Buckling down

News in Brief

On 5 November, the government bowed to pressure from 150,000 members of the 38 Degrees campaign group, who signed an online petition in the 24 hours before a vote in the house of lords that could have paved the way for public forests to be sold off to property developers.

As a result of the pressure, the infrastructure bill included explicit protection for state-owned forests.

Baroness Janet Royall, Labour leader in the lords, whose forest-protecting amendment had previously been resisted by the government, said afterwards:
‘This is a big victory for everyone that has campaigned to protect our forests. The 38 Degrees petition was a vital part of that. I’m grateful to all who showed their support.’