David Walsh
Head of Public Affairs, WWF UK
185 Munros to go⛰️
Sharing my own opinions.
- Does that mean that if we keep doing 3% a year then we're on for net zero in the 2040s? If only the second half was as simple as the first!
- Latest official data shows UK emissions fell by another three per cent in 2024. They are now 53 per cent below 1990 levels, and no, it is not solely because of deindustrialisation. www.businessgreen.com/news/4525256...
- Understandable why Mandleson is the focus, but this whole sorry episode should also be a wake up call for Labour about their approach to appointments from ambassadors, to Chairs of agencies, to SpAds. Loyalty is too often rewarded over competence. It's a system of patronage, at times even nepotism.
- BREAKING: “Keir Starmer appointed him as the U.S ambassador when he knew he had an ongoing friendship/relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, he knew Peter Mandelson stayed in Epstein’s townhouse after his conviction for child prostitution offenses…This is just not OK in any way is it?” Sky’s Sophy Ridge
- The Tories were equally guilty (look what they did to the BBC). But it's a practice that leads to situations like Mandelson, to toxic working environments, to briefing against colleagues, and to politics constantly trumping getting good policy done. The media enables it, but the parties embrace it.
- Should you be a SpAd because your dad chaired a Govt Review? Or because you happened to work in their office before your MP became a shadow Minister? Or because you ran campaigns for the party? Some of the most effective Ministers prioritised competence in their appointments, and it shows.
- And by prioritising competence, they were then able to build the trust and loyalty that makes for an effective partnership.
