the brilliantly leaping gazelle

Yesterday proved the rank stupidity and shortsightedness of the Conservative governments energy policy was revealed, as the BBC reported;

A record amount of solar power was generated on Friday as Britain basked in sunshine and temperatures of up to 28C, the National Grid has said.

It said 8.7 gigawatts (GW) had been generated at lunchtime, representing 24.3% of total generation across the UK.

The level tops the previous record of 8.48GW set on 10 May.

Duncan Burt, head of control room operations at National Grid, called it the “beginning of a new era”.

“We now have significant volumes of renewable energy on the system,” he said. “We also have the tools available to ensure we can balance supply and demand.”

So when the Conservative party cut environmental subsidies for to homeowners whilst at the same time give the go ahead to permit large scale drilling for shale oil, UK one has to ask what the frack is going on? At a time when we’re supposed to be reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and instead re-orientating our energy usage towards renewables this makes about as much sense as homeopathy.

Basically none at all.

Because as the Guardian noted;

 The milestone reached on Friday is the latest in a series of records for solar, which has grown from almost nothing seven years ago to 12GW of capacity today. Last summer it provided more power than the UK’s last 10 coal-fired power stations.

In April this year, Britain achieved its first-ever full working day without coal power since it started burning the fuel in 1882, thanks in part to solar energy.

Solar’s rapid growth is overturning conventions for the managers of the UK’s power grid. In March, for the first time ever, the amount of electricity demanded by homes and businesses in the afternoon was lower than it was in the night, thanks to the cut in demand due to solar panels.

This ridiculous state of affairs is further compounded by a the previous governments decision to give the green light plans, not only to upgrade some existing nuclear power stations, but a build a completely new one. Of course it will be expensive both in financial and much more importantly, in environmental terms. Expensive financially because the costs of building it – around £18 – are to be offset by a guaranteed price for the electricity it sells, which as The National Audit Office has pointed out;

Back to the good news about solar power. Is it just me or does the erosion of the ozone layer mean that the sun’s rays are more powerful because they don’t have to burn through the ozone layer?

I’ll get me coat.

Further to my post yesterday the pain in my left arm has not abated and has if anything increased. So if I were typing this I’d be in excruciating pain by now. Thankfully it’s not me but my glamorous assistant Julie doing the typing.

She did however draw the line at wearing a bikini to do it but hey we can’t have everything…

Say what you will about Jeremy Corbyn, he does like a gamble. To this end he’s massively gambled Labours election chances by criticizing the war on terror, and by implication, blaming British military intervention abroad as being a causative factor in the terrorist attack on Monday. Whilst this is an opinion that I strongly support – and I’m possibly not alone in this – for the vast majority who feel the same, now is not the time to apportion blame. It’s a risky strategy and lays the Labour leadership guilty of using the tragic events of Monday night for their own political ends. By the time you read this, it might have already started. They could easily be accused of ghoulish insensitivity. Some of the more extreme elements of the press might level the charge that he’s in some way giving succor to terrorists by attempting to rationalise their actions

If the Conservative party have any sense they will remain above apportioning blame. They will strive to maintain a dignified and respectful silence on the matter, as if to underline the fact that they are not making the terrorist outrage a party political issue. In so doing it will enhance their reputation as serious minded politicians whom are getting on with the job at hand.

This in turn presents the smaller parties with a problem. After the events of Monday night the electorate will be properly focused on security concerns and not whether or not primary school children continue to have free school meals. They want decisive leadership and they don’t as yet see Corbyn as offering that, It is a truism of electoral thinking that in times of crisis the electorate are not willing to vote for change when they want is political continuity and for better or for much worse that’s what the Conservatives offer.

No matter that the Greens might have an innovative solution for the problems that beset this country at this time, so to might have UKIP. And not forgetting Plaid Cymru. Or the SNP, who haven’t even launched their manifesto yet? As the news media is focused the aftermath of the Manchester attack will their policies get the scrutiny manifesto they warrant.

Isn’t democracy great?

Had pyhsio yesterday to theoretically help alleviate the pain that my trapped nerve is causing. Ironic then that my left arm is really hurting today – constant shooting pains down the arm, that sort of thing – so even typing this is painful. So rather like the – non UKIP – election campaign, I’ll resume tommorow hopefully

First things first.

What happened in Manchester on Monday night was an outrage. The sudden and violent ending of many lives, with many more wounded, some with life changing injures is something that mere words alone cannot adequately express.

However, this notion – that some tragedy’s are so bewildering enormous in their tragedy that they defy human comprehension – is seemingly beyond most politician’s. Teresa May yesterday could’ve made a speech outside Downing Street briefly expressing her shock and revulsion at the attack and sympathy for those affected, before expounding at length the increased security measures the government was putting in place. But in a telling indictment of the times we now live in, her not doing so, but instead repeatedly expressing sympathy for the victims, revulsion at the perpetrators actions and a determination not to cowed, she would somehow be seen as the embodiment of virtuous human emotion. Does she think that we’ve become so emotionally incapable, so bereft of the ability to articulate how we feel, that we are in some need?

Following the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament in March, MP’s were quick to denounce this latest outrage, but were all essentially saying the same thing yet in many different ways. The gist was that the attack was both callous and cowardly, that the people of London stood united and that an attack on Parliament wouldn’t prevent Parliament carrying on as usual. Fine and noble sentiments; if the Speaker of the House had said them to a packed but silent Common’s chamber, and then carried on with the routine business if Parliament. But no. MP after MP made speeches – that to my mind at least – undermined with every word they uttered everything they were saying. For the avoidance of doubt, any terrorist attack, especially one involving the deliberate targeting of children is reprehensible.

Being cynical I have for a long time harboured a suspicion that there is a ready-made emotional response generator that politicians can activate in situations such as these. Rather like this, but reducing heart wrenching suffering into tired cliché. An instant sound bite generator. One that is loaded with stock sincerity and each time it offers up different phrase that can be woven together into a heartfelt statement? I mean, really, who cares what Teresa May, Jeremy Corbyn or Tim Fallon have to say about it? Will they or any other politician offer up anything other than phrases we’ve heard before? Is it that they think that by saying these things they’ll sound like Morgan Freeman, all grim determination and steadfast resoluteness? Will they offer a stunning insight that offers some meaning into the seemingly inexplicable? A pithy but sincere formulation of words that encapsulates a nation’s grief and shock perhaps?

Or will they do what politician’s always do, which is to be seen to be saying the right thing, which – I think –

It can wait.