Great news for Australia. Brilliant for the UK. The Brits have chucked out EU climate bunnies.
No one can deny the British want out. All the stupid parliamentary games, the attention-seeking mass rallies, and the fake concern about “threats to democracy” got knocked on the head. Finally the country will be able to follow the wishes of voters instead of the wishes of a few career pollies. In great part thanks to Nigel Farage.
Exit poll: Conservative 368, Labour 191, Liberal Democrats 13, SNP 55
If the exit poll results ring true, it will be the biggest Conservative general election win since Margaret Thatcher’s 1987 triumph — and Labour’s worst result since 1935.
“Certainly this exit poll is a devastating blow,” said Labour trade spokesman Barry Gardiner. “It’s a deeply depressing result.”
The bloodbath in the UK marks the seismic realignment of the two major parties, with Labor losing working class seats that it has held for years, and the conservatives losing city seats that once were their strongholds. It seems the Labor alignment with the smarty-pants soy-latte set, foreign bureaucrats and immigrants instead of workers is fashionable but not a winning plan.
Predictably Labor M.P’s are blaming Corbyn, but not taking any responsibility themselves for the train wreck.
Plus the party’s method for electing leaders was rortable, which may have looked like a feature at the time, but what can be corrupted, will be. It doomed the party.
The pollsters running loaded push polls tell us everyone believes in climate change and wants to save the world. But despite the mass XR protests, and nightly news-catastrophes people don’t vote for “climate action”. There are so many more important topics than slowing storms one hundred years from now.
Finally the United Kingdom will be able to choose their own hairdryers and vacuum cleaners.
Don’t mention the Commonwealth?
In the land Downunder there has been close to zero discussion about the obvious benefits in Australia of freer trade with the fifth largest economy and long time cultural partner, almost like the media (especially the ABC) don’t want to mention it.
What’s remarkable here is that 44% of Australians don’t know or don’t back a post-Brexit Trade deal.
Aussies back closer ties with post-Brexit Britain
Ben Packham, The Australian
A majority of Australians support closer ties with Britain once it breaks away from the European Union, despite being largely ambivalent about the impact of Brexit on their own lives.A new YouGov poll found nearly two-thirds of Australians back freer movement between Australia and Britain after Brexit, while 56 per cent believe it is in the nation’s interests to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain.
Britain is the second-largest source of foreign investment into Australia at almost $600bn. Two-way trade already stands at $29bn.
Why isn’t a post-Brexit deal with Britain a bleedingly obvious win for 99%?
I guess it pays to listen to the people eh?
140
And definitely to ignore the ABC/MSM “electronic whorehouse” (book on media by journalist Paul Sheehan) and published polls on politics.
171
Will our Liberal government finally take note, or still just lean slightly right of Labor?
70
I just turned on 7 news and the UK election did not feature at all at the start. If Corbyn had won, there would have been breathless reporting from the get go.
140
Here is SPIKED view on the election. Good stirring stuff !
https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/12/13/the-revenge-of-democracy/
20
At 545/650 seat decided, Boris has 290 seats..
That’s 53%
Corbyn has effectively resigned as Labor leader.
Great news for the UK ! 🙂
Now if Boris can find a climate realist to educate him, all the better !!
240
Andy G55: Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers is a climate realist. Clearly Jeremy didn’t listen to him. What a brilliant general election result for the UK (I live in England) – a breath of fresh air at last!
150
Well done to the Brits.
Looks like a 70 to 80 seat majority.
Now, let them start fracking and watch the UK economy really take off.
61
Sadly boris is not a climate realist
10
Only one problem with that Boris is a closet green so it will be full steam ahead with the stupid green agenda. I also doubt that the UK will make a clean break with the EU judging by his past performance.
40
Another risk is that people get swayed by the euphoria and he sneaks through a luke warm Brexit. Keep a close eye on him – I hope like likes of Rees-Mogg hold him to account.
10
A good outcome for GB. One may contemplate the Corbyn alternative and the disaster that would be. So heres to a hopeful future for Britain and not a wasted one that will weaken the centralised power of that unrepresentative EU.
80
This is a great day for democracy. I am proud that the electorate have given a big boot in the backside to remainers determined to use every trick in the book to keep us in the EU.proud also that despite enormous bribes the electorate have given two fingers to the money grows on trees party.
As for climate change, it is clear that many older voters remain sceptical so it will be interesting to see how that will work out.
lets hope for the renewal of closer trade and social ties between the UK and Australia.
tonyb
180
My view is that there was a big difference between remainers and remoaners.
The latter could not stand that the little people didn’t vote the correct way, while many remainers actually respected democracy and the outcome of the referendum.
I think that accepting the decision with grace, even if it is not the one you wanted, is a vital part of a functioning democracy.
120
Hi, Tony
I’m as pleased as you are about the result, and also a little surprised at its magnitude. But I’m known as a bit of a pessimist and, though I also hope things will go as you desire, I’ll play devil’s advocate here and mention the obstacles.
First, although I like Boris a lot, I don’t think he has looked at the sceptical climate arguments at all and, if he has, has ignored them. I certainly haven’t been able to get an answer out of him, though perhaps he’s been busy. He’s a pragmatist, and he will not see any advantage to himself or to his larger goals in entertaining any strength of scepticism. Maybe he’ll register the huge cost of zero 2050, but will that swing it for us? Not on its own. If he squashes HS2 and perhaps Heathrow R2 it will be a positive indication – but he likes big and expensive projects, cf. Boris Island. His girlfriend is also an ardent greenie, and he’s hardly likely to engineer domestic discord with so much on his plate.
Second, he is going to find it hard to buck the EU demands on the enviro front, and he will probably give ground on that in order to get a deal on free trade. Undoubtedly the EU (maybe despite opposition from Poland and Czechia, which I think they will buy off with structural fund money) will place a high priority on making climate orthodoxy a condition of any trade deal, both with UK and with other nations. That is where the big crunch will come in future years. Boris will have to be very firm in ensuring that regulatory alignment, which he can’t avoid on at least some agricultural issues, doesn’t become regulatory subservience.
Third, the ‘Deep State’ hasn’t gone away. It is recoiling and licking its wounds, but its fundamental strength is still there. It’s been very instructive to note how things have changed in this election. The Tories making big inroads into the provincial heartlands of the Labour Party, but actually losing ground in London and in the Southeast commuter belt. Here there are the beginnings of a situation very similar to that in USA, where the establishment left is increasing its grip on the rich coastal cities, which can afford the luxury of environmental flights of fancy, and the big slew of ‘middle America’- areas dominated by people with proper jobs, which cannot – revolting into the arms of Trump.
Fourth, the Climate ’emergency’ will be the main issue around which the BBC-Guardian axis will coalesce, to oppose and undermine the government. The government may find it easier to toe the line.
I’ve been of the opinion for a long time now that this climate madness will not go away until and unless there is a significant downturn in the temperature. And that may not happen. Can we change that? Of course we need to keep trying, and it would be good to have even a few friends in high places – but so very few of the elite have any real handle on scientific subjects that we’ll be lucky to find them.
Maybe we can persuade Nigel that, with Brexit secured, he needs to take up a new cause. He has some good sceptics on his team, and they won’t be needed as MEPs…
120
I know you could do it. Congratulations.
70
Boris hits 328 out of the total of 650.. MAJORITY !!
…. still with 50 seats still to decide !!
60
So extinction postponed? After months of climate hysteria in the media it turns out the UK greens may win 1 seat out of 650! Not to worry I’m sure after a few days of considered thinking the UK media BBC, Sky etc. will do as the media in Australia did i.e. go in even harder on climate issues. Our ABC now admits it will only present one side of the so-called climate issue from now on. Like they didn’t before!
Once again we have seen an old Labour party smashed for telling its working class base that the are evil climate criminals and must lose their jobs, their cars, air travel, holidays away from home and affordable electricity for the sake of the mighty climate gods. It might have worked in say 1280 but in 2019 people have become used to telling the difference between fact and fiction and green painted communism will never come to power via the ballot box in the west. Thank the real god(s), if they exist, for that:)
160
The Union Labour/Labor parties have outlived their usefulness to the workers they have sold out via UN treaties and agreements that have cost many developed countries businesses and related jobs, and economic prosperity slowed or halted.
Maybe migrants are more wary of politicians than complacent people in the safe haven nations that have given them security and an escape from totalitarian oppression elsewhere? And accordingly are frightened by potential leaders who promote far left policies?
50
And Greta supposedly got 500,000 welcoming her to Madrid. The police estimated 15,000 after examining aerial photos. By an odd coincidence that’s a 97% over-estimate of the support.
90
Love those left-wing media crowd estimates. You’ll notice they usually video the “huge crowds” with the camera held down at waist level shooting upwards, and video about a dozen protestors all huddled together to block out the view of empty space behind them. No long distance panoramic shots of the alleged huge crowds seem possible?
00
Wonderful. Britain has been spared from a socialist madman. I hope the trend away from deadly socialism continues all around the Western world. I doubt though the left will give up peacefully.
140
“I doubt though the left will give up peacefully.”
The left have become so rancid that they don’t realise they are doing exactly what lost them the elections in the first place.
Look at the Dumbocrats in the USA, gone totally bat-***t socialist crazy !!
Corbyn, another that had gone bat-***t socialist crazy.
140
“I doubt though the left will give up peacefully.”
There was a demo in London to protest about Boris winning the election. They don’t do democracy.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/protest-downing-street-boris-johnson-general-election-a4313391.html
00
They run the media so no chance they will humbly accept the mere Democratic popular vote of the people.
Socialist bureaucrats rule in the West.
90
I agree the war is far from over. In fact it’s only just started. We dodged a bullet with our last election and UK dodged a nuke but the left have plenty of ammo at their disposal and they are very willing to use it.
70
The war on socialism will never be over , rejected in Britain, rejected here and rejected in the USA and elsewhere but the threat is always there and they haven’t lost they’re lust for power nor the socialism utopia they want us to embrace .
70
For the time being though the left are struggling. The way things are going the Democrats will suffer a similar humiliating defeat in the next US election as did the UK Labour Party. That will mean the left will become even more violent. Hence a civil war in the US is possible.
21
The UN is the Socialist Standard Bearer. That’s what all the climate nonsense is about.
00
A huge win for the good guys everywhere, Brexit on the way now and possibly the EU’s worst fear taking place, more EU exits?
A blow for the UN too and socialism globalism new world order?
Then a new future of Commonwealth of Nations members, including India of course, joining together again as trading partners and allies, with a few other friends including the USofA, Japan and Singapore. Roadblocks for the silk road in every direction? An end to the natural climate change based global warming hoax too?
I am still permitted to dream, am I not?
130
With UK no longer providing funding, it will be interesting to see how much Germany and France are prepared to cough up to keep the EU alive. 🙂
190
When face scanning cameras and microphones are already on the streets of most cities and towns on the UK I’d say its already over.
The capital city of NZ has microphones on the streets now. “Scream mics” it was in all the papers a few years back. Everybody’s conveniently forgotten about that little dystopic feature.
The west is East Germany at present.
61
Don’t dream too much. The election result is certainly a rebuke of collectivism, but for how long? Johnson has not distanced himself or his party from the vagaries of wind and solar electricity. Whichever party is in power when the electorate gets jack of blackouts is going to own those wind and solar policies. Is Frexit next? The UK and Denmark control Germany’s trade into the Atlantic. Germany does not play well when isolated and may make moves to shore up partnerships to the north, south and especially east. The diplomatic pressure will be on Johnson to give the green light to fracking in order to continue trade with Germany and remove some of the leverage that Russia will gain from Brexit.
00
Yippee, we in Britain have a Tory majority and will have Brexit. We have our country back after nearly 50 years of lies. And although Boris Johnson is blathering about green policies and his girlfriend is a committed Greenie (check out who she works for nowadays) he announced 220 million pounds of funding for the UK’s small-scale fusion torus reactor project within a month of coming to power. (Without doubt he knew about it because the laboratory is in the parliamentary constituency he represented 2001-8.)
Even before the enormous world-scale collaboration torus at Cadarache began to be built in the south of France it was obsolete. Advances in materials technology mean that we can now fabricate wires round the torus that stay superconducting at much higher currents, meaning larger magnetic fields in the torus, meaning that a smaller torus can now attain the fusion criterion. Watch out for this machine and the several commercial ventures worldwide along similar lines. In principle it beats coal, beats fission, and most certainly beats green energy.
130
This is encouraging.. Last time I looked closely at development in fusion the story was less hopeful.
20
with 30 seats still to count, Boris has 340 to Labor 200. (Scottish Nationals 46)
This isn’t just a victory, its a total destruction !!
80
Be interesting to see if Boris will give Scotland another referendum. The SNP Leader is definitely in favour of Scotland leaving, although IMV they’d be mad to do so.
70
Maybe the Scots would soon focus on what side of the bread the butter and sugar are on?
90
Greebo:
Of course he will….so long as the SNP Leader agrees to
1. No more UK finance to prop up the Scottish economy.
2. No more UK purchase of scottish wind power when it isn’t convenient (nor priced right).
3. No more Scots collecting social welfare from the UK.
4. Agreement fron the EU for admittance of Scotland into the EU (highly unlikely considering the list of those already collecting subsidies)
81
Indeed. Scotland needs England far more than England need Scotland. After all, Japan now makes better whisky. So, for that matter, does Tasmania. Also, as you say, the EU has no incentive to admit an independent Scotland, except to piss off England. Even that pompous twit Verhofstadt would know that that won’t work.
41
It has been said that
“the two best things coming out of Scotland are whisky and the road south”
11
Great result, although Boris has a lot to learn. I’ve been watching Pelosi, Nadler and Schiff implode in the US with the impeachment farce, and this pops up. The pendulum swings.
90
“Finally the United Kingdom will be able to choose their own hairdryers and vacuum cleaners.”
Farage could/shd have waved those around when making speeches and TV ads, and used the words above.
Too bad Trudeau hung on in Canada recently.
130
Maybe go back to the popular double decker buses made in GB that the Eurocrats and their Euro Standards condemned as unsafe, regardless of the excellent safety record?
Just one example of how GB was under instruction from foreigners and even former enemies.
160
Still breathing but now on life support.
50
I feel almost as good as when Trump won in 2016 … I am waiting for a tidal wave of liberal tears!
130
Buy popcorn shares.. now !! 😉
40
The BBC must be plunged into mourning
110
And now is the perfect time to sell the BBC. May be Labor will buy it.
40
Looks like it could be 150+ majority over Labor !
Remarkable !!
20
Let’s just wait and see how many Remainers have slipped through the net in Boris’s roughly sixty seat majority; I won’t believe Brexit until it actually happens at the end of January, after all, slime the like of May and Hammond takes a lot of washing out.
60
How are you calculating only a 60 seat majority ?
10
An hour or so ago I added up the seats won by other parties in a Telegraph graphic (which I now cannot find to link) and saw that Conservatives had a total sixty in excess of that. Now, courtesy of our ABC, I see that the Conservatives are approaching a lead of one hundred. So, yeah, less of a worry about Remainer slime.
80
Info I have is Conservatives 358
Total of all other parties 282
that’s 75 seat margin of Conservative over total of all others.
10 undecided.
60
No argument from me.
20
Theresa May made it back into parliament with 57.7%
A few Arch Remainers who bit the dust.
• Anna Soubry — 8.4%
• Dominic Grieve — de-selected, scored 29% running against his Tory replacement on 56.1%
• Philip Hammond — de-selected, did not run
• Chuka Umunna — 30.7% beaten
• Jo Swinson (Lib Dem leader) — beaten by SNP
• Bercow (Speaker) — resigned and good riddance
110
And ex-speaker Bercow didn’t win the Climate Prat of the Year contest on the pointman.
Voting is continuing. It’s between St. Greta of Thunberg and Adam Schiff. Neck and neck like goose vs goose.
Voting is still continuing (unlike the UK election) so make your choice now.
My nomination is coming a poor third if you don’t want to either of the front running prats to win..
10
Britain, and by extension, the rest of the world, have dodged a massive Corbyn shaped bullet.
Well done sanity.
120
Yes, saved from the Scylla of Corbyn immediate catastrophe but not yet from the charybdis of (in name only) yr soft BREXIT.
30
Look at the ratio of votes to seats for Labour and for Tory. That has needed rebalancing for years but the LibDems wouldn’t let Cameron do it. But for that, the margin of victory at Westminster would have been even larger. It will happen now…
30
A respite in the lo-o-ong battle,
ever-continuing, between the open’n
closed society,(h/t Greek Revolution
and Karl Popper.) We live on the littoral,
tide in ‘n tide out. (
20
beth:
And when the tide goes out look what is left for you to see.
10
Graeme … crabs and gulls feeding on remaining detritus.
10
Yippee!
Now get Brexit done properly please Boris; not a version of Mrs. T’s frightful WA.
110
Yes Annie I believe the deal Boris has is a Claytons version of what May “negotiated ” , now he has the outright majority he needs to have a no deal Brexit or at least threaten the EU with it until he gets what Trump would say a good deal .
50
I believe Mr Farage would be a huge thorn in his side if he doesn’t. Sure, the Brexit Party didn’t win a seat, but they picked up around 20% of former Labour voters. Boris should pay heed to that.
70
Amen, Annie.
20
Could not believe that a universe exists where the Poms would choose Corbyn as a person fit to run the UK. Good on them. Is this enough of a majority you think? or will be now get calls for another general election? I look forward to seeing the UK stand on its own again , people seem to forget that have a long history of being able to do that.
50
With the Conservatives now, so far, on 363 seats they have a good majority.
20
They once chose Harold Wilson…
00
cricket break, so turned to Sky Australia for Credlin. seems she’s on her break, so it was Tom Connell presenting “Newsnight”. he sounded rather unimpressed by the Tory win.
and who did he go to in UK for analysis? CNN’s anti-Trump Hadas Gold!!! what is it with Sky Australia?
you would never see someone from Fox News on it, or any mention of the Spygate/Coupgate revelations uncovered by Fox and its contributors/reporters, such as John Solomon and Sara Carter.
10
And…it rained here in Brissy again today – twice in a week after nothing but hot weather for months. 2 lots of good news!
And thanks for the good reporting of the UK election results, Jo!
100
when you think The Guardian can’t sink any lower –
12 Dec: Guardian: Britain needs its own Mueller report on Russian ‘interference’
by Glenn R Simpson and Peter Fritsch
(Glenn R Simpson and Peter Fritsch, both former journalists, are the founders of the research firm Fusion GPS. Their new book is Crime in Progress: The Secret History of the Trump-Russia Investigation)
Conservative-leaning media in the UK and US see little mileage in exposing meddling that helped their own side…
https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/12/britain-mueller-report-russian-media-uk-us?__twitter_impression=true
see comment #18 on Jo’s “Spock” thread –
11 Dec: TheFederalist: Hillary Clinton, Chris Steele Allege Boris Johnson Is A Russian Stooge
It started last month, when the U.K.’s leftwing Guardian newspaper reported the existence of a secret report that said the Russians spent five years “cultivating leading Tories including Johnson…”…
READ ALL:
12 Dec: Fox News: IG report is a big, big problem for CNN, others – They are exposed as liars and know-nothings
by Tucker Carlson
(Adapted from Tucker Carlson’s monologue from “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Dec. 11, 2019)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-ig-report-cnn-liars-know-nothings
FakeNewsMSM that conspired & colluded in Spygate/Coupgate need to be held accountable.
50
And Boris has suggested that funding for the BBC be reduced (by ending the compulsory Licence fee on a TV). They may have to economise by reducing their subscriptions for The Guardian.
70
They will be losing their funding from the EU .
10
The Guardian reporting The News of the World.
10
Look at this map at the BBC site, at this link.
Look at all that blue, and for the benefit of our American readers blue here is Conservative and red is Labour, the closest to the US Democrats.
Tony.
80
Just bear in mind that Labour constituencies are much smaller and huddle together in London and other metropolitan areas, so unless you zoom in the map is a little misleading. Nevertheless it is still overwhelmingly blue.
Constituencies were supposed to be updated and rebalanced in size for population changes, but Nick Clegg, as LibDem Leader in the Cameron years, refused to let it happen out of spite when the the people rejected his pet referendum on changing to proportional representation. At the time it was believed to represent a loss to Labour of about 15 seats, but the Conservatives have not been strong enough since to get it through. Let’s hope Boris uses his large majority finally to get it done, to coin a phrase, before the next election.
50
followup to tweet by Daisy Jeffrey – comment #17 on Jo’s “Spock” thread. check the pic of the “civil society” representatives who protested:
PICS: 12 Dec: BBC: Climate change: Anger as protesters barred from UN talks
By Matt McGrath
Environmentalists and observers have been barred from UN climate talks in Madrid after a protest inside the conference.
Around 200 climate campaigners were ejected after staging a sit in, preventing access to one of the negotiating halls.
Protesters said they were “pushed, bullied and touched without consent.”
In the wake of the disruption all other observers were then barred from the talks…
Observers play an important role in the talks, ***representing civil society. They are allowed to sit in on negotiations and have access to negotiators on condition that they do not reveal the contents of those discussions…
As the group banged pots and pans and chanted slogans, UN security staff intervened to move the protestors outside “abruptly and roughly,” from the building, protesters said…
The executive director of Greenpeace International, Jennifer Morgan, was one of those who went outside in solidarity with the protestors. Ms Morgan was also barred from entry when she tried to return, despite playing no part in the protest…
The UN described the incident as “an unfortunate security incident.” After consultations with observer groups, the UN has agreed to allow those barred after the protest to return for the rest of the conference…
There are also worries that the final statement of ambition from this meeting may be watered down, with all the major decisions kicked down the road towards the key meeting in Glasgow at the end of next year.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50752126
12 Dec: UNFCCC: Joint Statement Between the UNFCCC and some Observer Organizations
Yesterday, an unfortunate security incident took place within the facilities of COP25 during an unplanned protest by some non-governmental observers, which made it necessary to take actions intended to ensure the safety of COP participants and to allow for the continuation of the conference proceedings.
Following this incident, the UNFCCC Secretariat and representatives of the concerned observer organizations met to discuss ways of moving forward.
The UNFCCC Secretariat underlined the importance of participation of observers in the climate change conferences…
Representatives from the concerned non-governmental observer organizations expressed their willingness to abide by the Guidelines as well as the Code of Conduct. They committed to request prior authorization for any future actions at the COP in accordance with established procedure. In light of this renewed commitment, those who took the action on Wednesday, December 11, will be allowed re-entry for the duration of COP25…
https://unfccc.int/news/joint-statement-between-the-unfccc-and-some-observer-organizations
10
11 Dec: Reuters: EU trumpets Green Deal as its ‘man on the moon moment’
by Jonas Ekblom, Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS – The European Union’s new executive launched a Green Deal policy package to tackle climate change on Wednesday, trumpeting it as the bloc’s “man on the moon moment” – but fossil fuel-reliant eastern European states looked set to stall the initiative…
One major component is a so-called Just Transition Fund, a mechanism of at least 35 billion euros that would support “regions most exposed to decarbonization challenge”.
Von der Leyen said the Commission wants to mobilize 100 billion euros worth of investment to help the bloc’s economies pay for transition away from fossil fuels. To make the rest of the world follow suit, ***there would be a carbon border tax, essentially tariffs on imported polluting goods…
Friends of the Earth Europe said the Green Deal marked a shift in tone but did not go far enough.
“Finally, the EU is waking up to rising public concern about the planetary emergency,” said Jagoda Munic, director of the environmental NGO.
“However, the promises are too small, too few, and too far off – we’re on a runaway train to ecological and climate collapse and the EU Commission is gently switching gears instead of slamming on the brakes.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-eu/eu-trumpets-green-deal-as-its-man-on-the-moon-moment-idUSKBN1YF1NA
11 Dec: Reuters: Three eastern EU states voice objections to 2050 neutrality plan: sources
by Gabriela Baczynska, Marton Dunai and Jan Lopatka
BRUSSELS – Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have raised objections to the latest draft decision of a Thursday-Friday summit of EU leaders who aim to commit the bloc to climate neutrality by 2050, according to diplomats and documents…
But Hungarian government spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, said on Wednesday: “Beyond the existing 2030 commitments we can only make new ones based on serious, clear and responsible calculations. This is the only way to make responsible decisions.”
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Twitter: “The Czech Republic also wants to reach carbon neutrality, but we won’t make it without nuclear. The EU must recognize nuclear as emission-free source.”
“On the top of that, the costs of carbon neutrality will be huge.”
A document prepared by the Czech Republic, which was seen by Reuters ahead of the summit, demands changes to the EU leaders’ draft decision, including to spell out that nuclear power plants could be co-financed by the EU to help lower CO2 emissions…
“The latest draft conclusions of the summit decision on climate still require further work from our point of view,” the person said, adding that Poland mostly wanted more precise guarantees of generous funding for climate transition to be able to sign up for the 2050 goal.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-eu-easterners/three-eastern-eu-states-voice-objections-to-2050-neutrality-plan-sources-idUSKBN1YF1OF
20
the sooner Boris can Brexit the better:
12 Dec: Bloomberg: Poland and Hungary Are Right to Fear the EU’s Green Deal
Ursula von der Leyen needs to be more specific about aiding post-Communist countries in their transition to clean energy.
By Leonid Bershidsky
Four eastern European economies would need to get to carbon neutrality from the highest CO2 intensity of economic output in Europe; Estonia and Bulgaria have more carbon-intensive economies than the global average…
These countries have, to some extent, sacrificed environmental protections in the race to catch up to western living standards. They still have a long way to go, and they’re way behind richer nations on green spending…
Economists who have looked into the relationship between economic growth and emissions have discovered that the curve describing it is, generally, N-shaped: Emissions grow relative to gross domestic product until a certain wealth level is reached, then decline because a country can afford more advanced, less energy-intensive technology; they then start increasing again because technology can no longer compensate for an economy’s surging energy needs…
In the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, growth doesn’t lead to increases in emissions. But almost all eastern European countries will need more green investment than their wealthier neighbors.
For those countries that dare to bargain with Brussels — Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland — the time to do that is now. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the boldest haggler, says his nation will need 150 billion euros ($167 billion) to become climate neutral. The Polish Economic Institute, which develops policies for the country’s nationalist government, has proposed that the EU set up a Just Energy Transition Fund of between 10 and 20 billion euros a year. At the midpoint of that range, Poland, according to the institute’s proposal, would be the biggest recipient of the fund’s money at 2.1 billion euros a year. The Czech prime minister Andrej Babis estimates his country’s costs at 675 billion korunas ($29.4 billion), or less than 1 billion euros a year…
These aren’t unmanageable amounts for the EU, but they’re significant compared with its 2019 budget of 165.8 billion euros…
It’s understandable that Von der Leyen wants EU member states to agree on priority goals first and details second. But she won’t be around in 2050 to take responsibility for any failure to reach that goal. The eastern European leaders, by contrast, are already on the hook to show their nationalist constituencies what’s in this Green Deal for them. If they cave, that won’t make climate neutrality by 2050 any more likely than if they stay firm.
It might be better for Von der Leyen to moderate the climate neutrality ambition for now. Once the budgetary details are thrashed out, her “man on the moon” ambition for the Green Deal will look more convincing, the result of careful planning and negotiation rather than a loud political statement.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-12/poland-hungary-and-czechs-are-right-to-fear-the-eu-s-green-deal
40
just noting BBC using 20,000 figure twice in the following, with absolutely no evidence for the organisers’ claim. shame on BBC:
11 Dec: BBC: Australia climate change: Thousands rally in Sydney amid bushfires
PIC: Organisers say some 20,000 people took part in the “climate emergency rally”…
Organisers estimated that some 20,000 people joined Wednesday’s protest march…
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50748419
30
Mirror is still, allegedly, the paper of Labour, but plenty of Labourites voted for Brexit and Boris. anyway, it’s a pretty good outline of what is to come, and worth a read:
13 Dec: UK Mirror: What will happen to Brexit now and when will Britain leave the EU?
Boris Johnson and the Conservatives have won an overall majority in the 2019 general election. But that doesn’t mean he’ll ‘get Brexit done’. What it really means is we have a long, long road ahead
by Dan Bloom
His victory in the 2019 general election means we are likely to be officially out of the EU at the end of January.
But it is by no means the end of the road, no matter how loudly the Prime Minister proclaims it.
So what exactly is going to happen with Brexit , when will it happen, and will it happen at all?…
The Prime Minister plans to railroad his withdrawal agreement through Parliament to make sure we leave the EU by January 31…
MPs will come to the Commons (many for the first time) to begin “swearing in” on Tuesday 17 December.
The Queen will attend Parliament for a stripped-down Queen’s Speech on Thursday 19 December with no ceremonial robes and no golden carriage.
MPs will then hold the “second reading” vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal before Christmas – probably on Friday or the Monday after next – to pass its first hurdle.
What happens in January?
MPs will spend much of the month carrying out detailed scrutiny of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill – the legal mechanism for translating the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal into law.
They need to go through a committee stage, ‘third reading’ and the House of Lords before it receives Royal Assent before January 31.
Unfortunately for the nation, it has loads of problems which we explained previously here (LINK)…ETC
Even more unfortunately for the nation, it seems quite likely to pass despite these problems.
That is because Boris Johnson ousted nearly all the Tories who were critical of his deal, and made every single candidate sign a loyalty pledge saying they would the his deal through…
Is 1 February 2020 the end?…READ ON
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/what-happen-brexit-now-britain-21076529
30
So, there have been lots of cheers for the majority Boris has scored, but what of the House of Lords? It is still stacked to the gills with diehard Remainers like Chris Patten who will not be happy and will no doubt still make it their life’s work to stymie democracy. Will Boris need to flood it with new blood — appointees amenable to his plans?
30
Sadly, he doesn’t have the same avenue Asquith, or LLoyd George, might have used, getting the Monarch to create new Peers to swamp the laggards. Or does he?
10
Yes, it appears he does. May appointed 27. Boris has already appointed 20 life peers in his short PMship, which I had no idea of until now. By convention Bercow was in line for a peerage until Boris told him it wasn’t gonna happen, and there are plenty of other example of jobs for the boys type peers, such as Patten.
There is a long list of hereditary peers who were excluded from the HOL by the House of Lords Act 1999 — 95% conservative with some crossbenchers. That was another Blair political stunt to stack the Lords with his mates.
What a corrupt system.
20
Doesn’t matter. The House of Lords, unlike our Senate. is a real house of review which has no part to play in budgetary matters and while they can suggest (not demand) amendment and return legislation to the Commons, they have to pass it on the third presentation regardless.
30
Is he a Trump? 🙂 / 🙁
20
Are we playing 500, or Bridge, Beth? I feel he’ll be a busted flush, and Farage will somehow come up Aces in time.
40
Simple answer NO – he is a closet green and will continue the green agenda which will kill the country.
If the wasn’t a green he would repeal the Climate Change Act 2008, remove all subsidies for renewable energy and make sure the owners of turbines place enough money in escrow to pay for their eventual complete removal.
40
Yes of course there is a long road ahead in thrashing out an agreement between the UK and the EU. But that is ultimately economic, and the issue was ultimately sovereignty. Never forget that.
Furthermore the EU will be gravely weakened without Britain, its second equal largest member by economy.
40
It’s great news the Marxists have been obliterated. That was the imperative. But sadly don’t count on Boris for sense on green issues. I fear he worships at the shrine of St Greta.
60
The monster COP 26 will be in Glasgow in Nov 2020. Huge issues on the table, especially the $200 billion a year the developed countries are supposed to start paying the developing countries, including China.
How will Boris play it?
30
Sorry, it is just $100 billion a year, for now.
20
And if all that money is paid, what will it be used for? History says free money gets wasted as often as put to good use.
Just exactly how is it that we owe these developing countries money for anything, much less for climate change damage which up to now hasn’t happened any where, developed, developing or banana republic?
I wonder if the United States can “Brexit” the UN. I want out from under that corrupt organization even more than I want out from under Sacramento.
70
We have opted out of the $100 billion a year Paris Accord scam. It is not for damage, mostly for windmills. Damage is potentially much bigger. See my latest:
https://www.cfact.org/2019/12/13/cop-25-loss-and-damage-inches-on-but-is-toothless-and-homeless/.
10
As I understand it the 39 billion to the EU is still in his exit agreement and that 39 billion has not been accurately calculated (it is essentially a figure plucked out of the air). Most think it will be higher– a lot higher in my view as the EU will want extract revenge.
10
What is Johnson’s position on fracking? Without it, Britain’s economy will suffer and its CO2 emissions will be more costly to reduce. But it was recently prohibited.
50
He’s against it, sadly.
30
He is a closet green and will follow the green agenda to kill the country.
40
Nothing “closet” about it. He is completely up front about it, and said it in his first speech to the House of Commons. See here, from where I have set it at 2:00 through to 2:14.
30
The whole party went green some time ago. A misplaced strategic move.
40
Typical example of media bias…15hrs ago I was reading tge election was too close to call. It turned into biggest loss in 80 odd years. Sounds like Trump USA, sounds like Morrison AUS. all over again.
40
Hmmm… Corbyn was not exactly Tony Blair.
00
At some point Boris will have to ditch his “zero carbon(sic) emissions” plan. But first things first. Getting out of the EU is the current priority.
50
One can only hope that there is a serious cold spell and a big high pressure over the whole of Europe one winter before long.
So far in the UK they are only boasting about how people (a tiny minority in reality with the right meter/tariff and an electric car) are being paid to use electricity and how wind is providing 45% of demand at times – the fools don’t realize this is a disaster in waiting and not a sign of a successful reinvention of the way energy is generated.
There are big electricity cost rises in the pipeline, people might start to complain once prices really start to hurt, but short of some disastrous event triggering a rethink, I can’t see much changing ‘climate crisis/zero carbon’ policy wise. The gravy train is a downhill runaway.
80
FINALLY! NOW GET ON WITH IT!
40
This is OT except Britain is potentially on the hook for Loss and Damage.
COP 25: Loss and Damage inches on, but is toothless and homeless (my latest article)
https://www.cfact.org/2019/12/13/cop-25-loss-and-damage-inches-on-but-is-toothless-and-homeless/
Loss and Damage (L&D) is the name of the hugely dangerous issue whereby developed countries would compensate the developing world for damages caused by things like bad weather and rising seas, in the name of climate change. It has been slowly inching forward at every COP.
This time L&D made yet another advance. While it is still harmless, it is worth looking at. This is also a chance to see what a COP text looks like and why it takes so many national delegates so long to write them.
The draft text, adopted Monday, is here:
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/IN.SB51.SBSTA_.i4_SBI.i9.2.pdf
It is basically a seven page nothing burger at this point. But every word has had to be agreed to by every country at the table, so there are probably a lot of hidden meanings and agendas in play.
To begin with, this is not yet the draft of a decision, because it contains several sets of options. In each case one of the options, or something else, would have to be adopted to make a decision out of the text. The option sets each suggest a wide range of possible actions.
Nor has any of it been actually adopted by the COP. The COP proceeds in two stages and this draft has merely been approved in the first stage for possible consideration by the second stage, called the ministerial phase. This is when the national executives weigh in, especially the environment and finance ministers.
The fact that this draft text cleared the first phase does not mean that it will be taken up by the second. But given that every one of the nearly 200 member countries has a veto, it is a big step for the L&D text just to go to the second stage.
As to specifics, for a start this possible L&D decision is homeless. The very first line says that the governing body or bodies to ultimately adopt this decision is as yet unspecified. The first phase of each COP is carried out by two subsidiary bodies, while the second phase is the COP acting as a whole. Thus there are three possible adopters, which differ greatly in significance.
Then too the draft text is toothless, because all it actually calls for is more study and more cooperation. Actual compensation is not called for, not yet anyway. But that is clearly where L&D is headed, as the developing countries make clear. They frequently cite the horrendous losses due to hurricanes and typhoons, droughts and floods, etc., basically assuming (falsely) that these are all part of human caused climate change.
There are several interesting features, nonetheless. For example, the concept of loss and damage actions has been expanded to include minimizing L&D. This in effect merges L&D with adaptation.
The reason to do this is because there is already an Adaptation Fund, while an L&D Fund cannot get approved. The L&D proponent’s strategy here is to try to get money through the side door, that they cannot get directly through the front door.
Also, it is repeatedly mentioned that assistance (especially funding) should especially go to countries with special needs or vulnerability. As of now this official category includes just the small island states and the least developed countries. But here at COP 25 both Africa and South America as a whole are trying to get that status. This is to position themselves for more L&D assistance, if it ever comes. Obviously the more countries are eligible for compensation, the greater the cost.
Another interesting feature is the repeated statement that things like slow onset events, human mobility (whatever that means) and non-economic damages should be included under Loss and Damage. This is potentially a huge expansion in the scope and cost of L&D.
The upshot is that Loss and Damage is going nowhere fast for now, but it is moving forward. It also appears to be trying to get a lot bigger. Clearly Loss and Damage is a dangerous critter, one worth watching closely.
David
Climate Change Education Debate Project
http://ccdedu.blogspot.com
https://www.gofundme.com/f/climate-change-debate-education
50
While I am as happy as everyone else about the victory, there are few things to note.
Firstly the UK Conservatively are fully on board the Climate Change scam train. Their manifesto was full of it. May signed a Bill on CC not long before she stood down which will cost the UK hundreds of billions over time. Even Treasurer Hammond, at the time, publicly rejected it, to no avail.
On the surface it looks like the Brexit Party failed but if you look a little closer many of the seats up North which the Cons took off Labour were because the Brexit Party took votes off Labour, NOT because the Cons increased their share of the vote. So the BP were very effective, it just did not manifest itself in the way everyone thought it would (ie. by getting seats).
Corbyn will obviously go and we would presume they would replace him with a more likeable person who will take Labour back towards the centre.
So Boris and the CP cannot become too comfortable because with the Brexit issue gone, along with Corbyn then next time all those gains could easily evaporate UNLESS they perform extraordinarily well over the next 5 years.
That would have to start with getting something very close to a proper Brexit done (a Brino type Brexit will not be forgiven) and I think they will have to move away from their current stand on Climate Change. Attitudes on the latter will change significantly over the next 5 years, in my view.
60
Excellent analsis, Ross.
What the election, and the years that led up to it, showed was both the power of the media and the limitations of that power.
Following Blair’s win(Labour) in 1997 the ordinary voter or British resident experienced no significant change in actual living conditions from the previous Major(Tory) Govt, but better public relations and less corruption guaranted subsequent re- election victories. Only with the arrival of the harder left Gordon Brown did the electorate notice a difference enough to cause Labour to lose its majority in 2010. If you did not live in Britain during the Blair years you would not realise that the BBC satirical programmes, previously Tory- bashing events in front of a giggling audience, changed to attack Blair for not being radical, ie left wing, enough. Consequently after 2010 we see the rise of the far left Corbyn and McDonell, vigorously supported by the BBC and Guardian.
With Brexit also Labour were faced with 2 choices: acknowledge the wishes of the people, especially in their working class heartland or go with the BBC, Guardian and the powerful banking interests behind them and attempt to derail the Brexit process. They chose the latter, over emphasising the power of the constant anti-Brexit propaganda of the BBC
In both cases the Labour party at Westminster was deceived by the apparent total control of the BBC over political thought. That proved to be wrong.
The BBC/Guardian/ banker money has enormous influence, but NO votes on polling day.
The people, especially in working class and lower middle class areas have No influence, BUT they have the power of the vote and that is what mattered at the end of the day (12th Dec 2019 – 12/12 ).
50
No-one should underestimate the importance of Boris’ huge majority. While Brexit will be passed in January there is still a year of negotiation to come to a final deal. Boris will be negotiating from absolute strength. During the period trade deals can be arranged with non EU countries without the EU common customs protectionist policies although they cannot be implemented until the final deal is struck. But this gives Boris an unbeatable hand and if the EU are intransigent and arrogant, as they have been in the past, the real possibility of a final no deal Brexit, with the UK economically well prepared would be the elephant stamping through their rooms. As far as Green or climate change policies are concerned the UK will be able to make up its own mind.
21
And in breaking news, Boris Johnson says that Britain will be “Corboyn Neutral” by 2025…
70
It’s a great result, no question, but the Tory high command are still promising to make the UK ” carbon neutral ” by 2050, which is a conveniently long time away. Much can happen in that time frame, but bad policy decisions enshrining renewables are unfortunately being implemented right now. I know the carbon neutrality schtick will be achieved via an accounting fudge that would win a gold medal from the Enron School of Economics & Finance. Nevertheless it keeps the whole carbon scam and climate change hoax on the rails. Now the IMF are telling Australia to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. The green virus has infected everything. It’s a pandemic. Call a doctor!
20
Unlike in Australia, first past the post voting sidelines the Greens to practical irrelevance in the UK election result. While here their 10 – 15% of the vote amplifies the Labor lefties into many seats and into running many states and councils. Daniel Andrews’ Victoria is a prime example. Canada also has first past the post, and despite only 22% of Canadians voting for Justin Trudeau, he hung on. While our system of voting is supposed to be technically better, according to political scientists (or scientologists), I wonder if any modelling exists to show what the political landscape of Australia would be like under first past the post?
20
Yep. Eliminate compulsory voting (and the casting of votes before polling day) and get rid of the preferential system in the lower houses at both state and federal level — by extending preference elimination to the senate and the remaining state upper houses we would annihilate the green vote, a circumstance which would immediately conduce to a national economic recovery, something worth working for.
21
Serp.
Most of the Western World has the kind of voting system that you want….. and most of them are devotees of Greta/Gaia.
In America is has resulted in just two parties having a virtual stranglehold on the political system…..one of which is as green as a leek, where the red of socialism isn’t showing through the cracks.
What is more, it was a minority vote in a first-past-the-post that put a vegetarian environmentalist into power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
It’s not the system that is the problem. It’s the voters.
10
Okay PeterW, I give in; from today onwards I shall just sit back and acknowledge that since most people are stupid nothing can be done about the greens and that to achieve peace of mind I need to learn to love greendom and all the other iniquities that beset us.
11
Well, in Indi we would have a Liberal instead of a lefty ‘Independant’.
10
I mean Independent…sorry!
30
Annie,
Your self correction reminds me of a cartoon I saw recently. It shows Santa leaning up against a wall with a laptop in his ….. lap.
Cartoon at this link
Tony
20
Good one Tony!
10
followup to comment #26 – no unanimity needed?
read all:
12 Dec: Reuters: EU leaves Poland out of 2050 climate deal after standoff
by Jan Strupczewski, Gabriela Baczynska; also by Michel Rose, Marine Strauss, Marton Dunai, Jason Hovet, Philip Blenkinsop, John Chalmers, Jonas Ekblom, Andreas Rinke, Marcin Goclowski, Francesco Guarascio and Jan Lopatka
BRUSSELS – The European Union left Poland out of a 2050 climate neutrality agreement on Friday after hours of summit haggling with three poorer eastern member states that demanded more funds for economic transition and support for nuclear power.
The Czech Republic and Hungary eventually dropped their resistance after winning a guarantee that nuclear energy would be recognized as a way for EU states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But Poland remained against…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was satisfied with the outcome.
“There is no splitting of Europe into separate parts but one member state needing more time to see how it will be implemented,” she said…
Underlining the stakes, Greenpeace climate activists scaled the glass-fronted Europa building where leaders meet, unfurling banners reading “Climate Emergency”, firing off red flares and blaring fire alarm sirens…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-eu/eu-leaves-poland-out-of-2050-climate-deal-after-standoff-idUSKBN1YG01I
10
Greenpeace are Marxist terrorists. As for Poland, the biggest coal power station in Europe is located there. May as well keep it running. Lots of factories have moved to Poland. Cheap land, lower wages. Whereas Slovakia is turning into an automobile manufacturing powerhouse. The new state of the art €1.4 billion Jaguar Land Rover factory has been built there in Nitra. It’s a ” smart ” factory, too! Factories… I remember when Australia had factories, but I’m getting older… :).
30
COP25 should have ended hours ago, but as usual:
TWEET: Simon Evans, Carbon Brief
IISDRS – 32m ago
Stocktaking plenary postponed until morning.
Plenaries (currently) scheduled for 9am. #COP25
Simon Evans 4h ago
In case you’re wondering why #COP25 still hasn’t finished – the complexity of Article 6 is a big part of the reason LINK
Remi Parmentier, Director @ The Varda Group – 6h ago
#COP25 press conference 19h00 – “Some issues have progressed more than others” “We only have a few hours left” “Article 6 requires more will” “The eyes of the people are on us” “We shall stay within the premices for as long as it takes” “We have moderate optimism
Carbon Market Watch – 8h ago
“We are deeply concerned that any reference to #HumanRights has been removed from the #Article6 text. This is unacceptable and they have to be put back in.”…ETC
https://twitter.com/DrSimEvans/status/1205591211265933312
20
Leave Actually
20
A stellar performance by Boris. If I had seen this before the election I might even have voted Tory.
00
13 Dec: ClimateChangeNews: Push for carbon loopholes sends climate talks into overtime
Australia, US and Brazil threatening ‘spirit’ of the Paris Agreement, says Costa Rican minister, as fractious talks could drag into the weekend
By Chloé Farand
Cop25 president Carolina Schmidt (Chile): “The eyes of the world are on us. Our kids, the women of the world, indigenous people, our communities, the youth will not understand that we are not able to get to an agreement that is committed ambition to the world. It is our responsibility to find that agreement,” she said…
Calls for additional finance to help developing countries recover from damages caused by climate impacts were not included in the latest draft text…
Another demand by developing countries to deploy a share of the proceeds from bilateral carbon trading between countries to the adaptation fund is being opposed by richer countries…
Chair of the African group, ambassador Mohamed Nasr of Egypt, told reporters: “We are seeing a regression not a progression, specifically because some countries don’t want to come forward on climate finance.”
“Our view is very clear: either we have through this process the funding, the technology that we think we deserve and should get or this process can continue for another year, we are fine with that.”
“No deal is better than a bad deal for our people,” he added…
But other countries, including Brazil, China and India, have so far refused to commit to enhance their climate plans next year before rich countries deliver on pledges for providing finance and support to developing countries made before 2020…READ ALL
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/12/13/push-carbon-loopholes-sends-climate-talks-overtime/
20
It’s well past time that Australia withdrew from this charade which is no more than a cover for the funnelling of our moneys into Swiss bank accounts of the corrupt leadership of so called “developing” countries.
30
open access – read all – totally deranged:
12 Dec: NYT: The Party That Ruined the Planet
Republican climate denial is even scarier than Trumpism.
By Paul Krugman
The most terrifying aspect of the U.S. political drama isn’t the revelation that the president has abused his power for personal gain. If you didn’t see that coming from the day Donald Trump was elected, you weren’t paying attention.
No, the real revelation has been the utter depravity of the Republican Party. Essentially every elected or appointed official in that party has chosen to defend Trump by buying into crazy, debunked conspiracy theories. That is, one of America’s two major parties is beyond redemption; given that, it’s hard to see how democracy can long endure, even if Trump is defeated.
However, the scariest reporting I’ve seen recently has been about science, not politics. A new federal report finds that climate change in the Arctic is accelerating, matching what used to be considered worst-case scenarios. And there are indications that Arctic warming may be turning into a self-reinforcing spiral, as the thawing tundra itself releases vast quantities of greenhouse gases.
Catastrophic sea-level rise, heat waves that make major population centers uninhabitable, and more are now looking more likely than not, and sooner rather than later.
But the terrifying political news and the terrifying climate news are closely related…
But one factor stands out above all others: the fanatical opposition of America’s Republicans, who are the world’s only major climate-denialist party. Because of this opposition, the United States hasn’t just failed to provide the kind of leadership that would have been essential to global action, it has become a force against action.
And Republican climate denial is rooted in the same kind of depravity that we’re seeing with regard to Trump.
As I’ve written in the past, climate denial was in many ways the crucible for Trumpism. Long before the cries of “fake news,” Republicans were refusing to accept science that contradicted their prejudices. Long before Republicans began attributing every negative development to the machinations of the “deep state,” they were insisting that global warming was a gigantic hoax perpetrated by a vast global cabal of corrupt scientists.
And long before Trump began weaponizing the power of the presidency for political gain, Republicans were using their political power to harass climate scientists and, where possible, criminalize the practice of science itself.
Perhaps not surprisingly, some of those responsible for these abuses are now ensconced in the Trump administration. Notably, Ken Cuccinelli, who as attorney general of Virginia engaged in a long witch-hunt against the climate scientist Michael Mann, is now at the Department of Homeland Security, where he pushes anti-immigrant policies with, as The Times reports, “little concern for legal restraints.”
But why have Republicans become the party of climate doom? Money is an important part of the answer: In the current cycle Republicans have received 97 percent of political contributions from the coal industry, 88 percent from oil and gas. And this doesn’t even count the wing nut welfare offered by institutions supported by the Koch brothers and other fossil-fuel moguls…
Still, whatever the short-term political incentives, it takes a special kind of depravity to respond to those incentives by denying facts, embracing insane conspiracy theories and putting the very future of civilization at risk…
Modern Republicans are irredeemable, devoid of principle or shame. And there is, as I said, no reason to believe that this will change even if Trump is defeated next year…
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/opinion/climate-change-republicans.html
30
Despite the circumstance that nobody has been able to exhibit the slightest evidence for this “Catastrophic sea-level rise” that fantastical assertion continues to be trotted out as one of the killer bullet points of the climatists’ unending claptrap.
Surely this is the easiest place to begin a concerted assault on the CAGW lie; anybody can go to the beach and wonder at the gullibility of those who allow such an obvious lie to pass unchallenged.
20
There are two points that have been totally missed in this article. Two very important points. Firstly, the ‘Deal’ that Boris is currently running with is not much different to what PM May came up with – leave, but don’t leave. It will still leave the EU with control of Britain’s fisheries, legal system, production processes and standards, and borders – just like now, so what’s the point of the exercise? He absolutely must derail that deal and go for no deal. It is what Britain voted for in the first place. A clean break and a return of sovereignty.
Secondly, the touted ‘free movement’ between the UK and Australia brings one thing to my mind; the free movement of terrorists. Britain is a cess pit of muslim radicalism that would just love the opportunity to have unrestricted entry into Australia. Any trade deal Australia does with Britain must not include free movement of people – that would be a recipe for disaster. For that matter, Australia should slam the door on ALL immigration.
30
Rick….
I dunno.
There are a bunch of white South-African farmers who are likely to fit in very well.
The problem is not immigration. It’s the lie that all migrants are equal.
40
watch:
Youtube: 1m12s: 12 Dec: UK Telegraph: Former Labour MP Alan Johnson blames ‘worse than useless’ Corbyn for shocking exit poll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dme8AwpThAc
13 Dec: UK Times: Alan Johnson’s election rant at Momentum ‘cult’ of Labour tops TV moments
by Chris Smyth
The former home secretary Alan Johnson last night tore into the left-wing “cult” running the Labour Party, dismissing Jeremy Corbyn as a leader who “couldn’t lead the working class out of a paper bag”.
In the TV moment of election night, Mr Johnson became the first senior Blairite to vent his frustration at the Labour leadership. He told Jon Lansman, founder of the pro-Corbyn group Momentum, to “go back to your student politics” and accused leftwingers of failing working-class communities through a misguided socialist experiment.
Like other leading New Labour figures Mr Johnson had held his tongue before the election, fearing that public criticism of Mr Corbyn would invite blame from the leader’s supporters for contributing to defeat.
However, as the scale of last night’s…
—
summary from another sub-titled youtube video:
Momentum founder Jon Lansman clashed with former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson in a furious election night TV row. A furious Mr Johnson, sitting next to Lansman, said: “Corbyn was a disaster on the doorstep. Everyone knew Corbyn couldn’t lead the working class out of a paper bag. “Now Jon’s developed this Momentum group, this party within a party, aiming to keep the purity. The culture of betrayal goes on. “You’ll hear it now more and more as this little cult get their act together. “I want them out of the party. I want Momentum gone. Go back to your student politics and your little left-wing… I’m saying what I want. “People like Jon and his pals will never admit this. But they have messed up completely and it’s our communities that are going to pay for that. “I feel really angry about this, that we persevered with Corbyn for this experiment of back to the future.”
Repeating to Corbyn’s supporters as a “cult”, he said he wanted Momentum “out of the party.” Lansman, who is one of Jeremy Corbyn’s most ardent supporters, suggested the ‘reluctant leader’ will choose to quit after a devastating election exit poll. He said “I don’t think he’ll overstay his welcome” after the Labour leader braced for the party’s worst result since 1935…
20
Daisy spells it out:
TWEET: Daisy Jeffrey, 17 year old Lead Organiser for School Strike 4 Climate Aus
This is the creepiest congrats I’ve ever seen… Quiet Britons?? What the f**k. LINK PM SCOTT MORRISON TWEET
13 Dec 2019
reply: Charlie Pickering, Comedian. Host of The Weekly & Tomorrow Tonight on ***ABC.
Yep. Definitely a cool@move to base your shtick on Nixon.
reply: Ian McClelland, MD Corporate Development, ***Guardian Media Group
He means ‘racists’
https://twitter.com/DaisyJeffrey2/status/1205418847777574913
Daisy Jeffrey, aged 17, wouldn’t know about the “shy conservatives” of 1992, but The Guardian should know better, cos they went along with it, to excuse the inaccurate polls back then!
8 May 2015: Guardian: How ‘shy Tories’ confounded the polls and gave David Cameron victory
by Jessica Elgot
“Well hung” was the headline on the Sun’s front page, while the Guardian ran with “It couldn’t be closer”. The polls were predicting Labour and the Conservatives were neck-and-neck, but they couldn’t have been more wrong.
All of the polls significantly underestimated the Tories, and they were strikingly consistent in how wrong they were. Populus put Labour one point ahead, BMG, Survation, YouGov and polling by the Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft all predicted a tie. Opinium predicted a one-point lead for the Tories, as did ComRes and Ipsos Mori.
So when the exit polls just after 10pm predicted 316 seats for the Tories – up nine seats from 2010 – and Labour a devastating 239 seats, with the Lib Dems obliterated to just 10 and the SNP winning all but one seat in Scotland, many could not believe it was true…
The same excuses are being floated this time as were used in 1992: changing methods of polling, “shy Tories” who did not want to admit they were voting for John Major, and a very late swing of undecideds…
Dr Chris Hanretty, of BBC Newsnight’s Index and the ***University of East Anglia, said he felt “a little bit foolish”.
“When we said we might be wrong, we talked about being 20 or 25 seats off on the top two parties. We did not think we would be off by more than 40 seats. And we categorically ruled out a majority.
***“We’ll be looking at our forecast model and trying to work out what we could have done better. We imagine the polling industry will be doing the same,” he told the BBC. “We should have expected far more ‘shy Tories’.”
Nate Silver, the man once lauded as an elections oracle for his detailed predictions, was wildly out, putting the Conservatives at “about 280 seats, Labour at about 265”…
“It could be shy Tories, it could be a last-minute swing and a disproportionate number of ‘don’t knows’ going Tory, but it seems odd,” said University of Oxford political sociologist professor Stephen Fisher…
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/08/election-2015-how-shy-tories-confounded-polls-cameron-victory
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“expert guests” include: Sonia Sodha, Chief leader writer at the Observer & deputy opinion editor at the Guardian PLUS Stefanie Bolzen, London correspondent for Germany’s Die Welt. BOTH COMPLETELY TAKEN BY SURPRISE AT THE RESULT. BREXIT DONE? NOT SO FAST:
AUDIO: 52m59s: 13 Dec: BBC: The Real Story: What does a Conservative win mean for the UK?
Dan Damon and a panel of expert guests discuss the big challenges ahead for Boris Johnson following his historic win.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csyddz
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forgot the funniest part – they discuss what the post-election polls have to say about why people voted the way they did!
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multiple times, over the 2hrs, BBC presenter Divya Arya crosses to BBC’s Chloe Tilley in industrial wasteland, Stoke-on-Trent, allegedly to hear from Labour voters who switched to Tory but, with one exception (not even in Stoke, from memory), they all voted Labour!
13 Dec: BBC OS: 1st hour
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172wrvxv5rs9x1
13 Dec: BBC OS: 2nd hour
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172wrvxv5rsfn5
multiple times, Divya crosses to COP – twice to BBC’s Navin Singh Khadka, who is beside himself with disappointment at COP25 failure, once to Matt McGrath, final segment of the 2nd hr.
from 1st hr:
15m50s to 23m: Luisa Neubauer, prominent CC activist in Germany, Fridays for Future, Greta mentions, but no mention of Luisa’s Green & social justice creds.
45m40s to end: COP – Somini Sengupta, NYT – ends with 2020 election and if there’s a new Govt in the US.
from 2nd hr:
17m45s to 23m Daisy Jeffrey School Strikes for Climate Australia at COP; Divya says had Daisy had been on earlier – haven’t checked; noisy background CAN fossil/ray announcements going on. Daisy says youth activists won Ray of Light award of the day and she’s sure the US won Fossil of the Day for the final day.
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12 Dec: Australia received 5th and 6th Fossil awards at COP25 showing lack of climate policy
That puts Australia with 6 Fossil Awards for COP25 from Nine Fossil Award Ceremonies…
ClimateActionNetwork (CAN) International: Fossil of the Day
Fossil of the Day 12 December 2019
Submitted by Meva
Today we have in first place for the fossil of the day award the United States of America (USA) (again and again)!
The main reason is for generally really standing in the way of any money going to the people suffering from climate change. This has been going on for at least six years. This should really raise eyebrows about the country´s lack of empathy. Are there real people in office in the US People with actual hearts? Or have they replaced their humanity with a lump of coal?…
First inhumanity, and now they put on full display their paranoia! They are afraid of being held accountable for causing droughts in Africa. They are afraid of being held accountable for the drowning of the Pacific; the destruction of entire civilisations. Actually, they should be held accountable…
Fossil of the Day 09 December 2019
Submitted by Meva
Today we have a special star for Fossil of the Day! The United States (US) managed to get its name on three fossil awards in one day! This country is really making its best effort to be the worst for future generations and vulnerable communities worldwide.
The US is doing great at getting its name down in history as the frontrunner in destroying planet Earth. Is it possible that it is hiding a Planet B somewhere, or is it just enjoying leading the world peeps to mass suicide?!…
Fossil of the Day 07 December 2019
Submitted by Meva
Today’s fossil award goes to the United States (US) yet again!…
Fossil of the Day 05 December 2019
Submitted by Meva
Today’s winners of fossil of the day are two giants of bad behavior. Guess who?
Who else! The United States (US) and Russia!…ETC
http://www.climatenetwork.org/fossil-of-the-day
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Chloe Tilley in Stoke. I think it’s the first resident she speaks to – Chloe doesn’t want to ask who she voted for? (sure) – but the woman says she voted for who she always voted for, which would be Labour. her father was a coal miner and fought Thatcher.
anyway, I think it’s this woman who says people can’t afford to turn on their heaters. you wake up in the morning and it’s 1C and you need to turn it on blah blah.
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Those well-known champions of free speech, democracy and human rights — ANTIFA — are rioting in the streets of London over the election results. Says it all eh?
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/12/protests-against-democracy.html
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I saw that earlier on MS News. Antifa are disgusting people who can’t cope with a democratic result but must try to bully people to their way of thinking.
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13 Dec: UK Express: Piers Morgan tells Hugh Grant to ‘f**k off’ after his ‘democracy-wrecking garbage’
PIERS MORGAN has taunted actors Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan over the UK general election 2019 results. The Good Morning Britain host hit out at the stars on Twitter, after they encouraged the public to vote tactically to oust Boris Johnson and the Conservative.
By Laura Hannam
Piers congratulated the pair, tweeting: “Congrats Hugh Grant & Steve Coogan – you helped get Boris a landslide.”
The GMB host then replied to Hugh’s tweet of “there goes the neighbourhood” by saying: “No, there goes your credibility. The British people listened to your democracy-wrecking garbage & told you to f*** off.”
On Friday’s Good Morning Britain Piers continued his rant against the pair.
He said: “[Grant’s] reaction was, ‘There goes the neighbourhood’.
“Actually, there goes his credibility. What we’ve discovered, as Hillary Clinton, celebrities can have the opposite effect.
“Entitled millionaires telling us our vote doesn’t count. ‘I watched Coogan on Channel 4 news I think it was the day before the election, and he was so sneering about Brexiteers, called them stupid and thick, said his character Alan Partridge was basically like them, ignorant, blah blah blah, off he went on his little rant.”
https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1216704/Hugh-Grant-Piers-Morgan-Twitter-general-election-2019-results-Boris-Johnson-news
7 Dec: RT.com: ‘Actors are pretty stupid,’ says Sir Anthony Hopkins – and they prove him right every single day
By Zachary Leeman, author of the novel Nigh and journalist who covers art and culture
Sir Anthony Hopkins, of ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘The Two Popes’ fame, says he keeps his political opinions to himself for good reason. Other, more outspoken performers may want to take a page from his wise book these days.
Winner of the Academy Award for his memorable portrayal of Hannibal Lecter, Sir Anthony is no fan of opinionated actors, and he doesn’t count himself as one.
“I don’t have any opinions,” Hopkins told fellow celebrity Brad Pitt for Interview Magazine. “Actors are pretty stupid. My opinion is not worth anything.”
Hopkins, 81, said he’s often asked for his opinion on developments in the world, but he’s not as eager to answer as other celebrities.
“There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it, because I’m not going to participate,” the actor said…
Not only is capitalism bad, but it’s also killing kids! Global warming isn’t just destroying the Earth, but you’ll be forced to eat your pet if you don’t change! Trump is so bad we should celebrate illegal immigrants sneaking into the country! There’s not only racism in the world, but we should be ashamed to be white! Not only do we disagree with conservatives, but they should not have the right to earn a living!
Celebrity extremism has become especially prevalent in the age of Trump. Liberal celebrities have felt particularly empowered to insult millions of Americans with different opinions and they have felt just as empowered to fear-monger and go to the extreme with their beliefs…
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/475257-actor-stupid-hopkins-politics/
14 Dec: Daily Mail: Lily Allen DELETES her Twitter account amid furious backlash and a spat with Piers Morgan after claiming Boris Johnson won because ‘racism and misogyny run so deep’ in UK
•The singer is a staunch Corbynista and has been batting for Labour this election
•She posted message on Instagram this morning accusing Britain of being racist
•Social media users savaged her claim in a furious backlash at the popstar
•This afternoon, her Twitter account vanished and critics ridiculed her
By Sebastian Murphy-bates and Jack Elsom
Among those hitting out at Allen was Good Morning Presenter Piers Morgan who said: ‘I think I speak for Britain when I say if Lily Allen doesn’t like it here, why doesn’t she f*** off?’
It comes after she was ridiculed earlier in the general election campaign for posting a video in which she appeared to be crying as a result of reading Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto, which today resulted in the worst result for his party since 1935…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7789693/Lily-Allen-DELETES-Twitter-account-amid-furious-backlash-saying-Tories-won-UK-racism.html
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12 Dec: Crux Now: Pope says that peace comes in a shade of green, or not at all
by Elise Harris, senior reporter
ROME – In his continual effort to quell worldwide conflicts, Pope Francis Thursday chastised world leaders for lacking the will to make change, and also insisted true peace implies an “ecological conversion” or it won’t work.
In an annual message for the World Day of Peace, which is celebrated on Jan. 1, the pope implied that violence toward humanity and violence toward the planet go hand in hand.
“If a mistaken understanding of our own principles has at times led us to justify mistreating nature, to exercise tyranny over creation, to engage in war, injustice and acts of violence, we believers should acknowledge that by so doing we were not faithful to the treasures of wisdom which we have been called to protect and preserve,” he said…
Francis recently vented frustration over what he said is a lack of political will in implementing environmental protections called for by both the United Nations and his 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si.
Francis wrote in a message to the U.N. Climate Change Conference summit in Madrid, “We must seriously ask ourselves if there is the political will to allocate with honesty, responsibility and courage, more human, financial and technological resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.”…
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/pope-says-that-peace-comes-in-a-shade-of-green-or-not-at-all/
12 Dec: Crux Now: Vatican calls Greta Thunberg ‘great witness’ of Church’s environmental teaching
by Elise Harris
ROME – On Thursday top Vatican officials hailed Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, recently named TIME Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for her environmental advocacy, as a “great witness” of Church teaching on care for creation and the human person.
Speaking to reporters at the Dec. 12 publication of Pope Francis’s message for the 2020 World Day of Peace, celebrated on Jan. 1 each year, Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Vatican office for Integral Human Development, called Thunberg “a great witness to what the Church teaches on the care of the environment and the care of the person.”
“What is her objective? Skipping school for a future, a future that can’t be guaranteed because there is no care for the environment,” he said, adding that in many cases, there is a complete lack of coherence between the international policies on the environment and what children are told.
Asked whether she was a model of the “ecological conversion” Francis calls for in the message, Turkson said that “model” was not the right word, but insisted that her activism brings attention to the Church’s insistence that “attention to the poor and society also coincide with care for the environment, the common home.”…
In one strong show of resistance, on the same day Thunberg was praised in the Amazon synod she was hung in effigy from a Roman bridge, with a sign around the mannequin’s neck reading, in English, “Greta is your God.” A previously unknown group calling itself Gli Svegli, or “The Awake,” took to Twitter and Facebook to claim responsibility…
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/vatican-calls-greta-thunberg-great-witness-of-churchs-environmental-teaching/
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Was quite busy at work all day Friday but, when I finally got near my radio and heard an ABC announcer talking about the UK election results in a sombre tone – as if reporting on a massive terrorist attack, I knew Boris had pulled it off before even hearing the results. They did their best not to mention who won too!
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Politics, race or religion preclude 99% support for anything of benefit to the UK even if it is also of benefit to Australia. So long as the 44% cannot control the 56% then the 100% can benefit from mutual trade. In the UK we recently went through a period where the Brexiteers were thwarted by the (unelected) House of Lords and a few disgruntled Conservative MPs. Hopefully Boris will use his majority to do the greatest good for the greatest number, no matter how they voted.
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