The political spectrum - what does it mean to Greens?

Green Party 2012 Spring Conference

Never has this question been so important? With uproar over the Coalition cuts and Labour turning an ever deeper shade of blue, where does this leave the Green Party? Is it solely left to the Greens to remain true to their core values of ecological astuteness, social justice, and economic democracy? How do we ensure that green policies remain important and on the agenda in this time of enforced austerity?

Tracy Dighton, co-convener of the national Political Committee, invites you a lively debate on old and new questions of left, right or forward. Panel will take place on Friday 24^th February at 17.15. Discussions will be framed by 3 speakers:

Activist, writer and broadcaster Beatrix Campbell, inspired by the ‘do-able, radical and reasonable' manifesto for the general election, will take us on her intellectual journey from Red to Green. "Are these the worst of times to be Green Party elected representatives Green Party representatives in local government? A combination of eye-watering cuts and a protracted process of reducing local government's room for maneouvre, makes local government, indeed any kind of a hard place to do politics. And yet, now is the time to ensure that the Green's social justice and economic sustainability is given air time as part of the solution, not the problem."

 Matt Follett, National Executive Policy Co-ordinator during the 2010 general election and Brighton and Hove councillor, will provide a critique of "Blue Labour" and "Red Toryism". Further, he will set out the merits of adopting a "Green Democrat" position in contemporary politics. "The real issue in the new political and economic climate facing greens, social liberals, and social democrats, is how to face the future without wanting to shelter in the past.  Greens need to recognise the value of economic and co-operative enterprise and social democrats need to recognise the value of localism  and environmental transition . A  Green Democrat position is one that combines the dynamism of liberal diversity with the dynamism of a green and social democratic economic renewal. "

 London Assembly member, Darren Johnson, a member for 25 years, has consistently worked to position the green party as an attractive mainstream choice for environmentally aware left of centre voters. He will refer to the work and achievements of elected greens and how this positions the party in the eyes of potential voters. "With an unpleasant right-wing government, an uninspiring Labour Party and a discredited Lib-Dem party, Greens have a real opportunity to be a much larger force in British politics. If we play our cards right there is a large body of left-of-centre, environmentally aware voters that the Green Party should become a natural home for."

THE GREEN PARTY WAS RIGHT TO OPPOSE THE EURO FOR REASON OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Greek economic bailout may have been approved but the Greek people who the economy is meant to serve will see little of this. Rather it will go to its debtors, the banks, in order to keep Greece, and the Euro, afloat rather than allow default and for the Greek people to restructure its economy.

"The most important point is that the Greek situation is symbolic of the way we have lost democratic control over our economies to the financiers. As in Argentina after their defaut in 2000, once a country is out of the debt-austerity debt spiral and devalues its currency it can bounce back very quickly. Economic crisis means the powerful preserve the value of their assets while the vulnerable lose their - so a politically negotiated orderly default is better than a market-driven chaotic crisis." Molly Scott Cato, Green Economist

            We, at the Green Party, believe that the Greek people need to be allowed a referendum and if they so choose, to default on their debt, and bow out of the Eurozone in order to take control over their own economy and restructure it to work for the people rather than the banks.

            The Euro has proven itself as a currency not focused on the real economy of the people it is meant to serve but of private interests and these austerity measures are showcasing its real intentions;  to protect the financial economy at any cost, even at the livelihood of the people.

            European nations have done everything in their power to keep the Euro afloat, so much so that they have lost track of what is of real importance. With Greece's arms tied behind their backs austerity measures are being pushed upon them and are fought for by a former banker and "technocrat" PM, ignoring democratic principles as the people riot and the city of Athens burns.

            Austerity measures aren't working. The way for them to build the real economy is to increase demand, encourage employment, and to revert to the drachma. At the moment the Greek people are being handcuffed into a system that sees their jobs flee, unemployment rise, and quality of life plummet.

            Greece must not allow itself to be forced by the German Government and the private interests of European and American banks to be led down a road where the people of Greece are made to suffer decades of hardship, held prisoner to a currency its economy can not support and outside demands its government can not uphold.

            The Euro has proven itself to be anti-democracy, pro-private interests, and willing to do anything it must to survive. We must allow Greece to leave behind the quagmire that is the Euro which has failed to create a united Europe but rather intensified its differences. 

GREENS MOUNT CROSS-PARTY CAMPAIGN AGAINST GOVERNMENT COUNCIL TAX THREATS

Two Labour council leaders are supporting calls from the Leader of Brighton & Hove for the government to come clean on their future proposals for local government finance.

Ministers recently made comments at public events and in the House of Commons, suggesting that a future review would undermine councils' management of local finances.

Green-led Brighton & Hove began its budget-setting process early, and was the first to declare its intentions at the beginning of December. However 26 councils of all political stripes have since followed after recognising the ‘financial cliff-edge' they face after one year if they accept the one-off grant.

Councillor Bill Randall commented:

"The Green administration published our draft budget early to allow for proper consultation with residents. But how can residents get involved in a meaningful conversation about how to protect services from government cuts if the government threatens to move the goalposts so late in the day?

"It flies in the face of localism to claim to give councils more power, but then apply penalties if they do something the government disagrees with.

"I've asked other council Leaders to join me in demanding that the government come clean on their threats." 

ENDS

Notes for Editors

*Cllr Bill Randall this week has written to other council leaders soliciting their support in asking for clarity on the content of future of government proposals. The Leaders of Chesterfield and Darlington councils have responded in support so far.

Green Party Targets Unhealthy Advertising

Green Party votes to introduce progressive new food legislation to tackle Childhood obesity.

Nearly a third of children in the UK are classified as overweight (1) and obesity cost the country around £2bn annually (2). It shortens lives, reduces self-esteem and causes long-term health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic heart disease. 

Normally occurring in the older generation, experts now fear that these conditions will develop in teenagers as a consequence of their childhood high fat, sugar -laden junk-food diets(3).

Apart from the devastating effects on health, junk food is frequently sourced from unsustainable farming methods and presented in excessive, low degradable packaging which damages the environment. Its contents are poorly labelled and it is advertised to children at any opportunity, who then pester their beleaguered parents for it

In 2006, The Food Standards Agency called for a ban on all junk food commercials before the 9pm watershed to protect children's health, but this has been successfully resisted by the food industry who prefer to blame obesity on lack of exercise, rather than acknowledging the contribution of poor diet to being overweight.

The Green Party believes "Everyone has the right to enjoy a sufficient diet of nutritious and safe food for a healthy life" and that the self-regulated approach of the food industry has failed (4). The Party will vote at February's National Conference in Liverpool to prohibit all marketing of unhealthy food and drink targeted at children, not just pre- television watershed, but also "anything that acts as advertising, such as promotional websites, text messages, in-store placements and cinema advertising".

Green MEP attends estuary airport meeting to voice opposition

Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for South East England, returned to his home town of Southend, Essex on Friday to voice his concerns about plans to build a new airport in the region. At a public meeting Keith outlined his objections to the government's recent announcement that they will include controversial plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary in a formal consultation on UK aviation.

Keith argued that we do not need any more airport capacity in the UK as this will increase harmful climate emissions, jeopardizing our ability to avoid runaway climate change. He will also highlight the environmental impact of these proposals including damage to an internationally important habitat for birds, noise and air pollution which local people would have to suffer.

The Committee on Climate Change has indicated that even if the volume of air travel in the UK was reduced to 2005 levels, by 2050 this would account for 23% of the UK's total emissions budget. Recent scientific work suggests that if the non-CO2 impacts of aviation, such as nitrogen oxides and water vapour, are taken into account this could double our estimates of aviation's climate damage. These figures clearly show that a rapidly growing aviation sector cannot co-exist with serious attempts to tackle climate change. 

In response to comments about airport capacity in the South East, Keith pointed out that Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted already have more than double the number of flights to key business destinations each week compared with Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. He'll suggest that a new airport would probably necessitate the closing of existing airports, with resulting problems from unemployment.

According to the RSPB, twelve species of bird are found in the Thames Estuary in internationally important numbers, the highest concentration anywhere in the South East region. Any plans to build a new airport in the estuary could well be illegal under EU laws which exist to protect areas of special environmental significance.

Keith said: "This is not only a misguided, but also an absurd and highly damaging idea. Any new airports would increase the amount of harmful emissions, noise and pollution but the idea that we can build an airport on an island in the middle of an estuary in one of the world's top five waterbird sites, on a key EU protected migration route is beyond ridiculous. Not only would this scheme devastate a locally crucial habitat, it would also mean large volumes of flights overhead, damaging the quality of life for all of those who live in Essex and Kent."

He continued: "Currently air fuel is not taxed but with the threat of climate change and peak oil ever more prominent we will not be able to continue to fly without paying the true price of flying. This will lead to an inevitable decrease in the number of flights and so this airport would be out of date before it's even been completed."

Caroline welcomes report calling for green quantitative easing

9 February 2012

The Government this week announced further reforms to the solar feed-in tariff scheme.

Responding to the announcement by DECC Minister Greg Barker, Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas said:

"This latest shock for solar shows clearly that the new energy secretary has fallen at the first hurdle. After the Government's shambolic handling of solar policy over the past few months, Ed Davey should have made it a priority to delay this policy change and get it right.

"But today's announcement once again leaves the industry reeling, with tariff cuts going far deeper than the falling costs of installation warrant.

"While the Government sounds ambitious in its aims, the actual policy looks weak - with Ministers giving themselves the option of changing the tariff every two months.

"The one thing that business needs is certainty, yet these Government cuts are being made so fast that it is destabilising the industry. The proposed tariff cuts also go deeper than the falling costs of installation should warrant.

"While it's positive that the Government has agreed to drop the qualifying band rate for homes to band D, the announcement today is bad news for the solar companies who have invested this year, and means continuing uncertainty for those want to benefit from this clean renewable energy."

ENDS

A broad and influential coalition of politicians, economists, civil society leaders, NGOs, religious leaders, celebrities and campaigners have urged the Government to tackle the predatory behaviour of big energy companies by introducing a new levy on their profits.

In recent months there has been growing concern at the increasingly unaffordable cost of energy as a result of stagnating incomes, volatile wholesale prices and over-charging by energy companies - average household bills for gas and electric are now in excess of £1200 per annum.

In October, the regulator OFGEM revealed that energy suppliers had increased their profits margins by 733%, from £15 to £125 per household.

At the same time the latest data for the UK estimates that at least 5.5m households are now in fuel poverty.

The campaign is launched in anticipation of big energy profits announced later this month. In the first 6 months of 2011 alone the big six energy companies made at least £3.5bn in profit.

Co-ordinated by the centre-left pressure group Compass, the new campaign for affordable energy  ‘END THE BIG 6 ENERGY FIX' has called on the Government to:

1) Impose a levy on the Big Six, with funds raised ring-fenced to help people with their energy costs, prioritising those living in fuel poverty, by making homes more energy efficient.

2) Give the regulator new powers to cap prices and eliminate excess profit.

3) Launch an independent public inquiry into the Big Six so that everyone knows the measures needed to create an energy market that serves the people before profit.

GREEN EURO-MP CALLS ON COUNCIL TO RAISE COSTS FOR LIVE ANIMAL EXPORTERS AT RAMSGATE PORT

Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for Kent and the South East, has called on Thanet Council to raise the fee for boats using Ramsgate port to export live animals. Keith has written to the local authority asking them to increase the fee for exporting animals so that it reflects the additional costs arising from the extra police, staff and security required for this controversial trade.

Keith said, "At the moment these export costs are being covered by the public purse, despite widespread opposition locally and nationally to the practice of exporting live animals. This means that the public are effectively subsidising an activity that's inhumane, unnecessary and unjustifiable. I hope that Thanet council will endorse a levy that reflects the true costs of this horrific industry".

Keith recently detailed his concerns about live exports at a public meeting in Broadstairs, along with local MPs and campaigners. He has previously visited Ramsgate to meet with campaigners who are demanding an end to live animal exports from the port. Keith has written to James Paice MP, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, to ask whether DEFRA is adequately monitoring EU transportation standards and whether these standards are being met at Ramsgate port.

At an EU level Keith has written to European Commissioner Dalli to raise his concerns over live animal exports and to ask him to support an eight hour limit on animal transport times, as a step to banning all live exports.

Keith is urging his constituents in the South East to support a Compassion in World Farming campaign (1) which encourages people to write to Thanet Council requesting an increase in the export levy and an end to the inhumane live animal export trade. The charity has recently worked with actress Joanna Lumley to launch a campaign to end live animal exports in 2012.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Brighton and Hove Greens lead the way in refusing to be bullied into freezing council tax

Eric Pickle's council tax freeze is ill thought out and morally contemptible say Brighton and Hove Greens as 16 more councils refuse to sign upto Tory "tax gimmick"

Eric Pickles is obviously starting to sweat as it' clear that his "Tory Tax Gimmick" has not been welcomed with the open arms he was expecting. Bored of asking nicely (!) he is now telling councils that they have a "moral duty" to adopt the council tax freeze. A moral duty? An interesting stance from Communities secretary Eric Pickles who has been accused of attempting to legalise planning decisions made on the basis of financial reward by The Campaign to Protect Rural England.

 And let us not forget this is the Pickles that spent nearly £600,000 on his interim finance chief's 16 month stint.

 And the very same Eric Pickles who attended a "private" dinner at The Savoy hosted by the lobbying firm Bell Pottinger. It was also attended by Brandon O'Reilly, chief executive of Farnborough airport, who at the time was awaiting a decision by Pickles's Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Department for Transport (DfT) on an application to almost double the capacity of the airport. How very neutral.

Brighton and Hove Green Council ask: How is it a moral duty for councils to plunge their residents into debt and endanger frontline services just so the Tories can look good in the short term?

"Residents expect us to use our Green values to fight for the fairest possible settlement in the face of unprecedented cuts from central government. The tax freeze grant is another attack, a wolf in sheep's clothing, which we oppose. Over 2 years it would cost us £5.4m, and more over the longer term."

 Councillor Jason Kitcat

 If Eric Pickles is going to offer a council tax freeze he must do so with the proper funding otherwise it is just empty rhetoric.

Capitalism should exist for the good of the people, not the other way around

Cameron's words about the need for "responsible" capitalism smack of political positioning rather than a genuine commitment to changing the way our economy works.

The Tories are actively encouraging people to be enterprising and set up their own businesses, while knowing full well the system is tilted away from them and firmly towards big business and corporations. Encouraging people who have recently lost their jobs to set up in business may result in disappointment in a situation where market power is so unfairly shared. The role of government is to challenge the dominance of corporate business rather than simplifying the co-operative legislation.

This is another example of the Conservatives trying to have their cake and eat it, as we have seen in the numerous examples of Conservative politicians condemning the closure of hospitals in their constituencies, while voting for measures nationally that will make this inevitable. Similarly the Localisation Bill suggests allowing local people a greater say in how their high streets are redeveloped, yet on the other hand failing to give them power of funding.

The Green Party's policy of banding corporation tax so that larger companies pay more than small ones would shift the balance of power towards the small businesses that are most effective at creating jobs. Our plans for community banks would make available the finance that has virtually disappeared since the advent of the credit crisis.  And a Green Chancellor would actively encourage cooperatives by setting up a cooperative development fund. Cameron should reassess the current state of the economy before he brands their idea of capitalism ‘moral'. The Conservatives are kidding no-one. As Green Party policies demonstrate, finding the solutions to the problem of irresponsible capitalism is not difficult, unless you have to keep your friends in the city and the corporate boardrooms happy.

Green Party: Cuts to Disability Living Allowance will push carers to the edge

Message to Unite: Green Party are the alternative

17 January 2012

The Green Party urges unions to back the positive Green alternative.

The Guardian article by Len McCluskey, General Secretary of the trade union Unite, has reaffirmed Labour's failure to stand up for ordinary people. Labour's biggest financial supporter has publicly acknowledged their party's abject failure to oppose neoliberal austerity.

All three main parties now seek to protect the vested interests of deregulated financial capitalism - and in doing so they endorse an economic model that squeezes the poorest in society to sustain their broken system.

The public sector pay freeze will strip £2,600 off the wages of a teaching assistant. Pension reforms will see the average pension for a female public sector worker slashed to just £4,000. And cuts to education force students to pay £9000 a year, placing an entire generation in systemic debt.

Opposition to unfair and economically illiterate austerity must now unite around a Green New Deal for Britain. Green Quantitative Easing is needed to act as a direct stimulus to fund the jobs that create long term assets in the real economy. The UK needs a plan to reverse the unemployment that is driving up the welfare bill, and which instead gets people back into work and paying taxes.  

The Green Party calls on Trade Unions to back the Green alternative that is now the only voice standing up against an economic system designed to place the tab for 2008 on the UK's public services.

Keith Taylor's Letter to The Guardian

                                                                                                Constituency Office

                                                                                              Brighton BN1 1AL

The Letters Editor                                                               

The Guardian

Kings Place

90 York Way

London Ni 9GU

Dear Sir

In his interview with your paper on Saturday, Ed Balls effectively holds up a white flag and admits that Labour has given up any attempt to set out an alternative economic agenda (George Osborne's plan is failing but Labour cannot duck reality, 14 January).

His capitulation before the Tory led coalition's definition of economic credibility as meaning ever more fiscal austerity, and his jaw-dropping statement that "we are going to have to keep all these cuts" calls into question the very purpose of the Labour Party.

Moreover, the choice he poses between higher public sector pay or growing unemployment conveniently ignores the fact that many public sector workers are on very low incomes, and falsely suggests that we can't afford to fund both. It is investment in decently paid jobs that generates income, and thus the tax revenues to pay for credit or borrowed money, not the other way round.   

Instead of trying to outcompete the government in some kind of masochistic virility test to see who can threaten the greatest austerity, an opposition party worthy of the name would be making a far stronger case that austerity isn't working, and offering a genuine alternative.  

A combination of more progressive taxation, a crack down on tax evasion and avoidance and, crucially, Green quantitative easing to deliver investment directly in the new jobs and infrastructure the UK urgently needs to make the transition to a more sustainable economy, would do far more to challenge the Government than the Tory-lite policies set out by the Shadow Chancellor.

Yours sincerely

Caroline Lucas MP

Leader, Green Party

Coalition Government cuts to child tax credit result in yet more children thrown into poverty.

Shocking statistics provided by the Campaign to End Child Poverty show that nearly 60% of children living in poverty have at least one parent who works, compounding the belief that too many jobs in the UK are poorly paid.

Tower Hamlets has the highest percentage of children living in poverty in London (almost half) with other London boroughs including Islington, Camden and Hackney also having a high proportion of children living in poverty. This means that their family's income generally falls below 60% of the average income of 25%. 

The government appears again unable to deal with poverty levels in some of the most deprived areas of the country. The commitment of the government to help children in these areas will be brought into question as cuts are likely to make many families as much as £1,250 a year worse off by 2015. Britain continues to be socially segregated with the "life chances of millions of children damaged by poverty and inequality'' claims campaign executive director Alison Garnham. (1)

"Public sector cuts have taken away part of the capital's safety net for those struggling financially and increased the strain on families struggling to stay afloat. Many of the parents of these children are in work but don't earn enough to ensure a high standard of living." Says Jenny Jones, Green Party London Assembly Member

Notes to Editors:

The fleecing of British rail users

Figures show that British rail fares are drastically higher than the rest of Europe, with London and the South East suffering the most expensive prices. Statistics released by the Campaign for Better Transport show that the price of a 22 mile annual season ticket can cost up to £3,268 in London, while a similar journey in Italy will cost just £336.

"We want to make the UK the best place to start, finance and grow a business." - George Osborne, September 2011

.....(ahem just not for 99% of the population)

So much for George Osborne and David Cameron's soaring rhetoric expounding the virtues of the small business. Once again the gold plated 1% such as Goldman Sachs and Vodafone swan off into the sunset tax free while entrepreneurs struggle to fulfill a biased tax crackdown.

The proposed move by HMRC to inspect up to 20,000 firms from April to check if they can back up their tax returns with paperwork going back for a number of years is being heavily criticized not only for its hypocrisy but also allegedly undermining government pledges to cut red tape.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone settled a long-running dispute with the revenue by paying £1.25bn, but it is alleged that they should have paid nearly £6bn.

"Tax avoidance by big corporations is rife in this country, some estimates put it up to £100 billion each year. The thought of Cameron going after small companies that have few resources, while senior people in HMRC let corporations off with a slap on the wrist, is immoral.

 "The government must increase transparency in tax dealing, especially with international companies who are able to move their profits to avoid taxation. Cameron should be working on an international agreement for fair and transparent taxation of these international companies. Sadly, his loyalties lie with them rather than ordinary people."

Stuart Jeffrey, Green Party Policy Coordinator.

Should we expect any less from a government that hails Philip *Monaco Tax Haven* Green as one of its business advisers? Too scared to go after the real culprits it seems as though the HMRC is going after small businesses to meet its targets.

The Big Society has an elite membership; apply only if your company is worth billions of pounds and you plan to fiddle the country on your tax bill. Small business owners need not apply.

Radical thinktank report calls for institution of ‘guardians' for future generations

In a new report to be launched at the House of Commons on 10th January 2012, Green House think tank Chair Dr. Rupert Read will propose radical constitutional reform to Parliament in order to create strong ‘guardians' to protect future generations' basic needs. In order to actualise this, the ‘Guardians for future generations' report suggests creating a ‘super-jury', picked by chance (as juries are) from the population at large, charged with preserving the basic needs of future generations, to be placed above the upper house.

 The Guardians' central powers would be a veto over new legislation that would damage / compromise the basic needs of future people, and a right to force a review of existing legislation that is already damaging their basic needs.

Notes for Editors:

The ‘Guardians for future generations' report will be launched at 5pm [for 5.30]on January 10th 2012, in Committee Room 5, House of Commons. The meeting will be hosted by Dr. Caroline Lucas MP, Leader of the Green Party, and will also be addressed by Jon Cruddas MP of Labour and by Government Minister Norman Baker MP. Representatives of the ‘Alliance for future generations' and the ‘Intergenerational Foundation' will also be on hand to offer backing to the issuing of the report.

Cameras and media welcome to attend.

Green Party condemns Canadian Government for having its eye on oil sand profit not wellbeing of the population.

Canada shows a profound lack of commitment to halting climate change.

Thanks to Canada's controversial withdrawal from Kyoto agreement the world is left struggling to avoid dangerous anthropogenic change to the climate. It seems the lure of profit from its booming oil sands sector (Canada has the world's third-largest oil reserves) seemed too tempting to refuse.

At Durban Canada's Environment Minister Peter Kent did not hesitate to put profit before people and commit Canada to an isolationist position saying:

"To meet the targets under Kyoto for 2012 would be the equivalent of either removing every car, truck, ATV, tractor, ambulance, police car and vehicle of every kind from Canadian roads or closing down the entire farming and agriculture sector and cutting heat to every home, office, hospital, factory and building in Canada,"

However this view is nonsensical and factually incorrect.  Green Party Deputy Leader Adrian Ramsay condemns  this stance:

  "The world's richest countries, including Canada, must lead by example in taking practical steps to substantially reduce carbon emissions and avoid the worst effect of climate change. But this is also an opportunity for countries such as Canada and the UK to create more stable, more localised, low-carbon economies for the future. This is the long term thinking we need to address the climate crisis and the economic crisis at the same time - and avoid the huge financial, social and economic costs of runaway climate change."