Saturday 30 November 2019

Brent Young Green writes on how the Green Party harnesses the radicalism of the school strikers


This article by Brent Young Greens member Macsen Brown was first published on the Bright Green blog LINK  yesetrday and is republished with the author's permission.

The campaign for the 2019 General Election is well underway, and the parties are well into the rhythm of things. The Lib Dems are cranking out their dodgy bar charts, the Tories are hitting the scene with a steady stream of lies and deception – and everyone is insisting that they’re the only party that is taking the climate emergency seriously.

But it seems to me that there is only one party that is even remotely close to understanding the radical political, economic and social change that beating this civilisational crisis requires – and that is the Green Party. This is of course my personal opinion, and by no means an endorsement of the party on behalf of the wider school strike movement or the UK Student Climate Network.

This snap election, originally called to resolve an artificial crisis of Tory/Liberal creation, comes at the end of a year of change. It is the cumulation of decades of neoliberalism, privatisation, greed and austerity – which is in itself a continuation of centuries of colonialist and capitalist exploitation of the Global South and of workers everywhere.

This crisis began centuries ago, but every day that goes by it increases in intensity. We missed our last chance to save the world decades ago, what we are trying to do now is to limit the death count and build a sustainable society that can better resist the catastrophe this system has unleashed. Friday the 29th is a Global Climate Strike, but here in the UK it is also opportunity for disenfranchised young people like myself to make our voices heard. We strike monthly because as it stands the government is not meeting our demands, the government is failing to keep us safe.

Today thousands of us will be striking to demand that the UK economy is completely decarbonised by 2030 through a Green New Deal. Integral to this is a worker-led just transition away from the fossil fuel industry and others that contribute to this climate crisis. The Green New Deal calls for the rewilding and the restoration of habitats devastated by the capitalist class’ rampant search for profit, it also calls for the elimination of inequality on a local, national and global scale. The political and economic system that gave us this crisis is responsible for the destruction of communities and lives across the UK, but also across the planet. The Green Party manifesto recognises this, pairing radical environmental policies with a social transformation on a scale that is simply not met by other parties.

The work of Labour for a Green New Deal has been phenomenal, and that the membership did indeed pass a GND resolution at their most recent conference – the fact remains that Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution (though miles ahead of the Tories’ farce of a climate policy) has been watered down by the leadership and as it stands lacks the ambition and scope of a genuine Green New Deal. They will often point to their success in getting parliament to declare a climate emergency as proof of their worthiness, but words don’t cut it alone – and besides, it was Green councillor Carla Denyer who got the first climate emergency motion passed in Bristol.

The Lib Dems similarly fall short of the line with a failure to commit to decarbonisation by 2030, and a continued endorsement of the neoliberalism and austerity that continues to ravage our climate and our communities.

We are also calling for a radical reformation of the way young people are educated about the climate crisis – that the government Teach the Future. The Green manifesto calls for an English Climate Emergency Education Act (just like TTF) as well as putting schools back into the hands of our communities, building links between students and the world around them – both human and natural. We need to start preparing young people for the new world that is coming, for better or worse; and the Green Party’s evidence-based, pragmatic policy is a step towards we need.

We are also asking that the government Tell the Future, with a massive public information campaign that ensures everyone in the UK genuinely understands the sheer scale and scope of this crisis, and what needs to be done to fight back.

Finally, the future must be empowered. This means finally giving 16 and 17 year olds the vote, as a Green government would do, but it also means going far, far beyond that. I feel very strongly that everyone living in a country has a right to take part in that country’s democratic process, that suffrage must be genuinely universal. This means extending the franchise to prisoners and migrants as well as removing the barriers that prevent people without fixed addresses from exercising their right.

But what use is having a vote if it counts for nothing? What this crisis shows us is that now, just as we always have, we need a democratic revolution. This means electing national representatives by the fairest system (STV), organising ourselves horizontally with maximal direct participation from people in their communities, making decisions as a community. It’s not just Cymru, Alba and Éire, we all need independence from Westminster.

Of course, the Green Party is not perfect, but looking at the choice that adults will have to make in December it seems to me that they’re by far the best one you can make.

It’s time we stopped settling for second best, that we stopped picking the lesser of many evils. We are often sneered at and called idealists, but in reality I can think of no party more pragmatic and rational than the Greens. There can be no delusion that things can go on as they are, that we can compromise or find a middle ground between climate justice and genocide. We must do what reality demands, not what politicians can be bothered to do.

Header image credit: Stephen Smith – Creative Commons



Ban on election leafleting of Northwick Park University of Westminster students

The Harrow Halls of Residence
As a result of encouragement by the University a third of the 1,500 students accommodated at the Northwick Park University of Westminster  halls of residence have registered to vote.

Excellent work encouraging democratic participation of young people.

All the more perplexing then that a polite request to distribute election material to the student flats was, equally politely, turned down by the management of the accommodation.

I was told that this was a decision made at the highest level as the University did not want the students inundated with material and that modern students got all their information through internet searches rather than leaflets.

Apparently this ban applied to all political parties and bundles of leaflets delivered to the Campus by the Labour Party had been binned.

I wonder if the students have had any say in this decision that I was told was 'final'.




Sadiq Khan visit to Wembley Pak cancelled

A General Election campaigning visit to Wembley Park by London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been cancelled folowing the London Bridge attack.

Friday 29 November 2019

Cllr Sarah Marquis joins Michael Pavey in resigning from Brent Council

Cllr Marquis

From the Brent Council website
Councillor Sarah Marquis, a local Councillor for the Barnhill Ward in the London Borough of Brent, has resigned today.

Councillor Marquis notified Carolyn Downs, Returning Officer and Chief Executive of Brent Council, of her decision to stand down with immediate effect due to family and personal reasons.
Her resignation creates another vacancy for the office of Councillor for the Barnhill ward, alongside the vacancy opened up in the same ward earlier this week due to the resignation of Councillor Michael Pavey.

In order to trigger a by-election, two local government electors in Brent must write to the Chief Executive’s Office requesting that an election take place.

Two letters are required to fill each vacancy. On receipt of the requests to fill this vacancy, the Returning Officer will set a date for an election to be held within 35 days.

All requests / letters regarding these vacancies must be sent to: Chief Executive’s Office, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ or by email to: Carolyn.Downs@brent.gov.uk or Chief.Executive@brent.gov.uk.
Cllr Marquis is a former Chair of Brent Planning Committee where she often displayed a principled independent streak. LINK

South Kilburn General Election Hustings December 4th



South Kilburn Hustings

Come to meet the  5 candidates for  Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency:

Johnny LUK (Conservatives)

James POINTON (Brexit)

Matt SANDERS (Liberal Democrats)

Tulip SIDDIQ (Labour)

David STANSELL (Green Party)

Bring your questions!

4 December 7-9pm
at Carlton Centre Rumi's Cave
Carlton Vale, NW6 5RA

Note: Brondesbury Park, Kilburn and Queens Park are Brent wards that are in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency 

Hosted by


Thursday 28 November 2019

Brent's independent voice for the disabled silenced

No longer able to afford the market rent demanded by the NHS  for its premises in Willesden Hospital Brent Advocacy Concerns has closed its doors today and will vacate tomorrow.

Last week I received this message from John Healy, one of the volunteers (there are no paid workers):
I know you are very busy with the election and climate change, not forgetting Brent's pavement's as well but I am just letting you know that we will be leaving our office this Friday, the 29th November 2019 (on the same site for over 31 years) where we have been continuously providing advocacy to the disabled community in Brent during all that time.

We are not closing down (yet) as we will still be available online but without seeing people in person, I think it will only be a matter of time before we close the charity down completely.

Through Wembley Matters, could you ask both the council and Brent CCG who will take over from us by  seeing disabled people face to face in an office, when we are no longer there.

With a nice bit of irony--A Clinical Psychologist from Northwick Park Hospital has asked us (21/11/19) to provide him with an advocate for one of his stroke patients, who can no longer access his kitchen & bathroom.  I have sent him two emails offering to advocate for him but as yet, he has not replied.
John got in touch again this evening to say:
Hi Martin, I had three disabled people contact me on my last day.

Including:-

A lady with Autism who had been turned down by PowHer, Voiceability and Brent CAB who all said she did not meet their eligibility criteria.  Even the council turned her away, saying she was not entitled to a needs assessment.  Under The Care Act, 2014, the council have a statutory duty to carry out an assessment for anyone who asks for one.

So with us gone after today, who will help disabled people in Brent?
 
Best wishes
I hope the the Council and Brent CCG will respond but I don't think it right not to finish without thanking John and his colleagues, past and present, for what they have done for Brent people with a disability over the past three decades.

Thank you.



Brent Central Hustings on Austerity Saturday December 7th


Wednesday 27 November 2019

Please sign the petition to improve the Quainton Street Open Space and Brent River/Feeder Walk - Deadline December 1st

Quainton Street Open Space (top right) -the trees trace the route of the River Brent towards St Davids Open Space
Quainton Street Open Space is one of the hidden delights of Brent - when it is not covered in litter... A section of it is on the Brent Green Walk I devised LINK

Now there is a great proposal to request Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure funds to improve the Quainton Street Open Space and the rive/feeder course from the Welsh Harp. The deadline is December 1st. Please sign HERE

From Brent Rivers and Community Project



On 21 November 2019, we went to Quainton Street Open Space again for the second event of the series. The objectives this time were to pick litter from the park area and surroundings, and to open access to the river. But, we did much more than that… In addition to the proposed activities, the group of eager volunteers cleared the towpath making it safe for passersby to walk on.


In this cloudy and breezy autumn day, we started to work at 10.30 am, and stopped at 2.30pm, despite the call from volunteers to continue.



Many peculiar items were collected, this time we found a collection of vintage bottle tops, a funny hat and other unusual pieces. It seems that there are small abandoned camp sites in the park, each of them containing huge amounts of litter. We are looking to have them all cleared after the third event on 30 November 2019.

The aftermath: 58 bags of litter, 2 mattresses, as well as many clothes and shoes - and this cleared space!


During the event, there were also wildlife occurrences, and two were noteworthy: the presence of toads near the pond area, and a kingfisher. “It is great to see these organisms at Quainton Street Open Space, I couldn’t imagine that they would live here”, said a volunteer. We will continue to spot and report wildlife in and around the River Brent, highlighting the importance of biodiversity.

In the next events that will happen on the 30th November and then in January and February, participants will have the opportunity to help the river and park area further, to expand their knowledge on the River Brent, meet other people, share experiences and expand their network. As well as building dead hedges and bird nesting boxes.

CLICK HERE MORE INFORMATION

Building on the great start of the Brent Rivers and Communities project at Quainton Recreation Ground, we’re pulling together an application for Brent Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) funding to extend riparian improvements and create a riverside walk in the park just downstream of the Welsh Harp reservoir..

Community support with make a BIG difference to this application!
The deadline is Sunday 1st December.

Walk the riverside & discover nature safely: Wembley to the Welsh Harp SSSI


Please Sign! Forward and Share this petition LINK
You can also tweet LINK
Everyone’s signature will help to make a real difference!