Monthly Archives: March 2010

Greens Campaign For A Fairer Derbyshire Dales

Posted on March 31, 2010 by | 1 comment

Josh Stockell, the Green Party’s general election candidate for Derbyshire Dales, joined fellow party members in Bakewell on Saturday to finalise their campaign in Derbyshire. The meeting heard Josh underline the party’s commitment to a fairer and sustainable society.

“Under this government the gap between the top earners and the average has widened. Top financiers are walking away with million pound bonuses while workers in public services face swingeing cuts. This is not our idea of fairness.”

Handing out leaflets in Bakewell with his team before the meeting, Josh said: “

I am encouraged by the response we are getting. Most of the people I have spoken to are aware of the Green Party and many are pleased to learn that we are standing in Derbyshire Dales – for the first time.”

In his leaflet, Josh, a town councillor in Wirksworth, calls for change to a fair and sustainable economic system and a stop to the ‘growth at all costs’ policies favoured by the other parties. No other party offers a ‘Green New Deal’ with a million new jobs.

Other issues that Josh highlights in his campaign are: an end to MPs’ greed; more affordable homes; local food and proper vetting of imports to support our farmers; better public transport; more renewable energy; no more privatising of the NHS; welfare not warfare.

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Make Money Work For The Public

Posted on March 25, 2010 by | Leave a comment

The Labour government has learned nothing from the global financial crisis. In thrall to the banks, and behaving as if the UK itself is an offshore banking haven like the Cayman Islands or Jersey, this bankrupt government still cannot bring itself to regulate the banks properly. As a result, the City has returned to business as usual, which is a huge risk for the mass of the British population whose current and savings accounts are still tied up with the banks’ casino-style speculation. Green Party policy is for the banks to be broken up so that they are no longer too big to fail, so that the public purse is not ransacked next time their senseless and harmful gambling spirals out of control.

The Green Party demands a fundamental change to the way money is created. Instead of commercial banks being handed the right to create 97% of the money supply (see references below) and then charging interest to lend it to the public, the creation of money should be taken back in house by the Bank of England. Our money should then be invested in projects which benefit society and the environment. The bank bailouts have given the lie to the argument that public money is not available - it just needs to be channelled into public investment instead of private profit.

To read the full Green Party policy on money and private finance go to:
http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfssec.html#Monetary

References:
“Money Creation, The Great Confidence Trick” Ed Burgi
“Seven Steps To Justice”, Rodney Shakespeare & Peter Challen

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The Green Party? That’s Just The Environment Party, Right?

Posted on March 16, 2010 by | Leave a comment

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpD_Z9oQqBA

Wrong! It’s about people, the community, and the economy as well.

We don’t just want to save the planet. We want to make life so much better for the people living on it!

Some of the Green’s other policies:

  • A maximum wage as well as a minimum one.
  • Expand the NHS, no more privatisations.
  • British troops out of Afghanistan.
  • Massive investment in public transport and renewable energy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and reducing the risk of climate change.
  • More help to reduce global poverty, help poor countries fight climate change.
  • Make the rich pay higher taxes and cut the basic rate.
  • Make the banks, that we bailed out, provide finance to rebuild and transform the economy.

Agree with any of this? VOTE GREEN

Caroline Lucas, Leader of The Green Party, speaking at GP Conference said:

“The people of this country are desperate for change. The only problem is that the main parties haven’t changed. The change the public is demanding simply isn’t on offer from the others. They’re all content with the kind of deregulated turbo-capitalism that has plunged us into recession, and all just as eager to get back to precisely the business as usual that led to the economic and environmental collapse. We are the Party that is ready to address the grave challenges this country faces, from tackling climate change to restoring faith in public services to restoring our reputation as a force for peace and justice internationally.”

Here in Derbyshire:

Peter Allen is Green Party Candidate in the High Peak. Peter says:

“The Green Party offers a programme for a whole new way of living, based on social justice and sustainable development.”

Lee Fletcher is Green Party Candidate in Erewash. Lee says:

“This election is about us, our society, our future. I want to see fairness and justice put back onto the political agenda. A better world for us all.”

Josh Stockell is Green Party Candidate in Derbyshire Dales. Josh says:

“Politics as usual has made our problems, more of the same won’t help us now. Greens offer a different approach, we have to take this, it will work.”

There are Green Party candidates standing all over Britain.

Wherever you are, VOTE GREEN

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Vote Green For A Sane Transport Policy

Posted on March 13, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Here are some selected points from the Green Party Transport Policy. For the full policy visit http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfsstr.html

Priorities

The Green Party will use the planning system and the provision of finance to develop and encourage transportation according to the following hierarchy based on environmental impact and value for money:

1. Walking and disabled access.
2. Cycling.
3. Public transport (trains, light rail/trams, buses and ferries) and rail and water-borne freight.
4. Light goods vehicles, taxis and low powered motor cycles.
5. Private motorised transport (cars & high powered motor cycles).
6. Heavy goods vehicles.
7. Aeroplanes.

Planning

The planning of all transport infrastructure must be done at the most local appropriate level and in a fully democratic manner, involving full and open public consultation.

Any development, [business, retail or residential] that encourages a large number of journeys must be in a location accessible to a wide range of public transport, including links to the rail system. All development should recognise its impact on transport, including the car, and make appropriate provision [In Italy, business is required to provide links to major centres of population or to the public transport network.]

The Green Party will use the planning system to reduce the need for journeys by supporting local provision of facilities, shops and work. Where practical, encourage the use of IT to reduce the need to travel to work.

In rural areas, planning requirements for new housing and settlements will need to ensure they are close to a range of services and are well served by public transport.

Finance

Financial measures relating to transport should be based on two principles: Firstly, transport should pay for its environmental costs through taxes and charges ["the polluter pays" principle]. Secondly, these should be used to finance improved public transport.

The Green Party will introduce a vehicle purchase tax on the purchase of all new vehicles, which would be steeply graded according to a vehicle’s pollution level, fuel consumption and type of fuel. The tax disc would be abolished.

Public Transport

The Green Party believes it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that all urban and rural areas of the United Kingdom are served by a public transport system that will allow for a large proportion of the current private motorised journeys to transfer to these modes. To this end, it must ensure that public transport is designed and planned to create a user-friendly service, that is reliable, affordable, accessible, integrated with all other sustainable modes and environmentally friendly. Public service, not private profit, must be the primary function of public transport.

The Green Party would seek to build goodwill among transport workers by addressing issues such as poor pay, anti-social hours, and difficult working conditions, along with greater involvement of the staff in the running of the transport systems.

Public transport in rural areas should be designed to meet the needs of those living in those areas. This must recognise the diversity of rural transport provision and the importance of innovative solutions. These will include various forms of trip sharing and community transport provision, including post buses and taxis, especially in the more remote areas where a reliance on the provision of frequent bus services may be environmentally damaging and too expensive.

The Green Party believes that the rail system, including track and operators, needs to be publicly owned, and would seek to bring the service back into public ownership.

The Green Party supports the further expansion and construction of new light rail systems, with the aim of seeing their introduction into all towns and cities where there is local support.

The Green Party would re-regulate the bus industry, with local authorities having responsibility for ensuring that bus services reflect all the principles for a public service, including the setting of routes, frequencies and fares.

The Green Party views taxis, Dial-a-Ride and private hire vehicles as forms of public transport.

New Deal For Transport

The Green New Deal commits investment to a major expansion of public transport. We will:

  • Double the size of the bus fleet through an investment of £3 billion to buy 30,000 new buses and create 70,000 jobs.
  • Provide a further £2 billion to subsidise bus fares and get new services operational.
  • Bring the railway system back into public ownership and spend £2 billion on new track and rolling stock, and on urban tram schemes - together creating 20,000 jobs.
  • Reduce UK rail fares by one third to bring them in line with the European average through a £3 billion subsidy.

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Caroline Lucas Demands Fair Pay For Women

Posted on March 10, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas

“The fact that less than 11% of board members in major British companies are female is a damning indictment of this government’s failure to offer a coherent strategy for fighting inequality and championing women’s rights. What’s more, given that fewer than 20% of MPs are female, Brown and Harman would do well to look closer to home and actively address why women also continue to be marginalised in the political world.

On Monday, International Women’s Day, the Green party launched its manifesto for women. The Greens support the introduction of quotas to ensure that boards of major companies are at least 40% female, based on the model already successfully implemented in Norway, and being considered in France. Further, we would insist that all large and medium-size companies carry out equal pay audits and redress inequalities uncovered; and that the law be changed to make joint suits for equal pay cases simpler. We also propose better provisions for maternity and paternity leave – with a focus on paid paternity – to make sure that responsibilities are shared.

Greens, unlike politicians from the grey Westminster parties, have the courage in our convictions to propose the kinds of solutions we need if we are to secure a fairer deal for women.”

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Posted in Equality, National

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The Need For Wind Power On Matlock Moor

Posted on March 8, 2010 by | 1 comment

The moral imperative: We need all the energy we can get — it will be a mixture. Anyone who expects the lights to come on at the flick of a switch has a moral duty to accept renewable energy in all but the most exceptional circumstances. There’s a government planning policy statement that says as much (PPS1 CC supplement)

Green Party policy #1: Renewable energy is the most beneficial to the planet and the human race. Wind power is one of the lowest carbon sources; its ultra safe and it’s our own energy resource. The more wind energy, the less need for carbon rich sources and unsafe import-dependent nuclear energy, which isn’t low carbon. Storage is an issue that we’ve been slow to address but there are several technical solutions. The Green Party is urging massive investment in renewable energy. Renewable energy is part of the Green Party’s drive for a million green jobs (go to http://www.greenparty.org.uk/policies.html) selected quote:-

“A massive increase in the proportion of electricity that comes from renewable sources - raising wind energy production to the same level as Denmark by 2020 would alone create 200,000 jobs.”

Green Party policy #2: “Fair is worth fighting for” It is essential that no-one in the local community suffers unfairly from these machines. Neighbours should be compensated appropriately within a fair and transparent system. The local community, whose local assets are being used, should benefit from a share in the venture, ideally through an opportunity to own or part own machines or by some other contribution.

Peak District National Park Authority: The Matlock turbines are not in specially protected countryside. I live in and used to work for the Peak National Park Authority. My LPA, the PDNPA, has now twice spent significant resources on objections to wind farms and even on a legal challenge. The basic case against wind farms inside the Park is that on entering and being in the Park, it should visibly be a special place. The converse surely applies. Once inside the Park and looking out, one should expect a difference. I believe it is inappropriate for the PDNPA to oppose wind farms outside the Park on the basis of distant views from a small area in the Park. It should learn from the Carsington decisions.

Local opinion: For the last 5 years I have worked for Sustainable Youlgrave (SY)*. The PDNPA urged SY to assess local support for SY’s proposals for a limited number of individual wind turbines. We agreed; and carried out opinion polls. A significant majority of those polled are in favour of wind turbines in our valley, even where seen from the interviewees’ homes. I’m aware of no such poll before resources were spent opposing the Carsington and Matlock installations.

by John Youatt, electoral agent for Cllr Josh Stockell, the Green Party parliamentary candidate for the Derbyshire Dales. (* SY is strictly apolitical. I resigned my chairmanship of SY on taking up a role for the Green Party)

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Posted in Derbyshire, Energy

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Press Release on behalf of Peter Allen, Green Party Candidate, High Peak

Posted on March 1, 2010 by | 2 comments

It is well known that the Green Party cares for the environment. What is less well known is our full range of policies covering social policy, the economy and global issues. High Peak Green Party Candidate Peter Allen and his team will be out on the streets during the next few weeks telling voters about these other Green Party policies.

“We don’t just want to save the planet, we want to make life so much better for people living on it” says Peter.

The Green Party has a fully-costed programme to transform Britain into a self-reliant, fair and sustainable country that contributes to making a fairer world. Among its policy commitments are:

  • A massive investment programme in public transport, renewable energy and social care, creating a million jobs in a Green New Deal
  • Expanding and defending the NHS and stopping further privatisation.
  • More money to fight world poverty, and to help poor countries combat climate change.
  • Bringing the troops home from Afghanistan and cancelling Trident.
  • Fairer taxes based on the ability to pay, and a clamp down on tax avoidance. Require banks to reinvest in sustainable projects.

The problems we face are enormous, and climate change threatens our very survival. The business-as-usual policies, offered by the other parties, will fail again. Now is a time of opportunity for us to work together to develop the answers to problems that affect us and our children.

“The obsession with economic growth at any cost must be replaced by sustainable development, and a fair distribution of the world’s resources” says Peter.

Green Party members will be leafleting in Glossop on Saturday morning (6th) in New Mills (13th), Chapel (20th) and Buxton (27th).

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Posted in Derbyshire, Elections

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