GND Media "We gotta make peat sexy" Interview with Olivia Blake MP
This episode was recorded the week before the Government's U-turn on a windfall tax.
We are in the midst of a cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine rages on and as ever climate breakdown is in full swing. Wet bulb events in India and south Asia pull into stark relief the potential future for the rest of the world. At the same time, our current minister for industrial policy and energy, Kwasi Kwarteng, is tweeting at young climate activists telling them to “shout and scream all they want… Britain is gonna be on oil and gas for years to come”.
It’s pretty safe to say that we need a change of government. As the official opposition the Labour Party is best placed to be that change so let's check in with Labour and discuss how they would respond to the climate crisis if they had the reins of the country.
This week we are joined by MP for Sheffield and Hallam Olivia Blake (@_OliviaBlake). Olivia is in the Shadow department for Climate change and previously at shadow DEFRA. We discuss the absolute mess that is the water and waste system in the UK, the importance of peatlands and the politics of burning peat, Labour's commitments on climate change and their "green sprint" policy. Then finally we discuss how activists should react to restrictions on protest.
Links
TUC rally in London June 18th.
https://www.tuc.org.uk/DemandBetter
Shout outs
UCU Bury College
@UCUBuryCollege
Deliveroo drivers on strike in Sheffield
@IWGBunion
Ed Milliband (come on the show Ed!)
@Ed_Miliband