Crisis, what crisis?
'THE UK’s Tory Government is in meltdown. As the Brexit cliff-edge has had a brief stay of execution, Westminster has slumped into a period of inactivity. The great hope of agreeing a Brexit outcome with Labour has come to nothing. According to Labour, the Prime Minister was unable or unwilling to give up on any of her red lines. She in turn found the Labour Party even more riven over Brexit than her own Cabinet. Never have I witnessed a UK Tory government struggling to get through every day in parliament, while the official Labour opposition is unable to land a glove on such a weak administration. This is bad news for both parties and for our country.
Climate Change
One of the huge issues facing the planet is climate change and no one will have missed the efforts of many young people to bring this issue into sharp focus in recent months. I was delighted to meet up recently with a company which wants to develop a series of solar farms in Fife. The cynics may question their trust in “sunny Fife” but this is not an April Fool’s joke. They’re deadly serious and the solar farms they’ve envisioned for Lathalmond and Keirsbeath are in the planning process. If they come to fruition these solar panels could help power up to 50,000 homes across the Kingdom.
But lets not under-estimate the renewables potential for the whole of Scotland. We know we’re capable of a renewable revolution – we have enough offshore wind to supply 10% of Europe’s electricity needs and tidal power potential is even more impressive with that figure sitting at 25% of Europe’s needs. That’s massive and that’s all before we go near solar, hydro, hydrogen or wave power. No wonder two thirds of the electricity you use everyday already comes from renewable sources in Scotland!
We are now on the cusp on winning a new renewables energy lottery. I am sure this current young generation will want to develop this opportunity to power their electric cars and their warm 0% emission homes and workplaces in the future. There’s a huge wealth potential here for Scotland.
Community Spirit
Many people put a huge amount of effort into our local communities. It may be running a local sports team, being on the gala day committee or working hard to improve the environment for everyone. It’s always a bit dispiriting when others perhaps can’t see the value these efforts bring to the lives of the majority. I was really saddened to see that some of the work done to improve the community woodland in Crossgates was trashed by a senseless minority. The great thing was the reaction of people who rallied round to support and offer help to this hard working community group. More power to your elbow!
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