Fishy Business

A cross-party parliamentary committee has again been standing in for Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, calling the greenest government ever to account over delays in setting up marine conservation zones. A hundred and twenty-seven such zones were originally proposed, with strong cross-party and public support, more than three years ago; but Daveybloke's badger-busting Ministry for Barely Greenrinsing has consulted on only thirty-one, and that without deigning to specify how they would be implemented or managed. Presumably Daveybloke and his chums became bored with the whole idea; there is limited appeal in fish and plankton, as anyone who has sat around a Cabinet table with Michael Gove and Jeremy C Hunt must inevitably realise, and it's rather difficult even for a junior salesman of Daveybloke's calibre to hug seaweed photogenically. The committee's report noted "changes to funding for marine science", which presumably translates as taking cash away from environmental scientists in order to throw it at multinational corporations; and the Government has also decided that it needs absolutely the best possible scientific evidence before doing anything at all. This certainly makes a refreshing change from the faith-based policies favoured in such trivial matters as education, public health and employment; but feasibility-based policies do have their advantages.