Tuesday 21 July 2009
BACK VESTAS OCCUPATION
Workers at the Vestas wind turbine blade plant on the Isle of Wight have occupied their factory in Newport in an attempt to prevent its closure, which was scheduled for the end of this month. The Green Party Trade Union Group sends its full support to them.
Job losses in a recession are tragic and counterproductive, serving only to worsen it by throwing people out of work.
This particular closure would be doubly damaging because it would remove one of the few capacities Britain has to build the new, environmentally friendly technologies urgently needed to construct the infrastructure that could help to counteract the effects of climate change.
Importing turbine blades is a false solution because their transport would increase the environmental cost of wind turbines. Furthermore the skills and knowledge of the Vestas workers could be dispersed and lost just when we need them most.
If the government allows this closure, its commitment to dealing with climate change will seem a total sham.
How can it let Vestas close when it can afford;
¤ The Afghan war effort
¤ The bail out of banks including continuing taxpayers’ support for excessive fatcat salaries..
¤ The renewal of the trident missile system
¤ New nuclear power stations
¤ And a ridiculous scheme of paying MP’s expenses ?
The Green Party Trade Union Group urges everyone who can to support the Vestas occupation and put pressure on government to actually enact a strategy of creating an environmentally friendly infrastructure for Britain and new jobs for its peoples.
P.Murry GPTU secretary
Wednesday 15 July 2009
QUANGO ACCUSED OF ACADEMY BULLYING AS PLAYING FIELDS DESTROYED
Brent Council and ARK lost no time in securing the Wembley playing fields site and moving the builders in after the London Mayor and Government Office for London decided not to intervene in the academy dispute. However works could still be affected by the possibility of an application for judicial review.
Meanwhile The Policy Exchange has published a critical report on Partnership for Schools (PfS) the quango responsible for running the £55bn Building Schools for the Future programme. The report, Building Blocks, gives accounts from LEAs, local officers, academy sponsors and others about their experience with PfS.
PfS is accused of forcing local authorities to opt for academies or trust schools if they want funding to rebuild schools or build new ones. The programme to improve school buildings has thus been 'contaminated' by government pressure on LEAs to adopt the academy model and all the baggage that goes along with it. This mixing of the two separate issues and the extension of the academies programme via the funding bribe has been condemned by teacher unions.
The Policy Exchange itself favours Conservative and Liberal Democratic policies for 'free schools' - schools with less local authority control, and so sees the PfS's action as a form of increased centralisation. They cite requirements for school ICT systems, where LEAs are pressurised into awarding lucrative contracts to just one supplier across schools, as an example of control and micromanagement.
From this perspective we are left with unpalatable policies from all three parties: Labour continues to push academies on to often reluctant local councils and communities while finding more ways to control them, while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in 'freeing' the schools will actually limit the role of Local Education Authorities with voters no longer having a direct say in the way their local schools are run.
A worrying developement when local communities have been angered by moves to convert or amalgamate schools is high-lighted by the report. In Stoke the BNP has opposed local reorganisation plans on the basis that they 'foster racial integration against local wishes' and they made opposition to Building Schools for the Future a central plank in their June election camapign.
Saturday 11 July 2009
FOR PLANET AND PEOPLE
There have two incidents recently that have stood out. One was a conversation with a fairly prominent member of the local Labour party who stopped me in the High Road to tell me that the people of Wembley weren't ready to receive the 'environmental message'. I pointed out that the environmental message in my campaign was linked with social justice policies that would make absolute sense to local people. He ended up taking leaflets from me and pressing one into the hands of an acquaintance who happened to be passing.
The other was someone who said he had supported the Labour Party all his life but was now totally disenchanted. He said he had been following what Greens had been saying and that he was impressed by the cool commonsense of Caroline Lucas. He now intended to switch to the Greens in the by-election.
We still have a long way to go of course but we are fighting the by-election on positive policies that will make a difference to people's lives:
1. OUR PLANET Climate Change is a huge threat to human life. We will work to strengthen Brent’s Policy.
We will press for a Schools and Climate Change Conference to explain the issues and take action
2. DECENT HOMES FOR ALL
Free insulation for all homes that need it, reducing heating bills AND Co2 emissions.
Reduce housing lists by building affordable homes and taking over abandoned empty houses.
3. USEFUL WORK AND FAIR WAGES
Encourage green industries into the regeneration areas to create green jobs.
London is too expensive for many people. We want a London Living Wage of £7.45 minimum for all Council employees. We will persuade other employers to take similar action.
4. LOOKING AFTER OUR CHILDREN
Half of our children who live in poverty don’t qualify for a free school meal. Every child should get a free hot and healthy school meal every day.
We are against giving away schools that WE pay for to private sponsors and have fought against the ARK Academy. Existing academies should be returned to the community sector where voters have a say in running them.
We support the building of a new community secondary school in South Brent.
5. OPEN AND HONEST CONSULTATION
Council consultations on the ARK Academy, Wembley Masterplan and care charges have left people feeling ignored. We are not asked about major projects such as the Civic Centre which will replace Brent Town Hall.
We will fight for open and honest consultation and policies.
Sunday 21 June 2009
WEMBLEY CENTRAL BY-ELECTION - A CHANCE FOR THE GREENS
Monday 8 June 2009
SOLID VOTE FOR GREENS IN BRENT
The big surprise in the election was the large vote achieved by Jan Jananayagam (Independent) who campaigned on a human rights platform and is UK spokesperson for 'Tamils Against Genocide'. She had an energetic young team who were very active in the borough.
Public anger over expenses was clearly apparent from the comments on some of the ballot forms which accused all politicans of being crooks and a number of ballot forms that said NO to all candidates or stated 'None of the above'.
The Greens ran an effective campaign and the strength in some localities suggests that with hard work we could achieve our first Green councillors in the local election next year.
Provisional results, taken down by hand at the count are:
BRENT
Labour 15,583
Conservative 11,940
Lib Dem 11,370
Greens 5,007
Jan Jananayagam (Tamil Supporting Independent) 4,867
UKIP 3,240
Christian Alliance 1,974
BNP 1,250
Rejected votes 621
Turnout: 32.1%
Harrow
Conservative 20,793
Labour 12,135
Jan Jananayagam 6,856
Lib Dem 6,054
UKIP 5,837
Green 4,181
BNP 1,835
Christian Alliance 1,558
Rejected votes 516
Turnout: 38.49%
Saturday 6 June 2009
BLEARS REFUSES TO 'CALL IN' ACADEMY PLANS
In a letter to Brent Council, Andrew Melville, Director of Housing and Planning for the Government Office for London states that having considered issues felt to be relevant to the proposal and issues raised by Brent Council and other representations, 'it has been concluded that the Secretary of State's intervention would not be justified' and that the application should be decided by the London Borough of Brent.
The decision follows that of the London Mayor to refer the decision back to Brent. There are still other avenues open to campaigners who remain convinced that Wembley Park playing fields are the wrong place for a school as well as those of us like the Brent Green Party who in addition oppose academies in principle as a form of privatisation and a loss of local participation in our children's education. Brent Green Party want to see a locally democratically accountable community secondary school in South Brent where the need is highest and where it will provide a valuable community resource.
Friday 5 June 2009
PALESTINE: THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
He said that the apartheid metaphor was misleading in respect of the power relationship between settlers and the indigenous population as the South African and Israel situations were different types of colonial conflict. In the former the settlers exploited both the physical resources of the country and the labour power of the indigenous population. The 1:7 ratio of settler to population meant that eventual the numerical relationship was unsustainable and the settlers grabbed what could be argued was a generous deal. In the Israel case the idea of a 'Jewish' state needed a Jewish majority population so the indigenous population were excluded by design through ethnic cleansing in order to form a new nation.
Moshé argued that in most similar cases (North America, Australia) the local population had been pulverised. However Palestinians were part of a wider region and linked with it through language and a rich cultural and historical heritage. This is now reinforced by the outreach of modern media such as Al Jazeera across the region. As a result the Zionist ethnic cleansing project had been only partially successful. There was a crucial difference also in the importance of the two countries to the United States. Africa has a low priority in the US but the Middle East is a high priority because of its oil reserves and because it forms a bridge between Europe, Africa and Asia. If oil has reached its peak it will be even more important as a scarcer resource as there are no immediate replacements for oil in the offing and it will increase in value as supplies decline.. The US relies on local regional governments to keep the lid on popular discontent with terrorism being a convenient enemy, useful for propaganda and to justify the denial of rights.
Given this scenario it becomes clear that an equitable solution will only come about through a regional process which would involve the development of popular social movements in Arab countries. The labour unrest in Egypt demonstrated the potential of these movements. An equitable solution could not come about through Islamicist regimes which had their own conflicts with each other and did not take account of the multi-religious nature of the region. The region was potentially rich economically and culturally and the Israel-Palestine conflict served as a block on its development.
Wednesday 3 June 2009
SUPPORT DEMOCRACY: VOTE
As I said at the Barry Gardiner meeting (below) this is bad for democracy and we cannot afford to throw away our hard worn democratic rights, however limited we believe they are, in a fit of pique. In earlier times in this country and recent and currently in many others (remember the lone protester in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square?) people have died to gain democratic rights and a voice in their own lives. Not voting will be cutting off our nose to spite our face and open the way for the BNP and UKIP. Rather than constituting an overnight slap round the face for the greedy it will affect our lives for many years to come. It is imperative that everyone gets out and votes for positive change.
Thankfully, in the last few days I have seen evidence that people are recognising this. Talking to voters in Kilburn High Road, Wembley High Road and Willesden Green it is clear that many are giving serious consideration to voting Green and are identifying with policies such as opposing health services being opened up to free market competition, creating thousands of new jobs in green services and industries, making homes and schools energy efficient and closing down tax havens. More Green MEPs in the UK will increase our clout both at home and in Europe. Parents picking up leaflets outside schools have been particularly positive with only a 1 in 10 refusal rate.
One of the most heartening exchanges was at an elders' care home in Kingsbury where the initial reaction from the white residents was to shoo us away, saying they were fed up with all politicians, but once conversation opened up began they were adamant about the need to keep out the BNP and scathing about their policies. Curiously there has been very little evidence of the main three parties on the streets with independent candidate supporters more in evidence. A number of voters said that we were the only party that seemed to be out actively seeking votes and delivering material through their doors.
When the results are announced on Sunday I look forward to seeing Green gains but I will also be desperate for evidence that people have not given up on democracy.