New Statesman - Tom Burke

Labour’s plan to reform our broken energy market deserves cross-party support

On September 26, 2013 By admin

This article first appeared in the New Statesman September 2013 BY TOM BURKE PUBLISHED 25 SEPTEMBER 2013 16:33 Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze met with a predictable, if not always credible, response from the energy industries. Led by Angela […]

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The devil’s in the detail

On December 6, 2004March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 6th December 2004. The next round of negotiations on climate change, beginning in Buenos Aires on 6 December, takes place amid growing alarm among scientists. Climate change seems to be occurring faster and more dramatically than was previously thought. A new analysis, by 250 […]

Kyoto prospects 1: Russia

On May 17, 2004March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 17th May 2004. The Prime Minister called climate change “the most important issue that we face as a global community”, in a recent speech. But what really caught the attention of journalists was his deliberate dropping of the word “environment” from his prepared text. […]

Warning: drugs cost the earth

On June 30, 2003March 26, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 30th June 2003. The world is at war with terrorism, drugs, poverty, hunger, organised crime, intellectual property piracy and more besides. What these wars have in common is that we are losing them all. The best-known, and longest-fought, is the war on drugs. The […]

Uranium dangers

On February 24, 2003March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman’s special supplement on energy Power for the people, on 24th February 2003. On 24 January, Tony Blair met a group of ministers and officials in Downing Street to resolve some of the key issues in the long-delayed white paper on energy policy. Among the most […]

How long have we got?

On July 16, 2001March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 16th July 2001. The environment ministers and officials who gather in Bonn from 16-27 July for the resumed negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol will not settle the fate of the earth. The more important discussions, where the political heavy lifting will be done, will […]

Prepare for middle-class outrage

On June 25, 2001March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 25th June 2001. At midday on the day after the election, Jack Straw was still talking to officials in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) about his impending arrival as secretary of state. By midnight, the department no longer existed […]

Bush makes things hot for Americans

On March 26, 2001March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 26th March 2001. This month, President Bush declared war on the world’s efforts to tackle the increasingly urgent problem of climate change. Writing to Senator Chuck Hagel, a longtime leading wrecker of US climate change initiatives, Bush not only promised not to impose mandatory […]

Is this the end for the green agenda?

On September 25, 2000March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 25th September 2000. Tony Blair is not the only senior Labour politician whose carefully manicured image has been somewhat bashed about by the fuel tax protesters. Gordon Brown came into office determined to be the green Chancellor. Within months, he had published a statement […]

Bananas are only the warm-up act

On March 12, 1999March 13, 2012 By admin

Published in the New Statesman, on 12th March 1999. Miscalculation causes more disasters than malice. The current round of miscalculations on trade and genetically modified (GM) foods on both sides of the Atlantic could, if unchecked, cost the 21st century dearly. The banana wars dominating today’s headlines are only a […]