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The National
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
The Scottish Trump mural that proves the importance of protest
Its main purpose was to highlight the catastrophic climate impact of the US president's first 100 days in office but it coincided with reports that the UK Prime Minister had gone in to bat for Trump's campaign to host the 2028 Open golf championship at his course. Never was a message more urgently needed than the 'Time to resist – fight the billionaire takeover' scrawled in the Ayrshire sand alongside a graphic depiction of the man himself. (Image: © Saf Suleyman / Greenpeace) Because, although Keir Starmer's proper response to Trump's blatant attempt to use his position for financial gain would have been to tell him to take a hike, the Prime Minister is reported to have put Whitehall officials on the case to whip up business support. It's yet another example of the impact of public protest at a time when the Westminster government appears to be willing to do anything it is instructed in order to negotiate down White House tariffs imposed on British imports. Other headlines this week have also underlined the need for protests while our politicians turn their backs on atrocities inflicted on the innocent. READ MORE: New National series to investigate Donald Trump's links to Scotland The Irish band Kneecap are learning the consequences of speaking out against the genocide in Gaza which Western governments have decided to ignore. It's no coincidence that the moral outrage whipped up this week over comments they made years ago followed the display of pro-Palestine comments and criticism of Israel during their performance at the huge Coachella festival in the US last month. The band also took aim at the US government's arming and funding of Israel. Controversy can be an expensive business. It has so far cost Kneecap a gig at the Eden Project in Cornwall, another in Plymouth and three in Germany, all of which have been cancelled by organisers amid the fallout. READ MORE: Politicians want to cancel Kneecap – but stay silent on Chris Brown playing Hampden Public protests have been a legitimate response to political decisions for decades, including CND marches in the late 1950s protest songs and marches against the Vietnam War in the 1960s, to the Rock Against Racism Movement in the 1970s, to the poll tax riots in London in 1990 and the huge marches against the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s. I remember taking part in marches protesting against unemployment in the 1980s, when the policies of Margaret Thatcher pushed the UK jobless figure up to around 250,000. A quarter of all those under 25 years old were out of work. As well as displaying a remarkable knack for panicking and crashing global money markets, Trump has provoked protests throughout (and just after) his first term as US president and the first 100 days of his second. To my mind, it's a good thing that so many people are appalled and angry enough about his policies and attitudes that they are willing to take to the streets to show their disapproval. In doing so, they are following a long, strong and noble tradition. Greenpeace, which collaborated with arts organisation Sand In Your Eye on the beach protest unveiled this week, says it has watched Trump take actions that actively damage the environment. Areeba Hamid, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: 'During his first 100 days, President Trump has been actively working to dismantle and weaken environmental protections and attack those who fight to protect nature and our shared climate, putting the corporate profits of his billionaire friends ahead of people and the planet.' The beach protest wasn't quite my personal favourite anti-Trump protest. That accolade goes to the late, great Janey Godley, who in the same general area held up the undeniably to-the-point placard saying: 'Trump is a c**t''. However, it makes its point in an impressive, artistic way. What's more, it avoids the threat of prosecution, an advantage not shared by another Trump protest, the covering of the Turnberry resort with red paint and pro-Palestine graffiti. Just days ago, a seventh person was arrested and charged in connection with that little adventure. It's easy to understand the frustration over the lack of any effective action from our politicians at Trump's trampling over the rules of politics. His bid to bring the Open to Turnberry, for example, was described yesterday by experts as a possible breach of the US Constitution. If successful, they say, it could break the spirit of a clause which forbids federal officials from accepting benefits from foreign or state governments. No shit, Sherlock. The Guardian reports that Trump has raised the issue 'multiple times' with Starmer but we all know how desperate the Prime Minister is to curry favour with the president. If he can do so – and let's just give the Downing Street insistence that the Open decision will be taken by the Royal and Ancient the little attention it deserves – with the gift of a major golf tournament, he will do so. Failure to do so will no doubt push Britain even further down the priority list for a trade deal. It's already regarded as 'second-order priority', more than a little humiliating for a British prime minister who has already ditched enough principles to fill his out-tray for a year. This week, it became obvious that Starmer is looking for a way out of a promise he made in 2021 that Westminster would have the final say on any trade deal he made, including those negotiated by Trump. We can't even rely on a modicum of opposition from Labour's leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, who has already suggested we all don Make Scotland Great Again caps. Ironically, Turnberry has not been considered to host the Open Championship rota since 2014 due to organisers' fears that the golf itself would be overshadowed by political considerations arising from Trump's ownership. READ MORE: Aberdeen locals react to Michael Gove choosing 'Lord of Torry' title The president's support for Israeli actions in Gaza was one of the key elements of Kneecap's Coachella's protest, delivered to the crowd at the US's biggest festival. There was some criticism after the event, as well as significant support. But it was this week that controversy kicked in, when comments during a performance in November 2023 were injected into the debate. You probably know this by now, but for clarity, a video appeared to show one band member saying: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' Cue uproar. Even John Swinney joined the steady stream of politicians demanding that Kneecap be cancelled from TRNSMT or Glastonbury or anywhere else they have gigs lined up. You can find the band's two-year-old comments ill-advised and wrong and still be suspicious of what feels like an orchestrated attempt to shut them up about Gaza. Similarly, you can support the sentiments and the solidarity with Kneecap pouring from the contemporary music world and still see flaws in the thinking behind it. A statement issued by the band themselves makes some strong points about the media coverage of the controversy when it says: 'But do politicians and right-wing journalists strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band, while simultaneously obfuscating or even ignoring a genocide happening in real time (including the killing of journalists in unprecedented numbers), have any right to intimidate festival events into acts of political censorship? 'Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story.'' A letter of support for Kneecap sent by Heavenly Recordings and signed by Primal Scream, Massive Attack, Pulp and dozens of other musicians wanders into less certain territory when it says: 'In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.' There are surely some views and some statements that have no place in a democracy and no place on a performance stage. The rise of the extreme right makes the imposition of those boundaries more important than ever. That said, condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza must be able to be freely expressed. Kneecap have apologised for their mistake two years ago. That mistake should not be used to muzzle the truth today. The right to public protests has an important role to play in a democracy. Now is not the time to erode it.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
From foul to fuel: how a seaweed problem could power the Caribbean
It is hard to describe the putrid stench of the decaying sargassum seaweed blanketing miles of shoreline in Soubise, a fishing village in Grenada. The pungent odour wafts into passing vehicles, persisting long after they have left the Caribbean island's coves, where the ocean has deposited masses of the seaweed, which turns red then black as it rots. Many residents of Soubise, one of the areas worst affected, say they have learned to live with the problem, which has plagued the island, and others like it, for years. Last week scientists in Florida said they thought they had identified a weather phenomenon in 2009 as the 'tipping point' of the problem, which they said is caused by shifting winds churning up the ocean and bringing deepwater nutrient concentrations to the surface. Every day, Lindon Marast, 30, feels the ill effects of the sargassum invasion when he goes out to fish. 'It gets caught in the boat's propeller,' he says. 'Then we can't pass through the water because it stops the propeller from accelerating.' Lindon Marast says the seaweed clogs the engine of his boat But now Grenada's government says it has found a way to turn the curse of sargassum into a blessing. It is working with the European Union and is looking for companies that could partner them in creating a multibillion-dollar market for the Caribbean. The aim is to rebrand the seaweed as a revolutionary solution to the climate crisis that could power homes and businesses with clean energy and boost agricultural yields. 'We have had to deal with this problem for quite some years now,' says Emmalin Pierre, a local MP and leader of the opposition New National party. 'It has been a major problem for not just the fishermen in the area but also residents. 'The fishermen will tell you it's challenging to even access their boats when it's really bad. You also have the issue of the scent, which sometimes becomes unbearable even for passersby.' Soubise's residents, who are facing severe coastal erosion as well as the invasion of the sargassum, have also expressed concerns about the effects of methane and other gases emitted by the weed, which they say cause skin rashes, tarnish jewellery and damage household appliances and boats. The fishing village of Soubise, where some say the rotting seaweed causes skin rashes The sargassum issue has blighted the island for more than a decade, but now UK-based aquaculture business Seafields has created a water-based farm to catch the sargassum before it reaches land, preventing it from rotting and releasing methane. Seafields claim its solution could save Caribbean governments and hotels hundreds of thousands of dollars in sargassum removal and support a lucrative market in bioplastic and similar materials. As well as its use in creating bioplastics, sargassum can be used as a fuel and as crop fertiliser. It is much cheaper to farm than most other seaweed, says John Auckland, founder and chief executive of Seafields. Unlike other macroalgae, it does not have a complicated reproductive cycle that requires hatcheries and lots of space, money and infrastructure to farm. This makes sargassum a valuable resource for the Caribbean. Used as a fertiliser, he says: 'It stimulates crop growth by about 10% to 14% and can significantly increase yields for farmers. 'It has slightly different applications than traditional bio-stimulants. So it's a potential $200bn [£150bn] export market – and the Caribbean has the best product for it.' Some hotels in Grenada are already using sargassum as a clean energy source. Benjamin Nestorovic and Renatta Fielden, from the Grenada-based bioenergy company SarGas, have proved the technology works and have installed a biodigester, which uses micro-organisms to break down the seaweed into biogas and fertiliser, to fuel the ovens at the True Blue Bay Resort's House of Chocolate bakery in St George's. 'You can eat chocolate with a good conscience,' Nestorovic says. 'Our process produces clean energy and digestate – a valuable organic fertiliser – giving us two products in one.' Benjamin Mestorovic and Renatta Fielden. Their company, SarGas, launched a pilot project at Grenada's True Blue Bay resort three years ago to assess the feasibility of turning sargassum seaweed into biogas and fertiliser The biogas digester. Seaweed, manure and food waste is fed into the funnel to be turned into fuel and fertiliser The converter's gas outlet and valve. A small digester can supply six hours of fuel a day to farms, hotels and cafes The company has recently secured government approval to construct a large-scale biogas facility to help provide electricity to the island. 'They use diesel to generate electricity [now], which is very expensive for the local population. We are providing a reliable, cost-effective and sustainable alternative,' Nestorovic says, adding that the company plans to expand across the Caribbean. As well as fertiliser and biofuel, sargassum seaweed can also be turned into bioplastic Grenada's prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, held a conference last year to explore innovations around sargassum weed. Speaking at the event, he said: 'We believe that we have a unique opportunity in Grenada and in the Caribbean basin to turn the tide on what is viewed as a problem into a solution – and into a solution that can have ripple effects to all of the stakeholders that it has thus far negatively impacted.' Mitchell set up a taskforce to work with the EU, and has promised to collect 10,000 tons of sargassum by 2026. Last month, he told the Guardian that he had launched an expression of interest process for companies to propose projects to make his goal a reality. Meanwhile, farmers and fishers on the island have already discovered positive uses for the weed. 'Sometimes it comes in with a lot of fish like mahi-mahi,' says Mark Nedd, 30, who started fishing at 14 and has grown up battling the sargassum invasion. Farmers, he says, collect it to use as fertiliser. Hotels and the rest of the tourism industry are equally keen to find a way to deal with this persistent threat. Kirl Grant-Hoschtialek, chief operations officer of the Grenada Tourism Authority, describes the painstaking process of removing the weed from beaches. Teams of people, she says, work from one end of a beach to the other to remove the weed by hand because heavy machinery is likely to deplete the sand and organisms within it, worsening coastal damage. 'Our beaches are our pride and joy,' she says. 'Some have received accolades year after year. So we are very proactive when it comes to protecting them.' For those who live in Soubise, such as Nedd, any effort to tackle the weed cannot come soon enough. 'If you pass here in a vehicle, the vehicle will automatically take that scent and carry it for a good way,' he says. 'Some people say you get accustomed to the smell, but you can never get accustomed to it.'
