Why we shouldn’t laugh at Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party, even if he is a fool.

It is easy and often satisfying to laugh at the antics of Nigel Farage, the latest being launching the Brexit Party.

There is something of the sit-com character about our Nigel, he presents as a ‘little man’ who wants so desperately to be all the things he isn’t.

In this case that is a serious politician, rather than a noisy chancer mugging madly for the cameras.

And yet if you look at what he represents then a more alarming picture emerges.

Farage and the Brexit party represent the entry in earnest into the British political scene of the populism found in other European countries.

His is a party free from the baggage of having an ideology, instead he picks the targets that applause from whatever audience he is facing.

The bankers, out of touch metropolitan liberals, that vague but rhetorically useful mass known as the ‘political establishment’ all get a biff on the nose.

He also promises a ‘revolution’, though not the sort involving mobs and riots, because that might scare the media for whom he works as a commentator.

This is all a bit silly and probably harmless, like Robert Kilroy-Silk’s Veritas party Nigel Farage’s project could sink without trace.

Yet there is, for me anyway, a nagging worry about populism, movements that stand for nothing, tend to accept pretty much anything or anyone.

That could mean giving the far right a free pass into the political mainstream so long as they can play the anti-establishment card convincingly.

There is no doubt that the referendum and the three years of squabbling that have followed have split, baffled and befuddled the body politic. Our sense of who we are as a country has taken a big hit.

In the past countries that have had their confidence knocked by events have turned to populist politics before. The consequences have almost always been dire.

Nigel Farage may be a comic grotesque fit to stand alongside Basil Fawlty and Alf Garnett. The populism he represents though is far from being an amusing distraction; it is downright dangerous.

Green Candidate calls on government to act on plastic pollution.

North Staffs Green Party Adam Colclough has written to Environment Secretary Michael Gove calling on him to act on plastic pollution.

Mr Colclough, who is representing the Green Party in the Boothen and Oakhill ward at the 2019 local elections is actin in support of a national campaign run by environmentalist group Friends of the Earth.

The full text of his letter reads:

Plastic debris has been found across the globe from the highest mountains to the deepest parts of the sea.

Traces of plastic refuse have also been found in some of the UK’s most valuable and vulnerable landscapes.

The UK government has made some important progress with steps to tackle plastic waste from sources such as drinking straws and cotton buds. There remains much more that need to be done.

MPs from all parties are coming together to support the Plastic Pollution Bill, which calls for the phasing out of plastic pollution in all its forms.

On behalf of North Staffs Green Party, I urge you as the minister with responsibility for the environment to do all that is within your powers to ensure this vital legislation enters the statute books.

Mr Colclough said:
‘The whole world is becoming aware of the devastating impact plastic pollution is having and of the need to act quickly to find a solution to this problem’.

He added that:
‘This is an issue where it is vital that we work together on a national and international level to protect the environment from immanent disaster, for that reason I am happy to join Friends of the Earth in supporting the Plastic Pollution Bill becoming law’.

To sign the Friends of the Earth letter to Michael Gove go to: https://act.friendsoftheearth.uk/act/ask-michael-gove-act-end-plastic-pollution?utm_source=call-to-action-supporting&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=plastics&utm_content=2019-04_lm1903046-michael-gove-plastic-action&user=5157CB6B52B64B10447863BB144C3B55

We need a recycling system that works for communities not just big business.

North staffs Green Party have joined the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) in calling for more to be done to encourage recycling.

The charity has given a cautious welcome to government plans to introduce a deposit return scheme in England on the grounds that it will reduce littering and drive up recycling rates.

However, they have expressed concerns that 'vested interests' in the packaging and waste management industries could get the plans, which are currently out for public consultation, watered down.

Figures produced by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs earlier this month show the rate for recycling by UK households rose from 45.2% in 2016, to 45.7% in 2017.

Overall the UK generated 222.9 million tons of waste, 85% of which was produced in England, out of this 104.0 million tons was recycled, and 52.3 million tons went to landfill (DEFRA figures, 2016).

CPRE have asked supporters to join them in putting forward a set of 'Golden Rules' for what a good deposit return scheme should look like to Environment Secretary Michael Gove.

These include ensuring the scheme is UK wide, is accessible to all, boosts the recycling sector and works with other initiatives to reduce waste.

North Staffs Green Party Campaigns Coordinator Adam Colclough said: ' public awareness of the problems caused by packaging waste and waste in general has never been higher. We fully support CPRE in taking action on an issue that is massively important to the health of our environment'.

The Green Party campaigns to limit the negative impact on the environment made by human activities, this includes developing an efficient national recycling scheme and working towards the creation of a zero-waste economy.

The party supports a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and harder to recycle and harder to recycle items such as batteries.

Mr Colclough said:' Now more than ever we need a national recycling scheme that is efficient, easy to use and that works for communities and businesses alike'.

Five-week wait is driving claimants into poverty says the Trussell Trust.

Changes to the benefit system including the roll out of Universal Credit are driving claimants into poverty as they wait five weeks for their first payment.

Research carried out by the Trussell Trust shows that in 2018 there was a 52% increase in food bank use in those areas where Universal Credit has been rolled out compared to 13% in those areas where it is yet to be introduced.

On their website the Trussell Trust describe the benefits system as an 'anchor' that prevents people being 'swept into poverty', going on to say that since the election of the coalition government in 2010 that is no longer the case.

Despite government promises that it would significantly reduce poverty Universal Credit has led to a rise in the number of people living below the poverty line, many of whom are in full time work.

The process of claiming Universal Credit has been problematic for many claimants, even when things go smoothly, they are obliged to wait five weeks for their first payment. Government attempts to alleviate the problems caused, by allowing claimants to apply for a 'loan' to see them through have proved inadequate.

On their website the Trussell Trust say, ' we're a country that prides itself on making g sure proper support is in place when help is needed, our benefits system was created to do exactly that, but universal credit is not the poverty fighting reform that was promised'.

North Staffs Green Party Campaigns Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ' as a volunteer for local charities I have seen numerous cases of people being driven into penury by Universal Credit'.

In their political program published in 2018 the Green Party pledged to replace the current unfair and complex benefits system with a Universal Basic Income and to tackle wage inequality.

Mr. Colclough said, ' as a party we are commuted to taking a stand on issues of social justice and for that reason we fully support the Trussell Trust in launching this campaign'.

The Trussell Trust have launched a campaign against the five-week wait under the hash tag #5WeeksTooLong and will be staging events throughout the coming year.

North Staffs Greens back pensioners fight against community bed closures.

North Staffs Green Party have given their support to a campaign led by the North Staffs Pensioners Convention to mount a legal challenge to plans to close beds in local community hospitals.

As part of its transformation plans the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for Staffordshire wants to reduce the number of beds at community hospitals across the region from 264 to 132.

Amongst the reasons cited by the CCG for overhauling how health and social care is delivered are changing health needs as people live longer, difficulty hiring and retaining staff and balancing its budget.

As part of the proposed new care model the CCG wants to deliver care services in the community that currently operate from hospitals through integrated care hubs across the region.

This will mean fewer beds are needed in community hospitals including those at Leek, Bradwell and the Heywood. Instead more patients will be cared for in their own homes.

There will also be an overhaul of consultant led out-patient clinics currently operating from Leek hospital and the Royal Staffordshire University Hospital.

The CCG is partway through a public consultation on its plans, this will run until 17th March.

The Pensioners Convention are part of the NHS Care for All group which brings together the campaigns to protect Leek and Bradwell hospitals, local political campaigners and other community organisations.

North Staffs Green Party Campaigns Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘it is vital that we protect beds at community hospitals because they provide a valuable resource in times of high demand and the staff at the sites affected deliver high quality care all year round’.

He added that ‘as a party we have questioned whether there will be enough staff available to care for patients in their own homes and have not received a convincing guarantee from the CCG leadership’.

A solicitor instructed by the Pensioners Convention has written to the CCG informing them of their intention to seek a judicial review. The group have launched a crowd funding campaign to raise the £4300 necessary to begin proceedings.

We need to build more social housing of face having a generation trapped in private rental into old age.

Following the Grenfell House fire in the Summer of 2017 housing charity SHELTER put together a commission set out a better future for social housing.

North Staffs Green Party have endorsed the report published by the commission, Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘providing decent housing for all is one of the defining issues of our time and needs urgent action’.

The housing crisis in the UK is getting worse with the lowest amount of social housing being built for 70 years. As a result, 1.2million households are on local authority waiting lists and are often trapped in expensive private rented accommodation.

The SHELTER report warns that ‘unless we act now, we face a future in which a generation will be trapped renting privately’, adding that as a result ‘more people will grow old in private rentals and billions more in welfare costs will be paid to private landlords’.

At the 2017 general election the Green Party stood on a manifesto commitment to build 100,000 environmentally friendly homes for social rent by 2020. The party also pledged to end the sale of council housing, abolish the bedroom tax and to give tenants stronger rights.

This aligns with many of the points made in the SHELTER report, which calls for a twenty-year programme to build 3.1million homes for social rent by 2020 and for the government to use its upcoming comprehensive spending review to increase funding for social housing.

Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘as a party we have supported the building of more social housing since the eighties’, adding ‘we fully support SHELTER in their call on the government om use the comprehensive spending review to fund the quality housing so many families are struggling to find’.

To find out more about the SHELTER campaign and to sign their petition click on this link: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns

Greens call for fair play on credit.

Debt is a growing problem with the OBR predicting that by 2022 personal debt will account for £2.258trillion, equivalent to £83,041 for every household in the country (Source: The Money Charity).

North Staffs Green Party have written to Stoke-on-Trent City Council calling on them to sign up to the Fair Credit for All campaign launched by the End High Cost Credit Alliance.

Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ' debt represents a huge burden on individuals and households that are struggling to get by'.

Debt charity Step Change found in a survey of the 326,897 new clients taken on in the first half of 2018 that a third were behind with their council tax payments, 13.1% with utility bills and that 18.3% had taken out high cost payday loans.

Personal debt in the UK stands at £1.623trillion, equivalent to £59,288 per family or £30,965 for every adult, accounting for 113% of average earnings.

Mr Colclough said, ' we need to make it easier for people to access fair credit and to get advice on how to manage their money'.

In their 2017 general election manifesto the Green Party pledged to create a network of local people's banks and to close the wealth gap by raising the minimum wage to £10 per hour.

The End High Cost Credit Alliance campaigns for responsible credit providers to be available on every high street and for access to debt counselling.


Detail about the campaign can be accessed via this link:https://the-alliance.org.uk/contact-us/