Fur will fly on AV in Mapesbury Tomorrow

Mapesbury Residents Association holds its AGM tomorrow and top of the bill is a debate between Cllr Ann John, Labour leader of Brent Council and Cllr Paul Lorber, leader of the Lib Dem councillors, on Alternative Voting. Ann John and most of her colleagues have rejected Ed Miliband's stance in favour of a YES vote in Thursday's referendum and have publicly urged residents to vote NO. Little has been heard of any Labour dissenters from the John line - she is not well know for letting a hundred flowers bloom!. List of Labour Councillors opposing AV HERE

The current London Green News which we are distributing locally, urges people to 'Vote YES to fairer votes' with a message from Green MEP Jean Lambert saying 'This is an opportunity to move away from our out-dated unfair voting system'.  Greens are in favour of proportional representation and we were frustrated when the other parties blocked our proposal to have PR included in the referendum. At our autumn conference last year members voted to support a YES vote on the basis that AV was an improvement on the present first past the post system, albeit not our first choice.

The argument is that AV will enable people to make a positive vote for the party that they really support. This is a message from Caroline Lucas, Green MP and leader of the Green Party:

Under AV, voters rank candidates 1, 2, 3, etc. People can vote 1 for their first choice candidate, safe in the knowledge that their vote can still count just as strong for their second choice if their preferred candidate is not successful.

AV will therefore reduce tactical voting. This would be a good thing for the Green Party and for our democracy as a whole. It could have a significant impact on the way the big parties and the media approach elections. If people are voting positively, rather than negatively, parties and the media are likely to focus more on ideas rather than the political 'race'.

A Yes vote will also send a clear message to the Government that people want political reform. It will make further reforms, such as an elected upper chamber and voting reform for local elections, more likely. A No vote could set back political reforms by decades as the political establishment would be able to claim that there is no public appetite for reform - which we know is not true.

A No vote is primarily being pushed by the Conservatives, the right of the Labour Party and the BNP. Let's be on the side of progress in this referendum. Let's take the opportunity to make this small but important change to the voting system and send a clear message that we need political reform.

We urge you to vote Yes on Thursday and spread the message to your friends, family and collagues.

We had a good discussion on AV at a recent Brent Green Party meeting and although there was no 'split' there were inevitably differences in terms of enthusiasm for the option being offered. Central to the discussion was a concern that AV could lead to a soggy consensus politics that would blunt the cutting edge of the radical policies needed to combat the real issues facing us such as the need to restructure the economy and to combat climate change. On the other hand increased Green representation would mean that the arguments on these issues could reach a wider audience and our support in a finely balanced result could be decisive.

I will be voting YES on Thursday but won't be cartwheeling into the polling booth!

Censorship beneath the bunting? Facebook sites closed down

Strange things went on yesterday - and not just at Westminster Abbey.  Another Green World reported that  50 UK Facebook sites were closed down  yesterday and there were pre-emptive arrests by police across the country and raids on social centres.This appears to show that it is not just oppressive, undemocratic regimes that have an ambivalent (to say the least) relationship with the social media. LINK to Guardian coverage.

List of Facebook sites closed down yesterday

Open Birkbeck
UWE Occupation
Chesterfield Stopthecuts
Camberwell AntiCuts
IVA Womensrevolution
Tower Hamlets Greens
No Cuts
ArtsAgainst Cuts
London Student Assembly
Beat’n Streets
Roscoe ‘Manchester’ Occupation
Bristol Bookfair
Newcastle Occupation
Socialist Unity
Whospeaks Forus
Ourland FreeLand
Bristol Ukuncut
Teampalestina Shaf
Notts-Uncut Part-of UKUncut
No Quarter Cutthewar
Bootle Labour
Claimants Fightback
Ecosocialists Unite
Comrade George Orwell
Jason Derrick
Anarchista Rebellionist
BigSociety Leeds
Slade Occupation
Anti-Cuts Across Wigan
Firstof Mayband
Don’t Break Britain United
Cockneyreject
SWP Cork
Westminster Trades Council
York Anarchists
Rock War
Sheffield Occupation
Central London SWP
North London Solidarity
Southwark Sos
Save NHS
Rochdale Law Centre
Goldsmiths Fights Back
Occupy Monaco

Brent Library Closures - the final act?

There were gasps from the public gallery at last night's Scrutiny Committee last night when Cllr James Powney strode into the Council Chamber in what appeared to be an early 20th century beige Amazonian rain forest exploration costume. The gasps (of admiration or incredulity?) soon turned into gasps of shock at the man's sheer audacity when he responded to objector's representations on the closure of half of Brent's libraries.

He accused the chair of Brent Youth Parliament (see below) of not having read the hefty document on the Libraries Transformation Project and described their request as 'superfluous'. Cllr Helga Gladbaum drew mutters from the public when she said she liked the way students used tables and chairs in the Town Hall for studying. Kishan Parshotam had pointed out that during the Easter holiday there had been over-flow from the Town Hall library because of the number of students and asked what the impact would be on these numbers if six libraries closed. The BYP's request that the Executive ensure suitable study facilities be available during the 2011 examination period was reworded into a recommendation that they consider what provision could be made during the current examination period and was approved with three votes for, 1 Labour against and three Labour abstentions. There were four Labour councillors on the committee, 2 Lib Dems - including the chair, and one Conservative. Labour voted down the other two recommendations as a block and did the same for all subsequent recommendations.

The criteria for alternative business plans were the subject of a long debate when the Preston Community Volunteer Library proposer spoke of the difficulty of getting financial information from the Council in order to formulate plans. Her request for details had been treated by officers as a Freedom of Information request with a timeline that meant the data was not available before the submission deadline. A legal investigation as promised on whether that was lawful.

The council was also criticised for not making the criteria on which the plans would be judged public before the campaigns worked on them. Instead the plans were submitted before the criteria were published and it was therefore no surprise that they did not meet them. As if this was not enough Cllr Powney said they would all have failed anyway because proposals had to all to be at no cost to the council and that any handover of council buildings would be at an 'exorbitant' cost to the council. In other words the volunteer proposers would have to purchase the buildings. A recommendation that the Preston Community Library proposal be reconsidered after the proposers had time to reformulate it was rejected. A similar request from Kensal Rise Library campaigners was rejected as were requests that the timescales should be clarified in order to ensure there was no gap in service (the six libraries will close imminently but extended hours and other changes will take a long time to implement) and that school staff and students should be consulted further as so few has responded to the original consultation.

This latter caused a further debate. Only 8 of 79 schools had responded to an e-mailed survey. Preston Library campaigners over the last 24 hours had found that at least 10 schools had said they had not been consulted. Cllr Powney insisted that they had all been consulted and that in addition a meeting had been held with school literacy coordinators. He claimed that they may not have responded because they were happy that the Transformation Project would be an improvement but also that  'administration in the schools may not be effective'.  Cllr Lorber retorted that the likelihood of a response would have been reduced  if the e-mail did not make clear that the proposals were about the closure of six libraries. Sarah Tannburn, in the absence of library officers who were on holiday,  confirmed that the title of the e-mail referred to 'Transformation' but 'as I recall' some of the 15 questions referred to closures. Lorber said if the the letter had been explicit about closures, schools would have responded.

A final recommendation from Paul Lorber that the Neasden library closure be reconsidered as the library's profile did not fit with the closure criteria and that Dollis Hill residents were faced with closures at both Neasden and Cricklewood, was rejected.

Cllr Powney concluded by saying that consultation respondents were not representative of either library users in particular or residents in general, consultations were not referendums and that the council could not merely comply with consultation outcomes as they would be in breach of regulations about council efficiency, securing best value, and other legislation. He was sure that the proposals would result long-term in an increase in library usage, study space and IT provision.

Brent Youth Parliament 'Disregarded' on Library Closures

Kishan Parshotam, chair of Brent Youth Parliament made a presentation to the Scrutiny Committee yesterday setting out BYP's position on library closures. The BYP's recommendations are reproduced below:

Brent Youth Parliament’s Recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny
• BYP comprises of 72 elected members who represent the 72,000 young people of our borough’s young people.
• As a body, we understand that cuts do need to be made in the budget. However, cuts to libraries should be reconsidered, as they will have a detrimental effect on Brent’s educational standards and the young people you represent.
• Around 50% of the libraries’ regular users are young people aged 19 and under – the group that has suffered most from central government cuts already
• The sudden withdrawal of these services will hit this vulnerable group at a time when it is most needed.
• Students who responded to BYP’s “Have Your Say” forms were deeply concerned about library closures and wanted us to make it a priority to keep them open.
• Brent Town Hall, one of the libraries set to stay open, has seen overflow of study spaces for many years now. It is not acceptable to see young people studying on the stairs of the Town Hall.
• My local library, Barham Park, has been packed throughout the Easter break with students and young people of all ages. The impact on young people is going to be very substantial
• The Consultation at Brent Youth Parliament on 22nd February 2011 was ignored by the Head of Culture and Environment, who disregarded the views of young people on the day. In this meeting, the issue of study space for students was mentioned on numerous occasions – yet no proposal has been given as to how the impact on young people will be subsided.

Therefore, on behalf of Brent’s 72,000 young people, I would like the Scrutiny Committee to make the following recommendations to the Executive:
1. The Executive to ensure that the existing Libraries or suitable alternative local premises continue to be available for young people throughout the 2011 exam period
2. The Executive to look again at the implications and consequences of closing six libraries on young people living in the areas nearby
3. The Executive to consider provision of facilities of access to computers and revision space during exam periods in subsequent years in those areas where libraries are being closed. In addition, the Executive should ensure that as far as possible young people are made aware of these facilities.

Since the establishment of the Youth Parliament in 2007, the borough’s youth have
been encouraged to shape their communities. Please do not take away such a large
chunk of these same communities without considering the impacts.

Sign up to save the NHS

I’ve just signed a petition to Save the NHS. Right now the government is rushing through plans which experts, and groups representing doctors and nurses, warn could break the NHS up and hand control to private health companies. It's also a huge waste of money at a time when funding is already squeezed with beds and wards being cut.

It worked when enough of us signed the petition against privatising England's forests. The more of us that sign up to Save the NHS, the more chance we have of winning. Please sign now:

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-petition

Debate AV in Kilburn on Wednesday

From Yes to AVA Campaign

Next Wednesday, April 27th, there's a debate on AV taking place at St Mary's church in Kilburn.

It will be chaired by Geoff Martin, Editor of the Ham and High newspaper, and will feature Andrew Marshall and David Aaranovitch arguing for a Yes vote, and Chris Philp and Terry Paul for a No vote.

You can book your place here: http://avhustingsstmarykilburn.eventbrite.com/

This is a great opportunity to introduce anyone who is still undecided to our arguments, so if you have friends or family who are not quite sure, please encourage them to come along.

The organisers are also asking for people to submit questions in advance. Make sure the right things gets discussed by contacting the host via the website http://avhustingsstmarykilburn.eventbrite.com/

Download the low-down on threat to NHS

Download this very useful broadsheet HERE

Green Party Urges Nurses to Unite Against Health Reforms

The Green Party's health spokesperson has called on nurses to unite against the draft Health and Social Care Bill.

Stuart Jeffery, himself a registered nurse, has written to the Royal College of Nursing's president, Andrea Spyropoulos, and its general secretary, Peter Carter, calling for the RCN to come out fighting against the devastating changes to the NHS being driven through by the coalition government. He has pointed out that the internal market deprives the NHS of up to half a million nurses.

Stuart Jeffery said: "At a time when nurses are propping up the NHS with increasing levels of unpaid overtime and clinicians are becoming concerned about the NHS reforms, the RCN needs to take a strong stance against the government's NHS reforms. The quality of care is suffering as cuts bite into the NHS, and yet the government wants to waste even more increasing the scope of the internal market and in privatising more hospitals. This is simply immoral.

"There is enough money tied up in running the internal market to fund up to an additional 500 000 nurses, far more than we need, yet the government is wedded to the idea that a market can run the NHS. It is time to challenge the 'market knows best' attitude which will spell the end of the NHS. I have written to the RCN urging them to come out fighting against the immoral health bill and to fight to save the NHS. I hope they take note.

"Nurses have key roles to play in health care. Fighting to keep the NHS running, and out of the hands of corporate sharks, is one of them. Let us hope the RCN takes up the challenge."