Forest sell-off: Cameron promises to listen to all sides

PM tells Commons other organisations could manage Britain's woodlands better than Forestry Commission

David Cameron has told MPs he would "listen to all the arguments" in a consultation over hotly contested proposals to change the ownership of 258,000 hectares of state-owned woodland but No 10 played down prospects of a major U-turn.

At prime minister's questions, speaking after research showed the plans could cost the taxpayer money, Cameron said: "Of course I'm listening to all of the arguments that are being put on this issue. But I would ask, is it the case that there are organisations like the Woodland Trust, like the National Trust, who could do a better job than the Forestry Commission? I believe there are."

His spokeswoman said later that he had some doubts about how the policy had been presented, but he fundamentally liked the package.

There has been fierce opposition to the plans, and Cameron's parliamentary private secretary, Desmond Swayne, wrote on his blog that while he did not think the policy was as bad as it had been portrayed, greater sensitivities to local areas were needed. He said the plan had "unleashed a torrent of hostile emails. It is as if the government was planning to sell and fell every tree in the land in order to adulterate the people's strawberry jam with wooden pips."

Cameron suggested that the Forestry Commission, which today announced at least 400 jobs are to go in England and Scotland, was compromised by being both the regulator and the major producer of wood in England, an argument put forward by the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, on Monday. "We want a system which is better for access and habitat and for natural England," he said.

The government was embarrassed before PMQs as its own documents showed that the coalition is expected to lose money in the sell-off. A joint Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Forestry Commission study showed that the government can expect disposing ! of the l and to cost 679m over 20 years, but the benefits will only be 655m.

The cost-benefit study says the government would lose substantial income from the sale of timber and recreation licences, and would have to pay millions of pounds in compensation and redundancies. In addition, charities and other groups taking on the management of woodland will have to be given financial incentives.

The prime minister is also criticised by one of his own new intake of MPs, writing in the Guardian today, over plans to cut 350m of funding from family and civil law, diminishing the pot of legal aid. Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone and the Weald, who is a trained lawyer, writes: "For some of our most vulnerable people, it is the only sword and shield in their armoury."


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top flyer boo-boo : Shut off noisy engines

LONDON: It's too noisy, could you please turn off the engines ? Could you please open the window? These are some of the "foolish" and "bizarre requests" flyers often make to flight attendants, according to a new survey. The survey of some 3,000 Virgin Atlantic cabin crew members found that some passengers fail to understand why they are prevented from opening the window, others think "turning down" the engines could reduce the noise. "Please, can you open the window?" was among the most common unusual queries made by uncomfortable passengers who seem to be unaware of the benefits of a pressurised cabin at 35,000ft. Other unique questions included "could you turn the engines down because they are too noisy?" and "please can the captain stop the turbulence?", the Telegraph reported. The survey also laid bare the level of comfort and service some customers expect, with several asking flight attendants "can you sho
Keep reading

UK greenhouse gas emissions fall 8.7%

Image
Total UK emissions plummet as recession lowers electricity and fuel use A dramatic fall in greenhouse gas emissions following the recession has brought the UK's climate change targets for the next five years within easy reach, taking the pressure off government and business to comply. Government estimates released on Tuesday showed greenhouse gas emissions fell by 8.7% from 2008 to 2009, the biggest drop since records began in 1990. Carbon dioxide levels plunged 9.8%, a fall only matched in 1980, in records extending to 1970. The unexpectedly deep slump in emissions mirrors the fall in industrial output in the recession, with high-emitting sectors including construction and transport hit particularly hard. But it also means that government-set climate change targets of cutting emissions by 35% by 2020, compared with 1990 levels, now look much easier to meet. The UK has already met the targets for 2016, provided emissions stay at 2009 levels. This raises the prospect that business
Keep reading

Dogs can be trained to sniff out bowel cancer, Japanese researchers say

Image
Experiments show that labrador retriever's sense of smell can identify minute traces of chemicals circulating in human body Dogs can be trained to sniff out bowel cancer, even when the disease is in its early stages, researchers in Japan claim. In a series of experiments that involved sniffing the breath or stool samples of patients, a specially-trained labrador retriever proved nearly as good at identifying those with cancer as a conventional colonoscopy examination. The team, led by Hideto Sonoda at Fukuoka dental college hospital, said some dogs have such a keen sense of smell that they can detect minute traces of chemicals that appear to circulate in the bodies of people who have cancer. The finding builds on previous experiments in which researchers used dogs to sniff out cancers in the skin, lungs, bladder and ovaries. Writing in the journal Gut , the researchers describe how the eight-year-old dog was trained to distinguish between the smell of a patient with colorectal canc
Keep reading