North Staffs Greens Join RMT Picket Line At Stoke Depot.

 

Members of North Staffs Green Party joined striking rail workers at their picket line in Stoke-on-Trent last night.

The picket held at the Network Rail depot on Stoke Road was part of a national day of action called by the RMT union.

The strikes at depots and railway stations across the country saw more than 40,000 workers from 14 rail companies down tools.

The strikes said RMT general secretary were a response to government interference in negotiations and an attempt by train operating companies to “ransack our members terms and conditions”.

He added that “RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith, but we will not be bullied or cajoled by anyone. “The government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us” [1].

 A spokesperson for North Staffs Greens said: " the rail network is integral to creating a sustainable transport system, rail workers go above and beyond every day to deliver a safe service, they deserve better than having their wages and terms and conditions cut".

The strikes took place two days after Labour leader Keir Starmer announced that the party will not be renationalizing the railways if it wins the next election in favour of taking what he described as a more “pragmatic approach” [2].

Green Party co-leader Adrian described this decision as "depressing", adding that due to Labour’s attempt to “compete with the Tories will see ordinary people and the planet pay the cost as a result” [3].

 Labour MPs have been given instructions not to attend picket lines in their constituencies and the party has given only lukewarm support to the RMT's demands.

On the day of the strikes Labour junior shadow transport minister Sam Tarry was sacked for attending a picket line at Euston station, the party leadership claimed this was not connected to supporting the strike, saying instead that he had made unauthorised media appearance in which he spoke against agreed frontbench positions.

The sacking prompted criticism from trades union leaders, Sharon Graham of UNITE told BBC News it showed that Labour was becoming “irrelevant to working people”, Gary Smith of GMB said the party had scored a “huge own goal”.

A spokesperson for the TSSA rail union of which Mr Tarry is a former member, also speaking to the BBC said Labour were “deluded” if they thought they could win the next general election by “pushing away seven million trades union members” [4].

The sacking of Sam Tarry has also been criticised by Labour MPs, including Diane Abbott, Rachel Maskell, John McDonnell, and Kim Johnson.

 The Green Party supports the public ownership of public services, including energy companies, railways and the Royal Mail and reiterated this position following the announcement by the Labour leader.

A spokesperson for North Staffs Greens said, “we are proud to back this strike and the position taken by the co-leaders to support nationalization”, adding that “our members will be out supporting RMT and all the other unions taking industrial action”.

Further strikes are set to take place on 13^th August as train driver’s union ASLEF joins RMT in taking action [5].

 

[1] https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-confirms-national-rail-strike-to-go-ahead22722/

[2]  https://news.sky.com/story/starmer-u-turns-on-leadership-election-pledge-to-renationalise-railways-12658870

[3] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/07/25/greens-criticise-labour-for-abandoning-support-for-public-ownership-of-public-services/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-monday-25-july&email_referrer=email_1615680&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-26-july

[4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62329521

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62325025?link_id=14&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-wednesday-27-july&email_referrer=email_1617866&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-thursday-28-july

 

Greens Co-Leader Attacks Labour U-Turn on Rail Nationalization.

 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey has branded the decision by the Labour Party to abandon its support for bringing public services back into public ownership as “depressing”

 

He went on to say that it shows “just how far Keir Starmer is prepared to drag the party away from representing the best interests of people and planet in order to gain power at any cost [1].

 

In his campaign to become leader of the Labour Party in 2020 Starmer pledged to nationalize the railways, along with energy and water companies and the Royal Mail. He has now rejected doing so in favour of what he describes as a ‘pragmatic’ approach.

 

In a major statement on Labour’s policies for the economy shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said renationalizing the railways was not ‘compatible’ with the rules she would introduce to control public spending [2].

 

Labour, Starmer said would fight the next election on “economic growth”, this will see policies built around a five-point economic plan, to be financially responsible, work in partnership with business, boost productivity, re-energise communities by spreading economic power, and somewhat strangely do all this in a way that is distinctively British.

 

There would, he said, be no more “magic money tree economics”, instead there would be “sound finances and careful spending”, leading to “strong, secure and fair growth”.

 

Adrian Ramsey said it was “depressing to see Labour abandoning their traditional support for public ownership of essential services”, adding that their “attempt to compete with the Tories will see ordinary people and the planet pay the cost as a result”.

 

The abandonment of a policy that has such deep roots in the ideology of the Labour Party is thought likely to further widen the gulf between supporters of Starmer and those of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

 

Ahead of the announcement of the abandonment of plans to nationalize essential services Rebecca Long-Bailey, who stood for election as Labour leader in the 2020 race won by Kier Starmer said the party needed to drop its “cautious” approach on the economy.

 

Long-Bailey was a shadow business secretary under Corbyn and has been suggested as a left-wing challenger to Starmer in a future leadership race.

 

She called for Labour to adopt a ‘radical manifesto’ that includes state ownership of essential services and a living standards contract between government and the public.

 

Speaking to the Guardian she said it was “naïve” of the Labour leadership to think that a lead in the polls can be maintained without “policies that are radical and transformational” [3].

 

Adrian Ramsey said the Green Party position it that it is “essential” that public services to be publicly owned in order to “guarantee the level of service required to meet society’s needs and help tackle the climate crisis”.

 

It is also the best way of ensuring good pay and conditions for people working to deliver those services.

 

[1] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/07/25/greens-criticise-labour-for-abandoning-support-for-public-ownership-of-public-services/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-monday-25-july&email_referrer=email_1615680&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-26-july

[2] https://news.sky.com/story/starmer-u-turns-on-leadership-election-pledge-to-renationalise-railways-12658870

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/24/rebecca-long-bailey-calls-for-labour-to-drop-cautious-approach-to-economy

 

 

 

 

Greens call for Cobra meeting to be called as vulnerable people struggle with rising temperatures.

 

The Met Office has declared a national emergency as temperatures are set to soar to 40C this week.

 

The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a level four alert and NHS leaders warned over the weekend that A&E departments could struggle to cope with a rise in admissions caused by the heatwave.

 

This is the first time the system for warning of likely health impacts caused by extreme weather introduced in 2021 has been triggered. A spokesperson for the Met Office told the BBC the situation was potentially “very serious” [1].

 

Green Party Health and Social Care spokesperson Pallavi Devulapalli, who also works as a GP in Norfolk said “We know that the very high temperatures we are likely to see over the next few days could lead to an increase in life-threatening conditions such as heat stroke, heart attacks and strokes” [2]

 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey said the problems the country faced including melting road surfaces, and possible power and water shortages were “the consequences of decades of inaction in the face of the climate emergency”.

 

He added that “urgent action” was needed to ensure the country’s infrastructure was “resilient to extreme weather events” and that there also needed to be an “urgent reduction in CO2 emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate breakdown, but we’ve left this far too late already, and the extreme weather is now built in”.

 

The heatwave has caused wildfires in Europe that have seen 16,000 people evacuated in south-west France, Spain Greece and Croatia have also been impacted [3].

 

Dr Devulapalli warned that with ambulance services across England declaring a critical incident people who need emergency help may not be able to get it in time and that lives could be lost as a result.

 

The crisis has, he said, been caused by a “decades long failure” to address problems with social car and underfunding of NHS services, adding that government policy driven by “ideology rather than problem solving” had had created “multiple intersecting crises”.

 

Adrian Ramsey called on the government to act saying “Cobra must urgently assess how vulnerable people are supported during extreme weather events - not just heatwaves but also storms and flooding. It should also investigate immediately where our infrastructure and services are at risk during such severe weather.”

 

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62177458

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/07/15/heatwave-will-put-lives-put-at-risk-due-to-government-failure/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-thursday-14-july-2&email_referrer=email_1607941&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-monday-18-july

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62196045

 

 

The Resignation of Bad Apple Boris Must Be Followed By A Rethink Of How Politics Works.

 

After three days of resignations and with a marked lack of grace Boris Johnson has agreed to stand down as Prime Minister. He will remain in post until a successor is chosen by Conservative MPs and party members [1].

 

Greens in North Staffordshire have joined co-leader Carla Denya in calling for his exit from Downing Street to be the spur for a rethink of how politics works.

 

Carla Denya said it was a ‘travesty’ that it had taken so long for Johnson to understand that his position was untenable and castigated Tory MPs and ministers who had protected a prime minister who had “lied and lied again in order to cling on to power” [2].

 

She went on to say, “The British public cannot forget the damage the Conservative Party as a whole has wilfully inflicted on this country in the middle of a pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis and the accelerating climate crisis”.

 

Adding that Boris Johnson was not “just one bad apple, the whole tree is rotten” and that the public confidence in politics could only be restored by a general election giving people chance to have their “say on how they want their country run”.

 

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said that Boris Johnson’s resignation speech [3] had been “an exercise in self-justification and evasion, given the opportunity to admit to the mistakes he had made, and the harm done as a result he chose instead to spin and dissemble to the bitter end”.

 

Adding that, “this showed the sense of entitlement and lack of self-awareness that made him unfit to lead the country”.

 

Concern has been expressed about Boris Johnson remaining in post as a caretaker prime minister, Carla Denya said that his staying on would “disappoint” everyone who wanted to see the end of a “truly unedifying period in British politics.”

 

The situation, she said, highlighted the need for a written constitution, which would put procedure in place to determine whether he could stay on until a successor was appointed, the current arrangement based on “honour and gentlemen’s agreements” had never “been fit for purpose but breaks down entirely when faced with such dishonourable politicians as Johnson” [4].

 

The Conservatives promised to set up a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission in their 2019 election manifesto, progress on doing so has since then been sluggish [5].

 

Responding to a consultation launched by the Public Administration and Parliamentary Affairs committee in November 2020 the Green Party set out its vision for how a constitution could be created that would modernise the way politics works and give all stakeholders an equal voice [6].

 

Carla Denya said the Green Party would continue to “argue strongly for constitutional reform”, adding that Johnson’s resignation showed it was “time for us all to have our say on how our democracy works, which is why Greens say now is the time for a Constitutional Convention to help us build a true and modern democracy.”

 

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-62072419

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/07/07/greens-call-for-general-election-in-wake-of-boris-johnson-resigning/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-thursday-7-july&email_referrer=email_1598927&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-friday-8-july

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-62070755

[4] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/07/08/green-party-calls-for-constitutional-convention-in-wake-of-johnson-resignation/

[5] https://constitution-unit.com/2022/04/12/what-happened-to-the-constitution-democracy-and-rights-commission/

[6]https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/Communications/PCAC_consultation_Nov2020.pdf

 

Government Funding for Better Bus Services is Failing to Achieve its Aims.

 

The Campaign for Better Transport has published analysis showing that the competitive system local authorities have to take part in to gain funding for improving bus services is disadvantaging smaller, often rural councils.

 

The analysis published on 1^st July, coinciding with the deadline for operators to submit any planned changes to services ahead of the withdrawal of COVID related recovery funding in October showed a consistent pattern of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’.

 

Sylvia Barrett of the Campaign for Better Transport said it had “uncovered a painful truth, that the Government’s policy of asking local authorities to compete for local transport funding is producing the same winners and losers time and again” [1].

 

The report Funding Local Bus Services in England [2] contains analysis showing that the 12 local authorities awarded the most government funding are all urban authorities, while 15 of the authorities receiving the least funding cover rural areas.

 

These findings are based on analysis of allocations of funding over the past decade by councils applying to government schemes including the Transforming Cities Fund, the Active Travel Fund, and the Bus Service Improvement Plan.

 

Sylvia Barratt said that all communities deserve a ‘reliable, regular and affordable’ bus service. However, a funding system that favours urban authorities with dedicated transport planning teams were unfairly advantaged.

 

She went on to say that the government needs to “move away from this fragmented and competitive way of funding and replace it with a long-term funding settlement for all transport authorities.”

 

Other findings published in the report include that over the past decade 5,000 bus routes have been cut. Further cuts are likely as bus usage is currently at 80% of what it was before March 2020, the Campaign for Better Transport warn this could contribute to a vicious circle of decline.

 

The £1.08 billion in Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding went to 31 Local Transport Authorities, just 40% of those who applied. This creates significant gaps and works against the creation of a national bus strategy promised by the government in 2019, details of which were eventually published in May 2021.

 

Being successful in applying for funding to transform bus services does not guarantee authorities get the amount they requested, many received less than half and some significantly less.

 

Commenting on the report Campaign for Better Transport Chief Executive Graham Vidler said it highlighted the “very different outcomes” experienced by local authorities when bidding for funding.

 

The Campaign for Better Transport are calling for an end to competitive funding and for money to be reallocated from carbon intensive transport policies like road building into a single funding pot accessible to all local authorities.

 

Graham Vidler said it was “time for Government to commit further, long-term funding to turn the ambition of the national bus strategy into tangible improvements for passengers everywhere."

 

[1] https://bettertransport.org.uk/new-analysis-finds-government-funding-intended-transform-buses-disadvantaging-rural-communities

[2] https://bettertransport.org.uk/sites/default/files/research-files/Funding_local_bus_services_in_England_June_2022.pdf