The media has a tendency to cover stories in isolation. This is demonstrated very well with the UK Governement’s new drive on plastic waste.
Coverage like this and this describe the Government’s new found desire to eliminate plastic waste.
The Prime minister is quoted as committing to
make ours the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than we found it
And goes on to say
We look back in horror at some of the damage done to our environment in the past and wonder how anyone could have thought that, for example, dumping toxic chemicals into rivers was ever the right thing to do
Apart from concern for the environment one of the articles mentions reconnecting with younger voters as a motivation for the policy.
Neither of the stories cited, typical of the wider coverage, mention one word. China.
A few weeks ago dumping toxic chemicals in to rivers was the right thing to do. When the Chinese were doing it on the UK’s behalf. Then the Chinese decided to stop accepting low grade waste from the UK to howls of negative coverage (how dare they?).
The omission of this from the coverage of the Government announcement clearly clouds the understanding of the motivation of the Government, allowing them to portray themselves, unchallenged, as champions of the environment.
This blog does not draw any conclusions about the Government’s motivations. In part, because they are so obvious.