Sometimes things are clear but we feel as if we can't do much about them. And sometimes things become clear and it is evident that we can do something about them. We're in that position with the role of Parliament in the negotiations to leave the European Union....
We are the life we seek ‘out there’. Nobody suggests we could live there, but new excitement about potential life on Jupiter’s watery moon Europa, is a reminder of the damage we’re doing to the life beneath our feet and what we might do to take better care of it. This...
China and America’s joint commitment to ratify the Paris Climate Accord comes at a time when the UK’s own climate and energy policies appear at best in disarray, and worst at odds. Imagine you’re stuck in a burning building. Stay and you perish, but the complexity of...
Travelling in Europe now has a new extension to the social interactions we are used to. As well as the ill-pronounced phrases of delight at the wine/vistas/frescoes/accommodation of whichever more civilised country we happen to be in, there's now a new pantomime...
Twice in the last year or so, I’ve found myself having to intervene on the platforms of the London Underground to rescue older people from closing doors which were crushing them. On the second occasion, I was also shouted at for my pains by the platform staff for...
Click here: as the Games begin, the New Weather Institute discusses with the BBC the challenges facing Rio The Rio Olympic Games might seem one of the most troubled yet, but it’s easy to forget how dogged by controversy each Games is. Ever since Sydney in 2000, each...
What happens as large scale migration becomes inevitable due to a combination of environmental, economic and humanitarian reasons. Do we tackle the push factors and help the displaced, or worsen the conditions driving displacement, and rejecting responsibility for...
There’s been a bit of interest recently in the poor service and exploitative working conditions offered up by delivery companies. Yodel and Hermes are in the frame right now, courtesy of C4 Dispatches, The Times and The Guardian, which have put undercover reporters...
An open letter to Andrew Allner, chairman of the Go Ahead Group, ultimately responsible for the Southern Railways franchise. Dear Mr Allner I live in Sussex, the ancient kingdom of the South Saxons. I am hoping that this rings some bells in your mind. Because we...
Only a fortnight ago, and so much has happened since. I wrote an open letter to the chief executive of train operators Govia Thameslink Railway, Charles Horton, on this very website. It was read, along with another blog elsewhere, by over 100,000 people (picture above...