The government confirmed yesterday that they are totally scrapping the forest sell-off. The phoney consultation has been cancelled. The sinister legal changes to pave the way for privatisation have been dropped. – This is absolutely fabulous news!!

Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, has issued an unequivocal apology to the House of Commons after taking personal responsibility for the "wrong" decision to change the ownership of 258,000 hectares of state-owned woodland.

Spelman, who agreed with David Cameron to bring forward the announcement of her U-turn by 24 hours to allow MPs to be informed before their half-term break, opened with a simple statement. "I would first like to say that I take full responsibility for the situation that brings me before the house today," she said.

Tory MPs, who had been warning Downing Street of a backlash across the country against the sell-off plans, sat mostly in silence as Spelman offered an apology.

"I am sorry, we got this one wrong, but we have listened to people's concerns," Spelman said. "I would like to thank colleagues for their support through what has been a difficult time. I now want to move forward in step with the public."

The power of people has done it again!

Next time someone tries to tell any of you that signing petitions or emailing our MPs doesn’t work, you’ll know exactly what to say:“People power does work. Just look at the Save Our Forests campaign”.
38 Degrees members voted to start this campaign. They knew that making forests safe for future generations was something worth fighting for. So they signed the petition, emailed our MPs, put up posters in our local woodlands, organised local events, and chipped in for a people-powered opinion poll and national newspaper ads.

Local groups joined in, as did national organisations like the National Trust, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace, and celebrities who spoke out in the press. “Together we stopped the sell-off plans.”
38 Degrees isn't funded by big business, government or political parties - winning campaigns relies on thousands of us chipping in. To help keep us campaigning on the issues that matter to you, you can chip in by making a:
Direct Debit donation:http://www.38degrees.org.uk/Direct-Debit

One-off donation: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/we-saved-our-forests

Highlights of the campaign:

• Thousands of 38 Degrees members voted to launch the Save Our Forests campaign in October 2010 when the government first announced their plans
• Over 500,000 38 Degrees members signed the “Save Our Forests” petition
• Over 100,000 38 Degrees members emailed or called their MPs urging them to stop the forest sell off
• Hundreds of 38 Degrees members donated to fund a people-powered YouGov poll which found that 84% of the public wanted the forests kept in public hands
• Thousands of 38 Degrees members chipped in nearly £60,000 to pay for ads in national newspapers to highlight that 84% of the British public opposed the forest sale
• Over 30 local groups around the country sprung up to campaign to stop the sell-off
• Over 220,000 38 Degrees members shared the campaign on Facebook.