ALAN SIMPSON
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The headlines about illegal sewage disposals have been stark enough. They make the nation’s map look like a bad case of chicken pox. Now the owners of Thames Water have defaulted on the debts they owe. The situation spirals from bad to worse. Water companies have dumped 4 million hours worth of sewage into Britain’s…
The human slaughter in Gaza is an abomination. The only silver-lining is that this may be the global wake-up call we have needed for decades; challenging dishonesties we’ve turned a blind eye to and forcing a complete re-think of international peace-building priorities. Israel’s saturation bombing of Gaza, and their casual use of Palestinians for target…
The dangers of Parliament’s retreat from reality Let me be absolutely clear. I do not support violence against the person under any circumstances. This doesn’t just apply to MPs, but to all public service workers operating in stressful situations. But the interweaving of arbitrary violence and the right to public protest raises bigger issues about…
“Tractors to the left of us, Tractors to the right. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.” This isn’t how Tennyson’s ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ poem opens up, but residents of across Europe’s capital cities could be forgiven for thinking it should have done. In Brussels, people had to run the gauntlet…
It is easy to become disillusioned. Wherever you look, identity politics is pushing equality politics to the sidelines. The individual has become more important than the collective. And even the collective is eroded by factionalism. Religious extremism then pulls apart the remaining weave of integration, inclusion and social solidarity. In India, you can see it…
It will be 55 years this month since the Beatles’ iconic, rooftop performance on Saville Row. This was the end of an era, end of a dream. With any luck, this year will see the end of a nightmare. The Conservatives have taken British politics to an all time low. The public are losing faith,…
Transformation Moment
My pamphlet 'Transformation Moment' is intended to support the case for a radical shift in energy thinking; as much about democracy as technology, and about 'systems' rather than just supply.