Medway Green Party gets its own blog

http://medwaygreenparty.wordpress.com/

We have set up our own blog now, one we can all share from now on. We are not just about this general election you see, we have plans, we want Green Party councillors and Medway needs them sooner rather than later.

See you on the other blog and follow us on twitter too!

What was that? Oh, just mankind going extinct....

In amongst all the leadership debates/pissing contests there is the small matter of a planet brought to the brink of disaster by a barely evolved population of upright monkeys (in the time-line of the earth we have managed in less than a heartbeat to pretty much undo 3.5 billion years of evolution). It may be controversial but are we really focussing on the important issues? Do we really have the right to maintain the fastest extinction rate ever, in the history of life on the planet, faster than the demise of the dinosaurs.

Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented chance to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.

http://www.earthday.org/earthday2010

I'll get back to policy critiques tomorrow.
From your friendly neighbourhood voice of reason!

Give the Orang-utan a break

I should be talking polictics and slagging off the other parties, especially as no-one but the Greens seem to understand that ordinary people who go to work, play with their kids and love their mum are after a peaceful, safe world and not one where bankers get paid millions for wrecking the economy and you have to pay for your old age (Tory policy by the way).

BUT I think you should know that Nestle are still using unsustainable palm oil in their products (Ethical Consumer EC124) which comes from the last rain-forest habitat of the Orangutan. Yes folks, THE LAST rain-forest habitat. I have long boycotted Nestle because of the baby milk scandal but this is scandalous. They are just chocolate biscuits for goodness sake, why do we have to eliminated this wonderful creature just to have a mid-morning snack!

The Green Party is the only party that has animal welfare as one of its key policies, if you care about our wildlife vote Green.

Dont forget the invertebrates!

Biodiversity is under threat. Human activity is driving the sixth great extinction and we are losing about 30,000 species per year.We have a historic opportunity not only to halt the degradation of our natural environment, but to begin to roll back two centuries of exploitation.

This is a massive issue, again a problem that we could address immediately by reducing pesticide use, promoting landscape conservation and getting rid of the non-elected Planning Commission, and ensure that sustainable development, not just economic development, is at the heart of the planning system.

I am suspicious that some decisions made locally against planning applications by Medway Council are done so in the full knowledge that it would be overturned by the Planning Commission and thus like Pontius Pilate, they are washing their hands of any responsibility.

Buglife is a charity which promotes knowledge of the smaller creatures that inhabit this blue (green) planet, they make an interesting point that most wasteland is not sterile. Look closely where nature has start to take over and you will see our indigenous species scurrying through the undergrowth.

UK Ins ands Outs

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/policies/policies_2010/2010manifesto_international.html

Its an emotive, confusing and inflammatory subject but please read our immigration policy and think about our nations history of diversity and mutli-culturalism before you get agitated over immigration.

Fundamentally our immigration policies must be fair and non-discriminatory, respect the integrity of families and be applied promptly and effectively.

And we must meet our obligations to refugees and those seeking sanctuary, including the increasing numbers of people displaced by environmental change. It is not the third world who are responsible for climate change, we have already taken away land and livelihoods from them through rising sea-levels as a result of our carbon dependence.

One Green Party, theres only one Green Party..

From the Media you would think that all parties have gone at least partly green, but on closer inspection of the policies I can assure you that we are THE Green Party, others are just dipping themselves in vegetable dyes which will wash off in the next rain shower.

For example lets look at the latest attempt from the Lib Dems to portray themselves as green. The numbers of jobs involved in the Lib Dem plan are far less than Britain needs, the resulting CO2 reductions are inadequate, and £3 billion they propose investing is frankly a derisory amount when we're talking about the future job prospects of so many people and the seriousness of climate change.

There is only one Green Party, and it's the party that last week launched a fully-costed job-creation plan showing how Britain could pay for a £44 billion investment package to create a million new jobs in the UK.

One Green Party, there's only one Green Party, one Green Party......

Climate Change is Real and Happening

"The Commons Science and Technology Committee criticised UEA authorities for failing to respond to requests for data from climate change sceptics. But it found no evidence Professor Phil Jones, whose e-mails were hacked and published online, had manipulated data. It said his reputation, and that of his climate research unit, remained intact" BBC News Weds 14th April

Its good news that the scientist at the UEA have been proven to be honest in their analysis of the climate science. The media attention on the "hacked" emails was enormous and undermined so much work that had been done to raise awareness among the general public.

The terrible thing is that the media interest in the findings today will be short lived and wont go anywhere near far enough to mitigate the loss of trust in the population. The climate sceptics achieved what they set out to do, to seed confusion and doubt where there is, in fact, none...

The Futures Bright, the Futures Green!

Seeing Caroline on the Andy Marr show makes me pleased to be part of this campaign. Our policies are grown up and fair, and our candidates are passionate and caring. There are not many political parties where the criticisms we face relate to our belief in an equal society.

Ask me about education, healthcare, immigration, local and national economies etc and I will be able to reply with confidence that we have it covered.

Our Manifesto comes out on Thursday and it will reinforce our "Fair is Worth Fighting For" message.

Leading tory endorsing discrimination?

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling has taken a very dodgy position on civil liberties. He is reported to have said:

"I took the view that if it's a question of somebody who's doing a B&B in their own home, that individual should have the right to decide who does and who doesn't come into their own home.

"If they are running a hotel on the High Street, I really don't think that it is right in this day and age that a gay couple should walk into a hotel and be turned away because they are a gay couple, and I think that is where the dividing line comes."

B and Bs are businesses, whether its run in your own home or on the high street. As such anti-discrimination laws apply, no argument, no debate, no trying to excuse homophobia.

More interesting stuff from Vote for Policies:

Greens are leading in every policy area, which means you may not think you support the Greens but when it comes to your policy choices you may be surprised at how our proprosals for a fairier world match your own!

In reality most voters probably dont get the chance to look at each party's policy in detail. It would help if the media gave balanced summaries in bite sized chunks comparing each party so voters could make informed choice.

Budget smudges

Hmmm, well the Green New Deal has yet to be taken seriously by this government, what a missed opportunity to change the way our economy works. We should be creating new jobs for a low carbon way of life, its future proofing and sustainable.
And people earning £6500 are still paying tax at 20%! We should be seriously tackling low pay taxation.

PS I live in the Town of Gillingham not the City of Medway, I want to know what the negative side is to maintaining our individual identities, and why it would make any difference to the availability of funding, before we lose our boundaries.

Invest in Renewables not Old King Coal!

Eon and this government seem to believe that CCS (Carbon capture and storage) will reduce carbon emissions. This is just not true, the emissions remain they just get hidden away like sweeping dust under the carpet.
Eventually the dust returns.

Policies for All

As a PPC I am getting a lot of requests to support various groups by pledging my support. Some of them are easy to sign as they are party policy, but its good to know that there are a lot of people in this country who care about their fellows and this green planet and work hard to improve the lot of others.

Brown talks VAT

Its strange that after so many years in government Gordon Brown calls VAT the "Tory Tax" (PMQ's today) but has made no attempt to do anything about it! Its like criticising thieves while handling stolen goods....

Eon back on...or off...or what?

Its not a complete surprise to those of us who have been involved in the campaign over the last 2 years that Eon are kicking off again. Having been part of the local activist group KCAM since it was formed we were pleased when the plans were shelved in October but as one of members said

“I’m cautious about Eons real agenda. Are they trying to apply pressure to Ed Milliband to make a decision or are we really seeing the change we have been working for. I hope for the future of our planet that it’s the latter.”

Why now? What back-room deals have been going on to prompt this move so close to the election? We shall see what develops but I get the feeling this summer is going to be a busy one.

Who are YBF?

I have been reading about the Young Britons Foundation, they are young conservative right wingers focussed on power and success, not a social concern in sight. Tory MPs like Pickles are happy to support them and they think of themselves as political activists, your basic career politicians. I have concerns about this type of fundamentalism whatever is form, any kind of rigid self belief that has no room for debate is worrying, especially if those who subscribe to it end up in positions of authority.

This is New to Me

First blog - Its going to be a long road to equality for all, zero carbon, and a clean and safe world but it will be worth the effort and in the end Fair Is Worth Fighting For....