Greens warn UK government is going into the COP 15 summit empty handed without plans for a Rights of Nature Act.

 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey has warned that environment secretary Therese Coffey will be going into a key UN summit on biodiversity ‘empty handed because the government has failed to put forward plans to give legal protection to nature.

The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) will take place in the Canadian city of Montreal between the 7^th and 19^th of December. It brings together scientific experts and representatives of governments to agree a set of global goals to reverse nature loss [1].

Adrian Ramsey said that the environment secretary would be “attending the UN biodiversity summit empty handed, despite the UK being one of the most nature depleted countries in the world [2].

He added that there was “little confidence” in the government “meeting its target to halt the decline in species by 2030”.

Ahead of the COP 15 summit the government has faced criticism for failing to meet even its own unambitious targets in areas such as protecting threatened habitats.

Speaking to the Guardian Elliot Chapman-Jones, head of public affairs at the Wildlife Trusts said, “we are losing nature at a faster rate than at any time in our history”, yet the government’s “culture of delay” meant they were missing their targets [3].

Adding that “Current plans will mean even less wildlife in 20 years’ time than the much-depleted state that we have now. A truly ‘world leading’ target must aim to leave the next generation with more nature – not less.”

The Green Party are calling for the introduction of a Rights of Nature Act enforced by an independent Commission for Nature.

This will, Adrian Ramsey said provide “legal protection for wildlife and habitats in England and Wales”, it would also put the regeneration of nature “at the heart of all policy considerations”.

Announcing the policy in October last year Green Party spokesperson on the Natural World Jonathan Elmer said “We face an ecological emergency which threatens the survival of all life on the planet including our own. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world with about half of its biodiversity lost” [4].

Going on to say that a “bold approach” was needed to “challenge the government and other parties to go further in addressing the tragic depletion of nature and wildlife and creating a thriving natural environment for the future.”  

Issuing this fresh call to action Adrian Ramsey said “the pace that we are losing nature continues to accelerate and there is no sign of a reversal in this trend. We face an ecological emergency which poses real threats to human society - to food and water supplies, to clean air, to our ability to adapt to a warming world”.

Adding that “If the UK government wants to demonstrate a genuine commitment to halting and reversing species decline, and avoid arriving at future biodiversity summits empty handed, it will show leadership by introducing a Rights of Nature Act.”

[1] https://www.unep.org/un-biodiversity-conference-cop-15

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/12/07/greens-call-to-extend-legal-protections-for-wildlife/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-6-december&email_referrer=email_1759856&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-wednesday-7-december

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/28/tories-embarrassingly-poor-nature-targets-2030-labour-says

[4] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/10/23/green-party-backs-a-rights-of-nature-act-to-give-nature-legal-rights/

 

North Staffs Greens back COP27 protest.

 

Members of North Staffs Green Party will join activists from trades unions and environmental groups at a protest in Hanley this Saturday.

The protest has been organized by North Staffordshire Climate Coalition; a campaign group founded in the run up to last year’s COP26 summit held in Glasgow.

The coalition brings together trades unions, environmental groups and groups campaigning on issues of social justice to call for urgent global action on climate change.

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said, “climate change is the defining issue of our time, and it is important that we demand action because the government under Rishi Sunak and his two predecessors this year has not stepped up to its responsibilities”.

Adding that “the situation is rapidly approaching a point where we will not be able to turn things around and will hand on a world that has been irreparably damaged to future generations”.

Despite holding the presidency of COP26 the UK government has been criticised for failing to meet the obligations it signed up to in Glasgow and prime minister Rishi Sunak initially refused to travel to Egypt, only changing his mind following pressure from environmental groups and MPs, including some from his own party.

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey said, “since last year in Glasgow the UK government has gone in completely the wrong direction by introducing new North Sea oil and gas licences, continued to roll out airport and road expansion and will not even rule out the opening of a new coal mine in Cumbria” [3].

The COP27 summit takes place in the Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and is organised by the United Nations to build on the ‘outcomes of COP26 to deliver action on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency – from urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience, and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, to delivering on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries’ [1].

In his opening address to the summit UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the planet was “on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”, and that the COP27 meeting was possibly the last chance to develop a workable plan to prevent climate disaster [2].

 North Staffordshire Climate Coalition has issued statement outlining three demands, these are for governments around the world to take urgent action on climate change, for local authorities including Stoke-on-Trent City Council to honour the commitments they made when they declared a climate emergency in 2019, and for an end to attempts by the Egyptian government to use hosting the summit to cover up human rights abuses.

The protest event in Hanley will take place from midday on Saturday 12^th November at the bus station located on Litchfield Street, ST1 3EA.

Further details can be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/430403929255929

 

[1] https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop27

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/cop27-climate-summit-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other&link_id=4&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-monday-7-november&email_referrer=email_1733043&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-8-november

[3] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/11/04/greens-condemn-uk-government-for-failing-to-honour-cop-commitment-to-update-climate-targets/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-friday-4-november&email_referrer=email_1731328&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-monday-7-november

 

 

 

Tory chaos means the country does not have even the pretence of a viable government says Green co-leader.

 

Responding to the resignation of Liz Truss after 45 days in office, making hers the shortest tenure of any British prime minister Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer has reiterated calls for a general election.

In a statement made outside Downing Street on Thursday the outgoing prime minister said she recognized that she was unable to “deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party [1]”.

This triggered a streamlined leadership contest which will be completed by 28^th October at the latest, and my end sooner.

Responding to the resignation Carla Denyer said the “chaos” surrounding the Conservative Party had “spiralled beyond any pretence that the country has a viable government” [2].

Adding that it was “reckless for the Tories to claim that they can replace Liz Truss with any leader capable of commanding authority, nationally or internationally”.

Following the resignation three candidates emerged as front runners to gain the 100 signatures from MPs needed to enter the ballot, former chancellor Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and former prime minister Boris Johnson.

Johnson pulled out of the race late on Sunday evening, despite claiming to have the backing of 102 MPs and being, by his own estimation, “best placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024” [3].

He had though, he said, after “reaching out” to the two candidates he had “sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament”.

At the time of writing Penny Mordaunt was still seeking the required number of signatures and one of her backers, former cabinet minister Andrea Leadsome told the BBC there was “absolutely no chance of her standing down” [4].

However, with just 26 MPs publicly willing to back her compared to the 180 who have come out for Rishi Sunak her chances of entering a second round of voting look slim.

Whoever wins the race to be the next prime minister would, Carla Denyer said, impose “austerity 2.0” on the country, meaning “more cuts to vital public services and more suffering for people across the country”.

They would, she went on to say, be doing so without a mandate, making it impossible for them to govern effectively.

A general election is needed, she said, so that “people can vote for the policies they want to see that will turn this mess around” and be given “their chance to decide on the country’s future.”

 

 

 

 

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63332037

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/20/greens-call-for-general-election-after-truss-resigns-as-prime-minister/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-thursday-20-october&email_referrer=email_1710650&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-friday-21-october

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63368973

[4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63370359

 

The Tories are the Anti-Renewables Coalition says Green Party co-leader.

 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey has described the Conservative government as the ‘anti-renewables coalition’ as ministers prepare plans to ban solar panels from most of England’s farmland.

Environment secretary Ranil Jayawardena is understood to oppose solar panels being installed on agricultural land on the grounds that it impedes food production. A report published in the Guardian claims he has instructed officials to use rules governing how land is classified for planning purposes to declare large areas unsuitable for solar farms [1].

Adrian Ramsey said the ban, if implemented, made it “clear that the Tories and their fossil fuel friends have turned into the anti-renewables coalition” [2], adding that “Research has also shown that solar energy generation and food production can co-exist well together, arranged in certain formations, solar panels have been found to boost agricultural production by helping with shading and water conservation during heatwaves, for example”.

In her keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference prime minister Liz Truss listed “Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests dressed up as think-tanks, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers, and Extinction Rebellion” as members of an “anti-growth coalition” determined to hold the UK back [4].

There are currently 500 solar farms in the UK, providing 28% of the country’s renewable energy. More solar panels were in stalled in 2021 than in the previous 5 years, the amount of energy produced by solar is expected to increase by 500% by 2030 [3].

Dustin Benton, policy advisor at think tank Green Alliance told the Guardian that the UK “desperately needs to expand renewables” to meet the challenges posed by climate change and soaring gas and electricity costs.

This point was also made by Adrian Ramsey, who said “Solar panels can be deployed extremely quickly and offer some of the cheapest electricity, helping to tackle both the cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency”.

 

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/10/ministers-hope-to-ban-solar-projects-from-most-english-farms?link_id=1&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-monday-10-october&email_referrer=email_1697070&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-11-october

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/10/solar-farm-ban-shows-tories-are-anti-renewables-coalition-say-greens/?link_id=3&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-monday-10-october&email_referrer=email_1697070&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-11-october

[3] https://housegrail.com/solar-energy-statistics-uk/

[4] https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/liz-truss-attacks-anti-growth-coalition-as-tory-conference-ends_uk_633d67ade4b0e376dbfca2c6

 

 

 

New Green Deputy Leader pledges to speak up for those who feel unseen, unheard, and unrepresented.

 

In his first speech as deputy leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski said there can be no environmental justice without racial, social, and economic justice too.

Speaking at the party conference in Harrogate Polanski said that in the UK of 2022 too many people felt “unseen, unheard, and unrepresented”, adding that the Greens will be the party to “take their worries and needs and speak truth to power” [1].

He highlighted the importance of diversity, representation, and electoral reform in delivering a fairer and more inclusive society.

He said that representation and diversity were both “massively important”, and that he wants to use the platform provided by the deputy leader’s role to “speak with rather than for” those communities who don’t feel they have a voice in politics [2].

Key to doing so is, he said, reforming the UK’s “broken voting system”, which leaves many people and communities outside the decision-making process. A problem that can only be solved through the introduction of proportional representation.

This would encourage the development of “grown up collaborations” that “work in people’s interests”, and he called on Labour leader Keir Starmer to “listen” to his members who blocked a vote in favour of putting introducing PR into party policy by unions and grassroots members.

The party conference saw delegates back motions aimed at promoting social justice, these included introducing a £15 an hour minimum wage and backing stronger trades union rights.

Work, Employment and Social Security spokesperson Professor Catherine Rowlett said the current minimum wage had been eroded by “inflation and the cost-of-living crisis” creating “dire levels of in work poverty” [3].

Raising the minimum wage to £15 an hour would, she said, be part of creating a “new social contract” where “a basic standard of living isn’t a luxury”.

Matthew Hull of the Green Party Trades Union Group successfully proposed a motion backing a ‘positive charter of workers and union rights’, saying it will protest the “fundamental right to organise and strike” [4].

Too many people, Zack Polanski said, feel unrepresented when major decisions are made about their lives and communities a fair society is one “that includes everyone”, adding that “in the Green Party, representing people is our priority”.

[1] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/01/deputy-leader-autumn-conference-speech-2022/?link_id=8&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-friday-30-september&email_referrer=email_1687585&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-monday-3-october

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/01/no-environmental-justice-without-social-justice/

[3] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/02/greens-back-%C2%A315-an-hour-minimum-wage-and-declare-support-for-trade-union-campaigns-on-pay/

[4] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/01/greens-back-positive-charter-of-worker-and-trade-union-rights/

 

 

 

 

Liz Truss will be a disaster for the for the UK and the climate warns Green Party co-leader.

 

The Green Party has warned that the new administration led by Liz Truss could further fuel problems around climate change and inequality.

Truss won the leadership of the Conservative Party following a sometimes-bruising internal election campaign initiated by the resignation of Boris Johnson in July, beating rival Rishi Sunak to gain 57% of the votes cast by party members [1].

Her plans for helping families struggling to make ends meet as the cost-of-living crisis continues are focused on a £30 billion package of tax cuts, including to green levies on energy bills.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer described reported plans by the incoming prime minister to encourage oil and gas companies to extract more fossil fuels from the North Sea and plans to cut the green levy as “reckless” and demonstrated that Liz Truss was “making an ideological choice to curry favour with friends and Tory Party donors in the oil and gas industry” [2].

Adding that “Burning more fossil fuels will simply speed up climate breakdown, giving us more extreme heat, floods, storms and food shortages in the UK and across the world”.

The Greens are calling for the new prime minister to act on the immediate impact of the cost-of-living crisis by lowering the energy price cap to where it was in October 2021, launching a nationwide home insulation programme and investing in renewable energy.

This, she said, “will provide the immediate action needed to help people right now, as well as looking ahead to ensure costs and emissions are kept to a minimum in the years to come”.

Despite having won over Conservative Party members, Truss has, so far failed to convince the public she is on their side over the energy crisis and the rising cost of living.

A YouGov poll reported by the Independent found that 67% of all voters and 54% of Tory voters expressed doubts about her plans to help those struggling to make ends meet, only 14% thought she would be an improvement on Boris Johnson [3].

Speaking about the process by which Liz Truss was elected, in which only members of the Conservative Party had a vote (0.1%of the electorate) Carla Denyer having our most senior politician chosen “by such a small and unrepresentative group of people, is a disaster for the UK and the climate”.

Carla Denyer said that “immediate action” was needed to help individuals and families who are going to struggle this winter and that there was also a need to “look ahead to ensure costs and emissions are kept to a minimum in years to come”.

She added that “We can invest in a cleaner, greener, more affordable future, but doing so was a “political choice”, and that the Greens urged “Liz Truss to take a path that helps create a fairer society while tackling the climate crisis.”

 

 

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62795383?link_id=9&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-friday-2-september&email_referrer=email_1655008&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-monday-6-september

[2] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/09/05/liz-truss-as-prime-minister-is-disaster-for-the-uk-and-the-climate/?link_id=2&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-friday-2-september&email_referrer=email_1655008&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-monday-6-september

[3] https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/uk-news/liz-truss-cost-of-living-b2161059.html

 

 

The raising of the price cap will be a horrifying blow to households says Green Party co-leader.

 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer has responded to the raising of cap on what suppliers can charge for a unit of energy.

She said, “This latest rise in the price cap is a horrifying blow to households across the country and a reminder of just how broken our energy system is [1]”.

The cap on energy prices in England and Wales has risen by 80%, meaning an average household could be paying £3,549 a year from 1^st October, with a further hike expected in January.

Regulator Ofgem have warned that market conditions mean prices could get ‘significantly worse’ during 2023 [2].

An Ipsos poll carried out for Sky News found that 1 in 10 people had found it “very difficult” to afford their energy bills over the past three months.

The poll questioned a representative sample of 2000 adults aged 18-75 and found that out of these 29% had used savings to pay an energy bill, 15% had missed payments on another household bill, and 14% had borrowed money to pay an energy bill.

Households with children and people on low incomes were the most likely to struggle to pay energy bills. The pain through is starting to spread to people on middle to high incomes, 1 in 4 of whom said they had struggled to pay for energy over the past three months [3].

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph chancellor Nadhim Zahawi admitted that people, including those earning higher incomes would need support, saying the government was looking at “all the options” to help people cope with what he described as a “national economic emergency” [4].

The two candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party and to be the next prime minister have been urged to give details of how they will help households deal with soaring energy costs.

Rishi Sunak has spoken about targeted payments to vulnerable groups, including pensioners and low earners and a cut to VAT on fuel bills [5]. Liz Truss favours using tax cuts over direct payments, including reversing the rise in National Insurance payments and cutting green levies on energy bills [6].

Both candidates have been cagey as to specifics, prompting criticism that the government is ‘asleep at the wheel’ at a time of national crisis. Leading charities including Save the Children have warned that lives could be lost this winter as families struggle to pay their bills.

Becca Lyon, head of child poverty at Save the Children told the BBC children were “at serious risk”. Katie Schmucker of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said it was “simply unthinkable” for the consequences of the prices rises not to be met by “government intervention on a significant scale” [7].

Carla Denyer said, “Only the government can make an intervention of the scale and speed required to help people through this crisis”.

The Green Party is calling for the price cap to be returned to where it was in October 2021 and for the big five energy suppliers to be taken into public ownership. In the longer term they want more investment in renewable energy and insulating people’s homes.

Carla Denyer said, “Ultimately, renewables are the cheapest form of energy, and the cheapest bill of all is the one you don’t have to pay because your home is well insulated and efficient”. 

Adding that the longer the government delays in acting the greater the difficulties households face will become and the longer the country will be “at the mercy of volatile energy prices”.

 

 

 

[1] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/08/26/greens-demand-urgent-intervention-following-ofgem-price-cap-rise/?link_id=1&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-23-august-2&email_referrer=email_1644861&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-friday-26-august

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-62633742?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-23-august-2&email_referrer=email_1644861&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-friday-26-august

[3] https://news.sky.com/story/cost-of-living-one-third-of-households-already-struggling-to-pay-energy-bills-even-without-next-price-cap-hike-12680589?link_id=7&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-23-august-2&email_referrer=email_1644861&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-friday-26-august

[4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62695778

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62685439

[6] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62703858

[7] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62674301

 

 

 

Water companies cannot continue to be rewarded for failure says Green Party co-leader.

 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey has called for action to be taken to stop 3 billion litres of water being wasted every day as the households across the country face hosepipe bans and water shortages.

 

He said, “As the country faces a severe drought and people are asked to cut their water use, more than three billion litres of clean water are wasted every day due to a network of pipes riddled with leaks” [1].

 

Adding that the most wasteful water companies are losing more water than they provide to their customers and that it was “hold the water companies and the water regulator to account and see some firm action against this scandal”.

 

The comments were made last week as the UK and the rest of Europe sweltered through what experts have predicted could be the worst drought since the sixteenth century.

 

Andrea Toreti, a senior researcher that the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre which compiles data for the European Drought Observatory (EDO) told Sky news "We haven't analysed fully the event but based on my experience I think that this is perhaps even more extreme than in 2018” [2].

 

In 2018 exceptionally hot and dry weather caused crop yields in Central and Northern Europe fall by 50%. The latest data gathered by the EDO shows that 47% of the bloc’s territory was under ‘warning’ conditions due to drought at the end of July, 17% was in the more serious ‘alert’ category where crops are suffering.

 

The current heatwave in the UK is set to break with forecasters predicting three days of thunderstorms. Although welcome the resulting heavy rainfall may be too much too soon and cause further problems due to flooding.

 

Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud told Sky News that "rain from really intense downpours will be unable to soak into the baked ground quickly" [3].

 

The Met Office has initiated a yellow weather warning for all of England for Tuesday and in various places across the country between Monday and Wednesday with floods, travel delays and power cuts being possible.

 

The Green Party are calling for measures including an enforcement order to be placed on water companies to make them deal with leaks, action on coastal pollution, cuts to pay for executives and an end to dividends for shareholders.

 

Adrian Ramsey said, “We need Ofwat to apply an enforcement order on companies to properly carry out their statutory functions which includes ensuring that water actually reaches people’s homes and sewage doesn’t go into watercourses or end up on our coastline”.

 

Adding that the water industry cannot “continue to be rewarded for failure” and that the £57bn paid out in salaries and dividends over the past thirty years should have been used to plug leaks and update infrastructure.

 

The Green Party believe this will only happen when the water industry is taken back into public ownership, and that this must be done at “the earliest practicable opportunity.”  

 

[1] https://www.greenparty.org.uk2022/08/09/greens-call-for-action-on-water-companies-as-england-faces-heat-health-alert-and-drought/?link_id=0&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-9-august&email_referrer=email_1629671&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-wednesday-10-august

[2] https://news.sky.com/story/europes-drought-on-course-to-be-worst-for-500-years-european-commission-researcher-warns-12669153?link_id=14&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-tuesday-9-august&email_referrer=email_1629671&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-wednesday-10-august

[3] https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-four-days-of-thunderstorms-to-bring-more-danger-and-not-relief-after-country-scorched-on-weekend-of-wildfires-12673368?link_id=4&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-friday-12-august&email_referrer=email_1633418&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-monday-15-august

Everybody hasn’t got a smartphone; we need to keep ticket offices open.

 

North Staffs Green Party has given it support to a campaign against the closure of ticket offices at railway stations in Staffordshire and across the country.

 

In May the RMT trades union revealed plans by train operating companies supported by the government to for the mass closure of ticket offices across the rail network [1].

 

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said in a statement to the press that the “rail industry has made no secret of its goal to close all ticket offices”, adding that these plans would lead to an “annihilation of ticket offices across the network”.

 

Green Party activists joined members of North Staffs Pensioners Convention in a protest held outside Stoke-on-Trent railway station on 9^th August.

 

The convention, which was established in 1991, aims to be a ‘powerful, independent champion of older people’s rights in the community’ and has close links with other local campaign groups [2].

 

Mick Lynch said that ticket office staff are vital to both passenger experience and safety on the rail network and that the RMT would “use all means at our disposal” to defend their jobs.

 

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said “ticket offices continue to have an important role to play and it is dangerously short sighted for the government and rail operators to think closing them is a good idea”.

 

Cliff Hathaway, vice chair of the Pensioners Convention said the protest was a way of “making heard” the voice of older people” on an issue that will impact massively on their lives.

 

Adding that “many of our members travel by rail to visit friends and family and may struggle to do so if they have to buy tickets online”.

 

These concerns were shared by members of the public using the station, one of whom said that “modernization is all well and good, when it works”, but was worried about being stranded if the automated ticket machines were not working.

 

Other passengers spoke about automated ticket machines only showing one ticket price and that this was seldom the cheapest one available.

 

Concerns were also expressed that the removal of station staff would make it harder for people with disabilities to travel by rail, and that people with limited literacy would struggle with booking tickets online.

 

Andy Day, a leading member of the Pensioners Convention said that public support for the protest had been “tremendous”, adding that “not everybody has a smartphone”, making it vital that ticket offices stay open.

The Pensioners Convention are supporting a petition to Transport Secretary calling for an end to plans to close ticket offices accessible at: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/cut-their-profits-not-our-ticket-offices?fbclid=IwAR3eR8Z-OL3Y6H5WzpcMOuhIVNXf46TZ0zJUjHCe3boinU92GoXdvroeN0A

 

 

[1] https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-reveals-rail-industrys-plan-for-a-cull-of-ticket-offices/

[2] http://greypowernorthstaffs.org.uk/index.html

 

 

 

Fabulous Fancies brings former shop back to life as a community library.

 

Staffordshire arts charity Appetite are to launch this week of their latest project in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre.

Volunteers have helped to transform the space in Astley Walk formerly used by Appetite to host exhibitions and arts activities into a library offering a range of books for children and adults.

The venue will also continue to host exhibitions, performances, and other events run by Appetite and other groups.

Appetite was set up in Stoke-on-Trent in 2013 to give local people an opportunity to ‘experience and be inspired by the arts’ and aims to do so by working with them to ‘co-create world class, unforgettable arts experiences in and for their communities’ [1].

The group is part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places program, which aims to encourage engagement with and participation in the arts in parts of the country where ‘culture and creativity is significantly low’ [2]

Appetite is led by the New Vic theatre [3] and works in partnership, other partners include Staffordshire University, the councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Aspire Housing.

Since 2013 Appetite has engaged with an audience of 485,061 local people, 50,014 people have participated in their events, 1501 people have volunteered with the charity and 1189 artists have taken part in events.

The library is part of their ongoing Newcastle Common project, which aims to ‘transform’ empty shops in the town into ‘places of art and creativity’, this has seen then work in partnership with the Brampton Museum and Art Gallery and Staffordshire County Council Library Services [4].

The Astley Walk library will be launched by a three-day event Fabulous Fancies featuring arts events for all the family.

These will include a creative baby workshop, theatre, music, and dance from Ghetto Fabulous (Thursday); and illustration workshop with Matt Buckingham and a story café run by Kwanzaa Collective poet Gabriella Gay (Friday), and Fables at the Kitchen Table and author Emma Phillips reading from her debut children’s book Daddy and Me! (Saturday).

Full details of the program for the three days can be found at: https://www.appetite.org.uk/event/newcastle-common-fabulous-fancies/

The launch event will take place over Thursday 4^th -Saturday 6^th August between 10:30 am and 3:00pm at Units 12-13, Astley Walk, York Place, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 2AH

[1] https://www.appetite.org.uk/about/

[2] https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/creativepeopleandplaces

[3] https://www.newvictheatre.org.uk/

[4] https://www.appetite.org.uk/project/newcastle-common/

 

 

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