A place where sceptics can exchange their views

Thursday, 24 September 2020

What happened to the Bats

 A couple of weeks ago on a balmy evening just after sunset a solitary pipistrelle bat flew over our garden. Forty years we would have seen a flock of a dozen or or perhaps even more. Ours was the first bat that I had seen over the garden all summer. The bat population in the UK has been devastated. What has happened to them? Apart from their general environment being destroyed they are suffering from a marked fall in their insect prey.

Likewise, I am seeing a marked decrease in the number of Swifts flying over our house each summer. They feed on insects.

All over Europe, we are seeing an accelerating decline in insect populations. Insects are a vital  part of our ecology, they help maintain the fertility of the soil and it is not just bees that pollinate plants but wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths too. Without insects it is not just Swifts and Bats which will die out, but we are at risk too. Climate change contributes to the demise of insects, but it quite possible that the demise of insects will affect human populations before global warming kicks in to finish us off. We would do well to protect our environment before it is too late.

Thursday, 10 September 2020

Reneging on the EU Withdrawal Agreement

 I find it astonishing that the government should seek to renege on the EU Withdrawal Agreement  and that any British Citizen would agree with this course of action. The Withdrawal Agreement was ratified by the UK parliament under full knowledge of its clauses and its implications. Repudiating the agreement will damage the peace process in Northern Ireland which is not fully established yet. It will also damage relations between the UK government and the devolved governments in Wales and Scotland and will exacerbate the desire of Scots to leave the UK.


 It will damage international relations: the leader of the Democrats in the US congress has said that congress will not ratify a US trade agreement with the UK if the peace in Northern Ireland is jeopardised by the UK not fulfilling their obligations. Also, and perhaps above all, no state will trust the UK again in their international dealings.

Quite possibly, the EU will refuse to ratify a trade agreement with the UK, when the UK repudiates large sections of the Withdrawal Agreement - they could even impose sanctions   UK citizens have voted for this state of affairs they may come to regret this folly.