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          Inequality and development: from global to local

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          A sustainable policy for Tyneside taxis

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          Alleged National Audit Office review of Teesworks

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          Child poverty: enough is enough

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          One year since the fall of Afghanistan

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          Hardwick Festival is down with the kids

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          One year since the fall of Afghanistan

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          Master Chef of Great Britain

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          Scottish highlands

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          Kleo Tabuku

          Top chef to open Newcastle restaurant, Lovage

          Pop up park

          Pop up to the park in Sunderland

          The Blackbird Inn, Ponteland

          The Blackbird Inn flies high with its new summer menu

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              A sign with the "not equal" symbol is held in a crowd

              Inequality and development: from global to local

              South Tyneside's only black electric taxi

              A sustainable policy for Tyneside taxis

              Ben Houchen by Scott Hunter

              Alleged National Audit Office review of Teesworks

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              Child poverty: enough is enough

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              Newcastle shortlisted for Eurovision 2023

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              “Busier than Bonfire Night” as wildfire rages for over 20 hours

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              Dead crustaceans on North East coast: the next chapter

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              Howay the lads and lasses: the new football foodbank season ‘22/23

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                Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union"

                The parody of disinformation: Boris Johnson on Ukraine and Brexit

                Boris Johnson’s comments on Ukraine and Brexit are an insult

                TV Agency staff jumping in the air

                The TV Agency celebrates 10th anniversary with global success

                North East of County Dublin

                North East of England and North East of County Dublin: Compare and contrast

                North Sea oil rig

                Copping out of COP: Ukraine, fossil fuels and nuclear fusion

                Placard with Boris Johnson as a clown

                Dictators, media and mobility: erosion of identity, sustenance and safety

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              Turn out your lights for Earth Hour tonight

              On 27 March millions of people across the globe will turn off their lights and unplug their TVs. Whole streets and cities will go dark and people will look out of their windows and see the stars.

              Julie WardbyJulie Ward
              27-03-2021 10:51
              in Environment, Politics, UK, World News
              Image by LoganArt for pixabay

              Image by LoganArt for pixabay

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              For one hour on 27 March millions of people across the globe will turn off their lights and unplug their TVs. Whole streets and cities will go dark and people will look out of their windows and see the stars. It will be a moment of reflection at a pivotal point in history when many of us have been confined to our homes for a year as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world from its likely roots as a zoonotic disease jumping species in the wet markets of Wuhan.

              Earth Hour first started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. It was an initiative of the World Wildlife Fund designed to draw attention to the growing environmental disaster and accompanying species loss. 14 years later this symbolic action is observed in more than 180 countries. Mass action by millions of people can be a powerful catalyst for change and Earth Hour has succeeded in raising awareness of the climate emergency, forcing some governments to take notice and take action.

              This year’s Earth Hour takes place in the year when the UK government will host the delayed Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) in Glasgow, which will focus attention on our record as a country, which is highly questionable with a new government supported coal-mine planned for Cumbria and lacklustre progress of the much vaunted Green Homes Grant scheme. Meanwhile the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill is making painfully slow progress since being tabled in September 2020.

              Writing in the Oxford Political Review, Harvey Phythian pinpointed the policy problem in the Conservatives’ own 2019 election manifesto where the party proclaimed, “we believe that free markets, innovation and prosperity can protect the planet”. Basically, it’s a business as usual approach which is minimally responsive to the effects of climate change rather than being vigorously pro-active in taking preventative measures, hence a tree planting programme is given headline status when what we desperately need is strong and binding legislation to stop polluters in the first place. Meanwhile, the EU is making progress on a wide range of policies to proactively tackle climate change.

              Boris Johnson’s own record on the issue is depressing. As a tawdry media columnist during his period in office as the Mayor of London he pooh-poohed the warnings of climate experts and accepted donations from wealthy climate-change deniers. His voting record in parliament clearly demonstrates his lack of support for strong legislative measures to protect the environment, and he has just taken delivery of a second gas-guzzling jet to whisk him off to meetings with his Russian oligarch friends in places like Tuscany whilst the rest of us will be fined £5,000 for daring to attempt a cheap cycling holiday in France this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. And let’s not forget his refusal to participate in a leaders’ debate on climate change in the 2019 election campaign prompting the programme producers to replace him and his Brexit mate Nigel Farage with melting blocks of ice.

              All the more reason then to do your bit and turn off the lights between 8.30-9.30pm on Saturday 27 March and join a global action that recognises the connectedness of all life on earth. Reducing consumption is just one of a raft of actions that can contribute to achieving carbon net zero whilst reducing your domestic energy bills. The Centre for Sustainable Energy has a handy guideT to energy consumption of household items. Not filling the kettle and doing less ironing are on my list of actions.

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              Julie Ward

              Julie Ward

              Julie Ward was a Labour MEP for NW England from July 2014 to January 31st 2020. She was Vice Chair of the Culture and Education Committee and a member of the Committees for Women's Rights and Gender Equality, Regional Development, and Economic and Monetary Affairs. She co-founded a parliamentary intergroup on Child Rights and was Co-President of the Anti-racism and Diversity Intergroup. She served on the delegation for relations with Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo and was a member of the EU- African, Caribbean & Pacific Joint Parliamentary Assembly. Prior to being elected Julie worked in the arts and cultural sector as founder-director of Durham-based Jack Drum Arts.

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