I'm Tom, fly me - to Brussels!?

Another shameful sequel to the grubby LibDem Euro leaflet saga- one of our supporters was telephoned on polling day by the enthusiastic LibDem knocking up brigade: "Would you like a lift to the polls to vote for Tom Brake?"
A supreme irony that this is the party that would have us believe they are in favour, altruistically, of fair votes. When a PR election comes up, they pretend it's first past the post.
I suggest Inspector Knacker reads up the book of electoral law.

Indecent, dishonest, cynical ...and legal?!

Greens (and everyone else) condemn LibDems Euro leaflet lies
Those of us used to the ludicrous graphics routinely employed by the LibDems (and imitated equally amateurishly by Labour where they exist) cannot have been that surprised by the 'two horse race' version that was trotted out prior to the recent European elctions. there's a full discussion of the tawdry tactics on local blogger Adrian Short's excellent blog (http://adrianshort.co.uk/).

Mr Short reports, quoting from Paul Burstow's leaflet first:
“It’s so close here” declares the headline. “Elections in Sutton and Cheam are always a close finish between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.” To the side is a big bar chart showing the LibDems with 47%, Conservatives on 41% and Labour with just 12%. “Here in Sutton and Cheam, elections are between the LibDems and the Conservatives”, a callout box reminds us.
What the leaflet doesn’t say is that the electoral system for the European Parliament is totally different and there’s no need for anyone to vote tactically no matter which party they support.
The leaflet from Tom Brake, LibDem MP for Carshalton and Wallington, takes the same trick to even more sordid depths.“This election is going to be a tight contest and every vote will make a difference… With Labour out of the race in Sutton, more and more people are backing the Liberal Democrats to win.”

Did you see what they did there? “Labour out of the race in Sutton”? It’s not a Sutton race, it’s a London race, and in that London race Labour are still in a stronger position than the LibDems even despite the floundering government in Westminster.

And what does it mean that “people are backing the Liberal Democrats to win”? This isn’t a winner-takes-all election like we have for Westminster. All the three big parties are likely to get at least one Euro MP out of eight in London and it’s very likely that smaller parties like the Greens and UKIP won’t come away empty-handed. The Greens get the same treatment. “The Greens have no chance of winning in Sutton”, the leaflet says. Well, in the last Euro election in 2004 the Greens picked up 8% of the London vote, giving them a single Euro MP just like the LibDems.
Bob Steel, chair of Sutton Greens, commented in the Sutton Guardian:"The LibDems’ leaflet is a shamefaced attempt to con Green voters into considering a “tactical” vote for another party even though they have no need to do so. The leaflets are deceitful and patronising. They will only further corrode trust in politicians, already at an all-time low....Lib Dems apparently have such a low view of their European performance that they devote 90 per cent of their leaflet to trying to dupe voters they are electing Tom Brake to deal with local issues like recycling. In fact, in the Euro election, every vote really does count.


Mr Short says: "I contacted the Lib Dems about my concerns shortly after writing my article on 15 May and the only response I have had was one from Sarah Ludford MEP (London region) saying that she finds no grounds for complaint. The Lib Dems have had ample opportunity to clarify, correct, withdraw or even substantially defend these leaflets but it would seem that they are entirely unwilling to discuss them seriously. While that is their right, the conclusion I draw from that is that the Lib Dems don’t want to defend their leaflets because they’re indefensible".
Mr Short reported the Lib Dems’ leaflets to the police as he suspected they may have broken electoral law. However, the police have decided not to take any action- no surprises there, they are probably too busy updating their files on Climate camp protestors and other dangerous elements.

HEATHROW: OFF THE SCALE OF INSANITY?

There are three simple but compelling reasons why the government’s go-ahead for another runway at Heathrow is utterly insane:-
First is of course that even if you believe in ever-expanding airport capacity Heathrow is about the very last place any rational person would seek to put an airport today. The shocking road congestion and appalling noise levels for large numbers of local people who have to endure the misery of non-stop and ever increasing flights is too high a price to pay. Remember that London is the busiest by far of world, let alone EU air destinations: In 2007, a combined total of 139 million passengers used the five London airports. That compares with 88 million who used all Paris airports, London’s closest European rival.
Secondly, the government may not have noticed but we face a global catastrophe due to climate change which is happening now. Whilst Daily Telegraph leader writers, David Bellamy and other idiots who have sold their soles to the denial lobby may cry wolf, glaciers disintegrate around us and all the scientific evidence points to accelerating and irreversible change in a very short time scale. The Times recently claimed that “the jobs outweigh the climate danger”! If this is the view of supposedly intelligent commentators, then God help us.
As if this weren’t cogent enough, there is ‘Peak Oil’. The consensus in the industry is that global oil output will decline in the next decade. The Society of British Aerospace Companies concludes that there is currently no commercially available alternative to kerosene on the horizon. It also finds that liquids produced from gas or coal have CO2 emission problems, and liquids produced from biomass are a very long way off from either commercial production or a resolution of land-use issues. So even if this lunacy does go ahead, it seems likely that a third runway would be no more than a huge white elephant.

So let’s be honest about this: Heathrow is a monumentally stupid decision from a government which is increasingly bereft of any vision, courage or morality. Moreover, greenwash fudges from the Tories and LibDems who suggest that the cuddly alternative is ‘sustainable’ expansion elsewhere be it on Romney Marsh, the Thames estuary or Stansted, are almost equally bankrupt. It’s profoundly worrying that so many decision makers appear willing to close their eyes to the parlous stare we are in globally, in favour of perceived short term economic gain.

New Nation speaks to Sutton Green Stan Prokop

Green Party supporter Paul Macey and local party member Dr Stan Prokop interviewed in New Nation.

Climate Change March 2008

Approaching Parliament Square



Earlier in the day, reaching the end of the pre-march bike ride.



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Tags greenparty

Sympathy for the devil?

Among all the furore about the arrest of Damian Green, I was gobsmacked that Radio 4 chose to interview, of all people, Michael Howard, one of the most intolerant Home Secretaries ever and architect of the so-called Criminal Justice Act. To hear his sanctimonious whingeing was entertaining and the thought did cross my mind that perhaps someone Machiavellian in the Beeb had brought him on to satisfy their sense of irony. Anyway if (s)he did it went right over Howard's head. Outrageous as the arrest was, and in particular the use of the notorious anti-terror cops, it's been happening to the rest of us for some time, for example the arrest of Maya Evans three years ago after reciting the names of British soldiers killed in Iraq outside the gates of Downing Street.
And then there is the Tory threat of a vote of no confidence in the speaker. Anyone with a brain might have deduced that Gorbals Mick was not fit for the office long before now. Remember that last year Martin spent £20,000 of taxpayers' money on libel firm Carter-Fuck to represent him following articles querying his conduct. Martin also exempted his wife, Mary, from security checks in the Palace of Westminster, where they live, and for trying to block details of MPs' £5m-a-year travel expenses being published under the Freedom of Information Act. It suited the Tories to back him then, so who are they kidding now when they try to present themselves as defenders of democracy??

National Climate March

Saturday December 6th 2008

March on Parliament to demand that the government acts on climate now !
Part of a Global Day of Action - see www.globalclimatecampaign.org
- last year 70+ countries were involved !

The march this year goes to Parliament Square to demand that the government act now on climate. The march will now start at Grosvenor Square (5 mins from Speakers Corner, Hyde Park - Bond Street or Marble Arch tube. Apologies for any confusion over starting point see more here) - assemble 12 noon. Full schedule here

Speakers will include Nick Clegg (leader Liberal Democrat Party), Caroline Lucas (leader, Green party), Michael Meacher (ex-Environment Minister) and George Monbiot (Honorary President, Campaign against Climate Change).

The march will be preceeded by a climate protest bike ride starting from Lincoln's Inn Fields at 10.30 am:

see more here.

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Tags sutton, greenparty

A welcome U-turn on garden waste

So the LibDem council has finally capitulated over the garden waste collection. If they weren't prepared to listen to a wide spectrum of local opinion including the Greens, they had their minds concentrated by the high-profile condemnation by their own local MPs who are keenly aware thet they are in the firing line at the next election. A bit more listening to local groups and individuals before rushing into future mistakes, and showing a bit more humiltiy, would be welcome. That said, we applaud the decision to reintroduce the collections although we hope that this will go hand in hand with vigorous attempts to encourage those who can compost to do so.