Rights of Children

News from Save the Children that about 1.6m children in the UK are living in severe poverty is indeed a "national scandal". We just don't seem to get it right here. I was at a parents evening last week and the headmaster shared this inspiring piece by the writer, Michael Morpurgo and his Dimbleby Lecture - see here.

Hitler and Gloucestershire libraries

Updated this blog at 4.30pm.

I was sent a link to a campaign video about our libraries: it is an adaptation of a national campaign video about libraries. Since then the press have picked up the story and quote the Leader of the County Council condemning me. If I have caused offence by linking to this film then sincere apologies. I had the following statement below which has been on my blog since I added the link. It gave a warning and tried to set the film in some context. I am grateful for the initial comments on the Citizen website. Indeed my great grandparents were Jewish and I certainly have no intentions of causing offence.

Please be aware that this contains a 2004 war film of Hitler's last days. There is no intention to diminish or disrespect the horrors of that time. Worth checking out is Godwin's law as he suggested that "in any online discussion—regardless of topic or scope— someone inevitably criticizes some point made in the discussion by comparing it to beliefs held by Hitler and the Nazis." Of course Glos County Council are not anywhere close to the Third Reich!! But the disregard of people's wishes and the expected impact on vulnerable people is shocking to many of us.

See Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries here and click on label 'Libraries' and scroll down for details of the legal action and more. See a great library video here.

Green party conference: Caroline's keynote

Well I missed the Green party conference this weekend - a great pity as it was only down the road in Cardiff. I've already had a number of reports come through (incl from Stroud Greens) and it sounds like it is a great event. The Daily Express wrote: "Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has positioned herself as "the real opposition" to the coalition Government."

Caroline's full keynote speech is on the Green party website: "Cuts that hurt the poorest hardest are morally wrong, but these cuts are not only socially devastating they are economically illiterate. We were the Party who went into the last election with a costed plan to tackle the deficit without decimating public services and destroying jobs. Our policies have never been more urgently needed...Our communities need politicians who will put them first - not the bankers, not the party donors, but the people they are supposed to serve. We get involved because we want to put something back into our local communities. We don't depend on big business or the unions to fund our work."

For more on click read more.

County dub library campaigners as not real people!

This is extraordinary...library campaigners have recently submitted a Freedom of Information request. Well the minutes of a meeting between County Officers and the Council Leader are now available on their website here. Here is one line: "We discussed consultation process so far and what had changed as a result.  It was quite a substantial shift.  It had been helpful to listen to what ‘real’ people were concerned about in communities and not just the campaign voices."

15,000 people signed the petition - we have an awful lot of unreal people in Gloucestershire! Read more of the library campaigns blog on that, to also see the dismissive nature of the Leader of the Council and indeed Chief of Museum, Libraries and Archives Council. I note that I am aware of several other people including myself who have had no response to letters or emails sent to Cllr Hawthorne. Is this not outrageous!

Anyway if you missed an hour long interview with library campaigner, John Holland, on Stroud FM about the library campaign, it is repeated on Sunday at 3pm. You can tune in online at
http://www.stroudfm.co.uk/

A neighbour caught the last half and said they hadn't understood the story before and said it was well worth a listen. One review sent to John on the programme said: "I just heard you on the Art Lot show which finished a minute ago. Brilliant - I was expecting that it would be mainly about music with the interviewer persisting in inconsequential chatter which is what I expect to hear on local radio. Instead he gave you a chance to talk for the whole time about libraries and to put forward the argument against the GCC proposals at length, and so of course the logic of what you were saying came over very powerfully. No-one listening could be unconvinced. I especially liked the bit where he said "the councillors must be idiots". Oh, and I enjoyed the music too. And I now know (remember, actually) who Declan McManus is. Altogether, a great performance - well done."

Legal challenge over Glos libraries

The government is facing a legal challenge over its plans to raise tuition fees to £9000 a year. Public Interests Lawyers are seeking a legal review on behalf of 2 sixth form students due to start university in 2012, the year the higher fees are introduced. Great stuff - but in Gloucestershire they are launching action over the libraries. I paste below their press release. Good luck!

Photo: orchard geese


The following statement has been released by Public Interest Lawyers:

Public Interest Lawyers, on behalf of clients in Gloucestershire and Somerset, today launched the first major legal challenge to County Councils’ plans to slash the number of public libraries. The letters before action challenge the councils’ reliance on ‘big society’ community-transfer initiatives that conflict with their clear statutory obligation to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient library service’ for everyone wanting to use it.  PIL also argue that the councils did not consult properly with local people prior to making the decision to cut, nor have they paid proper attention to the needs of vulnerable groups.

Gloucestershire County Council proposes to reduce the number of libraries with full opening hours from 38 to 9 and to cut the mobile library service for persons in rural areas entirely.  Somerset County Council initially proposed to cut 20 of 34 libraries and to reduce mobile libraries from 6 services to 2.  They have since announced that the cuts will be reduced to 1/3 of libraries, but without showing how this would be financed.

The scale of the cuts in both counties is excessive and more than twice the percentage reduction in central government funding.  Thousands of people in Gloucestershire and Somerset will either lose their local libraries, or, at best, will experience a dramatic reduction in opening hours. When consulted on the changes, the public’s opposition to the cuts has been made clear.  Somerset Council’s own survey showed that 82% of respondents disagreed with the changes.  However, many in communities affected by closures have not been consulted at all.

Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers said as follows:

“Libraries are the heart of communities up and down the country.  Councils cannot pin their hopes on vague notions of the ‘big society’ when they are required by Parliament to maintain a comprehensive and efficient library service for everyone in the county.  That means everyone, including single mothers, the disabled, the elderly and those living in rural areas.”

Leigh Webber, also from Public Interest Lawyers, added that:

“The consultations have been rushed through to enable councils to approve their budgets, but this has meant that Gloucestershire and Somerset County Councils have been unable even to adequately assess the needs of local people, never mind consult them properly about the changes.”

Click on read more for a statement from Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries reaction:

Forests not safe yet!

I gave a cautious welcome to the U-turn on the Forest sell-off. A review into Forests by the government is forthcoming, but in addition to concerns about what the review might throw up there are also renewed threats to our ancient woodland. The big concern now is in the planning guidance for developers and councils.

The Observer at the weekend reported that there have been more than 850 attempts in the last decade to fell ancient woodland – planting that dates back to at least 1600. It is claimed that such moves will be revitalised if the planned vaguer, simpler rules go through. Sign petition here and more importantly send an email here  to Alan Scott, in the Department for Communities and Local Government re the planning changes.

A menu for health and the planet

Scientists from the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health at Aberdeen University have produced a report of the ideal diet to balance healthy eating with sustainable food. Certainly eating to tackle climate change, can be overwhelming with so much info about what to do and what not to do, so this diet has been designed to appear normal and familiar to most.

The research was commissioned by WWF and the menu for the week works out at £29 per. It is called the Livewell Plate and the hope is that the government and food industry will use it as a blueprint. Most importantly it shifts away from processed foods and meat - both blamed for rising levels of heart disease and diabetes - while increasing consumption of meat, especially beef, is one of the key environmental issues for the world. See Observer article here with a pdf of the menu to download.

'No to AV' stoop low

If this poster is the 'No to AV' campaigns arguments then it confirms the need for re-invigorating our democracy. A while ago I blogged on 'What is the Alternative Vote?' and in that I noted that are some rational reasons why folk might not wish to support AV. However my view is that AV is a much needed small, all be it imperfect, step towards improving our democracy.

Now we get this poster campaign from 'No to AV'. Why? It makes no sense? The Yes to Fairer votes campaign have quickly challenged the NO side’s claims that it will cost £250 million:

• There are no plans to use electronic counting machines: this is despite the NO campaign’s key claim that such counting machines will cost £130 million
• The NO campaign have wildly exaggerated the potential cost of voter education if AV is introduced: they based the costs on the adoption of the Single Transferable Vote in Scotland, which is a more complex system than AV

It seems the No side have given up on defending our current system. Stephen Baxter writing in the New Statesman said when he sees the NO to AV adverts: "I keep expecting someone to say "Daw! Of course that's not a real No to AV advertisement, you big silly! We'd never put out something as crass to make a political point - what do you take us for, a bunch of jerks?" But that doesn't happen. It's a real advert. It's actually earnest, po-faced, this-is-what-we-think campaigning."

This is not the exciting Anti-AV campaign promised to us back in September by NO to AV. It is also disturbing that the No campaign refuse to disclose their financial backers.

Stroud art among Britain's best

That was the headline in The Citizen this week about Randwick artist, Jackie Garner - here is the article...

EGYPTIAN artwork painted in Stroud will soon be hung alongside Britain's best in London. Work by artist Jackie Garner, pictured, whose Old Cider House Studio is in Randwick, has been selected from almost 700 entries to appear alongside paintings by some of Britain's leading watercolour artists.

The annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours will be at the Mall Galleries near Trafalgar Square between March 30 and April 10.

Jackie said: "I'm delighted to have had two paintings accepted among such formidable competition. The paintings are from my latest project, depicting wildlife art of Ancient Egypt. Egypt's very much in the news but I hope my paintings will remind people of its incredibly rich cultural heritage."

Community Energy solutions?

At our recent Green Party AGM in Stroud over 60 people gathered to hear a talk by Roger Uttley about the proposals for Community energy supplies in Bisley. You can see more about it on their website here.

Photos: from the evening

Roger started with a look at our energy supplies - and one slide had Ofgem's conclusions that "Britain faces unprecedented challenges to it's energy security." Ofgem are a notoriously 'conservative' organisation and so if they are saying this it must be serious. One of Roger's slides (see left) shows the investment time scales needed to meet the energy gap - well in some areas we are stuffed - not his words - and in others we have to pull all the stops out.

One approach by the government is Smart meters but the fear is that this could mean that as energy becomes more expensive to import the price goes up at key times - will some families even be able to afford to use it at key times like after work?

Anyway to cut this report on Roger's talk right down, he then looked at what might be possible and realistic for the Parish in terms of wind, PV, hydro etc. It was an inspiring talk that this taster does nothing to convey!

Roger also shared the consultation process that Bisley with Lypiatt Parish Council, in partnership with Brimscombe and Thrupp Parish Council, has started to research options for generating electricity locally to reduce the community's dependence on the National Grid.

I think what is most frustrating is that so few people seem to understand the urgency of this matter - the facts are there yet the government seems incapable of acting - Greens recently launched a new campaign on this - see here. It has had some coverage but not enough! See also my recent blog on the need to move away from oil here and rocketing food prices here.

Anyway locally it is great that there is interest in exploring some of these ideas - I'm optimistic that something will come from these discussions.

Well done Greenpeace today!

Last month this blog covered the don't buy Princes tuna campaign - see here.

Well today Greenpeace have scaled Princes HQ and released a banner - you can see more on their blog here. At that site you can also develop a slogan for Princes tuna - it seems they are not being honest with their current slogan! One suggestion already is: "Shark infested tuna with bycatch", another is "Canning Ocean destruction".

Stroud Potato Recipe book by mail

Stroud Potato Day, a Transition Stroud event announces that the popular book, "Pan-fried, Peeled and Proud Potatoes from Stroud. A Recipe Book" will now be available by post. The book has some 40 recipes from local people and restaurants including Guardian food write Mathew Fort. Plus nutritional advice re potatoes and folklore - did you know keeping ginger with potatoes helps keep both fresh!

See more about the day and the video here.

Photos: more of Stroud Potato Day and the window at the Town Council

The SVP shop have agreed to have their details as the contact info on the website for people who need copies of the potato book sent to them. Their details are:

Stroud Valleys Project
8 Threadneedle Street
Stroud
Glos.
GL5 1AF

Tel. 01453 753358
Fax: 01453 755641
Email: info@StroudValleysProject.org
Website: www.StroudValleysProject.org

The book is selling for £4 (or £3 Stroud pounds). The prices for Post and Packing in the UK will be:

1 copy = £1.00
2 copies = £1.50
3-5 copies = £2.00

Philip Booth, organiser of the Stroud Potato celebrations said: "On Saturday 5th February we sold over 4,700 seed potatoes in our first Potato Day, many to first time growers. This recipe book is part of our celebration of the many different varieties of potato and encouraging people to grow their own. Supermarkets don't offer much choice of potatoes, but growing your own opens up all sorts of opportunities. The recipe book has been hugely popular and we are looking at the possibilities of a third print run. We have now launched a service for those wanting a copy by post. Please see above for details."

Woodfuel project launched: great fun!

On Saturday we had the first morning of the new Randwick Woodfuel project. This is about doing conservation work in the Randwick woods in return for taking some wood away. I have been trying to set up for over a year - see here Feb meeting last year with details!

There have been various challenges - not least for the National Trust who have been re-organising themselves. I had a meeting in October (see here ) and now it has finally come to fruition and it was loads of fun.....

Click on 'read more' to see more photos, more about the day - and coming in March will be a video.

How to fill in the Census?

Several years ago the Green party had a campaign to try and stop the £450 million census (see my blog here). Well the day, Sunday March 27th 2011 is now rapidly approaching. Interestingly it seems that virtually all now agree (incl Whitehall) that the census is useless for government planning but it is too late to cancel!! Another case of you should have listened to Greens!

"There are, I believe, ways of doing this which will provide better, quicker information, more frequently and cheaper." The Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude last summer

Anyway Green and indeed other concerns go deeper and in this blog I cover a bit of what NO2ID have to say about the Census. Photo: Ludlow Green, Ruscombe

Open Gardens, Scrutiny, Heavy Arts, Forests, parishes and more

Well this is a bit of a ramble of bits and bobs over last couple of weeks - it has been another busy patch so this is a bit of a catch up...

Great news re the Edible Open Gardens project - I and some fellow Transition Stroudies have nbeen meeting to put this project together - basically opening edible gardens to encourage more people to grow their own - well the good news is we have a grant from the Coop and a small grant from Cainscross Parish Council so we are up and running - see more about it here - and more soon on this blog as we have another meeting coming up. Photo - our meeting a wee while ago.

Heavy art - well this is an interesting concept - it has been used to describe art like welding, wood carving, printing etc....well I was fortunate to be shown around one of the venues that a new group of artists are considering to buy in the Stroud area. A very exciting project - look forward to being able to share more in the future on this.

Scrutiny meetings - well I've had a fair few of these - Friday I had a days training with other councillors at Egypt Mill (a rare event to have a whole day of training) - a very useful exercise that will hopefully improve our role as critical friend to the Council. We do urgently need to do a better job as I've noted before.

I am also currently chairing an inquiry (or some prefer to call it a Task and Finish Group) into the standards of our Council Housing stock. Well I had another couple of meetings this week on that and hope to prepare a final report over the weekend for early next week.

Water fluoridation - I covered the disappointing court ruling re Southampton here - the latest twist is that Freedom of Information stuff shows the Department of Health are to use Southampton as guinea pigs - see article here.

Forest victory - so Caroline Spelman apologises to MPs over forest sell-off consultation. Responding today to the government's statement scrapping the proposals for the forest sell-off, Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas MP said: "On behalf of the many hundreds of my constituents who have written in to oppose the sell-off of our public forest estate, I welcome the Government's decision to ditch these reckless plans - and am encouraged by the commitment given to me by the Secretary of State that those people who led the inspirational grassroots movement against the sell off will be included in the new panel of experts set up to consider the future of the forests. Now it will be vital to ensure that the panel itself operates in public. This major u-turn exposes the shambolic nature of the Government's policy-making - and is the inevitable consequence of ministers blindly charging ahead with ideologically driven cuts."

Randwick Parish - Thursday night I joined the Parish - the first time for a while as the meetings have clashed with Scrutiny and Full Council at the District. One of the members of the public proposed the council be the first in the country to plan a Neighbourhood Plan - these will come into force later in the year if the legislation goes through - they will mean the Parish can have more say in where development goes. I will return to this issue again but welcome the Parish getting a head start on this. I have already asked the District Council planners on this and there is currently no support there and their view is that NPs will be more likely to be created after the Core Strategy is in place.

I gave a presentation as usual of issues that I am currently dealing with - and also a brief update of SDC issues. I also sought info as to whether anyone in the Parish might have a snow plow as teh County will support if there is one locally. At present neither Parish has one. It was good to make contact with the Parish and hear about what issues are currently being dealt with - many of the issues I've covered lots on thsi blog are moving forward slowly...'20 is Plenty' signs are due to go up again, footpath signs that are poor have been identified and we hope for replacement, grit bin replacements have been requested but it seems on hold as the County are reviewing how they do grit, some minor amendments to the Parish Settlement boundary have been requested, some more street lighting is set to go off at night (great stuff - this saves lots of money and there is no evidence of crime increases - indeed we can return the village to more of a rural setting rather than this urban glow) - see minutes soon here.

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish - the big story here is that the Parish Plan questionnaire results are in and being collated. Here are some summary points picked out from the 170 or so questionnaires completed....

Would use / would attend • 80% of the 170 households would use recycling facilities for cardboard if suitable sites could be found locally, 65% garden waste and 56% plastics • 65% would use a village skip for large non recyclable waste twice a year • 61% would attend a free fete with amateur entertainers, 59% a market or boot sale, 56% open gardens and 51% a firework display.

Support this idea / think this is a good idea • 74% support the idea of people having solar panels on their roofs • 70% think it would be a good idea to form a volunteer group to improve the wildlife habitats in the village and road verges • 65% think it would be a good idea to form a volunteer group to encourage bees to nest around the village • 69% support the idea of setting up a network of Community Buddies to help residents.

Preferred / desirable options • 74% think that extensions and infill development should be in keeping with the local area • 68% think that projects such as a sports/community centre, tennis courts, changing rooms, public toilets and youth activities should be funded through applying for funding and grants • 61% think a good idea for using the old phone box in Ruscombe would be to turn it into an information point about walks and wildlife • 55% think the roadside verges around the village should be maintained to promote traditional Cotswold plants • 54% think the parish should try and get children involved with repainting the bus shelters

Importance of various aspects of the parish • 86% think it is essential to keep the school in the village, 82% the playing field, 73% the children’s play area, 73% the shop, 69% the village hall, 61% the pub and 51% the church.

Good lives that don't cost the earth

nef fellow Nic Marks, former psychotherapist and founder of the Centre for Well-being, has a great little video here based on looking at how to create good lives that don't have to cost the earth....he says: "How crazy is it that GDP, our dominant measure of progress, is measuring everything except that which makes life worthwhile?"

County plan to cull 10 councillors

I reworked a previous blog to send to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) - see blog here and details here of proposals. The consultation closes on Monday but it looks like they have already decided to cut councillor numbers and are now just looking at how to draw the boundaries of the larger wards. I hope my email might make them think again but I suspect that might be pie in the sky!!!! Anyhow here is my email:

Pic: map of councils after last years elections

I disagree with the reduction of the number of councillors by 10 to 53.

In the past 40 years numbers of councillors have dropped by 77% to under 20,000 in 2007. The arrival of the larger unitary authorities has in my view led to the disappearance of local government altogether in some areas. The LGA note that already the UK has the lowest number of councillors per 100,000 electors in the whole of Europe. The second worst is Denmark with twice as many councillors per 100,000 as the UK.

A LGA Magazine, a while back, noted the average in the UK is about one councillor per 2,605. This compares with France where it is 116, in Germany 250, in Spain 597, in Italy 580, in Sweden 667, in Belgium 800, in Netherlands 1,700 and in Denmark 1,084. Also the average population size of the European councils are far smaller than ours by a factor of between three and 20.

I understand that there have been many attempts to assess the relationship between local authority size and aspects of performance but few have produced definitive conclusions. There are too many variables at work. However European studies (that excluded Britain) suggest the optimum size for a local authority is between 30,000 and 40,000.

The danger of fewer councillors is that local politicians will be distanced further from the people they represent. Reports suggest councillors do an average 22 hours per week - cost effective community work in many cases. Interestingly reviews by the Councillor Commission note that councillors are all short of time. To reduce the number of councillors we potentially reduce the amount of work achieved locally and also make a councillors role less attractive to younger members with jobs and families. If we can't attract representatives as diverse as our populations we represent, then it is argued that this is likely to "reduce the quality and variety of the debate and to reduce the legitimacy in the eyes of the constituents." Already the move to unitary authorities has led to a significant drop in women councillors.

The Total Place pilot areas found that an average of £7,000 per person is spent on services like health, education and care of the elderly yet only £350 is controlled by local elected politicians. Councils are the most efficient part of the public sector: it is surely right that they are given a greater say over how the money is spent. This would appear to be the direction the Government says it wants to move in. In an LGA poll two-thirds of people think that councillors should make local decisions, only one in ten say MPs and less than 3% would leave it to Quangos.

Why reduce numbers? There are costs attached to the ward boundary changes etc and more work expected from those remaining councillors for limited financial gain? If the Government delivers on returning powers to local councils then there will also be more work for those remaining councillors. In addition to this there is a predicted population growth in the area. Any significant reduction in the number of councillors would be undemocratic. How about taking localism a step further and devolving all powers from the county to the district and enhancing the role of Parish and Town Councils and introducing proportional representation to better reflect the wishes of the electorate?

I do not see this as the right time to be making a move to reduce councillors.

Cllr Philip Booth, Stroud District councillor for Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward (Green)

Western Sahara update

I recently responded to Neil Carmichael's column at Christmas time where he talked of his break in Morocco - he timed it just as a national campaign started to ask people not to go there due to the suppression of the Saharwi people - see my letter here. Well I was not alone in writing - there were at least 5 other letters critical of his visit.

In November 2010 the worst violence since 1991 erupted in Moroccan occupied Western Sahara following the demolition of protest camps. This was not a time for Neil to be talking about learning from Morocco. My letter posted on this blog led to quite a few comments on this blog site from various viewpoints. Since then I've had a reply from Neil Carmichael with a copy of a letter to him about the issues I raised, from Alistair Burt at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Alistair Burt does at least note his concern that the UN Peacekeeping were refused access to the camps and notes the UK position of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara - and hopes for a Referendum in April. Neil doesn't give his personal views.

I am not totally convinced of the seriousness with which the UK Government takes this but hugely welcome moves to improve the situation. Campaign groups see that the human rights crisis is a result of the failure of the UN to implement the right to self–determination. Indeed this is explicitly explicitly acknowledged in the OHCHR report.

The Security Council must take the opportunity to break the 36 year stalemate and gain a resolution of the conflict. We need the Security Council to set a timetable for the Referendum and:

• Insist on the establishment of a monitoring mechanism for human rights - through the extension of MINURSO's mandate to ensure that it is effective and accountable. In order to be effective any mechanism must at the very minimum:
• Report to the Security Council – to avoid obstruction and hold both parties accountable Operate equally – in both the occupied territory and the refugee camps governed by the POLISARIO Front
• Be permanent until the implementation of UN plans for a referendum of self-determination

I have just written regarding this issue to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Security Council and Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the Permanent Representative of the UK to the United Nations. See more about Western Sahara at: www.wsahara.org.uk/

Threats to funding for disabled people

The charity Scope sent an email a wee while ago to me: "Thank you for taking positive action by contacting Paul Burstow MP and supporting Scope’s campaign to ensure that spending cuts do not adversely affect local disabled people. We greatly appreciate your efforts to speak out for disabled people and their families and the services they rely on. Today we’re asking Councillors to sign up to Scope’s local pledge to stand up for their disabled constituents throughout 2011."

I have signed their pledge. Locally we have seen threats to services for people with disabilities like the Dursley Centre and support in the community, but in addition to this is the impact of all the national changes like to DLA, VAT, Housing Benefit and more. Add to this library closures, restrictions to bus passes and other public service cuts and the impact is going to be huge on many. I am angered that at times there seems to be so very little understanding about the impact of these cuts on people - especially when these cuts are not necessary. Well done to Scope for raising the profile of these issues amongst those that are making decisions.

Vampire squid banks sucking our economy dry

Earlier this week I linked to a good new very short film re the banks - well here is another below. We’re told that bank profits are essential to the UK economy. But are they? To find out nef asked whether big banks were benefitting from hidden subsidies, in addition to the unprecedented public support for the financial sector over the past three years.



I've sent a copy to Neil Carmichael and asked him to sign Early Day Motion 1141 put forward by Caroline Lucas on the reform of the banking system calls for radical change in the banking sector. From the limited information available, nef analysts were able to identify a range of hidden subsidies that dwarf the Treasury’s bank levy, and the £300 million put aside for the ‘Big Society’ bank. In fact, the public is supporting the banks to the tune of at least £32 billion a year, outstripping Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ bank by a factor of 100:1.

"A great vampire squid, wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnell into anything that smells like money." That was how journalist Matt Taibbi described Goldman Sachs in a Rolling Stone exposé from 2008.

See the nef report here. Here in the UK, the banks are preparing for another round of staggering bonuses - an issue I've already covered here. The banks claim that these payouts are necessary for attracting the best staff. Interestingly the evidence suggests otherwise. Psychologists at MIT found that when students were set a task that required even the most basic cognitive skill, a larger reward actually reduced performance - see a short film here on that. And there's living proof that bonuses aren't necessary for success. A major Swedish Bank, Svenska Handelsbanken, with over 80 branches in the UK, doesn't pay any bonuses at all.

So what to do with your money?

Here is what nef says: "We don't have to keep our money in the coffers of the big banks. In the USA, the Move Your Money campaign, launched by the influential online news source the Huffington Post, has inspired Americans to move all or some of their money into accounts with alternative institutions. Here in the UK, the banking sector isn't nearly as diverse as in the States, but there are still good alternatives. Check out Triodos, the Co-operative, the Ecology Building Society, the credit unions, National Savings through the Post Office, and the exciting new territory of person-to-person lending at Zopa."

Feed-In Tariffs: more confusion

Well first the good news I have been seeking funding for this years Eco-Renovation Open Homes weekend and we now have in place the first lot and also a coordinator to organise the project. So we are a goer! The weekend will no doubt be of great interest as the situation re PV and indeed all renewables is changing so rapidly.

In the Comprehensive Spending Review the government implemented a budget for the Feed-in Tariffs of £900 million from 2010/11 - 2013/4. All well and good in that it follows on from the previous government...but now comes all the uncertainty...the Minister wants to ensure that this budget is not swallowed up by one technology. He also believes the tariffs should be aimed at domestic and community-type installations, not investors - and so is determined that large-scale projects won't take a major share of the funding.

So we have a review. The review process will begin with a formal consultation document that will be published in a couple of weeks for larger projects of PV of over 50 kW and for farm-scale AD.
A comprehensive review of the Feed-in Tariffs that will run until the end of 2011 and will result in changes in tariffs and scheme design to be implemented for April 2012.

The Minister has made it clear that he was hoping to have changes to the tariff for large-scale solar from the fast-track review implemented by the Parliamentary recess on 19 July 2011. He has also said that he is expecting it to conclude that changes to tariffs are necessary to make large-scale solar projects much less attractive.

Installations generating and accredited for Feed-in-Tariffs will not be subject to retrospective changes. However, any projects in the pipeline as at the time of the changes will no longer be eligible for the tariff at the current rates. Solar projects below 50 kW and all other technologies should be 'safe' from tariff changes until April 2012 - unless evidence reveals the need for greater urgency. It is likely that the fixed-rate tariff will go and possibly be replaced by a more flexible tariff.

As Regen SW note: "The introduction of Feed-in Tariffs has had a very positive impact for businesses in the south west. The microgeneration sector has been growing rapidly and has been a rare area of economic growth through the recession."

Their main concern is that changing the goal posts so soon after the launch of the Feed-in Tariffs sends out a negative message to investors, entrepreneurs, local authorities and the public about the case for investing in all renewable energy technologies in the UK. If the rug can be pulled from one sector it can be pulled from others.

Already solar power companies are considering a legal challenge to Government plans for a review of the "feed-in tariff" (FIT) scheme. The announcement last week of a fast-track review has created "pandemonium" in the industry leaving all but the smallest domestic projects "impossible to finance" and costing Britain's stuttering economy anything up to 18,000 new jobs. See more in The Independent here.

Library cuts: a bad day for democracy and our communities

All Conservative Cllrs voted for, the rest against the cuts to the library service. To add insult to injury one Conservative councillor is reported saying: "The public should leave the cabinet leader and cabinet member alone as they have been working hard" and then said "this restores the constituents faith in consultation'!

They really do live on another planet.

Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries released this press release today - it says it all.....

Today the County Council met to finalise their budget decisions. At this meeting the County Council condemned our public library service to heavy handed, disproportionate and permanently damaging cuts, the impact of which will resonate on our communities for decades to come, long after the council members responsible have left office. Falling literacy levels and increased social isolation will be their legacy.

They have not just ignored, but treated with contempt, the will of the 15,000 plus members of the electorate who have called for their representatives to pause and thoroughly examine the consequences of continuing down this path of destruction. In so doing they have risked the crippling expense associated with the legal challenges that are likely to follow.

Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries have raised the profile of the plight of our libraries to the national stage, proving how vital the public library service is in contributing to a healthy, motivated, and educated society and how important it is to the people of Gloucestershire. In these times of economic hardship libraries are more important than ever. We would like to once again thank the thousands who have supported us thus far, from across the county, of all ages and from all walks of life.

It is a testament to the arrogance of Councillors Hawthorne, Noble and their administration that this public outcry has gone unheeded. Gloucestershire County Council has set our libraries up for failure. Once they are gone we will never get them back.

What is the Alternative Vote?

The Green party recently had a Coffee House discussion on the Alternative Vote. The government is committed to holding a referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV).

Image from: www.yestofairervotes.org

Currently this is expected to be combined with the May 2011 local elections. Nearly a year ago I outlined the possible PR systems on my blog - see here - Greens are committed to supporting the reform to AV although acknowledge this is nothing like the reform that is needed. Below I set out the case for and against put together by a Green colleague, as discussed at the Coffee House....

What is the Alternative Vote?

Like First Past The Post (FPTP), the Alternative Vote (AV) is used to elect representatives for single-member constituencies, except that, rather than simply marking one solitary 'X' on the ballot paper, the voter may (or in some cases must) rank the candidates in order of preference.

A candidate with a majority of first-preference votes (more than all the rest combined), is elected If no candidate gains a majority of first preferences, the second-preference votes of the candidate who finished last on the first count are redistributed. This process is repeated until someone gets over 50 per cent.

The case for AV
· It preserves the current one member per constituency representation model.
· It eliminates the need for tactical voting entirely if full ranking is mandatory and largely otherwise.
· Voters can make clear their first preference without fear of wasting their vote.
· All MPs would have the full or qualified support of a majority of their voters (NB Following the 2010 election 2/3 of MPs lacked majority support, the highest proportion ever.)
· It retains the same constituencies, avoiding the need to redraw boundaries, and there is no overt erosion of the constituency-MP link.
· It penalises extremist parties, who are unlikely to gain many second-preference votes.
· It encourages candidates to chase second- and third-preference votes, which lessens the need for negative campaigning (one doesn't want to alienate the supporters of another candidate whose second preferences one wants) and rewards broad-church policies.
· This is the system supported by the Electoral Reform Society giving it more credence.

The case against AV

· Seen as very limited in Proportional Representation (PR) terms, i.e. it may have little impact, at least initially, on the ratio of number of elected representatives to first-preference vote share and therefore not benefit smaller parties.
· Encourages candidates toward centrist policies in pursuit of second- and third-preference votes, thereby reducing real choice.
· Does not eliminate tactical voting if voters are allowed not to rank all the candidates, i.e. a candidate or party can advocate voting for them only, while the smaller parties are much more likely to receive votes from voters also expressing at least a second preference.
· A referendum this year may lessen the chances of a vote on alternatives at a later date.
· The coalition have tied the legislation to a boundary review aimed at reducing perceived Labour Party advantages and creating bigger constituencies/fewer MPs which is likely to favour the bigger parties.

Examples of AV in Practice

· Leadership elections for Labour and Liberal Democrats
· Elections for UK parliamentary officials including Select Committee Chairs.
· Elections for the Academy Award for Best Picture
· Australian House of Representatives.
· Millions of people in membership organisations, businesses and trade unions internal elections.
· Most Student Union elections.
· Irish Presidential election.
· Numerous American City, Mayoral and district elections.

Guardian editorial on AV referendum - "The alternative vote is only a small and, arguably, imperfect advance, as our reporting of it today shows, but it is also a development of huge political significance that is indispensable if the creaking and tainted system of Westminster politics is to be reinvigorated." See here.

Banks get £130bn subsidy per year

The Coalition government are making some the harshest spending cuts in history. They are wrongly telling us that this is “unavoidable”. According to Positive Money we could make one simple spending cut that could make all others unnecessary: we can cut the benefits to bankers. Just to give an idea of the scale of subsidy the banks are receiving up to £130 billion of taxpayer support every year! Watch this movie and visit the One Good Cut website here: www.onegoodcut.org/



See my last blog on bankers here.

Lobby re libraries tomorrow

The Friends of Gloucestershire website has loads on it that is worth looking at - Marcus Moore emails councillors to see if they will be working in libraries - see here. See satirical film re library cuts (incls swearing) here. See here a piece re a the Bucks volunteer service doubting GCC's plan will work. See here a letter from 6 ex-senior library staff about how libraries will hit children and here a letter re impact on older people.

Photo: Nailsworth library threatened by cuts

Tomorrow there will be a lobby outside Shire Hall Westgate Street Gloucester on Wednesday 16th February from 9.00am. See last nights 'farce' at scrutiny here.

The County Council will make the final decisions on their swingeing cuts. The recent concessions made regarding library plans (see my comments here) are a mere sop which fail to address the fundamental iniquity of no services in our most deprived areas. As the Library campaign write: "Other services will be equally hit – Trading Standards cuts will threaten public safety, Youth Service cuts will deprive our young people of much needed support and Day Centre cuts will leave many of our vulnerable elderly isolated. This is to name but a few - So much for Hawthorne’s mantra of ‘protecting the most vulnerable’. Show them what you think and show them we all intend to keep campaigning against these damaging cuts. Let them know we have no intention of going away!"
Letter to Hunt and Vaizey

Meanwhile I've added my name to a message from Alan Gibbons of Campaign for the Book - the instigator of the national day of action on the 5th February. See below:

Dear Mr Hunt and Mr Vaizey,

Speaking to the Oxford Mail this week, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, the MP for Wantage, said: “People have to come with ideas. They have to look at different options.”

People the length and breadth of the UK have come up with ideas. They have discussed options. Between five and ten thousand people have rallied round their libraries. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions. Well-known figures such as Philip Pullman, Lesley Garrett, Phil Jupitus, Tony Christie, Brian Blessed and Billy Bragg have added their voices to the call for a change of heart. At one hundred Read-ins communities, librarians, user groups and librarians have demonstrated in creative, fun ways just how much their libraries mean to them.

This is a grassroots movement. We hoped for a dozen events, but local people took up the call and made it something refreshing, urgent, local and liberating. They have put out a positive message: our libraries, our communities, our right to have a say over their future.

As a consequence of the Comprehensive Spending Review 400 libraries are under threat. Compare this with the situation in South Korea where 180 new libraries are being built. South Korea is top of the PISA international rankings for competence in reading. In ten years the UK has fallen from seventh to twenty-fifth. This is no time to cut libraries.

We call on you to heed the view of the people. Libraries are a vital part of local communities. The National Literacy Trust has given evidence that visiting a library makes you twice as likely to be a good reader, the very foundation stone of academic and social achievement. We, the undersigned appeal to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to call a moratorium on library closures now and convene a seminar involving all the major representatives of library users and librarians’ organizations. We have the ideas, Mr Vaizey. From government we need the will to explore them fully and without prejudice.

Yours faithfully,

Alan Gibbons, Organiser of the Campaign for the Book and the following signatories:

"In times of economic duress, the library, free and open to all, where thinking can be done, where plans can be hatched, becomes an essential service, the equivalent to the mind of what the hospital is to the body. If a people had the anatomy of a single human figure, than the public library would be the brains of that figure, the place where thoughts, memories and hopes are stored, the place where laughter and new ideas came from. To cut a library system down to its bare bones is then the equivalent of a lobotomy." Award winning, internationally acclaimed, best-selling author Yann Martel (his second novel, ‘Life of Pi’ won the Man Booker Prize in 2002)

Afghanistan: renewed calls for withdrawl

On Saturday the Guardian carried the letter below regarding Afghanistan with an email action that I've already taken. War on Want have released a disturbing report here. The current war in Afghanistan has now entered its 10th year - longer than both the First World War and Second World War combined.

This report outlines the impact of the war on the Afghan people, whose country has been devastated by decades of warfare and foreign interference, and calls for the immediate withdrawal of NATO troops. It also looks at some of the motives for Britain being involved like the strategic importance, the credibility of NATO and the natural gas pipeline.

“One of our goals is to stabilise Afghanistan... so that energy can flow to the south”. US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher 2007

Civillian deaths continue to mount - over 8,000 in last 5 years - 3 million Afghans are refugees or internally misplaced. Afghan assets are privatised and much of the so-called 'aid' arriving is spent on security. In 2009, the Afghan government reported that security spending by the Defence and Interior ministries accounted for fully 47% of the country’s core operating budget. Indeed the whole country is increasingly militarised - one of the most militarised on earth - worse still are all the private security companies - in May last year Britain's commander in southern Afghanistan, Major General Nick Carter, said that private security companies in Afghanistan operated in a “culture of impunity”, and admitted there was no system of registering guns or vehicles.

Letter to The Guardian which calls on supporters to email War on Want

Sixty years ago today, this newspaper carried a letter from the publisher Victor Gollancz (reproduced in full here) calling for people to join him in an urgent campaign against world poverty and militarism. Britain was fighting an unwinnable war in Asia, the Korean war, and Gollancz asked all who agreed with his call for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict to send him a postcard marked with the single word "yes". Within a month 10,000 people had responded, and War on Want was born.

Today Britain is mired in another unwinnable war in Asia, this time in Afghanistan. As detailed in the new report launched by War on Want this morning, the Afghan people are paying a terrible price for the ongoing occupation of their country. The surge in military activity has led not to more security but to greater insecurity, both in Afghanistan itself and in neighbouring Pakistan. Opinion polls consistently show over 70% of British people now support the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, either "immediately" or "soon".

We believe the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan is against the interests of the Afghan people. We call for the immediate withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, and a negotiated settlement which guarantees self-determination, security and human rights for the Afghan people. If you agree, please join us by emailing "yes" to yes(at)waronwant.org [replace (at) with @].

John Hilary Executive director, War on Want
Malalai Joya Afghan politician
Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite
Dave Prentis General secretary, Unison
Sally Hunt General secretary, University and College Union
Jeremy Dear General secretary, National Union of Journalists
Mark Serwotka General secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union
Billy Hayes General secretary, Communication Workers Union
Bob Crow General secretary, Rail Maritime and Transport Union
Michael Mansfield QC
Tony Benn
Marsha Singh MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Mike Hancock MP
Caroline Lucas MP
Martin Caton MP
John McDonnell MP
Elfyn Llwyd MP
Paul Flynn MP
Moazzam Begg Director, Cageprisoners
Salma Yaqoob Birmingham city councillor
Lindsey German Convenor, Stop the War Coalition
Phil Shiner Public Interest Lawyers
Ken Loach
Victoria Brittain
Lowkey
Bruce Kent

Don't Go Breaking My Art!

Arts face massive funding cuts - see my previous blogs here and here the question is posed as to whether politicians understand arts. Well today, St Valentines Day, I was delighted to read that civil servants will stage a "love-in" as part of a campaign to save cultural assets from the Government's cuts in public spending.

You can join me in signing a petition here.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union, dressed up as Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg will share a bed in London's Trafalgar Square, while the public will be asked to fill in postcards saying why they love public services. The protest, entitled, Don't Go Breaking My Art, will highlight the massive cuts in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's budget. The UK has five of the 20 most visited art galleries in the world.

The union argues that for every £1 the Government spends on culture, the UK economy gets back £2 and the British film industry alone contributes £1.2 billion a year to the exchequer.

"Like other public services that people hold dear, our nation's cultural heritage is under threat from the biggest spending cuts in living memory. We believe there is an alternative to these cuts and that the government should be investing in our public services to help our economy to grow and ensure art and culture does not once again become the preserve of a privileged elite." PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka

Stroud Greens tell MP "forests not for sale!"

Well, as noted yesterday on this blog, I got a reply from Neil Carmichael in response to a series of questions I raised re the sell off of our forests (see here). However for all his words, he did not vote to save our forests, but rather voted with the government, on the day of the Opposition Day Debate. I have to say that on top of a failure to answer my questions, that led me to do a press release locally on this last week - I enclose the release below.

Click here find out how your MP voted, then send them a quick message:
www.38degrees.org.uk/how-did-your-mp-forests

As I noted in an earlier blog selling off England's public forests could cost the nation more than it would save and would be environmental madness. New government figures issued this week show clearly that the sale of the forests would cost £507.9m but yield benefits of only £495.9m.

This was not in either the Conservative or the Liberal Democrats manifestos during the recent election. There is no mandate for this and it’s clearly an attempt to privatize yet another public asset and hand it over to selective groups who will restrict access by the public and use the land for their own profits. Caroline Lucas the Green MP in Westminster took a prominent role in the House of Commons debate during a recent adjournment debate and led opposition calls for the bill to be withdrawn. She has put down an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons asking for a full debate on the issue. I wrote a letter here to press before Christmas that still covers the key issues.

A key reason the government is pushing the sale of forests is seen by many as being the tax relief - 100% on Inheritance and free of Capital Gains Tax:
www.woods4sale.co.uk/taxation.htm

Stroud Greens tell MP "forests not for sale!"

Stroud District Green Party has reacted with dismay to the news that local MP Neil Carmichael has voted against a rethink of government plans to privatise Forestry Commission land, which could see sites such as Westonbirt Arboretum sold off to private investors.

Responding to massive public anger at the initial plans to sell off Forestry Commission land - 84% of people polled by YouGov last month said they opposed the plans - the government reduced the scale of the sell-off by ring-fencing what it called “heritage forests”, such as the Forest of Dean, but many campaigners say the government has been giving mixed messages on whether these sites will be saved or not.

Westonbirt Arboretum near Stroud is not classified as heritage and is therefore still being considered for sale.

Greens feel this could lead to development of forestry land and a loss of biodiversity.

Stroud District Councillor for Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward Philip Booth said: "I am appalled that Neil Carmichael has just voted for the sale of our country's forests. This is an irresponsible act of environmental vandalism. No final decision has been made but his support for this move makes no sense. The price of maintaining our forests is about 30p annually for each of us. This represents huge value for money yet the planned sell off has no guarantee that the forest will be accessible to the public and no guarantee that it will be managed properly."

Philip Booth added: "More worryingly is the sham consultation and that there seems to be no clear reason why they want to sell. In terms of the main heritage forests like the Forest of Dean there have been very mixed messages that it could become a trust but still get funding. Some have suggested the sell-off will resolve a 'conflict of interest' within the Forestry Commission, but there is a clear conflict of interest. However there is a conflict between what the government wants and what the majority of England wants i.e. publicly owned forest land remaining publicly owned."

In a letter to constituents about the forestry sell-off, Carmichael stressed that there would be no sale of "heritage forests" such as the Forest of Dean to the private sector and he added that community groups or civil society organizations would be given "first refusal" on any Forestry Commission land.

He also said the government would prevent the sale of any site which has more than 10% planted ancient woodland.

"...I can reassure you that I will be listening very carefully to constituents' responses and views on the consultation," Carmichael said in the letter.

Carmichael, who has received 400 letters and e-mails on the subject, is holding a public meeting on Friday, 4th March at the Old Town Hall in Stroud from 6.30 to 10.30 p.m. to discuss the government's proposals concerning the Forestry Commission.

People who wish to respond to the consultation should write an e-mail topublicconsultation@forestry.gsi.gov.uk or a letter to: Forestry Commission, Silvan House, 231 Corstophine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AT

Notes for Editors:
1) The text of the "Opposition Day Motion" on Wednesday 7th February, 2011 was:
This House: believes that the Government's intention in the Public Bodies Bill to sell off up to 100% of England's public forestry estate is fundamentally unsound; notes that over 225,000 people have signed a petition against such a sell-off; recognises the valuable role that the Forestry Commission and England's forests have made to increasing woodland biodiversity and public access, with 40 million visits a year; further recognises that the total subsidy to the Forestry Commission has reduced from 35% of income in 2003-04 to 14% of income in 2010-11; further notes that the value of the ecosystems services provided by England's public forest estate is estimated to be £680 million a year; notes that the value of such services could increase substantially in the future through the transition to a low carbon economy as a carbon market emerges; notes that the public forest estate has been retained in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and calls on the Government to rethink its decision on the sale of England's public forest estate in order to protect it for future generations.

2) The Forest of Dean is listed as a heritage forest and Westonbirt Arboretum as a multi-purpose forest in the government consultation document, http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm