Category Archives: Green

Green, Labour, Politics

Hove residents join MP for climate change meeting in Poet’s Corner

Hove MP Peter Kyle joined councillors and about 150 local people for a community meeting about practical responses to climate change on Thursday evening (10 November).

They met at Holy Cross church hall, in Poet’s Corner, for presentations about the “climate and nature emergency” and discussion aimed at answering the question: “What can we do in our community?”

The event was organised by a small team including researcher and content strategist Tamsin Bishton.

And several small businesses from the area were represented, including Timeless Toys, in Portland Road, and Harriet’s of Hove, in Blatchington Road.

Katie Eberstein, the Brighton and Hove environmental education officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust, said: “Give young people skills, knowledge and an attitude to tackle climate change.”

The former teacher, who runs the website Our City Our World, works with about half the schools in Brighton and Hove and added: “Adapt the curriculum to discuss climate change. Equip schools to make their structure carbon neutral.”

She said that being in nature inspired young people and said that young people and families should be empowered to take action both individually and collectively.

Katie works with half the schools in Brighton and Hove. She said 97 percent want climate education in schools. Being in nature inspires young people. Katie encouraged parents and pupils to talk to their schools and tell them what they want, tell them that sustainability matters.

Charlie Peverett from Birdsong Academy is a naturalist who has been identifying birds by their song for thirty years. During the pandemic, he founded ‘Up with the birds’ which is a dawn chorus shared on zoom. In Spring 2020 did the birds get louder? He said people had more time to notice what’s around them. He shares the sounds of live birdsong on zoom with the help of crowd funding.

He asked: “Why are birds so hard to find these days? It’s a moment of truth.” Birdsong academy and the dawn chorus are free. He also produces a weekly newsletter from January to June and he runs a ten week online course as well as walking workshops at Stanmer Park. He said: “Tune into what’s already here. It’s essential to the work that we need to do.”

Climate change

Carbon

Councillor Elaine Hills is a Green Party member for Hanover and Elm Grove who sits on the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee. She said we have a target of being carbon neutral in Brighton and hove by 2030.

She said: “We have 200 electric charging points in Brighton and Hove, we reduce, repair and reuse, we recycle. We protect promote and prioritise. But we are facing a biodiversity emergency and extreme weather. We have a circular economy programme. As a city we will move away from wasteful ways of doing things. We have a food partnership project and foodbanks. As a council, we will make more sustainable choices.”

Paul Loman runs the ‘Real Junk Food Project’ that intercepts food before it is sent to landfill or incinerated to help tackle climate change. He said: “One third of food production goes to waste. Many people don’t have enough food. Food is sent to landfill which produces methane and is worse than carbon dioxide. Supermarkets waste food, they take it off the shelves and send it to incinerators or landfill.

“We rescue food and feed people. We have relationships with supermarkets and we go through the front door. We take the food to Bevendean, log it, and send it to pay as you feel cafes at St Luke’s in Hove and Fitzherbert’s in Kemptown. We take donations. One third of food is wasted, cook wisely, freeze, grow food, compost.”

Michael Kennard disrupts food waste and composts it. He said: “There is lots of food waste, tonnes of food in landfill, 600 kilos of carbon, if you compost it, you end up with 9 kilos. We have a market garden and run the Compost Club. Compost is a beautiful life cycle.”

Circular economy to help tackle climate change

Harriet Dean-Orange runs Harriet’s of Hove on Blatchington Road with her husband, Mhiran. The shop is free from single use plastics and provides refills of pasta, lentils and other dry foods. She used to be a nurse and found there was a great disparity between work and home. Customers bring in their own containers and buy by weight. You can buy Daal for £1. She said she is selling behaviour change: “By shopping at Harriet’s of Hove, you are using ethical and sustainable wholesalers. Re-sterilisation. No new plastic. Recycling.”

Susan Luxford owns ‘Timeless toys’ on Portland Road. She said: “Toys are rarely mentioned when discussing climate change. Toys come in unwanted plastic and break easily. Toys are the most intensive plastic industry, 90 percent are unrecyclable. BHF found 1 in 3 parents admit to throwing away toys in the UK every year. They end up in landfill or the ocean. 58 London buses of toys end up in the sea every year. There are toy rental schemes. She asked: Is our legacy to our children, to bury toys we are actually buying for them?”

Home Energy

Tim Beecher from BHESCO, the energy cooperative, reduces the environmental impact of buildings. He was inspired by the natural world to tackle climate change. Twenty four percent of carbon emissions come from our homes. He said we need to: “rescue the street, terraced housing by putting in external wall insulation. We will reduce the cost individually if we come together as a community. Cooperate and collaborate. You can invest in BHESCO and buy shares which will fund renewable energy.”

Transport

Councillor Carmen Appich is leader of labour group and sits on the social care and health and wellbeing committees. She said Brighton and Hove has a local walking and cycling plan which is out for consultation at the moment. People should use public transport. She has introduced rounded street corners on Portland Road, there will be a car share project, starting in Hanover with two cars in Westbourne Ward next summer. Then there is the ‘Mini Holland scheme.’ Additional pedestrian crossings, crocodile crossings, school streets, bike share hubs or car hubs. She said the council needs to know what people actually want so get in touch.

Sarah Forbes has been blogging about reducing plastic waste since 2020. She has been helping people feel safer to cycle in the city. She welcomed the Old Shoreham Rd cycle lane. She has a neurological condition which has not stopped her enjoying cycling. Sometimes she uses an E bike. She is a member of Bricycles.

Tamsin Bishton was the organiser of the event. She has lived in Poet’s Corner for 18 years, her children went to Goldstone Primary School and Hove Park. She said her step Grandad fought for something in the war and we need to protect it for the next generation.

Tamsin Bishton
Tamsin Bishton organised the event

Kate and Marianna were at the event representing Extinction rebellion. Marianna spoke, she has a fifteen year old son who sleeps in a bunk bed because he is terrified of the sea level rising. She said: “We are facing a climate and ecological emergency. She mentioned the sister organisation, animal rebellion protecting methane gas. She said becoming vegan was the best thing she has done. And there is money rebellion. East Sussex County Council have divested their pension fund from fossil fuels. Between 14-19 Nov we are targeting Barclays bank. There is a march on Saturday at 12 noon.

Hove MP, Peter Kyle was the last speaker of the evening and he gave a summary of what was happening in Parliament to tackle climate change. He is Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a Labour MP.

He said: “I have been actively involved with students since 2021. I have also been talking to Southern Water about the sewage dumped on our beaches. My emphasis is on what they have done, billions poured down the drain. We need water back in the reservoirs.

He said: “We have reached a plateau with food waste and recycling. We need to do much more: green waste and composting. There is an Environment bill. It will impose regulations on every Local Authority. We can’t upgrade the Hollingbury recycling depot until the regulations are published in March. I have frustrations on behalf of our community. All 3 MPs, created a road map for ourselves with different levers to help the council. We all visited Hollingbury and the incinerator in Newhaven.

“I do drive, I choose not to have a car. There was lots of resistance to the Rampion offshore windfarm. Urban areas are not connected to where power comes from and where waste goes to. We need to grow up. We are connected to power now. Labour pledge we will have clean energy in Brighton and Hove by 2030… We need to double the off shore wind farms by 2030. Labour proposes a multi-year green fund to recapitalise our economy. Carbon reduction.”

Hove MP Peter Kyle
Hove MP Peter Kyle

Question and Answer

How sustainable are the prices of public transport? It costs our family of three £15 on the bus and £5 in the car. Ms Appich said: “There are costs to running a car. We bid for money, we were awarded £27m, we have a private bus company with shareholders. There is no national will to fund transport properly. Government doesn’t want to run the bus company, they don’t trust us, they have taken away a lot of money.”

One member of the audience said civil disobedience is important to the freedom movement. Mr Kyle said: “Protest is incredibly important and it has to be legal. Keir Starmer agreed with harsher penalties. I am a gay person, all gay people protest and it’s legal. Do it within the law. Change the law.”

Mr Kyle said: “There is a problem with the new bill. We don’t support the new bill. Certain protests are so counter-productive. (For example, Extinction rebellion.) We don’t support disrupting ambulances. Suella Braverman’s chinook was in breach of the noise regulations in her law when she visited Manston.”

Another member of the audience asked the last question. She lives in Benfield Valley. There are 12 garages near Portslade. She asked: “Why don’t you knock them down and build there rather than on Greenfield sites?” Councillor Appich said the council needed to include some green field sites in the city plan. Nothing will be built without planning applications. Councillors can reject them. Whitehawk Hill. We needed to fulfil the requirement of the planning body.”

Mr Kyle said: “We need green growth, greenhouse emissions fell by 20%, we have more wind turbines than any other country. We are about to enter a recession. High intensity energy, steel, we need clean steel. We have to get the economy moving, buses, public services and the city needs investment, smart investment.”

A shortened version of this article was first published today in Brighton and Hove News.

Brexit, Green, Labour, Politics

Government denies Parliament scrutiny over the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill

Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, wrote earlier in January in the Independent. She said: “Boris Johnson’s new Withdrawal Agreement Bill not only drives the hardest Brexit of all, it also excludes MPs from decisions over our future relationship with the EU.  The House of Commons will have no oversight on the Government’s negotiating objectives, no right to be kept updated on progress and no vote on the final deal.

“The right of Parliament to scrutinise Government policies and actions is being undermined on one of the most important issues facing our country.  Democratic oversight matters.  Trade deals have the potential to lower public standards, destroy jobs and restrict the ability to address social and environmental issues.”

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion
Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion

“Democracy dies in darkness, and Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill starts to turn off the lights.  He is using Brexit as an executive power-grab, side-lining MPs and evading parliamentary scrutiny.”

Boris Johnson’s government brought the Withdrawal Agreement Bill back to Parliament after the general election and gave the House of Commons only three days to scrutinise the bill in order to fulfil the pledge to “get Brexit done.”

According to the Guardian,  certain key accountability provisions have been removed from the Bill passed since the general election:

  • the clause giving MPs the right to approve an extension to the transition period has been removed.
  • The clause 31 requirement for parliamentary approval for negotiations on the future relationship in the October bill has gone.
  • In the new bill clauses pledging alignment with the EU on workers’ rights has been removed.
  • Legal protections for refugee children reunited with family members in the UK have been watered down. The bill removes, via clause 37, obligations in regard to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the EU with an obligation to make a statement within two months of passing the act.
  • The government no longer promises that its’ position on negotiating the future relationship will be in line with the political declaration that accompanied the withdrawal agreement when it was first drafted.

Mrs Lucas tabled an amendment to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in Parliament on 8th January which would have given MPs a vote on a future UK-EU deal as well as increasing transparency and scrutiny. It had the support of MPs from the SNP, Plaid, Labour, the SDLP and Alliance parties, although no Conservatives who hold a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons.

The amendment was therefore defeated and the Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed its second reading with a majority of 124 votes to the government. Mrs Lucas’ amendment was voted down by 347 votes to 251, effectively vetoing any vote for MPs on the final Brexit deal.

Hove MP, Peter Kyle, supported the Green Party amendment. He said: “I’m fully supporting this amendment – we cannot allow the Tory government to ride roughshod over Parliament and MPs who were elected to be a voice for our communities.”

From the Commons the bill went to the House of Lords where the Dubs Amendment about child refugees was defeated among other amendments. On 23 January the Withdrawal Agreement Bill received royal assent and became UK law and on 29 January the European Union gave their consent for the UK to leave the EU and ratified the British bill.

The EU Parliament sang Auld Lang Syne on Tuesday as a mark of respect for the significant role that Britain has played in the European Union since it joined the European Economic Community (EEC) which preceded the EU in 1973.

Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade

When asked what kind of trade deal Mr Kyle wanted post Brexit and with whom, Mr Kyle said: “We now need to ensure we get the very best for the country. I believe as a trading bloc we had that deal with Europe, but now we must work hard to minimise disruption and increased food prices and loss of business.”

In an effort to maximise Parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit negotiations, Mr Kyle said: “I am hoping to be elected on to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. As an active member on this committee I will have the opportunity to hold the government – and business – to account on the major issues of the environment, the Green Economy and business.”

I asked Mr Kyle if the Labour Party is succeeding in holding the government to account, are they working in coalition with anyone and if Labour does not feel it is succeeding because of the size of Boris’ majority, what can be done?

Mr Kyle said: “The 2019 election was a disaster for Labour and we are now rebuilding. Once the new leader is in place, in April, we will be much clearer as to how we proceed going forward.

“I’m hoping that we can begin to start talking to the public once more and to understand what they want and what their concerns are. We will then also have a new front bench team to challenge Boris Johnson.”

Wish Councillor Robert Nemeth who was the Conservative candidate at the last general election was approached and declined to comment.

Green, Politics

“It’s a matter of life and death: Communities united fighting for our public services” (Sussex Defend the NHS)

On a slightly drab but mild October morning, I set off early to go to the Level in Brighton and meet supporters from across Brighton and Hove at a rally to promote public services today, Saturday, 13 October. It was organised by Sussex Defend the NHS and Brighton and Hove Trades Council.

Before formal proceedings kicked off, I met Beverley Berstow who is standing as the Women’s Equality Party next year in Hanover in the local elections. Ms Berstow explained her party’s vision to me in this way: “We don’t really want to exist as a party but none of the other parties are doing anything for women’s rights. I don’t think they are taking them seriously.” She said many members of other parties including men as well as women came to the Women’s Equality Party because of disaffection with mainstream politics.

Women's Equality Party
Beverley Berstow with her colleagues.

Abi Pearce and Claire Campbell are teachers in Brighton and Hove. Ms Pearce said: “The funding crisis is having a huge impact on schools and has a big impact on teachers. Schools can’t retain or recruit teachers which impacts directly on children’s education.”

Ms Campbell wanted to talk about the detrimental effect underfunding was having on special educational needs. She said: “Schools cannot afford to employ 1:1 teachers and general classroom assistants. All the council services are being streamlined so referrals are taking longer, assessments are taking longer which is hugely frustrating for parents and teachers.”

Next, I met Glory and Michelle who are both British, Glory is a Latino Brit who has lived in Britain for many years. Michelle said: “I believe in a caring society where you are valued and not equated (judged by) your ability to pay for the NHS. Some years back, in healthcare representatives didn’t check how much money you had before giving you the healthcare. That is no longer true.”

Glory said: “I work in education and my son is a junior doctor. I think it’s disgraceful that essential services are being underfunded and sold off and our conditions of employment are getting worse.”

NHS
Michelle and Glory

Valerie Mainstone who works at the Brighton Unemployed Centre among other places across the city said we should challenge the government’s hostile environment wherever we can. She said: “I saw the valuable contribution made by the immigrants to the NHS ever since 1948, when African-Caribbean nurses first appeared in hospitals.

“My great-grandmother died for want of a sixpence before the NHS because no doctor would come unless you could pay.

“Our NHS was created to be publicly owned and free at the point of need for everyone – and that’s how it should stay.”

Maud from Migrant English Project and Brighton Migrant Solidarity took to the podium to talk about immigration and, in particular, unfair detention. She said the UK has the largest number of detainees in Europe, although the number of children in detention has dropped from 109 in 2009 to 42 this year. She criticised the government for putting structures in place that means people from outside Britain pay a healthcare tariff which is 50% higher than the tariff the government pays for British nationals.

Brighton migrant solidarity
Brighton Migrant Solidarity

Clara Astill is a member of the Unite union which was set up to help unemployed people, fight for a fully funded NHS, truly affordable housing and a decent welfare system. She said: “The latest campaign which we, with other groups, are involved with is the fight against Universal Credit. This benefit has impoverished, not only the unemployed, leading to people losing their homes and sometimes their families, but has begun to affect employed people, those paid so little they rely on state benefits to top up their income.”

Matthew Webb, a member of Brighton and Hove Trades Council which is a branch of the TUC, said: “The misfortune of sickness should not become a burden of poverty and indignity.” He said trade unions supported the victims of Grenfell and the Schools SOS as well as the NHS, migrants and young workers at Wetherspoons.

He said: “We support the NHS and the people who rely on it to get from one day to the next.” And he warned politicians locally and nationally: “Where we see injustice, we will organise.”

Brighton Council’s Unison leader said it was an ominous sign three days ago when Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a suicide prevention minister for the first time whose name is Jackie Doyle -Price. She said: “We could not make this up.” Mrs Beatty criticised the government for taking millions of pounds from public services and giving it to private companies but she told the rally to take heart because, “we are the many, you are few.”

Brighton's Green MP Caroline Lucas
Brighton’s Green MP Caroline Lucas

Green MP Caroline Lucas opened her speech by saying: “We’re here to protest against the way this government has wrecked our public services. A government that is dismantling the welfare state, flogging off public services, privatising services, attacking the rights of migrants, impoverishing our children. And we’re here to say, ‘Enough is Enough – the fightback is on!’

“We’re here because we’re angry. Angry that this government continues to break up and marketise our NHS.

“Angry that Brexit will make this even worse – putting off EU workers who no longer feel welcome here. Freedom of movement is a precious gift – the right to work and study and live and love in 27 other countries – we should be defending it, not trashing it.

“Angry that health workers have to rely on handouts and foodbanks. And that’s why our message is loud and clear – invest in public services and Stop the Cuts.

“The Prime Minister had the gall to stand up at her party conference and to expect our gratitude for declaring that austerity is over. The truth is that austerity was never needed. It had nothing to do with the financial crisis and everything to do with an ideological obsession with shrinking the state.

“And the damage that has been done to our hospitals and schools is immense.

“They’re at breaking point:

  • Ambulances backed up outside A&E departments.
  • One of my 84 constituents left alone on her bathroom floor for over four hours waiting for an ambulance.
  • And when it comes to our schools, per pupil funding slashed.

“It’s wrong that head teachers are forced to sack teaching assistants, to end support to pupils with mental health problems, that parents are having to organise jumble sales for basics like books.

“So as well as saying Defend our NHS, we are absolutely here to say, Save Our Schools as well…

Public services rally

“So what can we hope for from his replacement (Jeremy Hunt’s) at the Department for Health, Matt Hancock? Well, don’t hold your breath.

“This is the Health Minister who has received £32,000 in donations from the Institute of Economic Affairs – an organisation which describes the NHS as one of the most, “over-valued, inefficient systems in the world.

“A Health Minister who’s been actively endorsing the GP at Hand app operated by the private company Babylon, and requiring patients to deregister from their existing practice before they can sign up.

“With a tally of 10 GP practices having closed in our city in the last few years alone… (he should) start investing properly in our national health service.

“Friends, we know things could and should be different. And we know that by coming together we can make them different.

“We are the sixth richest country in the world, and we are working for a country with

  • No patients waiting hours on a trolley in A&E.
  • No patients suffering in pain, as operations are repeatedly cancelled.
  • No more running down and dismantling our NHS.
  • No more slashing funds for our schools and our welfare state.

“I’m proud to be standing up in Parliament to fight for our public services. I’m proud that the Green Party has championed the NHS Reinstatement Bill from the very beginning.

“And I’m proud that all of us together are saying – loudly and clearly – No to the government’s ‘Slash, Trash and Privatise Agenda’ – and Yes to keeping our schools and our NHS public. Always. Thank you.”

An edited version of this article was published in Brighton and Hove News.

Brighton and Hove Green Party

Green, Politics

Brighton celebrates refugee week by creating a culture of welcome and safety

For twenty years Brighton and Hove has celebrated refugee week with events highlighting refugees’ contributions, resilience and creativity. It starts next Saturday 16 June.

However, Sanctuary on Sea’s own Crossing Borders Festival of music by refugees and asylum seekers has been running for several centuries. Sanctuary on Sea is a member of City of Sanctuary, a grassroots movement of local people and about 100 organisations across the UK who are committed to creating a culture of welcome and safety, especially for refugees seeking sanctuary from war and persecution.

People are invited to celebrate Refugee Week’s 20th anniversary by doing one of 20 Simple Acts, which are simple actions everyone can do to stand with refugees and bring people together in their communities. One of these is to define the word ‘refuge.’

After New Orleans was hit by hurricane Katrina back in in 2005, there was lots of talk about whether people who lost their homes should be called ‘refugees’.

Some thought that the word should only be used for people escaping war in ‘foreign’ countries. Others argued that by describing hurricane victims as refugees we would become more understanding of people facing hardship.

When Refugee Week launched Simple Acts in 2009, they invited people to create their own definitions of refuge. Organisers hoped that by thinking about what refuge means to each of us, they might help form a fresh perspective on the word ‘refugee.’

“Music of the Dispossessed,” is a concert that kicks off Refugee Week, at 7:30 pm in St Mary’s Church, Kemptown on Saturday 16 June. It will feature works by Arnold Schoenberg and Tchaikovsky.  Schoenberg was labelled as a degenerate by the Nazis and fled to America. Tchaikovsky spent much of his life travelling abroad, terrified of being exposed as a homosexual in his native Russia.

On 24 June hundreds of people from Brighton & Hove’s communities are expected to join a “Refugees Welcome” parade and come together for a free day of music, art and fun at the Dome and Museum called ‘Together.’ (This is not to be mistaken with the event in East Brighton and Hangleton and Knoll last month that celebrated random acts of neighbourliness.)

refugee week
Brighton’s Green MP Caroline Lucas

‘Together,’ is a free day of art, music and theatre workshops, activities, film-showings, board games, table tennis and spoken word, which will be held at the Brighton Dome and Museum between 11am and 4pm. The day will start with a glittering parade through central Brighton led by the Hummingbird Project, with the support of Same Sky. To join the parade, meet outside the Jubilee Library at 9.30am.

Brighton MP Caroline Lucas will join the parade and speak at the “Together” event. She said: “The message of Refugee Week is more important today than ever. This is the reverse of the hostile environment and shows the Britain we aspire to be. The events taking place in Brighton and Hove this week once again demonstrate that here we have a long tradition of welcoming people to our city and celebrating the contribution they make.”

Between Saturday 16 June and Sunday 24 June, Sanctuary on Sea, the Sussex Syrian Community, the Hummingbird Refugee Project, EuroMernet, Refugee Radio, the Social Engaged Arts Salon and others will be presenting exhibitions, discussions and performances across the city.

Siriol Hugh-Jones, the Festival’s curator, said: “In setting up the festival I wanted to remind audiences that many of the composers they love to listen to were themselves displaced at one time or another, but we don’t think of them as refugees, we think of them as great composers.”

Other concerts at St Mary’s Church include “Travels of Song” at 7.30pm on 17 June and “Calcutta” at 7.30pm on 21 June. The first of these will feature recent songs written by detainees at Yarl’s Wood, the infamous immigration detention centre and early music by Catholic composers exiled under Elizabeth I.  “Calcutta”, the second concert, explores the cultural melting pot in 18th century Calcutta through story, song and puppetry.

Monika-Akila Richards, co-organiser of Refugee Week, said: “We are celebrating Refugee Week with a fantastic range of events and we’d love families and communities to join us. Everyone is particularly welcome to come to ‘Together,’ our free, flagship event in the Dome and Brighton Museum on 24th June. It’s an opportunity to come and enjoy being together and make Brighton and Hove proud.”

Green, Politics

Brighton MP to stand down as co-leader of the Green Party

Caroline Lucas, Britain’s only Green MP, has announced that she will stand down as co-leader of the Green Party. Mrs Lucas, who has co-led the party for the last two years, says she is showing the ‘power of letting go’. The Green Party currently has a record number of councillors – and has overtaken UKIP to become the fourth party of England and Wales.

Mrs Lucas led the Green Party through the General Election last May. She took part in successful televised leaders’ debates which many commentators said she won. Along with her co-leader Jonathan Bartley, she then went on to spearhead the Greens’ local election campaign this year – seeing the party win seats across the country and breaking through onto an additional 6 local councils.

Under the current co-leadership of the Green Party, Mrs Lucas has pioneered a number of bold policies, and continued to offer an alternative to the establishment parties. Mrs Lucas and Mr Bartley have championed a shorter working week, trials of a Basic Income and reform of Britain’s outdated and ineffective drugs laws. She’s also cemented her position as a leading constructive critic of the Government’s environmental programme – which she says is little more than a ‘green veneer.’

co-leader
Brighton’s Green MP Caroline Lucas

Nominations for the Green Party leadership open this Friday 01 June – and the election will run over the summer. The new leadership team will be announced in September.

Mrs Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, said: “I’m really proud of the party’s progress under our co-leadership. We have more councillors in more communities than ever before, we’ve put forward our boldest ever policies and we’ve challenged and weakened this callous Tory government. We’ve also started an internal party review that is already paying dividends – and will make the party more inclusive in its makeup and an even more successful electoral force.

“I won’t be seeking nominations to be a candidate in this year’s leadership election when the process starts on Friday – but instead will be focusing even more on work in Parliament and in Brighton. I believe that Jonathan and I have shown the power of working together, and that it’s now time for me to show the power of letting go.”

Brexit, Green, Politics

Brighton MP calls for People’s Poll to reverse ‘calamitous Brexit’

Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas is backing a second referendum as only a “people’s poll” will stop the government “marching us towards a national calamity” that is a hard Brexit.

The Greens’ joint leaders, Mrs Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, plan to spell out their message to colleagues today (Saturday 3 March) at the party’s spring conference in Bournemouth.

Mrs Lucas intends to accuse the government of “playing politics with peace in Northern Ireland” and she will urge Prime Minister Theresa May not to “sacrifice the Good Friday Agreement on the altar of an extreme Brexit”.

She is expected to tell the conference: “We win when we stand up for what we believe in – from the smallest issues in a local ward to the biggest issue of the day – Brexit.

Mrs Lucas will say: “Conference, we win when we stand up for what we believe in – from the smallest issues in a local ward, to the biggest issue of the day – Brexit. Let’s not forget that the EU was originally a peace project, forged in the wake of the destruction and devastation of the Second World War. Rising from the rubble left by bombs and armies. The principle that nations who share resources will value peace above war. And the cause of peace is at stake again today.

“The way this Government is playing politics with peace in Northern Ireland is reckless and indefensible. So our message to Theresa May is very clear: Sacrificing the Good Friday Agreement on the altar of an extreme Brexit is nothing short of criminal, and it must not be allowed to happen.”

Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas MP

In his leader’s speech, co-leader Jonathan Bartley will criticise Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn for pursuing a Brexit that will “hit poorest communities hardest,” and call on Labour to stand with Greens for a people’s poll on the final deal.

Yesterday Prime Minister Theresa May made a key speech about Brexit at Mansion House. She said: “Reciprocal commitments to ensure fair and open competition, an independent arbitration mechanism, an ongoing dialogue, data protection arrangements and maintaining the links between our people.”

Mrs May said she wanted no tariffs and only one set of regulatory checks for goods (between Europe and the UK.) She repeated an earlier commitment to leave the customs union while avoiding a hard border in Ireland. She wants to limit barriers to movement of labour but to mirror free movement without signing up to it.

In response to Theresa May’s speech on Brexit today, Jonathan Bartley will say: “The Green Party will not give up on staying close to Europe. We are proud to be campaigning for people’s poll on the final deal that explicitly includes an option to remain part of the European Union. Because as we march towards the national calamity of Brexit, we know there is an alternative.

“But, far from acting like an official opposition, Labour risks being complicit in an unfolding disaster, and one felt first and foremost in those very communities it seeks to represent. Both Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May are committed to a Brexit that will hit poorest communities hardest.

“And that’s why today I want to make a direct plea to the Labour frontbench. Show some leadership, put the national interest above your party interest, stand up for free movement, stand up for young people. And stand with all of us campaigning for a people’s poll on the final deal.”

This article was first published in Brighton and Hove News yesterday ahead of the Green Party spring conference.

Brexit, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Politics

Greens, Liberal Democrats and ex Labour PM Tony Blair all oppose Brexit

Reflecting on Brexit, Caroline Lucas said: “This General Election changes everything and the choices we all make matter like never before.” 

On Tuesday 2 May the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats agreed to fight for Britain to remain part of the single market. Both parties want freedom of movement to become part of the Brexit deal.

For the Liberal Democrats, this means that Britain should be an open, tolerant United Kingdom where the rights of EU citizens are guaranteed and British citizens can live, work, study and travel freely in Europe.

Green Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas, said she adds protection of the environment to Britain remaining a member of the single market and for continued freedom of movement.

Mrs Lucas joins Tim Farron, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, in announcing a new pledge to give voters a referendum to ratify Brexit that will include the option to remain in the European Union.

A Labour Voice

Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair agrees with Mrs Lucas and Mr Farron. According to the Guardian he said that while the final exit deal had yet to be agreed, the perils of a hard Brexit were clear: “The single market put us in the Champions League of trading agreements. A free-trade agreement is like League One. We are relegating ourselves.” Brighton and Hove Albion supporters know what that feels like and they know the triumph of victory.

In an interview with Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer on Sunday 30 April, Mr Blair said: “If we really do Brexit and we do Brexit with withdrawal from the single market, you can forget her ideas (PM Theresa May) of a more cuddly capitalism. A low-tax, light regulation, offshore hub economy, that is where you will end up. This is the right-wing fantasy. It’s driven by the right of the Tory party and the cabal that runs the right-wing media in this country…”

“It’s certainly true we don’t have a God-given right to carry on as a competing party of government. But there’s no reason why Labour can’t become the repository of that new coalition of progressive forces that is available to us in today’s society and which is basically the same progressive coalition that brought us to power in 1997.”

A Liberal Democrat Voice

Liberal Democrat Caroline Hynds, Hove Parliamentary Candidate, is also fighting hard against Brexit. She said: “The Liberal Democrat position is clear and consistent. We have long been calling for a referendum on the terms of Brexit and believe the people should have the final say on the deal.

“Our party believes in an open, tolerant and united future with the UK staying in the single market, guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens to stay in the UK, and protecting our rights to live, travel, study and work in Europe.

“Caroline Lucas’ stance on this issue – fighting against hard, divisive Brexit, making the positive case for Europe and giving the people the final say – is an area in which we have much common ground, reflected in Lib Dem PPC (Prospective Parliamentary Candidate) Paul Chandler standing down in Brighton Pavilion.

“I’d like to see more from Labour on this as they are, after all, the official party of opposition, but Peter Kyle’s hands are tied by the policies of Jeremy Corbyn.”

A Green Voice

Mrs Lucas, arguing for public ratification of Brexit said: “This General Election potentially changes everything.  We are at a crossroads – and the choices we make in the coming weeks will have huge consequences for the kind of country we’re going to be in the future.

“And the biggest choice we face is clearly about Brexit.

“Though my party fought hard for Britain to stay in the EU, and I voted against an unconditional triggering of Article 50, we accept, of course, that the referendum was an instruction to the Government to begin Brexit negotiations.

“We do not accept, however, that the decision should be irreversible. The referendum should be the start, not the end, of the democratic process.

“And it’s therefore right that people should have the right to a say on the final deal in a ratification referendum – with the option to remain in the EU if they so choose.

Caroline Lucas, Brighton Pavilion MP

“There are those who will say that this is contrary to the ‘will of the people’.

“But the claim that the referendum produced an irreversible verdict is a sham.

“At a General Election, voters obviously have the right to revisit the choice of government that they made at a previous election.

“It would be ludicrous to suggest people couldn’t change their minds about which way to vote, as facts change, and experience becomes clearer.

“And in the same way, it gives them the right to revisit a referendum result, as long as the parties are clear about the options on the table.

“Whoever forms a Government after June 8 will have a mandate to negotiate with the EU on our behalf.

“But we live in a democracy and it would be deeply undemocratic to impose the terms of any deal on Britain’s citizens, on our communities, young people, and businesses. So let’s give people honest choices.

“Let’s be clear that there is a wealth of difference between a soft Brexit, with membership of the Single Market, and an extreme Brexit – the one our Prime Minister is hell bent on pursuing, where we’re out of the single market, out of the Customs Union, ending free movement, and with our key social and environmental protections at risk.

“The day following the EU referendum the Green Party called for the British people to have a further say on the details of any Brexit deal.

“We stand by that position and today we pledge to voters to go further.

“Our election manifesto will not only include a ratification referendum, it will also explicitly make the option to remain in the EU part of such a ratification referendum.

“Greens proudly and passionately campaigned to remain in the EU. And, unlike some, we’ve not changed our deeply held belief that we are better off in the EU…

“And while we’ve all learned to treat polls with extreme caution, it might just turn out to be significant that last week’s Yougov poll showed, for the first time, a majority of British people now oppose Brexit.

“And maybe that’s because the costs of Brexit are becoming clearer.

Lib Dem EU street stall in George Street, Hove

“Inflation is already rising as imported goods rise in price.  Real wages are stagnating, investment is on hold.  All these indicators will be worse by 2020 when the election was meant to take place.

“The referendum outcome last June was never supposed to be the final word. It was the beginning of a conversation.

“And this General Election is a chance to reflect on what we have learned since then….

“That Brexit is being used by the Tories to drive through an ideological agenda that champions deregulation and privatisation on an unprecedented scale. That people were lied to.

“That there is no £350 million each week for the NHS.

“That the PM has no intention of seeking to enable us to remain members of the Single Market.

“That immigration is unlikely to be controlled because, as David Davis has himself acknowledged, it’s necessary for our economy

“And indeed it’s become clearer than ever that immigration is not to blame for the lack of social housing, GP appointments or local jobs – government spending cuts are.

“What’s also become clear is that the official opposition has been no serious opposition at all. The Labour Party haven’t only given the Tories a blank cheque for a hard Brexit. They’ve given them a lift to the bank and helped them cash it in.

“If Labour had made the case for staying in the Single Market, they could have made common cause with other opposition parties, and together we could have had a chance to avoid this most extreme of Brexits.

“That was a tragically missed opportunity.

“Meanwhile their unconditional support for triggering Article 50 meant that the opportunity to secure some key safeguards was squandered

“Why would the Government listen to calls for an immediate guarantee for EU nationals living in the UK, or for a meaningful parliamentary vote, if the opposition had already made clear its intention to support Article 50 in any and all circumstances?

“The General Election makes a different bigger future possible and it’s crucial that voters are not lied to again.

“Brexit is not inevitable. The triggering of Article 50 is not irreversible. And we still believe we are better off as members of the EU. Greens see the bigger picture and what we stand up for matters.

“Not based on political expediency but based on principle and evidence.

“The Conservatives could have sought to unite the country by bringing leavers and remainers together.

“Instead they chose to sow more discord and division – they cannot be trusted…

“Our pledge is about standing up for young people too. For the generations that have most to lose if we cut ourselves loose from the EU.

“Greens want young people to have big opportunities and a big future. And that means the right to study, travel, work, live and love across the EU.

“A Green vote on June 8 is a chance to stay part of the EU because young people matter. A Green vote on June 8 is a chance to stay part of the EU because a resilient, diverse economy matters.

“And it’s a vote for the certainty that we will stick to our principles and use the negotiation period triggered by article 50 to fight for a deal that puts social and environmental justice first.

If the Government is so convinced that they’ll get a decent deal then there’s no reason that they wouldn’t trust people to have a final say.

“If the Government believes its own rhetoric about the will of the people they’ll respect that electorates are free to change their minds.

“This General Election changes everything and the choices we all make matter like never before.”

While Conservative MP, Simon Kirby, voted to trigger article 50 in February which gave the Prime Minister legal authority to leave the EU, Labour’s Hove MP Peter Kyle and Mrs Lucas voted against it.

Green, Labour, Politics

Brighton and Hove residents say: “Stop the public sector cuts”

Brighton residents marched on a bitter January day to express their outrage about cuts to local government services.

They are angry that Brighton and Hove City Council has been told to make £68 million of cuts across the city.

One of the protesters, Pat Childerhouse, said: “I am concerned about young people with mental health problems who are pumped up with drugs and just left there, alone, in insecure housing. It is terrible.”

Care centres for the disabled, including the mentally ill and elderly, children’s centres, special schools and children with special educational needs all continue to be under threat.

Margaret Hallan joined the march because her mother had dementia and there was simply not enough mental health services to support her when she became unwell.

A GMB Union representative and Sussex Defend the NHS activist who works in the NHS marched in protest at a council tax rise of 4 per cent. He said: “It is the lowest paid who pay the highest price for the misdeeds of the upper classes and the rich.

“Democracy is government of the people by the people for the people. We have a government of the rich by the rich for the rich.

“The NHS is being broken up and destroyed by stealth.”

Allison Hooper marched in protest at the cuts because when she became mentally ill, she had to go to another area to get an in-patient bed in a psychiatric hospital.

She said disabled people were now forced to go to job club for help with their job search, sometimes on a daily basis, after a capacity assessment at the benefits contractor Atos. This prevented them doing voluntary work.

When Allison subsequently hurt her leg, she waited 24 hours before getting a bed at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

A protester called Ree led Love Activist Brighton protesters carrying banners saying: “Homelessness is not a crime.” And “Everybody has the right to housing”.

A homeless man was wearing a sweatshirt made in memory of his friend KC who died on the streets over Christmas. The shortage of housing in Brighton and Hove is acute but Ree and her team are campaigning to get the council leader Warren Morgan to prioritise people with no home and to stop criminalising homeless people.

This article was first published in Brighton and Hove News: read the full article here.