Not The Sun

Sun N OT T H E

July 2021

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Sinister billionaire Rupert Murdoch, 89, stands exposed for pumping out propaganda through his global network of newspapers and TV channels to convince millions of us that the climate crisis is fake news.

FULL SHOCKING STORY INSIDE

He’s part of a super-rich cabal of newspaper barons including Viscount Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail, and Frederick Barclay, who owns the Daily Telegraph, who Not The Sun believes want to boost their huge bank balances by stopping urgent action to tackle a global warming meltdown – until it’s too late.

But Not The Sun has a message for him and his fellow media Fat Cats: ‘Free our press to tell the truth – and stop putting your profits before our kids’ futures.’

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

DENIER DENIER THE PLANET’S ON FIRE

2 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

The world has just 6.5 years to reach net-zero carbon emissions to have any chance of avoiding the most dangerous global temperature rise – above 1.5°C. The UK government has given itself 30 years.

Time is running out fast to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero

How long the world really has

How long our government has given themselves

2018

2050

The government will miss key milestones for its already too-slow target What the government’s climate plans...

WON’T achieve MAY achieve

M

The government is miles off even hitting its first major milestone for its net-zero target – a 68% reduction in emissions by 2030.

At best, they will miss this target by over 25%.

2028

ESTONE L I

68%

542 395

50%

The government is lying to us about how many emissions we REALLY contribute

451

The emissions they count

347

The emissions they don’t count

100

200

300

400

Annual Emissions of CO2e in Megatonnes (2018)

Sun NOT TH E

SAYS

Cuts to annual emissions in megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e)

CUT EMISSIONS BY 68% BY 2030

Worse still, the government is cooking the books – and us! They aren’t counting the massive UK emissions from international air travel, shipping, and goods that we import, which make up almost half (43%) of our annual emissions.

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

CLIMATE CRISIS AT A E COVER-UP GLANC

Our future is fried – unless we rise up and force the government to get serious about cutting emissions FAST!

Can’t believe what you’re seeing?!

Scan here to delve deeper into the data you see here and to uncover more of the government’s climate lies in our Climate Charge Sheet

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NOT THE SUN* July 2021 3

Page 3 Lovelies Secrets of success in Brexit Britain – by Boris and his BFF

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

It’s hard to stay cheerful with Brexit bombing, a third wave of Covid looming, the cash-strapped NHS struggling, the economy crumbling and the climate collapsing. But blond bombshell Boris, 57, has never been happier.

‘Phwoar, the country’s a right old mess,’ he giggles. ‘But I’ve never been more popular with the peeps. So, I’ve got plenty to smile about.’

How does he do it, you ask? ‘Don’t be boring by constantly telling the truth,’ Boris titters. ‘Say the first thing that comes into your head that you know people will like, chuck in a silly phrase in Latin, ruffle your hair in a well sexy way, and point at a Union Jack. Never fails.’

His bestie Keir, 58, is miffed by his mate’s baffling popularity. But he thinks he’s uncovered the secret to matching the cheeky chap’s success. ‘I’m a lot more buff than him, my suits are smarter, and my Union Jack collection is just as big.

I thought that would be enough to get everyone to love me,’ he says, wistfully.

‘People keep saying to me, “Be yourself, have your own ideas.” But I’ve got a better plan. I’m just going to keep agreeing with everything he says. Oh, and blaming anything that goes wrong on that leftie weirdo Jeremy.’

Phew! TOO MUCH OF A SCORCHER

Photograph: Shutterstock

IN HOLIDAY NOT SPOTS

Brits facing frustration at this year’s pandemic travel bans have been warned that many of their favourite holiday destinations could become too hot to handle in the near future.

Scientists plotting predicted temperature rises across the world over the coming decades – fuelled by out-of-control greenhouse gas emissions – found many cities and beach resorts will become intolerable by 2050.

A sizzling report from the Crowther Lab warns that the Spanish capital Madrid will see average temperatures in July of 40°C – making it as hot as India is today.

Other parts of Europe will see average temperatures soar to resemble those in the desert lands of North Africa. By July 2050, Marseille will be 5.2°C hotter on average – matching summer heat in Algeria today.

Athens will see a blistering 5.7°C rise, to make it as hot as current-day Morocco.

With future temperatures in European cities soaring to resemble areas 1,000km to the south of them today, green grass will be replaced by parched brush, the earth will become dusty and cracked, and beaches on the Mediterranean coast will be unbearable to lounge on.

A 4.7°C average temperature rise in the winter will also see many European areas lose all their snow, spelling an end to skiing seasons and frosty festive getaways.

At the same time, rising sea levels caused by the melting of the ice caps will mean that large stretches of Indonesia, Thailand and low-level USA – including cities such as New York, Miami and Boston – will be struck by devastating annual floods.

It may not be too late to stop the climate crisis turning our much-loved getaway destinations into Holiday Not Spots. But experts warn governments and businesses must act now.

4 July 2021 NOT THE SUN*

WITH THE CLIMATE CRISIS INTENSIFYING, APOCALYPTIC FUTURE... SO WHY AREN’T

THE LORDS

Three billionaires are shamelessly using the national newspapers that millions read every day to deafen us to the alarm bells ringing for the worst crisis that humanity has ever faced – the climate emergency.

Almost daily, the world’s top scientists warn greenhouse gas emissions and destruction of the natural environment are hurtling us toward a terrifying future of killer heatwaves, droughts and floods, crop failures and resource wars. In as little as 10 years, there will be no way back.

This should be front page news every day. Our newspapers should be our champions, demanding that politicians and business leaders make a huge and urgent transformation of our way of life to build a bright, hopeful future worth living for us and our children.

Instead, a Not The Sun investigation reveals that the country’s biggest newspapers ignore or play down the frightening scientific warnings in order to keep things the way they are – and keep the profits flowing for their super-rich owners.

Read on and discover the Fat Cat media barons who control 90% of the UK’s national newspaper market and how their newspapers keep us in the dark about the climate crisis.

THE FILTHY THREESOME

HOW THREE BILLIONAIRE NEWSPAPER BARONS ARE STEALING OUR FUTURE

BY MEDIA CAMPAIGNER AND ANALYST JON FULLER Most people know climate change is real and dangerous, but only a tiny minority grasp the full danger that we face. That’s because in the 30 years since scientists fully understood the scale and horror of the threat humanity faces, the newspapers owned by these rich men have been hiding the truth from us.

And TV and radio have followed in their footsteps.

Millions would be protesting in the street and climate breakdown would the No 1 voting issue if the mainstream press told us what was really happening.

Imagine the outrage and pressure on politicians if the newspapers constantly warned that without immediate, radical change to our societies, 167 million homes could be lost to the seas by 2040 (according to ShelterBox), there could be 1.4 billion climate refugees by 2060 (Cornell University) and around 5 billion people could be killed by 2100 (Potsdam).

Instead, the papers owned by Murdoch, Rothermere and Barclay cover their front pages with celebrity and political gossip and either ignore the most important and frightening climate stories, or bury them on inside pages.

We’ve seen how the press cover what their owners consider to be a real emergency. The pandemic has, quite rightly, been front page news most days for the past 18 months. Is it any wonder people feel the way The Sun, The Mail and The Telegraph cover

‘If people are allowed daily access to the true facts, they will demand huge changes to the global system’

Rupert Murdoch

Viscount Rothermere

Frederick Barclay

OWNS

OWNS

OWNS

The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, The Times, The Sunday Times

Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday

Daily Telegraph Sunday Telegraph

WORTH

WORTH

WORTH

£17.5bn ($24.1bn)

£1.16bn ($1.6bn)

£4.3bn ($5.9bn)

climate change means that it’s not really an emergency?

The three billionaires must know that if people are allowed daily access to the true facts, they will be rightly frightened and demand huge changes to the global system. That will hit these rich men where it hurts them most – in their profits.

So, they have stolen the one thing the young need most to defend themselves – information. Our children and grandchildren are not being told that they will have to clear up our mess, paying to remove all the CO2 we are dumping into the atmosphere to avoid an awful future. Or no future at all.

By denying the young access to the terrifying truth, most young people are not being allowed the opportunity to scream out for justice.

Only when the full frightening facts are conveyed to the people will the UK become a functioning democracy, ending what is essentially a callous war upon the young.

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 5

WE ARE NOW HURTLING TOWARDS AN THE NEWSPAPERS REPORTING IT?

OF THE LIES THREE TERRIFYING CLIMATE WARNINGS THAT WERE IGNORED

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

15th Jan ’20

THE NEXT DAY’S PAPERS...

The 2010s were the hottest decade ever – and the 2020s will be worse The world experienced the hottest years in history in the past decade due to rising greenhouse gases, and more heat records will fall before 2020, with warming oceans, rising sea levels and melting ice caps, according to the UK Met Office and NASA.

4th May ’20

Photo credit: Alamy, Shutterstock

The world is on the brink of catastrophic runaway climate change A leak of a frightening new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns lethal environmental tipping points are about to be triggered that could threaten all life on Earth with irreversible climate disaster.

‘The scientific data tells us this was more than just the warmest decade ever recorded by thermometers; the Earth is now hotter than it’s been in the whole of human history!

‘The newspaper front pages should have been shouting about the terrible danger this represents to all life on the planet, including humans, and demanding immediate government action. Instead, they were full of gossip about the Royal family.’

Global climate crisis expert can communicator Dr Aaron Thierry

THE NEXT DAY’S PAPERS...

SCIENTIST SAYS:

THE NEXT DAY’S PAPERS...

SCIENTIST SAYS:

Up to 3.5bn people face ‘unlivable’ heat by 2070 Deadly man-made temperature rises could make countries in Asia, Africa and South America too hot for human life unless CO2 emissions are slashed soon, according to a report by climate scientists in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

24th June ’21

SCIENTIST SAYS:

‘This report highlights the most significant threat to human health which humanity has ever faced: the climate and ecological emergency.

‘Billions will be forced to leave their countries, sparking a global migration crisis. The WHO says this is a far bigger threat to human health than anything else, even the current pandemic. We urge UK newspapers to start reporting this emergency with the utmost urgency while we have time to limit vast loss of life.’

Dr Grace Thompson

‘Unbelievable that three of our biggest newspapers decided not to put this report on the front pages.

‘Extinction, ecosystem degradation and catastrophic biodiversity loss undermine the life support systems humans depend on. The newspapers should be warning the pollination of food crops, provision of clean water, protection from flooding, healthy soils and capture of carbon are dependant on species that are disappearing at a frightening rate.’

James Bullock, Professor of Ecology

6 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

THE BBC has received a raft of complaints after it refused to show a viral video of Boris Johnson lying to MPs that has racked up nearly 27 million views on Twitter.

The clip, posted by media activist and lawyer Peter Stefanovic, exposes Johnson apparently serially misleading parliament about subjects such as the NHS, Covid-19, greenhouse gas emissions and the economy.

Despite claims from other leaders that this is a breach of the Ministerial Code, Stefanovic claims there has been a blackout by the BBC, which has refused to show or mention the two-minute compilation despite other major broadcasters doing so.

Stefanovic said: The Prime Minister is simply barefaced lying, and he’s broken the Ministerial Code… by failing to come back and correct the record for MPs. ‘Yet BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg seems to struggle to find a single piece of evidence of Johnson lying to parliament. The BBC’s refusal to show my video cataloguing those lies is a shameful national embarrassment.’

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

BBC blanks ‘proof’ of Boris telling porky pies

Stefanovic's video has had nearly 27 million views

In the clip, Johnson claims to have cut CO2 emissions on 1990 levels by 42 per cent since 2010. Stefanovic points out they actually fell by 39 percent between 1990 and 2018, not from 2010 onwards.

The prime minister boasted that he has brought back the £10,000-a-year NHS Bursary that helped student nurses with living expenses. Stefanovic blasts his boast as ‘complete nonsense’, because the Tories scrapped it in 2016 and replaced it with a £5,000 grant instead.

He is also caught out telling MPs there are ‘400,000 fewer families living in poverty now than there were in 2010’ – a figure Stefanovic claimed is ‘entirely made up’.

The video prompted Green Party MP Caroline Lucas to write a letter signed by five other party leaders

Traveller ‘problem’ sparked by bumper government land sell-off

BREXIT BONANZA

Dosed-up dinners from Down Under

Photographs: istock

Fuming locals in towns and villages are up in arms at traveller families setting up camp near their homes – without realising that the government, not the travellers, is largely to blame for the “problem”.

For 40 years, MPs have been quietly flogging off public land to property developers, leaving travellers, campers, walkers and motorhome owners with fewer and fewer places to legally park up and stay.

More than £400bn of public spaces – which should be open to all of us – have gone under the hammer in a shocking sell-off described as ‘like something out of Mad Max, if it was about the privatisation of public amenities’.

In a damning new report by Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT), research shows that public sell-offs since the 1980s have hit traveller and Roma Gypsies particularly hard, forcing them to compete against each other for rare legal pitches or camp illegally across the country.

Just 18 of 251 registered Traveller sites had spaces available, and only eight out of 68 councils in southeast England had identified enough land in their areas for Travellers to live, according to the report.

As a result, 93.7 per cent of police

urging the House of Commons speaker to allow a vote on an inquiry into the PM’s apparent lies to MPs. Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell slammed the BBC, saying: ‘The video reveals behaviour

by Johnson that used to be a resigning offence for a senior politician.’

In response to a flood of public complaints about its failure to broadcast the video, a BBC spokesperson said: ‘The BBC takes our responsibility to hold those in power to account very seriously.

‘Across our coverage and on dedicated platforms such as BBC Reality Check, we routinely, rigorously and impartially scrutinise statements made by politicians from all parties. We report independently and when choosing the stories we cover, we are not influenced by any external agenda.’

forces believe that lack of legal sites provision is driving travellers to unauthorised encampments.

It’s a sickening situation that spells heartbreak, fear and stress for many Travellers. Mum Beth Rose and her two children have been on a waiting list for a pitch in West Sussex for more than a year.

The disabled 26-year-old and her kids are living with her parents on a registered site.

Roma gypsies looking for somewhere to stay But a tenancy agreement means she and her young family will be made homeless once the pandemic is over.

‘My mum is my carer and she won’t be there to help me once we’re forced to leave,’ says Beth.

‘It’s frustrating, annoying, and aggravating and I feel let down.

‘There is nowhere for us to go.

I can’t get a house. I can’t buy a plot of land. I can’t do anything.’

Boris Johnson hailed the UK's first big post-Brexit free trade deal with Australia as a ‘fantastic opportunity for British businesses and consumers.’ But it will leave a nasty taste in the mouths of millions.

Twenty times the current amount of beef and veal will soon fly 9,400-miles from Oz to our dinner plates.

Worried experts warn the move will undermine our battle against climate change – and come with a gruesome hidden side order of antibiotics.

Top trade wonk Professor Michael Gasiorek, director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory, warned that the government has failed to properly assess the CO2 emissions from flying and shipping 35,000 tonnes of Aussie meat a year to British supermarket shelves.

Meanwhile, research raises health fears by warning the average Australian farm pumps 16 times the amount of antibiotics into cattle as a farmer in the UK A Department of International Trade spokesperson said: ‘Analysis of the environmental impact of the deal is underway, and will form part of the wider Impact Assessment, which will be published prior to implementation.’

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 7

Sun EXCLUSIVE NOT THE

*

Annie White felt she had no choice but to quit the NHS

‘A KICK IN THE TEETH’ Nurse’s verdict on government treatment of our NHS heroes One brave nurse has spoken out about the government’s For months, Annie and her ‘disgusting’ treatment of our NHS pandemic heroes – colleagues worked 12.5 hour shifts and warned that a lack of action on the climate crisis in full PPE, providing all the hygiene means her exhausted colleagues will soon be fighting needs and emotional support they could muster more major health emergencies. to intensely ill, often comatose people.

Thirty-year nursing veteran Annie White is furious The emotional strain of losing patients who died with a derisory 1% wage rise offered to her colleagues with no loved ones by their side and watching by the same ministers who urged the nation to clap for colleagues struck down by Covid was horrific. So, when carers. ‘It’s an absolute kick in the teeth,’ she says. the government responded to the heroic efforts of NHS ‘Standing on doorsteps clapping is a lovely nurses with a tiny 1% pay rise, Annie was furious. expression of gratitude by the public. But do the people ‘You can’t attract people into a profession who clapped for us realise that this government is that doesn’t pay properly,’ she says. ‘No one goes dismantling the NHS by failing to properly pay the into nursing for money, but you do expect to be nurses who risked their lives to save so many others?’ appropriately rewarded for the type of work you do.’

At the height of the pandemic, Annie helped care What terrifies Annie most is that the accelerating for some of the ‘sickest’ coronavirus patients on her climate crisis will force an underfunded and hospital’s large intensive care units. understaffed NHS to battle more global and national ‘I have never seen anything like this ever. health emergencies in the near future.

I don’t want to see it again. Staff were ‘Climate change is going to take far more ‘Do frightened for their own health and the people safety, and worried they couldn’t protect their patients properly. who clapped ‘We took a lot of the sickest for us realise that patients from other hospitals, this government and at points there were so many of them that we had to is dismantling the turn them away.’

NHS doctors stage a mock climate inquest in Parliament Square

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

NHS by failing to properly pay the nurses?’

lives than the coronavirus’ she says. ‘The pandemic is a warm-up exercise for what’s going to happen next.

‘The climate emergency is creating the conditions for conflict to spread and escalate, causing huge health emergencies, wars and starvation.’

Annie decided she had to make a stand after studying scientific evidence warning that climate change will spark a wave of health emergencies. ‘I’m scared, and if I ignored similar evidence about other dangers to the health of the public, I’d be struck off, or even jailed,’ she says. ‘But that’s what’s happening about climate change.’

In a desperate effort to alert the public to the danger, she joined army veteran Donald Bell in laying a wreath on the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday to mark all the deaths to come from climatedriven conflict and societal breakdown.

Instead of applauding her bravery, the prime minister branded her actions as ‘profoundly disrespectful’ and attack hacks from the billionairecaptured press besieged her house for days.

A health service investigation ruled that Annie had done nothing improper. But she decided to quit the job she loves because she feels that senior health bosses are still failing to take the climate emergency seriously, or raise the alarm about the need for urgent change.

Annie fears that she would be unable to uphold her Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct to protect others from future harm from the climate crisis if she continues to work for the health service.

‘I felt the aspects of the code where you’re required to raise the alarm in an emergency, or if members of the public come to harm, were more important than my job,’ she says. ‘I can’t do that as a nurse, so I had to leave.’

She’s extremely sad to have left her patients and colleagues behind. But she has never regretted her protest at the Cenotaph. ‘Remembrance Day is very important for people, but surely those same people would never want more soldiers and civilians to die in future wars caused by the climate crisis?’ she says.

‘So, I don’t regret respectfully laying my wreath, because I was raising the alarm about a threat to us all that is more serious than any risk I was taking.’

8 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

LINE OF THE INSIDE STORY OF ARROGANT PRITI’S UGLY PLOT TO BULLY TOP COPS

In a plot twist worthy of cult cop drama Line of Duty, Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, was unmasked by climate protesters as the ruthless heavy who pressured top cops to swiftly crush a peaceful protest.

A hushed court room listened as the Extinction Rebellion activists and their lawyers linked Patel to a murky tale of government interference and mysterious vanishing police evidence during several days of dramatic interrogation.

‘It was astonishing. We went into court expecting to simply defend ourselves against accusations of blocking a road,’ says XR activist Caspar Hughes.

‘But, bit by bit, we were able to uncover evidence that appears to show that Priti Patel, one of the most senior politicians in the country, made calls to try to get our protest crushed as quickly as possible.

‘It raised a scary question: was her first priority to try to protect the business interests of her billionaire media tycoon pal?.’

Not just a Priti face.

Former events manager Hughes, 49, from Exeter, Did the home secretary was one of six Extinction Rebellion members demand the removal of appearing before District Judge Sally Fudge to deny XR protestors? charges of obstructing the highway. He was one of a group of 52 climate activists who allegedly The Extinction Rebellion blockaded press baron Rupert Murdoch’s protesters whose newspaper printing plant in Broxbourne, roadblock trial exposed Hertfordshire, in September last year.

Priti’s ugly plot The all-night road blockade, using iconic bamboo structures and trucks emblazoned with signs reading ‘Five Rich Crooks Own Our Media’, stopped the distribution of 3.5 million copies of The Sun, The Times, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, and made headlines around the world.

The court in St Albans heard the action – carried out to try to force Murdoch and fellow billionaire owners of UK national newspapers to tell the truth about the accelerating climate crisis – cost the printers £1 million.

But what should have been a straightforward court case about a climate protest quickly become an astonishing whodunnit. Revelation followed revelation about how far the home secretary – who, with Boris Johnson, the prime minister, was a guest at Rupert Murdoch’s wedding to former supermodel Jerry Hall in 2016 – was prepared to go to protect her media mates.

Read on as Not the Sun proudly presents Line of Snooty, the story behind the policing of the Broxbourne blockade…

Episode 1 The ‘hidden’ police chain of command Police Inspector Matthew Barton was one of the first witnesses to appear in court. The prosecution claimed that he had led the police operation to remove activists from the road at the printing plant that night. But this story quickly fell apart under questioning.

Barton was asked by Judge Fudge who had been in charge that night. He replied: ‘I don’t know.’

‘It was an eye opener,’ says Hughes. ‘Our next question was, “Who was in charge?” We soon found out there was a hidden chain of command above Barton, headed up by “Silver commander” Superintendent Edward Wells and “Gold commander” Assistant Chief Constable Owen Weatherall.’

Episode 2 Gold Log Revelations “Silver commander” Superintendent Wells went into the witness box, and the XR team quickly discovered that top cops in Hertfordshire had come under intense pressure from some of the most powerful politicians in the country to smash their protest fast.

Questioned by defence lawyer Raj Chada, Wells admitted that Home Secretary Priti Patel had been ‘in communications’ with Charlie Hall, his chief constable (opposite), at 11.40pm, less than 90 minutes after the XR protest began – and that these communications had been recorded in the Gold commander’s log.

In sections of the Gold log read out in court, it was noted that both prime minister Boris Johnson and Priti Patel were ‘taking an interest’ in the blockade – and that Patel had called the chief constable to demand that he ‘expedite’ the removal of protesters.

‘One of the most amazing discoveries from the log was that Patel called the chief constable to tell him about the protest before he’d heard about from his own officers,’ says Hughes.

‘The question is: who called the Home Secretary to tell her about the protest? Did Rupert Murdoch get one of our top politicians out of bed at midnight to demand that she ‘sort out’ our protest fast to ensure that his newspapers, and those of his fellow billionaire press barons, reached the shops that night?’

Notes in the Gold log revealed that Priti Patel made ‘numerous calls’ to the chief constable throughout the night, demanding updates and wanting to know why it was taking so long to remove protesters locked and glued inside an intricate system of concrete tubes.

In the end, her efforts were in vain. The road to Murdoch’s plant remained blocked until 11am the next morning when the few remaining activists surrendered to the police. No newspapers left the printing complex.

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

SNOOTY

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 9

‘Notes revealed that Priti Patel made ‘numerous calls’ to the chief constable throughout the night’

Photographs by Shutterstock

Episode 3 The disappearing text messages In a written statement, “Gold commander” Weatherall denied he had changed the way he dealt with the XR protest as a result of Priti’s pressure.

But Superintendent Wells admitted in court that her demands would have been ‘in the mix’ as the police operation was planned.

‘We were concerned,’ said Hughes. ‘The police are supposed to be independent, not acting under orders from the Home Secretary. We had to begin asking ourselves whether our arrests had been a miscarriage of justice because of interference by Priti Patel.’

Those concerns deepened when defence lawyer Mr Chada asked to see a series of text messages between Patel and two ‘very senior police officers’ involved in the operation that night. ‘We were told that all the messages had been accidentally deleted on both officers’ phones by separate ‘IT glitches’,’ said Hughes. ‘That raised some eyebrows.’

Defence lawyer Raj Chada went public with his concerns in court: ‘The defence is concerned about what matters were taken into account in the decision to remove the demonstrators, the extent of political interference, and what contact was made.

‘The chief constable was heavily involved in receiving calls from the Home Secretary. The next morning, the home secretary asked why it had taken so long to be resolved. We are concerned about the extent of contact – does it amount to abuse of process?’

Right: Charlie Hall, chief constable of Hertfordshire

Episode 4 Crown Court Cliffhanger There was one more twist in the tale.

The entire case was suddenly adjourned to await a decision by the Supreme Court. The country’s highest court overturned the convictions of four protestors who locked themselves together to block a road outside an arms fair in 2017. A judge ruled they had been exercising their rights to free speech and assembly, and had a lawful excuse.

Judge Fudge took several weeks to consider an application by the XR defendants that their case should be dismissed in the light of the Supreme Court ruling. ‘Our hopes were high,’ says Caspar.

But on 16 July, Judge Fudge convicted all six XR activists of obstructing the highway. She ruled that while their protest had been peaceful, it had caused newspapers to lose an estimated £1million.

Each of the defendants was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and fined £177.

Outside the court, Caspar said: ‘We lost this battle, but our war to force Murdoch and the other billionaire press barons to tell the truth about the climate crisis will go on.’ The activists have 21 days to consider whether to appeal against their convictions.

XR protestors at Murdoch’s Broxbourne site

The suspicious web of influence linking press barons to top politicians Press baron Rupert Murdoch and top executives and editors on his newspapers The Sun and The Times have met with Boris Johnson and ministers including Michael Gove and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, 40 times since 24 July, 2019.

Cabinet Office and Treasury transparency documents reveal that Lord Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail group, and his editors have met the prime minister and top ministers 16 times over the same period.

10 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

Sun SAYS NOT THE

‘It’s time for the tabloids to tell the truth’ ‘The three old billionaires who own our most popular papers use them to meddle in politics and the economy’

and the economy to keep things the way they are. That’s what ensures their bloated bank balances continue to swell.

These rich press barons don’t point the finger of blame for our problems at corrupt and incompetent politicians and business leaders. Instead, they fill page after page with celebrity froth and tall tales about immigrants, single mums, and the unemployed and poor being to blame for our woes.

So, a small group of us, working for free on a shoestring budget from our kitchen tables as we juggled childcare

and full-time jobs, decided to create Not The Sun. We wanted to show professional journalists working in the billionaire press that it’s possible to make a tabloid that offers a vision of a better, fairer, kinder, safer world – and which still has a sense of humour.

Instead of punching down at the powerless and voiceless, we wanted punch up at powerful people who are literally refusing to save the planet because they think – quite wrongly – that their vast fortunes will protect them

from a climate that is collapsing fast.

It’s not going to be easy to free the press from the ruthless grip of their current owners. But all of us, journalists and readers, have to try, and try together.

Because we need the tabloids to be truth-telling champions that give us strength and make us laugh in the tough years ahead – not influence-peddling lapdogs for three rich men who already have more money and power than they know what to do with.

Oh, and before you go: heard the one about the three press barons who walked into a bar – and laughed in all our faces?

It’s time for you, our reader, to join the fight for a free press. Tell your favourite paper that you’re sick of their climate lies, and finally wipe the smug grins off their Fat Cat owners’ faces…

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

You might read Not The Sun and think it’s a mickey-take, dreamed up to have a pop at the papers you buy every day.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

This whole newspaper is a love letter to the tabloids. To the laugh-out-loud headlines, to the genius ability to tell a big story in a tiny number of words, to the tongue-in-cheek humour and sense of fun that connects with millions of readers.

But it’s also a desperate plea from the bottom of our hearts to all the journalists on your favourite newspapers – to start using their talent to tell their readers the truth about the climate crisis that threatens us all.

It sounds impossible. The three old billionaires who own our most popular papers use them to meddle in politics

MIC WRIGHT’S

RIGHT TO REPLY TACKLING THE TABLOIDS ONE DAY AT A TIME

RED TOPS: SAD SPECIES SET FOR EXTINCTION

‘A crumbling NHS and the climate catastrophe matter more to a new generation of readers.’ whose reign of (t)error lasted 13 years (from 1981 to 1994), hilariously claimed The Sun had gone ‘woke’.

But the rancid old rag isn’t going broke because it’s going woke.

No, The Sun is finally setting because it refuses to wake up from its 80s Thatcherite fantasyland. Rubbish

wages, zero hour jobs, a crumbling NHS, and climate catastrophe matter more to a new generation of readers than Z-list celebs and Royal bulls**t.

Once Murdoch is gone, The Sun will follow swiftly, forced into the footnotes of history like The News of the World.

LEVESON 2: NOT FAST OR CURIOUS After the first investigation

by Lord Leveson into the Great Tabloid Phone Hacking Scandal, there was supposed to be a second inquiry into possible dodgy dealings between the press and public officials. Most notably, the police.

In 2018, Leveson Part 2 was bundled into the deep freeze by trusty Matt Hancock, when he was an incompetent and cronyism-boosting Culture Secretary rather than an incompetent and cronyismboosting Health Secretary.

Last month, the independent panel into the murder of private eye Daniel Morgan in 1987 shone a spotlight on allegations of corruption and criminality that implicate some of Britain’s biggest newspapers.

The need for Leveson 2 is more urgent than ever.

But the powers-that-be won’t let that happen without lots of protests, activism and agitation. Years of pressure from Daniel Morgan’s family has let a ray of light into a media can of worms.

Let’s keep fighting for the shadowy deals between the press and police to be subjected to sunlight. The convenient silence has gone on far too long.

A STICK TO BEAT THE BEEB WITH Photograph: Alamy

The traditional tabloid is a dying creature; an animal from another era barrelling towards oblivion. Its lifespan is limited by the dwindling audience and a habitat that’s no longer so hospitable to these parasites of the press. The Sun will die when Rupert Murdoch does.

He brought the current version of the Currant Bun into being when he drowned the old broadsheet paper in the bath back in 1969. He was literally hands-on in forming what The Sun would be and remains — a snarling extension of his own fevered ego.

After a punishing pandemic for print revenues and huge legal settlements as a result of the phone hacking scandal, News UK announced in its most recent accounting last month that The Sun’s value is currently… zero But while it’s now possible to truthfully say the tabloid is not worth the paper it’s printed on, The Sun was never really about profit, even in its pomp. The Sun was and is about power and influence; a means for Murdoch to exert pressure on British politics.

The Times (the more respectable face of Murdoch’s influence peddling) was propped up by profits from The Sun for decades. Now, thanks to a paywall that largely works, it’s playing a major role in keeping its Red Top sibling afloat.

Its worldview, though filtered through a more upmarket vocabulary, is no less reactionary than the tabloids.

It carries just as many Culture War stories with an enthusiastic commitment to the hounding of trans people.

No longer ‘the paper of record’ whatever it may claim, The Times will still survive longer than The Sun by plugging posh lifestyle and cookery tips, and waffling on about mindfulness.

The Sun can neither be as unhinged as it was back in its gruesome glory days in the 80s and 90s, nor as irreverent as the new-style Daily Star, which distracts from its awful inside stories with often laugh-out-loud satirical front pages. Ex-Sun editor Kelvin ‘Completely Irrelevant’ MacKenzie,

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 11

GB News, brainchild of the gammon godfather Andrew Neil and a motley selection of culture warriors and hedge funders, continues to be the televisual equivalent of a trolley full of rubbish thrown down some concrete steps.

But with government ministers appearing on it and defending it in the right-wing press, it’s already serving its purpose. It’s

not about being polished, ‘breaking news’ or even entertainment. It’s a bunch of cowboy builders remodelling our overwhelmingly right-wing media to be even more right wing.

As long as it exists, it’ll be a stick to beat the BBC with, and an excuse for Beeb Director General (and former Tory council candidate) Tim Davie to back ever more right-wing news content.

12 July 2021 NOT THE SUN*

Sun TRAVEL ‘We let the ferry & train take the holiday strain’ NOT T H E

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

SPAIN WITH NO PLANE: COSTA DORADA

Antonia Windsor, Shyne Phiri and their kids, Zayla, nine, Ziggy, seven, and Zenya, five, told Not the Sun travel writer why they prefer the train to the plane for their holiday trips.

in London and drive down to Poole to get Condor Ferries across to Jersey.

I feel if I never holidayed anywhere else in the kids’ childhood, it’d be OK, because Jersey has so much to offer.

This half-term, we showed the kids a beach I hadn’t been to for 20

years. We are still finding new places to make us all happy.

We love the Jersey Heritage sites, which include two castles (one you have to travel across the sea to get to), the oldest Neolithic passage grave in Europe, a country life museum, a maritime museum and a Victorian House. aMaizin! Adventure Park ( jerseyleisure.com) has a bouncy jumping pillow, tractor rides, a maize maze, indoor soft play and lots of outdoor play areas.

We always spend a day there.

Then there’s Valley Adventure Centre (valleyadventure.je) for aerial challenges, mini golf, all the water-sports you can think of, and mile after mile of beaches of all flavours, from pebbly harbours to great sandy sweeps.

Our favourite place to stay is Durrell Wildlife Camp, where you can sleep in safari tents surrounded by lemurs and get free entrance to Jersey Zoo (durrell.org). For a really cheap option, they also have a hostel.

BOOK IT: Condor Breaks offers a seven-day stay in Jersey for a family of four in August from £2,066 including ferry and accommodation. condorferries.co.uk/holidays-breaks Condor Ferries offers a car and family of four return crossing from £516 this summer. condorferries.co.uk Durrell Wildlife Camp costs from £480 for a three-night stay in a pod sleeping 2 adults and 2 children, durrell.org/wildlife/visit/hospitality/camp

Brits abroad are going back to a more relaxed and adventurous travel era, when getting there was all part of the fun, going over land and sea to their favourite sun spots.

As Mark Smith, rail travel guru The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com), says: ‘You’re not just doing the planet a favour, you’re doing yourself one, as travel is much more fun at “see-level”.’

Smith recommends one of his favourite rail trips to the Costa Dorada in Spain. A morning Eurostar from London to the Gare De Lyon in Paris takes just two hours 20 minutes.

“Why rush?’ says Smith. ‘Enjoy lunch at Train Bleu (le-train-bleu.com) in the Gare de Lyon, watching out for their rum-soaked rum baba. Then hop on the TGV, arriving in the evening into Girona or Barcelona. You’ll speed along the Rhone Valley, see Béziers Cathedral and pass flamingos feeding on the lakes, before rounding the Pyrenees with great views of Mount Canigou.’

Enjoy a few nights in the city then head to Salou for fast-paced fun. The train takes under 90 mins and costs less than £8. Close by is PortAventura World (portaventuraworld.com) for maximum theme park thrills.

Photograph: Shutterstock

We’re not a no-fly family. But we are low-income, so we often take our holidays at home these days.

And as a travel writer, I am very aware of our carbon footprint, so more and more, we choose a lower-carbon route.

To be honest, there’s also a real pleasure in travelling by train, particularly with kids. You’re not strapped into a cramped seat for hours, you can wander around, take a trip to the dining car, look out at the scenery, switch seats...

When we first had our oldest, Zayla, we got the Eurostar from London to Paris, stopped off at a friend’s in Bordeaux, then made our way to another friend in Madrid – all by train.

When Ziggy was born, we took the two of them, at the age of one and two, for a three-month tour of Italy and didn’t drive once. We did 10 cities by train, including the overnight train from Naples to Palermo.

It was often a physical challenge for my husband, Shyne. He’s a disabled dance artist who was a professional dancer before he was injured in a car accident. But he loved it because, as a Zimbabwean, he hadn’t travelled much in Europe, and he got to see the whole region ambling past.

Now we have a third child, Zenya, and those grand trips are too expensive. Instead, every year, sometimes twice, we pack up the car

BOOK IT: London to Paris starts at £78 return. Paris to Barcelona costs £39 each way. Buy tickets at thetrainline.com or raileurope.com Full details at seat61.com/Spain

FOUR GREAT HOLIDAYS BY LAND AND SEA THE CAIRNGORMS, SCOTLAND

Jump on the 21.15 Caledonian Sleeper overnight train at London Euston and arrive at 07.39 in Aviemore. Head for Glenmore Campsite in the Cairngorms National Park for mountain views, forest walks and the beaches of beautiful Loch Morlich.

BOOK IT: The Caledonian Sleeper

from London Euston to Inverness costs from £45 per person return, sleeper. scot. Pitches from £18.05 per night for two adults, campingintheforest.co.uk

AIX-EN-PROVENCE

The glam South of France is only a day away by train and car. A Eurostar from St Pancras whisks you to Marseilles. A 30-minute drive puts you in Aix, with its beautiful markets, restaurants and art. Go in August for Musique dans la rue – eight days of free concerts.

BOOK IT: St Pancras to Marseilles

from £267 per person return, eurostar. com/uk-en/holidays/aix-enprovence. Stay at Boutique Hotel Cezanne from £98 per double per night, boutiquehotelcezanne.com

THE ISLES OF SCILLY

FRENCH LAKES ROAD TRIP

BOOK IT: Great Western London to Penzance Night Riviera Sleeper costs from £124 per person return, gwr.com.

Scillonian III costs from £58.95 one-way, islesofscilly-travel.co.uk/scillonian-iii Star Castle costs from £153 per double room per night, star-castle.co.uk

BOOK IT: Eurostar from London to Lyon

A scenic overnight sleeper train ride from London Paddington to Penzance, and a three-hour sail on the Scillonian III ferry gets you to this archipelago 28 miles off the Cornish coast, with white beaches that look like the Maldives.

Avoid the overcrowded Med and enjoy a 10-day motorhome road trip around the Alpine lakes of France’s Savoie for sublime mountain views and crystalclear lakes with quiet beaches, great food, wild swimming and watersports.

costs from £182 per person, changing in Paris, eurostar.com. A four-berth motorhome for seven nights including breakdown cover, one insured driver and 200km a day costs from £600. Pitches for £30 to £40 per night, yescapa.co.uk

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 13

MOTOR-FREE MOTORING

‘MY KIDS WENT CARG0 CRA ZY’

By NORA TROUT

‘I had one wobble as I started pedalling and waited for the electric motor to kick in. After that, it was pure bliss to ride. I felt like I’d always had one.

‘You could tell you were riding a luxury model. The turbo auto assist sends you flying up even the steepest hills with no effort, and the eco setting is amazing on the flat. The design is sleek and the gel seat is lush.

‘It was a delight to change gear and super smooth to manoeuvre, and the suspension was blissful, even on grass.

My only moans would be that you can’t take corners sharply, you have to get used to doing a three-point turn for changing directions and it’s too heavy to wrestle onto the pavement without a dropped kerb nearby.

‘But we loved it. We stuck to quiet roads, parks and cycle paths, and I didn’t worry about the boys because I could see them in front of me. I’ve never seen them so quiet – they even stopped bickering.

‘They were mesmerised, and people were smiling and waving at them all the way. Other kids wanted to be taken for a ride. Even when it started raining, my boys didn’t want to get out. They would have slept in it if I’d let them!

‘There’s plenty of storage space for all the stuff you need for a family day out, or for a trip to the shops, and it was easy to adjust the seat and riding position for my 6ft 2in husband.

‘At £6,000, it’s not cheap. But I’d rather pay that sort of money for the cargo bike than a car because there’s no tax, MOT or insurance, you don’t spend hours stuck in traffic and there are no parking headaches.’

MOTOR-FREE MOTORING RATING: 8 OUT OF 10* ON-THE-ROAD PRICE: FROM £5,929

Cargo bikes are becoming all the rage around town for speeding up the school run and removing parking headaches from a trip to the local shops. Motor-Free Motoring asked fitness coach and mum of three Hester Campbell, from Deptford, London, to test ride the Rolls-Royce of the cargo bike world, the Riese & Müller Load 60 – and tell us whether it’s worth the hefty price tag.

*as a transport option for suburban or urban family life

ED E N U O Y T WHA TO KNOW

8/10

RIESE & MÜLLER LOAD 60 Motor Battery Display Brakes Gears Tyres

Bosch Cargo Line Cruise (Gen 4) Bosch PowerPack 500Wh Bosch SmartphoneHub Tektro TRP C 2.3 disc brake Enviolo 380 R&M Custom Schwalbe Big Ben Plus Reflex

Technical Data Size One size Weight 36.5kg Length 248cm Width 58cm Height 86cm

Permitted total weight 200kg Max payload (rider/equipment) 100kg

TOP TIP OF THE MONTH Got a battered old bike rusting in the shed? A nifty new conversion gizmo from UK start-up Swytch can give it a makeover as an e-bike capable of speeds of up to 15mph ● It takes about 90 minutes to fit a new front wheel with a motor that will give you extra oomph every time you pedal, removing sweat and effort from local trips. A sensor panel on your handlebars gives you five levels of assist to help handle everything from flat roads to steep hills.

● It has a maximum range of 30 miles between recharges, making the commute to work a doddle, and only adds an extra 3kg to the weight of your bike. The standard price is £999, but every two months the company offers a pre-order window during which you get a 50% discount.

That’s boneshaker to electric super-bike for just £500!

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

For Hester, 41 and her two youngest sons, Drake, 5, and Marlowe, 2, it was love at first ride…

14 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

BEING A PILOT WAS TODD SMITH’S DREAM JOB

‘Your plane to Spain should really be , a train EX-HOLIDAY PILOT WARNS YOUR FLIGHT TO THE SUN IS COSTA-ING THE EARTH

An airline pilot who quit his £75,000-a-year dream job to save

the planet has urged holidaymakers to ditch flying and take the train instead.

Todd Smith, 32, was inspired by the Red Arrows to train as a pilot and got his dream job flying jets for now defunct holiday firm Thomas Cook.

He left after he realised the devastating impact of the industry on global heating – and discovered the lies being told by airlines to convince people to carry on flying.

Todd, from Upminster, East London, says: ‘I’m from a working-class background. My dad told me I should get a job I enjoyed. He used to take me to the Southend Air Show. I was inspired by the Red Arrows so, from the age of five, I set my heart on becoming a pilot.

‘It was an extremely difficult job to get into. My mum and dad had to remortgage their house and my gran helped me to pay for the aircraft flight training. It cost £130,000.

‘In 2008, the industry had been decimated by the recession. But eventually, I got my break into airlines and got a job with Thomas Cook, and I spent a couple of years with them.

‘It was what I had dreamed of.’

Todd left the role temporarily when he failed a medical after catching the bacterial infection Lyme disease from a tick bite.

He decided never to return after realising during his sick leave that the job he loved was having a deadly impact on the planet.

‘It was a total wake-up call for me,’ he recalls. ‘During my time off, I used my staff travel benefits and I saw the effect of airline travel on the places I visited.

‘I went to the Rainbow Mountains in Peru. It’s a region that has only been discovered because the snow has melted. It was beautiful – but so frightening to see the damage being done.’

At the same time, he was inspired by the thousands of people taking part in protests by Extinction Rebellion.

He adds: ‘I felt compelled to understand why ordinary people from all walks of life were taking to the streets. I made it my mission to understand the science. I felt conflicted.

‘Clearly, I was never told about the impact of aviation on the planet during my flight training. But it became more apparent that my industry was playing a significant part in the climate crisis.

‘I felt I had to make a choice.

‘I had thought I was going to stay in the industry but then Covid

July 2021 NOT THE SUN* 15

– UNTIL HE DISCOVERED IT WAS A NIGHTMARE FOR THE PLANET 1% of people create In the UK 15% of people create 70% of the demand

THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY IS TELLING US BIG GREEN LIES ‘Aircraft are getting more efficient.’

Yes, but as air traffic doubles every 15 years, overall emissions continue to increase exponentially.

‘Aviation only contributes 2% of global emissions.’

It’s more like 6% when considering non-CO2 effects and it is likely to be 25% by 2050 at current rates of increase

‘We can use “sustainable aviation fuel”.’

‘Government should be, taxing frequent flyers

‘We can use electric aircraft.’

There are no green alternatives to airline travel.

Electric aircraft would be able to cover in 10 or 15 years only about 5% of the routes because of their very short range. They would also require vast amounts of energy.

The Over 80 per cent of people around the world have never stepped on an aircraft, and more than half of the UK population don’t fly at all.

The industry wants to keep growing. In 2019, we flew 4 billion passengers; by 2037, they want to fly 8 billion.

There are 21 airport expansions planned in the UK. This makes a mockery of the Government’s own commitments to stop global temperatures rising to levels that will threaten our entire way of life.

Unless we stop flying, airline emissions could help drive up global temperatures by 4oC by 2050. According to The Institute for Economics and Peace, our favourite holiday destinations in Spain would be deserts, much of Africa uninhabitable, and 1.2 billion climate refugees would be looking for somewhere else to live.

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

happened and that was the final straw. It made me realise our human vulnerability, and I decided never to go back.’

Todd became a voluntary NHS rapid responder during the pandemic, delivering medication and supplies in his hometown. He now hopes to retrain as a wind turbine engineer or similar, and is still paying back his parents the £100,000 for his training.

Todd has also started a group for other eco-conscious airline workers and believes the Government should be supporting people in carbon-heavy industries to switch to greener jobs.

Despite what the airline industry says, there is no such thing as green airline travel, he insists.

Government should be taxing frequent flyers and airline fuel, subsidising rail travel, and giving people extra days off work so they can afford to take the train, coach or drive when they go on holiday.

‘We think it’s our God-given right to jump on a plane and go to a beach, but 80 per cent of the people on this planet have never set foot on an aircraft,’ Todd points out.

‘The industry is planning a return to pre-Covid growth, despite the science telling us this isn’t sustainable. There are no technological advances which make this possible.

‘I would only fly now if it was absolutely essential – like if I was emigrating to Australia, which I have no plans to do.’

This year, he plans to head off to Croatia and Scotland on the train for his holidays.

He added that he had hoped to have kids but was thinking twice about that too, due to the likely impact of global heating.

‘I would like to have kids at some point but it’s a daunting prospect given that our Government’s own advisors have warned them to prepare for a four-degree-warmer world,’ he says.

‘That’s a world in which millions or billions of people will lose their lives.’

This term was coined by Shell Aviation and predominantly consists of growing biofuels instead of the wheat we rely upon for food. The choice is food or fuel.

16 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

KEEP THE KIDS HAPPY AND CUT THE £££S (AND THE POUNDS) WITH OUR DELICIOUS MEAT-FREE RECIPES

DINNERS WITH

PLANT-ITUDE! Meat and two veg used to be the traditional British dinner. And veggie alternatives were about as appealing as a bucket of soggy cabbage.

But with food prices soaring and millions of us heading out into the sunshine to fire up the BBQ, Not The always tired?’ u yo ’t n re ‘A Sun’s food guru has Tell that to these elite given two traditional summer back(and vegan) athletes… garden favourites Winner of 20 tennis grand a plant-based slams Novak Djokovic makeover.

Champion cyclist Lizzie Deignan Seven-times tennis grand slam winner Venus Williams (oh, and Serena, too) American footballer Colin Kaepernick.

The planet is heating up.

Meat has 10 to 50 times more impact on the climate crisis than

d e s a b t #plan foods

Go vegan for a year and you could skip using…

Almost 1,530,000 litres of water, almost 7,500kg of grain, over 3,300sqm of forest, almost

Plus, 365 animals don’t get eaten – by you!

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 17

Photographs by Shutterstock. Recipe from bbcgoodfood.com

Serves 4 Allow the tofu to soak up the delicious flavours of the marinade before placing on the coals. You’ll never feel left out of a summer barbecue again.

Ingredients

leftover marinade. Chill for at least 1 hr.

4 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp soft brown sugar Pinch ground ginger 2 tbsp mirin 3 tsp sesame oil 350g block very firm tofu, cut into thick slices ½ tbsp rapeseed oil 2 courgettes, sliced horizontally into strips 200g Tenderstem broccoli 1 tomato, sliced, to serve Sesame seeds, to serve

Method Mix the soy sauce, soft brown sugar, ginger and mirin with 1 tsp sesame oil and brush it all over the slices of tofu. Put them in a large, shallow dish and pour over any

Heat the barbecue until the coals are glowing white, or heat a griddle pan. Mix the remaining sesame oil with the rapeseed oil and brush the courgette slices and broccoli.

Barbecue (or griddle) them over the coals for 7-10 mins or until they are tender and then set aside and keep warm.

Barbecue the tofu slices on both sides for 5 mins (or use the griddle) until they turn brown and go crisp at the edges. Serve the tofu on a bed of the veg with the remaining marinade and Meat-free tomato slices, and meals will cut your scatter over the grocery bills. Meals containing meat or fish cost sesame seeds. about £1.77 per person, but plant-based meals cost 71p less – a saving of £1.06 for each member of your family!

Black Bean Burger Serves 4 Layer hearty vegan burgers with avocado, and serve with a fresh carrot and cucumber salad. We’ve made our own burgers this time, but there are plenty of vegan versions to choose from at the supermarket if you’re in a hurry

Ingredients

Method

For the burger

Put the wholemeal bread and walnuts in a food processor and pulse to make fine crumbs.

75g wholemeal bread 75g walnuts 400g sweet potato 400g can black beans, drained 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp onion granules 1 tbsp tomato puree 2 tbsp rapeseed oil, to fry

For the salad ½ cucumber, halved, deseeded and sliced on an angle 2 large carrots (about 300g) peeled into ribbons Small bunch coriander, chopped 2 tbsp lime juice 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

To serve 4 white scotch rolls 50g rocket 2 large tomatoes, thickly sliced 1 avocado, peeled, stoned and sliced 1 red onion, thinly sliced Vegan mayo

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and microwave for 5-10 mins until soft. Cut in half and scrape the cooked centres into the food processor with the bread and walnut crumbs. Make sure the beans are drained thoroughly then add them to the processor with the paprika, cumin, onion granules and tomato puree.

Season generously and pulse until the mixture is mostly smooth and holding together. Divide the mix into 4 patties and chill for 20 mins to firm up.

Meanwhile make the side salad by mixing the cucumber, carrot, coriander, lime juice and rapeseed oil together. Season and put to one side.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.

Add the patties and fry for 4-5 mins on each side until golden and hot through.

Place a small handful of rocket into each burger bun. Top with the tomato slices, burgers, avocado and red onion. Add a dollop of vegan mayo or burger sauce of your choice. Serve with the carrot and cucumber salad alongside.

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

Vegan Teriyaki Tofu

18 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

R O F G DI !

Y R O VICT

Sun ENING NOT TH E

*

GARD

WILD GARDENING: OUR SECRET WEAPON TO FIGHT THE CLIMATE CRISIS

Gardens used to be all about neat lawns and flowering borders. But our little patches of green could hold the key to restoring nature and fighting the climate emergency – while looking beautiful and feeding our families too.

Not The Sun Gardening talked to mum-of-five Sian Thomas, 40, about how she transformed her 25ft suburban garden from a patch of bare lawn into a lush nature wonderland and a mini-farm for her family, all on a shoestring budget. By Nora Trout

Surrounded by birdsong and with chickens clucking amongst wildflowers and berry bushes, you could be in

There are 23 million gardens in the UK, about 87% of households have one, and they cover 4,330km2 – that’s a fifth of the size of Wales

of bird cages for small plants. We grow potatoes in rubbish bins filled with compost that we make from the wilds of the countryside. But this patch of paradise kitchen waste. is artist Sian Thomas’s back garden on a housing estate ‘The only thing that cost anything was the metal in Kent. raised beds to create areas to grow our vegetables.’

‘It cost me less than £200 to turn a scrubby old Soon the family had a little pond, a wildflower lawn into this,’ she beams proudly. ‘And I’ve hardly had meadow, vegetable beds and a medicinal herb garden, to buy fruit for my family for three years.’ and huge amounts of fresh vegetables and fruit such as Her miracle transformation was raspberries, gooseberries and blackberries. a combination of the modern ‘I grow my own fruit and veg completely The little gardening techniques of permaculture organically. I use companion planting. I garden and the Mend-and-Make-Do of our don’t use pesticides or herbicides. I don’t has become wartime grandparents. weed. Everything is allowed to grow a haven for ‘When we moved in November 2018, naturally,’ says Sian. the whole there was nothing here apart from ‘I use mulch made from old cardboard family brambles and grass that had been churned packaging to keep down weeds and we up by the owner’s dogs. There wasn’t a single bought some chickens to turn over the soil. plant,’ says Sian.

They scratch for worms and bugs, getting rid of pests But that quickly changed as she set to work on the in the process.’ garden of her three-bed semi with her partner, Simon, The little garden has become a haven for the and five kids, Charlie, 23, Ollie, 18, 15-year-old twins whole family.

Penny and Rosie, and three-year-old Hattie.

‘I’m out here every day. I love that I step out my back ‘We didn’t have much money, so we grew things door and the plants are right there,’ smiles Sian. ‘It’s with whatever came to hand,’ she says. great for Hattie too. She helps me with the chickens ‘The glass from old fridges on top of plastic toy and is forever eating fresh strawberries.’ boxes or old pet litter trays to grow seeds at the bottom With amazement, the Thomas clan have watched

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 19

Gardens contribute 50% of our urban green space and contain nearly 30 million trees

barren earth transform into a a wildlife zone.

Sian explains: ‘We have bees, other insects, birds like bullfinches and goldfinches, and there are small mammals like field mice scurrying about. We have dragonflies visiting the pond, which now has its own frog population too. It’s a thriving ecosystem.

‘When that’s in place, you don’t need to worry about pests because the predators naturally come and keep the populations down. All we do is collect the slugs and snails in a pot sometimes and relocate them to the woods.’

Sian has been so inspired by her back garden transformation that she now plans to start a community garden on some nearby waste ground.

‘I’m going to go door to door and see who would like to get involved. This will hopefully be a nice way to get to know them a bit,’ she adds.

‘There’s so much bad news on TV and it can play havoc with your mental health. This is something that I can do that has a positive impact on me, my children and the community.’

Gardening in a wild way does mean looking at beauty in a different way, Sian admits.

‘If you’re used to a manicured lawn and neat rows of flowers, my garden might look a bit of a mess,’ she laughs.

‘But letting nature do its own thing in your back garden is like doing your own little bit to help our battered world repair itself.

‘Imagine how much difference it would make if millions of us did the same thing!’

Green gardening expert Graham Burnett, an authority on the permaculture approach that works with nature instead of against it, says that wild gardening doesn’t have to be a chore or expensive.

BOX OUT: WHY WILDING YOUR GARDEN MATTERS There are 23 million gardens in the UK, about 87% of households have one, and they cover 4,330 square km - a fifth of the size of Wales.

In England, gardens take up 4.5 times more space than National Nature Reserves.

‘Start on your own kitchen window sill growing salads, then spread out into the garden bit by bit,’ he advises. ‘There are lots of health benefits with very little work. That’s something everyone can do, even if they haven’t got a garden or a balcony.’

‘You don’t need to buy lots of expensive kit. Old tyres can become plant pots, and wooden pallets left on the street can make garden beds or compost heaps. A plastic washing tub can become a pond. We use 30kg beer kegs from a local brewery to grow things in!’

‘Take little steps; a fruit tree here, a vegetable bed there. Soon you’ll discover that plants you can eat, like Swiss Chard, look beautiful too. And you get that great feeling of bringing back nature and restoring habitats.’

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

How to make your garden go wild

20 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

Sunny’s Solutions

you tackle the big and the The only agony aunt who helps ues of our challenging times iss al nt me d an al on oti em ay yd ever

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

Every meal is a steak through my heart

Is having a child too irresponsible?

I’ve met this really hot girl and I’m falling for her in a big way. But we’ve got a major problem.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a teenager and she’s a massive carnivore. Every time we go out to eat, she orders a huge hunk of meat. With every mouthful, I fancy her a little bit less.

Ian, from Sheffield I’m usually a big believer in honest discussions in all relationships. But I’m going to recommend being sneaky in this case. Take her to one of those posh burger places where they serve no-meat burgers that taste better than the real thing. Don’t tell her you ordered her the veggie version until after she’s eaten it. You’ll both have a laugh and the is-it-orisn’t-it meat dish challenge can become your special date-night bonding experience.

My husband really wants kids, but I worry that bringing a little one into the world when we’re facing a climate emergency is irresponsible for the child, and bad for the planet. We argue about it all the time, and I’m worried we’ll split up over it.

Sarah, from Leicester This is such a tough dilemma. We’re all worried about what an increasingly uncertain future will hold for our loved ones, especially for any children we may choose to have.

But perhaps the compromise to save your relationship is to agree to live a very lowimpact lifestyle with your baby – and begin campaigning to make the future climate safe for everyone’s child?

Photographs: istock

He says I’m second-hand news

My eco-conscious daughter got arrested My 18 year old was arrested recently for blocking a road during a climate protest. I respect her passion, but I’m terrified that she is going to get a criminal record and ruin her career prospects.

Should I ban her from future protests?

Paul, from Bristol As a parent, I share your concerns. But at 18, she is free to make her own choices. Many of your daughter’s generation fear that there won’t be a future in which to have a career unless they take actions that look scary and mad to older people like us. Talk to her honestly about your fears and listen openly to hers. It will build a loving and supportive bond between you that will get you both through whatever the future holds.

My partner has started to mock my clothes in public. I’ve always bought from vintage and charity shops, because I think new stuff is bad for the environment. But he’s started saying I’m scruffy and frumpy, and it’s wrecking my confidence.

Should I change my shopping habits?

Belinda, from Cardiff No way! Your clothes say a lot about who you are and what you believe, and he knew that when he met you. Besides “pre-loved” clothes are the fashion hit of the moment. Sounds to me as if he’s the one who’s changed. Perhaps your “good” buying has started to make him feel resentful and guilty about his own buying habits. It’s time to ask him why…

How do I stop the plastic tidal wave?

My son’s 7th birthday is coming up, and I’m dreading it. His lovely grandparents will give him masses of plastic toys, going against everything I believe in. I want to ask them not to, but I don’t want to hurt their feelings. What should I do?

Charlie, from Dundee Biting your tongue is clearly not an option here.

You seem close to your mum and dad. They will sense your frustration and unhappiness at their present-buying choices, and will probably be upset and confused. Take pre-emptive action – invite them round for a birthday planning tea and gently sketch out a wish list of sustainable pressies that your son, and you, will love.

My other half has turned into an England Boo Boy My husband and I have been together for 30 years and he’s a lovely, gentle bloke in most ways. But he kept booing every time the England players took the knee during the Euros. Now, I can’t bear him touching me.

Jane, from Southampton If he really is, as you say, lovely in every other way, I suspect your man has become a victim of Culture War-itis. It’s a nasty complaint that can easily be picked up by regularly reading billionaire-owned newspapers, or anything online by far-right keyboard warriors. I recommend a three-month Twitter and Facebook ban, a subscription to Not The Sun, and some conversations about what a hero Marcus Rashford is for helping to stop poor kids going to bed hungry.

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 21

Sun NOT TH E

By Miss Money Penny (Investment Analyst, CFA)

‘s

Angel Investor

Boosting your savings

and saving the planet

CTIVISM

CORNER * This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

Investing in oil is now a slippery slope to ruin Photograph Shutterstock

It used to be a simple choice for investors. Hold your nose and plough your money into fast-growing funds that supported fossil fuel businesses. Or have a clean conscience while putting your cash into less lucrative green and ethical investments.

Well, it looks like those days are over.

My mates at the Financial Times tell me that the smart money is fleeing oil, coal and gas, and diving into the growth industries of tomorrow: wind and solar.

The body blows have been falling thick and fast for the fossil fuel giants.

In early May, the International Energy Agency warned putting money into oil and gas was a ‘junk investment’. It said renewables must largely replace fossil fuels by 2030 to meet the Paris Climate Agreement promise to limit warming to 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels.

Fat Cat Facts

Bitcoin consumes more electricity each year than a medium-sized European country like Sweden or The Netherlands.

The City of London provides loans and investments for companies that emitted 805 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019; twice the annual net emissions of the rest of the UK. The average daily salary of a FTSE 100 CEO is £15,000.

Then, on May 20, US President Joe Biden’s stuffy-sounding Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk effectively told every government department to take a long, hard look at working with businesses who fail to take the climate crisis seriously.

‘Banks are failing us all by continuing to invest our pensions and savings in Big Oil, Gas and Coal’ And he warned banks are failing us all, by continuing to invest pensions and savings in Big Oil, Gas and Coal, whose assets could collapse at any time.

Take my inside word for it. There’s now no going back for the fossil fuel boys and girls. Activist hedge fund Engine No

1 has just pipped at least two seats on the board of ExxonMobil, vowing to force one of the top climate sceptic businesses to plough long-term investments into renewables.

Engine No 1 is no bleeding-heart charity. It aims to make serious dosh by turning the ExxonMobil oil tanker toward a sustainable future.

Founder Chris James says: ‘Our idea is going to have a positive impact on the share price.’

So, the big dogs of finance agree.

Suddenly, green investment is a win-win.

It’ll make top dollar far into the future and won’t mean sabotaging your kids’ futures to maximise your returns.

Angel Investor will be showing you how to ride the Green Tiger in the months and years to come. Here’s how to start Greening Up your finances...

Take a look at….

Get your cash out…

Their fixed-rate unsecured 5-year bonds have a forecast return of 5.5% – far better than the anaemic rates available from most savings accounts. And you’ll have the warm feeling of knowing your money is being invested in renewable energy projects, in this case, to develop a 4.8MW portfolio of commercial and industrial UK solar projects. Buy through ethical investment brokers Ethex (www. ethex.org.uk) The offer closes on July 29.

They use your money to fund coalmining, drilling for oil and other climate crookery. Just 35 banks have spent a huge £3 trillion on fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement of 2015.

It’s now quick and easy to switch to an ethical bank like Triodos or Co-op, who refuse to invest in projects that harm the planet.

Their rates on savings are no worse than any other high street bank, and better than some.

Visit www.positivemoney.org

Iguana Energy

C A SH A

Barclays and HSBC

Is it time for a Tax Strike?

Once a month, Angel Investor likes to give you a chance to get radical with your money.

This time: is it time for a Tax Strike?

The Government says it can’t find enough money from our taxes to give our NHS heroes the 15% pay rise they richly deserve after battling the pandemic.

But they are very relaxed about pouring our tax pounds into the pockets of the polluters.

The International Monetary Fund says that $10 million of government subsidies (that’s our tax money) goes to fossil fuel companies, globally, every minute of every day. That’s more than the total health spending of all the world’s governments.

At the same time, the superrich squirrel away their millions in off-shore tax havens, cheating the UK out of £200bn a year in taxes that could be spent on schools and hospitals, instead of super-yachts and mansions.

If that makes you as mad as it makes me, maybe you think it’s time to make our rotten politicians sit up and take note by hitting the government where it hurts. In their tax coffers.

It’s a tactic used to great effect by some of history’s big heroes: the Suffragettes and Gandhi.

So, take a peek at Extinction Rebellion’s Earth Tax Strike. It shows self-employed grafters how to withhold 3% of their income tax until the government agrees to stop funding big polluters and high-carbon projects, such as their £27bn road building and the massive bail-outs of the aviation industry.

And it sends a clear message to Westminster.

We won’t fund harm.

More info at Money Rebellion Extinction Rebellion UK

22 NOT THE SUN* July 2021

Sun ALL NOT THE

*

a e s l e Ch TO Chelsinki FOOTB

This is how Stamford Bridge will look in 2050

Looks as if Chelsea’s chequered history with expensive, poor-performing player transfers will soon be the least of

their troubles. A new report reveals that the London club’s famous stadium, which is just a 15-minute walk from the River Thames, will be underwater within a few decades.

The Blues racked up 67 points last season to grab a Champions League life-ring as their Premier League challenge fizzled out early doors. But it’s their fans who will be struggling to keep their heads above water by 2050.

By then, Stamford Bridge will find itself flooded out on a yearly basis, according to Rapid Transition Alliance’s analysis of football clubs who will be facing rising sea levels and extreme weather events. And the west London club won’t be alone.

Southampton’s St Mary’s and West Ham’s London Stadium will also be too waterlogged to play on for weeks if not months at a time, forcing regular postponements and cancellations of games.

Scientists have warned that tropical-style downpours caused by the worsening climate crisis will also ruin fixtures further down the football pyramid, with the likes of Hull and Cardiff City odds-on to be entirely underwater by the mid-point of the century.

Overall, 23 clubs in the English Football League or Premier League can expect partial or total annual flooding of their stadiums.

The predicted waterlogging will be fuelled by runaway climate change and soaring global temperatures, causing a destructive mix of rising sea levels as ice caps continue to melt, and powerful, deadly storms.

Already, some English clubs have borne the brunt of “once-in-a-generation” flooding that now regularly besieges parts of the UK. League Two battlers Carlisle United were forced out of Brunton Park for seven weeks in 2015 after Storm Desmond left the club’s pitch

Flooding caused by Storm Desmond forced League Two’s Carlisle United out of their ground in 2015

unusable and onsite offices 10ft underwater, pushing its insurance premium costs to nearruinous levels.

Lower leaguers Bromley Heath United FC are another team that was taken to the brink by unplayable pitches in the same year. The grassroots club clung to survival when it lost £15,000 after missing out on 12 weeks’ worth of gate, bar and food revenue.

Over the coming decades, more and more clubs with less financial clout but built on floodplains or close to the sea will be forced to battle it out with the elements rather than for league trophies. As well as facing losses stretching into the billions, the Premier League is scoring an own goal when it comes to accelerating global heating.

Once all the travel, shirt sales and other energy-intensive factors are totted up, the English game’s top flight spews out 200,000 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year, according to one estimate.

For international friendlies and tournaments, the total sits at 10 million tonnes – about the same amount as the whole of Bolivia.

Thankfully, some of world football’s big dogs have started to act as the threat of climate change jeopardises the game’s future.

UEFA has led the way on efforts to reduce

NOT THE SUN* July 2021 23

THE TEAMS GOING DOWN beneath the waves Norwich City Middlesbrough Millwall The Den

Newport County Chelsea

Stamford Bridge

West Ham United

Keepmoat Stadium

Southampton

Highbury Stadium

Blackpool

Blundell Park

Fleetwood Town

London Stadium

Grimsby Town

St Mary’s

* This newspaper is very definitely not The Sun

s

the impact of the game by committing to offsetting aviation emissions from Euro 2020 out of its own budget by investing in reforestation projects.

Longer term, the FA will invest £48million in hundreds of new all-weather and specially adapted turf pitches across the country, including new dedicated facilities in 30 cities, in addition to upgrading more than 200 existing pitches nationwide.

The big, desperately needed change, however, is one that nobody in charge of the global game wants to make.

If football is to get serious about cutting its carbon emissions, travelling overseas to matches must become a thing of the past for all but a very few.

Predictably, the world’s cash-hungry footballing bodies have taken steps to ensure just the opposite happens.

FIFA recently approved plans to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, while Concacaf Gold Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations and the AFC Asian Cup are all due expansions.

Tragically, for fans of the beautiful game, more international football means more rapid climate change – and that will rock the future of the sport to its already fragile foundations.

Not The Sun asked Chelsea, Southampton and Carlisle United about their plans to stop their stadium being underwater by 2050. None of them had responded at the time of printing.

Leyton Orient Lincoln City

Fulham

Sincil Bank

Portsmouth

Mazuma Stadium

Craven Cottage

Morecambe

Photographs: istock, Shutterstock

Ipswich Town

Fratton Park

Scunthorpe United Glanford Park

Hull City

KCOM Stadium

Charlton Athletic The Valley

And the trophy for greenwashing goes to…

Tottenham Hotspurs have broken their record trophy drought by being crowned the Premier League’s greenest club.

The north London side’s 13 years of pain finally came to an end earlier this year when they topped the coveted United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action’s most eco topflight club league, beating local rivals Arsenal into second.

But as much as Spurs fans – who have resigned themselves to waving goodbye to Harry Kane this summer – are desperate for something to cheer about, they may want to hold off on the triumphant chants just yet.

Sadly, their club’s trophy is not quite as green as it seems.

The team got equal points for good green behaviour for water efficiency at their stadium and transport for fans and players to matches.

In fact, fans travelling to and from games account for three quarters of a side’s carbon emissions – and the average Premier League club is responsible for emitting 10,000 tonnes of carbon a year.

Once you take into account all the travelling to European matches that Spurs fans do, the club produces roughly the same amount of carbon as a 60million-kilometre diesel car journey every 12 months.