Blogger: Kim Matthews, Campaign Intern
This particular marine behemoth was not of the fishy variety; instead it consisted of an amazing conglomeration of sponge, strawberries and silver-coated chocolate on a board smothered in blue goo. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
My close encounter of the cake kind began earlier on this overcast Tuesday. Emerging from the Westminster tube into a crisp winter’s day is quite a feast for the eyes, with the majestic Thames flowing sluggishly past under the bridge, the London Eye looming large on the southern bank and Big Ben booming out the hour behind me.
It felt surprisingly chilly despite all the hot air I sometimes feel comes out of the Houses of Parliament. Like many of you I’m sure, I am frequently guilty of blaming politicians for everything, especially for the heinous crime of appearing to do nothing. It is certainly all too easy to get frustrated with government, especially in these austere times with environmental concerns slipping slowly but surely down the political agenda.
Today, however, was intended to be a celebration. It was two years ago that the Marine Act came into being. A chance, at last, to protect our precious marine wildlife and habitats in the same way that we protect threatened species and vital habitats on land. With less than 0.1% of our marine environment under protection it is clearly not only necessary, but also long overdue.
An intimate gathering had been planned with Richard Benyon MP (Fisheries Minister) and Martin Harper (RSPB’s Conservation Director) in a Question Time style. On went the live webcast and we were off. With questions from the audience and online realms the Minister was thoroughly quizzed on his aspirations for Marine Protected Areas, fisheries, and protection for much-loved wildlife including seabirds, basking sharks, seals and dolphins. It has to be said, despite my general scepticism on political will, he came across incredibly well. Passionate, committed and determined, words often used to describe RSPB staff and supporters!
Having survived the questioning the Minister was presented with one of our RSPB Stepping Up For Nature specials, a picture of a common tern made up of the 50,000 signatures that have been collected in our marine petition so far. Having promised to hang it above his desk he was then whisked away to cut the impressive aforementioned basking shark cake, managing to avoid a media scandal by steering clear of the fins!
Not having a political career to protect (and knowing how much my office love cake!) I felt no such qualms and managed to make off with a huge slice of the body and the dorsal fin! Travelling back to Norfolk with my contraband, hearing news of the Chancellor’s blatantly anti-environment Autumn Statement, all the remained was for me to ponder on whether Mr Benyon would be able to persuade our self-proclaimed ‘greenest government ever’ to truly commit to ensuring a sustainable future, both for our marine environment and for the people and industries that depend on it.