#georgemonbiot

The Guardian | Political donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that | George Monbiot by George Monbiot AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Political donations in the UK have become a corrosive force that erodes public trust and fuels cynicism, as the current system allows a handful of ultra‑wealthy individuals—such as Christopher Harborne, who has given over £22 million to Reform UK, and crypto billionaire Ben Delo, who contributed £4 million—to wield disproportionate influence without any caps or effective oversight. Investigations reveal that both Reform UK and the major parties receive lavish funding from donors hostile to climate action and other public interests, while regulatory bodies are under‑funded, investigations have plummeted, and penalties for breaches are trivial, leaving the electorate disengaged and increasingly drawn to extremist options. Monbiot argues that the solution is to eliminate private donations altogether, replacing them with a modest, uniform membership fee (e.g., £25) that the state matches at a fixed multiple, thereby limiting party budgets, restoring transparency, and forcing politicians to focus on building a broad, engaged membership base rather than courting wealthy patrons. This radical reform would curb both domestic and foreign donor influence, simplify funding rules, and return political power to ordinary citizens. Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/30/political-donations-poison-democracy-antidote-reform-uk #GeorgeMonbiot #ReformUK #ElectoralCommission #cryptocurrencies #politics #ChristopherHarborne #BenDelo

The Guardian | We’re letting big corporations gamble with our lives. Act now, or the food could run out | George Monbiot by George Monbiot The fragility of the global food system fills me with dread – and the war with Iran has exposed just how close to collapse it is The fate of environmentalists is to spend their lives trying not to be proved right. Vindication is what we dread. But there’s one threat that haunts me more than any other: the collapse of the global food system. We cannot predict what the immediate trigger might be. But the war with Iran is just the right kind of event. Drawing on years of scientific data, I’ve been arguing for some time that this risk exists – and that governments are completely unprepared for it. In 2023, I made a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into environmental change and food security, with a vast list of references. Called as a witness, I spent much of the time explaining that the issue was much wider than the inquiry’s scope. Continue reading... Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/25/big-corporations-global-food-system-war-iran #globaleconomy #georgemonbiot #foodsystem #foodsecurity #environmentalchange