Nigel Costley's Archive 
Nigel Costley is the TUC’s South West Regional Secretary and former member of the SW Regional Development Agency.
Nigel Costley
When one of your own senior MPs describes a key policy as “botched” even this Coalition government, so single-minded and deaf to criticism, should think twice.
The House of Commons Public Administration Committee report into the handling of the government’s abolition of quangos is damning. It is clear that ideology, not practicality, drove the process. The MPs say it’s not even going to save any money.
Nigel Costley
Government plans to privatise our forests have ignited protests across the UK. In the Forest of Dean, Mark Harper the Conservative MP asks that we ignore the clear statements of intent by ministers to sell-off the forest estate and to trust that it will be all right in the end!
The Forest of Dean is a unique place. A community live and work in a forest. It has few statutory protections or even designated public footpaths. Its ancient customs and rights are largely unwritten and protected only by the remit of its public ownership and stewardship of the Forestry Commission.
Nigel Costley
So the greenest government ever has bottled out of the Severn Barrage, potentially the UK’s biggest renewable project. What a negative way to announce this. The big Cardiff to Weston Barrage may not be the best option and too expensive but we must find a way to harness the power of the Severn tides. And we can’t delay in exploring all the options.
Lots of work has been done in starting to figure out the impact on the birds and marine life, the sediment, the port and the economy. Trade unions have their concerns about a bloody big dam but the work has drawn out alternative ways to generate power from the second highest tidal range in the world. This should not be put on hold for the next decade while we build new nuclear and gas stations.
