watermelon
Conference
Newsletter of Green Left Spring 2014
I have
submitted a conference motion to encourage the Green Party to help draft an
inter-national treaty on the Arctic Ocean, forbidding oil and gas exploration
in the Arctic and making it an international wildlife reserve. I would like
you all to vote for this. Help the Green Party set an example to the world of
how to protect the Arctic Ocean.
There is
clear evidence that human caused climate change exists and is responsible for
the accelerated melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean.
Despite
this, oil exploration companies such as Gazprom, the Russian state-owned
energy giant, have been exploring the Arctic for oil reserves. If enough Arctic ice melts sea levels in temperate and developed
nations could rise catastrophically, endangering human civilisation there.
Last year, Greenpeace decided to take protest action against Gazprom,
whereupon 30 Greenpeace activists were detained. The dangers of damaging the
Arctic Ocean are so great that even oil companies like Shell - infamous for
destructive pollution in Nigeria - have stopped drilling inside the Arctic
Circle. It is not just polar bears and seals who depend on Arctic stability.
Indigenous communities throughout the Arctic region are heavily dependent on
their environment, and oil exploration will endanger it. We can help them
fight to protect their lands.
|
MPS ARE WELL PAID FOR A FULL TIME JOB
In what passes for "newsworthy" political coverage one
story that just won't go away is MPs pay and expenses. A major issue at the
last general election and likely to be so at the next, especially given the
popular perception that "they have given themselves an 11% pay rise"
.
Of course the money paid to MPs is small change compared to the
sums paid to bankers and the furore raised by stories of "duck houses.
The " mortgage flipping" may well have served to take some of the
heat off the real villains of the capitalist crisis. Nevertheless just as the
Green Party wants to regulate the banks and the bankers so it wants to make
sure that MPs are held properly to account, including in relation to pay and
expenses.
Motion D05 takes as its starting point the newly operational
rules drawn up by IPSA in response to the public outcry. It seeks to promote
the Green Party as leading the way, backing up the exemplary example of our
award winning MP Caroline Lucas. Its observation that the well paid job of an
MP should be full time may be obvious to Greens but can be used to expose
those MPs who think it is reasonable to supplement their income by well paid
directorships and consultancies, even though their parliamentary salary puts
them within the top 2% of earners.
The signing of a pledge by Green Party candidates, and the
invitation to other candidates to do similar, will put our opponents on the
spot and underline our commitment to a new politics.
The "friendly amendment" (proposed by the movers of
the motion) updates the motion by addressing the issue of long term pay for
MP's. Whilst opposing the proposed 11% salary increase it also recognises
that there needs to be some mechanism for determining MPs pay and agrees with
IPSA that this should be done by linking their pay increases to those of the
workforce as a whole. MPs can then be "in it together" with their
constituents, and part of the 99%, even if at the well paid end of it. Please
vote for this motion and the amendment .
Peter Allen Derbyshire Green Party
|
JUST ONE DAY ON THE GREEN LEFT FACEBOOK SITE!
Green Party - Gagging Laws not fit for
Democracy; Tory MP’s and the Royal Family; Owen Jones and the ‘Agenda of Hope’; Petition
demanding a Public Enquiry into policing at Barton Moss; Pete Seeger – We shall Overcome; Fighting the Bedroom Tax; Occupy London report on the anti-fracking
campaign.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
TODAY!
With nearly 2000 members the Green Left Face Book site is an
open group for people on the left to discuss campaigns, post items of
interests and also discuss ways forward in a positive manner for the green
and socialist movement including the need for eco socialist policies and action.
VISIT THE GREEN LEFT FACEBOOK SITE!
Just type our name ‘Green Left’ in the search bar.
|
A great opportunity exists for the Green Party to build
support for its education policies amongst teachers and parents.
ARTICLE &
PHOTO by MARTIN FRANCIS
The convergence of
the three main parties on education has left them seeking an alternative.
Labour threw away an opinion poll lead amongst teachers when Shadow Secretary
of State Tristram Hunt proposed a licensing scheme for teachers, to be renewed
every few years by a monitoring system carried out by headteachers: no licence
no job.
Teachers
reacted with fury by blog, twitter and email, outflanking the official response
of the NUT, which has reacted cautiously. It appeared that the NUT had been
building a relationship with Labour behind the scenes and were wrong-footed by
Hunt’s announcement. There were despairing cries of ‘Who
do we vote for now?’ and ‘There
is nobody worth voting for. They are all the same”
from teachers.
Labour is of course
tainted as the party that introduced academies, beginning the process of
privatisation and the fragmentation of the local authority school system, as
well as remaining divided over free schools, with the shadow of Lord Adonis
still looming over policy. The Liberal Democrats still tacitly support free
schools and academies and are hopelessly compromised by their role in the
Coalition.
The Conservative
policy that is creating most resistance is the over-powerful role of the
Secretary of State. These powers were legislated by the Labour government and
reveal both parties as wanting to dictate what happens in schools from the
centre. It means that Michael Gove does not have to go through parliament to
issue diktats on the curriculum and has used his powers to force local authority
schools to convert to academies, particularly in the primary sector where few
schools voluntarily converted.
Magically, as soon
as a school becomes an academy or a free school, the need for central diktat
disappears according the Gove’s Gospel. However this is being challenged by stories of
financial mismanagement in academies, the employment of unqualified teachers,
and the problem of what to do with failing academies. Similarly there are cases
of free school headteachers leaving within a few months of setting up a school,
new schools costing millions opening with only a handful of pupils, and schools
being closed down because they do not meet safeguarding of children
requirements.
One of the most
significant developments has been parent campaigns against the forced
academisation of primary schools. Parents are resisting the handover of their
community schools to academy chains, insisting ‘Whose Schools? Our Schools?’ and have made common cause under the ‘Parents
Against Forced Academies’ banner working closely with the Anti Academies Alliance
(AAA).The AAA has worked with parents, governors and teachers to set up ‘Towards A
National Campaign for Education’ in recognition of
the need to bring the campaigns together in a common search for an
alternative. It is early days but an initial meeting in West London attracted
around 300 people and the Green Party was invited to attend. Further meetings
are planned around the country and I hope Greens will attend and explain our
policies as contributing to the alternative.
I was recently
elected to the AAA National Steering Group and was pleased when the AAA AGM
decided to affiliate to the People’s Assembly. All
straws in the wind but I am optimistic that we can build a movement that does
for education what national and local campaigns have done for the campaign to
save the NHS.
Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group meetings as
lessons in 'Class Consciousness' by Swheatie of the KUWG
Unlike most campaigning groupings, Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group meets weekly. While the DWP, councils and landlords prove relentless in harassing our service-users, KUWG makes day-to-day life more bearable for vulnerable people.
Our meetings start with a round of introductions — first name, and what benefit[s] we're on, or why the person not on state benefits is in solidarity with us. Then we launch into Casework & Members' Well-being. That is run in a sort of 'open forum' fashion. A barrage of issues arise including privatised 'Work Capability Assessments', jobcentre sanctions and subsequent banning of claimants from jobcentres etc, massaging monthly 'unemployment figures'. More and more of our work- is taken up by Council Tax Reduction, Bedroom Tax and Benefit Cap issues. These are increasingly hitting people in waged work.
The open forum nature of the casework promotes real 'Class Consciousness'. Whilst cuts in more-formal information, advice and guidance services and the moving of goalposts are being directed against the interests of our service-users, some of our members have become largely self-taught in aspects of benefits law and housing law rather than dysfunctional 'skivers' of the "poverty porn" documentaries that distort public opinion. We generally advise people to 'never attend anywhere official alone!
KUWG has met for at least three years now, and we have evolved from meetings in a room that could accommodate about 8 people at best to meetings of about 20 — including people referred from Kilburn Fair Credit Campaign's Saturday stall. We can sometimes cater for children with the improvised 'After School Club table' and sometimes the draft agenda is overwritten because “life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”.
At times KUWG meetings are disorderly; but involvement in KUWG is liberating and always informing. Investment banker-cum-welfare-reform-minister David — now Lord — Freud still thinks that 'the solution to the growing welfare bill' is bonuses for businesses and bullying so called 'shirkers'. KUWG works aims to neuter the 'global public service-delivery' industry and support and listen to people serially and increasingly let down by successive governments.
Unlike most campaigning groupings, Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group meets weekly. While the DWP, councils and landlords prove relentless in harassing our service-users, KUWG makes day-to-day life more bearable for vulnerable people.
Our meetings start with a round of introductions — first name, and what benefit[s] we're on, or why the person not on state benefits is in solidarity with us. Then we launch into Casework & Members' Well-being. That is run in a sort of 'open forum' fashion. A barrage of issues arise including privatised 'Work Capability Assessments', jobcentre sanctions and subsequent banning of claimants from jobcentres etc, massaging monthly 'unemployment figures'. More and more of our work- is taken up by Council Tax Reduction, Bedroom Tax and Benefit Cap issues. These are increasingly hitting people in waged work.
The open forum nature of the casework promotes real 'Class Consciousness'. Whilst cuts in more-formal information, advice and guidance services and the moving of goalposts are being directed against the interests of our service-users, some of our members have become largely self-taught in aspects of benefits law and housing law rather than dysfunctional 'skivers' of the "poverty porn" documentaries that distort public opinion. We generally advise people to 'never attend anywhere official alone!
KUWG has met for at least three years now, and we have evolved from meetings in a room that could accommodate about 8 people at best to meetings of about 20 — including people referred from Kilburn Fair Credit Campaign's Saturday stall. We can sometimes cater for children with the improvised 'After School Club table' and sometimes the draft agenda is overwritten because “life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”.
At times KUWG meetings are disorderly; but involvement in KUWG is liberating and always informing. Investment banker-cum-welfare-reform-minister David — now Lord — Freud still thinks that 'the solution to the growing welfare bill' is bonuses for businesses and bullying so called 'shirkers'. KUWG works aims to neuter the 'global public service-delivery' industry and support and listen to people serially and increasingly let down by successive governments.
GREEN LEFT STATEMENT ON BRIGHTON COUNCIL TAX REFERENDUM
“Green Left supports the referendum on Council Tax increases
in Brighton as a first step in a strategy to oppose austerity measures imposed
by the coalition government and to restore the cuts that have been imposed on
local authority provision. However, we deplore the suffering inflicted on the
poorest people in society by central government austerity policies and the
brutality with which these policies are enforced e.g.: in the collection of
Council Tax arrears.”
Why Population Matters
are wrong on asylum! by
Derek Wall
I find it particularly
appalling that environmental concern is being used to justify the UK halting
asylum. Yet this is apparently exactly what 'Population Matters', an
NGO committed to reducing human numbers, is doing. Ever since the overfed
clergyman Thomas Malthus claimed that poverty was a result of human breeding,
Malthusian ideas have proved controversial and have often led to reactionary
politics. However even if one is
concerned about population growth, rather than seeing corporate greed as a key
source of environmental destruction, what has population growth to do with the
movement of people? We live on one planet; preventing people from moving from one
country to another does not affect the number of people on our planet.
According to a post on
the Population Matters website, entitled ' Distant countries shouldn’t accept Syrian refugees' http://www.populationmatters.org/2014/population-matters-news/distant-countries-accept-syrian-refugees/ asylum seekers ideally should not be given refuge in the UK. The crisis in Syria is so horrific that even Nigel Farage of
UKIP, albeit briefly, called for Syrians fleeing the war to be given shelter in
the UK. Labour too has, despite much anti-migrant rhetoric, been
campaigning for Britain to reverse opposition to Syrians seeking sanctuary
here. Yet a charity committed to environmental protection seems to be
supporting those who would refuse to protect refugees seeking asylum in the UK
and other developed countries. Population Matters has increasingly linked its
work to reduce population to opposition to migration and now apparently is
linking asylum, the need for refuge from persecution, to migration in general. This seems pernicious but the author of their post claims it is
based on a 'point of principle'. 'Refugees' are apparently a threat to the
environment of developed countries which are 'already unsustainable in terms of
resource use and the environment and quality of life of these countries are
increasingly affected by growing populations.'
Of course, like the
author of the piece, I would agree that countries that take in refugees in the
developing world should be supported, and that conflict that displaces peoples
should be addressed. The priority of the article, though, is not the needs of
Syrians or other potential refugees but the demand to cut the number of people
living in the UK.
Climate change is with
us, extreme weather conditions are becoming more common, conflict including war
is likely to increase with the pressures caused by such changes, so there will
be more refugees. The poorest countries in the world are those with the least
resources to help and also the countries whose populations have the least
effect on the rising emissions that fuel climate change. There is a fortress mentality in Europe and other developed
capitalist countries. The wish of Population Concern has already been achieved,
according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, because in 2013
no EU country is in the top ten of countries taking in refugees. Pakistan with 1.5 million refugees tops the list, EU failure to
take in refugees is a cause, to my mind, for shame rather than Malthusian
inspired celebration.
Sometimes it is necessary
to move a long way from home to seek protection. In the 1970s, Chileans might have found it impossible to seek
refuge in neighbouring countries because they too (one thinks of Argentina,
Paraguay and Brazil), at the time, were right wing dictatorship where democrats
were tortured. Today, the countries
around Syria are in turmoil, and when the UN calls for Britain to protect a
relatively small number of the Syrian refugee population, we should do our bit. Green politics, as opposed to environmentalism, has long held
that ecological responsibility needs to be combined with social justice. Environmental concern combined with social injustice and a fear
of others can only lead to a bleak future. As well as having a friend who sought asylum, I am in a
political party led by a migrant. Natalie Bennett, an Australian, leads the Green Party and I am
proud that my party defends migrants, seeks to protect refugees and challenges
those who link environmental protection to xenophobia.
A Letter from Greece by Laurence Pilfold
Greece’s problems started in 2010, when the PASOK administration admitted its debts: €299 billion (130%GDP), and a budget deficit of 15.6% of GDP. The EU had stipulated a maximum of 60% debt-to-GDP ratio for Euro-zone countries, while for the IMF, a debt greater than 120% GDP, combined with a budget deficit of over 3%, was considered “unsustainable”. Once the true nature of Greece’s debt was revealed, its bonds became “junk”, and it was locked out of the private capital market. The options were default or bailout – the latter on offer from the ‘troika’ of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
The approach of the troika’ towards indebted developing countries is to induce them to “create an environment … that is friendly to foreign goods and investment in general” via loans strictly conditional on adopting neo-liberal policies.” This meant cuts to the
IMF defined “large public sector with
generous pay”, “ high minimum wage” and “high level of public spending” - also sell-offs and, opening up to foreign investors – the standard “austerity” agenda: the “goal being “a return to growth”.
New taxes have been introduced, others increased, public sector
pay has been dramatically cut, employees sacked, public enterprises closed – a startling example being the closure of the public broadcaster ERT: closed in an
afternoon on the sole authority of the Minister of Culture, with all employees
immediately losing their jobs. The
consequences ? A 22% fall in wages since 2010, a record
27.8% unemployment (January 2014) – up from 7.5% in 2007 – youth unemployment hitting 58% in August last year, a quarter
of the population at risk of poverty.
12 ports and 29 airports
are to be, or have been, privatised and publicly owned land, roads, the post
office, oil and gas infrastructure may also go.
The aim is to raise $50 billion by 2015.
However this short-term cash injection, will deprive the state of
long-term earnings. As for the
environment, raw materials are attracting foreign investors: eg gold reserves
worth €14
billion could be exploited through open-cast mining in Halkidiki– but
with little return for the tax-payer. At
the same time, unable to afford heating oil, millions of Greeks have turned to
burning wood, or substitutes –creating toxic smogs and
threatening forests.
The rise of the fascist
Golden Dawn party (6.92% of the vote in June 2012) is sadly unsurprising. In
the same election the left-alliance SYRIZA gained second position (26.89%)
while the Greens were reduced to 0.88% (3% is the minimum required for
representation in parliament). Economic
desperation and disillusion with PASOK explain the surge in
support for SYRIZA but, should a
SYRIZA-led government come to power, there will be little space to implement
progressive economic reforms without a “shift
in the balance of forces in other countries”. If Greece was an economic junkie, the
international financial system was the pusher.
Pushing debt has been the name-of-the-economic-game for two
decades. The symptoms are local – but
the problem is global.
SHALE WILL FAIL!
Andy
Chyba (Bridgend Green Party/Frack Free Wales/ Anti-Fracking Network)
Such
has been the success of the anti-fracking lobby that very few people have NOT
now heard of fracking. Furthermore we have consistently won the arguments such
that every poll on the subject consistently yields massive majorities (85
to 95% typically) against allowing fracking in this country.
Now
The Tories have backed themselves into a corner and It is likely to cost them
dear in terms of lost seats at the next election –
especially in “impregnable
strongholds” –
such as Francis Maude’s seat in
Balcombe. They have committed themselves to fracking for the benefit of their
corporate paymasters, and the network of vested interests exposed goes right to
the very heart of government. They are getting increasingly desperate and unscrupulous
in their attempts to force fracking upon us. They have tried to bribe local
authorities allowing them to keep 100% of the business rates generated by
frackers. They will now pursue further changes to the planning system to take
fracking related decisions out of the hands of local councils, allowing
Westminster impose them on local communities. Their contempt for all of us is
palpable.
But
new local opposition groups start up often and seek the help of umbrella
organisations such as Frack Off and BIFF. There is an ever-growing list of
incidents of Police complicity with the frackers, and brutality towards
peaceful protestors at Balcombe and Barton Moss in particular. Direct action is
springing up everywhere. Witness the demos at Total petrol stations around the
country –as this
French company eyes British shale gas since the French government has
indefinitely banned fracking in France. And the list of countries and regions
banning fracking grows.
Although
the Police role needs exposing, the judiciary are not, as yet, buying into the
establishment persecution of peaceful protest. Witness the acquittal of every
one of the Balcombe 16. This has vindicated and re-invigorated the growing army
of fractivists around the country. We do know what we are doing –
it is the Government who don’t!
The
prospects for the frackers are bleak. Companies
in are Poland realizing that it is not an economic proposition after all –
despite encouragement from the Polish government. In the USA, there are many
signs of trouble for the industry at every level. The
New York Times carries stories of leaked documents revealing the growing
scepticism within the industry economically viable (never mind the climate
change implications)
So,
this is another example of the Tories backing a complete loser and not having
the sense to cut their losses.– they keep
on drilling themselves deeper and deeper into a mire from which they will
struggle to extricate themselves, like the addicted gamblers chasing their
losses. They are FRACKED!
CAPITALISM AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Howard Thorp
Recently
capitalism has shown that it is perfectly capable of bringing about its own
demise. This isn't just about the collapse of banks. The current 'debt crisis'
obscures and compounds the real problem, which is the collapse of ecosystems on
which we depend for our survival. Capitalism is the driver of climate change,
also of massive environmental degradation, and loss in biodiversity. It is
capital accumulation that is devouring our planet and you cannot use the same mechanisms that are destroying the Earth to
save it. We need to bring about economic change before climate change
becomes unimaginably destructive. A
post-capitalist economy is inevitable, but we can do it the hard way or the
better way, and we need to think about how that economy ought to work.
I
wonder how many people know that Karl Marx was an admirer of capitalism? - in
the sense that he admired its huge productive capacity, which far exceeded any
previous economic system. Marx recognised that if the productive capacity of
capitalism was harnessed for the good of society, it could provide people with
a much better material standard of living than they had ever had before. But he
also recognised that capitalists were
able to deprive workers of the wealth that they created, so there would
always be a conflict between capitalists and workers, Marx was the first
political economist to understand the massive forces that capitalism could
unleash, and Marx and Engels were also more aware of environmental degradation
than they have been given credit for.
Greens
may have led the way in our understanding of the unfolding climate crisis but
the 'free' market right have caught up, and are pouring millions into
persuading people that climate change is not an issue, through climate change
denial, because they are concerned about their
profits and the end of domination of democracies by the market. The 'free'
market fundamentalists are fighting to deny climate change precisely because
they recognise that a genuine and meaningful response the climate change will
mean the end of capitalism as we know it.
So
what would a post-capitalist economy look like? It would not mean the end of
the private sector, because this is not the same thing as capitalism, but
initially it would inevitably mean a bigger role for the state because a
collapsing capitalist economy would have to be replaced by extensive nationalisation
of banks, transport and utilities. Energy and food production would have to be
regulated, as would imports and exports. We would need planning in a
democratically controlled economy. This
would not simply be an ideological choice but a necessary response to crisis.
We would have to grow as much as our own food as possible and economies would
become more localised. It would be an economy similar to the UK during the
Second World War.
We
are beginning to experience problems with freak weather events, and disruption
to agriculture, and we will inevitably soon experience difficulties with energy
supply. We can begin to adjust our economy now, to deal with these problems, or
we can carry on with 'business as usual' and face worse conditions later. We
need to forget about the 'free' market neoliberal nonsense about competing with
China, and work together to create a new kind of economy to deal with possibly
the greatest challenge that human beings have ever faced.
Roy
Sandison - West Midlands Green Left member and former West Midlands GP
Coordinator explains.
I do not
hesitate to say, we have many excellent Green Councillors and the West Mids team developing TTW, I know are doing some excellent work, but I
do think we need to discuss how TTW should integrate into the work we do. The Green Party proudly stands for
Economic, Social and Environmental Justice and we rightly reject the idea of
individual pursuit of political power as being in opposition to our core values
When one
of our number gets elected, we have high expectations that they will keep true
to our core ideas. Therefore our
Councillors are not ‘Independent’ but are instead are key members of the Green Party that
through the hard work and money of other Green Party members have gained a
platform for our ideas. I have seen TTW skilfully developed in the West
Midlands over the years and this has resulted in some excellent gains to the
point that for every 72 members we have a Councillor!
TTW is
not a new idea, as it is something that used to be done by the old Lib Dems. I
do see there is some danger that some are treating TTW as fetish and ignoring
what we as the Green Party are trying to achieve and have achieved through
campaigning. There is also a danger that TTW, if applied poorly, can overshadow the Green Party’s need for political discussion and campaigning and can turn off members wanting to campaign
on wider issues. Additionally as the Green Party becomes more successful
electorally through TTW, we will find more people jumping ship from other
parties. If they sign up to our core values this can be a real gain but not if
careerists bring bad practice from their old parties.
The Green
Party in my view needs to run elections professionally, but this must not be at
the expense of our core values. As one Warwickshire Councillor said recently “Being
a Green Councillor is about how we bring our core green values into the work we
do as Councillors, especially into the communities we represent. This means
raising the issue about tax cuts for the rich impacting on local people and why
we need real change in our society”
I believe
developing TTW in tandem with having robust Councillor support and
accountability and also a 50/50 approach to electoral work and Campaigning.
NO to T.T.I.P
By Peter Allen
The serious threat to democracy from the ongoing Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations between Europe and the USA is
already recognised by many Green Party activists, as evidenced by the fact that
it has been prioritised for discussion above all other policy motions at this
conference. Sadly I suspect this concern is not shared by the bulk of the
population, who are probably largely unaware of what the effects of TTIP will
be. This needs to change, and urgently.
George Monbiot * sums up the TTIP succinctly. Its purpose "
is to remove the regulatory differences between the US and European
nations". Making use of a mechanism known as an "investor-state
dispute settlement", which has already been used by corporations to take
legal action against governments in other parts if the world, it allows
corporations " to sue the living daylights out of governments which try to
defend their citizens ". And not
just citizens but animals and the environment too, as Motion C1 makes
clear. For example European Governments,
including our own, are stating that fracking (which of course we don't want at
all!) will be much more tightly regulated than in the USA. Not if TTIP is
implemented, in which case these tighter controls are likely to have to be
rescinded.
Tougher regulations which Green MEPs might secure through action
in the European Parliament might be ruled invalid by a secretive panel of
corporate lawyers"
And the impact will not just be in Europe!
Investor-state rules could be used to smash any attempt to save the
NHS from corporate control, to re-regulate the banks, to curb the greed of the
energy companies, to re-nationalise the railways, to leave fossil fuels in the
ground. These rules shut down democratic alternatives. They outlaw leftwing
politics
With the details of the TTIP currently being finalised, it is
imperative that the Green Party prioritises this issue in its European election
campaign, as the "friendly amendment" to C01 demands. We need to cut
through the acronyms and the jargon to explain to our potential voters what
this "assault on democracy" really means. Please support this
important motion, and the amendment.
* http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/04/us-trade-deal-full-frontal-assault-on-democracy)
Acknowledging
the Defamation Act within the Green Party Max Wallis /
Cardiff (Suspended for alleged "defamation" last July, an
allegation accepted by GPRC without claiming "serious harm"
or that the statement was untrue.)
The Green Party's
GPRC has used accusations of "defamation" to suspend
members, without applying any tests of criticisms being justifiable or
reasonable opinion. The Defamation Act in force from 1st January should
change this.
If the GPRC had to
apply the new "serious harm threshold"
and resort to resolving a dispute directly as the Act prescribes, the Green
Party would avoid the mess it got into over the disciplinary process, with SOC
prevailing over the GPRC at last September's Conference.
·
"New serious harm threshold" aimed at helping people
to understand when claims should be brought and discourage wasteful use of
court time
·
Protection for scientists and academics publishing peer-reviewed
material in scientific and academic journals
·
Protection for those publishing material on a matter of public
interest where they reasonably believe that it is in the public interest
·
Introduction of a new process aimed at helping potential victims
of defamation online, by resolving the dispute directly with the person who has
posted the statement.
Journalists
etc. have in the past faced unfair legal threats for fairly
criticising a company, person or product, and this motivated the new
Act. It provides "clearer, better
protection for people publicly expressing opinions" said the
Ministry of Justice. Mike Harris, of the Libel Reform campaign said
it was "good news for free speech".
The
Tory justice minister Shailesh Vara is able to claim: "As a result of
these new laws, anyone expressing views and engaging in public debate can do so
in the knowledge that the law offers them stronger protection against unjust
and unfair threats of legal action. These
laws coming into force represent the end of a long and hard-fought battle to
ensure a fair balance is struck between the right to freedom of expression and
people's ability to protect their reputation."
Jo Glanville,
director of English PEN, said England and Wales now had laws "fit for the
21st Century but the battle's not over yet". Scotland already had its own
law. "It's
essential that Northern Ireland now adopts the Act. Otherwise the new law could
be fatally undermined and cases could be heard in Belfast under the old
legislation," she said.
The Green
Party says they follow UK laws, so it should not need a Conference decision to
re-align its disciplinary procedure with the new Act - insist that claimants
show evidence of "serious harm" and compel them to engage
in discussions to resolve any issue. Let's have a positive statement
from the leadership!
Max Wallis / Cardiff
Suspended for alleged
"defamation" last July, an allegation accepted by GPRC
without claiming "serious harm" or that the statement was
untrue.
|
The superheroes of
today have all long passed their sell-by date.
Super, Bat, Spider and
Wolverine are all just marketed, like tubs of margarine.
And the truth is that
these yanks in tights all defend capitalism with all their might.
But those who fight for
another cause are padding up through the dark
On their silent paws
and with faces striped in black and white
And the Badgerpeople
will join the class fight.
When the light of a new
day dawns, there’ll be goalposts planted in Tories’
lawns,
And from the poles
there’ll
fly a banner: “Cull the Bankers, not the Badgers.”
Capitalists may
strengthen walls and gates, but, it’s all too little and all too late,
As a different future
now starts to take place and
It’s
got black and white stripes on its furry
face.
|
|
GPTU
The
Green Party Trade Union Group
The Green Party
Trade Union Group is part of the Green Party of England & Wales, FREE
Membership of GPTU is open to any current members of GPEW. Contact Noel
Lynch:noellynch@tiscali.co.uk or join at the GPTU conference stall. GPTU provides a discussion
forum and aims to further good
relations between GPEW and Trades Unions, by putting forward policy and
campaign proposals to GPEW and to Trades Unions.
The
next meeting will be the AGM on Sunday 2 March 2014 at 6.30pm at the Green
Party Conference, St George's Hall, Liverpool AGENDA TO INCLUDE Review of
gptu related events in 2013-4 and election of committee
|
JOIN
GREEN LEFT
You can join GL by sending a cheque or you
can pay by standing order
Please send cheques to: Green
Left Treasurer, 8 Slatelands Rd, Glossop, SK13 6LH.
Please send the following details with your
cheque:
NAME
ADDRESS
GREEN
PARTY MEMBERSHIP (name of Party)EMAIL
PHONE
OR
You can set up a standing order or make a
direct payment to the account using the following details.....
Account name: GREEN LEFT
Co-operative
bank, PO Box 250 , Delf House, Southway, SKELMERSDALE WN8 6WT
Sort
code: 089299
Account
no: 65284751
On receipt of your subscription the Treasurer
will send you an email confirming your membership.
|
The Brighton debate: Which way for the first Green-led council?
Red Pepper brings together Green councillors and Green Left activists to debate the Brighton budget
What happened with the Brighton budget?
The Green Party in Brighton and Hove
Green Left
Front de Gauche (Londres) meeting on 21/6/2013, "Leaving the System by the Front door" Ecosocialism, the viable alternative.
Introduction Tatania Zarzabek(Front de Gauche (Londres))
Louise Hutchins (Greenpeace)
Romayne Phoenix (Coalition of Resistance & Green Left)
Derek Wall, (environmental author and Green Left)
Corinne Morel-Darleux - Front de Gauche (France)
Questions & discussion part 1
Questions & discussion part 2 Front de Gauche (Londres) meeting on 21/6/2013, "Leaving the System by the Front door" Ecosocialism, the viable alternative.
Introduction Tatania Zarzabek(Front de Gauche (Londres))
Louise Hutchins (Greenpeace)
Romayne Phoenix (Coalition of Resistance & Green Left)
Derek Wall, (environmental author and Green Left)
Corinne Morel-Darleux - Front de Gauche (France)
Questions & discussion part 1
Questions & discussion part 2 Coalition of Resistance: European Assembly against Austerity, London 23/6/2013
Introduction (Kate Hudson CoR) and Yannis Baskosos (Syriza: Greece)
Cagdas Canbolat (Daymer Turkish and Kurdish Centre, London)
David Perez (Corriente Roja, Spain)
Questions and Discussion: Session 1 part 1
Questions and Discussion: Session 1 part 2
Session 2 Introduction (Jude Woodward (CoR) and Chris Nineham (CoR)
Session 2 Michael Burke (Economists Against Austerity)
Session 2: Felipe Van Keirsbilck, CATDM, Belgium
Session 2: Questions and Discussion, part 1
Session 2: Questions and Discussion, part 2
Session 3: Introduction Romayne Phoenix (Coalition of Resistance) and Hugo Braun (Attac, Germany)
Session 3: Andrew Burgin(Coalition of Resistance)
Session 3: Walter Baier (Transform Network)
Session 3: Alexandre Gonzales (Front de Gauche)
Session 3: Rachel Newton (Greece Solidarity Campaign)
Session 3: Luisa (Socialist Liberty Party and Rio de Janiero University Students)
Session 3: Questions and Discussion
Green Left Committee 2015/6
Chair: R.Phoenix
Chair: R.Phoenix
Deputy Chairs: J.Ennis, , M.Bailey, R.Sandison
Secretary: P.Murry
Treasurer. P.Allen
Membership Secretary: M.Bailey
Website & Watermelon Editorial Committee: R.Phoenix, P.Murry, ,D.Taylor, , M.O’Bierne, M.Bailey
International Officer: J.Ennis
Trade Union Liaison Officer: S,Tibbles, R.Sandison,
Youth and Students Officer: J.Alipoor
Campaigns Officer M.Francis
Delegate to PAAA: L.Pavone
Equalities Officer: co-option proposed
Regional Support Officer: R.Sandison,
Regional Contacts:
London M.Shaughnessy,
South East J.Medhurst, (V.Phillips, D.Walker tbc)
South West Robert Ponsford +D.Taylor+L.Pavone
West Midlands: R.Sandison,
East Midlands P.Allen
Eastern: M.Bailey
Yorkshire and Humber Javaad Alipoor
North East
North West
Wales: K.Beddoe, Jim Scott
Scottish Green Party
N.Ireland
Nb: Regional Contacts can decide how they wish to sub-divide duties etc within their region
Conference co-ordinator. P.Murry, M.Francis
GP Election co-ordinator: A. Borgars
Facebook Committee: admins are Peter Murry, Peter Allen, Derek Wall, Romayne Phoenix, Mike Shaughnessy, Roy Sandison, Jane Ennis, Malcolm Bailey, Katy Beddoe
No comments:
Post a Comment