Caroline Lucas: Why we need the Green Party

 An activist leader

In her first Green Party conference speech as an MP, Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, told her audience in Birmingham that: "I doubt that any of us expected the realignment of British politics that has come in the aftermath of May's election. But its implications are becoming ever more clear. And one of these is that, on a whole range of issues, there is no effective opposition to the coalition and its plans. And that makes the role of the Green Party more important than ever."

Lucas went on to outline why, on nuclear power, the Trident nuclear deterrent, and education, the Green Party is providing the real opposition to the coalition government:

"Labour championed the Academies programme, despite all our warnings about the risk of creating a two-tier education system. Now - surprise, surprise - the Coalition has dropped any requirement that Academies should gain from outside sponsorship, or should help those communities most in need. Any pretence of a higher social purpose is out. Michael Gove's plans are simply about an ideological opposition to state education and a chance to allow private companies to make a profit from our schools. And Labour, having opened the door to this in the first place, cannot mount an effective, principled opposition, despite their heroic efforts to try to rewrite history. And that's why we need the Green Party."

"We are gaining members from the Liberal Democrats too. Perhaps their anguish and sense of betrayal is all the more sharp, for being so unexpected. Could they really have imagined during the election campaign, when Nick Clegg could hardly open his mouth without saying the word "fairness", that they would be voting for a party that would become an apologist for the most brutal, savage cuts in a generation?

"Cuts which are decimating communities up and down the country.

"Cuts that affect people like the woman who came to my surgery a few weeks ago, desperate to be re-housed because she, her partner and child were all living in a single room in Brighton, and she was expecting another child very soon.

"That's why the Green Party is committed to fighting these cuts every step of the way.

"I don't criticise Nick Clegg and those around him for agreeing to work with the Conservatives. But I do criticise him for the terms of that deal. With our principles and our courage to be honest with the public about the greatest issues of our time, such as climate change, we are the natural home for Liberal Democrats who feel betrayed by their leaders.

"And so to those Liberal Democrats, I say, join us. Many of your former colleagues are already here."

'Savings' will have devastating impact on jobs and services

Brent Fightback: Guest posting by Phil O’Reilly, Branch Secretary Brent UNISON

In May 2009 Brent Council appointed management consultants PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) to undertake a review of the Council’s structure and staffing arrangements.  The aim was to identify significant ‘efficiency savings’ as part of a wider Improvement and Efficiency Strategy.  I asked how much PWC were being paid (management consultants often get paid £1,000 a day) to carry out this review and to date, have not received an answer.

In September 2009 the Council launched its Improvement and Efficiency Action Plan 2010 – 2014.  This plan clearly stated ‘In the light of these financial and political factors, forecasts for the likely scale of the efficiency savings the Council will be required to deliver are a minimum of £53.7 million by the end of the financial year 2013/2014’.  It was also stated that the staffing complement in Brent was to be reduced by ten per cent over four years which is the equivalent of approximately 300 full time posts.  Since then of course we have had a change of government and I have heard it said that the ‘savings’ now required are likely to be £85/£90 million.  Make no mistake this is having and will continue to have a significant and devastating impact on jobs and services.  It has been stated that frontline services will be protected.  However, this is dividing ‘front’ and ‘back’ office workers who need each other to deliver efficient and effective local services.  Also, it is not possible to protect frontline services whilst delivering ‘savings’ of £85/£90 million.  Let us be clear – they are cuts and not savings.

However, the cuts that have been imposed so far are ‘different’ to the ones that Brent, historically, have made in previous years.  We are not seeing (yet) closures of nurseries, old people’s homes, etc.  These type of cuts and closures gain public support and sympathy and galvanise people into action.  What we are seeing are job losses and post deletions in the following areas :  Health, Safety and Licensing, Environmental Health, Cemeteries and Mortuary, Transportation, Youth Service, Crisis Intervention and Support Service, Social Workers, Administrative Workers, Planning, Building Control, Parks, Streetcare, Libraries – these are just some of the cuts that have been imposed so far.

Clearly, the coalition government is out to destroy the public sector.  The savage cuts will have a devastating impact and effect on jobs/services/the community.  Noticeably and alarmingly, they will hit the most vulnerable – disabled people, single parents, those on housing benefit, black and other ethnic minority communities, students, migrants workers, LGBT people and pensioners.  Women are expected to bear 75% of the burden.

So how do we respond?  We need to mount a broad based campaign, working with other unions, the voluntary sector, service users, community groups, etc to defeat the aims of the coalition government and protect jobs and services.  We should also be calling on the newly elected Labour Council in Brent to lead a delegation from Brent to march on Downing Street or Parliament and/or hold a rally/demonstration to coincide with the announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October – which will surely deliver even more cuts to the public sector.

Brent Fights Back

The local movement against public sector cuts and privatisation took another step forward last night when an open meeting adopted the name Brent Fightback and drew up plans for a series of actions:

• A petition is being circulated calling on Brent councillors and MPs to join the demonstration in favour of public services that will take place on October 20th when the outcomes of the Autumn Spending Review will be announced
• A coach has been organised to take demonstrators  to the Conservative Party Conference on Sunday October 3rd. It will pick up at 8am Kilburn Square; 8.20am Trades Hall, Willesden High Road; 8.45am Brent Town Hall. Tickets will be at least £15 waged, £5 low or unwaged. Book at brentunited@gmail.com
• A model resolution will be circulated to local union branches calling for support for Brent Fightback
• The impact of cuts locally will be publicised by a Brent Fightback newsletter and articles on local blogs including this one
• A Brent Fightback Facebook page will be be set up to share experiences and engage younger people
• Local leaflets and posters publicising the campaign will be produced and the first leafleting will take place at Wembley Park Station at 5pm  on Friday 17th September

The next Brent Fightback Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday September 15th and Open Meeting Tuesday September 21st. Both at the Trades Hall (Apollo Club), 375 Willesden High Road.

Mencap on Impact of Cuts

Brent Mencap has circulated this message:

Here at Brent Mencap we are very concerned about the effect that public sector spending cuts will have on the lives of people with a learning disability in Brent. Even in the "good times" people with learning disabilities didn't get paid jobs or as good medical treatment as the rest of the population. They were discriminated against by service providers in many other ways.

We think the cuts and changes to things like

• Disability Living Allowance
• Incapacity benefit.
• Social Care services and Community based support
• Housing benefit cuts and longer waits for their own tenancies
• Cuts to transport staff, police, libraries, sports centres, colleges and other public services

will make it much harder for people to feel safe in their communities or access community services. We also think it will slow down the reasonable adjustments that service providers need to make to enable people with a learning disability to access the same services that you and I take for granted.

As a campaigning organisation we are going to hold some meetings for Brent people with a learning disability of all ages and their families . At these meetings we will talk about the kinds of cuts and changes the Government and Council are planning and support people to decide what action they want to take. Please circulate details of these meetings to people you know with a learning disability and their families. The times may not suit some people and we could hold similar meetings at different times if there was enough demand. Please contact ian@brentmencap.org.uk about this.

Please circulate the flier (see under Pages) to your contacts who work with people with a learning disability and their families.

We are looking for volunteers to help support people with a learning disability voice their concerns. If you are interested in volunteering with us please contact Leanne@brentmencap.org.uk

Brent Mencap recognises that other vulnerable groups and the general public will also be badly affected by these cuts and changes. We would encourage other voluntary sector groups, residents groups and other people to also get involved in the local anti-cuts campaign. The next local meeting to plan action against the cuts (organised by Brent Trades Union Council)  is on Wednesday 8th September at 7.30 at the Apollo Club, 377 High Road Willesden NW10 2JR. We would encourage people to attend and also to plan their response to the cuts. For more details of the public meetings please contact Sarah Cox on scox05@toucansurf.com

At the recent meeting we heard that Camden Councillors and their workforce (and parts of Islington Council) will be demonstrating against the cuts on October 20th, the date the comprehensive spending review report is published. To date there seems to be no similar action planned in Brent and it appears as if the cuts will go ahead here with little Brent statutory or voluntary sector public response about how this will badly affect Brent residents

Good News from Chalkhill

The temporary swimming pool at Chalkhill Primary School is nearing completion ready for opening on September 13th.  The pool will be used for school swimming groups during the day and for the community after school.  It will be in place until December.

Meanwhile the plans for a community swimming pool on the site of Dexion House, Empire Way, Wembley have been approved but it is unclear when the redevelopment will take place.








Work is expected to start in the Autumn on the new community park on the Chalkhill Estate.  It is being built on land vacated by the old Chalkhill Health Centre opposite the ASDA car park and will include two children's play areas, adult exercise circuit, a water feature and kickabout area.

Coalition of Resistance Meeting September 2nd

MEETING FOR SUPPORTERS AND SIGNATORIES

OF THE COALITION OF RESISTANCE STATEMENT

HELP BUILD THE RESISTANCE TO THE CON-DEM CUTS

7pm, Thursday 2 September, Room 3A, University of London Union, Malet St, WC1E

(Euston, Russell Square, Goodge St. tubes)

Brent Anti-Cuts Campaign Set Up

Twenty people attended Wednesday's organising meeting to set up a Brent Anti-Cuts Campaign. The twenty included members of the Labour Party, Green Party, Social Workers' Party and even the ex-leader of the Brent Democratic Conservative group. They included members of Unison, Unite, RMT and the NUT and workers from the public sector and voluntary sector.

All were agreed on the serious threat posed by the cuts on ordinary working people and vulnerable groups. After discussion of the main areas of cuts in council services, health, public transport, education, welfare benefits,housing benefit,  school building programmes, legal aid the meeting agreed an organisational structure.

Brent Campaign Against Cuts will be broad and inclusive, including workers and users, community groups and all opposed to the cuts. It will be pro-public services and attempt to be proactive, looking at alternatives to the cuts, rather than just reactive. It will recognise that Coalition government policy is the source of many of the cuts even if implemented at local authority level.

The meeting agreed to lobby the Brent Council Labour group to follow the example of Camden and Islington Labour councillors in agreeing to join their workers in the protest march against the Autumn Review on October 20th.

More than one way to fight the cuts?

Tonight's meeting at the Brent Trades Hall to discuss organising against the cuts will be vitally important. One important issue will be the type of action that can be taken. The problem with strike action, although a key weapon, is that such action by public sector workers can impact on the very people we are trying to defend. As today's report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies made clear these are poor families, women and those with disabilities. In the last period of mass anti-cuts action in the 70s and 80s there were attempts to bring together workers and users of services to not only defend public services but also to agree ways that they could be improved. As public sector workers we have to be prepared to admit that public services as presently constituted are not perfect.

In the summer in which Jimmy Reid of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders occupation died, occupations should again be considered as a way of fighting cuts. The UCS occupation inspired other occupations across the country. As a young teacher I was involved in a small occupation when Fulham Baths (both a swimming pool and a public baths for those who at the time lacked bathrooms at home).  The baths were occupied by workers from the baths, trades unionists and members of the local community. As a local teacher and NUT member I joined the occupation and slept in a sleeping bag at the side of the swimming pool overnight and then went in to teach the next day. Now I cannot imagine how I coped with a full teaching load! The occupation was fully supported by local people, especially children as the photograph shows, and I used to take my class to swim in the pool during the occupation. We were determined to keep a resource used and valued by the community. We didn't save that particular building but we did help ensure a new pool was built nearby.

Children marching in defence of Fulham Baths and swimming in the occupied pool.

Some of the occupiers outside the baths including a young Paul Kenny (last on right), then a local GMB organiser, and now leader of the GMB

Another occupation around the same time in which I was involved was that of Hounslow Hospital. Although the times were different and strategies need to be updated there is a useful Handbook on Hospital Occupations available based on lessons from that campaign: HERE  We should consider occupations for community buildings that belong to us but which may be closed down (Kilburn College), moth-balled (Children's Centres if funding is not secured after 2011), or sold off (Brent Town Hall?).

Other methods could include working but not charging the public (tubes, buses etc) and showing the public in advance how the cuts will hit services by having an open day and showing them how cuts will hit. I did this sucessfully in one school where we 'implemented' the cuts and showed parents the resulting increases in class sizes, crowded class rooms and sharing of resources. The result was parents with much more idea of what cuts would mean and increased support for the campaign - plus good local newspaper coverage.

We will also need to consider how to campaign on cuts which are not jobs but welfare benefits including disability and housing, and cuts of funding for future projects like the Building Schools for the Future and Playbuilder programmes, and those affecting voluntary organisations. 

A complicating factor is the impact creeping privatisation. In contrast the to the 70s there are private companies waiting like vultures for public services to crumble so that they can leap in as 'providers' and make a tidy profit. As services provided by Brent Council to schools for example, are cut as staff are not replaced or are made redundant, they become less efficient. Schools will then be tempted to 'buy in' services from the private sector and deprive the council department of revenue, leading to a further downward spiral and perhaps leading to the department closing completely as it will be 'uneconomic'. The private sector will then be free to charge schools higher fees. This is likely to happen with services such as Brent's supply teacher pool. At present teachers employed by schools via the pool get a higher rate than private supply staff because the private companies rake of a fat agency fee. As headteachers are involved in recruiting teachers to the supply pool they have some control over the quality of staff - this is much reduced with private agencies.

But perhaps the greatest contrast with the 70s and 80s were at the time we still did have some shipbuilding, iron works and coal mining. With most of that dismantled by Thatcher and her followers and the subsequent reliance on the financial sector, with the dire results that we are now grappling with, we need to look at alternative economic models. An anti-cuts campaign needs to be proactive as well as reactive and we need to be questioning the whole basis of the Coalition's policy of drastic cuts and paying off the debt within 4 years. This is like a family deciding to pay off a 25 year mortgage in 4 years by turning off the heating, living on bread and water, and not sending the kids to school to save money on clothes!

Instead we need to be putting forward the need for investment in green jobs, education and training as part of the transformation of the economy and press for cuts where it really matters - Trident, defence, bankers' bonuses.