Latest news with #Ecotricity
The Guardian
27-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Dale Vince calls for Battle of the Beanfield to be included in Orgreave policing inquiry
The entrepreneur Dale Vince has called for the recently announced inquiry into violent police clashes at the Orgreave miners' strike to be extended to cover a similar aggressive clash with new age travellers heading for Stonehenge the following year. Vince, who was involved in the Wiltshire clash, known as the Battle of the Beanfield, said the truth of both incidents had been covered up by police. He said he believed both episodes were part of a plan by the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to 'smash' the miners and travellers, who she considered to be 'enemies of the state'. He said he was writing to the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to ask her to include the Battle of the Beanfield in the Orgreave inquiry. The founder of Ecotricity was part of a travellers' convoy trying to set up a free festival at Stonehenge to celebrate the solstice in 1985. As the convoy grew, so too did complaints about the impact of some of its followers. Police enforced a high court injunction to block it, and scores of vehicles raced along narrow lanes being chased by police in riot gear. ITV News showed police smashing the windows of travellers' vehicles as they careered around a field. The episode resulted in more than 500 arrests and numerous injuries. Vince said: 'You're talking about people driving around [the field]. The police are with truncheons, smashing the windows as [the travellers] are driving along. Kids being handed out [of windows]; people being dragged out by their hair through broken glass windows. I mean, it was truly horrific, and probably shouldn't be forgotten … no. 'You know, the police got away with the most incredible lawlessness that day and I don't think they should be allowed to get away with that. And if we don't put that right, then it's not a good thing.' Vince recently told an audience at Glastonbury festival: 'I think I buried [the trauma] for a few years. I left the country, actually, to get away from the police.' He said he believed he may still be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. More than 530 travellers were detained by police, many of them injured, in one of the largest mass arrests in British history. Eight police officers were also reported hurt. Intermittent calls for a public inquiry since then have been rejected. Vince said he hoped the recent decision to open an inquiry into the clashes between police and miners at Orgreave coking plant in 1984 would strengthen his case. His company has supported Labour with more than £1.5m, making Vince the party's biggest individual donor. Ben Davies, who was working as a photographer for the Observer during the clashes in Wiltshire, said he was arrested and had his film confiscated. 'I was filming a woman being battered over the head when I was arrested for alleged breach of the peace. They gave my camera back but banned me from taking more pictures – it was clearly just a way of stopping news coverage. 'It was very frightening and I feared someone might get killed. Certainly, they weren't like any police I had seen.' The event marked the end of an era. From the early 1970s, hundreds – then thousands – of people made the annual pilgrimage to Stonehenge in the weeks before the solstice. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion But as numbers reached 100,000, complaints grew of damage to the stones, trespassing and vandalism. Police said some travellers were anti-police and anti-establishment, and the convoy did include anarchists alongside environmentalists, druids and people living an alternative lifestyle. There were complaints that supermarkets had been ransacked and travellers were camping in woodland and cutting wood for fires. Eventually, an injunction was put in place to stop it. A 4-mile exclusion zone was set up and police blocked a convoy of more than 100 vehicles. Helen Hatt, whose converted ambulance was part of the convoy, told the BBC: 'Police started smashing the windscreens of the vehicles at the front [of the convoy] and dragging people to the ground, hitting them with truncheons. Somebody ran past me with a head wound and blood running down his face.' She said her vehicle's windows were smashed, and two officers grabbed her by the hair. 'I can remember how excruciating the pain of having both sides of hair pulled. I was screaming: 'Stop, stop, tell me what to do'.' Vince said: 'Margaret Thatcher identified the miners and the new age travellers as the country's two biggest threats – and sent the cops out to smash both. We were both enemies of the state, of the highest order. And both experienced the same state-authorised brutality and lawlessness. The same leaders, the same cops, the same plan – from Orgreave to the Beanfield just a few months and counties apart – even the same cover-up.' Nearly six years after the event, 24 members of the convoy sued the police for wrongful arrest, assault and criminal damage. The police were cleared of wrongful arrest, but the members were awarded £24,000 for damage to 'persons and property'. Wiltshire police and the Home office haven't commented on Vince's request. A police spokesperson told the BBC that 'much has changed' since 1985. He said the force reflects on everything it does, and seeks to learn lessons from major events.
Times
20-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Green tycoon takes a tilt at Donald Trump over ‘windmills'
T hey are poles apart: the green energy tycoon, who has built an empire on wind power, and the president of the United States who wants Scotland to 'get rid' of the turbines that march across its hills. They do agree on one thing, however. Dale Vince, whose green energy company Ecotricity is now valued at £100 million, calls the structures 'windmills'. So does President Trump. But whereas Vince sees the structures as a way of saving the planet, Trump dismisses them as an eyesore. On the eve of his visit to Scotland to inspect his new golf course, the US president has urged the Scottish government to embrace oil, not wind. 'They have so much oil there,' Trump said. 'They should get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil. [Those] windmills are really detrimental to the beauty of Scotland and every other place they go up.'
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Labour donor urges party to back wealth tax - as poll shows overwhelming support
Comments by former Labour leader Lord Kinnock have reignited the debate over a wealth tax to help plug a massive hole in the public finances - but opinions are divided Labour donor Dale Vince has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to stand-up to critics of a wealth tax. The environmental campaigner and founder of energy firm Ecotricity said slapping a tax on the super-rich was needed to raise vital money for the government, given its U-turn on things like welfare cuts and winter fuel payments. He told the Mirror: 'We shouldn't run scared of it. It is about equality. We shouldn't have a system where there is extreme wealth at the bottom and extreme wealth at the top. People get rich off the back of ordinary people. Their workers use the health system, welfare, and these people then benefit from it.' His comments come after former Labour leader Lord Kinnock said at the weekend that imposing a 2% tax on assets valued above £10million would bring in up to £11billion a year. PM Sir Keir Starmer 's spokesman has since refused to rule out doing so, while insisting: 'The government is committed to the wealthiest in society paying their share in tax.' It idea has overwhelming public backing, too. New polling by YouGov reveals that 75% Britons would either 'strongly support' or 'somewhat support' a tax of 2% on wealth above £10 million. Only one in eight (13%) would either 'somewhat oppose' or 'strongly oppose' the idea. 12% don't know. However, renewed talk of a tax on the super-rich has triggered a fresh backlash. Labour's most high-profile billionaire backer, Phones 4u founder John Caudwell, said: 'I want to influence rich people to do more philanthropically and to pay taxes. A wealth tax would be very destructive on top. don't say that because I'm trying to protect my money - because I'm giving it away.' And the highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies cast doubt on whether a wealth tax could work. Stuart Adam, a senior economist at IFS, said: 'It is difficult to make the case that an annual tax on wealth would be a sensible part of the tax system even in principle. Taxing the same wealth every year would penalise saving and investment.' He added: 'There are strong reasons to radically reform how we currently tax the sources and uses of wealth; this includes reforming capital income taxes in order to properly tax high returns. An annual wealth tax would be a poor substitute for doing that.' However, it came as the Office for Budget Responsibility yesterday laid bare the 'daunting' risks to the public finances from the nation's soaring debt pile. The OBR warned the UK was on an 'unsustainable' path due to a raft of public spending promises the government 'cannot afford' in the longer term. And it added that the finances are in a 'relatively vulnerable position' amid recent U-turns on planned spending cuts. Richard Hughes, OBR chairman, indicated that governments will need to adjust spending plans in the longer term to avoid national debt ballooning. Mr Hughes told a briefing in Liverpool that the projected rise in state pension spending linked to the triple lock commitment for annual increases was contributing to growth in national debt. He said it 'is one of a series of age-related pressures that pushes public spending upwards steadily over a number of years. The UK cannot afford the array of promises that are displayed to the public if you just leave those unchanged, based on a reasonable assumption about growth rates in the economy and in tax revenues.' A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We recognise the realities set out in the OBR's report and we're taking the decisions needed to provide stability to the public finances.'
The Irish Sun
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Football star reveals he has become a vegan after joining eco-friendly non-league club as manager
TOUGH-tackling footballer Robbie Savage has become a vegan after joining a non-league team as manager. The ex-Wales midfielder, who once held the Premier League record for yellow cards, is the new boss of eco-friendly Forest Green Rovers. 2 Former football hardman Robbie Savage has gone vegan - aligning with the values of his new club, Forest Green Rovers Credit: Getty 2 Eco-warrior and green energy boss Dale Vince, is owner of the non-league club Credit: Getty The club serves only vegan food in the players' canteen and to fans on match days. And The ex- He added of the Cotswolds: 'It's a beautiful place, though I have a little French bulldog and I'm not sure her legs will get over the hills, I'll have to carry her.' READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS Meanwhile, the club's owner, eco-warrior Dale Vince, has been told he needs permission to fly a giant Palestinian flag hoisted on his firm's HQ - as it is not recognised as a country. The Ecotricity boss was ordered to get planning consent for the banner, which has been hung from his offices in Stroud, Glos. Vince, who owns "The council got in touch and said 'Oh, you can't actually fly that flag without planning permission because Palestine is not recognised by the British government'." Most read in Football What is up with you-' - Robbie Savage's harsh halftime dressing room team-talk that inspired Macclesfield to title win Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
Scoop
27-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Wellington Airport's Annual Climate Reports Released
Wellington Airport has released its annual climate-related disclosures today, outlining good progress towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The disclosures outline how the airport is preparing for the impacts of climate change and playing a supporting role in the decarbonisation of the wider aviation sector. Highlights from the last financial year included: Achieved Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 4+ First shipment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel at Wellington Airport used by Air New Zealand Continued work to provide electric charging for Air New Zealand's Alia BETA electric aircraft Progressing design and planning work to upgrade the southern seawall Procurement of local carbon offsets to cover all FY25 Scope 1 and Scope 3 (business travel) emissions Wellington Airport has also released its annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, showing Scope 1 and 2 emissions have reduced 38% since FY17, or 68% when including certified renewable energy. Our analysis shows Wellington Airport is on track for its target of Net Zero by 2030 despite an increase in Scope 1 emissions from FY24, mostly due to increased heating during an unusually cold winter last year and refrigerant top ups. A decrease in Scope 1 emissions is expected once the gas boilers in the terminal are replaced. *With the purchase of 100% certified renewable electricity through Ecotricity, market-based Scope 2 GHG emissions are zero. Scope 3 emissions have increased 2.4% in FY25 due to an increase in emissions from fuel used by aircraft and increased construction work. Emissions from natural gas are down 46% since the base year of FY17, while airside vehicle fuel emissions are down by 44% thanks to switching to EVs and hybrids. Wellington Airport's chief executive Matt Clarke says the airport remains on track to achieve net zero emissions for its own direct operations by 2030. 'This reflects a lot of hard work from our team to improve how we operate and reduce the emissions we can directly control. Regular progress and transparent reporting are also key to making genuine progress. 'As always, there is more work to be done - especially on supporting airlines with their decarbonisation journey.' The full reports are available below: Wellington Airport Climate Related Disclosures 2025: Wellington Airport Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report 2025:
