Q&A with James MacCleary MP

As part of the Local Democracy Unwrapped season at Lewes Climate Hub in April, our MP James MacCleary attended a Q&A to answer questions with an environmental focus. Dinah Morgan rounds up some of the highlights.

We were delighted to welcome James MacCleary MP as part of the Local Democracy Unwrapped season for a Saturday morning Q&A, with a particular focus on nature and climate.

One question that was raised related to the national campaign to get the Church of England to rewild more its vast land portfolio.

James agreed to ask questions of the Church Commissioners regarding the amount of land within their 100,000+ acre portfolio (including the UK’s largest forestry possession) that’s available for nature recovery. He also undertook to request a map of Church holdings within the Lewes constituency.

He also said he was aware that a duty for climate protection and action was not included in the responsibilities of the new Mayoral Combined Authority, which is set to be created for Sussex. He agreed that such a responsibility needs to be included in definite, unequivocal language, otherwise there may be no duty on climate action to replace the duty held at present by our county and district councils.

James also agreed to talk about the Democratic Republic of Congo and the fact that Rwanda is creating an untenable situation there and that the UK government has a responsibility to speak out against this.

He also mentioned his support for human rights in this country – the fact that the rights to protest and for free speech are under threat and, as yet, this government has not repealed the draconian legislation against public protest brought in by the last Tory administration.

Other issues mentioned were the water companies’ lack of action to address water quality and pollution. James believes water companies should not be rescued from failing but should pass into public ownership through cooperatives or other models.

Most of all, water companies should not be privately owned to furnish shareholders with wealth at the expense of the environment and non-shareholders.

Watch out for future forums with James MacCleary at Lewes Climate Hub.