Wednesday, 20 May 2009

London European Election Launch for Green Party Wednesday, 20 May 2009


Joseph Healy Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Vauxhall at the next general election - the green, socialist alternative writes


Yesterday was the launch of the Green Party's European election campaign in the London region and I was there with Jean Lambert MEP and six of the other candidates. We appeared last night for probably a little over a minutes on the BBC London television news, which is in stark contrast to the publicity given to the BNP etc.


We were positioned beside an air quality monitoring station on Marylebone Road to make the point that it is EU Directives on air quality which are pushing the UK and London authorities to clear up their act in what is Europe's most polluted city. Mayor Johnson has done little so far to address the issue and the UK could be receiving a massive fine soon from the EU for not doing something about it. Latest figures show that several thousand people die every year in London as a direct result of this air pollution. I am the one holding X marks the spot.


Several of our candidates were also interviewed for Radio 4's 'PM' programme and we were told that it would be broadcast on Friday week, but why so late in the campaign seems a mystery to me. Perhaps it will be broadcast this Friday instead. AP News were also there.


It's off to hustings in Lambeth for me tonight and tomorrow night I will be appearing at a hustings in the Students Union Bar at Goldsmith's College, New Cross at 6.30pm, at the invitation of the Battersea & Wandsworth Trade Union Council, South London Anti-Fascist Group and the PSC Union, where issues around employment, trade union rights, etc will be discussed as well as how best to combat racism and Fascism.

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