In 2006, an email with a very limited distribution list was leaked from inside CCHQ. It wasn’t a very important email and didn’t let out any big secrets so it wasn’t really the end of the world. But quite interesting nonetheless…
At the time, the BBC was showing ’The Amazing Mrs Pritchard‘ which was about a complete political novice who had somehow ended up as Prime Minister (I seem to remember there was a great degree of disgust at the political classes… sound familiar?!), and she was a sort of common sense, get on with it, localist Prime Minister, who was worn down in office by great disillusionment and despair.
The email which was leaked went something like: ‘We’re looking for ideas to show how individuals, communities, and international actors can take different types of similar actions to make a contribution to the fight against climate change. For example, on Mrs Pritchard last night, she banned all cars for a day.’
I can’t quite remember what we ended up doing for this particular idea – I think it developed into the Climate Change Bill Now campaign (for which I still have a campaign tshirt). But the important thing was this: there are actions which can be taken in varying degrees of commitment by anyone, no matter how small they are.
I was reminded of this by the huffing and puffing over the prospect of no cars being allowed into London in order to meet emissions regulations – reading about it, there wouldn’t be many days, and actually when I lived in Paris it was really nice not having cars everywhere on Sundays (lots of streets are closed to traffic). Obviously there would need to be exemptions for some, and clearly it would mean that people would need to plan their time carefully to minimise their need to take the car. But I like the fact that Boris seems keen to investigate the idea.
I know that the person whose email was leaked was absolutely incensed by it (lack of trust, zero public interest, someone trying to make a name for themselves by having ‘insider’ information). But maybe it was a good thing after all – the very fact that people are now talking about the idea as a possibility shows that it wasn’t so crazy after all.
Related posts:
Rather taken with Boris on AM this morning.
Liked his turn of phrase about ” This government has completely bogged up…”
When I lived in Rome in the mid-80s, traffic was barred from the historical centre every other weekend. I don’t know if they’re still doing it, but it was a breath of fresh air in every sense.