a hedge into the safety of a field. Sunday 17th was a WeBS day - when a team of us go out to count wading birds. At 6.45 am the footpath to the banks of the Taw at Bishop’s Tawton was flooded because of the high tide. I drove to Newbridge but only saw three Mute Swans there. However, 20 or more Swifts were feeding above the meadow and river. My first Swifts this year. I saw and heard nesting Swifts, very fittingly, at Exmoor House in Dulverton on Thursday - I was there to take part in a poetry event (‘Earth Notes’) with my talented friends Jane Lovell and Graeme Ryan. On Friday, having lunch in the garden, I was reading an email in which a friend mentioned seeing her first Painted Lady of the year when one alighted on the Lilac bush beside me. A film recommendation is below. Thank you for reading.