popcawn - March 2025
Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It’s gone. It’s gone.
So said President Donald J Trump in his 4 March 2025 address to US Congress. Is this the template for leadership that we can expect in West Northamptonshire?
Why have words like Woke or acronyms like ULEZ been weaponised in speech, print and online?
For some people, Woke is a term of abuse, whereas for those who consider themselves woke, it simply means exhibiting politeness, tolerance and respect towards their fellows. Who will forget how, on the American President's last official visit, he shouldered his way past our Queen during their review of his guard of honour?
At their 4 March Cabinet Meeting1 West Northamptonshire Councillors took turns to deny they’d include a ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) in their promises for May’s Local Elections. Current evidence suggests LEZs can reduce air pollution-related health outcomes, with the most consistent effect on cardiovascular disease.2 Does the anti-ULEZ resolve indicate ignorance of the facts or lack of concern for the ill health of others?
In the debate at the same meeting on WNC’s new Climate Change Strategy3 one Councillor asked why, when a consultation response suggested there was net zero interest in Net Zero, was a strategy needed. Was it simply fashionable to have a strategy for climate change? It’s worth noting here that 67% of respondents to a pre-engagement exercise for the Strategy considered tackling climate change to be very important, and 18% saw it as important – this echoes national statistics showing 80% have concerns about climate change4.
The work put into the Strategy and accompanying documentation by its authors Martin Wilson and Betina Frinault deserves our respect. This is a vital document that sets out a path for West Northamptonshire to deliver on our climate change responsibilities. We need a council that takes those responsibilities seriously.
It seems that a majority in our community understand the threat climate change poses to our way of life. When it comes to responding to Earth’s cry of ‘Mayday. Mayday’, and with a local election a few weeks away, we need to make sure that our elected representatives get it too. Perhaps it’s worth remembering that although it took time, the dinosaurs died out.
REFERENCES
1 West Northamptonshire Council Cabinet Meeting 4 March 2025
3 West Northamptonshire Council Climate Change Strategy March 2025
4 https://www.statista.com/statistics/426733/united-kingdom-uk-concern-about-climate-change/