'Brexit means Brexit' means what?
7th October 7.30pm, Stroud Subscription Rooms

 

Proof of Tory Support for Glyphosate

 Further to my last post,  I received a press release from Tory MEP for the South West, Julie Girling whose aim is to fight the 'needless farm ban':

' Julie Girling is leading Britain's Conservative MEPs in fighting moves to ban an important herbicide.
 She said: "Farmers need this product to protect arable fields and horticulture crops. It is also needed where there are large hard surfaces - airports for example - to tackle damaging weeds."
Scientists at the European Food Safety Authority have researched the substance thoroughly and found that glyphosate poses no unacceptable risk when used appropriately and is unlikely to pose a hazard to humans.Based on that advice, the EU Commission is proposing to renew authorisation, which is due to expire on June 30. However, MEPs on the Environment Committee passed a resolution objecting to the approval of glyphosate, leading to this week's vote of the full parliament.Mrs Girling said:"This product has been used for years and we are not going to stand by and watch over-zealous MEPs from the Left slip through a ban in the face of the science.
"This is a decision for member state experts. Parliament should let them get on with things. As MEPs we should support evidence based policy making. "In this case some anti-farmer MEPs are straying outside their remit and leaving the public open to higher food prices and scarcity issues"
 "We will not let them get away with it. We'll support fairness for farmers and consumers."

The US Center of Food Safety strongly disagrees with the European Food Safety Authority assessment.
'EFSA relied heavily on the glyphosate assessment conducted by German pesticide regulators, which was based on egregious violations of accepted standards for interpreting studies.  For instance, faulty statistical methods were used to reject clear evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in experimental animals.'

THE VOTE on 13th April

The Press release said:

 Given concerns about the carcinogenicity and endocrine disruptive properties of the herbicide glyphosate, used in many farm and garden applications, the EU Commission should renew its marketing approval for just 7 years, instead of 15, and for professional uses only, Parliament says in a resolution voted on Wednesday. MEPs call for an independent review and the publication of all the scientific evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) used to assess glyphosate.

Glyphosate should not be approved for use in or close to public parks, public playgrounds and public gardens, they add.

National experts sitting in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Phytopharmaceuticals Section) will vote to adopt or reject the Commission proposal by qualified majority in May. If there is no such majority, it will be up to the European Commission to decide.

Green MEP for the South West, Molly Scott Cato, is against the continued use of glyphosate.

New Cotswold Green Party

October 3rd 2015 saw the Founding Meeting of the Cotswold Green Party. Originally part of Stroud and District Green Party, the recent Green Surge saw membership numbers in the Cotswold District Council area soar to 115 - enough to form our own party and better represent the people and issues in the CDC area.

The elected officers come from Great Rissington, Cirencester, Fairford and Moreton-in-Marsh and so have good coverage of the large district and awareness of local issues.

After the offical business it was great to have Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, give an inspiring talk on the EU - its drawbacks, but also its positive side of countries with different cultures and outlooks working together. A former Professor of Economics at Roehampton University, Molly is a member of the influential Economic & Monetary Affairs and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees in the European Parliament.

Molly also pointed out that with the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote in the South West, the Green Party is the main opposition to the divisive policies of the Conservative Government.

Watch This Space.

TTIP - the nightmare being secretly negogiated

There have already been a few blogs on this site about TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).  The Establishment Media, however, remain relatively quiet on the issue as do the politicians, officials and business people negotiating on the issue.

The War On Want definition is a good one:

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a comprehensive free trade and investment treaty currently being negotiated – in secret – between the European Union and the USA. As officials from both sides acknowledge, the main goal of TTIP is to remove regulatory ‘barriers’ which restrict the potential profits to be made by transnational corporations on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Yet these ‘barriers’ are in reality some of our most prized social standards and environmental regulations, such as labour rights, food safety rules (including restrictions on GMOs), regulations on the use of toxic chemicals, digital privacy laws and even new banking safeguards introduced to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.
 

Trade agreements are hard to get your head around and see how they could impact on you.  It is therefore good to have a few concrete examples.

According to sumofus.org the agreement would mean 'Europe would increase US fossil fuel imports - resulting in more fracking in the US, an increased reliance on fossil fuels in the EU and more climate emissions across the board.'

TTIP would allow fossil fuel companies to sue governments for trying to tackle climate change. Similar rules in other trade deals have allowed Swedish energy company Vattenfall to sue Germany for phasing out nuclear power and replacing it with renewables. In a secret court, the company is demanding a whopping 4.7 billion Euros in compensation.

I have just signed a 38 Degrees petition against TTIP with a view to helping bees. TTIP is great news for Syngenta and the big pesticide companies. But awful news for our bees and the vegetables, flowers and hedgerows they pollinate. At the moment the EU has banned bee-killing pesticides, but under TTIP the pesticide companies could sue Europe for banning their environmentally deadly products.

The EU has already made worrying concessions to the US to facilitate the TTIP deal by dropping plans to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility.

Our Green MEP, Molly Scott Cato and other Green MEP's are fighting hard against TTIP.  Molly supported the Day of Action against TTIP on 22nd August.

If the above does not get you angry see this article in the Independent suitably entitled-

'If you're not already terrified about the potential human cost of TTIP, these examples will do it.'

Still fighting Hinkley

Last month, the country’s first new nuclear power station in a generation – at Hinkley Point – cleared a major hurdle after an agreement was reached between the European Commission and Whitehall. However, Green MEP Molly Scott Cato has pledged to keep fighting the power station.

But the news angered and dismayed opponents, including the Green Party, the Stop Hinkley Group and Greenpeace UK, who vowed that the fight against the EDF plant would go on. More Here: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Campaigners-bid-block-EU-deal-Hinkley/story-23039980-detail/story.html

Stop Hinkley have now written to competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who is in charge of state aid, urging him to reconsider and claiming that the subsidy deal had been “stitched up without any sort of competitive process”. [http://www.stophinkley.org/Temporary/Dear%20Commissioner.pdf]

Dale Vincent, of Stroud's Ecotricity, was reported in the Guardian as considering making a legal challenge over Hinkley, and it seems there could be German protest as well.

So, rumours of Hinkley's success may be premature, and the fight is a long way from over. we can only hope that sanity, and law will prevail, and the massive government subsidy of this unsustainable industry will not be allowed to go ahead.

Greens resist Hinkley

Molly presents a list of questions about Hinkley to Commissioner Almunia: he denies that a decision has been reached.

Green MEP for the South West, Molly Scott Cato, has reacted with fury to the news that the EU is set to approve billions of pounds of public funding for Hinkley C, the UK’s first new nuclear power plant in a generation.

For several months, the EU has been investigating whether the Hinkley C deal is in breach of EU competition and state aid rules. Greens have always maintained that the contract with EDF, offering a strike price for its electricity of £92.50 per MWh – roughly twice the current wholesale price of power – as well as state credit guarantee of £10bn, are illegal state aids which breach European market rules.
 
Responding to the news, Molly Scott Cato said:
 
“A decision like this demonstrates why so many British people are sceptical about the EU. The rules on fair competition are perfectly clear but can apparently be ignored when there is a political deal to be made. Agreeing such a huge implicit subsidy for Hinkley will make it impossible for those who generate electricity in a clean and sustainable way to compete. It will destroy thousands of potential jobs in the renewables sector and set back South West innovation in the energies of the future.”
 
In the letter handed to Mr Almunia today, Dr Scott Cato demands a full justification for the decision to approve the deal and calls for the Commission to make public the full evidence on which the judgment was based . She urges constituents in the South West to write to Mr Almunia to express their shock and disappointment, asking him to think again. You ca write to him at Joaquin.ALMUNIA@ec.europa.eu
 
The deal will still require approval from the outgoing EU commissioners, which includes several nuclear sceptics. Greens and a cross-party group of MEPs are now campaigning hard for the contract between the UK government and EDF to be dropped. As well as contravening EU rules, Greens in the Parliament argue the deal threatens the EUs sustainability objectives.

We've also been sent this press release from Stop Hinkley:

Campaigners call Hinkley Deal “Economically Bonkers”
Commenting on reports that the deal between the UK Government and EDF Energy to subsidise the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is on the verge of winning approval from competition authorities in Brussels, campaigners in Somerset stressed that no decision has yet been made.

According to media reports competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia supports the approval of public funding for the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.  However the final decision, which may happen soon, has to be taken by a college of all the European Commissioners.

The Stop Hinkley Campaign welcomed a letter sent by a group of over 20 academics, politicians and renewable energy companies to the European Competition Commissioner as well as Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his successor Jean-Claude Juncker to urge them not to rush through any decision and warning that doing so could mean the decision would face legal action. (1)

The two proposed nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point will infringe single market rules on the internal energy market, if the £16 billion mega-project proceeds on its present basis. The project has not been subject to any kind of competition with alternative ways of providing the same service.

“Irrespective of what we think about the possibility of an accident or routine emissions of radioactivity into the environment, or the fact that there is no solution to dealing with the dangerous waste, this deal is economically bonkers”, said Stop Hinkley Campaign spokesperson Allan Jeffrey. “Britain has 7 million homes with lofts that need to be insulated; 5 million with cavity walls that need to be filled and 7 million with uninsulated solid walls, (2) yet this deal will lock consumers into paying about twice the going rate for electricity until almost 2060 while the cost of renewable energy is falling rapidly. It would be hard devise a worse deal for consumers or tackling climate change if you tried.”

Stroud events

Here’s the current list of things we know about that are happening in the near future.  Where relevant, we’re also listing events a bit further afield that you might be interested in, too. These are local events that are (unless it says otherwise in the listing) run by assorted local groups – these are all independent of the Green Party.

If you are aware of other talks, events, workshops or other community activities in the coming week or so, please do mention them in the comments. If there’s an event you would like our support in promoting, please email the details to brynnethnimue (at) gmail (dot) com.

The Peregrine Falcons of Gloucestershire By Steve Watson Friday 5th September, 7.30pm - approx 9.30pm Cost: £5/adult & £3/child We are very lucky to have Peregrine falcons living close by in the wilds of Symonds Yat over in the Forest of Dean. Few of us may have been lucky enough to see, in real life, one of the fastest animals on the planet.  On 5th September Stroud Valley’s Project is offering you the chance to see this illustrated talk.  ‘The Peregrine Falcons of Gloucestershire’ is a fascinating presentation by Steve Watson, who has been studying the Symonds Yat peregrines for 30 years. This talk will cover the biology, ecology, hunting strategies, UK population dynamics and the pesticide story of the peerless peregrine falcon. Steve will also discuss the Symonds Yat breeding performance and convey some personal anecdotes. The talk will include high quality photographs and video clips. We hope you will be able to join us for this unique and interesting evening. Refreshments will be available. Booking and paying in advance is essential as places are limited. Please call Stroud Valleys Project on 01453 753358 to book or find out more Sumptuous Syrian Supper - a fundraising evening for Syrian Refugees on Saturday 6th September at Star Anise, Stroud from 7.30pm - a night of fantastic food, fun and laughter - there will be an auction and other Middle Eastern inspired fun! Tickets £17.50 from Clare Skivington clareskivington@gmail.com 0788 4021067.  In Aid of Hand in Hand for Syria Registered charity in England and Wales (no. 1145862) Help mobilize a law of Ecocide  a day of local & global direct action planning Where Lansdown Hall, Stroud, Gloucestershire , UK, GL5 1BB When  6 September 2014  Time 10am-3.30pm Polly Higgins has recently moved to Stroud and is organising this event. She says: "For me New Law - Ecocide law - sits at the heart of how we choose to govern our world. It's our choice: sit back and let the wheels of destruction continue, or stand up, speak out and say 'enough, no more'. It's a choice-point where each of us can choose. Which is why I choose to speak out. I choose to host a Day of Action on the 6th of September (see below), to mobilise local and global action for a law of Ecocide. I'd love you to join me - either in person on online for the livestream. The guys at Facing Crossroads shall be there to film it all, and shall be helping message out this one story that looks set to become truly a global story in the making. Come help me as we step into the next chapter!" The event is free. Email support@eradicatingecocide.com to let them know you can attend, or join the livestream on the day at eradicatingecocide.com + facingcrossroads.org People from across the world shall be joining us, both online and in person. Everyone is a participant. 12th September  Kings Stanley market, held in the Village Hall between 3pm and 6.30pm. There is a mix of local produce, including Popes sausages, Godsells cheese, Days cider, Stroud brewery, bread, cakes, honey, plants etc, also a variety of craft stalls, books, bric-a-brac, memorabilia and collectables. There is also a community table where anyone can sell plants, fruit and veg with no upfront fees. The playgroup organise a cafe with drinks, cakes and ice-creams. This is the second year we have been organising the market and it has been very popular. We usually have about 28 stalls and it is generally well attended. . 'Economics & Transition' The next meeting of the Transition Stroud Book group Where Black Book Cafe, Nelson St, Stroud. When  Saturday 13th September  Time 4-6pm This month the Transition Stroud book group will discuss a theme rather than a single book: Economics & Transition. Last month we read ‘The Burning Question' by Mike Berners-Lee and Duncan Clark, a key issue of which is that of a 'carbon bubble' - overvalued fossil fuel companies - that would burst if we keep fossil fuels in the ground as we must in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. So this month we will look at 'Economics & Transition' -  texts which present alternative economic models for the future, or at least offer further insight into the problems of our current economic system. Rather than a single book, we have 3 key recommendations, and a longer list of possible readings (as we cannot offer multiple copies of any of the 3 key books). The Bioregional Economy by Molly Scott Cato (the South West Green MEP based in Stroud) "In a world of climate change and declining oil supplies, what is the plan for the provisioning of resources? Green economists suggest a need to replace the globalised economy, and its extended supply chains, with a more ‘local’ economy... The concept of the ‘bioregion’ — developed and popularised within the disciplines of earth sciences, biosciences and planning — may facilitate the reconceptualisation of the global economy as a system of largely self-sufficient local economies." You can read pages 1-30 online for free. Prosperity Without Growth by Tim Jackson. "No one denies that development is essential for poorer nations. But in the advanced economies there is mounting evidence that ever-increasing consumption adds little to human happiness and may even impede it. More urgently, it is now clear that the ecosystems that sustain our economies are collapsing under the impacts of rising consumption. Unless we can radically lower the environmental impact of economic activity - and there is no evidence to suggest that we can - we will have to devise a path to prosperity that does not rely on continued growth." You can read/download the report for the Sustainable Development Commission on which this book was based online for free (pdf). Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. "Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme - but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being." As well as being available in hard-copy at a 'pay what you like' rate, this book is available for free online, in both PDF and epub formats. In other words, if you have one, you can read it on your computer, laptop, tablet or kindle. A copy of each of these books is available from the Transition Stroud Library at the Black Book Cafe. As we only have one copy of each, we below supply a list of our other economics titles which we encourage you to read instead. We'd obviously like you to read one book in full if possible, but if you can't, feel free to come and hear what other people learned from the books, and contribute to the discussion. If you can't read any of the books, please read one of these short pieces by our key authors: "New economic model needed not relentless consumer demand" by Tim Jackson, published in The Guardian "Let's replace our fixation on growth with a steady-state economy focusing on lower consumption, leisure and ecological health" by Charles Eisenstein, published in The Guardian Pages 1-30 of Molly Scott Cato's "The Bioregional Economy" You can read about what happened at the 2nd meeting of the book group and join the discussion at the Transition Stroud google discussion group (you do not need to be a member of this group to read the posts, but you do need to be a member to contribute – it is possible to set this up so you do not receive additional emails but visit the forum at times of your choosing).

South West Young Greens

The newly formed South West Young Grens's Launch event is really shaping up fantastically. Below is the speaker list so far -  the full program will be released by the end of the week.

- What does the Green Party stand for? – Amelia Womack, Green Party Deputy Leader candidate
- Greens and Europe – Dr Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for  the South West
- Bristol Green Surge – Darren Hall
- Vibrant, progressive politics? Who are the Young Greens? –  Clifford Fleming, Young Greens Co-Chair and NUS NEC member

Panel 1: Youth Cross Party Panel: What does our generation face tomorrow? 

Panel 2: Politics or Activism? How to bring about change tomorrow?

Everyone is welcome (not just Young Greens!), and we'd love to see some of you on the 30th!!!

Green financial news

Stories from Molly Scott Cato and Natalie Bennet...
 

copyright Russ

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, has used her position on the European Parliament’s Economics and Monetary Committee to bring further pressure to bear on George Osborne to accept a plan to impose a tax on bankers and financiers.

The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), otherwise known as a Robin Hood tax, is a tiny tax of about 0.05% on transactions made by banks, hedge funds and the financial sector but could raise billions of pounds a year for social and environmental initiatives. Chancellor George Osborne remains firmly opposed to the FTT tax and even attempted a legal challenge which was rejected by the European Court of Justice some weeks ago.

Molly questioned Italian Finance Minister, Pier Carlo Padoan, at a committee meeting. Support from Minister Padoan and the Italian government is crucial as they currently hold the EU Presidency of the European Council and will set the agenda for Europe-wide reforms until the end of the year. Molly said:

“As Greens we are keen to see Europe's banks working in the interests of all and not in the narrow self-interest of creditors, shareholders and Osborne’s chums in the City. That’s why we are strong supporters of a Financial Transactions Tax which will make funds available to be invested for the public good. I sought reassurance from Mr Padoan that he will seek to broaden support for the FTT during the Italian presidency.”

Ten member states have agreed to implement the levy by the beginning of 2016 but the details of exactly how it will work have yet to be agreed. Greens are pressing for member states to avoid loop holes and any watering down of proposals and are seeking a much broader based FTT to include all derivatives, particularly credit and interest rate derivatives. Molly concluded:

“It is clear that Mr Padoan supports the idea of a FTT but he didn’t make it clear whether he would apply pressure on Cameron and Osborne to sign up to this. I am encouraged by the number of European countries that see this as an important measure and Osborne and his banking cronies are increasingly isolated in their opposition to this popular tax. Greens will continue to keep pressure up on the UK government and in the European Parliament to support a tax that will work for the common good.”

Meanwhile,closer to home amidst the flurry of data, reaction and charts, we haven't really touched on the wider question -- whether GDP is a good measure of economic well-being at all. Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader, has now flagged up some of the key concerns. One is the continued importance of Britain's financial sector, nearly years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. As Bennett warns that the UK economy remains unbalanced: With the International Bank of Settlements, among many others, warning about the continued extreme fragility of the international financial sector of which the City of London is a notable risk-heavy and fraud-laden part, with an economy in which 20% of workers are on less than a living wage, millions working fewer hours than they'd like and households struggling to meet basic bills, there's no sign of real economic change.The Greens argue that Britain's "broken economic model" needs to change, with less focus on consumption and less power for multinationals.

"Today it's important to re-state that we need to transform it so that it works for the common good, not for the good of the few, within the limits of our one planet.We need to bring manufacturing and food production back to Britain, restore strong local economies built on small businesses and cooperatives. That means forcing multinational companies to behave like decent corporate systems - paying their way with tax and decent wages and conditions, and reining in our financial sector. And we need a massive cut in our use of the limited physical resources of this planet, along the lines of, but going much further, than that proposed this week by the Environmental Audit Committee report on the circular economy."

That report, warned that the government isn't giving enough leadership on the issue and that Britain could learn a lot from Japan.

Baxter’s Field

Martin Baxendale and Molly Scott Cato, Summer Street
Copyright Gary Learmonth

We are delighted that Slad Valley is not going to be developed and that Gladman lost their appeal over this beautiful local site. Former representative for the Valley ward SDC seat, Molly Scott Cato, fought hard to protect this space, while many other Greens contributed to the inquiry. We are committed to doing everything we can to protect this iconic landscape for the future. Development should happen where it is needed and wanted, not to make unsustainable profits for the few.

Our candidate for the Valley ward by-election – Martin Baxendale – is committed to doing everything he can to protect this landscape from any future attempts at predatory development. We need to be re-using our brownfield sites to revitalise the town centre instead.

News from Molly

Keeping you up to date with what your Green MEP, Molly Scott Cato, is going...

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, challenged the candidate for the presidency of the EU Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, over David Cameron’s expressed wish for the UK to be exempt from EU regulation on the financial and banking sector.

Molly said: "David Cameron has made clear that he wants a 'British Exception' for the financial sector from EU banking and finance regulation. Creating a financial Wild West in London, where reprobate financial institutions could avoid regulation, is not in the interest of UK taxpayers, nor is it in the interest of Europe and its taxpayers. Jean Claude Juncker must stand firm on this and not use it as a bone to throw David Cameron in his rapprochement efforts with the Prime Minister.

As the financial crisis has shown, the implications of an ineffectively regulated financial sector have no respect for borders. A loosely-regulated financial sector in the City of London would ultimately have consequences across the continent, with taxpayers ultimately left to foot the bill. This cannot be a bargaining chip for the new Commission and its president."

She’s not been impressed by Junker’s attitude to Green issues, his lack of interest in protecting fish stocks, and if you’re following her on Twitter, you’ll know already that she didn’t vote for him.

Greens have been warning for months that a new EU-US trade deal known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could undermine agriculture in the South West, and in particular have a devastating effect on the region’s many small scale farmers.

TTIP is a proposed ‘free trade’ agreement between the US and the EU, the negotiations around which are currently taking place behind closed doors. However, information that has emerged about the proposed deal shows that if successful, the agreement could result in the harmonization of food standards between the EU and US. This would mean that, for example, food products such as chemically washed poultry, livestock treated with growth hormones and genetically modified crops – all allowed in the US – could be sold in the UK. This would severely undermine farmers in the South West who adhere to the higher European standards on animal welfare and on a GM crops ban.

The Green Group is the only group in the European Parliament that has been actively opposing the TTIP negotiations. Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West said: “The potential race to the bottom on environmental standards, employment rights, and animal welfare is one of the key concerns Greens have about these secretive trade negotiations. TTIP is a huge threat to hard-fought-for European standards on the quality and safety of our food and on animal welfare. This could severely affect small scale farmers in the South West, many of whom are leading the way in implementing sustainable farming practices.”

Greens say that TTIP would also grant corporations the power to sue governments and lock-in the privatisation of public services including the NHS.

“The proposals to protect corporate investors against the democratic interests of citizens must not be allowed to stand. Together with my Green colleagues in the Parliament I pledge to do everything in our power to prevent TTIP from being agreed” concluded Dr Scott Cato.

In Baxter's Field

On the left: Martin Baxendale, Green candidate for Valley ward in the coming by-election.

In the middle: Nadine Smykatz-Kloss who gave vital evidence at the recent Baxter's Field public inquiry.

On the right: Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the south west and former representative of Valley on Stroud District Council.

This is the view up towards Slad from Baxter's field, a reminder of how beautiful and precious our landscape is. Molly fought passionately to defend this landscape for many years. Now, on the European Parliament's committee for agriculture and rural development, she may be able to influence the laws that shape how our countryside is managed.

Martin is dedicated to defending these fields, in any way that he can.

The Green Party believes in long term thinking, not short term profits for the few. We see more value in a landscape than short term development and the extraction of 'resources'. We see homes and communities, landscapes people love, we see history and tradition, culture and inspiration. We see biodiversity and quality of life. This view, and this landscape are irreplaceable.

Photograph copyright Gary Learmonth.

Greens, banking and Europe

Molly Scott Cato has been an active MEP for a week, and she’s already hitting the news, having got involved in European banking issues. Green MEPs have been working for some time to make the banking system fairer. Rather than banks being able to assume that tax payers will just bail them out if their gambling goes wrong, European Greens have been working for a system where riskier outfits have to put some money in the pot. As it stands, we the public are bearing all the risk – and the consequence, in the form of crushing austerity measures, but we see none of the benefits. Why should the poorest be made to suffer so as to underwrite the gambling of the affluent?

You can read more about it here. 

However, it looks like the Commission has been persuaded to bow to the demands of the bankers. This would be a failure of democracy, putting the profits of the few ahead of the needs of the many. It’s not over yet. If enough of us protest, perhaps the Commission can be persuaded to stand up for people, not profits. You can read more here http://www.stop-bank-subsidies.eu/ and find out how to get involved.

Molly Scott Cato: Carbon and Cornwall

She might not officially start until the 1^st July, but Molly Scott Cato is a bit of a force of nature, and is out there already, using the visibility MEP status gives her to draw attention to important regional issues, and to talk about climate change.

In the last week, Molly has accused energy bosses of undermining pro-climate energy policies introduced by the European Union. Working through lobby group Energy UK, leaders in the industry are attempting to water down agreed policies on climate change Greens say are needed to protect the future of the planet.

Molly said, “It is deeply depressing to discover that the economic elites are still prioritising short-term financial gain over the health of the people of the world and our ecosystems. Dealing with climate change has quite literally reached the stage of an end-game and we simply cannot allow fossil fuel energy bosses to direct climate policy. While scientists are arguing the need to expand our renewable energy generation, the self interests of fossil fuel elites and dinosaur politicians are holding us back. This is all the more tragic for the South West which has considerable expertise and enormous potential in renewable energy technologies. We could be looking at thousands of new jobs producing clean, safe electricity while helping to solve the urgent problem of climate change. Energy for the common good, not profits for the few – that’s the Green approach.”

Molly has also spoken out against the suggestion that the Coalition government will prevent Cornwall from making decisions about how to invest the money it receives from Europe. The EU Structural & Investment Funds will provide more than £450 million of European funding for the region during the 2014-2020 period. Dr Scott Cato is also concerned that the Local Enterprise Partnerships, which have limited accountability, now appear to be being given control over this investment of significant public funds. She said:

“During the European Election campaign I noticed that this government deliberately attempts to take the credit for the benefits Europe brings while being critical of the European project. David Cameron argues that EU reform means bringing powers back to London but as Greens we would also like to see powers devolved further, to the nations and regions of the UK.”

South West Green Party are also calling for a 'Greening of the Convergence' so that investment is shifted towards improved local transport infrastructure and strengthened local economies and away from investment in roads and airports.

Molly in Europe

I’ll admit I haven’t heard much from Molly Scott Cato in the last few weeks. Normally, as her local press officer I hear from her regularly. Now as an elected MEP, she’s been off on the train to distant European cities, getting ready to start representing us in the European Parliament from the 1^st of July. She’s so much in demand that even the BBC want to talk to her, and we know what their attitude to Green politics has been recently.

Following Molly on twitter is a good way of keeping up with her. She’s now @MollyMEP

Despite not having officially started yet – which means not having any proper support staff or resources, Molly is already being asked to do the work, and, being awesome, is out there helping people. Notably, supporting campaigners who are fighting to save the River Wylye from damaging development. (There’s a petition here and a film about it here.

Molly will be getting involved with economics and agriculture committees in Europe. Economics, because she’s an author and Professor of economics and therefore has a great deal of insight to offer. Agriculture, because that’s so vitally important to the economy and communities of the south-west.

European politics are confusing, and we spent a lot of time prior to the elections trying to explain to people why this stuff even matters in the first place. There is far, far more to Europe than the kind of stories the media like – immigration and straight bananas. The benefits of Europe just don’t get enough air time, and the way in which the EU and it governing bodies functions, is a bit of a mystery to most of us. So, as Molly sets out as an MEP, I’ll be doing my best to find out more about how that works and share it on.

Celebrating with Molly Scott Cato

Footage of recent Green Party celebrations as Molly Scott Cato makes history, becoming the first Green MEP in the south west.

A viable future

On March 11th, people all over the world remembered the victims of the Fukushima Nuclear disaster 3 years ago. In the Forest of Dean, STAND (Severnside Together Against Nuclear Development), organised a special commemorative meeting on the harbour wall of Lydney Docks to remember the people of Fukushima.

With nuclear development on the agenda for Oldbury, people in Gloucestershire are increasingly aware of our vulnerability.  Fukushima showed us all too plainly that flooding at the Oldbury site would put us all in danger – a real risk given rising sea levels and climate change bringing more torrential rain. We do not want to be the world’s next nuclear disaster. We do not want to be the tragic dead whose memory future protestors will gather to commemorate.  

Stroud’s Molly Scott-Cato, the Green Party MEP candidate for the South West, was one of the speakers and features in this film by Philip Booth.

We need a sane, sustainable future based on safe technology, not highly dangerous and destructive nuclear energy, which is far from clean once you take into account the process of sourcing and refining uranium.

http://www.nuclearsevernside.co.uk/

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Money is a story (and not the one the government are telling us)

image by Russ

The Bank of England have started admitting all the things about money and banking that we Greens have been saying for years. The Guardian has a really good article about it. Wealth is made when we imagine money and lend it. Green economist Molly ScottCato has been saying for ages that this should be in public hands, not undertaken for private benefit.

Money is simply a way to move things round and make things happen. Governments can, and should be able to invent money to solve problems. This makes a total nonsense of the logic underpinning austerity. Move money around, make things happen, and you have not only a thriving economy but also a strong, functional society with room for everyone and a decent standard of living for everyone. We could have that – it is doable and possible. It’s nice to see the Bank of England validating Green policies and perhaps people who couldn’t see how our maths would possibly work, will start to see that much of what we’re talking about around money is happening already, it’s just not happening for the common good. Money could and should work for everyone and we want to make it work that way.

Austerity is an expensive solution to what is really an imaginary problem. If your kids tell you a dragon has stolen all the money, you don’t move out of your house. Effectively that’s what we’re doing, using real resources and damaging real people’s lives to solve a pretend issue. We could have solved the financial crisis in essence by imagining a solution, rather than punishing the poor, which is solving nothing. Either this is utter stupidity in action, or it is a callous desire to punish the most vulnerable, or both. There is simply no excuse for it.

On the day that I’m writing this, Parliament will debate capping welfare. Apparently no one in government has read what the Bank of England are saying (a dereliction of duty), or they don’t care (which is madness), or it is too difficult for them to understand. What they’re doing running the country if they can’t read or comprehend statements from the Bank of England, might turn out to be a pertinent question. More shocking perhaps is that Labour seem to be onboard with the idea that the answer to financial crisis is to attack the most vulnerable. Clearly they have the same sets of issue around evidence, comprehension and caring as well.

We deserve political approaches based on the best evidence, the best thinking, the best insights and the most reasoned position we can develop from those. We deserve political solutions that work for ideally everyone, and failing that, the vast majority. We’re getting fantasy and an ideology designed to serve the few, and with Labour onboard, it looks increasingly like Greens are the only voice on the left speaking for the downtrodden majority.

World Development Movement in Stroud

In February 2014, Nick Dearden, Director of the World Development Movement came to Stroud to give a talk, alongside Molly Scott Cato.

WDM is a group campaigning against the root causes of poverty and inequality. This is a democratically-governed movement made up of local campaign groups based in towns and cities around the UK. The World Development Movement campaigns in ways that challenge the powerful and seek to bring about economic justice for the world’s poor majority.  For more information, visit http://www.wdm.org.uk

Dr Molly Scott Cato is Green EU candidate for the Southwest. Molly has long been challenging inequality and highlighting the innate unfairness in capitalist systems. These articles – Defending the poor - and Green Welfare - will give you a sense of Molly’s vision for a fairer world.

More local films like this on www.stroudcommunity.tv

Can we Trust the National Trust?

How can the National Trust possibly have an “open mind” about fracking? According to this Guardian article, they do... http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/24/national-trust-open-land-fracking

According to the National Trust’s website, “We're a UK conservation charity, protecting historic places and green spaces, and opening them up for ever, for everyone.” Just given the visual impact of fracking, you might imagine the National Trust would not support it, but apparently National Trust director-general Dame Helen Ghosh has said that her organisation has an "open mind" about allowing fracking on its land. When did this policy come in, and why were members not informed that the National Trust apparently no longer intends to protect green spaces?

Local Green Cllr Molly Scott Cato said, “I am shocked by Helen Ghosh’s comment. How unbelievable that they will protect the view but not the groundwater.”

The National Trust was set up in 1894 "for the purposes of promoting the permanent preservation for the benefit of the nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest and as regards lands for the preservation (so far as practicable) of their natural aspect features and animal and plant life:" (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) Helen Ghosh doesn’t appear to be aware of this.

Locally, The National Trust is responsible for Woodchester Park, Crickley Hill, Rodborough Common, May Hill, Lodge Park and Sherborne Estate as well as buildings. How can any organisation responsible for places of such beauty and local importance, be willing to consider fracking them?

I’ve talked to someone who manages the twitter account for the National Trust, and they say that their presumption is against fracking. What they could not explain to me, was why Helen Ghosh has been quoted saying something apparently so at odds with their policy. In this more recent Guardian article, Helen Ghosh claims she was the victim of misquoting, but does not explain what she said, or the context her words were taken out of. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/30/george-monbiot-national-trust-wind-fracking-dame-ghosh she does say, "Would we ever? It's a hypothetical question, until we have answers to the issues that currently concern us." That still sounds more like an 'open mind' than a clear cut 'no' to me.

 

We watch and wait, and keep up the pressure to make sure that our most beautiful places are indeed in safe hands.