Saturday slack

Having spent all day yesterday at Espresso House (yes, there is an Espresso House even in Kiruna these days) revising my co-authored article and resubmitting it to the journal, today has been much more relaxed. After a morning jog with William to Karhuniemi, I was able to persuade Eddie to join me and Anna’s mother for a hike up Luossavaara along the “midnight sun trail”.

As I sip a glass of Irony in the afternoon sun, I am relieved to see that Labour did indeed win big after 14 years of Conservative rule in the UK. The question however is what a progressive landslide actually means these days, with Keir Starmer having already ruled out nationalizing energy, utilities or passenger rolling stock. With some universities in the UK, such as Coventry, creating new entities to outsource their own teaching staff, New Public Management has become so pervasive that it will take nothing short of a miracle to reverse it. As for energy and climate policy, Labour appears committed to completing Sizewell C yet unable to break free from the renewable energy illusion with new bold promises to invest in solar and wind, investments that will only add further instability to the grid, making electricity yet more expensive for the consumer, and locking in fossil fuels.