Plus a Bugatti and yacht. www.bbc.co.uk

So the Tories abolished the Audit Commission in 2015 – more importantly WHY? 

Turned out well hasn’t it… how many Tory councils are now effectively bankrupt having treated ratepayers money like a spin of the roulette wheel with hugely speculative investments. – Owl

Former Tory Minister Savages PM over North Sea Oil Plan. He added:

also on “wrong side of a future economy” based on renewables;

and on “wrong side of modern voters, who will vote with their feet at the next general election for parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment”.

Three strikes and you’re out? – Owl

Kevin Schofield www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

A former Tory minister has condemned Rishi Sunak’s decision to give the green light to more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

Chris Skidmore, who used to be the government’s net zero tsar, said issuing hundreds of new exploration licences was “the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time”.

Sunak has insisted that new oil and gas extraction from the North Sea is compatible with the UK’s goal of achieving net zero by 2050.

He said it would also make Britain less reliant on having to import energy from abroad.

But in a blistering statement, Skidmore – who served in Boris Johnson’s cabinet as energy minister – said it was a disastrous move for the country as well as the Conservatives.

He said: “It is on the wrong side of a future economy that will be founded on renewable and clean industries and not fossil fuels.

“It is on the wrong side of modern voters, who will vote with their feet at the next general election for parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment.

″And it is on the wrong side of history, that will not look favourably on the decision taken today.”

Skidmore, who is standing down at the next election, also said it was wrong that the announcement was made whole parliament is in recess, denying MPs the chance to scrutinise it in the Commons.

Speaking in Aberdeenshire, where he also announced plans for a new carbon capture scheme, Sunak defended the move despite the mounting criticism from environmental campaigners.

He said: “It’s really important for everybody to recognise that even in 2050 when we are at net zero, it is forecast that around a quarter of our energy needs will still come from oil and gas.

“What is important is that we get that oil and gas in the best possible way and that means getting it from here at home – better for our energy security, better for jobs but also better for the climate because if we’re going to need it, it’s far better to have it here at home rather than from halfway round the world.”

The public can ‘wild camp’ in Dartmoor again without landowners’ permission after the National Park Authority won their appeal case.

By Esme Stallard www.bbc.co.uk

The right to do so had been allowed under a decades-old local law until January this year, when it was challenged by a local landowner.

It will now return as the only place in England where wild camping is allowed without permission.

Open Spaces Society, which also brought the appeal said it “was delighted”.

At the centre of this case was whether wild camping can be considered open-air recreation, which is allowed in the Park under the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985.

Local landowners, Alexander Darwall, a hedge fund manager, and his wife Diana – who have owned a 4,000 acre (16-km sq) estate in southern Dartmoor since 2013 – argued that it did not and wanted to revoke permission to their land for camping.

Their original High Court challenge and victory in January brought thousands of people out in protest and sparked a nationwide debate on public access in the English countryside.

The National Park Authority and the UK’s oldest conservation charity, the Open Spaces Society (OSS) brought an appeal this month against that decision.

In the summary judgement, confirming victory for the charities, Lord Justice Underhill said that wild camping “plainly fell” within the definition of open air recreation as many people “took pleasure in the experience of sleeping in a tent in open country”.

On hearing the result Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society said: “This is an excellent outcome, we are relieved that the judges ruled unanimously and conclusively that open-air recreation includes backpack camping on the commons.”

Kevin Bishop, chief executive for Dartmoor National Park Authority, said: “[the judgement] means people can experience the joys of backpack camping on Dartmoor, provided everyone follows the leave no trace principle.”

A representative for the Darwalls has been approached for comment.

The hearing, which took place two weeks ago included some bizarre exchanges between the lawyers and judges.

Timothy Morshead KC acting for the Darwalls, had argued that sleep cannot be considered to be “recreation” as you are not conscious.

But Sir Geoffrey Vos, one of the judges presiding said there was no difference between a walker or painter who rested on the ground after their activity and fell asleep and a walker that came into the park and erected a tent.

Morshead said that the Darwalls took objection to the erection of tent ‘structures’.

The judges proceeded to asked him where the line should be drawn on erecting structures – would inflatable goalposts from Argos for children to play football be allowed, they asked?

Tim Straker KC acting for the Park and OSS said the practice of wild camping does not involve significant structures like camper vans “which on Dartmoor are directed to designated or registered sites”.

The victory was met with delight by environmental charities on Monday after the verdict broke.

But Guy Shrubsole, co-founder of campaign group Right to Roam, said this was not the end of the fight for land rights.

He called for a new Right to Roam Act for England so that wild camping can be extended beyond Dartmoor.