Shoreham wants to produce its own hydrogen

Posted on October 20, 2023 by ianchisnall

On Wednesday in Parliament there was a session entitled Green Energy: Ports which took place in the Westminster Hall and the introduction for the event came from a Conservative MP Stephen Crabb who covers Preseli Pembrokeshire in Wales. He initially stated “I beg to move, That this House has considered ports and green energy.” The whole of the discussion can be obtained from here. The initial call came from Stephen and then the next person to speak was Tim Loughton who is the Sussex MP for East Worthing and Shoreham and this is what he stated. He was the only Sussex MP who took part in the session.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing this debate, to which I have come purely so that I can hijack it by singing the virtues of Shoreham harbour, the closest cross-channel harbour to London. He mentioned green hubs, and I absolutely agree with his comments about flexibility and the renaissance in our ports.

Shoreham harbour has put solar panels on its sheds. It has wind turbines. It helps to service the Rampion wind farm just offshore, which will expand to power more than 1.2 million homes across Sussex. It is becoming a hydrogen hub, working with Ricardo engineering, which retrofits engines to be run on hydrogen. Shoreham wants to produce its own hydrogen as well as importing it, and it will be an important centre for net zero through the Sussex bay kelp project, where carbon capture by seaweed is even greater than by trees. Is Shoreham not a great example of flexibility, adaptability and the huge potential of the green revolution, which can also apply to the whole United Kingdom?

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Norfolk MP promoted the Sussex University this week

Posted on October 19, 2023 by ianchisnall

On Monday in Parliament there was as session entitled “Protection of Dark Skies” and the MP who organised it is Duncan Baker who is the Conservative MP for North Norfolk. At the beginning of the session he stated “I rise to speak as the Member of Parliament for North Norfolk, a constituency blessed with huge skies and one of the few places in England where one can see, on occasion, the northern lights.” Along with Duncan Baker the other two MPs who took part were from Northern Ireland and then at the end of the session there was a Minister to responded. One of the comments that Duncan stated was this one which focuses on University of Sussex which is based in Brighton.

A seminal paper from researchers in the UK found that local populations of moth caterpillars are reduced by 52% due to exposure to streetlights. German researchers have estimated that a third of all insects attracted to lights die as a consequence, either through collision, increased predation or simply exhaustion. We see insects out of sync with their natural cycle, emerging too early from their hibernation or larval stage and missing the flowering of food plants. We see evidence that pollination rates are reduced in areas exposed to artificial light. Nocturnal pollinators are vital for pollinating crops, fruit and flowers. A study by researchers at the University of Sussex suggests that nocturnal pollinators are, in fact, more efficient than their daytime counterparts. Those are concerning statistics.

The rest of the text can all be obtained from here.

Posted in Brighton & Hove, Education | Tagged | Leave a comment

Is Government promoting Scotch whisky internationally?

Posted on October 17, 2023 by ianchisnall

A few weeks ago on the 20th September while the Government was closed down because of the Conferences several MPs did submit written questions and one of the Sussex MPs was Peter Bottomley from Worthing West and this is his question and the answer which came from Kevin Hollinrake.

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to promote Scotch whisky in international markets.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) offers a comprehensive package of support for whisky exporters, from our export academy which supports ‘new to export’ smaller businesses through to dedicated trade missions to key markets, inward buyer visits and a UK presence at major food and drink trade shows such as Prowein, Germany.

Moreover, DBT has staff in over 100 markets globally, contactable via our Export Support Service, a team of agriculture attachés in 11 markets focused on eliminating barriers for the food and drink industry and a dedicated team in Scotland focusing on support for Scottish exporters, including the Scotch whisky sector.

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Parliament reopens after most of the Conferences

Posted on October 16, 2023 by ianchisnall

Today is the opening Parliament for the first day in over three weeks. The TheyWorkForYou website informs us of what will take place this week but there is no listing of Sussex MPs contributing. There is an event in the House of Lords which involves a Sussex representative the Green Party member Jenny Jones the Baroness of Moulsecoomb who is organising “Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund contracts to companies involved in the oil and gas industry” A very important subject.

During this week there are a number of committee’s taking place but only one of them involves a Sussex MP Henry Smith from Crawley who has organised “Foreign Affairs Committee: Follow-up to Afghanistan inquiry Oral evidence” which is taking place at 2pm on Tuesday. This Friday there will be a day session for MP’s to submit their personal bills to Parliament which is the first time since the summer break. There are a total of twenty one Bills that are being introduced, nineteen of them submitted by Conservative MPs, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat. None of the submissions have come from Sussex MPs and surprisingly there are only two Conservative MPs involved in presenting the nineteen Bills as eighteen of the Bills are from Christopher Chope who is the Conservative MP for Christchurch in Dorset. It is clearly very disturbing that his contribution is so significant and that there are so little items from anyone else.

Over the last four weeks while MPs have been attending Conferences there have been several Petitions that have arisen a considerable number of signatures during the same time period. It would be very positive if our local MPs would be willing to engage these for future discussions because many have signed from Sussex.  One of them is “Call an immediate general election” which has arisen to over 260,000 signatures just over the last week. There are other petitions that have passed 100,000 during the last few weeks or that will do so in the next few days.

Last week there were several events that took place at the Party Conferences. During the Labour conference in Liverpool Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the Brighton Pavilion MP raised a couple of comments via twitter. One was “Labour will pursue every pound of public money that has been lost under the Tories from dodgy pandemic contracts, fraud and waste.” The other was “We need to restore our NHS run not for profit free at point of delivery coordinated regionally, with a long term workforce plan, with a laser focus on patent experience being first. With greater patient flexibility and cutting waiting lists. We did it in 1997 we can do it again!” The other Sussex Labour MP was Peter Kyle the MP for Hove and he commented via twitter which was provided by another Labour MP who stated “Fantastic speech from Peter Kyle at #LPC2023 outlining how a Labour government will help all British people to ride a new wave of innovation. We will create certainty with 10-year R&D budgets, allowing the relationships with industry to build and long-term partnerships to form.” He also stated “So much talent is shut out of our economy’s most exciting jobs. Labour will unleash a new wave of innovation led by science and technology. These great jobs will be reachable to everyone from every background.”

On the same weekend the Green Party Conference took place in Brighton. The Party referred to a range of themes which included items from Caroline Lucas. On Saturday 7th October at 13.30 there was a session entitled “Fringe: Our shared commons – from land to sea” and the public document stated “From ownership and access to justice and our fundamental rights, this fringe will examine how connecting with and restoring our natural world must go hand in hand with understanding how our historic shared commons have been captured, exploited and eroded. It will also be a call to action – a chance to discuss why it’s so critical to reclaim for the common good the resources that sustain life, and how we can be part of doing so.” Then later on Saturday at 17.15 the event was referred as “Fringe: Green Greats – Caroline Lucas MP” and the published text was “Caroline Lucas joined the Green Party as press officer in 1986. As she prepares to step down as the country’s first highly influential Green MP, she discusses her career, achievements and hopes for the future with Roger Harrabin, energy and environment analyst and former BBC award winning correspondent. After the interview, there will be an opportunity for questions from the audience.”

Another source from the “Left Foot Forward” website published a session from Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay who delivered their speech to the party’s autumn conference and referred that to what Adrian said “Private water companies are dumping sewage into our rivers and seas, while taking on billions in debt to fund dividend payments to shareholders.” Carla said “The Green Party believes in an NHS that sits fully in public hands, free at the point of use for all – including dentistry – and with four Green MPs in Parliament, we’ll never let the other parties forget it” In their speech, Adrian and Carla also confirmed the party’s target parliamentary constituencies at the next general election. The Greens will be seeking to get four MPs elected, with Brighton Pavilion, Bristol Central, Waveney Valley and North Herefordshire.

Posted in Brighton & Hove, Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Could we get Petitions for FareShare and Food Banks?

Posted on October 14, 2023 by ianchisnall

A couple of years ago in 2021 I submitted a e-petition that was a clear call for funding from the Government for FareShare and Food Banks and other similar charities. Tragically I only managed just 3,4690 signatures. I have just checked out how many other petitions there are that cover the same sort of theme. There are only 10 significant e-petitions that cover the theme that have similar aspects in the headline on this list below. There may have been some others that are even smaller. Hopefully the ones that are bigger will have been successful. Sadly as I found out when I tried to submit my document that including FareShare and other agencies are not accepted in the system so there are no e-petitions that refer to FareShare in their headlines or in the rest of their text. My e-Petition was entitled “Provide additional funding for redistributing surplus food”. Here are the 10 largest Petitions that cover the Food theme.

End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry – 1,113,889
Make access to food a legal right – no one in the UK should go hungry – 53,659
Ban development on agricultural land to increase food self-sufficiency – 25,081
Support British Food Producers by ensuring that marks of origin remain – 14,142
Grant food and drink wholesalers bespoke financial support – 7,488
Fund increased support for Avoidance Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) – 4,645
Ban the use of plastic packaging for all non-food items – 3,739
Ban the redevelopment of agricultural land. Protect it for food production. – 3,630
Provide additional funding for redistributing surplus food – 3,469
Country Of Origin Labelling should be compulsory on all imported food – 2,974

My e-petition which was published on 29 June 2021 and ended on 29 December included the following text.

In April the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee called on the Government to provide ongoing funding to redistribute surplus food from the farmgate and across the supply chain to food aid providers. In June the Government said there were no plans for further grants. This should change.

A Minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair told the Committee “that the Government takes food waste very seriously” and that she expects “this to be an area in which we continue to work as Government”. We need the Government to provide public funding to enable the many agencies to carry out the work necessary to prevent food waste and improve food security.

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Global Conflict website offers helpful information

Posted on October 13, 2023 by ianchisnall

This website is very helpful to provide information about what is happening in our World. It is entitled as Council on Foreign Relations and it includes a range of themes that include the “War of Ukraine”, “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” and “Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict” The opening piece on the website is as below and indeed it is very helpful for us to see what has been taking place. The website can be obtained from here https://www.cfr.org/ When Parliament reopens next Monday it would be very useful if the MPs will take some of these issues in their discussions when they speak to the Government about what is happening in our World. One of my colleagues adopted this website with the text that

There are currently 27 ongoing conflicts worldwide. The tracker categorizes conflict into three groups: ‘worsening’, ‘unchanging’, and ‘improving’. Right now, there’s not a single conflict described as ‘improving’. Those ‘worsening’ are the wars in Ukraine and Afghanistan, political instability in Lebanon, the war in Yemen, the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and the conflict in Ethiopia.

The Global Conflict Tracker section which provides the image above includes the text of

Global Conflict Tracker

By the Center for Preventive Action

The Global Conflict Tracker is an interactive guide to ongoing conflicts around the world of concern to the United States with background information and resources. This project is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Leave a comment

How many have been identified as containing malware?

Posted on October 12, 2023 by ianchisnall

A couple of weeks ago Steve Bassam asked a question in the House of Lords and Lucy Neville-Rolfe answered the question. The headline was Government Departments: Computer Viruses and the first few words that Lucy supplied were The government does not comment on issues concerning national security which seems very surprising. The location is available from here and the full words are below. As it happens so far one person has suggested it was questioned.

Steve Bassam: To ask His Majesty’s Government, over the past 12 months, how many individual devices issued by government departments have been identified as containing malware.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe: The government does not comment on issues concerning national security. The Government Cyber Security Strategy, published in January 2022, sets out how we will build and maintain our cyber defences. The strategy outlines how departments must be able to minimise the impact when malware is found.

Posted in Brighton & Hove, Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Government needs to focus on wildlife issues

Posted on October 10, 2023 by ianchisnall

A few days ago an article was published in the IET website which was written by Jack Loughran. The item is entitled “Government not doing enough to halt ‘devastating’ wildlife declines, report finds” and one of the contents within the article came from Craig Bennett who is the chief executive of The Wildlife Trust. It will be very interesting if our Sussex MPs would be willing to discuss with the Sussex Wildlife Trust and they could then communicate with the Government when Parliament opens on Monday next week. Our local Wildlife Trust can be obtained from this website and the Sussex Chief Executive is Chris Corrigan who I am sure would be willing to speak to our Sussex MPs. I have had the opportunity to work with Chris when he was on RSPB several years ago

The article from the IET which was published last Thursday on 5th October can be obtained from here and it began with the comment that “The UK risks losing nearly one in six native species as wildlife continues its “devastating” decline, a study has found.” and a few words later the comments that came from Craig Bennett stated

The State of Nature report is a stark reminder that politicians must not let nature drop down the agenda – there is far too much at stake. We desperately need better policies that fund nature-friendly farming properly, end the poisoning of lakes and rivers, and create larger wild and more natural areas – including in towns and cities. 

This next parliament will be the most important in my lifetime for nature and climate action. The clock is ticking towards the 2030 deadline, by which point the UK government has committed to protect at least 30 per cent of land and sea for nature and to halve the risks posed by pesticides. Nature recovery is fundamental to tackling climate change and improving people’s lives – history will not be kind to politicians who ignore this truth.

Another contribution came from Beccy Speight who is the RSPB’s chief executive in the UK who said

The UK’s wildlife is better studied than in any other country in the world and what the data tells us should make us sit up and listen. What is clear is that progress to protect our species and habitats has not been sufficient, and yet we know we urgently need to restore nature to tackle the climate crisis and build resilience.

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gillian Keegan leads the way at Tory Conference

Posted on October 9, 2023 by ianchisnall

(This piece was published in the Brighton Argus today – 9th October 2023) The last few days has seen three Party Political Conferences overlapping this weekend. The only one taking part here in Brighton was the Green Party and on the same day over in Wales Plaid Cymru organised their conference. I look forward to reviewing some of the content. The third conference began on Sunday in Liverpool continuing until Wednesday which is being organised by the Labour Party with potential contributions from Peter Kyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle. At the end of this week there will also be two more Conferences, even though they are not for the whole of UK. On Friday the DUP will open until Saturday and the SNP will open in Aberdeen on Sunday through to Tuesday when most other MPs will be back in Parliament.

Of course, last weekend on Sunday the Conservative Party Conference opened in Manchester closing last Wednesday. It is very interesting to observe some of the Conservative Party material that emerged online. One of the Conservative groups that provided contributions at the conference is called ‘ConservativeHome’. This group stated that

“We are proud to present ConservativeHome’s programme of fringe events at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester – our biggest Conference fringe programme ever.”

The thirty six events were linked on You Tube and most of them involved Conservative MPs and some colleagues from non political agencies. The Sussex MPs did contribute several of those events as can be considered. On Monday Morning Gillian Keegan representing Chichester and Minister for Education introduced “Delivering the skills Britain needs – the role of modern universities” which states

“The Government is committed to expanding the skills opportunities available to people of all ages, including via the lifelong loan entitlement. Modern universities are at the heart of skills training in Britain, and this event will explore the role for universities in delivering the workforce needed by businesses, the economy and communities.”

Another agency that has published resources from the Conference is CYP Now group, entitled “Key discussions impacting children and young people” which also included some comments from Gillian Keegan

“One of the biggest issues facing children and teachers is grappling with the impact of smartphones in our schools. The distraction, the disruption, the bullying – we know that teachers are struggling with their impact and we know that they need support so we’re recognising the amazing work that many schools have done in banning mobile phones, and we’re announcing that we will change guidance so that all schools follow their lead.”

At the same time as Gillians discussion Nusrat Ghani from Wealden the Minister for Industry set out “Rebuilding Ukraine – how can the UK use trade to support Ukraine’s post-conflict economic growth?” This event was listed as

“The UK has led the world in providing military aid to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. How can we now go further and help Ukraine begin to rebuild its towns, cities and infrastructure? And what more can the government do to encourage the private sector to boost trade and investment in Ukraine’s economy?”

On Tuesday morning Andrew Griffith, the MP for Arundel and South Downs and the treasury minister set out “A British success: how financial and related professional services are driving growth and innovation” which stated

“The UK is a world-leader in financial and related professional services. This panel – in partnership with TheCityUK – will discuss how the industry can be an engine for growth and innovation, whilst supporting economic resilience and stability, and how we can secure the UK’s continued international competitiveness.”

At lunchtime on Tuesday Huw Merriman, the Bexhill and Battle MP and the rail minister set out “How can rail be supported to boost growth and deliver benefits across the UK?” and it states

“Transport is pivotal to connecting the people and places that deliver growth. The rail industry has a key role to play in this, but faces significant pressures from industrial action and changed consumer behaviour. This event will look at solutions to help the sector recover and deliver benefits to the UK economy through travel, tourism and trade.”

The final event arranged by Sussex MP’s took place in the early afternoon on Tuesday organised by Mims Davies the MP for Mid Sussex and also the Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression. She included Caroline Ansell the Eastbourne MP. Their event was entitled “Supporting people through hardship: lessons from the cost of living crisis” with the presentation listed

“The cost of living crisis has seen record numbers of people needing to turn to food banks, accelerating a long-term upward trend. This panel discussion will explore the government interventions that have worked well in supporting people on the lowest incomes; and asks what the future Conservative approach should be when people face hardship.”

All of the events included external groups but this one included Trussell Trust and involved Helen Barnard who is the Director of Policy, Research & Impact for Trussell Trust. Some years ago I met with a member of the Conservative Party to discuss aspects of work about Food banks. He claimed they would not correspond with the Trussell Trust because of their political contacts. So, it is very significant that they have now endorsed the Trusell Trust which is a vital and important foodbank charity. We can thank Mim Davies for promoting this charity. It would be fantastic if politicians from all parties would also endorse FareShare in future events.

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

How can we promote Petitions in our communities

Posted on October 8, 2023 by ianchisnall

I can see that there are some Petitions which have been only endorsed by a few people or a few hundred or even a few thousand signatures. Sadly these are unable to obtain a response from the Government if it is less than 10,000 and for most of them if they get less than 100,000 signatures they won’t be discussed by the Government. So clearly we must increase their support in our communities!

The e-Petitions were emerged from 2006 by the Government and so far there are a total of 48,650 e-Petitions that have been created. What is very disturbing is that there have only been 173 (0.3%) that have achieved 100,000 signatures and there are currently only 894 (1.8%) that have achieved 10,000 signatures. So we clearly need to find ways to get credible petitions to be adopted in the future.

Posted in Parliament and Democracy | Tagged | Leave a comment