New Politics, Old Peerages

Why is it that in the dawn of the era of new politics, we continue with the sad old business of rewarding the big party loyalists with peerages.

Even more bizarre, the new government seems to have allowed Gordon to write most of it, there are more new Labour peers than the other parties, so to redress the balance, the ConDems will surely be adding lots of their own soon.

Topping the list of the ridiculous is John Prescott. For those who dont remember, just look him up.

Peers List

Conservative Party
* Guy Vaughan Black – former Director Press Complaints Commission, Executive Director Telegraph Media Group
* Dame Margaret Eaton OBE – Chairman of Local Government Association
* Edward Peter Lawless Faulks QC – barrister, leading practitioner, crime and personal injuries practice
* John Gardiner – Deputy Chief Executive of Countryside Alliance
* Helen Margaret Newlove – campaigner against anti-social behaviour
* Dolar Amarshi Popat – businessman, Chief Executive of TLC Group, specialising in healthcare and hospitality
* Shireen Olive Ritchie – Local Government Councillor, specialises in areas of adult and children’s social care
* Deborah Stedman-Scott OBE, DL, FRSA – Chief Executive of Tomorrow’s People, national employment charity working in deprived areas of UK
* Nat Wei – founder of Teach First and also a founder of Future Leaders
* Hon Simon Adam Wolfson – Chief Executive of NEXT plc

Liberal Democrat Party
* Floella Benjamin OBE DL – actor, presenter and campaigner for children’s issues
* Mike German OBE AM – former Deputy First Minister (Wales)
* Meral Hussein Ece OBE – Local Government Councillor in Islington, advocate of equality issues
* Sir Kenneth (Ken) Macdonald QC – former Director of Public Prosecutions
* Kathryn (Kate) Jane Parminter – former Chief Executive of Campaign to Protect Rural England
* John Shipley OBE – leading Local Government Councillor in Newcastle upon Tyne

Labour Party
* Sir Jeremy Hugh Beecham DL – senior figure in English local government and first Chairman of the Local Government Association
* Rt Hon Paul Boateng – former Government Minister and MP for Brent South
* Rita Margaret Donaghy CBE – former Chair Conciliation and Arbitration Service
* Jeannie Drake – former Deputy General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union
* Dr Dianne Hayter – Chair of Legal Services Consumer Panel
* Anna Healy – former Government and political adviser, serving in numerous government departments
* Roy Kennedy – Labour Party’s Director of Finance and Compliance, long serving member of the Labour Party
* Rt Hon Helen Lawrie Liddell – former Secretary State of Scotland
* Roger John Liddle – former Special Adviser on Europe
* Rt Hon Dr Jack Wilson McConnell – former First Minister of Scotland
* John Stephen Monks – General Secretary, European Trades Union Confederation
* Sue Nye – former Director of Government Relations, Prime Minister’s Office
* Maeve Sherlock OBE – former Chief Executive of the Refugee Council and Former Special Advisor to Chancellor
* Robert Wilfrid (Wilf) Stevenson – former Director of the Smith Institute and Special Adviser to the PM
* Margaret Wheeler MBE – Director of Organisation and Staff Development for the public service union UNISON
* Michael Williams – former Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs

Dissolution List (Ex MPs)

Conservative party
* Timothy Eric Boswell – former Whip and Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
* Angela Frances Browning – former Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
* Rt Hon John Selwyn Gummer – former Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and held other senior posts in government and opposition
* Rt Hon Michael Howard QC – former Home Secretary, and held other senior posts in government and opposition
* John Craddock Maples – former Economic Secretary, and held other senior posts in government and opposition
* Sir Michael Spicer – former Government Minister for Housing and Chairman of Parliamentary and Scientific Committee

Liberal Democrat Party
* Richard Allan – former MP for Sheffield Hallam and Chair of the Information Select Committee
* Matthew Owen John Taylor – former MP for Truro and St Austell, Chair of National Housing Federation
* George Philip (Phil) Willis – former MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Former Chair of Science and Technology Select Committee

Labour Party
* Rt Hon Hillary Jane Armstrong – former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for Social Exclusion, and held other senior posts in government
* Rt Hon Desmond (Des) Henry Browne – former Secretary of State for Defence and held other senior posts in government
* Quentin Davies – former Government Minister, Defence
* Rt Hon Beverley Hughes – former Minister of State, Children, Schools and Families
* Rt Hon John Hutton – former Secretary of State for Business,
* Rt Hon James (Jim) Philip Knight, Former Minister of State
* Rt Hon Tommy McAvoy – former Government Deputy Chief Whip
* Rt Hon John McFall – former Chair of Treasury Select Committee and MP for West Dunbartonshire
* John Prescott – former Deputy Prime Minister
* Rt Hon Dr John Reid – former Home Secretary
* Rt Hon Angela Evans Smith – former Minister of State, Cabinet Office
* Rt Hon James Donnelly (Don) Touhig – former Parliamentary under Secretary of State (Minister for Veterans), Ministry of Defence
* Rt Hon Michael David Wills – former Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

Democratic Unionist Party
* Rt Hon Ian R K Paisley – former First Minister and DUP Leader


Note their are no peerages going to the SNP, Plaid or the Green Party.
Only old parties need apply.

Cameron Talks Tough On Prostitution

As the nation watches in horrow the events in Bradford, David Cameron calls for laws on legalising prostitution to be 'looked at'.

'Legalising prostitution should be re-examined in the wake of the Bradford sex worker killings', David Cameron said yesterday. He said the issue of decriminalising prostitution-related offences should be "looked at again" and called for tougher action on kerb-crawling and drug abuse.

Speaking to the BBC Look North programme, Mr Cameron said: "I dare say it should be looked at again. I don't think we should jump to conclusions on this - there are all sorts of problems that decriminalisation would bring.

"The first step is learn the lessons of what has worked elsewhere: tough on kerbcrawling, deal with problems of drug abuse, help prostitutes out of this industry, make sure all agencies work together. That would be a good start."

Prof David Canter, a leading criminal psychologist, has claimed that around 60 to 90 prostitutes have been murdered in Britain over the last ten years.

The act of prostitution is not illegal in itself but a number of related activities are. But our odd laws are actually making things worse. Its legal for a sex worker to on the street, where they are most vlnerable. Its legal for them to work from a house if they are on there own, where they are also vulnerable. If sex workers want a friend in the house with them for saftety, then they are breaking the law.

Its too early to comment on the events in Bradford, in time the detals will come out. Cameron should restrain himself from knee jerk responses in order to get a headline.

The Womens Institute looked into this issue, 6,000 members of the WI in Hampshire have just come out with a statement in favour of brothels. Their idea is not to make things easier for men but to force councils to make life safer for those women who live by prostitution, and thereby to improve life on the streets of this country.

We should be asking the street workers what they think. They say sex workers are 10 times more likely to be attacked on the street than indoors, and it is much safer to work with someone else than to work alone. Yet the law expressly forbids this – two or more women working together are classified as a brothel.

Cari Mitchell, from the English Collective of Prostitutes, said: "During Labour there was a government-led moral crusade against prostitution which viewed all sex work as violence against women. Raids are on the increase and women are being forced further underground," she said.

Top of her complaints list is the Policing and Crime Act, which came into force in April this year and aims to make local police forces more accountable to their community. She said the act had increased police powers to arrest and detain sex workers who were deemed to be loitering or soliciting, and coerce them into "rehabilitation" programmes under the threat of imprisonment.

When the Bill was making its way through Parliament, Chris Huhne, then the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman and now a member of the coalition cabinet, said it would "drive sex workers underground, into less safety and greater isolation."

The English Collective of Prostitutes said increased raids had already led to the closure of brothels, forcing women on to the streets to sell sex, often alone and without support. "Everyone is very nervous," said Ms Mitchell. "Women are being driven out on to the streets by these raids."

There are also complaints that new "proceeds of crime" legislation, which enables police forces to seize and use portions of money gained from a criminal activity, has given officers a financial incentive to raid brothels, which in Britain are classified as any place where two or more women are selling sex.

Laura Lee, an escort who works out of her flat in Glasgow, said prostitutes were being discriminated against by the legal system. "The state has blood on its hands. If three female accountants were killed there would be an absolute uproar, the Government would do everything it could to make their work safer. But there will be nothing done about three prostitutes."

In 2002 the Green Party voted overwhelmingly in favour of a radical motion on decriminalising the sex industry to protect those working within it.

Links:
Powerful support for Green Party policy on sex work.
Green Party policies on equality
My blog on decriminalisation and how the street workers have been treated in the Oxford Road area of Reading.

Breaking The Laws

Just days into his new job as chief secretary to the treasury, it seems LD David Laws has been found out breaking the rules.

The LD have maintained that they have been innocent compared to the Lab/Con expenses. Despite evidence to the contrary. So now one of their top people get caught out trousering £40,000 and they have turned tribal in defending him. If he broke the rules, he should resign. Are criminals alowed to just pay the money back with no punishment? No, so why should MPs. Yesterday we saw Baroness Scotland get away with it while her cleaner was sent to the cleaners. Loloahi Tapui, imprisoned for overstaying her student visa by four years, ex Attorney General getting away scot free. One rule for them, another for the rest of us.

LD Craig Murray says

"the Commons rules stated quite unequivocally that an MP could not claim to rent a room in a home owned by their partner. In 2006 a specific amendment was made to make that crystal clear. Laws does not deny he broke the rules, and is paying the money back.

The point made by Lib Dems throughout the blogosphere is that, if Laws and his partner had owned the homes jointly, he could have claimed the mortgage payments. That is of course true. But Laws did not do that, and the rules are explicit that the alternative of paying rent to your partner is not allowed."

David appologised this morning.
"I've been involved in a relationship with James Lundie since around 2001 - about two years after first moving in with him. Our relationship has been unknown to both family and friends throughout that time.

"I claimed back the costs of sharing a home in Kennington with James from 2001 to June 2007.

"In June 2007 James bought a new home in London and I continued to claim back my share of the costs.

"I extended the mortgage on my Somerset property - for which I do not claim any allowances or expenses - to help James purchase the new property.

"In 2006 the Green Book rules were changed to prohibit payments to partners.

"At no point did I consider myself to be in breach of the rules which in 2009 defined partner as "one of a couple ... who although not married to each-other or civil partners are living together and treat each-other as spouses".

"Although we were living together we did not treat each other as spouses - for example we do not share bank accounts and indeed have separate social lives.

"However, I now accept that this was open to interpretation and will immediately pay back the costs of the rent and other housing costs I claimed from the time the rules changed until August 2009.

"My motivation throughout has not been to maximise profit but to simply protect our privacy and my wish not to reveal my sexuality.

"However, I regret this situation deeply, accept that I should not have claimed my expenses in this way and apologise fully.

"I have also referred myself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner."

Oxford Union Society Debate Climate Change

Last week, members of the historic Oxford Union Society, carried the motion “That this House would put economic growth before combating climate change” by 135 votes to 110.

Some may argue that the debate was a bit "stacked"; the question to be debated was not phrased in terms of, "is man-made climate change real?", but in relative terms "That this House would put economic growth before combating climate change". The deniers are using this debate as evidence that Global Warming is fiction. But a debate is about arguments, not facts. Its about who can come up with the most interesting, unexpected argument that the other side is unable to rebut.

So who took part in the debate? Proposing were well known climate deniers and Thatcherites Lord Lawson of Blaby (Cons), James Delingpole obsessive denialist blogger,
Lord Leach of Fairford (Cons) and Lord Monckton. Against were Labours Lord Whitty, Zara McGlone, Secretary of the Oxford Union, Rajesh Makwana and Mike Mason.

I suspect if they had someone like Caroline Lucas/Tony Juniper/Jonathan Porritt the result would have been very different. I'm not sure I would believe a Labour peer if they told me today was Friday. I have not heard of any of the speakers against the motion; Whitty 'Voted moderately against laws to stop climate change'. Climate Care is part of J.P.Morgan, and is focused on emissions reduction credits. So half of the team were not very Green.

Lord Lawson of Blaby, Margaret Thatcher’s former finance minister, opened the case for the proposition by saying

that the economic proposals put forward by the UN’s climate panel and its supporters did not add up. It would be better to wait and see whether the scientists had gotten it right. It was not sensible to make expensive spending commitments, particularly at a time of great economic hardship, when the effectiveness of the spending was gravely in doubt and when it might do more harm than good.

At one point, Lord Lawson was interrupted by a US student, who demanded to know what was his connection with the Science and Public Policy Institute, and what were the Institute’s sources of funding. Lord Lawson was cheered when he said he neither knew nor cared who funded the Institute.

Zara McGlone, Secretary of the Oxford Union, opposed the motion, saying that

greenhouse gases had an effect; that the precautionary principle required immediate action; that Bangladesh was sinking beneath the waves; that the majority of scientists believed “global warming” was a problem; and that “irreversible natural destruction” would occur if we did nothing.

James Delingpole, denialist blogger for the Daily Telegraph, seconded the proposition, saying that –

politically speaking – the climate extremists had long since lost the argument. The general public simply did not buy the scare stories any more. The endless tales of Biblical disasters peddled by the alarmist faction were an unwelcome and now fortunately failed recrudescence of dull, gray Puritanism. Instead of hand-wringing and bed-wetting, we should celebrate the considerable achievements of the human race and start having fun.

Lord Whitty, a Labor peer from the trades union movement and, until recently, Labor’s Environment Minister in the Upper House, said that

the world’s oil supplies were rapidly running out; that we needed to change our definition of economic growth to take into account the value lost when we damaged the environment; that green jobs created by governments would help to end unemployment; that humans were the cause of most of the past century’s warming; that temperature today was at its highest in at least 40 million years; and that 95% of scientists believed our influence on the climate was catastrophic.

Lord Leach of Fairford, whom Margaret Thatcher appointed a Life Peer for his educational work, spoke third for the proposition. He said that

we no longer knew whether or not there had been much “global warming” over the 20th century, because the Climategate emails had exposed the terrestrial temperature records as defective. In any event, he said, throwing good money after bad on various alternative-energy boondoggles was unlikely to prove profitable in the long term and would ultimately do harm.

Mr. Rajesh Makwana, executive director of “Share The World’s Resources”, speaking third for the opposition, said that c

Far from slowing down, global emissions have increased by 40 percent since 2000, and continue to accelerate at 3 percent a year. According to reports based on existing pledges to limit emissions, we are currently on track for a rise in global temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius – twice the limit leaders aspired to at Copenhagen.

For those who deny that climate change is a consequence of our impact on the planet, despite what common sense and science tells us, I say this: the pursuit of economic growth is responsible not only for increasing levels of environmental pollution, but for the unsustainable over-use of the world’s natural resources. The pursuit of growth at all costs has created a competitive and commercialised world where accumulation is valued over sufficiency, where the self-interested needs of the few are placed before the needs of the planet, and where there are more people living in poverty and higher levels of inequality than ever before.

Why do we seem so unable to mitigate climate change? The simple reason is because we are addicted to economic growth, and governments are not willing to contemplate a comprehensive alternative whilst they are too busy competing with each other for economic advantage. It has also been calculated that if everyone consumed at the same level as most of us in this room consider normal, we would need three and a half planets the size of earth to sustain our economic activity. As far as I know, economists have yet to locate these additional two and half planets.

Lord Monckton, a former science advisor to Margaret Thatcher, concluded the case for the proposition. He drew immediate laughter and cheers when he described himself as

“Christopher Walter, Third Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, scholar, philanthropist, wit, man about town, and former chairman of the Wines and Spirits Committee of this honourable Society”. At that point his cummerbund came undone.

He said that real-world measurements, as opposed to models, showed that the warming effect of CO2 was a tiny fraction of the estimates peddled by the UN’s climate panel. He said that he would take his lead from Lord Lawson, however, in concentrating on the economics rather than the science. He glared at the opposition again and demanded whether, since they had declared themselves to be so worried about “global warming”, they would care to tell him – to two places of decimals and one standard deviation – the UN’s central estimate of the “global warming” that might result from a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration. Lord Monckton told them the answer was 3.26 plus or minus 0.69 Kelvin or Celsius degrees. An Hon. Member interrupted: “And your reference is?” Lord Monckton replied: “IPCC, 2007, chapter 10, box 10.2.” [cheers].

He concluded that shutting down the entire global economy for a whole year, with all the death, destruction, disaster, disease and distress that that would cause, would forestall just 4.7 ln(390/388) = 0.024 Kelvin or Celsius degrees of “global warming”, so that total economic shutdown for 41 years would prevent just 1 K of warming. Adaptation as and if necessary would be orders of magnitude cheaper and more cost-effective.

Mike Mason, founder and managing director of “Climate Care”, concluded for the opposition. He said that

the proposition were peculiar people, and that Lord Monckton was more peculiar than most, in that he was not a real Lord. Lord Monckton, on a point of order, told Mr. Mason that the proposition had avoided personalities and that if Mr. Mason were unable to argue other than ad hominem he should “get out”. [cheers] Mr. Mason then said that we had to prepare for climate risks [yes, in both directions, towards cooler as well as warmer]; and that there was a “scientific consensus”.

The President thanked the speakers and expressed the Society’s gratitude to the Science and Public Policy Institute for sponsoring the debate.

Ukip report this as their victory.
The USA blog Daily Kos covers this here.

For myself, 10 years ago the scientific argument was interesting. Now the evidence is so widely accepted the debate should have moved on, but for some, here mostly Thatcherites, they cite the 'medieval warm period' as though that was overwhelming evidence! They only accept warming if they can feel it, the idea of global average temperatures is of no interest. They are essentially anti science, unfortunately much of the media does not have a scientific background.
And the scientists must learn to be more readable. Please translate 'Failure to substantiate hemispheric warmth greater than the present consistently occurs in composites because there are significant offsets in timing of warmth in different regions; ignoring these offsets can lead to serious errors concerning inferences about the magnitude of Medieval warmth and its relevance to interpretation of late 20 th century warming.'

A recent study said that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had understated mankind’s overall contribution to climate change, so its worse that we thought.

As for the 'disputed consensus', 97% of the actively publishing climate scientists (as opposed to the scientists who are not publishing actively) (75 of 77 individuals out of the 3146) agree that human activity, is a significant contributing factor to global climate change.

Con Dem Decisions

As the world watches in horror at the oil damaged gulf of Mexico coast, the ConDems think ah lets hire the man who set this up. Ex BP boss Lord Browne.


Thats as silly as hiring the man in charge of bugging people for a national newspaper to run your election campaign. Oops, did that already.

And in defence, lets hire a man with strong links to contractors with a homophobic past. Opps, did that too.

Green Movement Changes Meaning of Earth Day

Guest post by Dan Grifen, everythingleft.wordpress.com, twitter.com/D_Grifen



April 22nd marked the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day and with a new anniversary comes a new meaning for the day. Started in 1970, Earth Day was originally conceived as a day in which the people of the world could come together and educate themselves about the needs of the planet. However, with the “Green” movement in full effect, Earth Day has gone from a day of environmental education to a day of environmental action.

For this year’s festivities, a massive rally turned out a success in WAshington. Organizers are hoping the rally will influence Congress into signing a new and much needed climate bill. Organizers have also set up The Earth Day Network to give information about the day itself and give awareness to green campaigns that need members and support.

One of these green campaigns is A Walk For Water. This campaign will help raise funds to build permanent water resources in West Africa, which in the 110+ degree heat of the area, will both help save the water supply and countless lives of the impoverished West African communities. The Earth Day Network has also crafted other grassroots campaigns to help save important environmental areas like forests and wetlands. However, not every green initiative is of the grassroots variety.

The major conglomerate Siemens is getting in on the movement by running a green campaign called A Million Acts of Green that motivates customers to come up with green solutions for the upcoming Earth Day. Many other major companies like Globetrotters Engineering Corporation (an architectural company founded by CEO, Niranjan Shah) work every day to help the environment by designing energy efficient buildings and homes. This shows that the green movement is big enough even for companies like Siemens and Shah’s Globetrotters Corporation.

Earth Day still celebrated its 40th anniversary, but in many ways this year’s celebration is somewhat of a rebirth. The day that was originally created to spread awareness and education of the planet’s problems has now become something more meaningful. It has now become a day in which the world works together to help and protect the Earth we all call home.

Reading Politics, New Mayor, New Coalition

I went to the mayor making ceremony at the old town hall in reading yesterday. Labour wore red roses the Tories were in gowns. All just a bit over the top.

The event started with a procession of people, the audience stood up in respect. We had just sat down when they played the national anthem and everyone had to stand again.

Cllr Tony Page proposed Cllr Gul Khan as the next mayor with one of the most dull speeches in the towns history. It was something to do with Gul driving a taxi as requested, quite astounding. Gul was seconded by Cllr Chris Maskell who at least was brief. We learned that he had been on a jolly trip to Pakistan for 5 days. Fab.

They voted on it and it was unanimous. The first vote of Green Cllr Rob White.


Meanwhile just like the national parties the Lib Dems have sold out what little principle they had and joined the Tories. They say power corrupts. At least nationally the Tories were the largest party, they had some legitimacy in joining with a smaller party in forming a coalition. In Reading Labour are the largest Party, so the ConDem local coalition has a wiff of 'coalition of losers' about it. Not that Labour deserved to be the largest party, they seem to be resting on past glories rather than looking at the big issues of the day.

All three of these big parties back road development schemes such as the proposed third bridge over the Thames near my home. Previous such schemes such as the Newbury Bypass have seen increased levels of traffic; the Lib Dems were in charge when it was built and have since lost power in Newbury.

On many issues its just the Greens in opposition, now we have a Cllr in Reading, and an MP in Parliament. What an exciting time in politics.

Capitalism: A Love Story

I saw this film on Saturday night, its a strange one. As always, Michael Moore makes some very good points, but this film is not really focused.

It starts with footage of real robbers with masks and guns. Then we are asked if our age will be remembered for cats flushing toilets, or this... Then we go to some people watching 7 sheriffs cars come to the house and break down the door. What is going on? Are they some cult? No, they have not paid the mortgage and the sheriff is kicking them out of their homes.

He builds the case very gradually that the financial sector are the crooks that are taking your money. Its done with with but its confusing, why do these people who have jobs and have lived in their houses for decades suddenly fail to pay their mortgages?

He contrasts the past where the well paid were taxed at 90%, the money was used for the common good. Now the top rate is 35%, the rich have got much richer.

It has some great moments, community action fighting back against the banks, Moore declaring the bank HQs crime scene, trying to arrest the CEOs. And the disturbing dead peasant insurance where corporations insure against their workers dying with them gaining if they die.

But I have seen better films from M Moore, Bowling For Columbine and Sicko for example. And I have seen better films about Capitalism; the Yes Men & The Corporation. Interestingly Michael is featured in both these films.

'Capitalism: A Love Story' is more about the current economic collapse and the politics. The bank bail out is seen here as the rich getting subsidised by the nation, and no one knows where the money has gone. Its hard to know from the outside if this is real.

It seems that the film started out as a direct follow up to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (2004) after President Bush was elected to a second term, but gradually changed focus more on corporate America, until the 2008 financial crisis and resulting Wall Street bailout prompted Moore to rework the film again to center on that story.

He points to links between Goldman Sachs and the Whitehouse administration. It doesn't surprise me though, we have heard many times about corporate lobbyists and Bush. He doesn't mention the role of Gordon Brown, who thought it was his idea. It leaves me with the question, what about the billions we in the UK gave to our banks? Will we get this back?

Considering the amount our politicians talk about our vast debt, they barely mention how much of it is our money leant to the banks is coming back. We heard in 2008 that Northern Rock paid back more than half of the £26bn it owed by 2008. By Jan 2009 more than £15 billion of that has been repaid.
On 3 March 2009 Northern Rock noted that only £8.9 billion of the loan remained unpaid.

On 6 February 2009, the Office for National Statistics announced that it was treating Northern Rock as a public corporation, causing the loans (approximately £25 billion) and guarantees (approximately £30 billion) extended by the Bank of England and the value of the company's mortgage book (approximately £55 billion), provisionally estimated to total around £100 billion, to be added to the National Debt. Although not technically a nationalisation, the decision effectively acknowledged that "In all but name, Northern Rock is now nationalised".

The addition of this borrowing to the Government's totals increases the National Debt from £537 billion, or 37.7% of GDP to around 45%. In the 2008 Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the government will issue £14 billion of gilts in order to cover the Northern Rock debt.

The national debt is £900 billion, £850bn is the cost of the bank bailout! Why does no one put these two numbers together?

Instead of getting the baks to pay it back, or even raising tax for the wealthy, we only hear of cuts of services, or making pensioners keep on working for longer.

In many ways we have the opposite of capitalism, the nation has taken all the risk from the banks, they know they cant fail now. The state went on to subsidise car companies. Rather than encourage them to behave better, this could mean they will take ever greater risks. I wish Michael had explored this in the movie.

I wrote about this movie when it came out.

Brian Haw Arrested This Morning

Brian Haw, the anti-war protester camped outside parliament, was arrested this morning as police cleared demonstrators ahead of the Queen's speech.

It's been 3279 days since the start of Brian's protest on 2 June 2001.

A witness reported seeing Haw being handcuffed by officers opposite the Houses of Parliament where he and other peace campaigners maintain a round-the-clock protest.

Police with sniffer dogs moved to search the tents on Parliament Square before the Queen arrived to announce the new government's plans. 'While in opposition, the Tories promised that they'd evict Haw should they get in power, so in a way it's surprising they've taken this long to do it.'

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said two people were arrested at 8am "on suspicion of obstructing police". She did not confirm whether Haw was one of them.

Haw first set up camp in June 2001 in a one-man protest against war and foreign policy – initially, the sanctions against Iraq. He said he was inspired to take up his vigil after seeing the images and information produced by the Mariam appeal, an anti-sanctions campaign.

Haw only leaves his campsite to attend court hearings and survives on food brought by supporters, who include the former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn and activist and comedian Mark Thomas.

The 60-year-old father-of-seven, from Redditch, Worcestershire, has been arrested several times. The Greater London Authority, which owns the land, says it has been "increasingly concerned by the ongoing mess and chaos".

The subject is a hot topic on twitter.

Wind Week 2010 - Visit A Wind Farm from 12th June

Would you like to visit a wind farm? Wind Week 2010 is the annual celebration of wind power in the UK, and involves opening up wind farms across the country to visitors.

Events this year range from evening walks in Scotland up to Garves Mountain, live music & kids' activities at Beaufort House in Hertfordshire, and turbine in Leicester Square!

Embrace my planet have set up a special page on the Embrace website containing details of all Wind Week events, which you can find here. If you know anyone who might be interested in seeing a wind farm for themselves, pass this message along!

In Reading the Green Park Turbine opening Sunday, 20 June 2010 - 11:00am - 2:00pm

You can follow them on Facebook and on Twitter!

Whilst polls reveal overwhelming support for wind energy - 74% are in favour of increasing it - a staggering 75% of onshore applications are being turned down by planning committees!

Oona King 'The Bridget Jones of the Commons'

Oona King has announced she wants to be Mayor of London. I had a look on the web, one of the first things to come up was the article below. Rather than me discuss her good and bad points she does the job herself.

Just look at the title. And why write for the daily mail? And why call yourself Oona King - 'The Bridget Jones of the Commons'? No mention of being only the second black female MP.

She has some odd things to say. Listening to a speech from Gordon Brown is better than sex!
She quotes Tony Blair describing her speech as: "Brilliant zit."! She 'was shocked when George Galloway announced he was standing against me, but then I realised it could be a blessing ? I could escape the biggest constituency caseload in Britain. In fact, maybe I should deliver his leaflets.'

February 16, 1998. 'Bloody Whips wanted me to vote to bomb Iraq. I didn't.' No mention of her voting for the Iraq war. Which surely is why she lost to Galloway.

Unlike the rest of the country, in the recent election London went for Labour; perhaps as a response to Boris. So Labour should have a chance to be the next Mayor. But with Oona?


'The Bridget Jones of the Commons' By OONA KING 01 September 2007

It is 9am and I am searching for pornography on my parliamentary internet account.
It's essential I find some pretty sharpish. I'm due in hospital for IVF treatment this morning and we need a sperm sample.
Neither myself nor my Italian husband, Tiberio, has ever felt so turned off in our ten-year relationship.

I suggest porn, but am taken aback when Tiberio says he doesn't have any.
I thought even nice men always had a secret stash.



The 1997 General Election was like being rushed into political Accident & Emergency. Unlike candidates selected years earlier in other constituencies,
I didn't have to campaign endlessly before the starting gun in April. I took Bethnal Green and Bow with a seemingly impregnable majority of 11,285.

May 6, 1997.
First day at school. I walk into the Chamber, gobsmacked to be standing between the famous green benches.
Three male Tories walk in, such a bizarre species with their upper-class accents and public-school striped ties.
They are in two minds about calling security. Then they see my Member's pass. They look at me as if I've gatecrashed their private club.

July 1, 1997.
Today I made my maiden speech. There was a man and his dog in the Chamber.
Well, maybe a dozen MPs. You could see the few still awake saying to themselves: "Oh my goodness, it seems she can actually string a few words together."

February 16, 1998.
Bloody Whips wanted me to vote to bomb Iraq. I didn't.

November 11, 1998.
Got in from the Commons after midnight.
Tiberio told me I'd left the bedroom a mess and that our marriage was pointless because we never saw each other.
Went to bed at 4am, alarm went off at 6.30am. Meetings all morning. After Prime Minister's Questions, I was summoned to the PM's parliamentary office.
Inside were the people who ran the court of Tony: Alastair Campbell, Sally Morgan and Anji Hunter.
The door to the main office was ajar and Tony was at his desk poring over papers. He nodded in my direction.
"We need you to pen an article," said Alastair.
"About?"
"Ken Livingstone."
"Why?"
"Well, as you know, he's trying to undermine the Labour Party."
"What sort of article?"
"An article saying he can't be trusted."
I wasn't a cheerleader for Ken but I didn't like the way Blair had tried to prevent him becoming Labour candidate for Mayor of London.
It was a democratic process and we shouldn't undermine it.
Pathetically, the first words out of my mouth were: "Why me?"
"Well," said Anji, playing her good-cop role without irony, "you're considered independent-minded."
"And you're an ethnic minority MP," said Alastair, "you're held in high regard by the black community who make up a large proportion of London's electorate. We need you to get the message across."
"Thing is," I said, "I don't go in for personal attacks. And the other thing is, I don't agree with the strategy."
"Look," said Sally. "He's out to destroy the Labour Party and we have to respond."
"But you see, Sally, I don't agree that he's out to destroy the Labour Party.
"He just has a different point of view."
"B*******!" Sally slammed the desk with her fist. I jumped involuntarily.
A booming voice in my head was saying: "Backbencher under attack. Mortal danger. Must retreat."
"Look," said Alastair. "This is a direct request from the Prime Minister. Is your answer yes or no?"
"If you need an answer right this second ... "
"Yes we do."
"Well then...I know it's the end of my political career, but the answer is no."
Alastair replied: "It's not the end of your political career, Oona. Just the next five years. You can go now."
Alastair was sort of joking and sort of not. Their demeanour was deadly serious. That's why they are good at their jobs. They have to be nasty so Tony can be nice.

December 11, 1998.
Karen Buck and I, as executives of the London Group of Labour MPs, have a meeting with the PM to discuss immigration.
Two days beforehand I get a message from Sally Morgan telling me not to come. I ring her to find out why the meeting is cancelled.
She said: "The meeting with Tony hasn't been cancelled. It's just that on reflection we decided it was better if you didn't come. Immigration is a highly sensitive issue. We can only have people we trust."
In medialand I am described as a Blairista, but in the real world, in No 10 they don't trust me as far as they can throw me. There is no love lost.

April 16, 1999.
My constituency surgery lasted six hours. As usual, I saw loads of desperate people.
A woman sat at my desk, alone, petrified, disabled with lupus, clutching her crutches.
No family, no friends, no money. Anthea was 21. Apart from £5 to get a taxi home, she was penniless. I gave her £20.
On the way home I stopped at the bank. "Available balance £6.10," said the cash machine. Just £6.10 to last until payday in two weeks.

September 4, 1999.
Samos. Four hours left of our four-week holiday.
There was crisis in May when Tiberio sort of asked for a divorce ("You're married to the constituency, not to me"); the constituency was bombed [the Brick Lane attack that formed part of a campaign to target ethnic minorities] and I had death threats from extreme Right-wing groups.
I now feel stronger, but not fit. Tiberio on the other hand is a vision of taut, rippling muscles. It's like being married to Kate Moss, except he is Italian and looks like an Indian prince.


January 9, 2001.
Left Parliament, got into our new car at midnight and crashed it.
Arrived home at 4am, when I noticed my pager had a message from Tiberio asking me to ring him at about 1.30am.
Tiberio calmly told me he wanted to leave me because he'd had enough of waiting for me all night. He is going to find out if his office can move him to Italy.

January 12, 2001.
We've arranged to go away for the weekend, to Suffolk to try to stitch our marriage back together. Tiberio packed food and a nice bottle of wine.
Anji Hunter was making arrangements for Blair to visit my constituency on Monday. I had to ring her the minute she paged me.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find my mobile. We were 40 miles out of London and I went to double-check my pager.
Then I realised I'd left it in a petrol station. The only thing worse than leaving my pager in a petrol station when the PM's office is trying to get hold of me would be to tell my husband that he's got to drive a 100-mile round trip to find it. I thought: "I'll send a message [to the pager] saying, 'I've left my pager with you, could you please ring me back?'"
About three minutes later this nice petrol-station attendant rang me on Tiberio's mobile.
"Thank God you've got my pager," I said. "I'm really grateful because I was expecting an urgent call." "Oh, yes love," said the attendant. "You did get a call about five minutes after you left. It was from an Anji Hunter. The message said to ring her urgently."
I tried to meditate.
"Oh, don't worry love," said the man. "I rang the number."
"You what?!" I was almost screeching. The petrol attendant had rung No10.
I rang Anji to apologise and explained we'd be at the house soon. But there was a power cut, Tiberio's mobile had no signal and, worse, there was no heating.
We got candles from a pub and Tiberio worked out which fuse had gone. I rang Anji and she was relaxed. It's obvious why she's the PM's assistant: she's happy to deal with any old rubbish at midnight on a Friday.


January 21, 2001.
Tiberio says he's leaving me again because the one night I get home early to see him, I go to sleep.
I often work a 90-hour week. It's a terrible thing when the person you love says they don't like you any more; not even they don't love you.
That's why I think I'm close to a breakdown. He says: "You're a politician, I don't believe a word that comes out of your mouth."
I'm f****d whatever I do. Either I stay in my job and lose my husband or save my marriage and lose my job.
I've wanted to be an MP since I was five. How can you give up your dream when you come that close to being in government and having influence to change things for the better?
So few people have this chance, and no other young black woman has this chance in the Commons right now.
To come this close and say: "Er, actually, it's not for me. No thanks."
It makes me want to cry. But it will have to be my job that goes because Tiberio is more important. I've decided to resign.

May 14, 2001.
Campaigning after foot-and-mouth crisis delayed General Election. It's nice to see yellow "Vote For Our Oona" stickers appearing in windows.
However, I'm sick of my own voice. And if I get one more f******* question about burning cows...

June 10, 2001.
Was re-elected just in time for Tiberio's birthday ? the worst present I could give him.
He hasn't seen me for months. Still, my share of the vote went up from 46 per cent in 1997 to 50.4 per cent.
That's the sort of thing MPs get really excited about.


August 26, 2002.
To celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary we went our separate ways ? to Greece as always, but to different islands.
Tiberio spent a week thinking about our relationship and decided that, in fact, he loved me.
I reluctantly agreed to six months' relationship counselling. Roles reversed. He wanted to save the marriage, I no longer did.
The counselling was helpful because it allowed us to ask the questions in a rational way. We stayed together.

January-April, 2003.
I wrote virtually no diary entries during this time. I spent months agonising over the vote for war in Iraq. Five years earlier I had argued against military action in Iraq.
I had asked for Saddam Hussein to be given more time to comply with UN resolutions.
As the vote in 2003 approached, I felt I could no longer do that.
But had I known then that the American government had not one scrap of post-conflict planning in place, and that their stupidity would condemn Iraq to endless war, then I would not have voted to invade.

June 13, 2003.
It's the Cabinet reshuffle today. As usual, I haven't got a promotion. Devastated.
I cannot think of any other workplace where I wouldn't have made a bit of progress. That's Westminster for you. And once you cross these guys, that's it.

December 2, 2004.
Watched Gordon Brown deliver his pre-Budget report. He wiped the floor. The Tories hardly bother to attack.
No disrespect to my husband when I say that listening to Gordon at his best is better than sex.

April 4, 2005.
Today was the day the PM didn't fire the starting gun for the Election because, the night before last, the Pope died.
All parties suspended political campaigning as a mark of respect. Except Respect.
I was shocked when George Galloway announced he was standing against me, but then I realised it could be a blessing ? I could escape the biggest constituency caseload in Britain. In fact, maybe I should deliver his leaflets.

May 5, 2005 ? Election day.
I've lost to Galloway. I feel deep, deep shock. But then again, I don't. It's not the end of the world.
I walk down the steps of the stage and hug Tiberio. It's almost 5am. Almost time to start a new life.

November 13, 2002.
Big day in Parliament for me today.
I seconded the Queen's Speech. My speech went well. I got loads of letters from MPs saying they liked it. Unfortunately, you can't read their writing.
Gordon Brown wrote: "Congratulations on your great speech on the Mormons." Translation: Commons.
From Jack Straw's letter:
". . . Combining great humus with some onions. So my sinuses lung rabulation." Translation: Combining great humour with serious points. So my sincere congratulations.
The letter from the PM read: "Brilliant zit." In fact he'd written, "Brilliant. It is a difficult speech but you did it superbly."
The Leader Of The Opposition, Iain Duncan Smith's response in the Commons was really funny.
He said: "I gather that when the Hon Lady was a teenager she said she wanted to be both Prime Minister and an air hostess. There is consistency in her ambition: air hostesses and the Prime Minister spend their days repeating the same pre-prepared and utterly predictable announcements before jetting off around the world."
Then, bizarrely, I listened to IDS quote me talking about Tiberio: "He is Andy Garcia-gorgeous, speaks five languages including Japanese, has a black belt in karate, does all the shopping and cooks the most fantastic Italian food."
"Now we know," continued IDS, "why she has campaigned for so long and so hard to change the hours in this place: she wants to get home earlier."
He is so right.

The Oona King Diaries: House Music, by Oona King, is published by Bloomsbury on September 17, priced £12.99. To order your copy at the special price of £12.99 with free p&p call The Review Bookstore on 0845 606 4213.


Comments (1)
Since losing her seat as an MP, Oona King has been on TV at every available opportunity proving in my view that it was the fame/media attention associated with her position that she loved above all. Please Oona I'm sure you're a lovely person but go away - just for a little while at least. Please?
- Ollie, London, England, 03/9/2007 10:08

Greenprint to 2050

The Greenprint to 2050 will set out a vision of what 2050 will look like, from the perspective of the next generation, with the aim of presenting it to key political leaders at the House of Commons later this year.

The launch event will see a panel of six aspiring young politicians from the likes of the Conservative, Green, Liberal Democrat and Labour parties, gather with sixty 16 to 25 year olds to determine what the youth of today believe society should look like in 40 years time.


Date: Tuesday 8th June 2010
Time: 9am-1pm
Venue: The Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
(Lunch and refreshments will be provided)

Reserve your place by emailing: climate.squad@globalactionplan.org.uk

Vist the Climate Squad website to find out more.

Green have arrived

You know you've arrived when...

They bring out toy puppets of your leader



Unfortunately it looks nothing like Caroline, but you can't have everything.

Renewables Potential UK

The Offshore Valuation Group is an informal collaboration of government and industry organisations who have come together to address the question: what is the value of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource?

They found that the resources exceeded expectations. In harnessing 29% of the practical offshore renewable resource by 2050:

• the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil could be generated annually, matching North Sea oil and gas production and making Britain a net electricity exporter;
• carbon dioxide reductions of 1.1 billion tonnes would be achieved by the UK between 2010 and 2050 – a major contribution towards 2050 climate targets;
• 145,000 new UK jobs could be created by industry.

The infrastructure deployment required is similar in scale to that of oil and gas in recent decades. The major expansion of the supply chain this needs will not happen on its own, however, but will take strong and continuing support from government and industry in the coming years.

The only disappointment is the focus on offshore, its more expensive and has more drawbacks than on shore wind. However, its good to hear people talking about the huge renewable resources out there. In contrast to the Tories & Labour, who seem to think nuclear is the answer.

Gas Flares Or Renewables

Many people have been watching with horror the Deepwater Horizon incident, oil slicks heading for the coast, wildlife and fishing industry in danger.

To date, 12 bottlenose dolphins, 162 sea turtles and 35 birds have been found oiled, and most have died, with the exception of four birds that have been cleaned and released and six that are still being cared for. But wildlife scientists said Tuesday that we may never know about most of the marine mammal and bird deaths from this massive oil spill because many species spend their entire lives out at sea. Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told reporters on a teleconference, "What concerns us most is what we can't see, the birds and animals that spend their lives offshore. Millions of birds migrate thru these marshes, some spend most of their lives at sea, and they are foraging in the spill area right now."

In the USA some of the blame is pointing at us, it is BRITISH petroleum. BP owns the well that continues to spill crude; Swiss company Transocean owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform; Halliburton performed cementing work on the well; and Houston-based Cameron International Corp. manufactured the blowout preventer. A 2001 report by the blowout preventer's owner, Transocean, showed up to 260 possible failings in the device!



Some discussion has broken out about gas flares. Why, they ask, is so much energy being burned for no useful purpose?

The flares primary purpose is to act as a safety device to protect vessels or pipes from over-pressuring due to unplanned upsets. This acts just like the spout on a tea kettle when it starts whistling as the water in it starts boiling. Whenever plant equipment items are over-pressured, the pressure relief valves on the equipment automatically releases gases (and sometimes liquids as well) which are routed through large piping runs calledflare headers to the flare stacks. The released gases and/or liquids are burned as they exit the flare stacks. The size and brightness of the resulting flame depends upon how much flammable material was released. Steam can be injected into the flame to reduce the formation of black smoke. In order to keep the flare system functional, a small amount of gas is continuously burned, like a pilot light, so that the system is always ready for its primary purpose as an over-pressure safety system.

While it may have been true that some flares have been used to burn flammable "waste" gases or by-products that are not economical to retain, the industry is moving to flare-gas recovery systems to decrease waste and reduce emissions.

Flaring and venting of natural gas in oil wells is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Its contribution to greenhouse gases has declined by three-quarters in absolute terms since a peak in the 1970s of approximately 110 million metric tons/year and now accounts for about 1/2 of one percent of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. The World Bank estimates that 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas are flared or vented annually, an amount equivalent to the combined annual gas consumption of Germany and France, twice the annual gas consumption of Africa, three quarters of Russian gas exports, or enough to supply the entire world with gas for 20 days. This flaring is highly concentrated: 10 countries account for 75% of emissions, and twenty for 90%. The largest flaring operations occur in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The leading contributors to gas flaring are (in declining order): Nigeria, Russia, Iran, Algeria, Mexico, Venezuela, Indonesia, and the United States.

Instead of relying on such dangerous sources, we should be investing in renewables. Wind, solar, tidal are all good examples, we have the technology, lets have some leadership ConDems. There is a danger the investment will go to nuclear power, but that isnt renewable. Future generations will see us as having used millions of years worth of fossil fuels in a century, polluting the planet. We owe it to them, invest in renewables now.

I Agree With Caroline

I just heard last weeks Any Questions on iplayer, what a great debate. Caroline showed just how good she would have been in the leaders debate, what a shame that was reserved for big parties only. A few times I heard the others say they agreed with her, the audience was certainly behind her.

They all agreed she would make a bid difference, even as a lone Green. What must be remembered with Caroline, is that unlike the other party leaders, she has fought her way up to this from nothing. She was the first Green councillor in Oxford - and only the second Green county councillor to be elected in the UK. Then she became the first Green MEP (jointly with Jean Lambert). So she has earned being the first Green MP, and will know what to do in Parliament. She quoted Gandi: “Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”

A few thoughts from the discussion. The Con Dems think they have made a great deal. And on some issues we will need time to judge the effect. But what I want to look at now is the way the deal was done. Fair enough they had to make a backroom deal.

One of the biggest criticisms of Brown and Blair was that announcements were made outside the House of Commons. So before parliament has opened we had a series of announcements. No debate or discussion.

1. Fixed term 5 year parliament. I have my doubts about this, in the USA it means 5 year election campaigns. However if thats the will of parliament, after a proper debate, fair enough. But with no debate, many issues will not have been considered.

'The Tories might not have realised that the first Thursday in May 2015 is also a Holyrood election day, but the Lib Dems with their Scottish contingent surely did. A five year "first Thursday in May" would clash with Holyrood every 20 years. Even if you had to have five year terms, why that one day?'

Australia and New Zealand both have three-year maximum terms. The legislatures of Canada and many of its provinces have four-year fixed terms, as do most Australian states. The devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have four-year fixed terms. Ireland’s lower house has a five-year maximum, as in the UK. So a five year term is long by comparison with most other similar systems.

‘We need more debate about whether the term should be four or five years’ Prof Hazell of UCL said. ‘All other Westminster parliaments which have set a fixed term have gone for four years. There also needs to be more thought about how Westminster’s fixed terms will fit with other electoral cycles. 2015 is the date for devolved elections. Do we want Westminster elections at the same time as those for the Scottish Parliament, and Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies?’

Have they considered local elections across the country? In a proper debate all such issues would have been considered, and a solution reached.

2. Recall of Parliament needs 55% of MPs. So if every non Tory MP should decide to vote against the Tories, thats 53%, we would still have a ConDem alliance! Seems a bit odd to me.

Of the 'four central policy commitments' the LibDems think they have achieved.
'Tax reform has been watered down to the point of being regressive, there is an AV – not PR – referendum, the other political reforms that were set out to be achieved are largely sidelined to nothing more than committees or aspirations, the pupil premium was already in the Tory manifesto, they will have to abstain if there is a proposal for tuition fees to be uncapped (even though some LibDem MPs are confused and think they can go against this – that will be interesting) and they are not helping the enviroment – they have just welcomed the creation of even more nuclear power.'

Just not being Gordon Brown is good enough to make people happy for a few days. But being as undemocratic as him will soon put as back in the same place.

As a Green I am most concerned about unfair taxes, nuclear power and nuclear weapons. As to reducing emissions, it seems the ConDems may be bbetter then Labour, but thats more to do with Labour being bad than the other two being any good. All three talk the Green language on occasion; for years we have seen Labour pretend to lead the world on Green issues while fail to achieve anything serious. I await the ConDems on this with interest.

Great Chalfield Manor and Garden

I went to visit Great Chalfield Manor and Garden a month ago. Its near Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 8NH and National Trust.


The beautiful medieval manor is surrounded by a moat. Cross the moat, passing barns, gatehouse and delightful parish church to see fine oriel windows and the soldiers, griffons and monkey adorning the rooftops. Gardens offer terraces, topiary houses, gazebo, lily pond, roses and views across the spring-fed fish-pond. And a room for drying fruit, to preserve it.


I was lucky to arrive in time for a guided tour. Tours take 45 minutes and numbers are limited. The guide pointed out many things I would not have spotted, stone masons marks, a door with a tiny entrance, so that an unfriendly visitor would be vulnerable.


Built in the late 15th century, defended by a gatehouse, moat and wall. The national trust website doesn't mention this, I think they want you to buy their book.

GreenPark Wind turbine. Can We Have Some More Please.

Vital statistics
Site address - South Oak Way, Green Park, Reading
Running Since - 18 Nov 2005
Turbines - 1
Hub height - 85m
Rotor diameter - 70m
Capacity - 2MW
Green electricity per year - 3.5 million units
Equivalent homes - 1,063
CO2 savings - 3,018 tonnes

Yesterday I went on a tour of the GreenPark Wind turbine. Around 20,000 schoolchildren a year and many adults go on this tour. They've got a little visitors area with various information boards and a electronic readout of power generation, which is not accurate (we were told). Its probably seen by more people every day than any other windmill, anywhere (its next to the M4. (For some reason Ecotricity call them windmills, not wind turbines).

The hub is 85m above ground level. The blades are 35m long. Its the largest type of wind turbine in the EU , there are 2000 in Germany. It weighs 300 tons. For safety its locked down at 68 wind mph speed. Made in Germany by enercom.

Most of the first generation of turbines were 45m and geared mechanism, they changed gear like a car. Very mechanised. Now they are more more software oriented. Much less noisy. The old turbines had a thump that you could hear above the road noise.

In contrast, the domestic units, such as the plugandsave or airdolphin cost £1500ish each and make £10 a year return, so are not going to make much money. Better to combine with others and get a big one. Better to be over 12 m high. The wind speed is stronger at height, double or more.

In Germany the planning process to build these takes a maximum of 1 year, in the UK in Hayling Island its taken 16 years. Enercon is not offering or supplying wind turbines to offshore projects as Enercon's managing director Aloys Wobben questions the costs and risks of offshore wind farms because the demand for onshore wind turbines where costs and risks are significantly lower can hardly be satisfied!

Common myths about wind turbines:
Reflections distracts cars; light absorbent paint has been used for 14 years now, so no. There is flicker caused by shadows of the moving blades, but in a car you get flicker from moving past trees and buildings, so no added danger there.

Bird strike; consult experts such as the RSPB to site away from migration routes. The RSPB supports wind turbines. A recent US study, Comparison of Reported Effects and Risks to Vertebrate Wildlife – which appears to be the only comparative study of electricity generation to factor in wildlife mortality – concludes that thanks to emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and mercury, coal-fired generation is a far greater killer. But it's also worth mentioning that birds and bats fly into oil platforms and cooling towers, too.


Noise. Anti wind groups like HARM (against proposed Rushey Mead Wind Farm also on the M4) say that wind turbines cause sleep deprivation. A study says this is wrong, its quieter than roads. HARM are protesting a wind farm sited by the M4, so it will be drowned by wind noise. HARM are Nimbys (Not-in-My-Backyarders). They want wind farms to be over a mile from the nearest home, so only in the remotest parts of the country. You can hear the road in my video, not the turbine.

Interesting sites
Wind Energy Planning
RenewableUK
Ecotricity
Green Energy
RES
Sustainable Development Commission
therenewableenergycentre


I haven't checked them, but these are said to be peer reviewed science:
“Infrasound from Wind Turbines – Fact, Fiction or Deception?” by Geoff Leventhall in Vol. 34 No.2 (2006) of the peer-reviewed journal Canadian Acoustics “Electricity generation and health” in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet . The paper concludes that “Forms of renewable energy generation are still in the early phases of their technological development, but most seem to be associated with few adverse effects on health”

Also - non-peer reviewed but still worth considering
“Wind Turbine Facilities Noise Issues” by Dr. Ramani Ramakrishnan for the Ontario
Ministry of the Environment “Wind Turbine Acoustic Noise”, A White Paper by Dr. Anthony Rodgers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
“Research into Aerodynamic Modulation of Wind Turbine Noise”, University of Salford, UK, July 2007
“Health impact of wind turbines” , prepared by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent Health & Family Services Public Health Unit. Comprehensive review of available literature; Energy, sustainable development and health, World Health Organisation, June 2004.

Italian market comes to Woodley

Lovely day at the Italian food market in Woodley. I got some cheese,
bread and olives. There was even some morris dancing, local not Italian.

Comparison GE with LE results May 2010 Reading East

Before a General Election households get lots of leaflets showing Local Election results, in bar charts showing the positions of the parties. So after this General Election I thought it would be interesting to see how Local and General Elections compare. Do people vote the same way in Locals as they do in Generals?


The solid colour is the General result, the transparent one is the Local.

As you can see, the Tories would have won in both cases. It looks like the LD came even further ahead of Lab in the locals (got that wrong first time, sorry, UPDATED). Look at how much better our result was in the Locals! More than 3 times the votes!

It backs up what some people were telling us, that they would vote Green locally, but not in the General. As Ukip and the independents didn't stand a full slate their results cant so easily be compared. Actually we were one ward short of a full slate, South Lake in Wokingham, so you can count on a few more votes for us. It was also 7.6%, more than enough to keep the deposit (5%).

So are locals a good predictor of a General Election? Its never precise, and as long as its understood to be an indicator, its ok. Its when people use it to say 'cant win here' that it gets me angry. And after the election, do you even hear an apology? "Actually voters we were wrong, they could have won, but hey anyone can make a mistake! Again" Because both Labour and LD leaflets claimed it to be a two horse race. Labour based on the 2005 GE, LD on local elections. I said at the time that both were wrong, and I was correct.

I had a look at the figures for Reading West, but it doesn't work so well, as there were no Local Elections this year in the West Berkshire Part of the constituency.

It shows Labour winning, but the part of the constituency missed out is more Tory. As before Ukip and the Common Sencers didnt stand a full slate, so cant be compared. Once more, our vote went up, not quite double.

How Green are the party policies? By Alana McVerry

I found this article most interesting, so am putting it here as a guest blog. With the coalition of ComDems formed, politics has changed. So a quick look at how the parties compare on green issues is in order. It was published before the election.

UK General Election: How Green are the party policies?
By Alana McVerry

The multitude of slanderous campaigns and squabbling fights are escalating, the leaders ferociously scratching their way to the top post as the election day draws ever near.
If you still remain undecided on which one of those blokes on telly shouting at each other you would like in the top seat, then here's a quick green related guide to help you on your way.


Labour
if the events of the last 10 years haven't been too detrimental to your welfare then maybe good old Gordon is still in the running for your vote. But how green is Gordon?

Economy:
Given the lovely shape our economy has been pummeled in by it's trusted instructor, we would expect some 'lets take action' style policies on this front. However, what we actually have is some vague plans to cut 'low priority' government programs, with decisions to be made post election. Ooh sneaky. What we want is better provision for health care, education and frontline services, but to pay less for it. But given how far removed the top dog is from the day to day running of the NHS and such like, it's kind of like when you were a toddler and you spent three hours trying to fit the square block through the circle hole. It always ends in tears.

Transport:
The only party to be very 'un-greenly' supportive of a third runway at Heathrow. Though they seem to be trying to slip this through with a policy on electric car charging points and improved commuter services. Lesson to be learned, decoys never work when it's in print.

Environment:
80% carbon cut by 2050 sounds quite promising. But given that we are really only electing them for a time period due to be up long before the 2050 deadline, and we won't really be able to hold them to count, why not just say 100%? You never know, I might believe you.

Jobs:
Focusing on youth unemployment with training places and education, and boosting the job market with vaguely termed 'green jobs'. 250,00 of them and all.

Tax:
50p tax rate for the super earners. Seems fair.

Green Score : 6/10 (It all went wrong at Heathrow)


Tories
Even Gordon is just not green enough, how will dear old David fare?

Economy
The tories plan on storming in and cutting everything, abolishing things, ending subsidies and reducing ministerial salaries. Charity begins at home after all.

Transport
Cameron professes to connect all the big cities with high speed rail to the continent. Now if they could just bring down the prices, we can end the Ryan-air dominion over cheap getaways we could prove once and for all that going green doesn't mean going nowhere.

Environment
The Tories say toodles to Heathrow's third runway ambitions, bumping up their green status against their labour competitors.

Jobs
Tax breaks for the first 10 staff hired and apprenticeships for the young. Sort of like chopping off the heads of weeds though. The garden might look nice for a while, but the roots will sure grow back.

Tax
Cameron seems to be sticking to the 50p tax rate, 'for now'. Which is a hint to all his aristocratic, and oligarchic corporate fans that this one aint gonna stick. The poor souls almost had to take refuge in their holiday homes, crying in their sleep, it's like the fall of the empire all over again. After securing the upper class vote, Cameron takes back from the middle class, removing benefits for the £50,000 plus families. And raises taxes on alcopops and cider. He sure is lucky binge drinking 16 year olds can't vote.

Green Score: 6.5/10 (Not bad, but could do better)


Lib Dems
if you're about to give up at this point and move to an eco-village in the middle of Wales, I beg you to read on, it can only get greener.

Economy
It seems Lib Dems are more in force with the tough tories, advocating cuts across the board and full child trust fund abolishment. So, the answer is no Oliver, you cannot have some more.

Transport
Gold points for green friendly policies and a focus on shifting stuff from gas guzzing roadies to their much more environmentally polite train track peers. Its a stern 'No way' to Heathrow's expanding it's runway family.

Environment
100% Carbon Free by 2050 you say? Why not indeed. With a strong focus on green taxes, tougher targets, and renewable energy I'm almost tempted to invite Nick Clegg round for tea and pastries.

Jobs
Young people training schemes, etc etc. Yes we get it. There's lots of unemployed young people, and you all plan to do pretty much the same thing about it.

Tax
The Robin Hood award for an undeniably redistributive regime. More taxes for the wealthy, taxes on big cribs, and more money tax free for all those at the other end of the spectrum. Yes please.

Green Score: 8/10 (Why look at how we green we've grown?)



Green Party
And if Nick's just not nice enough and you still feel guilty about your generations huge carbon foot print go for Green.

Economy
Recognising that for a greener planet, we need a greener economy, the greens profess to kick start a green revolution bringing the low and zero carbon sectors of the economy to the forefront. Can I say green one more time?

Transport
The Greens 'get' that to make us leave our cars at home, we need more than apocalyptic ideas of a world under water. We need an alternative. It's all about public services for the greens, and putting it in local hands to create schemes around walking, cycling and bus travel that actually give people a reason to give up their gas guzzlers.

Environment
Hitting hard at the aviation industry by ending the preposterous subsidies that allow tour buses full of binge drinking Brits with matching nicknamed 'comedy' shirts to Tenerife to get blind drunk and give us all a bad name. There are no end to the green schemes such as energy efficiency in homes, schools and hospitals, reducing waste, wind and tidal generation expansion with an outpouring of jobs on the side. Well, they aren't called the green party for nothing.

Jobs
Lots of jobs to emerge from the investment in greener infrastructure. Not just this, they campaign for the minimum wage to be set at the 60% earnings level. So right now that would be £8.10. I wish they were in power when I was 18 and scrubbing a bar floor at 2 in the morning for £4.50 an hour.

Tax
Following the heels of our Lib Dems, the Greens show us that colour is not the only thing that unites them with Robin Hood the redistributer. Hitting the wealthy and the bankers, and helping the poorer and the more green. It's so simple when it's right.

Green Score : 9.5/ 10 (there's always room for improvement)

LibDem Conundrum

LD campaigners who have spent years fighting the Conservative party in their constituencies said activists had been left "disorientated and deflated" and that some said they had already left the party.

This 'focus' is from a Lib Dem blog.

Today many Lib Dems are in agony, 65 years waiting to be in government, but the price being they had to join the Tories!

So what ate LD activists saying about the coalition?
On the Tuition Fee Pledge:
Hedley Mccarthy "This lot look like setting the record for breaking manifesto commitments."
Kirsty Hall "i voted lib dem so i could go to uni i hope they dont back out on me now!!!!"
Ed Fraser "The deal Clegg struck is an absolute joke, he's selling the party down the river"

The NHS - "In leaflets distributed by the Lib Dems in the general election, we were apparently to be very afraid of the Tories gettinh their hands on the NHS as they would wreck it. Not my words, but those of the Lib Dems".

Matthew Huntbach "We get a poor election result thanks to Nick Clegg and the right-wingers who surround him running a poor general election campaign, then Nick Clegg and the right-wingers who surround him get us a poor deal from the Tories – silenced for a few scraps, then Nick Clegg and the right-wingers who surround him get all the government posts going. Then it’ll be the rest of us who suffer the hammering in the polls."

"I feel this will be nothing short of a disaster," said Jane Watkinson on her blog myliberaldemocratpoliticalramblings. "LibDem’s have jumped into bed with the Tories. Oh dear." "I can never support a LibDem/Tory coalition. I genuinely think this is the start of a serious destruction of the Lib Dems … we are going to be seriously squeezed in the next election. Labour will replace us in the north – we have already lost control of councils such as Sheffield – and the Tories will replace us in the south. We are going to be the soft face of a nasty government." "And where are the women? Out of 29 cabinet posts, how many of those do you think are women? The answer is 4." "And Clegg, to say that he is supposedly in a party who pride themselves on equality, it is very disappointing that none of the LibDem cabinet posts went to a woman."

"Two privately educated white male millionaires stepped through the door of Downing Street this morning to usher in an era of new politics" said one LD bloger before resigning.

The shape of their cabinet indicates that apart from token Teresa, they are fairly uniformly white, male, and public-school educated. Worse still, of the Liberal Democrats included, two have made their money in the financial markets and the third - apparent darling of the chattering classes Vince Cable - is a former Chief Economist at Shell.

There are going to be massive, "shock doctrine" style cuts to the public sector, starting almost immediately. The deadline appears to be the emergency budget, which has been declared to be 50 days away. At least £6 billion will go immediately, with a lot more to follow over the next year. That's massive cuts in public sector pay, benefits, public services - and no cuts to Trident, and no withdrawal from the £4 billion occupation of Afghanistan.

C'llr. Read: "I fear that the new alliance between the Conservatives and LibDems will take us in the wrong direction. I don't think these cuts are what people in the voted for last week. Many voters who voted LibDem last week have already told us that they are now regretting having done so, and will instead look to the Greens next time."

C'llr Ramsay: "Nick Clegg has also failed to use this situation to secure a fair voting system where every vote counts equally. LibDems have been campaigning for this for decades and this was their chance to make it happen. I think many LibDem activists and voters will be feeling betrayed."

Patrick Harvie MSP said:"This is an extraordinary decision by the Lib Dem leadership, and thousands of their activists and voters will feel heavily betrayed today. Many explicitly campaigned as the best way to keep the Tories out of power, as a party of radical change and a party of principle, and they have now been completely let down by Nick Clegg and his top team. These members and supporters did not work hard over the last weeks and months to see their party become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tories."

The Greens issued a "big, open, and comprehensive offer" to Liberal Democrat members and voters to come and join the Greens and campaign for real democratic change, real action to tackle poverty, and real action on climate change. The offer was made jointly by the Green Party of England and Wales and the Scottish Green Party.

Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said:
"The Lib Dems have shown themselves to be not so much a party of change as a party of changing its mind.

"The Lib Dems have made themselves known as a party of dirty tricks in election campaigns. But now, Nick Clegg has carried out the biggest Lib Dem dirty trick so far, betraying all those people who voted Lib Dem because they honestly thought it would bring about electoral reform."

Join the Green Party here

Election Reading 1876 Tilden Vs Hayes

During the election I picked up a book, I thought some fiction would help distract me. I started 1876 by Gore Vidal, he has written a series of historical novels, many about the USA.

So I proceeded to read 1876, it had some familiar names I had seen before in another book, 'Empire' unfortunately in the wrong order. And then, towards the end of the book, guess what happened? A General Election! One remarkably similar to the election Bush 'won' from Gore!

Tilden(Dem) and Hayes(Rep) both thought Tilden had won, based on the popular vote. The result in the Electoral College was in question because the states of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina each sent two sets of Electoral Votes to Congress.

Republicans had taken over the state governments in the South after the civil war (1865), but were unpopular with the overwhelmingly Democratic white southerners, many of whom resented what they perceived as interference from the North and blamed the Republicans for the Civil War. Republicans then were almost universally preferred by the South's newly enfranchised black voters. Both sides claimed victory though the Democratic claim was tainted by violence and the Republican by fraud.

The first contested election was that of 1800 when both Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, received 73 electoral votes, throwing the election into the House of Representatives. (After 36 ballots, the House chose Jefferson.) The consequence of the 1800 election was the 12th Amendment, providing that electors vote separately for president and vice-president.

The 1824 election saw a four-way split of electoral votes, with the House eventually choosing John Quincy Adams as president even though Andrew Jackson had received more electoral votes.

The 1876 election was a true mess, with disputes over which slates of electors had won in four different states. The final determination as to which slates of electors had in fact been elected was made on an 8-7 vote by a congressional commission. The commission's decision gave Rutherford Hayes 185 electoral votes and the presidency. The winner of the popular vote, Samuel Tilden, finished with 184 electoral votes.

In 1888, Republican Benjamin Harrison lost the popular vote to Grover Cleveland, but won narrowly in the Electoral College.

Then, in 2000, trouble brewed again when electoral victory hinged upon a terribly close and challenged fight for Florida's 25 electoral votes. The fight for Florida's votes went twice to the U. S. Supreme Court. It ended up with the five most conservative members of the Florida Court handing the presidency to George W. Bush.

A solution to this odd form of democracy is the National Popular Vote bill. In 2007, Maryland became the first state to enact the bill, then Hawaii, Illinois, and Virginia. Republicans have been skeptical of the National Popular Vote Bill because many "red" states are rural and have smaller populations (giving them disproportionate power in the Electoral College.


Watching the ConDem manoeuvres of the last few days, its interesting to see how other countries do it.

In looking up some of the data above, I found a few other interesting sites.

This website claims the more syllables in the name the candidate has, the more likely to win. It cites 28 Vs 12 cases in the USA.

While a local Green Blogger looks at the position on the ballot paper, a name beginning with A will be at the top, and so seen first. The statistical evidence points to a small advantage, 264 votes in a constituency. I am not about to change my name to get a few more votes.

This website compares how the GE would have looked under different systems. I have copied the data for the South East below.

FIRST PAST THE POST
Con Lab LD Other
75 4 4 1

ALTERNATIVE VOTE (AV)
Con Lab LD Other
74 4 5 1

ALTERNATIVE VOTE PLUS (AV+)
Con Lab LD Other
63 3 4 1

SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE (STV)
Con Lab LD Other
50 11 23

All but STV would predict a Green Vote. But STV gives more votes to the LibDems.
I wonder which system the LD prefer?