Roz Savage's Blog, page 5

Addressing challenges the grown-up way

In light of the recent firing and reshuffle in the British government, I’ve been thinking about how our current political system encourages politicians to take extreme positions on issues like immigration, homelessness, and the right of peaceful protest.

In a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, where winner takes all, parties feel the need to differentiate themselves from each other. This leads to polarisation, leaving a gap in the sensible middle ground.

Look at what’s happened in the US, which also has a form of FPTP. When I was teaching at Yale in 2017, I audited an undergraduate course called Politics and the Environment. The professor showed us how cross-party agreement on clean air, clean water and noise pollution in the 1960s had given way to polarised political positions over the decades since (see right). I fear the same is happening here.

This leaves many voters struggling to find a party that they feel represents their views. Polling by the Electoral Reform Society found that 96% of UK voters “feel powerless and unheard at Westminster”. It goes on to say: “A majority of Conservative (55%) and Liberal Democrat (62%) supporters, and a plurality of Labour supporters (48%) prefer cooperation as a way of tackling the problems facing the UK.”

Cooperation rather than division. Seems pretty obvious to me.

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine a system in which, instead of publishing a manifesto, parties anonymously submitted a list of policies. Voters got to vote on which policies they liked best, without knowing which party had written them. The party with the largest number of popular policies wins. And a wise winning party would look to see if there were overwhelmingly popular policies coming from other parties that should be added to their plans.

I’m not proposing such a system, which would no doubt present a whole load of practical problems of its own – but just imagine for a moment how it would feel to know that your vote had a direct impact on the policy of your country, that you had a real say in your future.

Meanwhile, proportional representation would be a big step in the right direction. As Sir Ed Davey has said, “Reforming our voting system is the biggest and most important way to mend our broken politics.”

A system that amplifies populist extremes is a broken system. We need a system that allows your voice to be heard, your vote to be counted, and supports collaboration and cooperation. And we need it now.

Other News:

We had a wonderful visit from Ed Davey to the South Cotswolds last Thursday, including a visit to a cidery, a meeting with local businesswomen, canvassing (in the pouring rain!) in Malmesbury, and an evening with the councillors of Cotswold District Council and friends of the party in Cirencester. And this resounding endorsement of my candidacy from Sir Ed.

Last Friday my presentation to the London Business School Senior Leaders Programme received a standing ovation. It was a pleasure to work alongside the dynamic Gary Hamel, author of Humanocracy, which is all about creating organisations in which people are respected, heard, and empowered. Right up my street.

A very moving Remembrance Day. I spent the morning in Cirencester, where I laid a wreath at the war memorial. Red tissue paper petals rained down from the top of the church tower, and as they lay on the ground in the rain, the dye ran out to form red blood-like streaks on the flagstones. In the afternoon I was at Malmesbury Abbey, where the service included a reading-out of the names of all the Malmesbury men who died in the two World Wars, including many pairs of brothers. A sombre moment to reflect on the tragedy of war. (Photo of a less rainy Remembrance Day in 2019)

I spoke last night at an event for HEALS of Malmesbury – Help, Empowerment, and Local Support. The evening included emotional messages of thanks from vulnerable and disadvantaged people who had been helped by the charity. There is so much need in this country – and it’s wonderful to see organisations like HEALS stepping in to mend the holes in the social safety net left by this government.

If you live in or near the South Cotswolds, and would like me to speak at your club, school, or village hall, please let me know. I can speak about my ocean rowing adventures, environmental advocacy, leadership, or life skills – or, indeed, politics. More info here.

Quote of the Week

“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”
— Abraham Lincoln

Tackling causes, not symptoms

Yesterday I was talking on a doorstep with someone who had sent their child to live with a grandparent in a different part of the country – because they were so worried about local levels of knife crime.

When a child has to be exiled from their home for their own safety, that’s heartbreaking.

Knife crime is on the rise. According to the Ben Kinsella Trust:

282 murders involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales took place in the 12 months to March 2022 – the highest total since 194699 young people aged under 25 were murdered with a knife or sharp object in the 12 months to March 20223,692 admissions to NHS hospitals for assault by a sharp object in the year ending June 2023

Doctors are saying that the knife injuries they are treating are becoming more severe and victims are getting younger, with increasing numbers of girls involved.

Like any inquiry into human behaviour, causes are complex, and should be explored by an expert assembly of police and probation officers, youth workers, psychologists, etc. But here are some ideas about where to start.

Prevention better than cure

I always look to see how we can get upstream of a problem, prevention rather than cure. Incarceration and rehabilitation have a role, but don’t do much to help if you or your child is dead or severely wounded.

Stop and search on suspicion of carrying a weapon was controversial because it disproportionately targeted people of colour. But training on unconscious (and/or conscious) bias may have been better than decimating stop and search, which nosedived from 1.4m searches per year in 2010 to around 0.2m in 2018.

But preventive policing requires enough experienced officers to do the job. In April this year, the Police Federation reported that half of all police forces now have fewer officers than they had in 2010 and voluntary resignations have almost doubled. There are fewer officers on the streets than a decade ago – not to mention the years of accumulated experience that are lost when an officer quits.

Lib Dems want to prevent crime and build communities where people can truly feel safe, including by restoring proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and focused on preventing and solving crimes.

Crime and Poverty

Even further upstream of better policing, we should wonder why people, particularly young people, are resorting to crime. About 47% of knife crimes are assaults, and 43% are robberies. Gang violence and drugs are partly responsible.

This is undoubtedly connected with the fact that over 14 million people in the UK are living in poverty, including almost 1 in 3 children (more about UK poverty on Wikipedia). Desperate people do desperate things.

The Lib Dems have a target of ending deep poverty within a decade. The majority of people, given the option to meet their needs through legal rather than illegal means, will take it.

Opportunities for young people

And finally, we need to restore hope for the future, and healthy outlets for youthful energy. When I was campaigning on a housing estate near Gloucester last spring, I noticed that parents lamented the lack of amenities for young people, while non-parents grumbled about anti-social behaviour. Seems the two might just be related.

Youth services suffered a 70% funding cut in less than a decade. The YMCA found that local authority expenditure on youth services dropped from £1.4bn in 2010-11 to under £429m in 2018-19, with the loss of 750 youth centres and more than 4,500 youth workers. Small wonder that idle hands find anti-social work to do.

We would do well to look north of the border. After the WHO branded Glasgow the “murder capital of Europe” in 2005, Scotland established the Violence Reduction Unit, which treated knife crime as a public health issue rather than a policing issue, a symptom rather than a cause.

It took a proactive approach, working with the NHS and social services to nurture those most likely to join a gang – youths from poorer backgrounds and those who had been left behind by the education system. The Mentors in Violence Prevention scheme taught students to be kind to each other, and worked with businesses to provide young people with jobs and other opportunities.

Lib Dems also believe in this proactive, nurturing approach. We believe that every child can achieve great things. They deserve the best possible start in life and the opportunity to flourish, no matter their background. But some need a bit of extra support, so we would put a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in every school, and provide extra funding for special educational needs.

Tony Blair famously declared in 1993 that his Labour government would be “tough on crime, and tough on the causes of crime”. 30 years later, it seems we still have much to do.

The Middle East
Every day at the moment we are hearing about the dreadful loss of lives in Gaza, following on from the dreadful loss of lives in Israel. Civilians, women and children have been among the casualties on both sides. The level of suffering is impossible to imagine. The Conservatives and Labour are prevaricating. Ed Davey has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, to allow hostages to be released and to get the supplies into Gaza that the civilians there so desperately need.

And finally….

… More cheerful news. Following on from my post about food and farming, some wonderful initiatives worth highlighting:

Gloucestershire Food and Farming Partnership

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Fascinating facts about soil on the UN’s World Soil Day (5th Dec) website

Quote of the Week

“Be curious, not judgemental.”
— Walt Whitman

Have a great week!

Photo of knife by Hassan Rafhaan on Unsplash
Photo of policeman by King’s Church International on Unsplash
Photo of painted stones by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
Photo of gang by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

Good for body, mind, and community

I love community gardens. I’ve volunteered at a couple near where I live, and last Sunday I spent a splendid afternoon in the sunshine at the Kemble Community Garden fundraiser (please donate!), surrounded by all the makings of a perfect English outdoor event – a table groaning with a fabulous array of homemade cakes, raffle stand, secondhand books, skittles… even an archery range. (I won’t say I was hopeless at the archery – but suffice to say that if I’d have been a medieval military bowman, the enemy would have emerged largely unscathed.)

Jill, one of the prime movers of the gardens, gave me a guided tour of neatly-kept raised beds, the orchard, areas deliberately left wild, and the site of the future wildlife pond. The place is a well-ordered oasis of peace and tranquillity.

But community gardens are so much more.

Getting your hands in the soil is good for your health, mental and physical – it releases the happy hormone, serotonin, which strengthens your immune system and alleviates depression. The NHS is even looking at prescribing it.

The word “community” is as important as the word “gardens”. Neighbours get to spend time alongside each other, share skills and tools, and bond over gardening war stories.

In the current cost of living crisis, many households struggle to afford good quality food. At one point food inflation was running at 19%, and it’s still at 12%. Too many people are forced to resort to cheap, high calorie-low quality ultra-processed foods that lead to obesity and diabetes. For those who have the time, and access to land, community gardens offer a low-cost way to eat well.

When I was a child, my mother had to stretch a tiny housekeeping budget, so she always kept a small vegetable garden, sometimes an allotment too. She kept a record of what she produced – given the smallness of the plot, it was quite phenomenal. I was fortunate that she made growing fruit and veg a priority, even alongside working full time and raising two daughters.

I am looking forward to supporting community gardens in the South Cotswolds: helping identify suitable sites, facilitating paperwork, and connecting people who want to get one started.

These gardens don’t just grow good food – they grow a sense of community and shared purpose.

[Photo: with Cllr Mike McKeown in Kemble]

News Round-Up

I was sorry to hear about the homes and businesses in Purton that were affected by flooding during Storm Babet. My thoughts and sympathies are with you. My sister was flooded out of her home in Kendal during Storm Desmond, and wasn’t able to return for 8 months, so I know something of the costs, financial and social.

The dreadful conflict in the Middle East continues to weigh heavily on our minds, with heavy civilian casualties on both sides, including hundreds of children. I very much hope that the international community will bring pressure to bear for a ceasefire, and to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table, before the situation escalates further.

Quote of the Week

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”
– Alfred Austin

And a gratuitously awful gardening joke… I was offered a job as a gardener, but I didn’t take it because the celery was too low. 
Have a great week!

You!

Unless members of Parliament are secretly given a magic wand and/or a time machine when they get sworn in, they only have the same 24 hours in the day as anybody else. While an MP can and absolutely should do all in their power to help their constituents, I believe the best way an MP can help is by making it easier for a community to fix its own problems, and/or going upstream and preventing those problems happening in the first place.

An MP shouldn’t aim to be a hero, but rather to support people to be heroes in their own communities.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been to two planning-related meetings in two different towns. What they have in common is frustration at big corporations or big government agencies who are not doing what they should, or interfering where they shouldn’t, accompanied by long delays and apparent bureaucratic stupidity.

My reflections:

Government needs to stop starving local councils

Local councils suffered a £15 billion reduction in their budgets in real terms between 2010 and 2020, equivalent to 60p in every £1. At the same time, inflation, increases to the National Living Wage and rising energy costs added at least £2.4 billion to their costs, so councils are now facing a funding gap of £3.4 billion in 2023/24 and £4.5 billion in 2024/25. Small wonder that some councils are facing bankruptcy, while other struggle to meet the expectations of their residents. Communities need to be empowered, not starved.

The experts on a community are the people who live in it

Local knowledge is crucial, but even more importantly, local people care deeply about their place, and want it to be a good place to live, work, and raise their families. Yet 71% of people feel they have little or no control over local decisions. See the Lib Dem policy paper on Power for People and Communities. Decentralisation of power works.

Empowerment: people are resourceful and smart

I’d like to see a return to people being able to use their own common sense, combined with good old-fashioned collaboration and communication, to figure things out together and find solutions that delivers the greatest good to the greatest number. We know that feeling powerless increases stress levels, while having a sense of agency reduces them. You can’t please everybody all of the time, but when there is a proper process, in which all voices are heard, it’s more likely that the community will support the final decision – less likely when a decision is handed down from a faceless, unaccountable bureaucracy.

Roz at Large

Last Saturday a group of us headed to Mid-Beds to campaign in the by-election triggered by Nadine Dorries’ hissy fit – sorry, I mean, resignation. I’ll be there again tomorrow for polling day. It’s said to be very close, although interestingly I didn’t see a single Conservative poster board.
(Photo: the girl gang with Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper in Mid Beds)

Our new full-time campaign organiser, Poppy Evans, started on Monday, and is going through rigorous training with Josh Charles, our legendary Wiltshire campaign manager. There’s a lot to take on board but Poppy is more than equal to the challenge!

Later on today (I’m writing this on Wednesday because I’m in Mid Beds on Thursday) I’ll be doing a press event with Drinkable Rivers to support their campaign to galvanise citizen scientists, clean up Britain’s rivers and stop the dumping of sewage. (Check the Rivers Trust real-time map to find out when you need to avoid sewage spills near you.)

On Saturday 21st October I’ll be at the Lib Dem dinner in Cheltenham, with deputy leader Daisy Cooper as the guest speaker.

On the afternoon of Sunday 22nd October I’ll be in Kemble for the community gardens fundraiser – very much looking forward to that and hope to see many of you there!

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Quote of the Week

“Heroes didn’t leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn’t wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else’s. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back.”
– Jodi Picoult
Have a great week!

From Ultra Processed People to Sherston’s Surgery Woes

I’m reading Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop?

It suggests that rather than referring to products like fizzy drinks, snacks, and fast food as “food”, it would be more accurate to call them “Industrially Produced Edible Substances”. Yum.

Because they’re not food. They are reassembled chemical structures that fool our brains into thinking that they’re food, but have negligible nutritional content, and disrupt our body’s natural systems in ways that lead to obesity, diabetes, and general ill health.

But they are highly, highly profitable. And are aggressively marketed to children, and predominantly consumed by people on low incomes.

Here’s something I didn’t know – ice cream snacks are too cold when they come out of the freezer to smell of anything. So manufacturers put caramel-scented chemicals in the seal of the packaging. As you open your ice cream bar, the chemicals evaporate to tickle your nostrils with the alluring aroma that gets you hooked on their product.

How manipulative is that?! I don’t know about you, but I resent these drug-pushers using all the tricks of the trade to make me an addict.

This is one of the reasons that I get excited about community gardens. If communities can find pieces of land to grow fruit and vegetables, they can improve access to decent food (many people live in “food deserts”, with no shop selling fresh food within easy walking distance). Gardening provides exercise, and getting your hands in the soil is good for mental as well as physical health. Shared gardens allow people to share skills and improve the sense of community. What’s not to love about that?

Surgical Procedures

Last Thursday I was in a jam-packed village hall in Sherston for a meeting about the doctor’s surgery and its proposed amalgamation with a surgery 6 miles away in Malmesbury.

This local issue perfectly highlights several broader national (and possibly international) issues.

(Photo: with Cllr Martin Smith at the proposed site of the new Sherston surgery)

Ignoring the wishes of local communities

Sherston knows that its old surgery needs to close. The building is no longer fit for purpose, and it belongs to the retired doctor who wants to sell it to fund her retirement.

So the community had taken the initiative and created a neighbourhood plan that included a small housing development to provide much-needed additional homes. And the developer was happy to include a building for a brand new surgery at no cost to the community or the NHS.

Seemed like a fantastic win-win, and the plan passed a referendum with 93% support.

But the regional NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) said no.

Bureaucracy

The ICB took several months to reply to each communication from Sherston. Replies like the “PCN Toolkit Briefing” were so full of bureaucratic jargon and acronyms that they were virtually unintelligible. With its nice little diagram of boxes and arrows illustrating “core”, “flex” and “tail” categories, it appeared to have been written by management consultants.

But no matter how prettily (if incomprehensibly) presented, its substance still made no sense in the real world.

Cost-benefit as the only measure

ICBs across the country have been instructed to cut their running costs by 30% over the next two years. For an NHS that has already been cut to the bone, it’s hard to see how this is can be possible.

Doctors’ surgeries are not like other businesses. In some businesses it makes sense to centralise and consolidate to get economies of scale. But when the business is helping people who are sick or in pain, time and distance matter.
Given the surgery’s catchment area, some patients would have to travel 12 miles to get to Malmesbury. Many patients are elderly and don’t drive any more, and rural bus services have also been cut. How are they meant to get there?
Plus the Malmesbury surgery is already at capacity, with long waits for an appointment, which will only get worse as new houses are built and occupied.

The emphasis on efficiency and profitability has gone too far. This plan puts people’s lives at risk. Surely this is obvious to anybody with an ounce of common sense.

I’m not blaming the ICB. They have an impossibly small budget. I’m sure they’re doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Our government needs to decide whether it wants a functional NHS, or if it wants to go down the route of the US, with a predominantly private healthcare system, and where 80% of bankruptcies are due to medical bills.

Roz at Large

I’m writing this newsletter from Bristol where I’m speaking at the Blue Earth Summit, described as “Two days of inspiration and action forging a closer connection to the natural world for those who want to live and work more sustainably”.

This Saturday I shall be heading to Mid Beds with a carload of local activists to campaign for our fantastic Lib Dem candidate, Emma Holland-Lindsay, in the by-election triggered by Nadine Dorries (long-awaited) resignation. Would be great to take a second carload – ping me on [email protected] if you want to join us.

Our new full-time campaign organiser, Poppy Evans, joins us on Monday, fresh back from her honeymoon. Join me in welcoming Poppy to the team!

On Wednesday 18th I’ll be joining a Parents for Future roundtable in Stroud to explore ways to strengthen community bonds and build resilience for the future.

We may also be doing a press event with Drinkable Rivers this coming week, to support their campaign to galvanise citizen scientists, clean up Britain’s rivers and stop the dumping of sewage. (Check the Rivers Trust real-time map to find out when you need to avoid sewage spills near you.)

On Saturday 21st October I’ll be at the Lib Dem dinner in Cheltenham, with deputy leader Daisy Cooper as the guest speaker.

On the afternoon of Sunday 22nd October I’ll be in Kemble for the community gardens fundraiser – very much looking forward to that and hope to see many of you there!

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Quote of the Week

“You are what you eat AND the information that you digest.”
― Frank Sonnenberg
Have a great week!

Farming, Food, Folk, and Community

The new State of Nature report for the UK came out last week, the first report since 2019. It’s not good news (although there will be good news before the end of this newsletter, I promise!).

The UK’s natural environment continues to decline and degrade. According to the State of Nature, the UK is now “one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth’”

According to the National Trust website, 43% of birds, 31% of amphibians and reptiles, and 28% of fungi and lichen are in decline. Pollinators like bees and butterflies are among the worst-hit groups, falling by 18%.

Much of this loss is because of habitat destruction or degradation. Only 1 in 7 natural habitats is thriving, with a tragic 93% of woodlands deemed to be in less than “good condition”.

The Conservative Government is set to miss its target for 75% of rivers and streams to be in good condition by 2027, with just 14% of surface waters in good ecological condition in England and 0% in good overall condition.

The UK has now lost more than half its biodiversity because of human activity. Intensive farming and climate change are the two biggest drivers of nature loss.

The good news (as promised) is that the tide is turning. Key to this is the idea that human activity and nature don’t have to be mutually exclusive. It doesn’t have to be either/or – it can be “and”. We can meet human needs and allow nature to thrive.

In her wonderful book, Braiding Sweetgrass, botanist and indigenous writer Robin Wall Kimmerer shows how respectful harvesting can enhance the wellbeing of the natural world. Humans are not a blight on nature – we’re part of it.

In response to the State of Nature report, the National Farmers Union’s President Minette Batters says: “What we ask is that proposals to boost nature recovery simply sit alongside equally ambitious plans for food production.” It’s possible. And policy-makers have a role to play in providing the right incentives to make it probable.

Planet Local Summit

On a related note, last weekend I was at the Planet Local Summit in Bristol, a fabulous event that took me right back to my roots as an environmental advocate and champion for local communities and localised food production. The event featured a constellation of star speakers, including Iain McGilchrist, Vandana Shiva, Charles Eisenstein, Roger Hallam, Zac Goldsmith, Jeremy Lent, Satish Kumar, Bayo Akomolafe, John Perkins, Jeremy Lent, Lyla June Johnston, and the event’s prime mover, Helena Norberg-Hodge, author of Ancient Futures, a book which has had a profound effect on my thinking.

To get a flavour of localism and how it can contribute to thriving of people and planet, try these videos:
Going Local (2:30 mins)
Local Food Can Save The World (3 mins)
The Economics of Happiness (19 mins)

Doubling Nature

And the weekend before that, I was at the Lib Dem party conference, where I was delighted by the resolution to “Double Nature” – doubling the amount of land that is protected and managed for nature, doubling the area of the most important habitats, and doubling species abundance by 2050. Plus:

Introducing a ‘Right to Nature’, establishing everyone’s right to healthy air, clean water and access to nature.Halting sewage discharges by mandating major sewage infrastructure upgrades as well as reducing other river pollution and setting new “blue flag” standards for rivers.Reforming the planning system to ensure decisions are compatible with nature’s recovery and climate change mitigation, and designating more areas for wildlife.Introducing an Environment and Wellbeing Budget, focused on ensuring we are a country that is rich in nature.Providing a fair deal for farmers with a long-term funding guarantee, based on public money for public goods, to pay for a shift to a wildlife-friendly, high welfare, climate-positive and economically thriving farming sector.

As Tim Farron MP writes, “our new policy is a promise to future generations that we will not stand idly by while our natural world withers away. Together, we can build a greener, more sustainable future for all.”

Roz at Large

I’m appearing with Wilder Journeys editor Laurie King at the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol on 11th October at 5pm, and speaking at Explorers Connect, also in Bristol, at 7pm on 12th October.

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Quote of the Week

“As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Have a great week!

A surreal Lib Dem party conference

Last weekend was the first Liberal Democrat autumn conference since 2019 – last year it was cancelled because the Queen died. And it was very possibly the last Liberal Democrat autumn conference before the next General Election.

So it was always going to be quite intense, but for me it seemed especially so. I had a heck of a time, in a good way. As a friend and colleague said, “You were the darling of the conference”.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak at the main conference rally on the first night. This link should take you to the right place in the recording, so you don’t have to watch the preceding ten and a half hours first. (You’re welcome. )

My debut was on the uplifting subject of poo (the appalling dumping of raw sewage into rivers, lakes, and the sea, by profit-maximising water companies). And it’s the first time I’ve ever been introduced onstage by a man in a wetsuit – thanks, Josh Babarinde.

The wetsuit theme continued the next day. Having had fish and chips with the Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper on the Saturday, on Sunday I got a message from Ami in the press team, saying “Call me ASAP!”

Turned out the plan had been for Ed Davey to do a photo opp with Wendy Chamberlain MP and Josh B – paddleboarding. But it was blowing an absolute hoolie in Bournemouth, and the sea was too rough. So at the last minute the plan had been changed from paddleboarding to kayaking. They were two-man kayaks so suddenly the press team needed another person. “Who do we know who’s watery?” they wondered.

So a couple of hours later I found myself in a very surreal situation – sea kayaking with Sir Ed Davey, and looking on while Josh cheekly hopped out of our boat to capsize Sir Ed and Wendy out of their kayak. No jokes, please, about toppling our leader.

(It’s lucky Wendy is such a good sport –  she got completely dunked and all you can see of her in the photo that appeared in all the national press is the sole of one foot. She definitely took one for the team. Wendy’s fabulous, by the way – and congrats to her on her Carers Leave Bill being passed, giving 2.4 million carers across the UK a statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave per year.)

There followed a couple of pieces for ITV and BBC, and BBC Radio 4’s World At One with Sarah Montague (I’m in the headlines at 45 seconds in, and again at 22:35 mins, just after Party President Mark Pack – talking about how the Lib Dems stand for a fairer, more caring, more compassionate society.)

So yes, the ego was having a rare old time, and all in all it was a fantastic conference. And I’ve come home with a keen sense of just how much work lies ahead. In the last General Election, in 2019, the Liberal Democrats came second in 91 constituencies, 80 of those behind a Conservative. With the Tories (and the country) in disarray, those seats are ours for the taking.

But there is much to do, by our party collectively and by me personally.

It’s lucky I enjoy a challenge – bring it on!

Roz at Large

I’ll be at the Planet Local Summit in Bristol on tomorrow and Saturday.

On Thursday at 7pm there is a public meeting at Sherston Village Hall about an apparently perverse decision to overturn the community’s plan for a new doctor’s surgery – a plan that got 94% support in a village-wide referendum. I shall be there to support the village in ensuring their plan goes ahead. The experts on what a community needs are the people who live in it – not an opaque bureaucracy that seems intent on more and more centralised control.

Then I’m appearing with Wilder Journeys editor Laurie King at the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol on 11th October at 5pm, and speaking at Explorers Connect, also in Bristol, at 7pm on 12th October.

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Quote of the Week

“A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It’s about feeling connected and responsible for what happens. Humanity is our ultimate community, and everyone plays a crucial role.”

— Yehuda Berg
Have a great week!

… in the air (and a rant on Net Zero)

More on affordable and social housing below, but first, a late addition to this newsletter…

It seems that, not content with trashing the country, the Conservatives are now hellbent on trashing the planet. As of yesterday, Rishi Sunak has gone wobbly on Net Zero. He claims government policy needs to be “proportionate”. Just what IS “proportionate” to an existential threat to life on Earth?

And now to homes. 

An Englishman’s home is his castle, the saying goes. But for too many Englishmen – and Englishwomen – it’s a castle in the air.

We have a chronic shortage of decent, affordable housing, and how are kids supposed to study if they don’t have a quiet space to do their homework? How can parents prepare healthy food if they don’t have access to a kitchen? How can people thrive if they live in overcrowded, damp, and/or mouldy homes?

There are 25 million homes in England. Sounds like a lot. But in the last 40 years, the population has risen by 3.4%, while the number of dwellings has risen by only 1.9%.

To meet unmet demand nationally, we would need to build between 300,000 and 600,000 new homes annually for the next decade. That’s somewhere between another Milton Keynes to another Manchester every year.

At the same time, a little part of me grieves every time I see a greenfield site turned into a building site. Greenfield is great for developers – virgin territory generates maximum profits.

Brownfield comes with a lot of issues – pre-existing rubble and contamination that has to be removed before building can begin. Sites might also be odd shapes, present access problems, and have neighbours that don’t want the mud and noise of construction, or to lose their views or their light.

But these fill-in developments need to be made more attractive, both financially and aesthetically, if we’re going to avoid urban sprawl creeping inexorably across our countryside. Smaller developments also help avoid the them-and-us resentment often generated by massive new estates.

What else do we need?

More small homes – 2 and 3 bedroom houses are in the shortest supplyGenuinely affordable housing, which for many people means significantly lower than market rent, to replace the council housing that was sold off under Margaret ThatcherLocal, small developers who have a vested interest in the local community, and won’t just make their profits and bugger offAccommodation above shops to recreate vibrant town centresFuture-proof homes built to high eco standards – a more efficient use of resources than having to retrofit later with insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, etcCo-housing developments that build community as well as homes, to help address the loneliness epidemic and encourage neighbours to form social support networksHigher density housing – not 60s-style blocks of flats, but aesthetically-pleasing stepped buildings with outdoor space to grow flowers and vegetablesHousing developments with decent amenities – cafes, pubs, shops, public transport, cycle and walking paths, doctors’ surgeries, libraries, village halls, etc

And above all, we need to prioritise the needs of local communities. We need collaboration between developers and residents, because housing isn’t just a profit calculation on a spreadsheet. It impacts real people with real lives, real families, and real livelihoods, now and for many decades into the future. We need to shift from profit-centric development to people- and planet-centric development.

Food and Farming

I get a weekly veg box from Riverford Organic Farmers. Today I received this impassioned plea from the founder, Guy Singh-Watson. Echoing the Ford UK exec who berated Rishi Sunak’s government for their lack of “ambition, commitment, and consistency”, Guy is asking for signatures on a petition requiring the big supermarkets to be more committed and more consistent with their suppliers, to:
– Buy what they agreed to buy
– Pay what they agreed to pay
– Pay on time

Farmers, like car manufacturers, operate on long timescales. Nature doesn’t operate on the same cycle as quarterly profit reports.

The world seems to be spinning faster and faster. Technologies spread more quickly. Home shopping is delivered sooner. We (at least, I!) get impatient if a website takes more than a second to load. Government ministers (and prime ministers) rotate at dizzying speed.

Sometimes speed is good. Sometimes not so much. Commitment used to be seen as an honourable quality. The balance has tilted too far in favour of fast and fickle.

Roz at Large

My recording for BBC Politics West got bumped up from Friday 13th October to tomorrow, airing 10am this Sunday. So that has focused the mind marvellously!

I will be at the Lib Dem autumn conference in Bournemouth this coming weekend, and will be speaking on the main stage during the conference rally at some point between 5.30 and 7.30 on Saturday.

I’ll be at the Planet Local Summit in Bristol on 29th-30th Sept.

Then I’m appearing with Wilder Journeys editor Laurie King at the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol on 11th October at 5pm, and speaking at Explorers Connect, also in Bristol, at 7pm on 12th October.

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Quote of the Week

“We have a duty to show up in the world with meaning and purpose and commitment to doing good. And to use any privilege that we have to make positive change and to disrupt oppressive systems.”
— Meena Harris
Have a great week!

Transferable skills from ocean rowing

Being a freshly-minted political candidate can at times seem almost overwhelming. There seem to be so many things to do, all of them vying for top priority. I have to remind myself, as I often did when I was rowing across oceans, that I can only take one oarstroke at a time.

In fact, there are many transferable skills from ocean rowing. Here are three more:

(But just before I go there, I’d like to thank the many kind and generous people who have asked how they can support my campaign, even from afar. There is a big yellow Donate button on this webpage – thank you!!)

Right, on with those transferable skills.

1. Always remember why you’re doing it

I don’t really like physical exercise. And I have distinct reservations about oceans. I’m more of a hills-and-woods kind of person. So there were often times when I didn’t want to be on the ocean. And I imagine there will often be times when I question why I’m in politics.

But as Friedrich Nietzsche said, “He (or she) who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

2. Keep your eye on the bigger picture

Progress on the ocean could be frustratingly slow. I got especially frustrated in the doldrums, when invisible currents sent me spinning round in circles. I was going quietly insane when a longtime supporter sent me an urgent message reminding me to zoom out the scale of the GPS.

When I did, I could see that for all my micro-meanderings, at the macro scale I was still making overall progress in the right direction.

3. Aim for the right destination

On the Atlantic, my first ocean, every day was a struggle. I was injured, much of my equipment was broken by the harsh conditions, and I didn’t even know if I had it in me to succeed.

At last, after over 3 months at sea, I was tantalisingly close to the end of the voyage. Or so I thought. I discovered that I had misprogrammed my GPS. I’d entered a wrong digit in the coordinates, meaning land still 60 miles further away.

I try to stay mindful that the end goal of my campaign is not to become an MP. It is to make a difference by being of service to my constituents and to my country.

Becoming an MP is not the end of the journey – it is the beginning.

Life of Roz

I’m on a short trip to the glorious Yorkshire Dales for a speaking engagement at the Swinton Park Hotel tonight, and it all came about through the Lib Dems. At spring conference I got chatting with a fellow newcomer, who when I asked about her work, said she and her husband had bought back his family home and now run it as a hotel. I pictured a cute little B&B. It was only later when she was introduced onstage as Felicity Cunliffe-Lister that I discovered the “cute little B&B” was in fact 20,000 acres with a stunning 42-suite castle hotel.

So here I am. And tomorrow a group of 15 fabulous women come to join me here for a weekend retreat in the rustic tree lodges.

Upcoming Events

If you are one of those super-organised people who does your Christmas shopping in September, check out the Cheltenham Arts and Crafts Market this Saturday. Also the opportunity to book a place on workshops to make your Christmas wreath or festive centrepiece.

Love doughnuts? Good news from The Cake Tin in Malmesbury!

Well done to the intrepid volunteers of the Cricklade Bloomers for their good work on the footpath. I was out canvassing in that heat, and it was brutal!

Swindon Open Studios is on for the next two weekends – looks like there will be all kinds of inspiring and beautiful creative arts to enjoy.

(If you have local announcements you would like me to share, please ping me at [email protected].)

Roz at Large

I will be at the Lib Dem autumn conference in Bournemouth from 23rd to 26th September, and will be speaking on the main stage during the conference rally at some point between 5.30 and 7.30 on Saturday.

I’ll be at the Planet Local Summit in Bristol on 29th-30th Sept.

Then I’m appearing with Wilder Journeys editor Laurie King at the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol on 11th October at 5pm, and speaking at Explorers Connect, also in Bristol, at 7pm on 12th October.

I’m scheduled to be on BBC Politics West on Sunday 15th October.

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Everything you wanted to know about nutrient neutrality, but were afraid to ask….

NN has been in the headlines recently due to Conservative proposals to scrap environmental protection regulations. Those proposals have been blocked for now, but if you’re curious, check out Why does ‘Nutrient Neutrality’ matter for our precious Wiltshire chalk streams, and what can we do to save them? by Jo Lewis of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, of which I am a proud member.

Quote of the Week

“Be courageous. Challenge orthodoxy. Stand up for what you believe in. When you are in your rocking chair talking to your grandchildren many years from now, be sure you have a good story to tell.”
— Amal Clooney
Have a great week!

We have a lot to catch up on.

It has been a year since my last newsletter. A lot has happened.

First, I’d like to welcome the folks who have signed up recently, probably because of my new career direction (of which more shortly).

And say “hello, old friends” to the folks who have been following my updates for up to 20 years – from my life-changing travels around Peru, across three oceans solo in a rowboat, through a doctorate and the publication of four books – up to the present day.

The reason for my long silence? I’ve been going through a transformation. And no, it doesn’t involve foreign clinics or facelifts (clearly!).

It was 19th September 2022, and I’d watched most of the Queen’s funeral on a friend’s TV. That evening, I was sitting on the bench in my front garden, gazing down the valley and reflecting on the Queen’s life of tireless devotion to public duty.

Since I’d finished drafting my latest book, The Ocean in a Drop, in March last year, I’d been trying to figure out what came next. In my 20 years as an environmental advocate, I’d learned a great deal about why changing to a more sustainable way of life is hard, but is necessary, and very possible. What to do with this knowledge? How to be of service to creating a better future?

And suddenly, inspired by the Queen, it came to me. For all the many flaws of our current political system, it seemed to me that the best way to create positive change would be to stand for Parliament.

Since then I have been on a whirlwind political journey, fast-tracking through the approval and selection processes, and have now been chosen by the Liberal Democrats to be the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new South Cotswolds seat.

For my overseas readers, we don’t yet know when the next General Election will be, as we don’t have fixed terms in the UK, but it has to be before January 2025. So there is no time to lose. I am hitting the ground running (or hitting the water rowing).

I’ll keep you posted – stay tuned for updates.

(I am still available for speaking engagements on non-political topics. Parliamentary candidates don’t get paid, and I still have to pay the bills! Contact my manager, Miriam Staley, for details.)

Life of Roz

Those of you who followed my ocean rowing adventures will have got to know my mother, Rita. She was an absolute pillar of strength while I was at sea, and more than once had to step in to keep my blog running when gremlins and seawater got the better of my technology.

So I’m sorry to share the sad news that she passed away in March this year, aged 84, two weeks after suffering a severe stroke. While I’ll miss her every day, I’m glad for her sake that she didn’t have to endure a long, lingering departure. She had made it very clear in advance that she would not find that acceptable. So my sister, Mum’s dear friend Jean, and I can still remember her as the independent, capable, courageous woman that she was.

Upcoming Events

It may be early to be thinking about Christmas, but there are some wonderful festive markets to look forward to. If you’re a potential stallholder, you can apply now for a spot.

The Wickwar September Bash is coming up on 16th Sept.

If you’re sweltering in our belated summer heat, you might like to know the Stratford Park Lido in Stroud is staying open two weeks later than usual, until 17th Sept.

The cycling Tour of Britain will be racing through this Cotswolds this Saturday, 9th Sept, starting in Tewkesbury and passing through Cirencester and Tetbury before finishing in Gloucester. Exciting for cyclists, maybe less so for motorists! Look out for road closures.

The Twinning Society Murder Mystery is this Saturday, 9th Sept. Tickets still available. Hosted by the Purton Amateur Dramatic Society at Cricklade Town Hall. And if you don’t make it home that night, you could still be around the next afternoon for a Pop-up Picnic Concert by the Cricklade Band at Saxons Rest, near the Town Hall!

(If you have local announcements you would like me to share, please ping me at [email protected].)

Roz at Large

I will of course be at the Lib Dem autumn conference in Bournemouth from 23rd to 26th September. I expect I will see many of you there!

I’ll be at the Planet Local Summit in Bristol on 29th-30th Sept.

Then I’m appearing with Wilder Journeys editor Laurie King at the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol on 11th October at 5pm, and speaking at Explorers Connect, also in Bristol, at 7pm on 12th October.

I’m scheduled to be on BBC Politics West on Sunday 15th October.

In the meantime, if you live in the Cotswolds you’re likely to see me out and about on a frequent basis. Look out for the yellow hat – and I’ll be under it!

Reasons to Be(e) Cheerful

Purton’s Church Street Bee and Bug Habitats are on their way – 3 new wildflower areas to support biodiversity. Fantastic! The Parish Council asks that everyone “Bee Patient” while the sites are under construction.

Quote of the Week

“Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too.” (Mark Twain)
With much love