Laughter is definitely the best medicine, and with humorous news often in short supply these days, the Daily Mail lightened the mood for us on 30th August when it ignored the serious issues elsewhere in the world and instead splashed across its front page OUTRAGE AS STARMER REMOVES MAGGIE’S PORTRAIT.
Hilarious. Much more of that and Private Eye will find it has serious competition when it comes to front page jokes.
Using humour rather more productively, a number of popular comedians have put their talents towards helping scientists get across the message about the increasingly urgent need for us to wake up and take action about climate change and the environment. Have a look on climatesciencebreakthrough.com. Warning – contains strong language!
I imagine most people were pleased to see the law used to crack down quickly on the recent violent anti-immigrant demonstrations that were sparked partly by lies spread on anti-social media. Police officers were injured, shops looted and attempts made to set fire to places where asylum seekers were temporarily housed. In welcome contrast, peaceful demonstrators outnumbered the rioters and demonstrated the better side of human nature. The courts responded swiftly to the violent protests. One individual, who posted online encouragement for rioters to set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers, was sentenced to three years imprisonment. That does rather contrast with an earlier case of an environmental campaigner who took part in an online meeting to plan a peaceful protest aimed at temporarily stopping road traffic. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
It’s hard to see the balance or the fairness there.
Finally, the Olympics entertained and inspired us all, but it did have some greenwashing contradictions. While British cyclists won a clutch of medals, British Cycling (BC) accepted a sponsorship deal with Shell, claiming that it would ‘accelerate’ BC’s journey to net zero.
Meanwhile, Shell is accelerating its own journey – by planning to invest £46bn in fossil fuels in the next six years. The International Olympic Committee also agreed a sponsorship deal with Toyota, a car manufacturer notably slow to develop electric vehicles. Among the Olympians who publicly condemned the deal was Dorset’s own star sailor Laura Baldwin. Well done Laura.
Ken Huggins
North Dorset Green Party
