Mattie McGrath: Warns Storm Erwin Exposed Energy Failures
Mattie McGrath spoke about the impact of Storm Erwin and criticised current government energy and planning policies for leaving people without means to heat their homes. He urged better backup power, forward planning, support for small organic growers, and changes to hedge-cutting and forestry policy.
He praised frontline staff including ESP, outdoor council staff, civil defence, Red Cross, contractors, agri-contractors, plant contractors, farmers, volunteers and district nurses. He lamented the recent death of Far Oostle, John English, a farmer and contractor who needed power for his equipment and died peacefully after receiving it.
He said Storm Erwin highlighted the danger of government energy policies and grant rules which, he argued, left people "sitting in the cold" with no planning grants and no way to heat their homes. He criticised requirements that force some rural house-builders into designs with no chimneys or adequate heating options.
He called for forward planning for two or three generations and for provision of generators, powers and alternative energy as practical responses. He warned that current policy decisions are cutting off the country’s nose to spite its face and said Greens appointees continue to implement those policies even after electoral losses.
He urged support for small organic growers who have been hit and cannot apply for grants because their income is too low. He argued trees and hedges are a roadside issue and asked for the hedge-cutting period to be extended significantly, asserting that health and safety must trump protection of birds and insects.
He criticised successive governments over 15 to 20 years for failures on forestry and referred to the "Axe Dryback" and the perilous treatment of farmers. He mentioned Deputy Hilly Ray and Minister Hilly Ray, criticised Peppa Hackett as a former minister, and said forestry policy needs wiser, smarter thinking.
He warned that when storms cut power people cannot cook, heat their homes, or access news and services, leaving them effectively "switched off from reality." He called for urgent policy changes to protect households when storms hit and to ensure reliable heating and power provision.
Storm Erwin and frontline praise
He praised frontline staff including ESP, outdoor council staff, civil defence, Red Cross, contractors, agri-contractors, plant contractors, farmers, volunteers and district nurses. He lamented the recent death of Far Oostle, John English, a farmer and contractor who needed power for his equipment and died peacefully after receiving it.
Energy policy failures and grants
He said Storm Erwin highlighted the danger of government energy policies and grant rules which, he argued, left people "sitting in the cold" with no planning grants and no way to heat their homes. He criticised requirements that force some rural house-builders into designs with no chimneys or adequate heating options.
Calls for generators and multi-generation planning
He called for forward planning for two or three generations and for provision of generators, powers and alternative energy as practical responses. He warned that current policy decisions are cutting off the country’s nose to spite its face and said Greens appointees continue to implement those policies even after electoral losses.
Support for small organic growers and hedge rules
He urged support for small organic growers who have been hit and cannot apply for grants because their income is too low. He argued trees and hedges are a roadside issue and asked for the hedge-cutting period to be extended significantly, asserting that health and safety must trump protection of birds and insects.
Forestry criticisms and "Axe Dryback"
He criticised successive governments over 15 to 20 years for failures on forestry and referred to the "Axe Dryback" and the perilous treatment of farmers. He mentioned Deputy Hilly Ray and Minister Hilly Ray, criticised Peppa Hackett as a former minister, and said forestry policy needs wiser, smarter thinking.
Consequences for households and demand for policy change
He warned that when storms cut power people cannot cook, heat their homes, or access news and services, leaving them effectively "switched off from reality." He called for urgent policy changes to protect households when storms hit and to ensure reliable heating and power provision.
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Transcript
I want to praise all the frontline staff, ESP especially, outdoor council staff, civil defence, Red Cross, the contractors, agri-contractors and plant contractors, and farmers and volunteers and, of course, the nurses that go out all the time, the district nurses, we used to call them community nurses, and just to lament one, Far Oostle, John English, a wonderful farmer and contractor, a great family man, and he died only last week, put to rest in Castle Graves where he lived, and he needed power for his, you know, equipment that he needed for his ill health, but thankfully he got it, and he died peacefully. I also want to say that Storm Erwin highlighted the danger of the government energy policies, of the grants which left people sitting in the cold with no grants of planning, with no way to heat their homes. Poor unadulterated nonsense that people are forced to build houses and get planning in the country so hard to get, with no chimneys and no way to heat anything. I hope that we learn the lessons from those. We should also support the small organic growers, they have been hugely hit, and they are not able to apply for the grants because their income is too low, and they are not in that. Trees and hedges are about roadside, so they should not be there, any of them. And I ask for the period of hedge cutting to be extended very much this time, even the fourth time. No. The government has this. Still, the Greens are controlling it. Health and safety must trump the birds and the bees, and all that stuff. We must also do forward planning for two or three generations. Something like the Welsh Parliament did, the Welsh Assembly did, for two or three generations ahead, that we will have generators and we will have powers and we will have alternative energy. We are cutting off our nose to spite our face here. I know the Greens have been run out of office, but the problem is they have people appointed in different official positions. They are going to continue implementing those policies. Let the realtors here and realtors shin take it by the horns and go back to nature. Let nature do its work. And I have to mention the Axe Dryback and the failure of successive governments over the last 15, 20 years. Farmers are perilous at the way it has been treated. And forestry, and I wish Michael Hilly Ray well, because Deputy Hilly Ray and Minister Hilly Ray, because Peppa Hackett, literally a single-halary former minister, just destroyed it. So we need to think wisely, think smartly, and none of all these fanciful schemes. and when the storms come and hit, and when the power is out, people have perished in their homes and can't cook or bite an egg, they can't do little, and they can't watch the news, they can't do anything else. They have just switched off from reality. So we need to change our policies there.