Cost of motoring

Friends of the Earth have issued a reaction to calls to cut fuel prices that will not resonate immediately with people who rely on their cars for every day use: "Fuel duty cuts are not the solution - with oil prices hikes set to continue we need a fresh approach to give us a transport system we can all afford."

With the overall global economy steadily growing and the reflection of this in oil prices leading to the current $124 per barrel after its collapse in 2009 (see Oil-Price.net) the price of fuel at the pump is unlikely to be affected in the long term by cuts to fuel duty.

Fuel duty reduction would simply reduce government revenue reducing their ability to improve public transport even further (assuming there was any political will to do this in the first place). Campaigners such as Peter Caroll are short sighted in their aims with the Fair Fuel campaign. Global oil prices are going to remain high over the long term and all he might succeed in doing is damaging any hope of affordable transport in the future.

So FoE are right to call for a fresh look at transport and it is a message that we need to continue to sell to the public.

150,000 unemployed in Kent

Kent Green Party does not support the Coalition Government's approach to managing the economy or the Deficit(1). It is creating unemployment which could be avoided(2). Stuart Jeffery explains green alternatives:
"Kent Green Party is disturbed that the number of unemployed in Kent and Medway has now reached over 71,000. However the real figure for Kent and Medway may be more like 150,000 as the TUC has pointed out that official figures in the UK do not give a complete or reliable picture of unemployment and under-employment (3). 150,000 people not able to realise their full potential is what the Coalition Government policies should really be addressing in our County(4).
"Kent Green Party believes many useful green sector jobs could be created in Kent and Medway. A scheme of investment in jobs and apprenticeships for unemployed people could provide employment in insulating homes and minor construction for local community organisations. Each local council could direct schemes helping people into useful work while helping reduce the budget deficit as people pay taxes and national insurance.
"By comparison, the Government's misdirected cuts reduce public sector and private sector employment, as the loss of the spending from one public sector job as a result of redundancy means one private sector job will be lost too. We can do better than this, and Kent Green Party urges people to raise this matter with their MPs and local councils since, despite what the Coalition Government says, there are always alternatives."

Ends c256 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair, KENT GREEN PARTY
07970 436029. Contact address as above. http://www.stuartjeffery.net KENT GREEN NEWS, free monthly ezine, is available at www.kentgreenparty.org Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF.
Notes:

1. The Green Party’s manifesto of 2010 gave a costed picture of how a combination of tax increases, selective investment in useful jobs and a limited range of spending cuts could reduce the Deficit by half during this Parliament. This demonstrates that there are always alternatives to the Coalition’s poverty and unemployment creating policies.

2. Including over 1 million 18-24 year olds and over 1 million women, both figures tending to increase.

3. See the TUC’s assessment of unemployment being an actual figure of about 6.3 million: http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-20616-f0.cfm Our figure of 170,000 is based on taking the Government’s broad measure of unemployment at its current appalling level of 2.68 million, accepting the TUC estimate of 6.3 million and adding the resulting percentage difference to the 72,300 figure for Kent and Medway, producing 169,956. However, this will still not cover all people or students looking for work, or those actually working as unpaid carers or those in so-called ‘internships’. Nor does it cover self-employed people who are periodically not earning but are not able to claim easily for short periods particularly. So it is quite likely that our projected figure of 170,000 is in reality actually an under-estimate.

4. Even the lower figure of 72,300 is roughly 1 in 11 of the officially employable population. It is also depressing that the numbers not in education, employment or training (NEETs) are rising, now reaching nearly 1 million (Evening Standard 23^RD February 2012) which is partly attributable to the Government’s removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance which supported Further Education students (Guardian 24^th February 2012).

Sliding down the razor blade of life

You will have noticed a significant drying up of posts during the past month. Moving home was not easy and has taken up most of my free time and energy (hence the razor blade). The new home still has a lot of work to do to make it comfortable, but it should be worth it (once it has heating etc...).

Sadly I missed party conference this weekend, including the hustings for the South East MEP list for the Euros in 2014. I have had to arrange others to run the fringes that I was organising - a big thank you to them.

The good news is that the 'Wealth Tax' motion was passed unanimously by conference. I wanted to be there to propose it on the floor but thankfully someone stood in for me (Tim Turner, I think). The motion was short and sweet...

Wealth Tax

Synopsis: Total personal wealth in the UK is £9,000bn, a sum that dwarfs the national debt. It is mostly concentrated at the top, so the richest 10% own £4,000bn. The bottom half of society own just 9%. Taxing the wealthy directly is in keeping with our principles and has been done elsewhere, including France, Norway and Switzerland.

Motion: We support the principle of a wealth tax, either as an occasional tax at a time of specific need or as a continuous periodic levy.

Proposed by: Stuart Jeffery(**), Steve Dawe, Hazel Dawe, Sean Thompson, + 1 other.

Policy committee have been working on revised policy chapters for Food and Agriculture, and Marine and Coastal and they have both gone to conference for a final vote.

Normal service to be resumed soon - I hope

I moved house a couple of weeks ago which has stopped my blogging activity. Once I have broadband (why does it take so long to set up), heating that doesn't turn itself off every 30 minutes and a roof that stops leaking, I can get back to blogging (and campaigning).

The new house is nice though and will be even better once it's warm and dry!

Balls up for cuts shows Labour's real position

Ed Balls has showed his hand on the cuts, angering unions and demonstrating once again just how close they are to the Lib Dems and Tories.

Labour are backing the cuts agenda - this is from the Guardian: "My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have keep all these cuts."

They are ignoring the alternative which is to ensure that the rich tax avoiders actually pay their way in society rather than making ordinary and poorer people pay.

Let us hope that the electorate realise just how far Labour have left their values behind.

Kent AGM and MEP Hustings

Have just returned from the Kent Green Party AGM and MEP Hustings in Wye. A great afternoon, the AGM went well with lively discussion about Compass, Boris Island, the Thames Crossing and green field developments.

I have been re-elected as Chair for another year.

The hustings were well attended, 14 candidates and around 40 members, and the chairing by Trish Marchant was excellent. Two hours of grilling questions with just two minutes to answer the questions in (in one case Trish gave just 30 seconds each). Looks like a strong field with passionate and strong candidates.

Disgusted of Maidstone

This letter has gone to the KM in response to the appalling planning decision by the council reported here. Government of the rich, by the rich for the rich...welcome to Conservative Maidstone.

Dear Editor,

I am disgusted at the actions of the planning committee in delivering a slap in the face to the huge numbers of people in desperate need of a new home in Maidstone. In waiving the chance to have 14 affordable homes out of the 35 that it has allowed to be built, the Planning Committee has not only broken its own policy but it has paved the way for future developments to ignore the needs of people who urgently need homes but cannot afford them.

The waiting list for social housing in Maidstone has quadrupled since 1997 with more than 3,400 people / families now on it, equating to more than 1 in 20 homes in the borough. High quality, high density housing is urgently needed to help people who can't afford the huge rents and mortgages that are asked for in the rest of the housing market. With the latest reductions in housing benefit, this appalling situation will just get worse.

Not only will Maidstone miss out on a new community facility, let alone affordable homes, the council then rubs salt into the wound with funding for the tow path. A new tow path or homes for families - surely the choice is easy.

Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party