Stuart Jeffery

Balls up for cuts shows Labour's real position

2012-01-14T20:23:00.002Z

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

2012-01-14T19:55:00.002Z

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

2012-01-09T19:45:00.000Z

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

Anger as HMRC target small companies rather than corporates

2012-01-07T14:12:00.000Z

From the national website: "Tax avoidance by big corporations is rife in this country, some estimates put it up to £100 billion each year. The thought of Cameron going after small companies that have few resources, while senior people in HMRC let corporations off with a slap on the wrist, is immoral.

"The government must increase transparency in tax dealing, especially with international companies who are able to move their profits to avoid taxation. Cameron should be working on an international agreement for fair and transparent taxation of these international companies. Sadly, his loyalties lie with them rather than ordinary people."Stuart Jeffrey, Green Party Policy Coordinator.

It got mentioned in Ekklesia which I'm pleased about. Much of the press ignore us on the economy which is frustrating given that we have the only radical and sensible approach to it. Thank you Ekklesia.

Fees at Ramsgate Live Exports

2012-01-07T10:38:00.000Z

Compassion in World Farming are calling for increased port fees for the live animal exports at Ramsgate to make the practice uneconomical. Currently the company pay just £750 per docking and there is no legislation to suggest that this can't be substantially increased. Certainly the cost of the policing can't be covered by the current fee.

Portsmouth increased their fee to £5000 which stopped the exports. It is time for Ramsgate to do the same.

CIWF have a template email letter to send to Thanet District Council and I would urge everyone to send it. I'll also be writing a further letter to the leader of Thanet DC.

Housing choas in Kent

2012-01-02T17:00:00.001Z

Kent is facing housing chaos and it will be worse elsewhere. Across the county housing waiting lists will shoot up from their already recordhigh level following the introduction of further housing benefits changesyesterday and the latest intention to end subletting.

Last year the social housing waitinglist in Maidstone rose to 3,442 – a record level and 4.5 times higher than in1997 and the research by the Chartered Institute of Housing suggests thatbetween 1,000 and 2,500 people across the borough will lose out through thehousing benefit changes, potentially increasing the social housing waiting listby a further 50%.

Across Kent and Medway, the social housing waiting list grew to 45,102 in 2011, more than doubling since 1997. 20,000 people are being affected by the housing benefits changes in the county and probably 80,000 across the region.

And while not wanting to condonethe practice of subletting, plans to make it a criminal offence for theestimated 160,000 people who do this across the country will also potentiallymean that a further 160,000 need to find accommodation, adding to the housingcrisis. To end the subletting practice they need to have a plan for the people who they will make homeless.

The government is building towards housing chaos rather than building goodquality affordable homes.

Tory honours scandal

2011-12-31T17:44:00.001Z

Five years ago it was Labour hitting the headlines with their Cash-For-Honours scandal. This year it is the turn of the Tories - who says there is a difference between the parties.

Paul Ruddock donates £500k top the Tories, makes £millions short selling during the banking collapse and gets a knighthood. Gerald Ronson who was jailed for the Guinness shares fraud gets a gong. Clearly Cameron has a clear view of what 'Big Society' means.

It has to be time to have a better system to honour those who have contributed above and beyond - this one is antiquated and fuedal. Anyone who would like to be a knight ought to stick to playing Warcraft.

CO2 Counter

2011-12-28T06:56:00.002Z

I've added a CO2 counter to my blog to help highlight the single biggest threat to the Earth: the carbon pollution threat from us humans. The maximum level for safety against runaway climate change is 350ppm, yet we exceeded that 22 years ago and as I type the CO2 counter is showing 390.31ppm. Keeping an eye on world temperature averages is even more worrying. I usually look at the figures from NASA each month, which while depressing, serve as a stark reminder one good reason to keep my focus on political campaigning.

Durban sadly failed to achieve anything with the level of urgency that is needed - a treaty to come ito force in 2020 will be too late to halt the damage already being done. Canada have now decided to join the list of rogue states that refuse to abide by Kyoto and the UK seems to be heading down the fracking stupid path of extracting shale gas by pollution our groundwater.

As regular readers of my blog know, there is many fronts to campaign on - all of which are of great importance and urgency and most of which are connected and co-dependent, but few of which will so singularly devasting as climate change.

Thanks to Peter Cranie for pointing out the CO2 counter!

Quality of Life Survey

2011-12-26T09:10:00.001Z

My home town of Maidstone is the best place to live in Kent, according to the Halifax's 2011 Quality of Life survey, beating Tunbridge Wells and Ashford which also made the top 30. Maidstone also has the highest employment rate at 84%.

15 of the top 30 are in the South East while no northern districts made it into the top 50.While I'm not sure of the metrics used, they seem to be looking at earnings, employment, crime rates, life expectancy etc. which would account for the focus on the South East. Successive governments have failed to address the inequalities in the UK, a scandal that is largely ignored by the reports in the Guardian and the by the BBC.

A Very Carson Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:05:00.001Z

Go to 49 seconds in!

Last Christmas Fairy Tale

2011-12-24T08:23:00.001Z

It was Christmas Eve, babe: Babe was so 1995 - I suspect Downton will be the 'must watch' this Christmas, providing a great insight into our archiac fuedal hangover while showing off pretty costumes and a nice house.

In the drunk tank: well not yet, although this drug grower has landed himself there with festive cheer.

An old man said to me, won't see another one: apparently the world will end just before next Christmas. This could be the Last Christmas...

And then he sang a songThe Rare Old Mountain Dew: The new Planning Policy Framework will change our countryside forever, ensuring that development have a presumption that they will be passed.

So happy ChristmasI love you baby: Or Winterfest, Solistice, Yule or whatever your mix of Christian and Pagan festivities might be...

I can see a better timeWhen all our dreams come true: Someone has been watching too much X-Factor

They've got cars big as barsThey've got rivers of gold: Welcome to the Conservative Party all you 1%ers.

But the wind goes right through youIt's no place for the old: If you are part of the 99%...

When you first took my handOn a cold Christmas Eve You promised meBroadway was waiting for me: are the exact words that Cameron said to Clegg two years ago.

Season's Greetings One and All!

European Fiscal Compact

2011-12-17T18:48:00.000Z

I wanted to look more at last week's European fiscal union negotiations. The agreement that Cameron refused to sign up to is available here and it make surprisingly easy reading.

Last weekend the press was full of Cameron protecting the city against a Financial Transaction Tax, prompting this great quote from Ian Rankin: "The United Kingdom consists of 90,060 square miles. David Cameron has fought tooth and nail for 1 of them.".

Maybe I'm missing something but I can't where last week's agreement mentions the FTT. This is a summary of measures that were agreed (according to the BBC):

a cap of 0.5% of GDP on countries' annual structural deficits
"automatic consequences" for countries whose public deficit exceeds 3% of GDP
the tighter rules to be enshrined in countries' constitutions
European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to be accelerated and brought into force in July 2012
adequacy of 500bn-euro (£427bn; $666bn) limit for ESM to be reassessed
Eurozone and other EU countries to provide up to 200bn euros to the IMF to help debt-stricken eurozone members

No mention of the FTT in the BBC's summary or in the Statement by the Heads of State on the Fiscal Compact. This begs the question as to the real reason for Cameron refusing to sign.

I had set out my position last weekend: fiscal union would be more damaging than monetary union; however this does not mean that the UK should not be at the table when it comes to trying to ensure that the European economy does crash again. We need Europe as a trading partner, as it has been for thousands of years; to simply walk away from them and think that we can stand alone without European friends shows a seriously damaging level of hubris.

But the deal on the table would have been highly damaging. Constraining countries in their ability to maintain essential public services as the Fiscal Compact will do, is the wrong approach to the cash flow problems. Capping budget deficits, especially in the short term, is particularly bad for countries.

The deficits in 2009 & 2010 of around £150bn equate to around 10% of GDP, so under the proposed EU rules the UK would have had to close down £100bn of spending overnight - equivalent to the closure of the NHS. Yet the deficit was not caused by overspending, it was a dramatic fall in tax revenue which was caused by the recession (corporation tax is paid on company profits which suffer in a recession and income tax relies on people having jobs). Not being able to maintain essential public services would hardly be acceptable position to agree to.

Argueing for the closure of tax havens, bringing in a financial transaction tax, making carbon quota trading work and generate income for governments, finding a way of not relying on economic growth to bail out governments, and shifting energy hungry economies from being rooted in fossil fuels to energy efficient ones powered by renewables has to be the way forward.

Of course, unlike Cameron, some of us are happy to be arguing for local control of monetary and fiscal policy at the European Parliament:

Eamonn Ryan - Leader Irish Green Party

Dan Boyle - Irish Green Senator

Reinhard Bütikofer MEP - German Greens

and me at the European Parliament in Nov 2011 discussing the reposnes to the Eurozone crisis

Syria

2011-12-13T07:36:00.002Z

There is some appalling bad stuff happening in the Middle East and I don't blog about it nearly enough. The events in Syria are particularly bad with what is effectively a civil war with a current death toll of 5000 including 300 children.

The questions are always if, when and how countries should intervene in this type of situation. I would have hoped that the world had gone beyond if and when but with China and Russia vetoing a UN Security Council resolution, it seems that despite strong words from the UN commissioners there is little action being taken.

Russia's point that the West is "refuse[ing] to raise the pressure on the armed extremist flank of the [Syrian] opposition" and the West is therefore contributing to the hostilities is an interesting one. It seems to come from a point of view which which rejects the widely held view that Assad is the problem and the protestors turned fighters are acting that way as a result of oppression. Personally, I go with the UN's view that the regime is brutal.

Russia also stated that they "stand for a resolute action, but the one that is aimed at searching for ways to achieve peace, not intensifying one-sided pressure." In this they have a point, but solutions must be sustainable. There are too many examples of how it can go wrong, and the usual solutions are not always that effective, especially in a civil war.

Labour confused in Brighton

2011-12-11T15:01:00.001Z

The Greens in Brighton were the first to announce a council tax rise for next year. While increasing taxes are never going to popular at a personal level, they did this to minimise the damage to public services being wreaked by the Tory / Lib Dem coalition.

Labour look like following suit in Darlington, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees and other councils are considering this move too. It seems that they are beginning to see through the ConDem scam offer from Westminster.

Bizarrely then it now seems that Brighton Labour are preparing to get into bed with the Tories to oppose the budget. Even the suggestion that Labour could join forces with the Tories should secure Brighton as a Green stronghold for many years, but then we have always maintained that you can get a cigarette paper between Labour, Lib Dems and the Tories.

Last ever Politics Show

2011-12-11T14:27:00.001Z

I was on the last ever BBC SE Politics Show today, debating bonuses for bankers. I blogged a couple of days ago about it here.

Available on iPlayer - 41minutes in.

Only complaint so far is from Dawn, who says I should wear a tie on TV...

North Kent Marshes

2011-12-11T08:41:00.001Z

As someone who lived in Cliffe as a child, I know just how important the North Kent marshes are. The seemingly constant stream of plans to turn them into a concrete jungle, whether it is a massive airport, access for a third crossing or a new town, must be fought. We have to be reducing our impact on the planet not increasing it. This means saying no to developments that will drastically increase our carbon emissions or ones that will destroy precious habitats.

The Friends of North Kent Marshes have been campaigning to keep them safe against these threats and I have signed their ePetition against the airport.

These are the marshes that inspired Dickens to write: “My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening" and "the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing was the sea.” - Great Expectations

I agree with Dave...

2011-12-10T07:38:00.001Z

I agree with Dave... but will need to wash my mouth out with soap for saying so.

The decision not to agree to fiscal union yesterday was the right one to make, although Cameron made it for the wrong reasons. As Molly points out, he is more concerned with protecting the banking elite than having concerns for democracy, local decision making, and preventing alienation - Molly is spot on with this.

John Lichfield in the Indy accuses Cameron of wanting to turn the UK into an European outpost of the Caymen Islands, and I suspect that he is right.

Ann Pettifor takes a different tack, suggesting that another global financial collapse is imminent and will prevent any chance of EU countries trying to implement fiscal directions as they will be fire fighting their economies at a much more serious level. Again, Ann is right too.

I supported Keith Taylor in producing this statement, setting out our concerns about sovereignty and trade and as I have argued time and time again, the needs for a fair and strong economy are not difficult to grasp:

Fair taxation and tax justice
Decision making at a level as close to the people it affects as possible
Transparency in all financial dealings
National currencies - and local currencies
International currencies that are independent of any nation
Ensuring that economies are not based on activities that pollute or resources that are finite
Ensuring that economies meet the needs of peopl

Is that so difficult?

BBC Politics Show SE

2011-12-10T07:22:00.001Z

I was on the last ever Politics Show this weekend discussing banker's bonuses today.

It would have been very easy to wheel out a "hang 'em and flog em'" line full of bile and hate. A line which would have talked at length about punishing them for their sins. I tried to avoid this and consider rising inequalities, tax avoidance by the super rich and the state of the economy, but no sooner had the words "greedy" and "recklessly gambling with our economy" left my lips was I accused of wanting to punish them!

One point of contention was the rich pay proportionally more in tax. While this is broadly true for income tax, it is not true for the total tax burden and very clearly there is also significant tax avoidance by the super rich even on income. This is from Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK:

"The message from this data is unambiguous: the poorest 20% of households in the UK have both the highest overall tax burden of any quintile and the highest VAT burden."

These are the points that I wanted to make in the debate:

Inequality is rising:

Over the last decade the income of the richest10% has rise by 40% while the incomes of the poorest 10% have fallen
Inequality is bad for everyone: increase crime,health problems, reduces social cohesion and community
Big bonuses for the 1% simply increaseinequalities

Tax avoidance and the budget deficit:

Rich companies and individuals are avoidingpaying up to £100bn in tax
Need to close tax loopholes
The government is trying to close the budgetdeficit by austerity and reducing public sector incomes
Austerity is hurting the majority who are notsuper rich and especially younger people who cannot find work.

Paying their way:

Economic collapse caused by bankers gamblingrecklessly with our economy
Driven by greed and a lack of regulation byTories and Labour
No bonus should exceed the salary of the lowestpaid individual in the company (£10k-£15k)
No evidence that people will leave the county –but if they do....
Not worried about the super rich who refuse to paytheir way, we are worried about the 1 in 8 households in the South East thatare in fuel poverty.

Fracking Stupid!

2011-12-06T19:05:00.001Z

Kent Green Party have attacked today's decision by Kent County Council(1) to allow the exploration for shale gas as 'sheer stupidity'. They have said that the decision is the latest in a series of attacks by Conservatives and Lib Dems on Kent that will irrevocably damage the environment(2).

Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party: "Kent is under attack by the Conservatives and Lib Dems on a scale never seen before. This decision to allow for the exploration of the shale at Woodnesborough is the latest in a series attacks on Kent. It is very likely that the exploration will lead to shale gas extraction through fracking which will inflict serious and irrevocable damage on the environment, particularly ground water supplies, while ensuring that the country's duty to reduce its carbon emissions is missed(3).

"This decision comes just a couple of days after Vince Cable gave the thumbs up to the Grain airport which will devastate the Isle of Grain as well as ensuring that roads around North Kent become even more congested than they are already. And with the National Planning Policy Framework giving a free reign for developers to build just about anywhere they want, we are deeply concerned with the damage being wreaked on the County.

"The impact of climate change on Kent will be significant, with loss of land around our coast and increasing droughts. Pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere with a massive airport at Grain and by burning fracked gas are sheer stupidity. There are far better ways of powering the future than by drilling for more fossil fuels(4)."

FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party, on 0797 0436 029. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, monthly free ezine from Kent Green Party is available: subscribe at www.kentgreenparty.org

Notes:

1. http://democracy.kent.gov.uk/documents/s28216/Item%20C1%20-%20Junction%20of%20A256%20-%20A257%20nr%20Woodnesborough.pdf and see: http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/woodnesborough_shale_drilling_plan_approved_1_1146620

2. See www.kentgreenparty.org for multiple examples. Also: An extraordinary alliance of countryside campaigners, wildlife groups and green activists has launched a savage onslaught on the government,accusing it of showing "stunning disregard" for the environment. Observer 4th Dec 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/03/new-green-alliance-savages-osborne

3. The Government has halved the feed in tariff for solar PV generated electricity, undermining this effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite rising emissions in the UK. The Department for Energy and Climate Change has admitted that greenhouse gas emissions in the UK were 2.8% higher in 2010 than in 2009: http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/122101-uks-greenhouse-gas-emissions-on-the-increase.html This appalling failure demonstrates other aspects of the overall situation under the Coalition Government, including the continued failure of the planning system to favour ecologically sustainable development and refurbishment.

4. More on this story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-16029983

Kent Fracking decision tomorrow

2011-12-05T19:59:00.001Z

The planning application to explore land outside Dover for shale gas goes before Kent County Council's plannng committee tomorrow.

According to the BBC, this is a done deal. No surprise given that Kent County Council is 88% Tory and 8% Lib Dem and both parties are well known for running the Greenest Government Never.

I can't make tomorrow's protest outside County Hall but I hope that it is a big and noisy one. Let's get these people consigned to political history in 2013!

Don't scrap Tovil Parish Council

2011-12-04T19:10:00.001Z

Letter to the Kent Messenger about the plans to scrap the parish council:

Dear Editor,

Localism and democracy are both necessary for a cohesive society. Local citizens having a say in how their area is run is central to Green ideology and, according to the Prime Minister, it should be central to Conservative thinking too. The idea of trying to scrap a parish council, just because it makes a decision that one member doesn't like, goes against the concept of democracy.

Worse too is that this affront to localism and democracy is being led by a Conservative councillor. If Cllr Hogg thinks the plan to buy the school is wrong then he needs to get elected as a parish councillor and argue his case, and if residents disagree with the decision they need to vote differently at the next election.

We need more parish and town councils, not less.

Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party

More Lib Dem support for airport expansion: Vince Cable

2011-12-04T19:00:00.001Z

This time it is Vince Cable MP and the Isle of Grain.

Although he is quite happy to complain about the noise in his Twickenham constituency from Heathrow and opposed the third runway there, it is quite clear that this was a pure NIMBY stance rather than for any concern about the environment, climate change or peak oil.

If anyone has an ounce of concern about the environment please never vote for the Lib Dems.

The article in Kent Business is here. It goes further than the print version and has Cllr Paul Carter (leader of Kent County Council) saying yes to an estuary airport but wanting it in Essex - he seems to be trying to out do Cable in the NIMBY stakes.

Greenest Government Never

2011-12-04T16:38:00.001Z

Airports on the Isle of Grain have been proposed at least three times since WWII (1946, 1963 and 2002); each time they have been rejected.

The latest batch of ideas seemed to stem from Boris Johnson and Lord Norman Foster and now seem to have the backing of George Osborne.

Today Kent Greens attacked the plans that will damage the lives of local people as well as the wildlife across the estuary.

We must also remember the complete lunacy of more airports and more air travel. Peak oil and economic collapse mean that the cost of air travel will increase exponentially in the near future reducing the demand considerably. Even if it was affordable, we have to stop increasing the amount of carbon we are pumping into the atmosphere.

Obviously George 'Carbon' Osborne has as much regard for the environment as the rest of the greenest government (n)ever. Good letters in the Guardian yesterday, explaining as much:

The chancellor has proposed:
• Tax breaks for the country's most polluting industries.
• A revision of the basic safeguards that protect our most precious wildlife sites from development.
• A major expansion of airport capacity in the south-east of England
• Support for a major expansion of the road network.
• Aggressive implementation of a new presumption in favour of development in the planning system.

Fiscal Union?

2011-12-04T14:59:00.001Z

Angela Merkel plans for fiscal union across the Eurozone are going to end in tears. There is no doubt that the crisis is turning into a catastrophe and while the true fiscal union may provide short term stability in the finances of governments it will lead to longer term social and political unrest - exact what the European project was supposed to avoid.

From what I can tell, the Merkel plan is that it is not true fiscal union anyway. It simply imposes more cap and collar restrictions on governments when they set their budgets and ensures that budgets need to be agreed by the EU. Surely a true fiscal union would have central tax collection and redistribution powers? Of course that would be unacceptable to Merkel as the obvious losers would be the Germans.

Instead she is proposing restrictions on fiscal powers that remove the ability of Eurozone nations to act in a way that does not fit the received wisdom of the mighty wisdom of the economic elite in Europe - the same people that have brought us the current chaos.

With the French presidential elections next year, the loss of sovereignty must surely be too much to bear, although the Italians and Greeks seem to have drifted into a takeover by un-elected governments.

What should they do?

Get rid of the single currency

Provides 'firewalls' between countries in case of default
Ensures sovereign control on currencies

Turn the Euro back into the ECU but provide a fiscal mechanism within it based on carbon and population
Push for a wider international reserve currency that is not part of any one countries currency (and is managed as 2.)
Allow Greece and Italy to return to democratically elected governments

Cameron, Emin and UCA

2011-11-30T20:41:00.001Z

Letter in yesterday's Guardian from my friend Luke Frost on Cameron, Emin and the University for the Creative Arts which is closing its Maidstone Campus where Tracy Emin studied.

I couldn't help but clench my teeth with indignation after reading your star-studded Q&A interview with David Cameron (So, prime minister, what are you ashamed of?, Weekend, 26 November). In his reply to a question from Tracey Emin he pinned himself down as a "big fan of art education" and said he is "all in favour of us having well-funded art colleges".
The art college in Maidstone where Emin studied (whose current students I represent as a sabbatical officer) will be closed by 2014 and is now part of the fourth worst-cut university in England. The University for the Creative Arts has been forced to bid for exemption from coming student number reforms after the funding council was "convinced" by the case of institutions like ours that the result of these changes would "likely be a loss of this type of provision". The university would have lost over £1m in funding under the new regime. I worry for the future of our institution, and art and design education in Britain as a whole.
UCA has a good record for widening access, and Cameron is a brazen hypocrite who would see that destroyed, with the "enormous benefit" of this "great education" denied to so many in future. However, he is not the only hypocrite. If Emin truly cherished the memory of her education at Maidstone College of Art she would not have so publicly endorsed the Tories over her desire for a lower tax rate.
Luke Frost
Maidstone campus officer, UCA Students' Union

Nov 30 Letter to Kent Messenger

2011-11-28T07:07:00.001Z

Dear Editor,

While regretting the disruption it has caused, local Greens have welcomed this week's Day of Action and hope that government listens to the concerns of ordinary working people whose income is taking an unnecessary battering. The government's own investigation into the affordability of public sector pensions, the 'Hutton Report' stated that the cost of pensions will fall by 25% as a proportion of GDP even without the current proposed changes. This fact is one that the government are keen to side step as it doesn't fit with their ideological attacks on public services, public sector pensions and working people while avoiding taxing the bankers properly or going after corporate and private tax evaders.

On average public sector employees pay proportionally twice as much into pensions as workers in the private sector, yet the pensions they receive are low - around £4000 each year for local government employees; hardly ‘gold-plated’.

That said, private pensions are often a poor deal because of the 'fees/admin costs' levied and they expose individuals to the risks of investing in the stock market: "prices of shares can fall as well as rise". There is a clear need for a new way of ensuring that retired people have enough to live on and this cannot be achieved by taking money away from them.
Remember too, that it is the spending cuts by the government that are now preventing recovery in the wider national economy. The Tory - Lib Dem government is intent on destroying the public sector, the sector that is there to support ordinary people, and their refusal to negotiate on pensions is just the latest attack.

Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party

0.3% - the difference between Labour and Lib - Tory spending plans

2011-11-27T17:53:00.001Z

Friday's Newsnight contained a piece which looked at the difference between the Con-Dem spending plans and Labour's. They claimed that there was around £5bn difference (or 0.3% of GDP) - the quote from the iPlayer website says: "Emily Maitlis asks is there really much difference between Labour and Tory when it comes to the cuts?"

Given the significance of the claim in the face of the rhetoric between Balls and Osborne I am surprised that little has been written about it. After a fair bit of Googling, it looks like The Spectator has the only commentary on it (accompanied by one of the scariest photoshopped pictures I have seen). The Spectator has run the blog as Fraser Nelson was interviewed but why has no-one else.

More analysis of their spending plans is needed to really show just how close they are but as the Spectator reports, they don't like to quote figures and prefer to keep the arguements based on rhetoric. A more cynical person might suggest that this is done to deliberately mislead the electorate into believing there is a difference between Labour and the Lib/Tories.

OECD growth forecast heads downward

2011-11-26T19:07:00.001Z

The OECD is preparing to announce that it expects the UK to go back into recession on Monday just in time for Osborne's autumn budget statement on Tuesday.

Of course there is the obligatory need for the Con-Libs to blame anyone but themselves coming through clearly in the Torygraph's piece: "David Cameron and Mr Osborne are growing increasingly exasperated at the failure of European leaders to tackle the single currency crisis. Mr Cameron has already warned of the “chilling impact” the turmoil is having “every day” on the economy."

Obviously the fault of those foreigners and nothing to do with the Tory / Lib Dem failure to understand basic economics. Actually they probably do understand economics but I expect that they see it as a way of increasing the poverty gap and moving themselves further away from ordinary people.

Of course it is high time that we junked our obsession with the need for growth at any cost. The long term picture is not one of economic growth and the sooner we get used to that the easier life will be.

Ramsgate: Live exports meeting

2011-11-26T18:57:00.001Z

I couldn't make today's meeting on live exports from Ramsgate but very pleased that Keith Taylor MEP was speaking there. I visited with Keith a few week's ago and will go back soon.

I was saddened to read the comments from the NFU spokeman who said the vehicles they travelled in were "superb". I wonder if he would travel that way and in any case he is clearly missing the point.

Why the RAC is wrong on roads

2011-11-25T19:31:00.001Z

The RAC is predicting 4 million more cars on roads by 2035. They want more road capacity despite other pressing needs. Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party, condemns any idea of accommodating to this potential increase in traffic and congestion:

“The RAC has suggested that the country should surrender to the threat of 4 million more cars on our roads by 2035. They propose adding to road capacity, including allowing the environmentally damaging and ‘temporary fix’ A21 dualling proposal to go ahead(1). This would be madness.

“Today, our County Council has £40 million this year to repair potholes in Kent’s roads that will take £250 million to fix. No addition to road capacity outside urban traffic congestion areas is going to relieve congestion in Kent’s town centres. We must introduce a national congestion charging scheme to prevent traffic gridlock in Kent from getting any worse. This would: cut air pollution which our Government is to be prosecuted for, since it is breaking European air pollution laws to which is has agreed; it would cut greenhouse gas emissions which are currently increasing in the UK instead of declining (1) and it would generate funds for better bus services as the congestion charge has done in London.

“For improved public health, and reducing pressure on the NHS, we need radical improvements to walking and cycling networks in Kent and Medway. Since between a third and a half of all urban car journeys are less than 2 miles long, able-bodied people could walk or cycle such distances.”

Ends c255 word [excluding title]

FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party, on 0797 0436 029. Contact address as above. Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, Kent Green Party’s free monthly ezine, is available from www.kentgreenparty.org

Notes:

1. The dualling of the A21 would only prevent traffic congestion on the A21 for about 4 years, after which predicted rises in traffic will make it congested once again. Kent Green Party also condemns any suggestion of another Thames Crossing as a waste of £1 billion when congestion charging could make such spending unnecessary.

2. The Department for Energy and Climate Change has admitted that greenhouse gas emissions in the UK were 2.8% higher in 2010 than in 2009: http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/122101-uks-greenhouse-gas-emissions-on-the-increase.html

Attack of the zombies

2011-11-24T06:41:00.001Z

Rise up all you zombies...

and sign another 38 Degrees petition against Tory health ministers calling 38 Degree petitions zombies.

Such an example of professional political behaviour

The Paris Declaration

2011-11-20T08:45:00.001Z

Last week's European Green Congress saw the agreement of The Paris Declaration - a twelve point plan to "step out of the current financial, social and economic crisis affecting Europe, and a roadmap for the refounding of the European project". The UK Greens abstained from the backing the declaration which was probably the right thing to do, especially given our opposition to the Eurozone, but there are some good concepts within the 12 point plan:

Make the Greek debt-burden sustainable;
Make the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) (and future ESM) an effective backstop;
Recapitalise the European banks;
Rebalancing the austerity-only approach;
Strongly re-regulate Europe’s finance industry;
Develop a comprehensive European tax strategy, including active fight against tax evasion and limiting avenues for tax avoidance;
Establish a European Monetary Fund;
Make the macro-economic surveillance framework operational and more balanced;
Make the EU budget an instrument of economic policy, which will create a strong and relevant European Treasury.
Launch a Green New Deal for Europe including:

Putting the EU2020 targets on an equal footing with the stability and growth, and financial targets;
More effective pricing of CO2 through a move to a 30% GHG emissions cut by 2020;
Imposition of carbon stress tests to financial institutions, the introduction of climate risk as systemic risk into legislation, the promotion of green indices that indexed-based funds can refer to, the development of green banking, with tax incentives where appropriate;
allowing the EIB to issue green bonds in order to foster green investments; Mandating public pension funds and incentivising private pension funds to allocate a proportion of their portfolio to green investments and companies.
Mandating public pension funds and incentivising private pension funds to allocate a proportion of their portfolio to green investments and companies.
Implement an energy transition to renewable energies, out of nuclear and fossil-fuels.

Co-decide key economic policy guidelines;
A Convention for a new Europe.

A strong plan seems to be what the EU needs, but the pro-Euro European Greens are quite at odds with us in England and Wales, and they don't seem to understand the damage that the Eurozone does to weaker economies. I think that they need to rethink just what benefit they get from the Euro and consider carefully the disbenefit of not having firewalls between currencies.

Picking up on the 12 point plan, my thoughts:

The sentiment is right, but the language is wrong. Debt-burden is the wrong way to consider the debt. If society wants money, then it needs debt (as money is debt). The key is to ensure that debt is not a burden rather than getting rid of debt per se.
Fine, as long as it works for sound ecological and social principles and not for the benefit of the rich elite.
Hmm... we need banks but let's make them smaller and able to fail if they screw up.
Absolutely!
Ditto
Ditto again, but European wide taxes should be limited to carbon and financial transactions (which in the 12 point plan they are)
Same as 2.
Yup
Not keen. Bit too centrist but then you need one if you want 6.
Happy with the Green New Deal but realistically overall economic growth is unlike in the medium and long term. There should be explicit statements about sector growth.
As 9 - too centrist
Possibly as we clearly need to revise the treaties but we also need to avoid further centralisation and ensure that democracy flows upwards from people and communities.

1% in quiet revolution

2011-11-19T18:29:00.001Z

Everyone is following the European Economic Collapse closely as the polls show. There seem to be two clear themes coming our of the EEC: European leaders don't have a clue and the bankers are taking over.

The ongoing ~~debarcle~~ discussion between Sarkosy and Merkel continues to wind its way to further EEC, and Cameron's recent foray into the mire left him covered in farmyard glory although it seems they are all friends now.

The new love-in by the right winger leaders may be explained by the corporate takeover and de-democratisation of Greece and Italy. The installation of Monti and Papademos has to be one of the most worrying events in recent European political history. There has been a sucessful and quiet EU sanctioned coup d'tat by the banking elite.

Smarter driving

2011-11-19T17:47:00.001Z

A local driving school is providing training for qualified drivers to help them save fuel, save money and reduce emissions.This is from Colin - School of Motoring in Bearsted:

Qualified Drivers accredited courses in “Smarter Driving”
The course takes place “In-Car” and lasts for about 1 hour.
Each “in-car” course, lasting about 1 hour and costing only £25, could not only be improving road safety, but could also be saving you up to 15% per year on the cost of your fuel, while at the same time cutting levels of CO2.

Deal with it

2011-11-19T17:39:00.001Z

A young campaigner in Deal has asked my to publicise her e-petition against plastic bags. Amber is part of 'Deal with it' a transition style organisation in East Kent - Deal. Please sign the petition!

This is the email from Amber:

My name is Amber, I'm 16 years old and I've been inspired to set up my own campaign to the government to lobby them to ban the plastic bags. In August this year I set up an online petition on the government's petition site and have been working with my local environmental group, Deal With It, who are trying to get "transition" status.

I'm really passionate about this and care very much for the marine life that actually end up getting suffocated, strangled and even killed by plastic bags ending up in our oceans. Approximately 1 million seabirds 100,000 marine mammals die from ingestion or entanglement in plastics every single year. Not only that, but the littering of plastic bags spoils our beautiful environment and the pollution from the bags is something I feel many people don't know or understand. Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, known as polythene which is toxic and seeing as plastic bags cannot biodegrade, the pieces photodegrade, only getting smaller and smaller and smaller contaminating our waterways, soils and oceans - even entering the food chain, including the human beings'. To make matters even worse plastic bags are produced using precious finite oil resources which are becoming scarce in the world today. Surely, it would be better to stop making them and at least save some oil as the world's energy demands keep increasing.

I think it is really sad what is happening to our planet so I have decided that I would try and do something about it. It is for a better future, for me, my friends, our children and grandchildren. We have to change our ways now, because our planet cannot sustain our way of living. One thing we can do right now is get rid of plastic bags. The number of plastic bags consumed in the past year rose by 333 million and it is time the Government knuckle down and make a change.

My national campaign really needs a lot of help and attention because in the next 10 months we need a massive 100,000 signatures to get it debated in Parliament. As this is such a big target and I need to reach out to a lot of people I was wondering whether you could possibly write something about it on your website and maybe even put it in your mailing list.

Here is my campaign: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/12786 and the Deal Mercury newspaper article: http://twitpic.com/6shk74 and my 1st video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0DAfG87X7w

Lighting up Kent

2011-11-15T19:23:00.001Z

Shock, horror - council realises that it is dark at night and lightening it up costs money. At long last KCC has woken up to the energy cost of running street lights all night and is planning to turn some off for part of the night. As long as thought goes into which ones this should not cause a problem.

I suspect there will be a lot of resistance against thsi of course.

Mealy-mouthed Miliband

2011-11-13T10:08:00.001Z

Great letter from Caroline Lucas in today's Observer (below). Labour are failing the real people in this country, they are failing to back the unions (and I have no idea why the unions keep on backing Labour) and they are failing to lead the country towards a fairer society. They should be consigned to political history.

Caroline's Letter:

Ed Miliband's article was an object lesson in mealy-mouthed prevarication. On the one hand, he acknowledges that the protesters pose a challenge to politics to close the gap between their values and the way the country is run. On the other, he dismisses their "long list of diverse and often impractical proposals".
I should love to know which he finds most "impractical": their call for an end to global tax injustice, or perhaps their proposal that our democratic system should be free of corporate influence? Or maybe it's their support for the student demonstrations this week, or the strikes planned for 30 November?
Until he can demonstrate which side Labour is on, Miliband's assertion that "the Labour party speaks to that crisis and rises to the challenge" will remain hollow rhetoric.
Indeed, the real challenge that the occupiers present to politicians like Miliband is that they are staging the debate that mainstream parties have been studiously avoiding since the economic crisis started – the question of how to completely refocus the values and goals of our economic system, rather than trying to get back to business as usual as fast as possible.
I was proud to have been asked to address the Occupy rally in London last weekend, and proud to be able to say the Green party stands fully behind their goals. It's a pity that Labour can't do the same.
Caroline Lucas

Eurozone debt crisis

2011-11-10T20:24:00.000Z

I was in the European Parliament last month, representing the Green Party in a workshop on the debt crisis in Europe. Most of the Eurozone Greens are keen on the Eurozone and while England and Wales Greens are opposed to joining the Eurozone, the crisis is not going to miss us just because we are outside.

As I have argued previously, the Eurozone creates inequality and poverty among its member states. Monetary union without fiscal union (and therefore redistribution of wealth controlled by a superstate) won't work. Of course fiscal union and a superstate would be appalling - a real centralisation of power creating alienation in local communities.

Local currencies create a useful firewall between states. Allowing a partial default in Greece would be easier and safer if the default resulted in a revaluation. Of course that can't happen if you share a currency.

And contagion is less likely with separate currencies. Italy is wobbling, Portugal and Spain may be next and there is no guarentee that France is that secure. Ireland has already tripped over once.

It may be that the break up is a good thing and news that discussions have been had should be welcome.

Depressing stuff

2011-11-10T05:17:00.001Z

From the Guardian: "The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure."

As it was ever likely to be while the world continues to worship on the alter of unfettered capitalism. While Europe begins to crash and burn, the depression is unlikely to stop the rest of world continuing to play catch up with our mistakes and consumption.

The safe level of 350ppm was passed around 1990 and is rising at around 2 - 3ppm each year and accelerating (currently at around 390ppm).

Sadly the world remains focussed on the economy, forgetting that the economy will be damaged beyond recognition by catastrophic climate change and peak resource use.

Jenny Jones ahead in Mayoral campaign

2011-11-05T12:13:00.001Z

Online polls are great, aren't they?

This is from London 24 on the Mayoral elections showing the Green Party's Jenny Jones in first place. Great stuff, lets hope she hangs on to this lead...

Rowan backs Occupy

2011-11-04T07:20:00.003Z

About time! A tent outside St Paul's has 'What would Jesus do?' written on the side of it, fortunately Jesus's church subsequently decided that it would not back the eviction of the protestors.Now Rowan Williams seems to be supporting the protestors - about time too.

I hope to get bak up there soon.

Oaken Wood update

2011-11-04T07:16:00.000Z

Looks like the public inquiry into the Oaken Wood to quarry plan has been put back to October 2012.

Thanet Against Live Exports

2011-11-04T06:57:00.000Z

I visited Ramsgate on Wednesday with Keith Taylor MEP and Steve Campkin, Kent Green Party's animal rights spokesperson, to meet the Thanet Against Live Exports campaigners.

Around 40 of them turned out to meet us on top of a windy cliff. Plenty of press people there and Keith gave a good speech.

Clearly a well organised and passionate group, so hats off to them for the work they have done so far.

The live animal exports have to be stopped and can be stopped. It is down to a failure of government that these creatures are subject to this appalling treatment.

Please sign Cllr Driver's petition here and join the Facebook group here.

What did you do, Daddy?

2011-10-30T20:00:00.002Z

"What did you do Daddy, when they sold the NHS, closed all the libraries and privatised all the schools?"

"I voted on X Factor and complained that my Blackberry network was down..."

Well-behaved women rarely make history

2011-10-30T07:24:00.001Z

Caroline Lucas had a piece in the Financial Times yesterday based around the banner in her office which says: “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”

Good piece in the FT, great woman in Westminster.

St Paul's against protestors is immoral

2011-10-25T08:11:00.000+01:00

Press release from Kent Green Party:
Kent Green Party Chair, Stuart Jeffery, visited protesters at St Paul's at the weekend to thank them for standing up for the 99% of people whose lives are being damaged unnecessarily by the greedy 1%. He has joined calls for an end to tax avoidance by the super rich, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that is destroying public services. Stuart has also criticised the closure of its doors by the cathedral itself, as a political act and has stated that the threatening of legal action by St Paul's against protestors is immoral.

He says: "I visited the protesters at OccupyLSX at the weekend to thank them for standing up for the vast majority of people whose lives are being damaged by corporate interests, the greedy 1% and of course our corrupt political system.

"Economic troubles are being used as an excuse to feather the beds of the rich rather than as an opportunity to reduce the gap between rich and poor. While the government assault on public services increases, they continue to allow their rich friends to avoid paying £100 billion in taxes - the same amount as their budget deficit. George Osborne and his rich friends should be ashamed of themselves for avoiding paying taxes while the rest of us have to. Tax loopholes need to be closed immediately.

"Currently at the top of the shame list is St Paul's itself. I saw first hand how false their claims were that it had to close its doors on health and safety grounds. The Health and Safety Executive has not raised questions about the protest. The site was well organised and there was good access to all areas. St Paul's list of trustees and sponsors reads like a who's who of the 1%. Closing its doors was clearly done for political reasons.

"Worse still is the legal action being threatened by St Paul's. This threat is immoral and needs to be retracted immediately. This type of bullying has no place in society and shows clearly the problems that the 99% face against the 1%."

Notes:
George Osborn and tax avoidance: http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2010/10/28/tax-avoidance-george-does-it-too/
Interview with trader Alessio Rastani on BBC News: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/trader-to-bbc-goldman-sachs-goldman-sachs-rules-the-world_n_981658.html
Trustees and Sponsors of St Paul's: http://stuartjeffery.blogspot.com/2011/10/st-paul-patron-saint-of-1.html
Photo of visit by Stuart: http://stuartjeffery.blogspot.com/2011/10/visit-to-occupylsx.html
Legal action by St Pauls: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/23/st-pauls-occupy-london-protest?CMP=EMCGT_241011&

REFORM LIVE FARM ANIMAL EXPORT LAWS

2011-10-23T08:48:00.002+01:00

Petition started by a Ramsgate councillor against the live animal exports there. I'm hoing to visit campaigners in Ramsgate in a few weeks. These exports should be stopped.

This is from the eGov site, I would have worded this differently but I still think it needs signing.

The petition:

It is unnecessary to export UK farm animals abroad for slaughter or fattening. UK farm animals should be fattened or slaughtered in the UK. The Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 makes it illegal to refuse a ship the use of a port if it is carrying out lawful trade. This law stops port owners refusing trade on ethical grounds. This outdated law must be amended to let port owners refuse, on animal welfare grounds, the export of live farm animals. EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals in transport must be reformed. A limit of 8 hours must be placed on journeys for slaughter and fattening. Regulation1/2005 must also be enforced rigorously in the UK by DEFRA and local authorities. I call on the Government to update the 1847 Act to reflect changing attitudes and scientific knowledge about animal welfare in the past 164 years. I call on the Government to persuade EU partners to strengthen Council Regulation 1/2005with regards to the 8 hour limit on animal transport.

Visit to OccupyLSX

2011-10-22T18:54:00.001+01:00

Make greed history, poverty is just a consequence

I visited Occupy LSX at St Paul's earlier today and spoke with some to say thank you for their efforts. Met two great people from Strood (John and Louise). Didn't spot the new camp in Finsbury Square!

Protest has been there for a week now and it is a real shame that the City has decided to close St Paul's. The Health and safety excuse is just bizarre as anyone who sees how the protest is being run would agree.

There is a real feeling that change must happen. We cannot carry on with the increasing gap between rich and poor. We cannot allow the interests of the few trample over the needs of the many. Louise's placard says it all: "Make greed history, poverty is just a consequence"

St Paul, patron saint of the 1% ?

2011-10-21T19:44:00.001+01:00

Richard Murphy has been digging on who backs St Pauls after they decided that the poor 99% of us are no longer worth supporting by closing their doors today.

The Dean of St Paul's said that they: "recognise the huge issues facing us at this time and asking them to leave the vicinity of the building so that the cathedral can reopen as soon as possible". Perhaps they are struggling with a loss of ticket sales?

Clearly a good Christian organisation that identifies and supports the poor - not.

Look like their trustees are predominantly in the 1%, perhaps they might donate a little of their wealth to allow St Paul's to show solidarity with the protestors:

Chairman
Sir John Stuttard PWC partner, Former Lord Mayor of London.
Trustees
The Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, Dean of St Paul’s
Dame Helen Alexander DBE Deputy chair of the CBI, director of Centrica plc
Lord Blair of Boughton Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Roger Gifford Investment banker, big in City of London
John Harvey – Not clearly identified
Joyce Hytner OBE – Theatre director
Gavin Ralston Global Head of Product and leading international asset manager at Schroder Investment Management
Carol Sergeant CBE - Chief Risk Director at Lloyds TSB, formerly Managing Director for Regulatory Process and Risk at the FSA
John Spence OBE – Former Managing Director, Business Banking, LloydsTSB

Maybe their sponsors could afford to help out:

Lloyds TSB Group plc
An Independent Trust Associated with Barclays
City of London Corporation
City of London Endowment Trust
The Schroder Foundation
Goldman Sachs International
The Worshipful Company of Mercers
UBS Investment Bank
McKinsey & Company
N M Rothschild & Sons Ltd
Skandinaviska Enskilda Bank
Prudential Plc
Slaughter & May
Electra Partners LLP
Land Securities
Standard Chartered Plc
JPMorgan Cazenove
J.P. Morgan
The Freemasons’ Grand Charity
Canary Wharf Group Plc
Man Group Plc Charitable Trust
London Stock Exchange
The Worshipful Company of Grocers
American Express
The Coutts Charitable Trust
The British Land Company Plc
HSBC Holdings Plc

Greens THIRD in national Com Res poll

2011-10-16T07:06:00.000+01:00

Always wrong to follow the opion polls to much or to read too much into them, but sadly I do. So it was fascinating to see that this morning's ComRes poll which uses question:

"If it were a legal requirement for you to vote, which party do you think you would probably vote for Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat or some other party?"

The results were:

Labour	83	30%
Tory	73	26%
Green	36	13%
Lib Dem	34	12%
UKIP	21	8%
BNP	13	5%
SNP	6	2%
Plaid	2	1%
Other	10	4%
Total	278	100%

A further 237 people 'did not know' or 'refused'.

Of course there is a margin of error of around 3%, this isn't the main thrust of the poll, etc. etc. BUT it is still great to know that we could do well even if it needs legislation to make voting compulsory.

Get Carter fails in Kent, Fox hunt suceeds in Westminster

2011-10-15T09:55:00.001+01:00

The leadership bid for Kent County Council is about the only interesting bit of political challenge on the council in recent years with 74 of the 80 odd councillors being Tory. Ferrin and Chard decided to 'Get Carter' but have failed to oust him. Not that replacing one Tory with another will change anything - they will all decimate public services. Youth, elderly, social services, childrens are all under attack. About the only sensible thing being said is Carter's opposition to some of the education reforms.

Fox, on the other hand, has been ousted. Probably takes some heat off of the Oliver Letbin debacle of disposing of confidential information in public parks - might have been easier and safer to send straight to wikileaks. Also takes the heat off of Lansley and the Lords. Good news to help bury bad news?

While Letbin has increased transparency albeit wrongly, Fox has shown just how committed the Tories are to dodgy dealings, lobbyists and feathering their own nests.

38 Degrees petition to stop the badger cull

2011-10-15T09:40:00.000+01:00

38 Degrees petition to stop the badger cull

The government has announced plans to start culling badgers. There's been a big debate among 38 Degrees members about these culls. Some of us believe killing badgers would be wrong under any circumstances. Some of us believe that if the science really proved that shooting badgers could make a real dent in the cow TB problem, it would be a tragic necessity.

But 87% of us agree on this: the government's current plans to shoot England's badgers simply don't stack up. The government’s own scientific advisers warn that it won't solve the problem of TB in cattle, and could even make it worse.

Government scientists say that if a cull isn’t carried out “in a co-ordinated, sustained and simultaneous manner according to the minimum criteria, then this could result in a smaller benefit or even a detrimental effect.”

The government is consulting on the plans right now. If we don't stop them, badger shoots could begin in a matter of months. Can you take 30 seconds now to add your name to the petition?

TAX JUSTICE ePETITION

2011-10-12T20:30:00.004+01:00

TAX JUSTICE ePETITION

SIGN HERE

Responsible department: Her Majesty's Treasury

We applaud campaigns by trade unions, church groups, and civil society demanding tax justice and join them in calling on the Government to take action to identify those avoiding and evading tax. Firstly, the Chancellor should force all multinational companies filing accounts in the UK to reveal their use of tax havens and publish what profits they earn and what tax they pay in each country in which they operate, without exception. Secondly, banks should be required by law to give details of all accounts they maintain for companies operating in the UK so HMRC and Companies House can chase any companies who pretend to be dormant to evade tax. These two simple changes could help recover billions of pounds of lost tax for the UK by revealing those hiding their income from view.

20mph in the Kent on Sunday

2011-10-09T17:27:00.000+01:00

From page 6 today's Kent on Sunday:

Strong recommendations were made in the European Parliament last week for an EU-wide urban speed limit of 20mph.
Although the support lacks the force of law, recommendations made in the European Parliament can be influential in shaping policy within governments on a national and local level.
But the move has sparked a clash between the Green Party and Conservative members in Kent.
Maidstone Green Party, which has been pushing for a drop in speed around schools, celebrated the EU support, stating there was now no excuse for residential roads to remain at 30mph.
“Councillors need to seize this opportunity to make life better for all,” said spokesman Stuart Jeffery.
In August, highways chiefs at Kent County Council announced they would be trialling a 20mph speed limit involving six primary schools in Maidstone early next year in a bid to improve road safety.
Mr Jeffery said: “The council is dipping its toe into 20mph zones outside schools, which is a step in the right direction, but the weight of opinion must now quickly take them to making all of our streets safer.
“The vast majority of residents would feel and be safer with cars coming past their houses at 20mph instead of 30mph.”
Green MEP for the south east Keith Taylor added: “This limit would ensure drivers have to respect the same road rules no matter where they drive, making it easier for drivers and safer for all those on or near our roads.”
But while the Greens were celebrating, Tory MEPs condemned the recommendations.
They claimed it was an example of EU “meddling”.
Daniel Hannan, who represents the south east, including Kent, in Brussels, said the proposal was another example of Europe trying to dictate to Britain on issues that should be decided locally.
“Of course speed limits as low as 20mph or so can be right in some very specific areas, especially near schools or nurseries, but every location is different and these decisions need to be made case by case. Not by a Europe-wide edict.”
A potential change to motorway speed has also been discussed this week, with transport secretary Philip Hammond confirming plans to consult on raising the limit to 80mph.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference this week, he said the current 70mph limit had become “discredited” and failed to keep pace with advances in motoring.
But Maidstone Green Party’s Mr Jeffery said local members would campaign against the proposed rise.
“Fuel costs and CO2 emissions will increase significantly, as will accidents and air pollution,” he said.
“The M20 corridor already suffers with bad air quality - an 80mph limit would simply make this worse.”

Tobin Tax

2011-10-04T19:15:00.002+01:00

The Green Party has welcomed therenewed EU initiative to introduce a Financial Transaction Tax, althoughconcerned the measure is currently seen only as part of the Euro rescuepackage.

Green Party Policy Coordinator,Stuart Jeffery said:

“No other rules, monitoring, bonus taxes orGovernment-appointed directors so effectively tackle the roots of the ‘sociallyuseless’ speculative trading that brought the world financial system close tocollapse in 2008, and again now. The Tobin tax is simply too good to be used asan emergency fundraiser for the bail-out.

"Sadly the coalition seemsto have little appetite for curbing the excessive risk-taking of the bankers orfor helping to protect savers. A financial transaction tax would help do thesethings and also raise important income to address the increasing problems thatwe face. The stakes are too high to allow the banks to crash the economy again.

“The Green Party has endorsed theidea of the Tobin tax for many years, supportingthe view that the proceeds could contribute to overseas development aid. Theurgent need for an FTT is not as a bail-out, or for revenue-raising, but to curtailthe bloated casino “investment” banking sector.”

While world-wide application ofFTT is desirable, the Green Party believes it could be introduced at a low ratethroughout Europe to set an example to the USA and other major financialcentres. It can also represent a useful measure to support the rebalancing ofthe UK economy now widely agreed as necessary.

80/20 rule or does it?

2011-10-02T12:01:00.000+01:00

News that the coalition are considering pushing 20mph in towns is superb but needs to be nationally mandated as the default limit in residential street. The EU have also backed 20mph as the limit this week. It is time that government took real action to make our streets safer and more community focused.

The 80mph rise will be disastrous. Claiming that people drive at 80 anyway is a poor arguement as an 80 limit will encourage people to drive at 90, plus...

Fuel consumption will rise
CO2, PM10, and NOx emissions will rise
Noise will increase
Accidents will increase

Rarely a day goes by without an accident on the A2/M2 and that travels at 60 mostly. The M20 near Harrietsham is incredibly noisy and the air quality at junction 6 is appaling.

I'm usually all for the 80/20 rule but lets stick to the 20 part this time.

Library fiasco in Maidstone

2011-10-02T11:49:00.002+01:00

This appear in this week's Kent Messenger:Dear Editor,Joan Langrick (KM 23 Sept) is right to point out the absurdity of the new Library. While no-one doubts the need for repairs to the Faith St building or the need to bring the Springfield service together with the central Maidstone service, spending £11m on a new library that no-one will be able to get to is simply a waste of money.KCC will be reducing staff and book numbers in the new library while young families and older people will find the new site inaccessible. It is clear from my own correspondence with the council that they have given little thought to the move or its impact.Meanwhile, the County Council is making huge cuts to services and staff based on the flawed economics of the Lib Dem / Conservative government who continue to chant the mantra that the country is broke while they let their rich friends get away with avoiding £100bn in tax each year. As Joan Langrick rightly pointed out, it is not the rich decision makers in County Hall who will suffer the loss of a library but those who need it most, but then those people are the same ones that are under continued attack by local and national government.The council should have invested this money in a scheme that would benefited local people, not a white elephant that will have few visitors.Stuart JefferyMaidstone Green Party

Goldman Sachs rules the world not governments

2011-09-26T18:34:00.000+01:00

A trader talks from the heart:

If you know what to do anyone can make money from the economy crashing.

The governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world!

Thatcherism on Smack

2011-09-25T07:48:00.001+01:00

As the Guardian points out today, David Cameron is hardly setting the G20 alight with his lack of leadership and insight into Global Financial Meltdown II. George Osborne is no better with his words of wisdom: "There is a recognition here that the global debt crisis has entered a dangerous phase." No shit Sherlock.

While you might forgive them a little if they were concentrating on sensible policies to stabalise the UK economy, it is quite clear that they are following the disaterous approach of Greece, Ireland, and indeed many developing world countries that were forced by the IMF into selling public services off and slashing public spending. It didn't work there and it won't work in the UK.

What they should be doing is taking a firm control of the monetary policy. Nationalising the banks, controlling the money supply, and eliminating (as far as possible) tax avoidance.

Yet what we have instead is“Thatcherism on smack” delivered by Lib Dems and Tories.

Can I recommend Richard Murphy on economics.

European drugs used in Troy Davis execution

2011-09-24T08:08:00.000+01:00

This is from Reprieve following the Troy Davis execution using drug manufactured in Europe calling for people to write to their MEPs:

Amid all the condemnation of the appalling execution of Troy Davis last night, it is important to remember that Europe too has been complicit in US lethal injections, and will be again unless our representatives act.
Troy Davis was executed using drugs produced by a firm headquartered in Denmark. Previously, US states including Georgia have used barbiturates imported from Britain to carry out lethal injections. American prisons have also attempted to buy execution drugs from Italy; and the US Commerce Secretary recently asked the German Government to ‘help out’ in providing them with sodium thiopental, traditionally the first part in the three-stage execution ‘cocktail’.
Some of these requests have been refused. Firms like Lundbeck have taken action to prevent their drugs from being used in executions. The British Government has introduced export controls on some (but not all) of the drugs which are either being used or have the potential to be used in lethal injections.
However, US stockpiles of these death drugs are now running out, and we know that US prisons are looking to Europe for their next fix. That is why it is essential that the European Commission acts urgently to introduce EU-wide export controls on drugs which can be used in executions, to ensure they don’t fall into the hands of those who would use them to kill.
Write to your MEP
If you want to help, please write to your MEP to ask them to back a resolution on this issue, and bring to bear what pressure they can on the European Commission to act now.
You can find out who your MEPs are and write to them by typing your postcode into the box below. There will be several who represent the region in which you live, and you can use this application to write to all of them at the same time, or to each individually.
Please write to as many of them as you can to ask them to sign the Written Declaration on the export of drugs used for the death penalty in third countries (0029/2011). As the window to sign the Declaration closes on 6 October, we would ask that you contact your MEP as soon as possible.
Letters to politicians are much more effective when you write in your own words rather than using generic text, as it lets your representatives know how important this is to you. We've prepared a sample letter that you can use as a guide for your message, but please don't copy the text as your message will be blocked and will not reach the intended recipient.

Roller coaster ride anyone?

2011-09-24T08:00:00.002+01:00

The second dip is starting so hang on to your hats or you will lose your shirts (to mix a metaphore or two). While the FTSE has a long way to go to the 2009 low of 3493, it has certainly been a rocky month and Thursday saw the biggest fall in three years.

The UK is still a couple of steps behind the Eurozone with the defaults about to start popping across the Med and predictions of a new global recession. Of course the developing world is enjoying a high level of growth to balance off the West's downfall. While many in the West will eye 7-9% growth with envy, it is worth remembering that many of these states have suffered being held back by the West for most of the 20th century.

With government income from corporation tax predicated on economic growth (corporation tax is on profits), no economic growth damages the ability of government to fund itself. If you look at the fall in tax revenues in 2008/9 you will see that the lion's share was in corporation tax. Jobs too, are created in the private sector on the hope of profits, rather than desire to create useful employment (usually). Without the forecasts of growth, the profiteers are not going to want to invest.

So it is surely time that we examined what economic growth is and what it means but most importantly it is time to ask how we can survive without it.

Whether there ever be long term growth again in the UK, is a discussion for another blog post, but having a different tax regime that ensures that government funds don't collapse every time the economy stops growing, and having a labour market that is able to withstand contractions, let along zero growth, is a must.

The hardest question is finding that new regime and making it acceptable within the globalised economy.

A Frack in the Life

2011-09-22T20:24:00.002+01:00

I read the news today, oh boy. Eight hundres holes in Blackburn, Lancashire being dug to get at 200 trillion cubic feet of gas

Caroline Lucas has an Early Day Motion calling for a moratorium on fracking and our Autumn Conference also voted for a moratorium.

There is potentially a lot more shale with gas down there. I can see this fight is going to get begger and bigger with the Big Frackers throwing money towards their campaign for profits.

Fiddling while the arctic melts

2011-09-18T12:54:00.002+01:00

No matter how grave the world economy is, how poor the state of the Eurozone might be or the fact that the neo-cons continue to try to pursuade the country that it is broke and there can be no more public services, we must not forget the fight that will hurt us all far more.

Climate change continues unabashed. The arctic ice melt continues to break records - this year looks to be the second lowest coverage on record after 2007. NASA have recorded the third warmest summer on record (globally) and CO2 is rising steadily by 2 ppm each year, topping 390 in August. Contrast the 390ppm with the 350 campaign - we are 11% over safe levels and rising.

Does our "greenest government ever" give a damn? Nope. They are still trying to figure out how the macro-economic mess can ensure that that they feather their own nests. The prime minister can't even be bothered to pay for his cat's upkeep and makes his staff pay for it so why should we begin to think that he gives a toss about the rest of us?

The economy is a social construct, it can be easily fixed. The climate is not and needs to be protected. Cameron, Clegg, Obama etc. get a grip or get out!

Planet Dancing by Patric McCusker

2011-09-18T08:47:00.002+01:00

Like some other fellow Greenies, I was sent a copy of Planet Dancing by Patric McCusker to review. I did this by way of three questions to Patrick, shown below. The book is in two halves, with a series of well written and poignant vignettes in the first half followed by a number of schemes to help the world connect with nature in the second. I found the first half much better than the second which seemed to focus on a combination of 'benign' capitalism as a solution and giving children nature based names to foster a sense of connection with the planet.

You can imagine my reaction to a solution based on capitalism but I like the idea of giving children names based on nature although I know it will make no impact on their love (or not) of it as my daughter Poppy will atest.

This is the response that I had from the author to my questions:

Mr Jeffery thank you for your kind words about Planet Dancing. They are much appreciated. In relation to the book in general the ambition is to give people an easy read about things in nature that are familiar to them: things that would disturb them if they were to become extinct. I purposely stayed away from the big pictures of nature – a half million wildebeest migrating in search of water etc. The small, intimate, and indeed often common scenes in nature can capture people’s imagination in ways that more intricate patterns cannot. The dilemma the frog will face in the Big Guy in an English swamp (P 49) is an example.

Your first question: Why is the book in two halves and how does the first section inform the second?

The book, as you rightly point out, is divided into two sections. The first part has the serious intent of drawing people out of their often busy lives to look once more at the quiet beauty of the small things of nature that are to be found all about them: to see in these things a wonder and a mystery that by their presence can enrich our lives. It is purposely not stated but this first section attempts to leave the thought that if these things were to pass to extinction our lives would be poorer by their passing. This part of the book attempts to leave an impression on the reader that we must see to it that such things are protected. The question it raises is therefore – how to protect and how can we as citizens help in this protection? This opens the thinking into the second part of the work – what can be done by citizens to protect species and habitats?Too many books on conservation are written in shrill and clamorous tones and demanding that something be done – without suggesting what might be done. Planet Dancing has avoided all that. It is never raucous or strident. Nevertheless over the second section it attempts to set down a number of solutions, solutions if adopted, that could bring about enormous changes in attitude on how best to tackle our conservation problems. The involvement of the public is key. It is far too limiting to leave conservation largely in the hands of government agencies. The numerous NGO that are struggling to conserve nature, often against bitter opposition, do so against the mild indifference by the general public for what they are attempting to achieve. The ambition of Planet Dancing is to galvanize large sections of society to be motivated to become involved in conserving nature.

Your second question: How can the idea of nature names be sold to ‘ordinary’ people?

To me this is an idea of enormous potential. It would allow a child, while a child and on growing up, to take on the protection of a single species and to join with others in the protection of this species. The ‘protection of a habitat’ or ‘save the world’ are far too big and complex questions that leave many in confusion and helplessness in what they might do on a practical level that would make a difference.When you think about it if this idea becomes widespread it would mean that right across the UK there would be thousands of Fox Children and thousands of Wren Children or Barn Owl Children that, in time, could form powerful conservation groups for the protection of their chosen animal or bird. Where a habitat containing several such species is threatened, then disparate groups can band together into a powerful lobby for its protection. This is conservation ethic manifesting itself in a real practical way. Fine, and how might we get to that position?Clearly there will be a need to seed this idea into the thinking of parents. We need large numbers of parents to embrace this idea that the next generation be motivated in a precise and focused way.Publicity is all in generating any sort of new idea. What is needed is a powerful trigger to set an example. Prince Charles over many years has spoken out on many occasions on the need to conserve the planet. His book (with others) - Harmony – a New Way of Looking at the World - is an attestation to that fact. What if someone of such high status were to lend his or her name to this idea? What if a royal couple, once they understood the concept, were to bestow nature names on their children? If this was done in a blaze of publicity that other parents would follow their example this would be extraordinary beneficial in bringing about a sea-change in our attitude to protecting species. Given the perilous state of many species in the world something as audacious as this is needed to set our thinking on a more imaginative way to get whole societies involved in conserving species. The first reaction to such a bold suggestion is that it is far too audacious. But clearly if we are not to continue sleep-walking past the problem of the steady melting away of species we need now, as never before, to attempt something as dramatic as this to galvanise a whole society into a completely different way where individuals can take ownership of the problem of conserving a single species of their own choice. If the Royal House were to agree to this or to an equally dramatic gesture it could be the start of an idea that would sweep from country to country. The Kent Green Party might wish to take this idea on board for discussion. Such a dramatic deflection away from conventional conservation thinking would be dramatic and highly newsworthy.

Your third question: that capitalism exported to impoverished countries could add to environmental damage.

The basic need of each human is food and shelter. It is not much to expect – yet millions are denied these things. Clearly we cannot stand aside and be indifferent with this a daily reality in millions of lives. The towering problem in this is population growth. Aid must be conditional on confronting this problem.But there is another problem too. Working the land in poor countries will give a living to some – but it will not support the millions that are now attempting to scrape a living out of soil that is de facto desert. Something else is needed. They need some sort of employment to give them adequate food, shelter, medicine and schooling. No one can argue against these basic needs. I don’t equate this with ‘capitalism’ in the general meaning of the term. Capitalism, in the modern sense, is the accumulation of things beyond what is needed to sustain a simple yet contented life. Where we have gone wrong, and I expect you agree given the nature of your question, is that we have gone along this insane journey of accumulating useless things and cluttering up our houses with objects that don’t, and never did, add one bit of contentment to our lives. I counted 64 ornaments in my own home that if swept aside would not be missed. There must be billions of similar useless things sitting in other homes across the planet. So it’s not just the accumulation of cars and houses and jewellery but also this detritus that drags down our lives and uses resources in the manufacture of such vacuous objects. Capitalism gone mad!We could learn great comforts and considerable contentment from many of the Buddhist teaching in this regard of not attaching ourselves to things. Indeed nothing less than a world revolution in our thinking is needed if we are to change capitalism to generate content societies that do not equate happiness with the facile accumulation of useless things. Your question on capitalism must be answered by the troubling accumulations by those who can both afford and demand an endless supply of possessions. I do not believe that that concern can be laid at the feet of millions who want no more than to escape from poverty into a simple lifestyle of some contentment. I hope that I have satisfactorily answered your questions. I thank you again for your kindness in your view of Planet Dancing. I would be most appreciative of the influence of your good office in making the contents of Planet Dancing widely known.

Sincerely yours
Patrick mcCusker

Lucas gets companies thrown out of arms fair

2011-09-17T14:26:00.000+01:00

It is bad enough that there are such things as arms fairs. Why people / countries need to wander around a fair dedicated to selling items to kill people with is beyond me. When these fairs are found to be selling cluster bombs that are particularly dangerous to civilians and children, and are banned by the UK and 100 other countries, you have to ask what planet the government and the fair organisers, DSEI, are on.

Fortunately our Green MP has exposed this illegal and immoral trade and her actions have resulted in the companies being kicked out of the arms fair. Just one MP. Just think what we could do with 100!

For those readers who are unclear just how bad cluster bombs are, this is from CAAT:

A cluster bomb, or munition, carries a number of individual bomblets, known as submunitions, which are supposed to explode on or near their target. They can be launched by both aircraft and ground forces. A high proportion of cluster bomb submunitions fail to explode on impact and remain dangerous for years. The actual failure rates are a matter of debate. While official military estimates place them at 6% or less, Landmine Action reports that the failure rate of NATO cluster submunitions used in Kosovo in 1999 was between 7 and 11%, and in 1991 up to 40% of cluster submunitions used in Iraq and Kuwait failed to explode. The submunitions are colourful and about the size of a soft-drinks can, making them particularly attractive to children.

HoL Turkey action

2011-09-15T07:13:00.001+01:00

The lastest action by a HoL Turkey is an amendement to the House of Lords Reform Bill which would fix the party balance in the chamber in a false and completely undemocratic way:

The House of Lords is to consist of 300 appointed members of which—

(a) 99 will be elected from the Labour party peers;

(b) 99 will be elected from the Conservative party peers;

(c) 41 will be elected from the Liberal Democrat peers;

(d) 61 will be elected from the cross bench and independent peers;

(e) up to 12 will be Lords Spiritual.”

Clearly Lord Caithness gives no damn as to will of the people, but then why should this turkey consider democracy necessary and as repeated often, turkeys don't vote for Christmas.

Meanwhile, the Joint Committee is calling for submissions, so let's get some evidence to them!

Lib Dem failure is trending

2011-09-07T20:31:00.002+01:00

Lib Dems are trending on twitter after their support for Lansley's health bill which will destroy the NHS as we know it and according to Lord Howe, presents "huge opportunities" for the private sector. Lib Dem voters and activists are clearly furious with their party who, in places like Maidstone, claim to be in opposition to the Tories. A quick look at how the Lib Dems are supporting this disgusting government shows a different story.

Labour were little better with their love affair with privatising and marketising the NHS. Only the Green Party is committed to the NHS being a service not a market. Lib Dems supporters, take a look at the Green Party and come and support us. We will not sell off our services for a quick buck.

As I blogged earlier, the lies surrounding the NHS Bill come from the top of government. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Labour have failed to provide a narrative for the NHS and they have failed to speak out clearly against the bill. The Greens have called for Lansley to resign for leading the destruction of our health service.

Ticket Offices to close across Kent

2011-09-07T20:05:00.001+01:00

Belvedere, Crowborough, Deal, Edenbridge Town, Eridge, Erith, Eynsford, Folkestone West, Greenhithe, Higham, Knockholt, Maidstone West, Marden, New Beckenham, Northfleet, Pluckley, Queenborough, Sole Street, Sturry, Swanscombe, Walmer and Wye stations are all likely to lose their ticket offices according to the TSSA. Reported here in the KoS.

All these closures will mean redundancies at a time that our rail fares will rise by 28%. That's privatisation for you.

Maidstone West's closure will mean more delays and problems for people using the Medway Valley line, including those on the High Speed service now running from there (and not to forget Deal and Sandwich High Speed service which has just started)

Welcome to Cameron's broken Britain.

Bare faced lies

2011-09-07T18:52:00.001+01:00

Just watched Cameron on the news saying: 'Now you've got the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Physicians, the nurses, people working in the Health Service all supporting the changes we are making.' as part of the debate on the Health Bill.

David Cameron clearly lied to parliament. Ed Miliband failed to challenge his statement and simply suggested that Cameron was on a different planet. Depressing stuff, especially having Prime Ministers who are so comfortable lying in Parliament - but then he is hardly the first...

This is from Pulse:

The PM's claim comes after Dr Gerada joined the heads of the BMA, Royal College of Nursing and other health unions in signing a letter to The Times which warned the reforms could ‘destabilise the NHS'.
Following Mr Cameron's comments, Dr Gerada said: ‘To reiterate our position; the college supports putting clinicians at the centre of planning health services. However, we continue to have a number of concerns about the government's reforms, issues which we believe may damage the NHS or limit the care we are able to provide for our patients. These concerns have been outlined and reiterated pre- and post-pause.'
‘As a college we are extremely worried that these reforms, if implemented in their current format, will lead to an increase in damaging competition, an increase in health inequalities, and to massively increased costs in implementing this new system.'
The Royal College of Physicians also released a statement, saying they also would like to see changes to the health bill as it stands.

Core Strategy Consultation : Pave Paradise

2011-09-06T06:56:00.000+01:00

Maidstone Borough Council have stated consulting on the Core Strategy, documents available here. You have until 14th October to submit comments. Of course the leader of the council, Chris Garland, has conveniently ignored his promise made a a full council meeting to scrap the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment and comission a fresh one.

The Core Strategy consultation comes at the same time as Pickles and Clark are consulting on removing planning laws almost in their entirety. This is from Monbiot and this from Friend of the Earth. With the economy nosediving, it probably seemed a good week / month / year to bury the bad news that paradise is to be paved for a parking lot.

Proms Patois Patter

2011-09-04T17:22:00.000+01:00

This is very good!

More on the mosquitos

2011-09-04T09:29:00.002+01:00

The Maidstone McDonald's Mosquito rumbles on (should that be whines on?) and I have been asked to meet with their management later this month. My daughter reports that she hasn't heard the thing since the media storm which is great news.

Looks like our Green MEP, Keith, has been writing about these two:

http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/file/Ban%20on%20the%20Mosquito%20Youth%20dispersal%20device%20pdf.pdf

http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/file/Ban%20on%20Mosquito%20youth%20dispersal%20device%20-%20to%20UK%20gov%20pdf.pdf

As you'd expect, the Tories aren't interested in the rights of young people as the reply from Nick Herbert shows:

http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/file/response%20to%20Mosquito%20youth%20dispersal%20device.pdf

My Winkball video for the Autumn Conference

2011-08-31T19:43:00.000+01:00

Filmed last week outside Parliament during a thunderstorm, hence we are filming under a tree and missed having a great backdrop. Winkball are capturing some short videos in advance of the Autumn Conference. Check out the other videos too.

£24m invested in tobacco

2011-08-29T13:10:00.000+01:00

Looks like the tobacco investment portfolio continues to rise at KCC which is key partner in the Kent Alliance on Smoking and Health. The KM reports that it now stands at £24m, up from £19m three years ago.

So much for promoting a health society and signing up to UNs Principles of Responsible Investment.

Carer Watch Blog reinstated

2011-08-29T07:56:00.000+01:00

CarerWatch have announced that the dispute with ATOS has been resolved. The original CarerWatch forum has now been reinstated at – http://carerwatchdotcom.myfineforum.org/index.php

ATOS have apparently undertaken that in future they will settle any dispute in a more sensible manner.

You can find full details of this sad saga at http://carerwatch.wordpress.com/

Also see their ONE SIMPLE CHANGE campaign

Oaken Wood Inquiry

2011-08-29T07:51:00.000+01:00

Rumour has it that the Inquiry into the Oaken Wood planning application is due to be hear in February.

I receievd a letter last week from KCC with instructions for submitting evidence. Needs to be in by 10th Oct under reference APP/W2275/V/11/2158341

Send three copies of your evidence / comments / representations to:

Alan Ridley
The Planning Inspectorate
Room 4/02 Kite Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol BS1 6PN

Friends Reunited

2011-08-29T07:27:00.000+01:00

Great example of why I back animal rights as opposed to animal welfare. Thank you to Viridis Lumen for blogging on this.

Castle Farm wind

2011-08-24T06:50:00.000+01:00

Local plans for a community wind turbine have proved hard to get agreed. The company, DistGen, have updated their web page with a survey and information. Please can people do the survey...

This is from DistGen:

Castle Farm

UPDATE

At the present time development on the Castle Farm wind turbine is blocked because the owners of a neighbouring property are exercising a restrictive covenant they have over the farm. The property in question is situated between the farm and the main road and currently has quite open views over the farm. The owners were consulted by DistGen prior to the planning application being submitted and then by Maidstone BC during the planning process. Shortly after planning permission was granted a notice to cease and desist was issued via their solicitor.
Sadly this has resulted in the loss of valuable income for both the farm and parish at a time when local authorities are making substantial budget cuts and services are being squeezed.

Arab Autumn

2011-08-22T06:55:00.000+01:00

The Arab uprisings have moved into a new phase with Tripoli close to falling to the rebels last night - let us hope that the new regime is more democratic and more peaceful than the last.

Of course the rebels may not have managed this without intervention by the US and its allies, but then there is a lot of oil at stake. Sadly the death toll in Syria continues, 2000 is the current estimate, and there seems to be little progress on reform and clearly not as much oil at stake.

RCN and the health bill

2011-08-21T16:35:00.000+01:00

Wrote to the Nursing Standard yesterday. The RCN leadership is appallingly right wing and it is bizarre to think that a General Secretary of a union could be comfortable with privatisation and all it entails.

Dear Editor,

Campaigners are right to criticise the RCN leadership for their strange position supporting the NHS Bill (Letters NS 17/8) and a second letter last week on NHS pensions demonstrates why. The comments by the private sector manager that the NHS is bloated and that nurses are paid much more than their private sector colleagues should strike fear into all nurses who thought that Andrew Lansley's bill would be good for nursing.

The Health Bill is a blueprint for privatisation. It picks up on the work that Labour has done over the past ten years and takes it to new heights, opening the NHS to becoming rapidly privatised. Over the past few years we have witnessed a hospital being put out to tender to be run by a private company and we can expect much more in the future. Community providers will be no different.

The RCN leadership should be ashamed of backing a bill that will undermines the pay and conditions of its members. Nurses need to speak out, unless you think you are overpaid and your pension is too big, of course.

Stuart Jeffery RN
Health Spokesperson for the Green Party

Nick Clegg is legitimising the Conservative Party

2011-08-21T16:31:00.000+01:00

Alexis Rowell’s resignation letter:

Dear Nick,
I’m afraid I’ve decided to leave the Liberal Democrats. My principal reason for doing so is Chris Huhne’s support for nuclear power. Opposition to a new round of nuclear power stations has always seemed to me to be a key Liberal Democrat policy and a potent symbol of Lib Dem values. Before Fukishima I could think of many reasons why the Lib Dems were right to oppose nuclear power.With that tragedy still ongoing, and rivalled only by Chernobyl in terms of its adverse impact on nature and mankind, the list grows ever longer.
When I was interviewed as a potential Lib Dem councillor candidate in 2006 I said that the only thing I could foresee which would make me leave the party was if it decided to support nuclear power. The party hasn’t, but Chris Huhne and the Lib Dem coalition negotiators have.
As I think you know I’ve also been quite unimpressed with the coalition’s general record on environmental issues. The bar set by the previous government was low but so far, in the opinion of all too many environmentalists and commentators, you’ve sailed under it. I joined the party primarily because of its environmental policies, and I worked tirelessly in Camden in 2006-10 to promote sustainability with a Lib Dem face, so this feels like a personal betrayal.
However I’m also horrified by what the coalition’s policies are doing to the social fabric. I recognise that any government would have had to make difficult decisions, but I’m still shocked by the fact that you signed the foreword to the bill to privatise the NHS, by the draconian frontloaded cuts to local government, by the free schools policy, by the virtual abandonment of state-funded higher education, by the lack of any action on banker bonuses and exorbitant pay in general, by the decision to fully privatise the Royal Mail, and by a host of other free market or libertarian policies which I didn’t vote for and which I can’t support.
I hope one day you manage to find your voice in the coalition and that it ends up being the progressive voice of the Liberal Democrat Party that I joined when Tony Blair launched his illegal war in Iraq. However for the moment I can see no value in your being Deputy Prime Minister or in the Lib Dems being part of the government. Your participation is not only legitimising the Conservative Party’s confused and troubling agenda, it is also destroying the Liberal Democrat party and its progressive soul. I therefore feel that I have no choice but to leave.
Yours sincerely,
Alexis Rowell
Liberal Democrat Councillor, London Borough of Camden, 2006-10

Couldn't give ATOS

2011-08-21T14:32:00.000+01:00

Carer Watch's 'forum' seems to have been taken down after threats by ATOS to the site host:

The increasing problems that ATOS and the DWP are causing with their drive to remove ESA from claimants are well documented.

Patients who are seriously ill are being told to work
Evidence of false assessments is mounting
Doctors making those assessments are being referred to the GMC
MPs have strongly crticised ATOS and said that their name triggers "fear and loathing".
A variety of e-petitions have sprung up, e.g. here and here.
Around 40% of appeals are upheld, but the stress and pain that claimants are put through is proving very difficult for them.
ATOS have threatened to sue a disabled man who set up a website exposing them.

According to 2 year old statistics produced by the DWP:
There have been 189,800 WCA assessments up to the end of August 2009. Of these assessments:
• 10% have been assessed as Support Group
• 22% have been assessed as Work Related Activity
• 69% have been deemed Fit for Work

Call me old fashioned and boring, but I just don't believe that only 10% of ESA claimants are fit to work. It just doesn't feel right. The report suggests that 69% of claimants should look for a job now. Sorry, that doesn't stack up... the assessments must be politically motivated.

The latest move by ATOS to silence people is appalling. Threatening a disabled man last week and then removing a support forum for ATOS sufferers (can't think of what else to call them...) is despicable.

It is difficult to know where to go with this though. The BBC have published on it, some MPs aren't happy. Perhaps an investigation by Panorama might not go amiss?

Crime and Punishment

2011-08-20T09:53:00.000+01:00

Increasingly commentators are linking the riots with a lack of moral leadership by MPs, bankers, police and the media and I suspect they are right to.

This piece in the Telegraph by Peter Oborne is particularly good and this is a comment from Peter Tatchell:

"UK establishment is quick to condemn rioters. But police took bribes and failed to investigate phone hacking. No officers jailed. Cash for knighthoods and peerages. No one jailed. MPs abused expenses system. Only a few jailed. Editors bribed police. None jailed. Priests raped kids. No jail for most. Army killed and tortured civilians in Iraq. Soldiers not jailed. British elite = hypocrites. No right to moralise"

The lack of moral leadership seems to be filtering through to the judicial system which may or may not have been given orders to impose disproportionate sentances on rioters, although the circumstantial evidence is strong.

Four years for failing to incite a riot? Evicting innocent mothers from council homes? Removing benefits to ensure that people have to steal? Encouraging parents to beat children? Not sure how any of that will benefit society.

Live Exports from Ramsgate - CIWF

2011-08-17T07:05:00.000+01:00

Good to see solid support against the live exports through Ramsgate:

Dear Stuart,

Hundreds unite in Ramsgate to protest against live exports

On Saturday 13th August the people of Ramsgate were joined by Compassion supporters from far and wide in a fantastic show of unity, as hundreds turned out to protest against the live animal export trade.

Following a march through the centre of Ramsgate, a rally was held overlooking the port from which young calves and sheep have been regularly shipped since May. Campaigners heard passionate speeches from Joyce D’Silva, Compassion’s Director of Public Affairs, and local activists including Councillor Ian Driver and Ian Birchall, Chairman of Kent Against Live Exports.

As these pictures from the day testify, there can be no doubt over the strength of public opposition to this needless and unnecessary trade.

The support for our One Way Ticket campaign has been truly inspiring

Over 43,000 emails have now been sent to elected representatives asking them to oppose live exports, and almost £23,000 has so far been donated in response to this campaign. These generous gifts will help us to maintain local, national and international pressure on this critical issue for as long as it takes.

And important progress is being made. As a result of your emails, we have already received positive responses from MPs and MEPs stating their desire to strengthen legislation to help end long distance transport of animals. And just last week, following their unanimous vote on this issue, Thanet District Council called on the UK Government to take the lead in EU negotiations on journey times for live animals.

So thank you very much to everyone who has taken action for animals, came to Ramsgate, or made a donation to help us continue our vital work.

The message is getting out there – but there is still so much more to do. Ending this needless trade from the UK will be the first step – but recent investigations have highlighted the widespread neglect and horrific suffering of animals transported around Europe, and further afield.

We will not rest as long as any farm animal has to endure the horror of live export.

If you have not already done so, please ask your MP and MEPs to stand up against the long-distance transport of farm animals, or if you are able, you can support our ongoing work with a donation.

Together we can end the suffering of farm animals.

Thank you,

Philip Lymbery
Chief Executive

More people want to retain ban on capital punishment

2011-08-15T19:28:00.000+01:00

According to Political Betting, the e-petition to keep the ban on capital punishment has 50% more signatures that the opposite petition.

Please add your signature if you haven't already. SIGN HERE

China has riots more serious than England's every week

2011-08-14T17:08:00.000+01:00

Picked this summary of global unrest from Wikileaks. Puts some of the UK's troubles into perspective.

Syria: Who can have missed the disgusting actions of the Syrian government. This seems to be the latest attrocity.
Israel: 30,000 marching yesterday
Yemen: Hundreds of thousands.

South Korea: 15,000
US: US day of rage 17th Sept
Chile: 800 students arrested earlier this month after protests for equal access to education
China: 'China saw almost 90,000 such "mass incidents" of riots, protests, mass petitions and other acts of unrest in 2009' and 'China has riots more serious than England's every week' - plus more riots last Friday.
Egypt: A few hundred in Tahrir square on Friday
Libya: Turning into an Arab Autumn - but the rebels made progress today

And plenty more...

Commentary on the riots from Hannah

2011-08-13T20:21:00.000+01:00

From my friend Hannah on the riots - a letter to the Kent Messenger:

Dear Editor,

Maidstone Green Party utterly condemns last week's arson, looting and violence. If any good might come of it then let's hope that it serves as a wake up call to government and the impact of its policies on society. Unfortunately the rhetoric from Tories, Lib Dems, Labour and even Helen Grant is to deal with the problems by escalating the violence towards the trouble makers. Simply responding to angry, disenfranchised people by turning water cannons and plastic bullets on them will not deal with the underlying problems in society. That is not to say that the minority committing this violence should go unpunished, but that the violence also needs to be understood and its causes need to be addressed.

Sadly, while Helen Grant calls for more violence towards children by their parents in 'troubled' households, I suspect there is already too much violence in some of these families. Perhaps more compassion, understanding and support for these children might make a difference, but simply exposing them to more violence will not teach them to be non-violent. Not only doesn't she understand what young people need to grow into responsible adults, neither does her party. They are closing youth centres, stopping young people from modest backgrounds going to university, preventing some even staying on at school beyond 16 with the withdrawal of the Education Maintenance Allowance, presiding over rampant youth unemployment and they are now calling some young people 'feral'.

It is any wonder that young people are becoming increasingly disenfranchised. Furthermore, widening inequalities in society will make it more violent and less cohesive, yet that is exactly what the Tory / Lib Dem coalition are doing. Meanwhile bankers and MPs are getting away with looting society 'legally' and the constant bombardment of the need to consume more, have the latest fashions and possibilities for quick wins in life, all contribute to disillusionment and anger in people.

Hannah Patton
Maidstone Green Party

Association of British Drivers - attack on 20mph streets

2011-08-13T20:01:00.000+01:00

Letter to the Kent Messenger in response to the one by the Association of British Drivers

Dear Editor,

Terry Hudson of the Association of British Drivers made some bizarre and misleading claims in last week's KM.

In claiming that 20mph speed limits are outdated he fails to say that the 30 mph speed limit was introduced in 1934 when there were less than 2 million cars on our roads - now there are 31 million. Moreover, the Department of Transport guidelines from 2009 now call for 20mph limits in residential areas and just two months ago the EU recommended the same. Current thinking is clearly against the 1930's 30mph limits.

Claiming that 20mph residential roads would create congestion and make journey times unreasonable is also wrong. As most residential roads are close to arterial roads that should remain at 30mph, the average increase in travel time is around 40 seconds. Congestion does not increase, the evidence suggests that it decreases.

Most importantly, 20mph areas have shown significant reductions in accidents. I find it astonishing that a road lobby group is arguing against a scheme that saves lives.

With 72% of people supporting 20mph residential streets, the weight of public opinion is on the side of the campaign - hardly 'social engineering by political parties'. Finally, the Green Party does not 'loathe' people who travel by car; we simply want safer streets, viable alternatives to travelling by car, less pollution and lower use of fossil fuels.

It is about time that Mr Hudson looked at the facts rather than making them up.

Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party

Save our social media! Stop cut offs and close downs

2011-08-13T19:58:00.002+01:00

Prime Minister David Cameron announced that social media could "be used for good or ill" and therefore would "look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality”.

We know this is a knee-jerk reaction. If it involved suspension of services, it would be unworkable, and would hit people trying to stop disorder or protect themselves. Targeting individuals would need to be supervised by the courts: but the UK usually leaves decisions like this to the Police, rather than courts, as in RIPA.

The Government is focusing on entirely the wrong problem in trying to increase their powers to ban, block or monitor people's communications. Social networks like Twitter are used for a huge array of positive purposes such as warnings of danger and organising clean up projects. Blanket surveillance measures of private communications or increased powers to mine users data would undermine people's freedom to communicate in very damaging ways, and would in no way address the problems at hand. Making laws in haste, with limited analysis and information, to deal with an exceptional problem is likely to create unbalanced laws and abuses of our rights.

Sign the ORG petition here.

Kent's poor record on insulation

2011-08-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

From the KGP website...

Kent is one of the worst counties in the country for insulating its homes according the Department for Energy and Climate Change [1]. Kent Greens have criticised councils across the county for failing to reduce energy bills in homes and have called for 'immediate and concerted effort' to improve insulation levels and reduce bills. Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party comments:

"Seven of Kent's twelve local councils were in the bottom quartile for insulation that has been part funded by the Energy Saving Trust under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target which places an obligation on gas and electricity suppliers to reduce household emissions(2). All of Kent's local councils were below the national average. Councils across Kent have failed their residents. Fuel bills are reaching new highs and will continue to rise, yet councils here have failed to promote the easiest of schemes to insulate homes. I am therefore calling for an immediate and concerted effort by councils to address this and to start saving residents money on their bills.

"Kent's position in the bottom quarter of the insulation league demonstrates the appalling lack of concern that Conservative ruling groups have for people in Kent(3). Elsewhere councils have match funded the Energy Saving Trust's scheme and provided free insulation for their residents. These include the Kirklees' scheme, led by Green Councillor, Andrew Cooper, which has put K Kirklees at the top of the league table nationally.

"Proper insulation can save households around £100 per year, and combat fuel poverty, as well as reducing our dependency on imported gas and oil, and reducing our carbon emission. It is time that councils in Kent started to look after residents and offered to insulate their homes for free."

Notes
1. http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn11_068/pn11_068.aspx
2. Tables downloadable at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Media/HEED-documents/CERT-summary-report-Q12-by-Local-Authority
3. How Kent fared:

Position	Borough	% treated	Treated	Homes	Centile
292	Maidstone	7.9%	5,049	63,994	77%
274	Dartford	8.2%	3,306	40,353	72%
336	Gravesham	6.0%	2,458	40,904	89%
320	Tunbridge Wells	7.1%	3,347	47,035	84%
333	Ashford	6.2%	3,022	48,639	88%
285	Medway	8.0%	8,698	108,737	75%
291	Swale	7.9%	4,468	56,523	77%
258	Canterbury	8.6%	5,394	62,955	68%
245	Thanet	8.9%	5,555	62,329	65%
279	Sevenoaks	8.1%	3,870	47,898	74%
267	Dover	8.4%	4,073	48,760	70%
297	Shepway	7.8%	3,614	46,519	78%

Out of	379
	Total (Kent)	7.8%	52,854	674,646

Behind the anger behind the riots

2011-08-11T08:49:00.000+01:00

Like most, I have been following the commentators on the riots, especially when there are inteviews of people who have been involved. Understanding what lies behind the anger is essential.

Witnessing the build up of anger over the past few years has been easy:

the economic collapse mirrored by MPs who consider it perfectly reasonable to steal money;
X Factor, Top Gear and lottery winners who inspire dreams of getting rich and famous quickly without too much effort or talent so you can drive flashy cars;
a society and economy built on 'greed is good', the need for econmic growth, consumerism and the lastest fashions;
police who target young back men, the same group who continue to do worse at school as the education system doesn't work for them;
an education system that says everyone must do better than average or they are a failure, yet ignores the ludicracy of the statement;
the destruction of hope, putting university out of reach of millions without the narrative that says university might not always be what it is cracked up to be;
the destruction of society in a right wing frenzy of cuts
and so on...

Anyone of these can trigger the anger needed for civil disorder, so why are the political leaders surprised? They created the problem now they want to use water cannons on the disaffected - mildly preferrable to the 33% of the public who would like to see the police use live rounds on them.

This comment by Anthony Paul Smith seems to resonate but I would suggest that the whole piece by him: "It is a heterogeneous expression of rage. At the police, at the cuts, at the lack of being able to be heard, at a culture that instils a consumer desire they can’t match, and yes that rage spills over into self-destructive acts."

Finally, this from BBC with an interviewer who is not interested in the problems of society, just looking for blame - however it gives a bit of a glimpse of the feelings underlying the anger:

Can violence ever be mindless?

2011-08-09T17:45:00.000+01:00

I'm getting tired of people claiming that the riots are 'mindless' violence. From what I have seen from this year's riots, as well as those in decades past, is that the violence has a cause and a rationale - it is anything but mindless.

Perhaps then the thugs that undoubtably come out to add to the troubles are mindless? Well they may well have different motives to those with genuine grievances and anger, but their actions are even more considered - they are out there to cause mayhem and have little else in mind. Being single minded is hardly mindless, it is perhaps the opposite.

Other than violence commited when someone is out of their mind, perhaps drugs or drink, I'm struggling to think of violent situations which have no thought behind them. Even if people would act better with hindsight, there is still a train of thought behind violence.

Let's stop using the 'mindless' word and think about a better one. Simply calling the violence mindless is er, mindless.

Looters and thieves

2011-08-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook: "These people have no morality. They sponge off the taxpayer, they are thieves, have little respect for the law or society, they steal, loot, run riot through the city, have no concern for other people. And now they're coming home from holiday to sort the riots out."

Other friends of mine have suggested bringing back national service while Theresa May is talking about bringing in the army to beat the rioters down. What she fails to understand in the cause of the problem and like so many she is concerned about treating the symptoms.

Young people have a natural angst and aggression. They need time to find their place and direction in society, to sort out where they are going with their lives. They need a heroes journey, a rite of passage, call it what you will, and some rites of passage are more damaging than others as we have seen these last few days. Destructive rites of passage are going to be more likley when you combine angst and aggression with a sense of despair, high unemployment, widening poverty gap and little hope of a better life.

So maybe my friends who are suggesting national service have got a point. Not that I would want to see people being made to serve in the forces, but there may be a case for other types of service that would provide a sense of achievement and pride for younger people, as well as some training and career skills.

So what about the other part of the cause, poverty, unemployment etc. These are much easier to fix unless yu have a government wedded to an ideology of cuts for the masses with bonuses for the rich. An ideology based on hard capitalism and hard knocks.

The great seer and prophet Nick Clegg predicted the riots before the election if the Tories got in to Downing St. Let us not forget who put them in power though:

Total Politics Awards - Vote for Me!!!!

2011-08-08T19:16:00.000+01:00

It's time to vote for your favour political blogs again. Last year I slipped down the Green politics rankings to number 18, but 52 weeks is a long time in politics and no-one will remember last year's results.

This year people need to enter their favourite political blogs on the Total Politics website (with http://stuartjeffery.blogspot.com/ at the number one spot of course). Apparently you have to enter at least five blogs and you can only vote for mine once (in the number one spot in case you had misunderstood).

Vote Now and Vote Stuart Jeffery for World Bloggosphere Domination...

West Maidstone Community Day

2011-08-07T14:24:00.000+01:00

I took a stall to Barming Heath yesterday. Good music and a little rain, but I think the day was a success.

FTSE back to Aug 2010

2011-08-05T20:30:00.000+01:00

Unless you have been asleep for the past week you will be aware of the panic in stockmarkets across the world. The FTSE 100 fell another 146 points today making around 10% fall in the past week (5817 to 5247). This puts the FTSE back to Aug 2010 levels which are still much higher that the 2009 levels but nowhere near 2007.

Global capitalism was always going to go this way. The economy will swing to where the resources and fuel are, i.e. China and the stable parts of the Middle East. The US and European economies are built on fragile foundations and no amount of knowledge / high tech / banking industries will be able to keep them afloat for ever, just as unsustainable argiculture or manufacturing can't. Unsustainable agriculture is er... unsustainable - damaging the soil and wildlife needed to support the industry. Manufacturing is only sustainable if it has a constant flow of resources from which to manufacture and a constant flow of energy to run the facturies. None of this looks likely over the coming years with the current direction of our governments.

What is needed is a fundemental rethink of where to base our economy and how to fund it. We have to concentrate on local resources, local goods and local economies.

e-petitions on the death penalty

2011-08-05T07:20:00.000+01:00

Listening with horror at the thought that the death penalty could be debated. Someone once suggested that the death penalty should only be applicable to those who support it - well it might influence the vote at least...

Anyway there is an e-petition to "Petition to retain the ban on Capital Punishment" so please sign!

A petition to call on the government to retain its position regards the abolition of the Death Penalty for all offences. That the British people note that only 58 nations currently use capital punishment, as opposed to 95 which have abolished it, further notes the un-retractable nature of such a sentence in incidents of miscarriages of Justice, further notes the death penalty does not reduce crime or act as a deterrent and in US states which practice capital punishment incidents of homicide are higher than US states which do not, further notes the higher cost of capital punishment compared to life imprisonment, believes that British Justice should not be in the same league as China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Syria which do practice capital punishment on a routine basis and that the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights and an affront to the values of British Justice.

Letter from a friend

2011-08-05T07:16:00.000+01:00

My friend Joan Langrick has sent this to a couple of national papers:

If there is one thing this past year must have taught us, it is that we live in a very fragile world and no, I am not simply referring to the climate change. Rather it is the harsh, reality that nothing can be relied upon. For who could have anticipated the nuclear disaster in Japan, that we would be fighting another war, the Arab Spring, and the continual downward spiral of practically every currency, including the mighty dollar? This time last year many thought nuclear power was safe, that we had an ample defence budget, that oil from the east, although expensive could at least be relied upon and that somehow those clever economists would solve the world's monetary woes.

However, truth to tell we exist in a slash and burn society, whether it be slashing the budget of those most vulnerable to the bone, our natural resources, or the aspirations and ideals once held by us all. Maybe it is time we acknowledged the power of nature and worked with it rather than against it. Maybe it is time to encourage growth in small businesses which are struggling to survive, instead of simply allowing huge predators such as the multinationals or burgeoning supermarkets, to devour them. Maybe it is time we seriously looked into how the Green Party would tackle these problems and then voted for them next time around. Unless, of course, we are happy to have slash and burn policies continue until our whole world is destroyed Just a thought.

Joan

Green coverage in Maidstone

2011-08-03T19:05:00.000+01:00

Front page of "Your Maidstone" today. Aside from the picture of Eric Pickles, both main front page stories show that Maidstone Greens are setting the political agenda in the town!

Charity cuts in Kent

2011-08-03T06:54:00.001+01:00

This data are from False Economy. Across just 5 boroughs in Kent (out of 13), £866k has been wiped from charity funding. Assuming the other boroughs do the same we can expect around £2.2m to be slashed. A devasting blow to Cameron's big society.

Looking more closely at the type of charity:

Type	Cut
Adult care	£294892
Amenities	£115000
Arts	£7613
CAB	£45000
Children and young people	£38876
Community	£32660
Crime	£18548
Disability	£96372
Elderly	£6971
Environment	£2515
Homelessness and housing	£92286
Information, advice and counselling	£62472
Other	£3750
Sports	£43520
Volunteering	£5070
Grand Total	865544

It looks like adult care, the disabled and the elderly are the biggest losers. Looking by borough:

Borough	Sum of Funding cut
Ashford	£104750
Canterbury	£28370
Dover	£147800
Maidstone	£10273
Medway	£574352
Grand Total	£865544

Of course Medway are going to show the most significant numbers as they are a unitary authority whereas the other four are borough / district levels. Kent County Council doesn't feature on the list, which means they have either not replied or not made their decisions yet.

The full list for Kent is below and the rest of the country is here.

Local Authority	Charity	Category	Funding cut (overall)	Percentage cut (2011/12)
Ashford	Ashford & District Volunteer Centre	Volunteering	£5,070.00	100
Ashford	Ashford Community Network	Community	£2,000.00	100
Ashford	Ashford Leisure Trust	Sports	£26,970.00	21.2
Ashford	Ashford Mediation Service	Information, advice and counselling	£6,000.00	30
Ashford	Bockhanger Community Association	Community	£27,660.00	100
Ashford	Charlton Athletic Community Trust	Sports	£5,250.00	100
Ashford	Citizens Advice Bureau	CAB	£25,000.00	20
Ashford	Relate	Information, advice and counselling	£2,800.00	100
Ashford	Stour Valley Arts	Arts	£4,000.00	100
Canterbury	Canterbury & Herne Bay Shopmobility	Disability	£4,000.00	50
Canterbury	Canterbury Arts Council	Arts	£1,000.00	33.3
Canterbury	Canterbury District Watch	Crime	£2,500.00	100
Canterbury	District of Canterbury Credit Union	Other	£3,750.00	100
Canterbury	Hersden Neighbourhood Centre Association	Community	£3,000.00	20
Canterbury	Prince of Wales Youth Club	Children and young people	£10,000.00	66.7
Canterbury	The Mediation Service	Information, advice and counselling	£4,120.00	100
Dover	Dover, Deal and District Citizens Advice Bureau	CAB	£20,000.00	15.3
Dover	Gazen Salts Nature Reserve	Environment	£1,500.00	25
Dover	Sandwich Sports & Leisure Trust	Sports	£4,000.00	50
Dover	Sandwich Town Cricket Club	Sports	£3,000.00	23.1
Dover	Victoria Park Bowling Club	Sports	£4,300.00	100
Dover	Vista Leisure Trust	Amenities	£115,000.00	36.5
Maidstone	Age Concern Maidstone	Elderly	£1,569.73	34.4
Maidstone	BTCV	Environment	£1,015.00	33.7
Maidstone	Maidstone Area Arts Council	Arts	£2,613.00	100
Maidstone	Maidstone Mediation Scheme	Information, advice and counselling	£5,075.00	33.7
Medway	Action for Borstal Community (ABC Project)	Children and young people	£4,807.00	11.3
Medway	Ashdown Medway Accommodation Trust (AMAT)	Homelessness and housing	£16,419.98	11.8
Medway	Avante - Step Ahead (Crisis 10)	Homelessness and housing	£1,951.00	7
Medway	Avenues Trust	Disability	£10,000.00	40
Medway	Borden Riding School	Disability	£1,160.00	10.4
Medway	Casa Support	Disability	£29,912.38	18.3
Medway	Crime Stoppers	Crime	£5,000.00	100
Medway	Crossroads	Disability	£36,700.00	25.9
Medway	Demelza Hospice	Disability	£14,600.00	36.9
Medway	Home-Start Medway	Children and young people	£11,377.50	8.4
Medway	Hope (Kent) Ltd	Crime	£6,048.19	5.7
Medway	In Touch	Adult care	£294,891.70	32.8
Medway	Kent People's Trust	Crime	£5,000.00	100
Medway	Medway Cyrenians	Homelessness and housing	£17,979.98	5.7
Medway	Medway Mediation	Information, advice and counselling	£44,477.00	57.1
Medway	Orbit Housing Association	Elderly	£5,401.06	17.2
Medway	West Kent Housing	Homelessness and housing	£55,934.81	5.3
Medway	Young Lives Foundation	Children and young people	£12,691.00	16.1