Question Time 14th November 2024
The Panel:
Jonathan Reynolds (Labour)
Damian Hinds (Conservative)
Ellie Chowns (Green Party)
Greg Jackson (Businessman)
Tim Stanley (Journalist)
Venue: Basingstoke
With an alternative energy chancer and a Green Party MP on tonight’s panel, QT Review HQ assumes one of the themes of this week’s carefully choreographed Question Time to be COP29 in Azerbaijan. However, having coincided with a cold spell here, and over-shadowed by the fallout of last week’s American presidential election habbening, it is difficult not to conclude the BBC is wasting its time. As for the actual conference, the prime minister of the former Soviet republic, Mr Ali Asadov, welcomed attendees by reminding them that supposedly unloved hydrocarbons are a gift from God – not least for the oil and gas-rich Azerbaijanis.
He might have added that being extracted from below ground they save God’s creation from destruction by wind farms, solar panels and battery farms. Unfortunately, not many attended. None of the significant players were there. In the official family photograph of the Baku gathering, Keith found himself captured alongside the prime minister of Barbados. Extra house points for any Puffin who can name her. Or is it a him?
Of the world’s 196 nations, only 78 sent their premiers. Not one of them was from a leading country, all of them were present in anticipation of a handout. Except for Keith, who went to gain social credit with the London leftie bubble.
As this humble reviewer does his prep (late Thursday morning), according to Gridwatch, about 5/6th of the UK’s windfarm capacity sits idle. Despite the daylight, solar is providing only 2% of our electricity. Remember, the solar panels need the right temperature, brightness and angle to the sun to be at their maximum efficiency.
Natural gas and the biomass power station at Drax (one of the largest carbon dioxide emitters in Europe) are producing the sizable majority of our electricity supply, aided by interconnectors from the Continent and Norway. This makes no sense – unless you’re a Green energy grifter. Read on!
***
London-born Damian Patrick George Hinds was educated at St. Ambrose, a Roman Catholic grammar school in Altrincham and later attended Trinity College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. During his time at university, Hinds was the president of the Union. Before entering politics, Hinds enjoyed a business career, working on the management and marketing side for Procter & Gamble and Hilton Worldwide.
At the 2010 general election, Hinds returned as the Conservative Member of Parliament for East Hampshire. Now serving as the Shadow Secretary of State For Education, the 54-year-old is married to Jacqui, nee Morel. They have three children.
Greg Jackson CBE is an entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, an alternative energy ‘green’ company. The 53-year-old attended Pembroke College, Cambridge University, where he studied economics. After working in consulting, finance and digital commerce – and managing several startups – Greg founded Octopus, in an attempt to profit bigly from the madness of the green bandwagon.
Grammar boy (Judd School, Tonbridge) Tim Randolph Stanley was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, and is also a Cambridge graduate. It was there he completed a PhD focusing on American politics and history. In the early 2000s, Stanley began writing as a historian and commentator, specialising in the USA. His first book, ‘Kennedy vs. Carter: The 1980 Battle for the Democratic Party’s Soul’, was published in 2010.
As if hit by a bullet on a day trip in Texas, it sits a fatally wounded 1,553,781st on the Amazon best sellers list. A full 1,407,839 places behind the Marquis De Sade’s school book depository banned ‘120 Days of Sodom’. In journalism, the 42-year-old is famous to Daily Telegraph and Spectator readers for traditional conservatism augmented by insights drawn from historical context through a thoughtful yet provocative style.
Eleanor Elizabeth Chowns has never had a job, preferring a career in academia and the non-governmental sector while being a Green Party councillor in Herefordshire. Elected to the European Parliament in May 2019, she was back at the council after we left the EU in January 2020, before being elected to parliament as the MP for North Herefordshire in July 2024.
Her experience in the real world of work includes Executive Officer (Climate Change) at the Department of Trade and Industry, Assistant Parliamentary Campaigner at Friends of The Earth, and as the (self evidently unsuccessful) Joint Co-ordinator of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
*Deep breath*
Also, Northern Uganda Representative for Quaker Peace and Social Witness, Coordinator of GLOBE UK (an all-party parliamentary group), Effective Concern Advocacy and Information Manager at Concern Universal, and a research fellow in climate change adaptation, gender and conflict, conflict sensitivity, voice, empowerment, accountability and human rights, with the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre.
Dear God.
Not to mention, Evaluation and Research Specialist (Design and Methodology) with Voluntary Service Overseas, Research Associate, University of Sheffield, Department of Geography, and Chairperson of the Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee at Herefordshire Council. No doubt the good aldermen spend endless useful hours scrutinising the bus timetables connecting Hereford Town Centre to the Trumpet Inn and Ledbury Market House.
What a waste of time.
Actually, I’ve moved the live spy satellite images of Southern Lebanon and real-time stats of European electricity generation to one side and put the Herefordshire bus times up on the QT Review HQ War Room screens.
I was going to sneer at Ellie by quoting some of their eccentric bus stop names and unusable stopping patterns but, to be blunt, I’m finding it all a bit too interesting. When finally pushed beyond endurance by watching Question Time, I shall apply for a job at Connected Communities Scrutiny (Busses). Perhaps ironically, when I go missing, at least you’ll know where I am.
Jonathan Reynolds is the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde. Born in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, Jonathan studied politics and modern history at the University of Manchester.
After training as a solicitor and earning a position at Addleshaw Goddard, he specialised in public policy. After serving as a councillor in Tameside, Greater Manchester, the 44-year-old became the Labour Party member for Stalybridge and Hyde at the 2010 general election.
Despite leaving the North East at the earliest opportunity, Jonathan sometimes uses an odd, Bridget Phillipson-esque, fake North East accent, only to be found in a select few London media-political bubble postcodes.
***
Surprise, surprise, question one wondered how Keir Starmer could, as he promised through the week, achieve his Net Zero targets without the state telling us to change our lives.
Jonathan pinned his hope on innovation. This is an opportunity – based upon something appearing from nowhere and solving the problem. We’ve already made changes to our energy production. We’ve certainly changed the price, Jonathan! It is all about jobs, jobs, jobs. Those being destroyed by eye-wateringly high energy prices, he forgot to add.
But what, wondered La Bruce, about meat and dairy? Climate experts claim the state must force us to eat less of them. Jonathan didn’t believe the climate experts on this one. We mustn’t be too pessimistic. We are leading, he gushed, as if proud to be the fastest-running lemming closest to the cliff edge.
Damian didn’t want to tell people how to live their lives either. Rather, he would help their lives while cutting carbon emissions. For instance, with lower energy prices. What? Prices here are some of the highest in the world. They went up by 10% last month and are set to rise again in January.
The electricity cap here is 24.5p per kWh and that doesn’t include the standing charge. According to the Electric Choice website, in the state of Florida, electricity is 8.9p per kWh. Seventy-five percent of Florida’s electricity is generated from natural gas.
La Bruce turned to Ellie. We’ve done the easy bits, said the chair, reducing coal has been done, how about the hard stuff such as meat and dairy?
We are where we are, responded Ellie. She hugely recognised climate change on behalf of a huge majority of the public, who, apparently, she speaks on behalf of. Without actually saying anything at all, she churned out all the cliches, catchphrases, word soup and BS. The National Association of Bus Timetable Concern Advocates And Conflict Sensitivity Accompaniment Programmers will be proud of her.
It all costs money, began Tim. Ellie interrupted. What we’ve seen with the Valencia flooding is expensive. Tellingly, Tim didn’t challenge the phoney science or the ridiculous non-connection but did point out that we are only responsible for about 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. What we do here makes no difference. Net Zero will mean moral energy rationing and moral higher prices for no climate benefit.
Tim is correct, but the word ‘moral’ is the wrong one to use. Holier than thou virtue signalling pleb-hating spite is closer to the mark. Is this a surprise? The London media-political-legal bubble gave up on the practicalities of the real world many years ago. Hence the dumb Question Time panels.
Mr Octopus, perhaps not surprisingly, began with a big, fat lie. He claimed alternative energy from the wind farms and solar panels which are the basis of his business, is cheaper than that from fossil fuels. The Chinese are the biggest investors in green energy. They build massive new coal-fired power stations in order to mothball them and never use them. Seriously, that’s what he said. He also kept saying, as Tim Stanley kept on interrupting, ‘Let me inform you.’
Irritated Tim mentioned the intermittent nature of wind and solar. An irritated Greg allowed himself to inform Tim that the average EV battery contains enough electricity to power a home for a week. You can power your house off your car for days on end when wind and solar are unavailable. Possibly not. According to Wiki, the average EV has 40Kwh of battery. During October, my house was using 88.48Kwh of electricity a week.
Greg also allowed himself to inform us we are one of the windiest places in the world. So what? Referring again to Gridwatch, it is now 10:50 pm, 30GW of wind farm are still only producing 3GW of electricity – 10.25% of demand.
An audience member, obviously unaware that parliament consists of an omni-party committed to Net Zero at any cost, was disappointed there was political disagreement. Another wondered of carbon capture. Another wanted the best scientific minds to put their heads together and solve all of this, presumably by changing the laws of physics in much the same way that King Canute was able to tamper with the tide. She was applauded. Nobody in the carefully selected BBC audience challenged the bubble’s Net Zero carbonphobic psychosis.
Another mentioned the disposal of batteries. Mr Octopus replied that EV batteries have a lifespan of 600,000 miles and they are a ‘permanent asset’. This is tosh. The RAC reports EV batteries will last ‘upwards of 100,000 miles’.
Neither the chair nor the panel nor the audience challenged any of this rubbish. Puffins, we must begin to drill for a British Donald Trump.
© Always Worth Saying 2024
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