Mark Tovey

What do Extinction Rebellion, the Guardian’s style guide and over 200 local councils have in common? All have declared a ‘climate emergency’. Yet while these councils are keen to talk up the consequences on our planet of failing to act, are they actually practicing what they preach? The decision of some councils to purchase cars for their own employees' use, as revealed in a series of Freedom of Information requests I made, suggests they are not. Councillors from Durham County Council declared a ‘climate emergency’ in February and the 'County Durham environment partnership', which the council is a member of, says getting more people to walk, use the bus or cycle is vital in the fight for the planet.

In a UK first last year, doctors at University College London operated on two unborn babies with spina bifida, a birth defect characterised by a gap in the spinal cord which can cause paralysis of the legs and incontinence. Around 1,000 foetuses a year develop spina bifida in the UK; of these, 80 per cent or so are subsequently aborted. The number of pregnancies terminated each year can be expected to drop with the arrival of this new surgery which will be made available on the NHS. And yet, far from rejoicing, pro-life advocates have been whipped into a frenzy over it. The reason? While foetuses – aged between 20 and 26 weeks – receiving these spinal corrections will be given painkillers, pain relief is not given to foetuses before they are aborted.