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- after three weeks of party conferences it only rained one day - on Tuesday in Manchester, and boy! did it rain - I kept noticing that the lift in the Premier Travel Inn was named after a bird - Otis (Otis tarda - great bustard!) - I really do remain of the view that most politicians are in it to make...
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I haven't done much blogging from Manchester - I've hardly had a minute to spare! I've spoken at two Fringe meetings so far, with Richard Benyon and Julian Brazier on the platforms with me - two more Fringe speeches to go! We've met and talked to a wide variety of MPs and Peers, including...
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Here is the text of the Shadow Secretary of State's speech on whether, given the chance by the electorate, the Tory party will form a green government: Ladies and gentlemen. The video you've just seen is about ' Future Countryside' , an initiative which I launched this summer. It highlights...
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- a member at the AGM yesterday said she was looking forward to reading my blog from Manchester because after Bournemouth she thought I was a LibDem voter, after Brighton a Labour voter and she was looking forward to having another guess! - why does Richard Branson (I'm sure it is his decision!)...
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- the sound of chirping house sparrows outside my bedroom window is delightful - and strangely unfamiliar these days - the SeaSpray Hotel is a very nice place to stay with friendly staff - I saw Gordon and Sarah Brown walking on the seafront on Monday morning as I headed to a breakfast meeting - he didn't...
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Another evening, another fringe event - and another opportunity to share a platform with Secretary of State, Hilary Benn. This evening's event was organised by Friends of the Earth and was about deforestation and agriculture. My speech was along these lines: Two hundred years ago about 14% of the...
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I started the day in Brighton, headed up to London for an RSPB Council meeting and then back down to Brighton for a fringe meeting jointly organised by SERA and the RSPB. Also speaking were Hilary Benn (the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - that's one SoS!), Frances...
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Here is an extract from Hilary Benn's speech to the Labour Party conference. This is a man who 'gets' nature. Few politicians, there are some others sprinkled across the political parties, talk about beauty, and natural beauty, as being important in our lives. Many of us who came down to...
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We are looking forward to hearing the details of this scheme to encourage habitat restoration to be announced by Hilary Benn this week - I guess, today. The RSPB has been a major proponent of restoring and re-creating habitats for many years. Our Futurescapes document started setting the scene for landscape...
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I'm hoping to meet up with Huw Irranca-Davies, who is the Defra Minister covering biodiversity and a range of other issues of importance to the RSPB, in Brighton. And If I do, then I'll thank him for his hard work in helping with scrub clearance on the RSPB nature reserve at Farnham Heath - although...
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I'll be heading down to Brighton later today to attend the Labour Party Conference and try to lobby for the importance of the natural environment in our lives. Last week we were in Bournemouth with the Lib Dems and next week it will be Manchester and the Tories. The party conferences give NGOs like...
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A quieter day today but a good fringe meeting this evening with Tim Farron , Andy Atkins and Tom MacMillan . We discussed climate change, deforestation and agriculture. Tim Farron spoke well and I warmed to him despite his enthusiasm for the NFU's election manifesto (see yesterday's blog from...
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Every lobby group under the sun turns up at the Party Conferences so they are great networking opportunities. Our friends from the NFU are here in Bournemouth and I went to their fringe meeting yesterday evening. It was hosted by Meurig Raymond , chaired by the always-amusing Lembit Opik and featured...
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Today I went to a speech by Nick Clegg. It was interesting in its policy and political conten t. As far as policy is concerned he talked about the World Trade Organisation rules. WTO rules are more like a religious doctrine than a recipe for sustainable or fair trade so I agree with Mr Clegg. At the...
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It's the party conference season and the RSPB will attend the Labour and Tory party conferences over the next three weeks but we are starting off in Bournemouth with the Liberal Democrats. Yesterday evening we had dinner with Shadow Environment Ministers Simon Hughes and Martin Horwood and other...