click on links

sometimes pages are taken down. You can track them back via: archive.org

Water

1 https://theriverstrust.org/key-issues/state-of-our-rivers

2 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/22/target-date-for-cleaning-up-waterways-in-england-is-moved-back-by-36-years

3 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/critically-endangered-european-eel-given-hope-for-the-future

4,5,6 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/10/crisis-britain-leaders-inflation-energy-wages-conservative

7 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/09/england-water-system-last-privatised-monopolies-for-now-analysis

8 https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/business-strategy-studies/privatising-thames-water

11 https://www.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2024-03/Saltmarsh_factsheet_Mar24.pdf

12 https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/business-strategy-studies/privatising-thames-water

13 https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/water-companies-sewage-uk-sea-river-southern-thames-water-labour-party-b1019952.html

14 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/03/england-rivers-election-sewage-water-pollution

15 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/22/cutbacks-stopping-vital-work-on-river-pollution-and-floods-in-england-environment-agency

16 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/13/water-companies-britain-seas-sewage-fines-environment-agency

17 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/04/catastrophic-uk-has-lost-90-of-seagrass-meadows-study-finds

18 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/06/toads-squatting-dormouse-nests-trees

19, 20 2006 Dr Steve Head, the director of Pond Conservation, Oxford Brookes University

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/why-we-need-to-build-more-ponds-5337111.html

Land

1 2022 Natural history museum https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2022/february/britains-rural-hedgehogs-see-dramatic-population-decline.html

2 2017 Kew https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/meadows-matter

3 2025 Tree Council https://treecouncil.org.uk/science-and-research/hedgerows/

4 wildlife trust https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/heathland-and-moorland

5 2025 Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/01/revealed-europe-losing-600-football-pitches-of-nature-and-crop-land-a-day

6 2019 independent https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/tropical-rainforest-lost-destroyed-football-pitches-every-minute-a8886911.html

7, 9 David Attenborough 2022 https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/1745993/david-attenborough-woodlands-forests-environment and university of oxford https://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/ancientoaksofengland

10 2021 Science https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh3629

8, 11, 15: 2023 p.14, 7,8 https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/52202/trees-and-woods-at-the-heart-of-nature-recovery-in-england.pdf

12 2019 state of nature report in https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/03/populations-of-uks-most-important-wildlife-have-plummeted-since-1970 and

2024 state of nature: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/state-of-nature-report

13 https://www.birdspot.co.uk/conservation/the-red-list

14 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/20/shooting-hares-england-ban-trail-hunting-animal-welfare-law

16 2025 RSPB https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-us/annual-report/five-highlights-from-a-year-of-saving-nature

Air and waste

1 Friends of the Earth 1999 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/328378.stm
2 University of Reading 2025 quoted in https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/15/uk-air-pollution-falling-but-danger-levels-still-breached-too-often-say-scientists
3 2020 bbc https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55330945
4 Royal College of Physicians 2025 quoted in https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/19/uk-toxic-air-killing-people-doctors-warn
5 University of the west of England 2019 https://airqualitynews.com/2019/06/19/poor-most-exposed-to-air-pollution-caused-by-rich-study-finds/
6 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/08/uk-plastic-waste-exports-to-developing-countries-rose-84-in-a-year-data-shows
7 https://www.ban.org/plastic-waste-project-hub/trade-data/uk-export-data-annual-summary

8 2021 Greenpeace https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/47759/investigation-finds-plastic-from-the-uk-and-germany-illegally-dumped-in-turkey/
9 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/18/discarded-clothes-from-uk-brands-dumped-in-protected-ghana-wetlands
10 2025 https://www.ecowatch.com/global-plastic-recycling-rate.html

Flying

1 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/aviation_en

2 21.12.19 Private eye- One acre newly planted native broadleaved trees absorbs 120 tonnes of carbon over 50 years. One economy flight 0.67 tons co2 per passenger. Airbus has 350 passengers=234 tonnes carbon.

3 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/aviation_en

4 https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/ClimateChange_Trends.aspx

5, 6, 7 https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/12/map-reveals-third-heathrow-airport-runway-will-expand-m25-22542778/

8 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/gatwick-heathrow-runway-expansions-homes-b2686952.html

9 Stansfeld SA, Berglund B, Clark C, Lopez-Barrio I, Fischer P, Ohrstrom E, et al. Aircraft and road traffic noise and childrens cognition and health: A cross-national study. Lancet. 2005;365:1942–9. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66660-3

10, 11 https://royalsociety.org/news/2023/02/net-zero-aviation-fuels-report/

12 https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/ryanair-europe%E2%80%99s-7th-biggest-carbon-polluter-last-year-aviation-emissions-continued-grow

13 https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2007665/uk-train-routes-where-its

14 https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-the-uk-should-reach-net-zero-climate-goal-by-2050-says-ccc

Energy

1https://www.neso.energy/sites/neso.energy/files/documents/742198_NESO_Monthly%20Electricity%20Report_2025_Overview_V2.pdf
2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4301n3771o
3 releases more carbon: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/16/enough-with-the-burning-eu-executive-accused-of-sacrificing-forests
2m a day: https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/25/police-acting-as-private-security-for-drax-power-station-say-climate-activists
biggest emitter: https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-largest-emitters-in-the-uk-annual-review/
old growth forest: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/27/drax-power-plant-owner-reports-highest-earnings-since-pandemic
biggest tree burner private eye 2023 issue 1605

Smr and nuclear waste https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/interview-small-modular-reactors-get-a-reality-check-about-their-waste/

Hinkley risky: https://www.nao.org.uk/report/hinkley-point-c/

Sellafield: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/04/sellafield-nuclear-site-hacked-groups-russia-china

2.5 bn and plutonium

Hostile architect: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1279277/

Iea at scale: 25 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c805mjxe2y9o

140 tons plu

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nuclear-decommissioning-authority-nda-draft-strategy-for-consultation

Intoletable risk

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/23/sellafield-cleanup-cost-136bn-national-audit-office

World nuclear 24 eat plutonium

https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/united-kingdom

132 bn 120 yrs https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/27/uks-nuclear-sites-costing-taxpayers-astronomical-sums-say-mps

Fossil fuels
1, 2 4 2025 https://www.upliftuk.org/post/the-declining-economics-of-the-north-sea
3 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/28/north-sea-oil-gas-licences-conservatives
5 https://www.theguardian.com/the-grid/2025/dec/11/upgrading-the-grid-key-numbers-in-the-uks-energy-transition

Insulation
1 faster than germany: the Association for the Conservation of Energy https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/The_cold_man_of_europe_2015
carbon brief 2022 https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cutting-the-green-crap-has-added-2-5bn-to-uk-energy-bills/)
lessen bills by a 1/5th: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1008681/need-report-2021.pdf
2,3 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/04/at-least-one-tenth-tory-donations-since-2010-property-industry
4 2024 I https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/reeves-says-she-hopes-ceos-see-their-fingerprints-all-over-labour-manifesto-b2565949.html
5 Sheffield uni https://sheffield.ac.uk/news/new-housing-developments-failing-protect-wildlife
6 Daily Mail 2022 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10581529/Nigel-Farage-campaign-Net-Zero-policy-referendum.html

Wind
1 2025 GOV
https://www.neso.energy/sites/neso.energy/files/documents/742198_NESO_Monthly%20Electricity%20Report_2025_Overview_V2.pdf
2, 4 2024 Good energy https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/blog/wind-power-myths-busted/
3 2025 Massachusetts Inst of Tech https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/wind-energy
5 octopus energy research quoted in https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2025/jul/10/zonal-pricing-energy-ed-miliband-2030-targets

Solar
1 Ember 2025 https://ember-energy.org/focus-areas/clean-electricity/
2 National Energy System Operator 2026 quoted in BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz947djd3d3o
4 gov 2025 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-power-2030-action-plan/clean-power-2030-action-plan-a-new-era-of-clean-electricity-main-report#renewable-and-nuclear-project-delivery
1, 3, 5, 6, 7 International Energy Agency 2025 quoted in https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/solar/index.html?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-08-28&utm_campaign=Just+published+Carbon+Brief+factchecks+16+misleading+claims+about+solar+power

growth

1, 3. p.143 Less in more: How degrowth will save the world Jason Hickel Penguin 2020

2 Yale 2022 https://e360.yale.edu/features/lithium-mining-water-andes-argentina

4 UNEP quoted in p.148 Hickel

5 UNEP Global resources outlook 2024 https://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/global-resources-outlook-2024
6 p.101 Hickel
7 WWF living planet quoted in p.85 Our house in on fire ernman & thunberg Penguin 2020 (stats are for Sweden but UK emits similar).
8 Kate Raworth https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/

free market
1, 2 https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n17/john-lanchester/for-every-winner-a-loser
3 ha joon chang 21 things they dont teach you about capitalism
4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0kz1wpnq5o
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/22/cutbacks-stopping-vital-work-on-river-pollution-and-floods-in-england-environment-agency

Profit over public good
1 1988 ‘Griffiths Report’ (Community Care; Agenda for Action) discussed here: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/12/when-margaret-thatcher-privatised-social-care/
2 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/sep/12/cost-of-place-in-childrens-care-homes-in-england-hits-almost-320000-a-year
3 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/23/england-childrens-care-homes-backed-by-private-equity-firms-double-over-five-years
4 2024 local gov bulletin https://www.lgcplus.com/services/children/revealed-spiralling-cost-of-childrens-homes-19-03-2024/
5 2018 National Audit Office https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PFI-and-PF2.pdf
6 2023 https://schoolsweek.co.uk/how-investors-are-making-millions-from-the-bankrupt-send-system/
7 2024 Unison https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2026/03/the-impact-of-library-closures-goes-far-beyond-book-lending/
8 https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/dec/22/stars-urge-uk-government-not-to-scrap-sport-england-brake-on-playing-field-selloff
9 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/19/tesco-britain-biggest-retailer-dominates
10 2023 World Health Organisation https://www.who.int/news/item/15-11-2023-who-launches-commission-to-foster-social-connection

Bosses
1 https://highpaycentre.org/ceo-pay-in-the-ftse-100-reaches-record-high-for-the-third-year-in-a-row/
2 2016 Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/969170c8-8018-11e6-bc52-0c7211ef3198?syn-25a6b1a6=1
3 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/16/ceo-chief-executive-pay-ftse-350-uk-companies-ratio-workers
4 2023 Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/596e3474-51a0-4dc1-b865-929658ec74d5?syn-25a6b1a6=1
5 Bernie Sanders https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/01/billionaire-wealth-tax-trump
6 Musk on Joe Rogan podcast https://www.npr.org/2025/03/22/nx-s1-5321299/how-empathy-came-to-be-seen-as-a-weakness-in-conservative-circles
7 2026 Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/article/the-top-ten-richest-people-in-the-world/
8 see wikipedia Corporation tax in the Republic of Ireland for a round up of research
9 2025 internation trade union congress https://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-global-rights-index-2025-EN
10 2025 Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-declares-oecd-tax-deal-has-no-force-or-effect-us-2025-01-21/
11 ibid 5
12 Guardian 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/14/fossil-fuel-lobbyists-cop30
13 2014 Cambridge uni press https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B
14 2025 Grain https://grassrootsonline.org/learning_hub/corporate-concentration-in-farming-in-2025/
15 2026 Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/17/microsoft-us-tech-firms-lobbied-eu-secrecy-rules-datacentre-emissions
16 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/22/big-supermarkets-strangling-farmers-shoppers-solution-break-them-up
17 2026 world inequality report https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/16/super-rich-inequality-politicians-extreme-wealth

workers
1 2024 Trade union congress https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/over-8-10-zero-hours-contract-workers-want-regular-hours-tuc-poll-reveals
2 2025 CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/08/business/ai-job-losses-by-2030-intl/index.html
3 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/18/if-you-think-bossware-surveillance-culture-in-the-workplace-is-new-think-again
https://www.britsafe.org/safety-management/2024/working-in-precarious-times-the-gig-economy-and-zero-hours-contracts
4, 5 2025 Institute of fiscal studies 25 https://ifs.org.uk/articles/why-has-work-poverty-risen
6 2018 Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/e6fa6cfc-52d2-11e8-b24e-cad6aa67e23e?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Ads
1 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7484/
2 World Inequality Report (WIR) 2026 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/16/super-rich-inequality-politicians-extreme-wealth

coops 1 www.uk.coop/understanding-co-operatives/what-co-operative

bounceback
1 2024 UN https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154366
2 https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/red-kite
3 2019 independent https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/southwest-atlantic-humpback-whales-whaling-extinction-recovery-a9158246.html
4 2025 WWF https://www.nathab.com/blog/wildlife-wins-across-great-britain
5 2016 guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/17/more-than-15m-oysters-to-be-released-in-the-north-sea-for-uk-rewilding-project
6 https://www.sussexbatgroup.org.uk/Home

Conc
1 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/27/uk-government-report-ecosystem-collapse-foi-national-security
2 https://naturerecovery.ox.ac.uk/outputs/rethinking-the-economy-through-recognising-the-rights-of-nature/
3 https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/news/energy-firm-profits-tracker/
4 Unite 2023 https://www.unitetheunion.org/what-we-do/unite-investigates/new-analysis-rips-apart-dodgy-claims-of-squeezed-supermarket-profits/unite-investigates-food-profiteering-update-june-2023