Alan's Green Thoughts

The US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organisation (this organisation is based in the US state of Mississippi, of which Jackson is the state capital), which critically has the effect of overturning Roe v Wade [1973] (which guaranteed a constitutional right for women to have abortions) and Planned Parenthood v Casey, meaning that many protections on abortion rights in the US have been removed overnight and many states will seek to strip relevant protections. Although it is a decision concerning the rights of unborn children and the rights of women, it goes wider than that. Here is why: 1. It is reflective of a polarised and divided society that could split in the near future. The majority of US states with "trigger laws" surrounding significant abortion restrictions are south of Washington DC; the majority of US states that still retain the death penalty are also south of Washington DC (and those states with the strictest abortion laws in the USA...

  Readers, the result of the Wakefield by-election, in case you missed it, were as follows: Nadeem Ahmed, Conservative, 8,241 (30.0%, -17.3%) Akef Akbar, Independent, 2,090 (7.6%) Paul Bickerdike, Christian Peoples' Alliance, 144 (0.5%) Mick Dodgson, Freedom Alliance, 187 (0.7%) Earl Eaton, OMRLP, 171 (0.6%) Jayda Fransen, Independent, 23 (0.1%) Jordan Gaskell, UKIP, 124 (0.5%) David Herdson, Yorkshire Party, 1,182 (4.3%, +2.4%) Therese Hirst, English Democrats, 135 (0.5%) Christopher Jones, Northern Independence Party, 84 (0.3%) Simon Lightwood, Labour, 13,166 (47.9%, +8.1%) Jamie Needle, Liberal Democrats, 508 (1.8%, -2.1%) Ashley Routh, Green Party, 587 (2.2%) Ashlea Simon, Britain First, 311 (1.1%) Chris Walsh, Reform UK, 513 (1.9%, -4.2%) Labour GAIN from Conservative. And here is the result of the Tiverton & Honiton by-election which was declared only five minutes after the Wakefield by-election result was declared: Jordan Donoghue-Morgan, Heritage Party, 167 (0.4%) Andy ...

The French parliamentary election of 2022 reached its conclusion last night at the end of the second round of voting, and just after Emmanuel Macron's re-election as President of France, delivered a telling blow to his grip on power. M. Macron's alliance, Ensemble (dominated by La Republique-En Marche, but also containing the centrist parties of Territories of Progress, Democratic Movement, and Horizons) emerged as the largest alliance with 245 seats, but this represents a loss of 105 seats across those parties, with LREM alone losing 138 seats. Their heaviest losses came in the Pyrenees and in the Greater Paris region (i.e. Ile-de-France), the site of many a protest against M. Macron's reforms and against the severe lockdown restrictions during 2020 and 2021. This critically meant that Ensemble lost its majority in the French National Assembly, and cooperation from parties outside Ensemble is not forthcoming. The New Ecologic and Social People's Union (NUPES), led by s...

Readers, the results of British local by-elections from the first half of June 2022 were as follows: (9/6/2022):  Breckland DC, Mattishall: Conservative 539 (41.9%, -4.2%), Independent (Oeschle) 486 (37.8%), Labour 260 (20.2%, -5.5%). [Other Independent did not stand] Crawley BC, Southgate: Labour 938 (50.1%, +2.2%), Conservative 790 (42.2%, +3.7%), Green 144 (7.7%). All changes are since 2019. [Liberal Democrats did not stand] Sevenoaks DC, Penshurst, Fordcombe & Chiddingstone: Liberal Democrats 343 (54.4%), Conservative 288 (45.6%). Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative.  (16/6/2022): Rother DC, Brede & Udimore: Conservative 424 (61.4%, +21.5%), Liberal Democrats 266 (38.6%, +30.8%). [Independent, Labour, and UKIP did not stand] Sunderland MBC, Copt Hill (deferred election): Labour 969 (44.5%, -1.2%), Independent (Pearson) 606 (27.8%), Conservative 384 (17.6%, -6.8%), Green 158 (7.3%, -2.0%), Liberal Democrats 61 (2.8%, -3.6%). All changes are since 2021. [UKIP did...