The view from the top of the old Department is one of the best in
The view from the top of the old Department is one of the best in London, but only because it's the only one with a view that it isn't in (if you follow me). It is now going to be pulled down and replaced with homes, shops and offices.But the old monster was built on a disused gasworks site, contaminated land which is likely to give off cyanide and other nasties. The Department was about to bring in new rules forcing landowners to clean up such sites at vast expense Oddly, these have just been postponed. Surely there's no connection?! Meanwhile, the Labour leadership has made an abrupt and dishonourable U-turn. By a strange anomaly, twice as much VAT is charged on insulation materials as on fuel. Bringing it down to the same level would save energy , kick-start the conservation industry, and create an estimated 10,000 jobs.Last year shadow Treasury minister, Dawn Primarolo, said the VAT cut was a matter of "justice, jobs, democracy and energy efficiency".
But this year Labour MPs were ordered not to support it in an amendment to the Finance Bill: had they done so, it would have been carried. And Labour has still not produced a long-promised policy to help the elderly insulate their homes, saving many lives. Both seem to be casualties of Gordon Brown's paranoia over public spending .! Back at the Department, a touch of cynicism has survived the environmental correctness. Visitors to the Secretary of State pass through the division responsible for making recommendations for the Honours List - a subtle reminder that they will have to mind their Ps and Qs if they want their Ks and CBEs.Geoffrey Lean was last week voted "the most impressive environmental journalist in Britain", for the fifth year in succession, by his peers, polled by MORI..
AS pre-election tempers get hotter and insults fly faster, we can expect to hear more and more politicians using one of the most insulting words they know Political. A loyal backbencher threw it at the Opposition last week in defence of Douglas Hogg, who was in a bit of trouble over the state of our abattoirs. To attack Mr Hogg at this juncture was "blatant political opportunism", he cried Mere opportunism, one felt, was one thing, but that sort ... To what further depths could an Opposition sink? A time-traveller from another culture - say that of ancient Greece - would be puzzled by this line of thought. Surely, they would argue, if the Opposition was not being political, then it had no business in the House? Supposing a mathematician were to produce an elegant new formula that his colleagues had overlooked. Would they get level with him by accusing him of being too mathematical? But then the ancient Greeks held politics in as high regard as we do maths.