By localise2, on May 15th, 2013%
We summarise the thoughts of Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator here, because Localise West Midlands’ aims and policies are designed with his ‘politically sellable vision of a prosperous low-carbon economy’ in mind. He wrote, yesterday:
“Last week the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was reported to have passed 400 parts . . . → Read More: “Humanity is conducting a huge, uncontrolled and almost certainly irreversible climate experiment with the only home it is likely to have”: Financial Times
By localise2, on February 2nd, 2013%
In a newsletter this week (not yet available on his website) Local Euro MP Phil Bennion expresses the hope that the government’s ‘Green Deal’ will be more widely extended to help people in rented social housing:
“Millions of homes in the UK do not have full double-glazing. More than half do not have enough . . . → Read More: West Midlands MEP advocates the ‘Green Deal’ for social housing
By localise2, on January 21st, 2013%
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Compass, an ideas and action based pressure group, is discussing alternatives to the Government’s economic ‘Plan A’, which isn’t working, with over 50,000 members and supporters around the country.
Its original Plan B, one page summary here, includes elements advocated in the last post by LWM’s co-founder Colin Hines: “infrastructure programmes, such . . . → Read More: Compass calls for a National Plan: “The moment demands nothing less”.
By localise2, on January 1st, 2013%
Chart 4.3 in a 2011 DECC report showed that the West Midlands had highest rate of fuel poverty with around 26% of households requiring to spend more than 10% of their income on fuel to maintain an adequate level of warmth. A Chamberlain Forum article confirms that this position has been maintained, with . . . → Read More: Solving fuel poverty – an update
By localise2, on December 15th, 2012%
At a meeting of Hadlow College’s Rural Focus Group, their Sustainability Champion, Dr Howard Lee, noted that DEFRA is committed to food security in principle but not to food self-sufficiency.
The strategic contradiction is that succeeding governments have preferred to promote the export of agricultural and horticultural commodities.
Coventry University’s Dr Julia Wright recommends . . . → Read More: Achieving food security by relocalisation and building up the resilience of our agricultural resources – three voices
By localise2, on December 10th, 2012%
Towns across the region have been feeling the effects of rising business rates with empty high street shops becoming a feature of Walsall, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Dudley and West Bromwich.
Some positive action has been taken: Wolverhampton has been making use of £100,000 of investment and support from ‘retail guru’ Mary Portas and this site . . . → Read More: The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement disappoints the region’s high street retailers
By localise2, on December 7th, 2012%
Fiona Ward of Transition Network’s REconomy Project attended the South West Autumn Seminar organised by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE). Her feedback opens:
“The question in this post’s title was one of the challenging questions asked at the Solace South West Autumn Seminar”, held at Dartington Hall in . . . → Read More: Local authorities ask “what if the economic situation doesn’t get better?”
By localise2, on November 23rd, 2012%
Paul Gosling recently wrote at length about a ‘pathfinder co-operative council’ in the hard copy of the Co-operative News. This echoes current discussions led by our ‘sister’ thinktank Chamberlain Forum on the potential for a Co-operative Council approach in Birmingham – which LWM have been attending.
Some points Paul Gosling made are summarised here.
. . . → Read More: A co-operative council is strengthening the local economy
By localise2, on November 16th, 2012%
Challenging words from Tony Stoller allege that, at the end of 2012, we now have a completely new paradigm for public policy-making, “dominated and managed by what we can call the ‘new elite’ “.
As chair of trustees for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation he lists this elite as “a cohort of politicians, policy . . . → Read More: Poverty: “a matter for shame and alarm about the failure of our economic system”
By LWM_Lydon, on October 25th, 2012%
Since Christmas we have published a number of blogs looking at everyday interest rates in the UK. Long before even the Governor of the Bank of England claims he heard that the big banks were rigging the now famous LIBOR, we were pointing out how the banks were squeezing us all. Savers in the . . . → Read More: Interest rates being rigged – what the Parliamentary Banking Commission should be looking into
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