Why Vote UKIP?

The rather impressive Re-Elect Jean blog (to get Jean Lambert returned as London's Green Party MEP) points out the flaws in voting UKIP if you're angry about expenses:

It is a shame that some voters are thinking of turning to UKIP as they react to the disgraceful revelations over MPs expenses. After all, of the 12 MEPs elected for UKIP last time, two of them were convicted for fraud, and one of them joined the neo-fascist grouping in the European Parliament. In contrast, the UK's two Green MEPs are the only UK grouping to receive a 100% rating from the pressure group Open Europe for the transparency and accountability of their finances, as this press release details.

Caroline Lucas in the Indy on Sunday

"People are wanting something fresher and more authentic and a bit of passion in politics. When you see all these MPs from the other parties hanging their heads in shame over the expenses scandal, there's a very dangerous – and wrong – sense that you can't trust anyone in politics. So trying to reinvigorate the whole political system is important. There's a real new focus in the party. We do feel we are on the edge of a breakthrough."

European Elections Broadcast

May Meeting - Coventry Green Party

Our next meeting is this Tuesday, the 12th of May, at 730pm, at the Cheylesmore Community Centre. Our guest speaker is Ann Farr, who is a member of Pax Christi, and she recently returned from a post-Gaza-war trip to Palestine. The Cheylesmore Community Centre is at the corner of Portsea Close, Arundel Road and Poiters Road in Cheylesmore.

April Meeting - Coventry Green Party

We're meeting next on Thursday, the 9th of April, at 730pm, at Cheylesmore Community Centre. Our guest speaker will be Claire Boylen, the local coordinator for No2ID. No2ID is a non-partisan campaign group against the entire idea of ID cards and the growing collection of personal data (NHS IT projects, biometric passports, etc).

I'm Back

My Next Few Days

It's going to be a busy week for me.

- Tonight, we're having a social, to mark St Patrick's Day, at the Town Wall Tavern, 730pm onwards. Come say hi!

- Tomorrow is an evening meeting in Birmingham to continue West Midlands work on the European elections (at the FoE warehouse in Digbeth).

- Thursday is the Climate Change demonstration here in Coventry (organised by Cafod, WDM and Christian Aid), with a service at the Cathedral (12pm), then a march through town (130pm), then a trip out to the headquarters of E.ON at Westwood Business Park (3pm).

- Then, Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon is the Green Party spring conference in Blackpool! I've never been to Blackpool. All I know about it is this:

"After The Gaza War - Is Peace Possible"

This is on Thursday night (refreshments from 630pm, event from 7pm to 915pm) at the Methodist Central Hall here in Coventry. It will be a talk and discussion by the co-directors of Jerusalem Peacemakers ... on the impact of the Gaza war on the region, renewed efforts for peace building, and what we can do to help.

Eliyahu McLean (Jewish) and Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari (Sufi Muslim) are dedicated to building bridges at grassroots level, and do vital work bringing together people from all faiths and communities within Israel and Palestine to promote dialogue, understanding and reconciliation. They both live in Jerusalem, and Sheikh Bukhari has extensive family and community connections in Gaza.

If you have any queries about the event, you can contact the local organiser: Barbara Payman, on 07866 159675, on email at coventryforpeace@hotmail.co.uk.

Barcelona's Solar Cemetery

Ed Miliband At "Age Of Stupid" Premiere

Ed Miliband is challenged by "Age of Stupid" director Franny Armstrong; the movie's star, Pete Postlethwaite, also pledges his support to the "Not Stupid" campaign by vowing to return his OBE if the UK government fails to secure urgent and drastic global decarbonisation at Copenhagen:

What I'm Reading ...

- China's Way Forward, James Follows, The Atlantic: "You never know which statistics to believe in China, but in January a local official in Dongguan told me that at least 1 million factory workers had recently lost their jobs within five miles of where I was ... If China does not keep moving forward and growing, will it tear itself apart?"

- Obama Seeking A Channel To Khamenei?, The Wonk Room, Think Progress: "'The key issue is now to find a channel to Khamenei,' said a senior Western diplomat briefed on the Obama administration’s policy review in recent days. 'If the supreme leader moves, he’s going to do it in a very prudent and incremental way' ... The Obama administration’s first direct contact with Iranian officials is expected to come later this month at a UN-sanctioned conference on Afghanistan in the Netherlands."

- Six Questions for Juan Cole, Scott Horton, Harper's: "Many Americans seem to view the Muslim world as the new Soviet Union, as a relatively monolithic and uniformly hostile bloc of nations. This point of view seems to me oddly detached from reality."

- Alan Watkins, "Voting reform? Too late, Mr. Brown," The Independent, "In the 1997 government, the two leading proponents of the alternative vote were Robin Cook and Peter Mandelson. Mr Cook is, sadly, dead, while Lord Mandelson has quite enough on his plate with which to keep himself occupied."

12 March - World Day Against Cyber-Censorship

12 mars - Journée mondiale contre la cybercensure
by rsf_internet

North-South Rail In Warwickshire

Some good news on rail: government funding may fast-track (see what I've done there) new stations in Kenilworth, at the Ricoh Arena, and at Bermuda Estate in Nuneaton. Trains would run four times an hour between Coventry and Nuneaton. The Ricoh would be developed as a transport hub, including trains, bus services and a new Park and Ride.

Caroline Lucas And Workplace Equality

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party leader, and MEP for the South East, will feature in the 755pm politics slot on Channel 4, tonight.

Our spring conference is coming up (not this weekend, but next) in Blackpool.

At conference, Caroline Lucas will propose a motion on workplace equality. Women working full-time in the UK are paid 17% less than men.

Caroline's motion would require:

- Medium and large companies undertake equal pay audits that compare the earnings of their employees
- That such companies take action to redress inequalities
- Legal changes to make it much easier for women to take equal pay cases to court, and to allow women to take such cases as a group, with the support of their unions
- Significant funding to be put into encouraging girls and women to consider a broader range of careers
- a law (following Norway) in requiring that companies listed on the Stock Exchange have 40% of their board members being female within five years of the date of the passing of the legislation.

There will also be other motions on women's issues debated at conference:

- a motion to improve NHS pre- and post-natal care, including a full range of birth options and the right
- a motion to help combat domestic abuse, starting with "respect" training in schools, and,
- a motion to extend the right to asylum for women and girls, to include asylum for those who would be forced to undergo forced marriage or genital mutilation were they denied asylum.

China And Recycling