
Showing posts with label Green Party News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Party News. Show all posts
17 May 2009
Caroline Lucas in the Indy on Sunday

13 May 2009
10 May 2009
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.
17 March 2009
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:
- 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:
Labels:
Coventry,
Green Party News,
The Road To Copenhagen
12 March 2009
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.
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.
04 March 2009
Response To City Centre Masterplan
I sent out a press release to local media, at midnight on Sunday, about the city council's finalised "City Centre Masterplan".
Our main points of criticism were that:
- When you strip other factors away, the purpose of the new city centre is to create a place where people shop and shop and shop some more. The Green Party believes, both here in Coventry and nationwide, that we need a society-wide emphasis on sustainability. We can't keep consuming as we have, with shopping fuelled by credit card debt.
- The "10 Guiding Principles" of the project do not prioritise sustainability. Indeed, the "10 Principles" do not even mention carbon emissions, public transport, or how energy will be generated for new city centre buildings. The "10 Principles" don't mention living wages for those who will be working in the renewed city centre. Unless you place these factors front and centre, it's hard to take seriously the rebuttal (by the council, on Touch FM this morning) that they will be key to this project.
- It's unclear how representative the consultation was of Coventry's population. 42% of Coventry was under the age of 30 in the 2001 census. Less than 18% of those involved in the consultation were under 30. This seems very lopsided in a city with two universities (Coventry University; the University of Warwick).
- From areas/buildings to be knocked down/demolished, we need an explicit commitment to use the materials to help build community centres and repair schools throughout Coventry.
What we need to do is strengthen local high streets throughout Coventry, rather than drawing retail activity away into a city centre that will take 15 years to build. Instead of a Disneyland of a city centre, Coventry must attract the same degree of private investment and have it focused on putting our economy, city-wide, on a sustainable footing (retrofitting houses, renewable energy projects ward by ward, public transport).
Our main points of criticism were that:
- When you strip other factors away, the purpose of the new city centre is to create a place where people shop and shop and shop some more. The Green Party believes, both here in Coventry and nationwide, that we need a society-wide emphasis on sustainability. We can't keep consuming as we have, with shopping fuelled by credit card debt.
- The "10 Guiding Principles" of the project do not prioritise sustainability. Indeed, the "10 Principles" do not even mention carbon emissions, public transport, or how energy will be generated for new city centre buildings. The "10 Principles" don't mention living wages for those who will be working in the renewed city centre. Unless you place these factors front and centre, it's hard to take seriously the rebuttal (by the council, on Touch FM this morning) that they will be key to this project.
- It's unclear how representative the consultation was of Coventry's population. 42% of Coventry was under the age of 30 in the 2001 census. Less than 18% of those involved in the consultation were under 30. This seems very lopsided in a city with two universities (Coventry University; the University of Warwick).
- From areas/buildings to be knocked down/demolished, we need an explicit commitment to use the materials to help build community centres and repair schools throughout Coventry.
What we need to do is strengthen local high streets throughout Coventry, rather than drawing retail activity away into a city centre that will take 15 years to build. Instead of a Disneyland of a city centre, Coventry must attract the same degree of private investment and have it focused on putting our economy, city-wide, on a sustainable footing (retrofitting houses, renewable energy projects ward by ward, public transport).
28 February 2009
Why Nuclear Power Isn't The Way To Go
Prof John Whitelegg is the Green Party's spokesperson on sustainable development. He's one of 12 Green councillors on Lancaster city council:
"It is true that a small number of Greens, feeling the urgency of the climate crisis, have suggested a nuclear re-think as a lesser of two evils. But it's also true that the Green Party overwhelmingly thinks they're wrong."
"A recent study showed that the UK nuclear industry has wasted £32 billion. It's the most expensive form of energy when we take into account its long-term waste costs, even if we ignore the potential costs of a nuclear disaster."
"[Greens] want to create a truly sustainable economy. That means viable jobs for huge numbers of people in sustainable industries. Studies have consistently shown that nuclear energy sustains far fewer jobs per megawatt than non-nuclear renewables."
"Renewable energy ... would also create huge numbers of jobs spread around the entire country, benefitting every local economy, for instance the jobs installing and maintaining microgenerators and servicing very large numbers of small-scale windfarms and biogas plants ... in the immediate term we have a recession to deal with. We need to create very large numbers of jobs right now. We can't achieve this by building nuclear power stations in fifteen years' time."
"If we achieved Denmark's rate of growth on wind energy, we could create something like 200,000 jobs in that sector alone by 2020 - faster than you could build nuclear power stations."
"And also, as a matter of priority, we could start straightaway with domestic and business energy conservation. Not only would this rapidly create many tens of thousands of jobs within a short space of time - it would also save as much energy as all the UK's nuclear power stations currently generate."
"So we simply don't need nuclear power to stop climate change. But we do need comprehensive Green policies, and we need them to be implemented now"
"It is true that a small number of Greens, feeling the urgency of the climate crisis, have suggested a nuclear re-think as a lesser of two evils. But it's also true that the Green Party overwhelmingly thinks they're wrong."
"A recent study showed that the UK nuclear industry has wasted £32 billion. It's the most expensive form of energy when we take into account its long-term waste costs, even if we ignore the potential costs of a nuclear disaster."
"[Greens] want to create a truly sustainable economy. That means viable jobs for huge numbers of people in sustainable industries. Studies have consistently shown that nuclear energy sustains far fewer jobs per megawatt than non-nuclear renewables."
"Renewable energy ... would also create huge numbers of jobs spread around the entire country, benefitting every local economy, for instance the jobs installing and maintaining microgenerators and servicing very large numbers of small-scale windfarms and biogas plants ... in the immediate term we have a recession to deal with. We need to create very large numbers of jobs right now. We can't achieve this by building nuclear power stations in fifteen years' time."
"If we achieved Denmark's rate of growth on wind energy, we could create something like 200,000 jobs in that sector alone by 2020 - faster than you could build nuclear power stations."
"And also, as a matter of priority, we could start straightaway with domestic and business energy conservation. Not only would this rapidly create many tens of thousands of jobs within a short space of time - it would also save as much energy as all the UK's nuclear power stations currently generate."
"So we simply don't need nuclear power to stop climate change. But we do need comprehensive Green policies, and we need them to be implemented now"
23 February 2009
A Green MP For Coventry
I've been the "prospective parliamentary candidate" (PPC) for Coventry South since the-election-that-never-was (when Gordon Brown nearly called it, in the autumn of 2007). We haven't really trumpeted it, but we're going to start.
Recent actions (January/February) as the PPC for Coventry South include:
- organising a visit to three venues in Coventry for Felicity Norman, our lead candidate in European elections this June (we need 10% to get Felicity elected; if you have a few hours to help out, contact Chris Williams in his office on Vyse St, in Birmingham, on 07811 428 682). We went to the Coventry Refugee Centre, to the Gaza sit-in at the University of Warwick, and to an electric van factory (out near the Binley Road and the A46)
- attending the first food sub-group meeting for Transition Earlsdon; speaking at one of the Gaza rallies here in Coventry; attending the Candles for Peace event on the 14th of February in front of the Council House; sitting in (more for my own information as a catch-up) on the latest meeting of CRACIN, the coalition against a replacement incinerator for Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull; dropping by the Remade Fashion Fair in Birmingham this past weekend
- trying out twitter as a new way of publicising not just our events, but events in Coventry and the region, as well as news stories that may get people thinking "Green" ... this has already led to a few international exchanges
- contributing a quote to a Coventry No2ID press release on WWII identity cards and the lack of a need for them now (no war, no rationining, no lack of census data)
- drafting a newsletter (to be sent around to small businesses in the constituency every few months) for 100 businesses to be distributed in March, late May, September, and December
- lobbying the city council on having smart meters able to be loaned from public libraries
- lobbying the city council on using storefronts left vacant from the recession for artist/farmers market spaces (the farmers market spaces have an obstacle; I've been informed that Coventry Market has a medieval charter that prohibits markets within 5 miles of its site)
- organising our monthly meetings for the Green Party (guest speakers on Transition Towns - January; on rape crisis centres and their funding - February)
Recent actions (January/February) as the PPC for Coventry South include:
- organising a visit to three venues in Coventry for Felicity Norman, our lead candidate in European elections this June (we need 10% to get Felicity elected; if you have a few hours to help out, contact Chris Williams in his office on Vyse St, in Birmingham, on 07811 428 682). We went to the Coventry Refugee Centre, to the Gaza sit-in at the University of Warwick, and to an electric van factory (out near the Binley Road and the A46)
- attending the first food sub-group meeting for Transition Earlsdon; speaking at one of the Gaza rallies here in Coventry; attending the Candles for Peace event on the 14th of February in front of the Council House; sitting in (more for my own information as a catch-up) on the latest meeting of CRACIN, the coalition against a replacement incinerator for Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull; dropping by the Remade Fashion Fair in Birmingham this past weekend
- trying out twitter as a new way of publicising not just our events, but events in Coventry and the region, as well as news stories that may get people thinking "Green" ... this has already led to a few international exchanges
- contributing a quote to a Coventry No2ID press release on WWII identity cards and the lack of a need for them now (no war, no rationining, no lack of census data)
- drafting a newsletter (to be sent around to small businesses in the constituency every few months) for 100 businesses to be distributed in March, late May, September, and December
- lobbying the city council on having smart meters able to be loaned from public libraries
- lobbying the city council on using storefronts left vacant from the recession for artist/farmers market spaces (the farmers market spaces have an obstacle; I've been informed that Coventry Market has a medieval charter that prohibits markets within 5 miles of its site)
- organising our monthly meetings for the Green Party (guest speakers on Transition Towns - January; on rape crisis centres and their funding - February)
04 February 2009
Coventry And Dresden ... Over Twitter
The Green group on Dresden City Council started to "follow" me on Twitter yesterday. I answered back: "Freundliche Grüße zu meinen Kollegen in Dresden!" They responded saying that "it's fine to get in contact to the Greens of a city with such fateful relationship to Dresden." I've twittered back about peace groups in Coventry. This is what "web 2.0" is about ... 15 years ago, I just wouldn't have thought one day, hey, I'll pick up the phone and call the Dresden Green Party. If you're interested, you can find their Twitter account here, and their local website here. My German is horribly rusty, but I think their last two press releases are on tenants threatened by urban redevelopment, and 13 old chestnut trees being cut down beside the State Chancellery building.
23 January 2009
West Midlands Green Party AGM
If you're interested in attending, it's tomorrow, at the Welsh Congregational Church, Loveday Street, Birmingham, B4 6NR. That's about a 5 minute walk east of Snow Hill station.
There will be a fundraising lunch at 1230pm, and the meeting begins at 130pm, and will end at 4pm.
You can take a look at the regional website here.
There will be a fundraising lunch at 1230pm, and the meeting begins at 130pm, and will end at 4pm.
You can take a look at the regional website here.
18 January 2009
Upcoming Green Party Events In Coventry
I had a relaxing day today -- going for a walk with my wife between Berkswell station and The Bear, a pub with low wooden beams and Sunday lunch. It's amazing how quickly you can get into farming countryside (7 minutes on the train) from Coventry.
- Tomorrow, I'm thinking of going to a 5pm meeting of the Young Greens at the University of Warwick, and there will also be another 6pm protest, against the Israeli actions in Gaza, in front of the Council House in Coventry.
- Later this week, Coventry and Warwickshire Green Party folks will meet up (Thurs night, Coventry Peace House) and talk about local elections (Warwick DC, May, 2009), the European elections (in June, 2009), and general election planning (with the polling numbers, it has to be Feb/Mar 2010).
- The West Midlands Green Party will have its AGM next weekend (Saturday, in Birmingham, near Snow Hill).
Finally, the Green Party's lead candidate in the West Midlands for the European elections, Felicity Norman, will be visiting Coventry a week Tuesday (the 27th), followed by visits/events in Leamington Spa (on the 28th). We've lined up a visit to Modec for 2pm in the afternoon, and tomorrow, I'll try to arrange another event for 11am in the morning.
- Tomorrow, I'm thinking of going to a 5pm meeting of the Young Greens at the University of Warwick, and there will also be another 6pm protest, against the Israeli actions in Gaza, in front of the Council House in Coventry.
- Later this week, Coventry and Warwickshire Green Party folks will meet up (Thurs night, Coventry Peace House) and talk about local elections (Warwick DC, May, 2009), the European elections (in June, 2009), and general election planning (with the polling numbers, it has to be Feb/Mar 2010).
- The West Midlands Green Party will have its AGM next weekend (Saturday, in Birmingham, near Snow Hill).
Finally, the Green Party's lead candidate in the West Midlands for the European elections, Felicity Norman, will be visiting Coventry a week Tuesday (the 27th), followed by visits/events in Leamington Spa (on the 28th). We've lined up a visit to Modec for 2pm in the afternoon, and tomorrow, I'll try to arrange another event for 11am in the morning.
12 January 2009
Coventry Gaza Protest - 12th January, 6pm
The 2nd emergency protest, in solidarity with the people of Gaza, will take place tonight in front of the Council House, here in Coventry. It will be at 6pm.
There may be two sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But only one side has tanks. Only one side has nuclear weapons. Only one side is using white phosphorous. Only one side has imposed a blockade (by air, land and sea) that has turned Gaza into an open-air prison.
I agree with Naomi Klein, in a comment article in the Guardian on the weekend.
People of conscience, all over the world, need to impose broad boycotts and divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.
Hope to see some of you tonight!
There may be two sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But only one side has tanks. Only one side has nuclear weapons. Only one side is using white phosphorous. Only one side has imposed a blockade (by air, land and sea) that has turned Gaza into an open-air prison.
I agree with Naomi Klein, in a comment article in the Guardian on the weekend.
People of conscience, all over the world, need to impose broad boycotts and divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.
Hope to see some of you tonight!
16 December 2008
Caroline Lucas On Heathrow
Caroline Lucas wrote an article yesterday for The Guardian's comment is free pages, on the direct action at Heathrow by Plane Stupid:
"It seems clear to almost everyone except the government that proposals for a third runway at Heathrow should have been scrapped months ago ... Expansion would lead to spiralling carbon dioxide emissions, unacceptable noise pollution and worsening air quality for millions living in London and the South-East – all at a time when the government says it is committed to substantially cutting the UK's carbon emissions."
Other things I've been reading:
- Amnesty International saying that only specialist police officers should carry Tasers (334 people have died since 2001, due to Taser use in the US)
- 1 million children in poverty in Britain don't qualify for school meals ... and this, supposedly, is the burning issue that motivates Gordon Brown each morning
- Nearly one in four children are obese by the time they start primary school
"It seems clear to almost everyone except the government that proposals for a third runway at Heathrow should have been scrapped months ago ... Expansion would lead to spiralling carbon dioxide emissions, unacceptable noise pollution and worsening air quality for millions living in London and the South-East – all at a time when the government says it is committed to substantially cutting the UK's carbon emissions."
Other things I've been reading:
- Amnesty International saying that only specialist police officers should carry Tasers (334 people have died since 2001, due to Taser use in the US)
- 1 million children in poverty in Britain don't qualify for school meals ... and this, supposedly, is the burning issue that motivates Gordon Brown each morning
- Nearly one in four children are obese by the time they start primary school
26 November 2008
Caroline Lucas On Radio 4
Caroline Lucas, the leader of the Green Party, will be on "Any Questions" on BBC Radio 4, at 8pm on Friday night. Her fellow guests will be Geoff Hoon, Vincent Cable, and David Willetts.
24 November 2008
Leadership Of The Scottish Greens

The Pre-Budget Report
You can read the entire Pre-Budget Report here. He's a tricksy fellow, this Darling. He talks about a green component to his stimulus package, but buried in the detail is an expansion of the motorway network, as well as (4.61) a "review of the regulatory framework for UK airports" so that "airport operators are incentivised to deliver timely, efficient and necessary investment in new airport capacity."
You can see the Green Party's response here:
You can see the Green Party's response here:
Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, Leader of the Green Party said: "The Chancellor’s plan to cut taxes to promote a consumer-spending boom is short- term thinking in the extreme. Even if it works, it will simply ship money abroad, as most consumer goods are imported, rather than supporting jobs here in the UK. More seriously, it also represents a return to the vicious cycles of debt and over-consumption that caused the crisis in the first place ... By putting capital spending into increasing motorway capacity, diluting the incentive to buy more efficient vehicles, and encouraging more aviation, Gordon Brown has shown his environmental incompetence, as well as his economic recklessness."
14 November 2008
West Midlands European Elections In 2009

One focus of our campaign will be on using European institutions to help create millions of new green jobs, energy security and a stronger, more resilient economy.
The campaign launch happened at one of the success stories of green job creation in the West Midlands. In Rubery, South Birmingham, Strip Tinning Automotive, after the Rover collapse, diversified into making parts for solar panels.
Our lead candidate for the West Midlands (#1 on the Green Party list) is Felicity Norman.
If you want to hear Felicity speak, one of her next engagements is in Birmingham on the 27th of November. It's a public meeting ("How do we stop climate change?") at Birmingham Uni (Strathcona Building, Lecture Theatre 4) at 730pm.
10 November 2008
Green Party Meeting - 11th November, 730pm
We will start a series of community meetings in Cheylesmore on Tuesday evening.
It's at 730pm, at the Cheylesmore Community Centre (that's on Poitiers Road, right at Portsea). It's in room one.
We're about to send a 5000-copy newsletter to the printers, so we can have a final proof-read of that, but what we really need to do is plan outreach to attract people to future meetings, with guest speakers/films.
We also have a discussion each week about an aspect of Green Party policy -- this month, it will be migration/immigration, and you can see the party's full policy at: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfssmg.html
It's at 730pm, at the Cheylesmore Community Centre (that's on Poitiers Road, right at Portsea). It's in room one.
We're about to send a 5000-copy newsletter to the printers, so we can have a final proof-read of that, but what we really need to do is plan outreach to attract people to future meetings, with guest speakers/films.
We also have a discussion each week about an aspect of Green Party policy -- this month, it will be migration/immigration, and you can see the party's full policy at: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfssmg.html
09 November 2008
New Zealand's Green Party
In elections in New Zealand, their Green Party (with 6.4% of the vote) increased their seats from 6 to 8. They are now the third-largest party in their parliament!
One of the reasons why we want Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavillion), and hopefully Adrian Ramsay (Norwich South) and Darren Johnson (Lewisham), to be elected to Parliament is that Green MPs get things done.
Some of the New Zealand Green MP's achievements include:
- improving NZ's Emissions Trading Scheme, including creating a Billion dollar fund to make homes warm, dry and cost-effective to heat
- ensuring legislation for youth wages and flexible working hours
- helping to pass New Zealand's first energy efficiency legislation
- helping to pass New Zealand's first waste reduction legislation
- keeping commercial GM crops out of New Zealand's soil
- increasing New Zealand's commitment to overseas aid
- helping to keep New Zealand troops out of Iraq, and,
- increasing funding for public transport, cycling, and walking; vehicle fuel-economy labeling; and an agreement that fuel economy standards will be introduced soon.
One of the reasons why we want Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavillion), and hopefully Adrian Ramsay (Norwich South) and Darren Johnson (Lewisham), to be elected to Parliament is that Green MPs get things done.
Some of the New Zealand Green MP's achievements include:
- improving NZ's Emissions Trading Scheme, including creating a Billion dollar fund to make homes warm, dry and cost-effective to heat
- ensuring legislation for youth wages and flexible working hours
- helping to pass New Zealand's first energy efficiency legislation
- helping to pass New Zealand's first waste reduction legislation
- keeping commercial GM crops out of New Zealand's soil
- increasing New Zealand's commitment to overseas aid
- helping to keep New Zealand troops out of Iraq, and,
- increasing funding for public transport, cycling, and walking; vehicle fuel-economy labeling; and an agreement that fuel economy standards will be introduced soon.
10 October 2008
Coventry Green Party Meetings
- This Friday, the Warwick Young Greens are having their first meeting proper of the year. They had a two-day freshers fair table on Mon/Tue of this week, and they had 40 people express interest. The meeting today is at 530pm on the campus, but if you want more info on future meetings/activities, you can contact John Walton on 07816 604 484.
- Next Tuesday, we'll be having our monthly Coventry Green Party meeting. It's at 730pm, at the Coventry Peace House, on Stoney Stanton Road. We'll be talking about Coventry Peace Month activities, our upcoming newsletter distribution in Cheylesmore, and putting ourselves on a more secure financial footing! If you want more information, give me a call on 07906 316 726.
- Next Tuesday, we'll be having our monthly Coventry Green Party meeting. It's at 730pm, at the Coventry Peace House, on Stoney Stanton Road. We'll be talking about Coventry Peace Month activities, our upcoming newsletter distribution in Cheylesmore, and putting ourselves on a more secure financial footing! If you want more information, give me a call on 07906 316 726.
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