Print magazine - Parliamentary Brief

Print magazine: January 2010

Opinion: the right prescription for a grown up parliament

The Wright report is careful and lucid, and its proposals get to the heart of current problems in parliament. It deserves full endorsement by both government and parliament — and the sooner the better

Government and media dance as parliament dies

Democratic truths are under threat from the love-hate relationship between government and media, says Graham Allen; we need a debate now on how to rebuild parliament and reclaim British democracy.
The X Factor double crossing democracy

Victorian reformers would be aghast at the disregard contemporary society has for the secret ballot, says Stuart Wilks-Heeg. Is it time to get back to fundamentals?
Scrapping the wrong aircraft

Bob Ainsworth’s statement on 15 December 2009 was proof that the future planning of the Royal Air Force’s fast jet capability is still on the wrong track, says Eric Grove
How the Tories hope to be a cut above the rest

If the Tories want to succeed in their plans to reduce public spending in 2010, says Andrew Gamble they need to start talking clearly now about what they'll cut &mdash and when.

How (not) to cut government spending

Labour and Conservatives are in agreement that cuts to public spending are necessary; but, over the medium-term, radical slashes now will be damaging, argues Glen O'Hara.
Let's exploit children: they're the softest target

Sue Palmer: “Nasty place, Victorian Britain. To keep the Industrial Revolution rolling, poor children were dispatched down mines, up chimneys, into dark Satanic mills. But then, as the industrialists pointed out, there was no alternative. Child labour kept the economic miracle going. Parents didn’t object – after all, poor families needed the money, and the better-off had a vested interest in the system. So when do-gooders complained, there was an obvious reply: ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’” » more
Blair's nuclear dream faces financial meltdown

Tony Blair began the process of expanding Britain’s nuclear energy portfolio in 2006. Going into 2010, the plans gather pace — but the figures simply do not add up, says Stephen Thomas

A key nuclear question that government shrugs off as a waste of time

Gordon MacKerron: “The British government is now firmly committed to helping the private sector build several new nuclear power stations. It has issued a ‘Draft National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation’ and given precise instructions to the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) on the issues it should consider when examining prospects for named potential sites. These instructions are lengthy and detailed — including questions such as amenity, cultural heritage and landscape value — but rather unlikely to cause any major upset, especially as the great bulk of named sites already have nuclear histories.” » more
The demand of the future is the key to supplying the UK's energy

To thrive during the energy revolution, says Gearóid Lane, suppliers must innovate and engage their customers

Demand reduction must start at home

Brenda Boardman: “Did you know that your home could still be standing and occupied in 3010? That is not a typo, it is a statistic. In the UK we are demolishing about 20,000 properties a year out of a total of 26 million. That means the stock will take 1300 years to replace. To paraphrase a recent watch advertisement, you do not own your home, you are looking after it for future generations.” » more
Three big energy problems we need to crack

A competition commission inquiry into energy is called for, says George Yarrow, but not for the reason most people think
The race is on to capture the carbon castle

The UK can lead on carbon capture and storage, say Jon Gibbins, Hannah Chalmers and Stuart Haszeldine, but needs to act quickly to develop a model that the world can copy

Flooring the carbon market

Tony White: “The carbon markets have not responded positively to the rather inconclusive Copenhagen Summit. The price of allowances (EUAs) which allow an installation covered by the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) to emit one tonne of CO₂ drifted during the Summit, so that they now languish around €12.5/t CO₂. Such prices are unlikely to encourage utilities to invest in projects to reduce CO₂ emissions. Given that this scheme is at the forefront of the UK government’s strategy for meeting its ambitious targets to reduce CO₂ emissions, there must be some concern that the carbon market is not working properly.” » more
The wind of change which could bring power from the people

The government must move from an idealogical fixation on large-scale industrial power plants towards encouraging renewables and people-power, says Simon Hughes

Our future energy plans are at last coming of age

Bridget Woodman: “The Low Carbon Transition Plan (LCTP) published in July 2009 sets out the government’s roadmap for meeting the carbon budgets contained in the Climate Change Act. But — as with much of this government’s approach to reducing carbon emissions — will the rhetoric match the reality?” » more

Has the Renewables Obligation evolved into something more effective?

Bridget Woodman: “The Renewables Obligation (RO) is the main mechanism in place to encourage the deployment of renewable electricity technologies in the UK. It has consistently failed to deliver on its targets of renewable power, or to encourage a diverse portfolio of renewable generating technologies — an issue frequently highlighted by Parliamentary Brief.” » more