Progressive Alliance Panel at Green Party Conference

Friday 2 September, 18.30-19.45
Progressive Alliances: The case for cross-party working and why it could be a game-changer for the Green Party

This session will explore the various options that collectively get called a 'progressive alliance'. It will launch a new book on this, “The Alternative”, which has been co-edited by 3 of our panellists. Signed copies will be available for sale afterwards. It will also launch the Green House report, The Green Case for a Progressive Pact, which will also be on sale at the event.

	Chair - Zoe Williams has been a columnist on the Guardian since 2000 - previously, she wrote a column for the London Evening Standard.  In her ceaseless endeavour to smash the patriarchy, she contributes to various magazines and news weeklies, including Marie Claire, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Red and Grazia.  Broadcasting includes Question Time, the Daily Politics, The Politics Show and Newsnight for the BBC; Dispatches and the Channel Four News for Channel Four; a paper review for Sky News; and appearances on the Today programme, Any Questions, Woman's Hour, PM and the World Tonight for BBC Radio Four. She was 2014's Restaurant Reviewer of the Year, 2013's Print Journalist of the Year for the Speaking Together Awards, 2011's Columnist of the Year at the Workworld awards and is author of three non-fiction books, Get It Together: Why We Deserve Better Politics, The Madness of Modern Parenting and Bring It On, Baby.
	Rupert Read chairs Green House (www.greenhousethinktank.org ). He co-authored Green House's report on prospects for a progressive pact and was the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Cambridge in 2015.
	Caroline Lucas was elected as Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion in 2010. She served as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012. From 1999-2010 she served as one of the Party's first MEPs and represented the South East region until becoming the UK's first Green MP in 2011.
	Neal Lawson is Chair of the good society pressure group Compass and was author of All Consuming (Penguin, 2009) and co-editor of The Progressive Century (Palgrave, 2001). He serves on the Advisory Board of We own it!, is a Contributing Editor of the social democracy journal Renewal which he helped found and is an Associate Member at the Bauman Institute at Leeds University. He writes regularly for the Guardian and the New Statesman.
	Chris Bowers is a writer and broadcaster, specialising in tennis, environment and politics. He commentates on tennis for radio and television, has written several books, and counts as a tennis historian; he was the founder of the Environmental Transport Association in 1990, and works as a communications consultant for the European Federation for Transport and Environment; and he is the biographer of Nick Clegg. He is a former Liberal Democrat councillor on Lewes District Council, and stood for Parliament for the Lib Dems in 2010 and 2015. More on www.chrisbowers.org.
	Lisa Nandy is the Member of Parliament for Wigan. Since being elected she has campaigned in Parliament to tackle child abuse, to save the Education Maintenance Allowance and against human rights abuses in Palestine. She has fought against low pay and zero hours contracts and campaigned against growing poverty in Wigan and across the country. In September 2015 Lisa was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Shahrar Ali calls for Green Party internal referendum on party's Progressive Alliance positions

Shahrar Ali, a contender for deputy leadership of the Green Party, a post he currently holds, has called for a possible internal referendum on the negotiating position the party should hold in an discussion on a Progressive Alliance with other parties.

In a Facebook posting over the weekend Ali wrote:

I've been on two leadership hustings this weekend and I must say one of the most controversial topics of engagement was on Progressive Alliances. I believe there's been a mismatch between our public pronouncements on the matter and member expectation. It's imperative we don't get the cart before the horse.

He followed up this somewhat opaque statement stating:

It does frustrate me sometimes when we [the Green Party] appear to cut corners. Engagement and consultation were never meant to be easy, but it's a mistake to think of due process as an encumbrance. To the contrary, those of us in position of responsibility have obligation to engage and not circumvent. Better decisions will result.

Other posters express concern that the party is moving towards a top-down model where leaders make policy rather than members, The Progressive Alliance idea was strongly backed by Green MP Caroline Lucas LINK who is a candidate for the leadership position on a job share basis with Jonathan Bartley.

Green Left, the eco-socialist grouping within the Green Party of England and Wales,  adopted the following position on the Progressive Alliance at its last General Meeting:

 Green Left welcomes the move to discuss campaigning and electoral alliances leading up to the next General Election.

Green Left has always promoted the idea of working together with the left, where we share values, and that, as much as possible, the Green Party should be included in this, lending support to and endorsing Eco-socialists who are members of other parties. We did this by supporting Salma Yaqoob in parliamentary elections.

This needs further discussion with members and we welcome consultations, about it, taking place.

Green Left members with our positive standing amongst others on the Left are able to positively engage people outside the GPEW who share our values and therefore should take the initiative locally in promoting discussions with individuals, progressive groups and other left parties, such as the Jeremy Corbyn led Labour Party.

Any left alliance must be committed to introducing PR for all future elections and the 'Best Placed Left Candidate’ should be a consideration in marginal seats.

Clive Lewis & Caroline Lucas head up speakers list at Progressive Alliance event next week

From Compass

 Politics is in crisis and the repercussions from the result of the referendum are being felt socially, politically and economically. For many people, it feels like the country is being torn apart.

If we want a politics and economy that puts all of us first, it's time to come together and start building alliances. We need a democracy that listens and responds, that puts the people in control. We will not get there by shutting people out and perpetuating divisions, but by building bridges, alliances common cause.

In the current political chaos the Right are asserting themselves across the political terrain, while most of the Left's focus is on how Labour is pulling itself apart. Only a progressive alliance of all parties, people and movements can flip the debate to one that builds a society that is much more equal, sustainable and democratic. With a general election looming in the Autumn, a popular front of ideas and organisation is the only way to defend what we hold dear and to start to build a society that we can all live in and be proud of.

We are calling a series of public meetings to explore: what could a progressive alliance look like? How possible is it? And what can we do to start to make it feasible?

The first meeting will be on Tuesday July 5th. While this event is in London, local groups are exploring holding simultaneous events around the country. We are working on live streaming the event (details to follow) and will be hosting online discussion and meetings across the country in the coming weeks and months.

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Lucas MP, Green Party
Clive Lewis MP, Labour Party
Amina Gichinga, Take Back the City
John Harris, Journalist
Hopefully SNP & Plaid Cymru speakers tbc

VENUE: Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8EP.
The venue is fully accessible for wheelchair users.

DATE & TIME: Tuesday July 5th, doors 6pm for a prompt 6.30pm start, finishing at 8.30pm

TICKETS: Please click here to get your tickets, spaces are limited.

Tickets are pay what you can to help us cover the cost of putting on the event, if you would like to come but are not able to pay, please do email clare@compassonline.org.uk.

This is about parties and seats - we need to make sure that the Conservatives and Right do not win the next election - but it must also be much richer and deeper. It must be about values and movements; it is a time for all of us to step up and get involved.

This event will launch a series of conversations about a Progressive Alliance that will then continue across the country, linking up with parties, movements and organisations. There has been a lot of talk about the need for Progressive Alliances over the last week, now is the time to start organising.

Green Parties propose talks on progressive alliance post-Referendum vote

This is the text of the open letter that has gone from the Green Parties of England, Wales and Northern Ireland to Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron and Leanne Wood urging talks about a progressive alliance.

 Dear all,

In a spirit of openness and transparency, we are writing to you as Leaders of parties which oppose Brexit, to invite you to a cross-party meeting to explore how we best rise to the challenge posed by last week’s vote to leave the EU.

Britain is in crisis and people are scared about the future. Never have we had a greater need for calm leadership to be shown by politicians.

We have a UK Government in chaos, an economy facing a crisis and people up and down the country facing serious hardship. There is an urgent need to make a stand against any austerity and the slashing of environmental legislation, human and workers’ rights that may come with Brexit.

With the growing likelihood of an early General Election, the importance of progressive parties working together to prevent the formation of a Tory-UKIP-DUP government that would seek to enact an ultra-right Brexit scenario is ever more pressing.

This is an opportunity to recognise that a more plural politics is in both the Left’s electoral and political interests. This crisis exposes the absurdity of our first past the post electoral system. Just 24 per cent of those eligible to vote elected the government that called the referendum. The only fair way to proceed is to have a proportional voting system where people can back the politicians who they believe in, rather than taking a gamble and not knowing who they will end up with.

The idea of a progressive alliance has been floated for several years, and proposals have once again been put forward in the context of the current crisis. We believe that the time has come to urgently consider such ideas together in the context of a Westminster Government. We recognise the very different political situation in Scotland, given the strongly pro-EU majority there. We hope that co-operation between progressive parties their can ensure that this mandate is respected, and we will support them to keep all options open.

We look forward to your response,

Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Alice Hooker-Stroud, Leader of Wales Green Party

Steven Agnew MLA, Leader of the Green Party of Northern Ireland

Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion

Red Pepper on 'How red are the Greens?'

The latest Red Pepper, delivered today, has How red are the Greens? as its cover story with additional articles inside. It is edited by Michael Calderbank who is a member of the LRC and a local Brent activist with whom I have campaigned on various local issues.

The cover story by Andrew Dolan is fairly friendly and attributes a drop in Labour support on the left and the support of the young  'in part a consequence of the Green Party's opposition to the austerity politics that Labour has committed itself to. The Green's policies of rail nationalisation, social housing construction, a rise in the minimum wage and free education represent an attractive alternative to a demographic traditionally located on the left and more likely to express dissatisfaction with neoliberalism and austerity than those already entrenched within labour and property markets.'

However he quotes research by James Dennison that on specific economic policy issues those planning on voting Green in fact tend to be less left wing that Labour voters. 'What clearly separates likely Green voters from those of other parties, UKIP aside, is that a far higher proportion express a lack of trust in MPs in particular and UK democracy in general.'

He goes on, 'Accompanying the Green's leftward policy shift has been a new rhetoric comparable to that deployed across Europe. Talk of "the people" , of "us versus them" and even of "revolt" is now commonplace In Green Party publications and speeches and carries some legitimacy when considered in relation to the party's well-publicised support for various grassroots struggles and the involvement of the Scottish Greens in the Radical Independence Campaign'.'

After examining the prospects of the Greens winning more seats and holding on to Brighton Pavilion (according to him not terribly good) he says on tactical voting 'A newly emboldened Green party has little interest in such tactical anti-Tory consideration. Rather its eyes are fixed on the opportunities that may arise should '"politics as usual" and the austerity it entails continue. The party's recent talks with thee SNP and Plaid Cymru, and their stated intention to "unite wherever possible to battle the Westminster parties' "obsession with austerity", hint at the possibility of a changed political landscape: one in which the idea of the "other parties" including the Green Party, transforming growing popularity into power is more than just a pipedream.'

Joseph Healy, billed as a founder member of Green Left and ex GP International committee, writes a pessimistic article suggesting that the Greens chances of not disappointing their supporters if the get into any government are 'not good' based on what happened in Ireland, Czech Republic and France.

Hilary Wainwright in Out of their seats writes 'Caroline Lucas is perhaps currently the one (MP) able to speak most openly and clearly about what is on voters' minds: austerity and is daily consequences, and what is needed is parliamentary terms to end it.'  Quoting Lucas saying that a progressive alliance could do more in the next parliament Wainright goes on: 'Although the 'we' might in parliamentary voting terms be only one MP, in Lucas the Greens have had a real political force in parliament - a force driven not only by her personal capacities, which are immense' but also by a political methodology that could well be adopted by the progressive alliance as a whole. Lucas's effective parliamentary initiatives against fracking and the energy companies, for public ownership of the rail system and for reinstating the NHS have been the result of immersion in extra-parliamentary campaigns and public debates..A bit like Tony Benn, she thereby giver further confidence and strength to the movements in society and their ability to shift public consciousness with a clear and persuasive political message.'

Reviewing Caroline Lucas's recently Published Honourable Friends? Parliament and the Fight for Change, Ian Sinclair having praised the book as 'an absolute joy to read - accessible, fast paced and entertaining - and often funny too'  concludes..'Cogent, rational and humane Honourable Friends? confirms why it is essential all progressives work to make sure Lucas continues as an MP.