Stephen Barlow Profile picture
Aug 19 17 tweets 3 min read Read on X
"The UK is using Brexit to weaken crucial environmental protections"

This raises serious questions about Keir Starmer's opposition to rejoining EU, and whether he is being controlled or constrained by powerful vested interests.

1/🧵theguardian.com/environment/20…
From since well before the Brexit vote, I made it very clear on the Guardian comments sections, that what motivated those funding the Brexit campaign, was primarily removing EU environmental regulations i.e. to weaken them, to profit from it.
2/
The Tories lied about Brexit, falsely claiming that these EU water, air and other environmental regulations, would just be copied and pasted into UK law. This didn't happen as claimed, and environment regulations, were being covertly weakened.
3/
This was being done covertly, because weakening environmental regulations, which protect the public, was not at all popular, and instead it was sold to the gullible people who voted for Brexit, as taking back control, and cutting immigration.
4/
Shockingly, Keir Starmer is continuing the Tory policy direction of weakening Environmental protections, and being extremely hostile to rejoining the EU, although rejoining it is popular, and getting more popular.
5/
On the face of it the same dark lobbying forces that determined policy, under the Tories, also seems to have been shaping government policy, under Starmer's Labour government. Indicating that the same lobbying groups controlling the Tories, also control Labour policy.
6/
This is very odd because the faction of Labour, Keir Starmer and his allies belong to, used to be very pro-EU and the popularity of re-joining the EU is increasing. However, Starmer would have to strengthen environmental regulation, to rejoin the EU, and he wants to weaken it.
7/
'Richard Benwell, the chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
“The UK shouldn’t just match the EU on environmental standards, it should lead."'

This was one of the false arguments for Brexit.

8/theguardian.com/environment/20…
The whole of Brexit was sold to the public on false premises, that it would reduce immigration.

It did not do that.

But it has resulted in the serious weakening of environmental protection.
9/
This is why I suggest, the same lobbying forces that controlled the Tories, are now controlling Starmer's Labour.

In fact, Reform's environmental policy seems similar.
10/
It's actually very unpopular, that environmental regulations are being weakened.

Who's in favour of more river pollution etc.
11/
I suggest it's the real reason Keir Starmer is so opposed to rejoining the EU, because he is clearly in favour of weakening environmental regulation.

Indicating that Starmer's Labour's policy is actually being driven by the same lobbying forces that drove Tory Brexit policy.
12/
After all, Starmer's Labour are using Brexit as a means to weaken environmental legislation, and it is not clear why they are doing this, other than powerful vested interests, want environmental protection weakened.
13/
This policy direction certainly isn't by public demand. Instead, Starmer's regime claims it will increase economic growth. Which by no coincidence is the argument of the powerful vested interest who want to profit from this.
14/
There is no evidence that facilitating higher profits, trickles down to benefit everyone. The raw evidence, suggests it just makes billionaires and the very rich, much richer, and everyone else gets poorer.

15/oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/c…
The only people who benefit from the increased pollution, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, caused by weakening environmental protection, are the very rich, who can profit from it.
16/
@threadreaderapp unroll

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Stephen Barlow

Stephen Barlow Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @SteB777

Aug 17
"How can England possibly be running out of water?"

This crisis, this emergency, connected to the climate and ecological crisis, is primarily a crisis of leadership. Our modern politicians/governments, are totally unfit to lead/govern.

1/🧵theguardian.com/news/ng-intera…
Our fake leaders, because they are not real leaders, but corporate and oligarch shills, are fixated on only one thing, economic growth, which primarily benefits the very rich, at the cost of the longer term viability of our societies/civilization. They don't care about that.
2/
All this has been very foreseeable. In 2013, former Environment Minister, Richard Benyon wrote about it, and said in 2012, when he was minister, just before the 2012 Olympics, that we were weeks from a national water shortage emergency.

3/theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 25 tweets
Aug 13
Can I make something clear about this thread. I was primarily talking about people in positions of great power, who are never held to account, or examined closely.

I gave an example of 2 mundane fraudsters, simply to illustrate that such people exist. It wasn't about them.
1/🧵
The problem we have, is that it has almost never happened, where a senior political fraudster, has been totally unmasked, in the manner of these 2 common fraudsters I used to illustrate, how totally disingenuous people, do exist.
2/
Let me give an example. Donald Trump, trying to get Barack Obama, Joe Biden and the Clintons prosecuted. If Trump was honest, and he is certainly not, he'd want to make dishonesty and lying in public office, seriously illegal.
3/
Read 26 tweets
Aug 13
We need to have a discussion about disingenuous people, in positions of power, and disingenuity, in general.

Understanding this, is central to understanding why the world is in such a mess, and why we have such bad leadership.
1/🧵
If you look up the term disingenuous in a dictionary, you find things like insincere, not frank or honest. This is far too mild for what I'm talking about, but there isn't really any other widely understood English term, that covers it.

2/vocabulary.com/dictionary/dis…
I'm talking about total disingenuity, where the whole of how someone presents themselves, is completely false, and most of what they say, is dishonest and misleading, because really they're only interested in their own ambitions, and the ends justify the means.
3/
Read 27 tweets
Aug 10
This is the direct, suppression of free speech, with the police acting as an oppressive state arm, to silence what people are saying, to stop government embarrassment.

The only legitimate reason to arrest a protestor, is if they are threatening harm or violence, to others.
1/🧵
This has always been the role of the police, to prevent, protest turning into violent disorder, where the safety of others is threatened.

So if someone is threatening to, or encouraging others to set fire to an asylum seeker's hostel, and this is a credible threat, intervene.
2/
This is because in the example I have described above, these protestors were actually trying to set fire to buildings where asylum seekers lived, and were trying to physically intimidate them, or physically assault them. It was an actual threat, not just a perceived threat.
3/
Read 25 tweets
Aug 7
Recently, I created a thread about how and why the world is in a complete and utter mess.

Essentially, modern politics, has just become the puppets of powerful and wealthy oligarchs, and corporations, dancing around on string, to their tune.

1/🧵threadreaderapp.com/thread/1951559…
Even if you totally forget about the climate and ecological emergency, social justice, the interests of ordinary people, fairness and corruption. Modern politicians are making a complete pig's ear of running our societies.
2/
Let's just look at things through the very narrow lens of what these politicians claim to want to achieve, economic growth. They are quite clearly failing very badly, just on their very narrow set of objectives.
3/
Read 13 tweets
Aug 4
"The head of Google’s DeepMind says artificial intelligence could usher in an era of ‘incredible productivity’ and ‘radical abundance’."

This is dangerously delusional. How did someone so stupid, get such a position?

1/🧵theguardian.com/technology/202…
Let's get this clear, being stupid i.e. extremely unwise, is nothing to do with IQ and cleverness. Lots of very clever people, were also monumentally stupid.

You can be stupid, and clever.

2/
This is virtually all the interview says about the climate crisis.

"future AI datacentres are predicted to require is astronomical, especially when the world is facing drought and a climate crisis."

It's not just a climate crisis, its a biodiversity and ecological crisis.
3/
Read 17 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(