EU Referendum

I think the #EUref was partly a mid term chance to kick Cameron for austerity. USA mid terms often go against incumbent.

The EU was never popular or properly understood in the UK. Many believe it to be corrupt bureaucratic and anti democratic, when it is not so different to the equivalent UK institutions. What's democratic about the monarch or the House of Lords? 

People blamed traffic, housing shortages and lack of school places on the free movement of EU citizens when it was largely govt policy at fault. 

People are free to move around the UK as well, causing more strain on the SE and less on areas with fewer jobs. Sensible govts would encourage more jobs in these areas. The EU does this, the U.K. doesn't. 

Some think 52% voted for racism, actually I think leave would have got more votes if they hadn't morphed towards UKIP.

GE15 was won by clever targeting by the Tories, fraud and scaremongering. No surprise to see similar in #EUref

Leave cleverly used a handful of Labour MPs to give the impression it was cross party when it was mostly Tories.

Remain should have allied with @UKLabour @LibDems @SNP and @TheGreenParty far more. Presented a true cross party alliance. 

Vote Green 2016

Election Day today. Polls close at 10 pm so get out there and vote. 

I support Sheeplands Garden Centre

I support Sheeplands Garden Centre @HHSheeplands and ask Wokingham Council to treat them fairly #VoteGreen2016 

Sheeplands Website Petition:  

https://www.harehatchsheeplands.co.uk/sos 

Local Green Party Candidate blog 

http://davidworley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/hare-hatch-sheeplands-garden-centre.html?m=1 

Broad Street Cycle Path consultation

My email: 

I urge you to allow cycling along the length of Broad Street. A path could be raised or otherwise marked to reduce pedestrians mingling with cyclists. Crossings could let people cross safely as with other roads, but more frequently. I have seen this do well in Europe. 

Reading doesn’t have a cycle network just a series of fragments of cycling structure. Allowing cycling along the full length of Broad Street will join up more of the network. 

See more here 

https://reading.greenparty.org.uk/news/2016/03/03/respond-to-broad-street-cycling-consultation/

New tunnel in Reading

Before and after pictures. I blogged about this in 2007! http://greenreading.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/new-cycle-route-from-kings-meadow-to.html?m=1 

 

An Omnishambles of a Foreign Policy

Adapted from a Facebook post by Sebastian Budgen.

1) Combat the bombing and random murder of civilians with the bombing and random murder of civilians;

2) Combat the attacks on civil liberties and freedoms with attacks on civil liberties and freedoms;

3) Combat the jihadists' attempts to promote the perception of two irreconcilable and antagonistic camps - Islam and the West - with the promotion of the perception that there are two irreconcilable and antagonistic camps - namely Islam and the West;

4) Combat the jihadists' propaganda regarding the rampant Islamophobia in the West by promoting rampant Islamophobia in the West;

5) Combat the propagation of a reactionary form of political Islam by doing business deals and constructing political alliances with those states most implicated in the propagation of the most reactionary forms of political Islam.

6) Combat the perception that Western powers act like neocolonial and self-interested powers by supporting the most authoritarian, corrupt and venal states in a neocolonial and self-interested manner;

7) Combat Daesh's projection of itself as a legitimate state that is at war with the western powers by declaring that the western powers are at war with a state known as ISIS;

8) Combat Daesh's propaganda that the West is a decadent, soulless and projectless zone characterised only by its attachment to sybaritic and hedonist activities by putting forward the defence of sybaritic and hedonist activities as the characteristic feature that distinguishes the West from Daesh.

9) Combat the jihadists' claim that reformist Islamist currents are naive if they believe they can come to power through elections, by supporting a coup against a reformist Islamist president who came to power through elections;

Put like that, what could possibly go wrong?

By 

Inept Government Answer On Kids Company

How much money have governments given kids company? 

Rob WilsonThe Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 08 June 2015.

The correct answer should have been:

The Government has given funding to Kids Company for a number of years across different administrations. The table below outlines the funding from 2007 onwards.

YEAR	AMOUNT PAID
2007 / 08	£3.52m
2008 / 09	£4.35m
2009 / 10	£4.48m
2010 / 11	£4.66m
2011 / 12	£4.85m
2012 / 13	£4.69m
2013 / 14	£4.5m £1m £0.25m
2014 / 15	£4.5m. £1m
2015/16	£4.265m

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2015-06-03.1062.h&s=speaker%3A11773#g1062.r1

Penniless Peace Pilgrimage

Partly in honour of the Dalai Lamas 80th birthday. 

http://www.roadtopeacefilms.com/road-to-peace-pilgrimage/ 

The penniless peace pilgrimage comes to Reading Tuesday the 16th June on its way to Glastonbury. 

I have taken part in similar walks in the past and it's a wonderful experience. To see the country in foot, with time to talk and think. 

In 2007 I joined a group walking from AWE to London, they had been across all of the UK. http://footprintsforpeace.footprintsforpeace.net/ 

Happy memories. 

http://greenreading.blogspot.co.uk/2007/07/footprints-for-peace.html?m=1 

Game of thrones influences

Some thoughts on reading the book for the first time. 

Influences from History:

King Robert Baratheon similar to Henry VIII; larger than life womaniser. Wife Anne Bolyn similar to Queen Cirsei Lannister, she was accused of having an affair with her brother and getting court jobs for her family. 

Romans, praetorian guard choosing the new emperor. Valyrian might be ancient Greece or Rome 

Ancient Egypt brother and sister marriages Pharos 

Influences from Fiction:

"Ser" Tales of King Arthur knights of the round table 

Khal Drogo of the Dothraki might be the desert from John Normans Gor series, perhaps Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom novels. 

Dune house clan war 

Zombies from many stories 

LOTR obv 

Children of the forest = Elves 

Then I read this from the author George R R Martin, he cites many influences. 

http://io9.com/10-sources-that-george-r-r-martin-borrowed-from-for-ic-511679817 

Letter on what the EU has done for us

From the Guardian last year 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/11/whats-eu-ever-done-us 

At last we may get a debate on Britain's relationship with Europe (Leader, 11 January). What did the EEC/EU ever do for us? Not much, apart from: providing 57% of our trade; structural funding to areas hit by industrial decline; clean beaches and rivers; cleaner air; lead free petrol; restrictions on landfill dumping; a recycling culture; cheaper mobile charges; cheaper air travel; improved consumer protection and food labelling; a ban on growth hormones and other harmful food additives; better product safety; single market competition bringing quality improvements and better industrial performance; break up of monopolies; Europe-wide patent and copyright protection; no paperwork or customs for exports throughout the single market; price transparency and removal of commission on currency exchanges across the eurozone; freedom to travel, live and work across Europe; funded opportunities for young people to undertake study or work placements abroad; access to European health services; labour protection and enhanced social welfare; smoke-free workplaces; equal pay legislation; holiday entitlement; the right not to work more than a 48-hour week without overtime; strongest wildlife protection in the world; improved animal welfare in food production; EU-funded research and industrial collaboration; EU representation in international forums; bloc EEA negotiation at the WTO; EU diplomatic efforts to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; European arrest warrant; cross border policing to combat human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling; counter terrorism intelligence; European civil and military co-operation in post-conflict zones in Europe and Africa; support for democracy and human rights across Europe and beyond; investment across Europe contributing to better living standards and educational, social and cultural capital.

All of this is nothing compared with its greatest achievements: the EU has for 60 years been the foundation of peace between European neighbours after centuries of bloodshed. It furthermore assisted the extraordinary political, social and economic transformation of 13 former dictatorships, now EU members, since 1980. Now the union faces major challenges brought on by neoliberal economic globalisation, and worsened by its own systemic weaknesses. It is taking measures to overcome these. We in the UK should reflect on whether our net contribution of £7bn out of total government expenditure of £695bn is good value. We must play a full part in enabling the union to be a force for good in a multipolar global future.
Simon Sweeney
Lecturer in international political economy, University of York

Wokingham Results GE2015

The Green vote went up by around 3.7 times! Not enough to save our deposit but a good result, thanks to all who helped and all who voted Green. 

Top Green results from GE 2015

Win

Brighton Pav 41.8% 22,871 1st

Caroline Lucas 

Second place 

Bristol west 26.8% 17,227 2nd Darren Hall 

Sheffield Cent 15.8% 6,999 2nd Jillian Creasy  

Liverpool Riverside 12.1% 5,372 2nd @MartinDobsonGP 

Manchester Gorton 9.8% 4,108 2nd Laura Bannister 

Hackney N a s w 14.6% 7281 3 

Norwich Sth 13.9% 6749 3rd 

Buckingham 13.8% 7400 3rd 

Isle of W 13.4% 9404 3rd 

Holborn and St Pancras 12.8% 3rd 7,013 

Lewisham Dep 12.5% 3 

Bath 11.9% 5634 4th

Hackney S a S 11.6% 5519 3 

Oxford East 11.6% 5890 

Bristol S 11.5% 5861 

Totnes 10.3% 4845 

Islington N 10.2% 5043 3rd 

Camberwell and P  10.1% 5187 3

York Cent 10.1% 4791 

Notts E 9.9% 3473 

Dulwich and w n  9.4% 4844 

Bethnal gr and bow 9.3% 4906 3

Tottenham 9.2% 3931 

Somerton and F 9.0% 5434 

Cent Devon 8.9% 4866 Streatham 8.9% 4421 

Newcastle u T E 8.7% 3426 

Truro and F .. 8.7% 4483 

Lewisham W ... 8.5% 4077 3 

Manchester Cent 8.5% 3838 

Leeds W 8.4% 3217 

Bristol East 8.3% 3827 

Manchester With.. 8.1% 4048 

Cambridge 7.9% 4109 4th 

Leeds Cent 7.9% 3558 

Bury St ed 7.9% 4692 

Islington S 7.6% 3371 

Vauxhall 7.6% 3658 

Portsmouth Sth 7.5% 3145 

Bournemouth west 7.4% 3107 5 

Bournemouth East 7.3% 3263 

Leyton and W 7.3% 2974 3 

Hereford and ... 7.2% 3415 

Plymouth Sutton... 7.1% 3401 

Brighton kemp 7.0% 3187 

Canterbury 7.0% 3746 

Leeds NW 7.0% 3042 

N Herts 7.0 % 3341 

Torridge and WDevon 6.9% 3941 

Henley 6.9% 3815 

Huddersfield 6.9% 2798 

Hove 6.8%  3rd 3,569

Reigate 6.7% 3434 

Chichester 6.6% 3742 

Exeter 6.5% 3491 

N Somerset 6.5% 3806 

Rushcliffe 6.5% 3559 

West Worcester 6.5% 3505 

Arundel and Sth D 6.4% 3606 5th 

Cardiff c. 6.4% 2461 

Walthamstow 6.4% 2661 

Tiverton and Hon.. 6.4% 3415 

Reading East 6.4% 3214 

Greenwich a W 6.4% 2991 

Wealden 6.4% 3623 

Sth Cambridgeshire 6.3% 3848 

St Ives 6.3% 3051 

Glasgow North 6.2% 2284 

East Hampshire 6.2% 3176 

Sheffield heeley 6.1% 2566 

Edinburgh E 6.0% 2809 

Richmond park 6.0% 3548 

Wycombe 6.0% 3086 

City of Durham 5.9% 2687 

Suffolk Coastal 5.9% 3294 

Southampton Test 5.9% 2568 

Kingston u H North 5.9% 2066 

Devises 5.8% 2853 

SW Wiltshire 5.8% 2985 

North Devon 5.8% 3018 

New Forest W 5.8% 2748 

Worthing West 5.8% 2938 

North Dorset 5.7% 3038 

West Dorset 5.7% 3242 

Bristol NW 5.7% 2952 

Belfast Sth 5.7% 2238 6th

Lewisham E 5.7% 2429 

Camborne and r. 5.7% 2608 Skipton and Ripon 5.7% 3116 

Ceredigion 5.6% 2088 

Hexham 5.6% 2445 

North Down 5.5% 1958 

Hitchin 5.5 % 3053 

Leicester Sth 5.5% 2533 

Lewis 5.5% 2784 

Chesham and a. 5.5% 2902 

NE Somerset 5.5% 2802 

Salisbury 5.5% 2762 

Cities of Lond and W 5.4% 1953 

Notts S 5.4% 2345 

Mole Valley 5.4% 2979 

Edinburgh N a L 5.4% 3140 

Hornsby and ... 5.4% 3147 

SE Cornwall 5.4% 2718 

S Norfolk 5.4% 3090 

SW Surrey 5.4% 3105 

NE Herts 5.3% 2789 

Havant 5.3% 2352 

Shipley 5.3% 2657 

Leeds NE 5.3% 2541 

Penrith and .. 5.3% 2313 

Salford and Ecc.. 5.2% 2251 

East Worthing and S 5.2% 2605 

Liverpool Wav.. 5.2% 2140 

Tunbridge Wells 5.2% 2659 

Ludlow 5.1% 2435 

Birmingham sel oak 5.1% 2301

Kensington 5.1% 1765 

Swansea West 5.1% 1784 

Bexhill and battle  5.1% 2807

Colchester 5.1% 2499 

SE Cambridgeshire 5.1% 3047 Wantage 5.1% 2986 

Witney 5.1% 2970 

Lancaster and F... 5.0% 2093 

Cheltenham 5.0% 2689 

West Ham 5.0% 2651 

Rockford and S... 5.0% 2195 

Mock Election Results

What a great time at St Crispins School, all the candidates were there and I think all spoke well. 

Unlike the other hustings the school had borrowed the actual ballot boxes to give the students an experience as close to voting as possible. 

I think we were all surprised at the results, what a close contest. 

Minimum Wage

The Green Party of England and Wales is calling for the minimum wage to rise to £10an hour by 2020. In an address to Greens' autumn conference, party leader Natalie Bennett said Britain was a low-wage economy and people deserved "a decent return on their labour".
http://greenreading.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1 
Green construction blog https://greenconstructionuk.wordpress.com/
Twitter @adrianwindisch  
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/adrianwindisch.wokingham 

WokyHustings At Methodist Church

#WokyHustings was much last discussed last night on Twitter, see the hashtag. 

It went very well, a good atmosphere, room packed full, well chaired and arranged by the Wokingham Methodist Church. 

Questions about house prices, cost of withdrawal from the EU, 3500 children in poverty, what's important in Wokingham and the deficit. 

It was filmed and will be on YouTube. It was live broadcast on periscope by jonnyvaughan https://www.periscope.tv/w/Vx_F6jkzOTQ0MHw3NTkwNTc1N1xcn43eF_PkeIusCWINTyhsFoV7_sgl6pptbFKRz5k=

Here is a list of questions, mostly in tweets. 

@wokinghamgreens: First question is on housing. @AdrianWindisch a radical change is needed. There are too many empty homes. Social homes needed #wokyhustings

Also second homes, empty offices that can be converted. The Green Party would build half a million social homes. 

Q2 cost of withdrawal from EU, some international companies built factories here to be within the EU, some may leave. Jobs will be lost. But we will still be able to trade. I want to stay in but improve it. 

Q3 What is Wokinghams most important issue

@WokinghamNews: #wokyhustings greens say biggest issue are the poor and those struggling to make ends meet.

 Others talked about traffic, so I said improve public transport to get people out of cars. 

Q4 Government spending more than income. I said this is normally the case, mentioned the difference between deficit (one years income vs spending) and debt (what we owe). Said coalition cut tax collectors so I would hire more to improve collection, especially from huge corporations that seem to pay nothing. 

Q5

@Hayles_Blakeman: Qu from @e_r0se from@Firstdays_ asking about what the candidates plan to do about the 3500 children living in poverty in woky. #wokyhustings

@Firstdays_: Both @WokinghamLabour and @wokinghamgreens highlighting real issue of hidden poverty in affluent Wokingham #wokyhustings

I said raise benefits cut by coalition. I wish I had also said raise min wage to living wage, many people struggling are in poorly paid jobs. Real jobs needed, not just low paid thirsty ones like self employed or zero hours. 

Q6 will you support the NHS 

@WokinghamNews: #wokyhustings greens would pay for free social care or elderly and dental to help the nhs

I praised the post WW2 Labour government that built the NHS in a time of huge debt, they did it then, we can do it now. 

@wokinghamgreens: NHS created in the context of end of WW2 and massive debt. Dream big people; these cuts are needless #wokyhustings http://t.co/XgteNQFzzi 

There was a 2 minute closing statement from everyone. I said it was a privilege to be there and urged everyone to vote. 

Met quite a few people after who were very supportive, I sounded the most human apparently. 

Great Email: Action For Renewables

As one of your potential constituents, I wanted to get in touch ahead of the General Election to give you my views on what I think is a crucial issue for the country, the development of renewable electricity within the UK. Last year nearly 20% of our electricity came from different types of renewable energy such as wind and solar, and I believe that to meet our goals on energy security and climate change we need to increase that by at least half over the next Parliament.

 

I am one of the Green Collar Workers working hard in an industry that makes a real difference. I chose this industry over other better paying ones. Twenty years ago I stayed on at University after my four-year engineering degree to study renewable energy. I knew I was taking a risk but wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I made the right choice. I am still making the right choice. I want us to decarbonise and I want to play my part in that.

 

For us to succeed we need to make sure that the right conditions exist for investors to feel confident in bringing renewable energy projects forward. This means not arbitrarily ruling out different types of technologies such as onshore wind, backing new clean energy targets for 2030, and ensuring the financial conditions are right for both more mature technologies and those which are still developing. Essentially we need to make sure that we utilise all our renewable resources in development of our electricity.

 

I would really appreciate a response back to hear that you will back all types of renewable energy in the next Parliament, and below follows some useful facts about wind and marine energies.

 

Wind power

 

In 2014 onshore and offshore wind provided enough power for the equivalent of 6.7million homes annual needs. 9.3% of the UK’s total electricity supply.

 

Direct and indirect jobs in the UK wind sector equated to over 31,000 in 2013, with the potential to reach 100,000 by 2023.

 

Wind power is popular – around 2/3 of the population support onshore wind, and 3/4 offshore wind, as polled by the Government , and a poll last year found that political parties lose more votes than they gain by opposing wind.

 

Wind power is vital to our climate and energy security goals. The current wind fleet leads to 12million tonnes reduction of CO2 each year, and without wind power in 2013 we would have had to import an extra 6.1 million tonnes of coal.

 

Marine power

 

The UK currently leads the world in deployed marine power. There are currently more than 1600 people directly employed in the marine sector, with the potential to reach 23,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2023.

 

Wave and tidal power is one of the most popular forms of energy with Government studies regularly showing three quarters support for the technology.

 

Media Ownership And Leveson

Too much of the media is in too few hands. Backing Leveson is a start to getting the media to behave, but that may not be the end of it. 

The Green Party welcomed many aspects of the Leveson report, while expressing disappointment that there was little in it to practically address the concentration of ownership in the press.

 Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said the call from Lord Justice Leveson for a new independent self-regulatory body, with the majority of its board comprising non-industry representatives and no serving editors, was a step forward.

 "We would welcome the creation of independent oversight with majority civil society involvement.”

"But although there is the call for independent regulation here, the mechanism suggested is indirect, clunky and open to subversion, rather than the direct creation of an independent body along the lines of Ireland's Press Council. There's also no reference to union representation, which would provide an important expert, hands-on view within the new regulatory body."

- See more at: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2012/11/29/bnb/#sthash.z4yjtUjO.dpuf

Regards Adrian Windisch

adrian@windisch.co.uk

@adrianwindisch 

Green Candidate for Wokingham 

Dear Adrian Windisch, 

I'm concerned that media barons like Rupert Murdoch have too much power over our democracy. I want an MP who works for local voters, not newspaper owners.

Do you support tighter rules on media ownership? And will you commit to vote for legislation  to ensure that the Leveson Report is fully implemented if they continue to reject proper regulation?