28 h. ago New reports tell us cattle and sheep farming can be sustainable – don’t believe them, it’s all bull | George Monbiot

Feeding the world sustainably is an incredibly complex challenge, yet some people are trying to sell us a bucolic fairytaleThe fire that has just destroyed 500 hectares (1,230 acres) of Dartmoor should have been impossible. It should not be a fire-prone landscape. But sheep, cattle and ponies have made it so. They selectively browse out tree seedlings, preventing the return of temperate rainforest, which is extremely difficult to burn. In dry weather, the moor grass, bracken and heather covering the deforested landscape are tinder.The plume of carbon dioxide and smoke released this week is one of the many impacts of livestock grazing. But several recent films, alongside celebrities, politicians, billionaires and far-right podcasts, seek to persuade us that cattle and sheep are good for the atmosphere and the living planet. This story, wrapped in romantic cottagecore, is now the most active and seductive frontier of climate-science denial. It is heavily promoted by the meat industry,...

Politics

7 d. ago The BBC is utterly beholden to the right. Why else would it fear a podcast about heat pumps? | George Monbiot

The broadcaster behaves like Starmer’s government: suppress the left, cave to your critics, and undermine your own survivalIt’s no longer even pretending. Last week, the BBC, already the UK’s most prolific censor, instructed the presenter Evan Davis to drop the podcast he hosted in his own time about heat pumps. It was a gentle, wry look at the machines, with no obvious political content. But the BBC, Davis says, saw it as “steering into areas of public controversy”. It should cease forthwith.So are BBC presenters banned from saying anything controversial? Far from it. Take an article published earlier this year by Justin Webb in the Times. It praised the “political genius” of Donald Trump, suggested that Democrats are now seen as the extremists, and claimed that Trump is widely regarded as “making [America] normal again”. The BBC was fine with that, and complaints about it were rejected. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Wife should get to keep more of family fortune after divorcing banker husband who gave her £80m to escape threat of inheritance tax, Supreme Court hears

Clive Standish, 70, a sheep-farming tycoon and former CFO of UBS, married Anna Standish, 55, in December 2005, but the couple separated in 2020 after a 15-year marriage.

Economics

2 w. ago ‘We don’t call them woolly maggots’: how wildlife campaigners put sheep at heart of rewilding plans

The Wildlife Trusts are in shock after acquiring 4,000 sheep in Rothbury estate deal as part of land restoration projectWoolly maggots, nature-destroyers – sheep are criticised by many conservationists for denuding Britain’s uplands of rare plants and trees.So The Wildlife Trusts were shocked when they were compelled to buy 4,000 sheep as part of the biggest land restoration project in England. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Sheep rustlers turn beautiful UK national park into ‘Wild West’

As more than 1,000 reported sheep thefts are investigated, Devon and Cornwall Police suspect farming industry insiders are involved

Politics

3 w. ago Rewilders apologise to Scottish farming community over 'deeply disrespectful' sheep article

The rewilding charity said it still strives to build bridges with communities and have respectful dialogue.

Politics

3 w. ago Rightwing populists will keep winning until we grasp this truth about human nature | George Monbiot

Economic inequality breeds resentment and a desire to get even. That’s what fuels support for even incompetent regimes“He’s really gone and done it this time. Now everyone can see what a disaster he is.” How many times have we heard this about Donald Trump? And how many times has it been proved wrong? Well, maybe this time he really has overstepped. After all, his clowning around with tariffs, sparking trade wars, then suddenly reversing his position, could provoke a global recession, perhaps even a depression. Surely his supporters will disown him? But I’m not banking on it, and this is why.Already, Trump has waged war on everything that builds prosperity and wellbeing: democracy, healthy ecosystems, education, healthcare, science, the arts. Yet, amid the wreckage, and despite some slippage, his approval ratings still hold between 43 and 48%: far higher than those of many other leaders. Why? I believe part of the answer lies in a fundamental aspect of our humanity: the urge to dest...

Politics

4 w. ago Missing farmer Michael Gaine's wife sells his sheep as locals break silence on strange case

Michael Gaine, 56, was last seen buying phone credit at store in Kenmare, Co Kerry, three weeks ago before he mysteriously disappeared - leaving loved-ones and the local community baffled

Events