Dawn Butler gives Brent FoE her views on pressing environmental issues

Brent Friends of the Earth have issued the following account of their meeting with Dawn Butler, Labour, Brent Central, when they lobbied her over Climate Change.

 

Six members of Brent Friends of the Earth (Brent FoE) met with Brent Central MP Dawn Butler at the House of Commons this Wednesday 17^th June as part of a climate change lobby of Parliament.

The campaigners joined thousands of concerned people from all around the country to take part in 'For the Love of' – a mass lobby to urge MPs to take urgent action on climate change. The Brent group focussed their views on fracking, solar schools, fuel poverty, and airport expansion, and found much common ground with their newly-elected MP.

On fracking, Dawn is now as signatory to Labour MP Geraint Davies' “Fracking (Measurement and Regulation of Impacts) (Air, Water and Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Bill”, which hopes to stop fracking through making the contamination of water used and the emissions created by the process illegal. Fracking uses vast quantities of water along with toxic chemicals to extract shale gas. Forcing companies to clean this up would make extraction too expensive. She supports Labour leadership candidate Andy Burnham MP in calling for a moratorium on this controversial technology in order to concentrate efforts on supporting renewables. Both Wales and Scotland already have moratoriums in place.

Viv Stein, Spokesperson for Brent FoE says, “With a decision due next week on whether to approve the UK's first fracking site in Lancashire, it is vital that we put a stop to fracking now. Giving the go ahead to this dirty fossil fuel there could pave the way for more fracking up and down the country, including a proposed site at Park Royal in Brent. It would also reduce the chance of preventing irreversible climate change. We need to leave shale gas in the ground and invest in renewable energy instead.”

“Fracking companies and the Government need to know they will find huge opposition wherever they plan to drill. We were pleased that Dawn Butler agrees that we should put a stop to fracking now, and that renewable energy is the way forward to secure our energy needs.”

On renewable energy, Brent FoE have been instrumental in setting up a local community energy co-operative, 'Brent Pure Energy', to put solar panels on schools and public buildings. Dawn favours extending the scheme to local churches and a mosque in Willesden Green, and she is also setting up a 'Green Cabinet' to focus attention on sustainability in Brent.

Dawn this week was voted Vice Chair of PRASEG, the All Party Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group - a group of MPs and senior industry stakeholders working together to promote issues around sustainable and renewable energy in Parliament. As Vice Chair Dawn will play a leading role in helping PRASEG hold the government to account and ensuring the UK plays a leading role worldwide on energy and climate change.

Ensuring warmer homes and ending fuel poverty is also a particular concern for both Brent FoE and Dawn. As a Magistrate she sees many people in court penalised for defaulting on energy bills. She wants to end the high tariffs charged by pre-payment meters, and to encourage landlords to insulate homes. NHS budgets will also benefit as cold homes mean poor health.

Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent Central says, “Ending fuel poverty and protecting tenants against excessive fuel bills are high on my agenda. I'm on board - Friends of the Earth are pushing on an open door with me on this, but it's not so open it's letting all the energy out!”

On airport expansion Dawn opposes the proposed expansion at Heathrow, but is not convinced that future expansion might be needed based on 'the business case'. She supports London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, who has come out against Heathrow. FoE believe airports should not be allowed to expand, and that most of the extra capacity is for transfers so would not make much impact on UK business. The group did not agree with Dawn's belief that there are 'greener' planes. We believe the only 'green' plane is the 'solar impulse' a solar powered plane, which recently paused its round the world flight. Flying still remains the most carbon-intensive form of travel.

The lobby of Parliament is was organised by the Climate Coalition – the UK's largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change. For more details see http://fortheloveof.org.uk/. Brent FoE has a website at www.brentfoe.com. To sign FoE's urgent petition to keep Lancashire frack free go to https://www.foe.co.uk/act/psfl.

Election Result: First Thoughts

Our votes were squeezed in the General Election with many voters indicating sympathy but feeling that they had to vote Labour or Lib Dem to keep out the Tories.  Nonetheless we had a solid core of support registering around 1.5% in the three parliamentary constituencies.  Barry Gardiner won Brent North with an increased vote, Sarah Teather just beat Dawn Butler in Brent Central and Glenda Jackson won Hampstead and Kilburn.

The Tories were swept aside in the Brent Council elections, reduced to only six seats but there were also many Lib Dem losses. The new council is Labour 40, Lib Dem 17 and Conservative 6. In several wards there is mixed party representation. Greens polled strongly in some wards giving us the foundation for further  advances.

Labour activists were taken aback by the scale of their victory and were at a loss to explain why they polled so strongly despite the national picture. Some pointed to the  impact of having a General Election  and local election on the same day and felt the General Election had pulled in voters who would not have bothered to vote in a local election, with many just following on their General Election with a vote for the same party in the locals. Some people elected as Labour councillors were frank about their shock as they hadn't expected win and had stood on that basis. Now they suddenly find their lives changed with new and time consuming responsibilities.

Robert Wharton, the Lib Dem lead on Children, Families and Schools, who was responsible for the ARK Academy, lost his seat.  However we will have to continue to battle on this front as it was the Labour Party whose votes, combined with those of the Lib Dems, enabled the Academy to go ahead in the face of Tory opposition. We will also continue to put forward the abolition of  SATs against opposition from the other parties. It is really disapppointing that, despite the NUT and NAHT boycott, 53 out 55 Brent primary schools are going ahead with the SATs next week. The SATs are narrowing the curriculum, reducing teaching to exam preparation, and undermining the joy of learning. Year 6 pupils have been keen supporters of our policy!

We will also have to work hard with other local environmental groups to pressure the new Council to act decisively and radically on climate change. Labour councillors failed to turn up to a public meeting on this issue and have not been at the forefront of demands for action.  We will also be looking to see the promised review of the Civic Centre proposal result in the scarpping of the project.

I would like to thank everyone who voted Green for their support. Please don't get down-hearted because we still have no elected councillors. We are a campaigning party, and as out last Newsletter showed we have achieved a lot without council representation. Any objective oberserver will recognise that a committed campaign can achieve more than a councillor who after an election disappears into obscurity.

We were congratulated by people from all parties at the count on Caroline Lucas's victory in Brighton Pavilion. It is great news but our policies are radical and she will be a incisive and passionate advocate of strategies that are sharply different from those of the 'old' parties. They will find her a formidable presence in the new House of Commons.