The Expences Of Democracy

With recent expense claims from various politicians being revealed recently, and MPs as usual voting themselves a pay rise, its time to examine how much democracy costs us.

On top of an annual salary of £63,291, MPs are entitled to claim for a range of things including staffing, IT equipment, travel, pension provision, communications and housing. The type of housing allowance MPs can claim for depends upon where they live, and effectively breaks down into two categories: those with constituencies in inner London, and those with seats in the rest of the UK. Because they live close to Westminster, inner London MPs can't claim as much in housing costs as their outer London and regional colleagues, as it is deemed that their need to stay away from home is comparatively low.

MPs decided to award themselves a payrise of £1,468 from tomorrow – a rise of 2.33 per cent. Which is more shocking than their expense claims in my opinion at a time when the country is in a recession. With both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat front benches backing the government, the decision over this year's pay settlement did not go to a formal vote! This bringing their salary - before allowances - up from £63,291 to £64,766. Hastily Downing Street moved quickly to say that ministers will not benefit from the rise, which comes at a time when the Government's preferred CPI index of inflation stands at zero.

The averages MPs Claims broken down by party:
LibDems claim £151,232
Labour MPs claim £146,452
Tory MPs claim £138,343

MPs do not have to pay council tax on their second homes. They can, of course claim it on expenses.

A few of the highlights;

Labour
* Jacqui Smith: claimed £135 under the maximum allowable £23,083 including a bath plug and adult films! The home secretary is facing an inquiry after claiming £20,000 per year on her home in her constituency in Redditch, saying that her sister's home in London was her main residence.
* Tony McNulty: the employment minister claimed £14,000 per year on his parents house in his constituency in Harrow. He insists he acted within the rules.
* Dawn Butler: her other home in Stratford being the same distance from parliament as her Brent South home.
* Harry Cohen MP: has claimed more than £300,000 in second home allowances, because he listed a caravan as his “main home” and claimed instead for a £375,000 property in his Leyton and Wanstead constituency in East London. An unrepentant Mr Cohen reportedly said: "It really is part of my salary in all but name, that is what it exists for. When MPs were given this allowance they were told "Go and spend it, boys" and that is what I have done. It is my right.”
* Bill Butler MSP: tried to claim back a £1 charity donation that a hotel made on his behalf. He claims that the hotel made the charge without his knowledge. It was rejected by the Scottish Parliament authorities.

Tory
* Malcolm Rifkind: claimed £499.0 for his wife to make 3 four mile journeys.
* Derek Conway: the MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup was suspended from the Commons and ordered to return £13,161 in January 2008 for paying more than £200,000 to his family, including to his youngest son, Freddie, who was a full time student in Newcastle at the time.
* Nicholas and Ann Winterton: the husband and wife who are both MPs in Cheshire were found to have breached the expenses rules when they claimed £21,600 per year in rent on their London flat after paying off the mortgage and transferring the ownership of the £700,000 property into a family trust.
* Caroline Spelman: The Meriden MP was told to pay back £9,600 after the parliamentary standards commissioner found that she had unintentionally breached Commons rules by paying her children's nanny through Parliamentary allowances, saying that the nanny was working as a constituency secretary.

LibDem
* Nick Clegg: claimed the most of any party leader with £149,026
* Baroness Emma Nicholson MEP: is receiving thousands of pounds in EU expenses for an office already paid for by the UK taxpayer.
* Mark Hunter MP: broke parliamentary rules by using his allowance to fund a survey which attacked the government and was later used for a campaigning newsletter.

Some links to the media (feeding frenzy):
Expenses probe to be speeded up
Details of MPs' expenses 'for sale'
House Of Commons Expenses
Jacqui Smith's porn bill makes MP expenses probe urgent
MP expense system to be reviewed
'The porn ultimatum'

The trouble with so much negativity on this isue is that in the future on wealthy may try for politics. But if Cllrs can do a decent job for less than £10,000 as a part time job, something is wrong.

Thanksfully the LSE examined this in 2006 with their report 'Working or shirking? A closer look at MPs' expenses and Parliamentary attendance'

Party affiliation, constituency size, average income of the constituency and marginality of the constituency are all uncorrelated with the total amounts claimed.
Attendance varies substantially, with a few MPs attending fewer than 10 per cent of possible divisions while others attending more than 90 per cent of the time.

For staff and other expenses, party affiliation and the age and experience of an MP matter. The Liberal Democrats seem to be high spenders on staff while Labour MPs spend more on other items like postage and computer equipment. The Conservatives appear to be lower spenders on these items. Age and experience, or announcing retirement reduce spending, especially on computer equipment, stationery and postage.
The distance from Westminster, however, is a very strong predictor of spending.

The average cost (over a three years period) of an individual vote in parliament is £556. This figure, however, hides a large variation: the cost goes from £257 for the cheapest MP to £3,360 for the most expensive.

One of the reports authors, Dr Valentino Larcinese said: 'Up until now MPs have not themselves been subject to performance targets. But this raises the wider issue of whether (as public servants) they should. Our findings show that the allowance system does seem to fulfil its main purposes of levelling the playing field between MPs with different circumstances and providing MPs with the means to improve the quality of their service.'

Working of Shirking? A Closer Look at MPs' Expenses and Parliamentary Attendance by Professor Besley and Dr Larcinese is online

Fossil Fools Day 1 April 2009

Polar ice is shrinking fast – while world leaders do nothing……

A "Climate Emergency" Ice-berg Demo outside the Excel Centre (Royal Victoria stop on Docklands railway from Bank) where the G20 are meeting the following day. (map for demo location at www.campaigncc.org soon)

An event for "Fossil Fools Day" April 1st .

12.00 pm. to 7.30 pm : evening rally 6.00 – 7.30 pm, lunchtime photo-op 1.00 pm

Campaign against Climate Change will have a giant ice block. Bring your own (smaller) ice blocks (you can thread them on string as a necklace or bandolier) and dress in white (we will have a limited number of white overalls) ! This is a legal demo organized with the police so the vast swarms of cops and security armed to the teeth should leave us alone !

Polar ice is melting much faster then scientists thought. We are losing the race against climate catastrophe (see here). Help us produce a clear visual image of the need for urgent action on climate from the G20, outside the Excel centre on the eve of the G20 summit.



Theres also a 'Yes We Can' demonstration this Wednesday.

This is the only anti-war demonstration at the G20. It is the main chance we
have to make sure that the G20 leaders can't avoid the massive opposition to
their war policies.

The demonstration will assemble at the US Embassy, Grosvenor Sq, London W1A
2LQ. Nearest tubes Green Park or Bond Street.

We will hand in a message to Barack Obama and then march through central London
to Trafalgar Square for an alternative summit.

Speakers include Arthur Scargill, Tony benn, Susan George, Lindsey German,
Bruce Kent and Daud Abdullah.

Barack Obama has just announced a surge of 23,000 extra troops for Afghanistan. The British government looks set to send another 2,000.

LibDems Windy Muddle

LibDem leader Nick Clegg is part of the launch of a new Greenpeace report on energy-efficiency and jobs. Unfortunately the LibDem record on renewable energy is very poor, just like Labour and the Tories. Below are some classic LibDem examples of 'sustainable hypocrisy'.

Sir Menzies Campbell(when he was still LibDem leader) singled out changing the light bulbs that people use as an example of the sort of personal choice consumers should be making. But then he admitted up that every light fitting at his home in Scotland uses the standard filament bulb designed over a century ago, that emits 20 times as much heat as light.....On being asked how many energy-saving light bulbs he used at home, Mr Campbell confessed: "I don't have any”!

Despite the UK's fortunate position in the world making it one of the best locations for using renewable energy, a very windy coastline. There now exists primary legislation to ensure that 10% of our renewable energy (3% of our electricity) will come from wind power by 2010 and 15% by 2015.

The ground on which the turbines are positioned can still be used for agricultural purposes – such as sheep grazing. If the turbines need to be taken down, there is no damage to the environment and no residues are left behind.

As at 16 January 2009 there are 203 UK grid-connected wind farms containing 2,353 wind turbines with the capacity to generate 3257 MW. The Danish island of Samso has completely eradicated its carbon footprint by using wind power.

LibDem Parliamentary Spokesman for Maidstone and the Weald Peter Carroll slammed the Romney Marsh Wind Farm proposal saying; "this wind farm is truly enormous. It is too big. Installations like this should be off shore"! Except the LibDems also oppose off shore wind farms as well.

LibDem Parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt opposes a Worcestershire wind farm “These wind turbines would be enormous within the local landscape, with rotor blades similar to the wingspan of a jumbo jet.“They will cause flicker from rotating blades at sunrise and sunset for residents living east and west of the turbines, others may suffer sleep loss and health problems from noise and oscillation, and house prices may fall.' Well thats a poor excuse for not tackling climate change.

Blackburn LibDems similarly oppose them; "these windmills will be truly gigantic and will derogate greatly the visual amenity of the 30 properties who will find themselves to their great misfortune within a striking distance of 650 metres." So we may run out of power, but those 30 houses will be saved from this fate.

"While wind energy is renewable our finest landscapes are not. Once a power station is built the open countryside for miles around is irredeemably flawed" says Lord Geraint Howells of Ponterwyd (former MP, Ceredigion, LibDem) Who knows little of geology; landscapes evolve, some politicians fossilise.

A six-turbine wind farm in Sheffield were announced last year as part of a Sheffield Council led experiment on wind power generation. The scheme was supported by the previous Labour administration, but was immediately shelved as “unsuitable” after the May elections by the winning Liberal Democrat group.

Plane Stupid say "While they're often painted as the greenest of the major political parties, up and down the country the Liberal Democrats have been supporting climate-wrecking projects and opposing climate-friendly ones. So it was pretty ironic when Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem environment spokesman,....lamented "Labour's rotten record on climate change". It's about time he took a look at his own party's record. Sir Ming Campbell, sit on the board of The Air League. Lembit Opik, who repeatedly makes the false claim that "aviation doesn't represent a significant problem", helped create a parliamentary aviation group to support the air industry. Lib Dem councillors in Norwich, Liverpool, Manchester and Exeter have been at the forefront of pushing through plans for airport expansion. Lib Dem councillors elsewhere have been campaigning to secure the future of other unnecessary, short-haul airports such as Sheffield and Aberdeen.

The Lib Dems' leader in Scotland, Nicol Stephen, ignored an independent public enquiry and threw his weight behind the extension of the M74 motorway, something Friends of the Earth branded "probably the worst environmental decision ever taken by the Scottish Executive". Lib Dem councillors from Cumbria to Lancashire to Essex have been supporting a host of other road-building projects. It looks as though, despite all the spin, little has changed since the days when the Lib Dems were championing the Newbury bypass.

Congestion charging, so successful in London it's now being adopted in New York, was blocked by the Lib Dems in Edinburgh, Manchester and York. Wind farms, the most visible symbols of clean energy, are being opposed by Lib Dems across Britain. Welsh assembly Lib Dems went so far as to oppose an offshore wind farm, Scarweather Sands, which is expected to provide green electricity for the equivalent of 79,000 homes.

Even from within their own party their policies have been much criticized. LibDem "Green policies reflect not so much the 'loony left' as the 'lazy left', reaching for centralised state control and targets rather than setting the rules and leaving individuals, communities and other stakeholders to get on with it. This is Green authoritarianism, not liberalism, and it is at odds with our approach to other areas of the public sphere where we attack targets and scrap government departments that do not work."

And last but not least, Clegg said "I am not like Barack Obama but I think it is clear that the Liberal Democrats share all the policies and values that have proved to be very popular in America." Which sounds like a desperation to me.

Jobs Justice and Climate March London 28th March

I was in London today for the Jobs Justice and Climate March, a chance to make the G20 meeting later this week take notice that there is another way. I went to Temple Tube Station at 10.30 am, saw loads of police, Unite, Unison, SWP, peoples charter, Rommunists, Respect, Avaaz,the Green Party and many more.

I joined a group of Greens on the March, and was followed by a brass band! Many groups took the oppertunity to leaflet passers by, others leafleted fellow marchers.

At the end of the march was a rainy Hyde park. There were speeches (which as usual most marchers were too late to see) and queues for food. Quite bizarre that after being responsible for much of the trouble we are in, the organisers chose Labours Tony Robinson as a speaker. Perhaps he had a cunning plan.

Lots of tiered happy people left the park, looking forward to more activism.

Wow, the police estimate 35,000 at the g20rally!

The Gathering Storm


Green Party Stall at Temple Tube Station


Greens at Parliament


Adrian Windisch Marching


At the end of the rally, a rainy Hyde park. Labours Tony Robinson bizarrely was there with the important speakers, the crowd hoped he had a cunning plan.




Guardian
Guardian Blog
Marching Band Video

Tough Times Ahead

In addition to high street shops closing, banks crashing, car companies in desperation; it isn't a surprise to find job agencies are also in trouble.

The latest report into the UK recruitment agency market from industry analysts Plimsoll rates 155 of the UK’s leading 1,000 recruitment firms as being in financial danger. The report shows:
* 82 increased their debts last year
* 122 saw profits fall last year
* 101 are losing money

For 10 agencies its already too late, they went out of business in January. The number of recruitment agencies going into administration in January has doubled year-on-year.

The Green Party proposes a Green New Deal, where instead of hundreds of bilions going to banks and car makers, we would see investment in green jobs; home insulation, renewable energy that would result in the creation of thousands of new green collar jobs.

Kings Meadow Developments

Reading Councils 'Culture and Sport' Scrutiny Panel met yesterday to discuss the plan to destroy the Grade 2 listed Kings Meadow Pool. Ironically yesterday the Labour MP Martin Salter and wannabe MP Anneliese Dodds were claiming to be protecting the 'beautiful riverside' when they and the Tories have been busy selling it off to developers. Strangely its at a time when other developments have stalled, no one else has any money to spare, shops are closing down, office blocks are empty.

The plan is a 10+ storey hotel for King's Meadow to run with Askett Hawke, a hotel developer. Their proposal is to build yet another horrid shopping and office complex. This was supported by the Labour and Conservative Parties, who have their own idea of protecting historic Readings riverside.

For years the Kings Meadow Campaign has been attempting to find a viable way to keep the historic structure and public space.

I have been warning for years that if left unprotected the existing listed structure will decay. Reading Council have been negligent in its duty of care looking after it, perhaps hoping that it will become so damaged by rain and time that it will fall down on its own. A small amount of money spent by Reading Borough Council could have protected one of their few listed buildings and the towns heritage will be the poorer for its loss.

If you feel in the slightest angered by this I suggest you write to the local papers and say so.

Guerilla Gardening Talk Saturday 18th April

Richard Reynolds, the author of 'On Guerilla Gardening' will be at Reading Central Library on Saturday 18th April to talk about his experience of improving public spaces and the history of gardening outside the law.

Saturday 18th April 3 - 4 pm Tickets £2
Information and tickets from Reading Central Library, 0118 901 5950
info@readinglibraries.org.uk

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/ has some tips, a basic twelve step guide.

1. Spot some local orphaned land.
You will be amazed how many little grubby patches of unloved public space there are. Neglected flower beds, concrete planters sprouting litter and untamed plants, bare plots of mud. Chose one close to home, perhaps you pass it on the way to the shops or work, and appoint yourself it's parent. This will make it much easier to look after in the long term and reduce the risk of straying into a dangerous neighbourhood.

2. Plan a mission.
Make a date in the diary for an evening attack, when trouble-making busy bodies are out of sight. Invite supportive friends, or perhaps enrole supportive strangers by announcing your attack in the Guerrilla Gardening Community here.

3. Find a local supply of plants.
The cheaper the better. For city dwellers think local DIY stores, supermarkets and whole salers. The cheapest plants are ones that are free. Sometimes garden centres will have spare plants to give you for the cause. Or befriend someone with a garden (you might even be lucky and have a garden yourself). Think of these private spaces as the training camps for harvesting seeds, cuttings and plants hardened for their big adventure in the wilds of public space. If you have things going spare please leave a message in the Community forum for guerrillas near to where you live.

4. Choose plants for front line battle.
Think hardy - resistant to water shortages and the cold, and in some locations pedestrian trampling! These plants need to look after themselves a lot of the time. Think impactful - colour, ever green foliage, scale. These plants need to really make a difference, for as much of the year as possible. Visit the Community to get advice about specific plants for your part of the world, and to share your horticultural advice with the less experienced. In London I use a lot of herbs like Lavander and Thyme, tulip bulbs, shurbs.

5. Get some Wellington Shoes.
Whilst protecting your feet from mud and providing good purchase on a fork, these rubber shoes also don't look too obviously "agricultural" as the usual boot, and blend in well with the urban environment. I've even worn these clubbing. Andy wrapped his white trainers in carrier bags which worked very effectively, and enables a very convincing clean-footed get-away should you want to whip them off quickly.

6. Bag some bags.
Plastic bags, bin liners (not only can they keep your feet clean), but they are essential for clearing up the detritus of war. Weeds, litter, flower pots, and pebbles need to be carried away. For gentle work recuse wind blown carrier bags or for more serious gardening reuse compost bags or giant sacks from builder's merchants. The thick plastic does not rip and you can lug a great deal in them to a nearby bin.

7. Regular Watering. One of the responsibilities of a Guerrilla Gardener is ongoing tendering. Water is short in many parts of the world, even drissly old London. The Guerrilla Gardener must usually carry water (though I know of New York guerrillas who have keys to road side hydrants!) I have used petrol cannisters, they are the perfect water-tight, efficiently-packed portable transportation. But it has caused passers-by to ask if I am a nocturnal arsonist. Julie came up with the genius idea of using old water dispenser bottles.

8. Seed bombs.
For gardening those areas where access is difficult or a long dig is unsuitable, use a seed bombs - seeds and soil wrapped in an explosive capsule or moulded together. The 1970s New York green guerrillas bizarrly recommended using polluting plastic and glass containers but these days guerrillas just mould soil, clay and seeds together or have been known to make delicate bombs by sucking out chicken eggs and filling them with seeds and soil.

9. Chemical Warfare.
Boost your plants with natural chemicals. Some guerrillas are lucky to have space for compost heaps. Alex (1797) lives in a flat with no garden so has employed an efficient army of red worms to help him make his chemical weapons. In a box in the kitchen his Eisenia Fetida transform food into a rich vermicompost and worm juice fertiliser.

10. Garden with a girl
Having a girl on a dig (not only is as useful as the equivalent male troop) is a brilliant diversion should the cops pass by and get inqusitive. I encourage participants to take inspiration from the appropriately named Daisy Duke, who was masterful at diverting Boss Hogg from whatever Bo and Luke were up to. Then again, dressed like Daisy, the police might assume you were into floral bedding of a very different nature.

11. Spread the word
Let people know what you have done with a few flyers under doors near the guerrilla gardening war zone, a poster taped to a phone box or bus stop, a marker in the soil. Engage passers by in conversation, perhaps even bring a few spare tools. And welcome local media (particularly if they'll help towards the cost of your gardening, which many do).

12. Transportation.
If you are not guerrilla gardening within walking distance from your home (the ideal) you will need some transportation. My solution has been capacious two seaters. Convertibles with big wide flat boots enable both trees and large trays of plants to be easily transported. The one pictured is an old Volkswagen Porsche 914 with a wipe clean vinyl interior. Andrew (1679) gets all over the place on a bicycle, with plants strapped to his back (even a Washingtonia palm).

13. Buy the book
Through building this website I have met and talked with guerrilla gardeners around the world. Some publishers encouraged me to write a book and I lept at the chance to put it all together in a beautiful handbook and find out more about why, what and how people were fighting for and against. It's not a manifesto, it's a collection of different approaches, tales and tips, history and horticulture, and although you'll learn my favourites it also raises questions about society today. I hope you find it inspiring, useful and entertaining.

Petition against the 900 home Pincents Hill Plan in Tilehurst

The group campaigning to stop development on Pincents Hill in Tilehurst has launched an e-petition at the Downing Street website last week.

Developer Blue Living has announced its intention to submit a planning application s to build up to 900 homes on the Pincents Hill site and held a series of public consultation meetings in the area to gauge local opinion.

The Save Calcot Group’s e-petition says: “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent a strategic gap of 48 acres at Pincents Hill being developed. “Pincents Hill is a beautiful woodland and natural heath which rivals an area of AONB. It is home to a wonderful diversity of animals, including badgers, a small herd of deer, red kites, yellow hammers, green headed woodpeckers, it is a wonderful haven.”

Supporters of the petition can sign it by visiting
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/PincentsHill/

Campaigner Joan Lawrie said: “We have launched this e-petition to raise the profile of the Save Pincents Hill campaign to a national level and to send out the message to all politicians and decision-makers that protection of strategic gaps and green belt is vital and the rules should not be relaxed to encourage development on these areas.

“Allowing building on strategically important green spaces will just lead to more urban sprawl and once we lose our green spaces they will be lost to all future generations.” John Betteridge defending the wildlife in the area, said: “We would like as many people as possible to sign our e-petition. "Any development on the Pincents Hill site will destroy entirely the character of this unique green space which is home to protected wildlife. “Communities up and down the country are likely to be facing similar threats of development as we are and together we need to send out the message: enough is enough!”

Another group member Antony Greenfield said: “There was a planning application in 1985 for 250 homes on this site but the Planning Inspectorate refused permission for this development and surely if a site was not sustainable for 250 homes in 1985 it is likely to be even more unsustainable today.

“We feel that West Berkshire Council has enough brown field sites to build on to meet the Government’s housing targets without any need to use the Pincents Hill site. "Sadly however the Government appears to wish for all sites, beautiful or not, to be built on. Please don’t let us lose the last open green space in Tilehurst we desperately need it.” “Make no mistake about it, we are set for a mammoth struggle to save Pincents Hill from development and having worked closely with the Save Calcot Group it is absolutely clear to me that they deserve all our thanks for standing up against the huge resources of developer Blue Living. "Once the developer’s outline planning application is submitted, probably in April, the group will organise a public meeting to mobilise support against the proposal and I would urge local residents to look out for details on the website.”

A developer bought the site last year. This is agricultural land that has a 37 acre unofficial disused golf course on it. The public have used this land as amenity land for over 30 years for nature walks (schools,etc.) It has two public rights of way. It has been a landmark site since the 1100's Tigel Hurst. The Hill is a green landmark just off the A4. It adjoins an AONB and is so beautiful it should be part of the AONB. Tilehust is ordinary it has 3 things to offer, schools, this beautiful coutryside site and its people. We need this area, it is the quiet soul of Tilehurst. We are threatened with a development of some 900 dwellings and Tilehurst will lose it's identity. We need to leave something beautiful for our children to enjoy. West Berks Council says that there are enough brown field sites to meet the governments housing requirements with no need to use this site. There was a planning application in 1985 for 250 homes but the Inspectorate refused permission and surely if a site was not sustainable for 250 it is still unsustainable. The government wishes all sites, beautiful or not to be built on. Please don't let us lose the last open green space in Tilehurst we desperately need it.

Visit www.savecalcot.co.uk for further information.

Nuclear consultation - deadline TODAY

Dear Sir,

Nuclear Power 'Justification' No Thanks.

My Top 10 Reasons:
1 Electricity produced by Nuclear Power (NP) is not renewable so the supply is not secure or sustainable.
2 The waste problem is not solved, we will be leaving the problem for future generations for over 100,000 years.
3 There is a link between NP and Nuclear Weapons, thereby undermining world security.
4 NP stations are vulnerable to flooding as sea levels rise, dangerous short sighted policy.
5 Nuclear Power is not insured, exacerbating the consequences of problems.
6 Routine discharges of radioactive materials cause cancer, see The CERRIE Minority Report below amongst many others.
7 Nuclear Power Stations are vulnerable to terrorist attack, they make us a target.
8 Electricity Produced by Nuclear Power (NP) is not CO2 free and contribute to climate change.
9 Uranium mining is overwhelmingly done on the land left to Indigenous People. These communities are disproportionately affected with sickness and genetic impacts.
10 NP would take funding away from the real long term solutions which are energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The Nuclear Industry Application for Justification of new nuclear power stations presents a misleading case for determining the health effects of local discharges from nuclear power stations. The ICRP model referred to is based on epidemiological studies of Hiroshima survivors. More recent epidemiological studies show higher cancer rates in populations situated close to nuclear power stations, and following the Chernobyl disaster. It should thus be concluded that the ICRP model is unsafe, not least because the after effects of a single blast of radiation are likely to be different to the chronic ingestion, inhalation or other exposure to particles of lower level radioactivity and particles of substances that are mutagenic / directly toxic to DNA, such as uranium and plutonium. Hence the NIA comparison of external radiation exposure from flying at high altitudes is also likely to be inappropriate and misleading.



- The CERRIE Minority Report 2004 helps explain the thinking here.

- A summary of 100 papers on the health effects of the Chernobyl disaster provides evidence of higher incidences of cancer than previously acknowledged: [Chernobyl 20 Years On: Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident, European Committee on Radiation Risk]

- The comprehensive German KiKK study from 2008 shows a doubling of childhood leukaemia rates in populations within five kilometres of Pressurised Water Reactors (PWRs) in Germany, similar to those being assessed for new nuclear build in the UK.

- Excess breast cancer and infant mortality has been found near, for example, Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset : http://www/stophinkley.org/health

- Documents from EDF show that an accident involving AREVA NP's European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) would release far more radiation than would occur at existing reactors; with one study estimating that in the worst case scenario, 28 000 deaths would result instead of 16 000 [Independent on Sunday, 8 February 2009]


- There is no credible or satisfactory plan for the management and disposal of high burn-up spent nuclear fuel, which will remain in situ at local sites for an estimated 160 years.

- No information is provided to demonstrate that the nuclear reactors or sites can withstand terrorist attacks.

- Any benefits of lower electricity costs from leaving fuel in the reactor for longer will be more than offset by an increase in the cost of managing the spent fuel to minimise health and safety risks.

- Future generations that have to retrieve spent fuel from long-term storage, condition it, encapsulate it and place it deep underground will be most exposed to the serious health and safety risks involved. This transfer of cost, effort and exposure of future generations to health risks and genetic damage is unacceptable.

For meaningful and realistic examination of all the evidence, a public inquiry must be held. The Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, with his known bias in favour of nuclear power and declared conflict of interest, must not adjudicate on this matter.


Adrian Windisch
adrian@windisch.co.uk,
tel 0118 9567190 mob 07802 671606

ONE WORLD. ONE CHANCE. GO GREEN.

Labour In A Windy Muddle

Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, has said "the government needed to be stronger in facing down local opposition to wind farms...The government needs to be saying, 'It is socially unacceptable to be against wind turbines in your area - like not wearing your seatbelt or driving past a zebra crossing'."

Perhaps he should contact his Labour Peers who have been opposing wind power:
* Lord Melvyn Bragg opposes a wind farm in Cumbria that he says will "destroy the place as a natural habitat for human beings, and replace it with what will be seen as an industrial landscape"

* Former MP now Lord Stoddart of Swindonsays '...even the Government admits that not only is wind power grossly inefficient but we also need to build more coal and gas fired power stations to support all these new turbines when there is no wind. I hardly think that our grandchildren will thank us for tearing up vast swathes of our most picturesque countryside to install highly inefficient wind turbines that contribute a tiny fraction of our energy needs. '

* Government "a few green shoots" Minister Baroness Vadera said wind power was 'not the most effective source in terms of energy security of supply', clear leadership.......not.



Overall Labour authorities are blocking 36% of wind farms



In the past the RSPB have been cited by groups opposing wind farms but this week they said that with an effective planning system, the UK could greatly increase onshore wind development without damaging nature conservation.

Ruth Davis, head of climate change policy at the RSPB, said it was in favour of such an expansion because of the "truly terrifying" impact that global warming was increasingly having on birds. "Left unchecked, climate change threatens many species with extinction....Yet that sense of urgency is not translating into actions on the ground to harness the abundant wind energy around us."

Altruistic Pioneer And Campaigner Passes Away Aged 72

Tim Eiloart, the altruistic pioneer, has died at the age of 72 following years of ill- health, latterly he was confined to a wheelchair. In his amazing life he was an entrepreneur, a journalist, started a Charity and took part in a record breaking transatlantic ballooning attempt to cross the Atlantic.

He read chemical engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was sent down midway through his degree because he joined a transatlantic balloon trip organised by his father, 'Bushy' Eiloart, the man who invented yeast facepacks. The attempt was in 1958, aboard the Small World, a balloon that had a gondola with a bicycle powered propellers. It is described in a 1959 book The Flight of the Small World. They managed to travel about 1,200 miles in ninety-four hours. Even more fortunately, their gondola was seaworthy and they finished up their journey afloat, reaching Barbados after the ten more days.

Tim returned to Trinity to complete his degree and, as soon as he graduated, founded number of companies, including Cambridge Consultants, with the idea of acting as an intermediary between the university and industry. Cambridge Consultants grew and grew, even Robert Maxwell wanted to invest, but Tim and his fellow consultants didn't want him. Tim met Clive Sinclair through Mensa, Clive needed a base to assemble components and deal with mail order administration, Cambridge Consultants Ltd, run by Eiloart, provided this service. No sooner had the advertising appeared than the company was swamped by demand and the business began to snowball. Over the years they made a lot of money, and spawned many spin- outs which have gone on to make combined billions, but Tim ended up with nothing. He started other businesses, latterly with an emphasis on helping communities in the developing world. He was never much interested in making money for himself.

Since 1970 he has been a free-lance journalist and business correspondent for The New Scientist & Mensa Journal . He was the author of a book 'Happier families: for babies children teenagers and parents' by Tim Eiloart, Mary Eiloart & Penny Eiloart.


He campaigned for the Green Party, and was a candidate several times including the General Election in Huntingdon in against John Major in 1983 and in Council Elections in Huntingdon till 2001. He worked with Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Rotblat and others who campaigned to warn the government about ecological crises.

I met Tim in 1999 when volunteering for Sunseed in Spain, he was a visiting Trustee and impressed everyone with his breadth of interests and energy. He had a stroke working late one night, fortunately I woke up and could call for help. He recruited me into becoming a trustee, he was himself a founding trustee.

In 1984 he and his wife Mary were founder trustees of the Sunseed Trust, which they generously endowed and for which they both worked tirelessly for many years. Whether it was in the conception and development of new ideas in appropriate technology, or the grind of routine administration or accounting tasks, Tim and Mary could always be relied on to put heart and soul into whatever needed to be done..

The low-cost adobe solar oven was one of Tim's inventions.  It led to Sunseed's involvement in Tanzania, where the Sunseed Tanzania Trust continues to promote energy-effective smoke-free cookers and tree nurseries in villages and schools.

One memory of Tim that some of us treasure - after suffering his stroke at Sunseed he was being taken to the ambulance on a trolley-stretcher, and was working out and explaining design improvements which could be made to the trolley to improve its performance on rough ground!

Tragically, Tim's daughter Penny was lost at sea off the coast of Africa in 1998, she was 33.

He suffered a stroke some years ago, and friends have suggested this was brought on by the stress involved in searching for Penny. He is survived by his wife Mary and 2 children.

Green Party Spring Conference Blackpool

I've been twittering from the Blackpool Conference, see http://twitter.com/AdrianWindisch or http://tinyurl.com/dzr87t for other Green tweets.

As always its a hectic few days, and an emotional roller-coaster. Full of joy at getting some good motions passed, and the disappointments of knowing that in some cases you will have to try harder next time. We have great local coverage of the conference, see pic above of a local news-stand, and items on TV.

Peter Cranie, North West Region Euro Election Candidate, opened the spring Green Party conference. He referred to the 'scumbag millionaires' running our economy. Good phrase.

Panel debate "The failure of the 'growth economy".
We heard speeches discussing how getting the economy back to where it was last year will not fix things, but take us back to last years problem. A steady state economy on the other hand accepts the idea that continued economic growth isn't sustainable. Resources are limited, we only have one planet.

Emergency motion against Heathrow expansion overwhelmingly carried.

Passed that motions on domestic abuse (including domestic violence), gender and asylum got through happily yesterday.

An inspring speech from the party leader Caroline Lucas. She compared making policy here with the grey parties on board millionaires yachts. Excellent ponits about the need for a New Green Deal. She said that this government has betrayed us, they have sold their souls to vested interest. Caroline mentioned Mandleson as an example. In contrast Greens make a difference. Nuclear and coal a distraction from brown for energy policy. They are dirty & dangerous, part of a brown new deal, not a green one.

See more at http://greendespatches.blogspot.com/

Animals Found At Chernobyl With Deformities

Radiation has affected animals living near the site of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear disaster far worse than was previously thought, a study out this week shows, challenging beliefs that wildlife was recovering.

The study, published in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters, presents the most extensive data set ever compiled on the abundance of animals at and around the Chernobyl site. "Abundance" is relative in this case, however, since scientists Anders Moller and Timothy Mousseau determined that insect, bird and other animal populations have dramatically diminished there in the two decades following the disaster. "Chronic, continuous exposure to low dose radiation appears to be the cause," Mousseau, director of the Chernobyl Research Initiative at the University of South Carolina, said. For three years, he and Moller conducted population censuses on invertebrates at more than 700 sites near Chernobyl. At each site the researchers measured radiation levels, using Geiger counters and aerial scan data. They also counted numbers of bumblebees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and spider webs.

The research reveals that numbers of bumblebees, butterflies, spiders, grasshoppers and other invertebrates were lower in contaminated sites than other areas because of high levels of radiation left over from the blast in April 1986.

This challenges earlier research that suggested animal populations were rebounding around the site of the Chernobyl explosion, which forced thousands of people to abandon their homes and evacuate the area.

Estimates of the number of deaths directly related to the accident vary. The World Health Organisation estimates the figure at 9,000 while the environmental group Greenpeace predicts an eventual death toll of 93,000.

A team from the National Centre for Scientific Research in France compared animal populations in radioactive areas with less contaminated plots and found some were nearly completely depleted of animal life. "We were amazed to see that there had been no studies on this subject," Anders Moller, a researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France. "Ours was the first study to focus on the abundance of animal populations." "Usually (deformed) animals get eaten quickly, as it's hard to escape if your wings are not the same length," Moller said. "In this case we found a high incidence of deformed animals." "We wanted to ask the question: Are there more or fewer animals in the contaminated areas? Clearly there were fewer," said Moller, who has worked on Chernobyl since 1991.

The researchers also found that animals living near the reactor had more deformities, including discolouration and stunted limbs, than normal.

Mousseau and Moller have since identified high mutations in many different species of birds, plants and animals, including humans. Children living near the plant continue to be monitored, as many suffered from thyroid cancer right after the nuclear blast. More recent tests "show significant negative impacts" on the blood cell counts of local children. "The truth is that accidents do happen, so there likely will be a future nuclear accident somewhere," Mousseau warned. "We also face the threat of nuclear terrorism, so I'm hopeful our studies can shed light on the long-term consequences of radiation exposure."

Scietific American
Ruters Alertnet
Discovery
International Herald Tribune
Scotsman

Rev Jesse Jackson is coming to Reading

Civil rights campaigner Rev Jesse Jackson is coming to Reading next week to talk about faith, politics and empowerment.

He became world famous when he made a bid for the US Presidency in 1984 and 1988, hoping to become the Democratic candidate. He was the first African American with a chance. In February 2006, Jackson was voted "the most important black leader" with 15% of the vote, a week is a long time in politics.

Jackson attended the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he was studying to become a minister, but dropped out in 1966 to focus full-time on the civil rights movement. In 1965, he participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama. In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. selected Jackson to be national director in 1967. He used “selective buying” (boycotts) as a means to pressure white businesses to hire blacks and purchase goods and services from black contractors. He was ordained in 1968.

In March 2007, Jackson declared his support for then-Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 democratic primaries. As controversial as he was charismatic, Jackson continues to be one of the more striking figures in American public life.

He will be speaking at the Globe Church in Portman Road, West Reading on Wednesday, March 25 at 7.30pm.

Low Carbon Buildings Fund Runs Dry (Again)

The Labour government ran into a storm of criticism yesterday after quietly closing its grant programme for solar energy last week, which made a mockery of its commitment to build a low-carbon economy. (Along with airport expansion/road building/Kingsnorth etc)

The low-carbon buildings programme is a grant system aimed at boosting renewable energies including wind, biomass and solar. It was due to close this summer but last week the Department of Energy and Climate Change announced on its website that applications for solar photovoltaic (PV) projects on public buildings such as schools and hospitals were running at such high levels that they had used up their allocated share of half of the £50m grant pot ahead of time.

Environmental campaigners are furious that the solar industry will undergo a gap in support for well over a year at a time when Gordon Brown and other ministers are talking of creating 400,000 green jobs as a way of boosting the economy and combating climate change! Its a Brown New Deal alright, Gordon should learn from our Green New Deal.

Paul King, head of the UK Green Building Council, said: "The prime minister has talked of the need to both invest in low-carbon infrastructure and to stimulate the economy. [This grant system] did just that, so it seems absurd that government has now suspended grant applications for solar PV. This emerging industry needs to be confident of government's commitment - which this decision seriously calls into question."

Friends of the Earth accused Dept for causing climate change officials of 'standing in the way of progress towards a low-carbon economy by remaining too sympathetic to fossil fuel firms.'

Its the 'Age Of Stupid' after all.

Hail The Returning Ones (Being Protected By The Police)

Never has so small a protest achieved so much press. It helps that the papers can sell lots of copies pandering to their usual agenda, 'the troops are heroes' & 'Muslims are extremists'. I think this must be embarrassing to the troops, and to Labours policy of making the Army parade, needing protection from the police.

Both of these statements need to be questioned. Most of the soldiers coming home now were put in a very difficult position by the Labour Government; without a clear purpose and poorly equipped. They were mostly not involved in the atrocities that the Army has committed, and most won't have taken part in the Iraq War itself which was some years ago.


Most Muslims are not extremists, they will be embarrassed by the antics of this small group as the British were of the Soldiers caught on camera abusing prisoners. I blame Labour for this (like the BNP) often characterised Muslims as extremists:
'Extremist Muslim "bullies" must be faced down'
Straw “veils can be “frightening and intimidating”.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission called Mr Straw's views "astonishing" and accused him of discrimination
.. the government's proposed definition of extremism stigmatises mainstream Muslim beliefs and hands ammunition to those very Islamists who claim that Muslim beliefs and customs are inherently incompatible with western society.
'It's little wonder liberal Muslims feel betrayed'

The papers said that the crowd turned on the protesters and threw Bacon at them. Earlier in the week a documentary on Benjamin Disraeli described his political opponents offering him bacon, modern commentators saying 'it couldn't happen now'. How wrong they were!

Its confusing for other war protesters who see the Government as responsible for getting us involved in wars. We are also used to getting very little coverage, despite hundreds or thousands of people being involved.

Its politicians that tell soldiers where to go, what training they get & what equipment they can have. And for forcing them to parade after returning from one of the least popular wars in history. The sight of soldiers being protected by the police is an embarrassment. So are they heroes? Some may be. They have all volunteered for a difficult job, and must be delighted to be home. I expect they would prefer to just be welcomed in their local pub.

Age Of Stupid Premier Reviewed

I've just seen the Reading premier of the new film about climate change; the 'Age of Stupid' and it was quite an experience. As we walked into the cinema, showing on the screen was a live link up with Leicester Square. We saw celebrities arrive, and then the Producer Lizzie Gillett & Director Franny Armstrong started interviewing them; Alistair Cambell (....), Ken Livingsore (enough Labour people already?), Nick Stern(Stern Review), David Putnam + Pete Postlethwaite (star of the film).

The film contrasts a bleak future that we are heading towards with the current way people carry on as usual. The archivist (Pete Postlethwaite) looks after the best of the planets museum exhibits, and looks back from the year 2055 at how we got there. He observes a group in Bedfordshire stopping a potential wind farm from getting through planning, an entrepreneur in India starting a low cost airline, a woman surviving in Nigeria torn by Shell's oil extraction, children exiled from Iraq and a man retired from the oil industry living in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. The scenarios show how complicated it can be to make a difference, but that its something we need, and must, do.

At the end we went back to the live link from London, they showed pictures from the 65 cinemas showing simultaneous premiers, and Lizzie and Franny continued with more interviews. They gave examples of what can be done to reduce emissions and campaign. The then brought up Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, they congratulated him on the climate change bill, he went on about how he thought technology would clean up coal (that we needed Kingsnorth and how Nuclear power was his answer!).

Then they trapped him, on a narrow stage so he couldn't easily escape they brought back Pete Postlethwaite to block the entrance and sign a pledge saying he wanted to replace Ed if things didn't improve before the Copenhagen conference in December! Pete went on to say he would give back his OBE, and would never not vote Labour again if it didn't improve. They said the pledge would be on the website, so we could all do it, (but I cant find it yet).

What a beautiful end to an evening, after I had been so angry at the opportunity they gave Labour people here. For years Labour have had an easy ride with the media on climate change, the official opposition have been unable to dent the impression they give that we lead the world in reducing emissions. No mention is made that emissions have not decreased, but after their decision on Heathrow people are starting to see the hypocrisy. They have taken some steps, but always painfully slow.

I do hope someone puts that moment on youtube, the look on Milibands face was priceless.

Lib Dem Hypocrisy, They Support Airports And Roads

I've been having a rather repetitive conversation with an anonymous Lib Dem blogger. I thought I would look up their record myself. As expected, I found lots of hypocrisy.

Simon Hughes MP ran a homophobic campaign where "Some of their male canvassers went around the constituency wearing lapel stickers emblazoned with the words 'I've been kissed by Peter Tatchell'. "On the doorsteps, they spread false rumours that he was chair of the local gay society; no such society existed." Mr Tatchell said one Liberal member admitted to him that the party was behind the anonymous and illegal campaign leaflet "Which Queen Will You Vote For?", which ridiculed his sexuality. Mr Hughes said "I hope that there will never be that sort of campaign again.

Liberal Democrat MEP, Diana Wallis, voted against the software patent directive amendments. This in contradiction to the UK Liberal Democrat's policy on patents, which "support continued widespread innovation in software by resisting the wider application of patents in this area."

They are against replacing Trident, but all for extending its life. So the Lib Dems are very happy we have nuclear weapons. 'The current Trident nuclear system should be maintained and its operational life extended.' Though some Lib Dems disagree.

They say they are against nuclear power, but without much difficulty I found several Lib Dems bloggers who were all for it; Cllr Frank H Little, Laurence Boyce & Tristan Mills. I'm sure there are many more.

Donations were recieved from Paul Marshall who 'sold short' while the Lib Dems were campaigning against it.

Despite claiming their 'policies have a green thread running through them';
Their are often in support of new Roads and Airports:
Scottish Lib Dem Aviation Obsession Fuels Climate Change,
And LD Parliamentary candidate Stephen Gilbert said "Whether it is Newquay Airport, the dualling of the A30…., we are showing that our campaigns can really make a difference”

From the Liberal Democrat Environment magazine (Green Democrat) 1995, “it comes as a surprise to find our new MP, David Rendel, campaigning for one of the most destructive road schemes ever proposed. A scheme that’s attracted unanimous condemnation from Britain’s green lobby, provoked criticism from the European Commission, and still threatens full European legal action. Like Twyford Down, the proposed A34 bypass at Newbury would be a national outrage and an international embarrassment”.
Naturally in Manchester they are against congestion charges.

Theres also the antisemitic Baroness Tongue

And the Pro Iraq War Baroness Emma Nicholson MEP, which made a lie of the supposed Lib Dems being agaisnt the Iraq war.

Then theres dodgy Michael Brown, the party’s biggest business donor from a tax haven!

UPDATE
There are plenty more examples of Lib Dem hypocrisy.

Lib Dems say they are against the continued expansion of Tesco, but didn't oppose the huge one in Battle, Reading West. The Greens were the only Party that represented ordinary people and small shops here. It might be explained by Tesco sponsoring their Conference, (along with Microsoft).

There's Brian Paddicks divergence from Lib Dem policies when he was their mayoral candidate e.g. the Low Emission Zone, tube privatisation or the CO2 charge. Lib Dem Blogger Jonny Wright thinks Paddick is mad. At the time I wrote "He says he is fitter than Boris and Ken, but this is no athletics event. May I remind him that Bush is a keen runner and a terrible leader. He says Boris is 'very clever', an unusual tactic, praising the opposition, perhaps this will work for him. Brian claims that after two terms any leader suffers from a psychiatric disorder... Is he also an amateur doctor?"

I've blogged about how Green the Lib Dems were 2007

Vote Earth by Turning Off Your Lights for an Hour on the 28th March

The World Wildlife Charity WWF is leading the campaign called Earth Hour when cities, businesses and organisations across the world will turn off the lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm on Saturday, March 28.

On March 28 you can VOTE EARTH by switching off your lights for one hour.
Or you can vote global warming by leaving your lights on.

The results of the election are being presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. We want one billion votes for Earth, to tell world leaders that we have to take action against global warming.

Already 930 cities and towns in 80 countries have committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming.

Earth Hour began in 2007 when one city, Sydney, took part.
A year later the number of cities involved had risen to 271.

This year WWF is targeting 1,000 cities. So far 681 cities in 76 countries have signed up to Earth Hour and Reading is one of the locations.


By coincidence (?) its the same day as the climate march in London.

The Age Of Stupid

This weekend sees the premiere of a new film, The Age Of Stupid. Its a ground-breaking film about climate change which Greenpeace is whole-heartedly supporting. Part drama and part documentary, it stars Pete Postlethwaite as a man looking back from the year 2055 and wondering why we didn't do something about climate change when we had the chance.

Unlike other film premieres which happen at just one swanky cinema, The Age Of Stupid will be rolling out the red carpet in over 60 different cinemas across the UK this Sunday. Tickets are on sale now for the People's Premiere in venues from Plymouth to Inverness and while a few venues have already sold out, there are still tickets left.

Buy your Age Of Stupid tickets for Sunday 15 March

Directed by Franny Armstrong, who also made the documentary about the McLibel case, The Age Of Stupid features stories from people who are already being affected by climate change, from India and Iraq to Nigeria and the UK.

But the story doesn't end when the credits roll. The Age Of Stupid team want everyone who sees the film to get involved with the growing campaign to get our elected leaders to do something about climate change now.

Going to the People's Premiere won't just be a night out at the cinema (although that's always a good thing), you'll also be helping the film to be shown in even more cinemas. If films do well when they open, they'll be booked in for longer and picked up by other cinemas.

So buy your tickets see the film - make an event of it and take some friends! If you can't make the premiere, it opens nationwide on Friday 20 March and ticket sales from that first full weekend will also influence how far the film travels.

Sea level rise 'to exceed projections'

The global sea level looks set to rise far higher than forecast because of changes in the polar ice-sheets, a team of researchers has suggested. Scientists at a climate change summit in Copenhagen said earlier UN estimates were too low and that sea levels could rise by a metre or more by 2100. The projections did not include the potential impact of polar melting and ice breaking off, they added. Ten per cent of the world's population - about 600 million people - live in low-lying areas.

The missing factor is the melting of the world's largest temperate glaciers in Alaska and Canada, say Mark Meier and Mark Dyurgerov at the University of Colorado at Boulder. New data from the University of Alaska show this has been underplayed in earlier calculations, they say. Meier and Dyurgerov's new range is much higher, at between 20 and 46 cm, and they say it could be even greater. Combined with the IPCC's estimate for sea level rise caused by other processes, such as ocean warming, of 11 to 43 cm, the total 21st century rise could be as much as 89 cm.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, had said that the maximum rise in sea level would be in the region of 59cm. Professor Konrad Steffen from the University of Colorado, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, highlighted new studies into ice loss in Greenland, showing it has accelerated over the last decade.

At Lowestoft, on the UK's east coast, the Environment Agency official in charge of coastal protection, David Kemp, said that even small rises in sea level could be overwhelming. "Put bluntly, if it's 10cm below the height of the defence, then there's no problem. But if it's 10cm above the defence, then we could be looking at devastation."

Dr John Church of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research added: "The most recent research showed that sea level is rising by 3mm a year since 1993, a rate well above the 20th century average."

Professor Konrad Steffen from the University of Colorado, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, highlighted new studies into ice loss in Greenland, showing it has accelerated over the last decade. Professor Steffen, who has studied the Arctic ice for the past 35 years, told me: "I would predict sea level rise by 2100 in the order of one metre; it could be 1.2m or 0.9m. "But it is one metre or more seeing the current change, which is up to three times more than the average predicted by the IPCC. It is a major change and it actually calls for action."

10 Reasons Greens Are Against Nuclear Power

Top 10 Reasons:
1 Electricity produced by Nuclear Power (NP) is not renewable so the supply is not secure.
2 The waste problem is not solved, it will not be safe for over 100,000 years
3 There is a link between NP and Nuclear Weapons
4 NP stations are vulnerable to flooding as sea levels rise
5 Nuclear Power is not insured
6 Routine discharges of radioactive materials cause cancer
7 Nuclear Power Stations are vulnerable to terrorist attack
8 Electricity Produced by Nuclear Power (NP) is not CO2 free
9 Uranium mining is overwhelmingly done on the land left to Indigenous People. These communities are disproportionately affected with sickness and genetic impacts.
10 NP would take funding away from the real long term solutions which are energy efficiency and renewable energy.


nuclear power no thanks

Reading Civic Centre Waste Of Money

I wrote a letter to the local press in September 2006, saying the proposed Rebuild of the Civic Centre was a waste of money. The reasons the Labour Council gave for replacing it was that it was old, actually its far newer than most of Reading, Victorian houses were built to last. They also talked about the new one being greener, costing less to heat and cool. Actually knocking down a structurally sound building is not at all green. My suggestion was that they refurbish it to improve the insulation, as has been done on other buildings of a similar age.

The big three 'Grey' Parties all agreed on this policy at the time. But now, in economically troubled times, people are looking to make savings. Particularly as its been revealed that plans and designs have already £3.7 million!

I think its a good idea to change your mind when circumstances change, its a sign of intelligence. Of course its even better when you were right in the first place.

Post
Lib Dem
Common Sense
Independant Jones

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Submitted by Adrian Windisch on 28 September 2006 - 1:01pm
RBC say we have no money for collecting bins weekly but were finding £54 million to spend on a new Civic Centre! Does anyone believe that at around 30 years old it needs replacing? Have they sought everal quotes from different companies to refurbish it? I would advise them to contact Integer who have experience of converting a tower block with similar problems into a sustainable building; improving insulation and shading windows to reduce heating and cooling. See integer . They should look at different schemes and estimate the carbon cost as well as the financial costs involved.

If the decision is taken to build another one can we ensure it is designed to last for at least a hundred years, with passive solar heating, cooling and levels of insulation far above the minimum levels set by current building regulations. Is this about a sustainable future or building a monument to some rather large egos.

Adrian Windisch
Reading Green Party
18 Kent Road, Reading, RG30 2EJ
0118 9567190

Green Custard Protestor Arrested

Custard attacker Leila Deen has been arrested as part of the investigation into the attack on Baron Mandelson on Friday. She has since been released on bail.

Derek Wall suggested that it would be more fun if she went on the run and released communiques and custard recipes!

Leila is an activist with Plane Stupid.
She attended a police station in central London "by arrangement" on Saturday, according to a spokesman. "She was arrested by officers from Westminster CID and was bailed to return to a central London police station on a date in early April," he added.

Lord Mandelson expressed "surprise" that Ms Deen had been able to bypass security outside the Royal Society in London on Friday morning. Perhaps she has done him a favour by exposing his weak security.

She has a history of activism.

Campaign for more Bank Holidays

Britain is almost unique in Europe in having no bank holidays between the summer and Christmas. There is a call in Britain for an extra three bank holidays a year, as we get the lowest number of bank holidays and the least statutory annual leave in Europe. An extra 3 would bring British workers public holiday entitlement up to the European average of 11 days.

41% of the 19,469 people who voted online in the TUC's WorkSMART.org.uk poll favoured a Monday in late October for a new bank holiday. 32% chose the national Saints' days - St George's, St Andrew's and St David's Days and 11% voted for New Year's Eve.

An MP calls for an extra bank holiday to celebrate women’s day.

A campaign to create an additional public holiday for Great Britain surveyed over 150 MPs and found that more than half are supportive of introducing a new bank holiday with only a third of them opposing the idea. But then MPs get plent of holidays that the rest of us do not, so as usual its one rule for them, another for the rest of us.

The French have 11, Germany have 15 and the Spanish have a massive 16 days a year. Slovenia tops the table with an impressive 18 days where as Brits are struggling on with just 8.

Shopworkers union Usdaw is also calling for an extra bank holiday to promote voluntary and community work. The union has backed the Community Day campaign, by the TUC and four of the UK’s largest voluntary organisations. The holiday would fall during the October half term. John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary, said: “Most of us spend a large part of our waking lives at work. It can be easy to forget that we are part of a wider community or to find the time to make our contribution. We want to redress that balance between our members’ working lives and the rest of their lives.

Reading Greens Rail Protest With Caroline Lucas MEP

A protest at rising train fares was held in Reading Berkshire yesterday.

The Reading Green Party asked passengers at the town's station to sign a petition which will be handed to the station's manager. The petition was written on a shirt, as they are taking the shirts of our backs with these fare increases across the UK in January by an average of more than 6%.

Train firms say more money will allow greater investment while the government said it had already committed £15bn to support the railways.

Dr Caroline Lucas, Berkshire Green MEP, said: "The government admits it will cost £500m per year to bring commuter fares in line with the rest of Europe, but its spending on road maintenance and widening is currently three times this amount.

"Can the government really say it is committed to encouraging people to switch from cars to public transport?" The Department for Transport said the government has committed £15bn to support the railways in the next five years - including a £10bn investment to increase capacity.

The Association of Train Operating Companies blamed the rises partly because taxpayer funding was being reduced.













This protest had had coverage in todays Reading Post.
A mention in the weekly Reading Chronicle 'South East Green Euro-MP and party leader Caroline Lucas will join Green Party members outside Reading Station today (Thursday) to protest against high fares'
BBC News
local radio Reading 107FM
USA today!
localberkshire

Is Gordon Brown the new Mugabe?

Recently I referred to Labour adopting some Zimbabwe like policies in its attitude to the law. The Labour cabinet tried to blame Fred Goodwin for their own incompetence in giving him a vast pension.

Today they are attempting to get us out of the economic crisis they caused by printing money. Being Labour they spin it with the term 'quantitative easing', which sounds like something a fat cat does after too big a dinner. But isn't printing money one of the causes of this crisis in the first place? Too much credit to those who couldn't afford it led to our current problems, can it really be the way out of them? It seems to me that following the financial lead of Robert Mugabe will cause our currency to devalue.

On political elections Labour are also following the lead of Mugabe. Labour politicians attempted to use fraud to stay in power in Birmingham and here in Redlands Ward, Reading. While in Zimbabwe they 'bypass normal governmental procedures'

On i.d. cards also Gordon Brown shows similarities to Zimbabwe.

On civil liberties, Brown is keen on holding suspects for 42 days, while in Zimbabwe Mugabe simply 'drives out the trash'

When Brown says 'British jobs For British people', Mugabwe grabs land from farmers to give to his supporters.

Brown wasn't elected to the PM role, Mugabe fixed his own election.

Clearly Brown has seen the future, why bother with those difficult elections when you get power without them. Any dissenters, why not lock them up without trial.