Green Party launches petition for more affordable public transport in London

 

 

The London Green Party has launched a petition for more affordable public transport in London:

 

The cost of public transport in London is higher than any other global major city.

 

We need the Mayor of London and Transport for London to urgently focus on reducing the cost of getting around our city. 

 

In the run up to the next Transport for London budget, we are asking the Mayor to prioritise measures to reduce costs of travel to help all Londoners with the cost of living.

 

We are calling on the mayor to:

• Freeze fares at current levels.
• Extend free bus travel to under-22s
• Make free travel available 24 hours a day for Freedom Pass holders.
• Offer free travel to all emergency services staff.
• Provide free bus travel for people seeking asylum

 

SIGN HERE  

London Assembly unites in call for the Mayor to invest in new toilets on the tube - no more crossing your legs and hoping!

The London Assembly has yet again today supported a call from Caroline Russell AM for the Mayor to invest in new toilets on the London transport network – but this time with unanimous, cross-party support.

 

The call comes after a report released by Caroline Russell AM showed that less than a quarter of Transport for London (TfL) stations in zones 1 -3 of London have toilets, with ‘loo deserts’ like the Northern line stretching all the way from Morden to Kennington.

 

 

 

The call has also been supported by campaigners such as Age UK London. The need for a toilet can be a real challenge to older Londoners and those with a medical condition, preventing them accessing all that London has to offer.

 

Green Party London Assembly Member Caroline Russell said:

 

I expect the Mayor to listen and get on with providing new toilets at existing TfL stations. My report has uncovered a hugely uneven picture in the provision of toilets – some lines are flush with them, and others are just crap.

 

When I last asked the Mayor to invest in new toilets, he instead suggested a feasibility study which has taken months to even begin. Londoners need real investment in new toilets now. You can’t have a wee in a feasibility study.

 

I really hope this is the last time we have to come together as an Assembly and call on the Mayor to stop Londoners having to cross their legs and hope.

 

Abi Wood, CEO, Age UK London said:

 

The ability to use the transport network easily can be transformative. Unfortunately, the current lack of toilet provision can make journeys really difficult and in some cases lead people to decide not to make a journey at all. 

 

This ultimately prevents people from doing the things that they need and want to do – we shouldn’t accept that this is just how things are. We fully support calls for more investment in toilet provision on the TfL network. 

 

This is something that all Londoners will benefit from and make our city more inclusive and welcoming now and in the future.

 

Caroline’s report The London Loo League Table was published in August 2023, it draws on data from TfL to analyse toilet provision throughout London. https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/TfL%20Toilet%20Report%20FINAL.pdf

London Greens: Turn grey concrete into green space to stop London flooding

From Green Party at City Hall

 

Queen Caroline Estate, Hammersmith & Fulham

 

At a time when London is flooding regularly, the Mayor has only delivered one hundredth of his annual target to improve drainage.  

Over 100,000 square metres of London that should have improved drainage using SuDs (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) has not been delivered since 2019. The Mayor has also confirmed he is unable to properly track progress under questioning from Zack Polanski AM today. 

SuDs are designed to reduce risks around flooding which are increased during winter months and the Mayor is on course to miss this target for the third year in a row.[1] 

When Zack has asked for more data on SuDs, he has been told the GLA does not hold detailed data on installation by year. Figures given often say more is happening but are unspecific on how much or where this is taking place.[1] 

Green London Assembly member Zack Polanski says: 

You can’t track progress if you don’t know what’s being done. The climate is getting more volatile than ever, and London risks another season of flooding. 

I would urge the Mayor to not only meet his target but also make up the shortfall. The grey concrete that covers too much of London can gather rainfall into devastating floods which particularly threaten those living in basements. 

We must break up that concrete and replace it with green spaces that absorb water, letting it drain away over time instead of flooding our homes. The Mayor has missed this target for too long – he must commit to taking SuDs seriously, prioritising tracking and encouraging boroughs, businesses and landowners to do more.

The Mayor has a target for TfL to drain 50,000 square metres a year of highway catchment into SuDs. In 2021/22 TfL only installed SuDs that drained 500 square metres.[1] 

[1] Data from two MQs by Zack Polanski AM on London’s Sustainable Drainage System progress MQ 2022/0016 https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/londons-sustainable-drainage-system-progress and MQ 2022/3603 https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/londons-sustainable-drainage-system-progress-2  

 

Year	TfL   (sq m)	Boroughs (sq m)	Boroughs (number)	Total	Shortfall
2019-20	80	‘at least’ 22,437	13	22,517	27,483
2020-21	1,750	9,715	12	11,465	38,535
2021-22	500	6,785	No figure given	7,285	42,715

  

In total this is a shortfall of 107,733 square metres of land that could have been given drainage using SuDs. 

Note that the answer to MQ 2022/3603 says that the GLA does not hold fully detailed data on SuDs.

Huge turnout for Climate Change demonstration

A large contingent of London Green Party members joined thousands of climate change campaigners on today's demonstration in London.

London Green Party calls for action to end London’s housing crisis

 Green Party leader Natalie Bennett will tomorrow highlight the desperate shortage of affordable housing in London in a protest outside Mount Pleasant development in Islington

 

The party says this new development of 700 private flats is symbolic of Mayor Boris Johnson’s strategy of prioritising homes for the super-rich whilst ordinary Londoners are priced out of their homes.

 

Natalie Bennett commented:

Boris Johnson is once again riding roughshod over the people of London by privileging the profit of a developer over the need to provide ordinary Londoners with affordable homes. By providing only 12 per cent affordable housing in the new development, he's failing to allow for the development of a balanced community. He's not providing homes for the teachers, police officers, cleaners, and many other people who serve our communities, but setting up big profits for property speculators and private landlords. This public land should be put to community use with genuinely affordable council housing. That is why I ask all those who feel that it is time for change to join us Islington on Saturday 15th February from 10am.

Research from the Mayor’s office shows that, despite the rise in homelessness and overcrowded housing in London, two-thirds of all newly built properties are being sold to investors – pushing up prices even further. The party argues that the Mayor’s strategy of marketing new properties to rich investors is completely inappropriate for a city where the median house price is now three times the affordable limit for the average household.

Defend London's NHS this Saturday

DEFEND LONDON’S NHS     

●Save Our Hospitals

●No to Privatisation

DEMONSTRATION

SATURDAY 18 MAY

Assemble 12 noon

Concert Hall Approach /Belvedere Rd

Waterloo http://goo.gl/maps/Lg6MT

MARCH TO DOWNING ST

Rally in Whitehall 2pm

This demonstration has been called by an unprecedented coalition of London residents, medical staff, trade unions and health campaigners who have come together to raise the alarm regarding the biggest threats to A & E’s, maternity units and in-hospital care for a generation.

Closures planned across the capital include nine accident and emergency departments, a number of maternity units and thousands of hospital beds that campaigners believe will put lives at risk..
Hospitals and community services are also threatened with take-over by multi-national private companies. Hundreds of thousands of London residents have pledged their opposition to these privatisation plans for the NHS.

Across the capital, tens of thousands have taken to the streets to protest and demonstrate to save their local hospitals. 80,000 signed a petition against the closures in North West London. 25,000 joined the demonstration to defend Lewisham hospital. 

The local campaigns have joined up to call on the government to stop these closures. We are working together to undermine the government’s divisive tactics of playing one hospital off against another. Instead we are demanding that the government provide the funding needed for safe levels of care across the capital. 

Help save London’s Health Service

The demonstration has been called by Save our Hospital campaigns across London and London Keep Our NHS Public. It has been backed by Unite the union, a number of MPs and councillors, trade unions and the London Labour Party. Please ask your organisation to pledge their support to publicise the demonstration by adding your name. Donations towards costs will also be gratefully received (Cheques to Keep Our NHS Public c/o 32 Savernake Rd, NW3 2JP).

SUPPORT FOR  18 MAY DEMONSTRATION
Support for the demo includes:      Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign, Defend Whittington Hospital Coalition, Save our Hospitals Ealing, Save Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals, Andy Slaughter MP, Steve Pound MP, Virendra Sharma MP, John Cryer MP, David Lammy MP, Frank Dobson MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, John McDonnell MP, Dianne Abbott MP, Greater London Labour Party, London Green Party, Dr Onkar Sahota, Jennette Arnold & Murad Qureshi, Joanne McCartney  London Assembly Members, Catherine West Leader Islington Council, Rachael Saunders Councillor Tower Hamlets, Unite the Union, National Union or Journalists, RMT, London Region GMB, London Regional Council of the BMA, London Region CWU, London &SE Region PCS, Whipps cross Hospital UNISON, Westminster UNISON, Save Chase Farm, Brent Fightback, Kensington and Chelsea Residents Save Our Hospital, Ealing Trades Union Council NHS Campaign, Medical Practitioners Union Unite, Roger Lloyd Pack, Ealing Southall CLP, Kingston Trades Council, Kingston and Surbiton Green Party, Kingston Keep Our NHS Public , Kingston GMB, Islington Trades Council, We Are Waltham Forest Defending Our NHS, Camden Keep Our NHS Public , Tower Hamlets BMA,  Euston Tower PCS, Islington NUT, Tower Hamlets Keep Our NHS Public, Unite the Resistance, City & Hackney Coalition to Defend the NHS, Lambeth Keep Our NHS Public, Camden UNISON,  Save Our Local Hospitals Greenwich, Bexley & Bromley, Lambeth Pensioners Action Group, PCS DEFRA Southern, Coalition of Resistance,  Defend Haringey Health Services Coalition, Islington Pensioners Forum, Redbridge Save Our NHS, National Health Action Party,  Tower Hamlets College UCU, Islington North Labour Party, RMT EPS 0520, Bromley Trades Council, Westminster North Labour Party, Camden Trades Council, Lewisham People Before Profit, Greenwich NUT, London Young Greens, London Magazine NUJ,  City & Hackney Division BMA, East London Health Unite, Homerton Hospital Unison, Occupy London, Brent Trades Council, Haringey 38 Degrees, Croydon TUC, London Health Emergency, Socialist Health Association, National Pensioners Convention, London Young Labour Exec committee, Anonymous UK, Friends of the Earth, Islington division BMA, Hands Off Hinchingbrooke, Save Barnet NHS, University of London Union,  London Region UCU, London Region Unison, London Region RCN.

Three Greens Compete for London Mayor Nomination

The Green Party in London will be selecting its candidate for Mayor over the next two weeks. Here are the candidates' statements (in alphabetical order):

Shahrar Ali
I'm standing for selection as the Greens' Mayoral candidate to provide voters with a strong, Green, alternative to business-as-usual politics. As a lifelong Londoner, I advocate radical, Green solutions to the everyday problems faced by us all. Elected Greens thrive on service to the people, whether by investing in public transport, holding the police to account, or realising sustainable jobs in renewable energy and waste - to promote quality of life for all without harming the planet. There's more to politics than a rerun of the Ken and Boris road show: we need Greens!

I want to get elected not for its own sake, but in order to pursue the Green Party's noble aims. I'm not afraid to take on government administrations, opposition politicians or big business, or to form alliances when strategically necessary.

Siân Berry, the Green Party's Mayoral candidate in 2008, says: "Running for Mayor is tough: it's an uphill battle competing for space and attention with the other candidates. I have no doubt that Shahrar's drive, personality and detailed knowledge of London's issues will do the job of standing out for the Greens and standing up for our values."

Farid Bakht
I want Greens to move beyond their comfort zone and build a coalition around students and young people, the one in three Londoners of foreign origin and over a hundred thousand small businesses starved of credit by banks.

My priority is to widen our appeal to people from all communities including the working class within London". Why is it that white working class people don't generally vote for us?

I want to demolish the myth that we are a white, middle class party interested only in a narrow agenda not in tune with people's everyday lives.

We need to demonstrate we are the real opposition to three very similar parties by playing a central role in the anti-cuts movement.

We need to attract Londoners with our message of environmental and social justice, our humane approach to immigration and our commitment to free education, health and council housing.

Half Basque, half Bengali, and born in Hackney, I was brought up in London. I am married with a nine-year old daughter and live in West London.

Jenny Jones
My vision for London is of a sustainable city with less inequality between rich and poor. To achieve sustainability, we must introduce measures to tame the traffic, create a planning system that enables small businesses to thrive and encourages green measures such as affordable zero carbon housing, develop a single waste authority that rejects incineration, and reduce total carbon emissions by 90% by 2050 with annual targets.

To lessen inequality we must commit to reducing poverty to a less shameful level through policies such as the London Living Wage for all companies, decreasing pay ratio differentials in regional and local government, and increasing affordable housing. This can be done through strong partnership working with the boroughs, and with campaign and community groups, and by lobbying the government to stop tax loopholes and guarantee that the richest pay their fair share of taxes.

Finally we must ensure the police are fully accountable to their communities as well as fully representative. The May 2012 election will be an opportunity for us to explain our alternative to the disastrous cuts programme of the coalition government and explain that going green creates jobs, saves money and protects the planet.