http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Are 'cycle campaigners' part of the "Green Blob"? en Mon, 01 Jun 2026 04:34:31 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13157#post-160069 Wed, 23 Jul 2014 09:22:11 +0000 chdot 160069@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/british-tea-party-conservatism-owen-paterson" rel="nofollow">http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/british-tea-party-conservatism-owen-paterson</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13157#post-159925 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 14:57:06 +0000 I were right about that saddle 159925@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Class. Social class that is. Is the 'countryside' an industrial zone for agricultural businesses? A haven for English yeomen? A place of recreation for city workers? Mansion land for plutocrats? A place to breed and shoot deer?</p> <p>Depends what class you represent. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13157#post-159901 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:13:07 +0000 gembo 159901@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>he sounds quite bitter? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13157#post-159898 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:46:40 +0000 Min 159898@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>most of whose leaders could not tell a snake's head fritillary from a silver-washed fritillary</em></p> <p>Good lord. I demand their heads on a plate!</p> <p>Did he ask them? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13157#post-159897 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:36:23 +0000 PS 159897@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Are 'cycle campaigners' part of the "Green Blob"?</em></p> <p>I don't think so. His issue seems to be more with the guys who are standing in the way of the exploitation of natural resources, rather than improving the quality of life/urban environment. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13157#post-159843 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 09:24:57 +0000 chdot 159843@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"</p> <p>Every prime minister has the right to choose his team to take Britain into the general election and I am confident that my able successor at Defra, Liz Truss, will do an excellent job. It has been a privilege to take on the challenges of the rural economy and environment. However, I leave the post with great misgivings about the power and irresponsibility of – to coin a phrase – the Green Blob. </p> <p>By this I mean the mutually supportive network of environmental pressure groups, renewable energy companies and some public officials who keep each other well supplied with lavish funds, scare stories and green tape. This tangled triangle of unelected busybodies claims to have the interests of the planet and the countryside at heart, but it is increasingly clear that it is focusing on the wrong issues and doing real harm while profiting handsomely.</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10978678/Owen-Paterson-Im-proud-of-standing-up-to-the-green-lobby.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10978678/Owen-Paterson-Im-proud-of-standing-up-to-the-green-lobby.html</a></p> <p>(Greenpeace says that the effigy wasn't burnt and is a warehouse.)</p> <p>"</p> <p>And he was particularly scathing about the Green party and Friends of the Earth. "It was not my job to do the bidding of two organisations that are little more than anti-capitalist agitprop groups, most of whose leaders could not tell a snake's head fritillary from a silver-washed fritillary," he said.</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/20/owen-paterson-sacked-cabinet-appease-green-lobby" rel="nofollow">http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/20/owen-paterson-sacked-cabinet-appease-green-lobby</a> </p>