In his fortnightly column MARK SEDDON reflects on the death of Major Oak and why such ancient trees matter to us
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Robin Hood dies: the legend lives on
Britain’s first council-run, not-for-profit energy company did not ‘fail’ — it was doomed by our rigged system; in Europe, harnessing energy surpluses has been enthusiastically adopted, writes ALAN SIMPSON
The Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle
[Arran Bee / Creative Commons]
The world’s largest communist party marked its 105th birthday this week — and remains true to its principles and firm in its course, says OLIVER VARGAS
The left has become too reliant on persuasion and too detached from the workplaces and communities it seeks to represent, argues NICK TROY
RAMZY BAROUD highlights how Israel’s ambassador sought to shut down UN officials documenting sexual violence and abuses against Palestinians
The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has had far-reaching consequences, including a boost to Pakistan’s regional standing, argues ROGER McKENZIE
The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The drive to strengthen European defence is reshaping relations between France, Germany, Italy and Britain, says NICK WRIGHT
AS news hits the press about the imminent demise of Nottingham’s Robin Hood Energy company (RHE), I took a look at the plinth in front of St Mary’s church in the middle of Nottingham.
The plinth offers a mythical version of Robin Hood’s demise; slowly being “bled” to death in a priory run by his cousin. There’s an image of Robin, summoning enough energy to call his friend Little John to help fire the arrow that was to define his final resting place.
Hailed initially as visionaries and pioneers, Labour councillors who set up Britain’s first not-for-profit, municipal energy company since 1948 are now being pilloried for its “failure.” Instead of this being a story about how rigged and crooked the British energy market is, it has become a stick with which to beat municipal enterprise. Instead of asking why such companies flourish elsewhere in Europe — but not in Britain — it is being used as a way of telling the public sector to keep out of domains in which private companies have systematically fleeced the poor.
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