By Paul Homewood
Dan Hodges sums up the problem superbly.
It is the metropolitan bubble all over again:
The whole piece is worth a read, but this comment stands out:
But though Ministers may be aware of the pitfalls, the reality is COP26 represents a giant political trap. And the Government is in danger of plunging head-first into it.
A false consensus is again forming. Just as we saw with immigration and Brexit, a self-selecting group of politicians, activists, media commentators and blue-chip corporates have decided their will is now the settled national will. And they have unilaterally decreed tackling the ‘Climate Crisis’ is the priority of the moment.
Whether ordinary people agree with them is neither here nor there. The environmental elite will determine the price to be paid to save the planet from destruction. You’re worried about the cost of a new boiler? Or a new electric car? We’re saving the world here. Just shut up, plebs, and pay.
Never mind that’s not where the public are. Yes, they believe in – and are concerned about – global warming. Yes, they want to do their bit to protect the future of the children and grandchildren. But they are not about to be dictated to by a global environmental clique who will jet in to Glasgow, get whisked around for 12 days in their darkened SUVs, then jet out again.
The inconvenient truth is the environment is not the No 1 issue for the majority. Maybe it should be. But it isn’t. A secure job. A decent home. A good school. Safe streets. These are the real ‘global priorities’.
But in the weeks ahead, as COP 26 and the international environmental clique bears down upon us, these priorities will be shunted aside. The news pages will be filled with one issue – and one perspective. TV will be the same. The global corporates – who see COP26 not as an opportunity to save the world, but a perfect moment to burnish their social responsibility profiles – will push their greenwashed advertising campaigns.
And once again, the gap between those who govern and those who are governed will widen. Let’s call it the Canning Town Paradox.
In 2019, Extinction Rebellion took to the streets of London. They were lauded by politicians. They were applauded by many in the press. They were feted by celebrities.
Then Extinction Rebellion turned up at Canning Town and Shadwell and Stratford stations, and jumped on to the roof of the trains.
At which point, ordinary Londoners expressed their own feelings by hauling them off the carriages and nearly lynching them.
This is the danger for Boris. As the lustre of COP26 beckons, he loses further focus on the agenda – and voters – that delivered him his majority back in 2019.
‘Carry on, Allegra’? I really wouldn’t.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
August 8, 2021
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