Citibank contract is another nail in coffin for PO

I just want to make a quick blog here to vent my anger that Citibank will now provide over the counter service for welfare payment disbursement from 2012. This move will surely be the final nail in the coffin for Britain's network of small community post offices?

Picture: by Russ

"People, particularly those on a low income, value the security and privacy that post offices provide. We are concerned that many convenience stores will not be able to provide the kind of service many consumers need." Andy Burros from the watchdog, Consumer Focus

The government said it would make the "Post Office the front office for public services" but I fail to see how this will achieve that. Indeed the coalition's plans to sell off the Royal Mail will further undermine the Post Office network as I've noted before. According to the Communications Workers Union, over 1,000 UK Post Offices were either closed or put up for sale in 2010. Local closures and relocations are already leaving hundreds without adequate access to this vital public service.

Demo against Post Office Privatisation - Sat 12 March assemble 11am at bandstand in Gloucester Park and March to Shire Hall.

Royal Mail sell-off is a mistake

So MPs have now approved the sell-off of Royal Mail, with government majority of 81 - see BBC report here. This could mean 90% of it under foreigh ownership - it will also dramatically weaken the Post Office network. This move really makes no sense - as Green MP, Caroline Lucas said it is a wasted opportunity.

Photo: electric post bike in Norway

Caroline co-sponsored a cross-party amendment calling on the Government to ensure the existing inter-business agreement between the Post Office and Royal Mail for ten years in the event of the latter's privatisation - but this was voted down.

After the vote Caroline said: "Today's vote on the Postal Services Bill signals the end of the Post Office network as we know it. Without any assurance that the privatised Royal Mail will use the Post Office for business, the future of Post Offices up and down the country are plunged into ever more serious doubt. This was a real wasted opportunity. The Bill could have been instrumental in creating a formal relationship, for example, between Post Offices and credit unions - to increase awareness of and access to affordable credit. Instead, these reckless plans threaten the local Post Offices which many older people, families and vulnerable people within communities, not to mention small businesses, use for making contact with others, filling out Government forms and accessing key services."

The Communications Workers Union has said over 1,000 UK Post Offices were either closed or put up for sale in 2010. Of course this Government are only going where the last one started - former business secretary Peter Mandelson's efforts and the Labour Government really
got the ball rolling on postal liberalisation.

As the Greens Rodborough candidate said in the local paper this week: "The Greens are the only party to consistently fight against postal privatisation at every level." See his here letter.

Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe News from your District Councillor

I've just started delivering my latest news letter - the contents of which are below - apols for delay - I usually try to get it out in January but due to a twisted ankle and the snow it has been delayed. Please also use the 'labels' or the search engine on this blog to find out more about my activities.

Dear Resident,

I feel very fortunate to live in and be part of these lively communities. We have a great village shop, schools, churches, clubs and pubs, plus many wonderful local events like street parties, the Randwick Wap, pancake races, art exhibitions, theatre and more. These all go a long way towards strengthening our communities - something that is close to my heart.

As residents will know, I have nearly completed four years as the local District Councillor. I would be proud to serve a further term and I hope you will consider voting for me this May.

This newsletter gives a taste of some of my recent actions and projects. As I hope it shows, I remain passionate about social and environmental justice and am committed to working with others to achieve the changes we need.

I would like to thank all those who have supported me and the local Green Party for funding this annual newsletter.

Cllr. Philip Booth, Stroud District Councillor for Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward

Want to talk to Philip?

Philip would love to hear your views, answer your questions or try to help with local problems. Email Philip on philip.booth2@virgin.net or phone 01453755451 or write to: 2 The Laurels, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud GL66EL.

Some recent successes

Philip has:

• Led a successful campaign to get a bus shelter at Stratford
• Set up the Stroud Valleys Water Forum that is taking a lead in developing an effective flood policy for the District
• Initiated a Countywide scheme for libraries to loan out energy monitors to help people cut their energy use
• Supported residents who have had problems with planning issues
• Helped get a new culvert and grill at Acres Place, Puckshole, to reduce flooding
• Worked with Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Council to establish allotments in the area Road
  

Some recent actions by your councillor:

Seeking more accountability at the Council

I have joined other Greens in calling for:

• Councillor expenses to be published fully
• Ending the extra cash paid to councillors who use larger cars
• More openness around decisions to close joint-use sports centres
• The Council to apologise to tenants for the damning report on our Council housing stock (with the exception of two other councillors, all refused to make an apology)

Working for better planning

• I continue to oppose development on the Ruscombe Valley fields and at other key local sites that are currently threatened
• I have been one of four councillors on an extensive inquiry into the planning process which has made key recommendations for improvements

Pressing for transport improvements

• I have helped to gain the '20 is Plenty' traffic calming signs. I oppose County Council measures to remove these.
• I continue to seek other local traffic calming measures (not humps and bumps)
• I continue to work for 20mph speed limits in residential areas to reduce casualties and encourage more walking and cycling
• I want to see a proper bus station in Stroud and improvements to cycle facilities

Protecting our wildlife and environment

• I have been involved in projects locally such as clearing the local brook, supporting the local Hedgehog Hospital and helping develop the Stroud-based Global Bee Project to protect solitary bees
• I have sought improvements to local grit bins and road gullies
• I helped ensure that Severn Trent has taken action on sewage systems locally. This has led to a significant reduction in sewage incidents

Open Homes Success

• I initiated and help organise the hugely popular Eco-renovation Open Homes weekend each September. This involves local homes with renewable energy and energy efficiency measures opening to the public and local renewable energy installers promoting their products

Tackling fuel poverty, energy security and climate change

• I chaired a scrutiny inquiry that has made recommendations for financing energy efficiency and renewable measures
• I am seeking opportunities for the Council to invest and make serious financial returns on investments in renewable energy

Working on your behalf

• Opposing a large incinerator at Javelin Park near Stonehouse or elsewhere in the County
• Actively working to ensure our waste management is more sustainable and cost effective
• Initiated a wood fuel project in local woods
• Raised key issues as Stroud’s representative on the Wessex Water Customer Liaison Panel
• Sought improvements to services at Stratford Park Leisure Centre including measures to improve cleanliness and energy efficiency
• Supported others to successfully oppose large cuts in funding to arts

See last years report here.

Are our Post Offices under threat?

I'll come to the possible threat in a mo, but first want to mention that there is a chance to have your say on the Post Office banking proposals - as long as you get it in by February 24th.

I did the online form last week - but have been incensed by some of Mandelson's comments when he says "The post office is at the heart of every community". Tell that to all the residents in Gloucestershire who have seen their post offices close. 3,000 post offices have shut over the past three years and thousands more have been axed since Labour came to power in 1997. Stroud was of course the second town to save a post office - see here.

We also heard that the prime minister feels that it may be useful for the post office to expand its services to include a form of banking and other financial services!!! What are they talking about???! Isn't this what they put a spanner in the works over years ago?

Indeed already there is strong criticism that a non-UK bank, Bank of Ireland, has already been selected to operate the accounts. The Federation of Sub-Postmasters wants a Government-owned account provider, rather than a private, commercial company. Good for them - indeed aren't there lots of opportunities now with Northern Rock to create a fully fledged Postbank? Why should the profits go abroad??

At the New Economics Foundation they note (see here): "The consultation is really worrying on two counts. The main one is that these mouse-like developments – in fact any self-respecting mouse would have a bolder vision than this – don't tackle the neglect and the lack of government support from which the Post Office has suffered for decades. A third of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses have seen their revenues decline in the last year. This is just not sustainable. The government has recognised today that the Post Office is a great British institution but it needs to treat it like one.

That means that it doesn't need this consultation (reporting cunningly just before the election, when the long grass will be even longer) but it does need to follow the excellent advice of the BIS select committee report last July – on, yes, the future of the Post Office. Having massively consulted, it concluded that financial services should be expanded and that, crucially, the government must put its business through post offices and recognise the Post Office's potential as an unparalleled social, community and economic network."

Mandelson's department needs to be more radical, more profoundly committed to strengthening the Post Office, more committed to helping small businesses have the financial advice and help they need, than is allowed for by these virtuous proposals. Consulting us on a Post Bank, on using Northern Rock, on making the Post Office the public alternative to our present dreadful banking system – now that would be worth consulting on."

So officially why is there a consultation? The Government is proposing to expand the range of financial services at Post Offices in order to generate additional revenue to help maintain a more secure and sustainable Post Office network. The proposals will also address the uneven distribution of financial services currently, which can lead to those living in rural and deprived urban areas having reduced or no access to such services locally. See here comments a year ago on this.

How can I respond? There is a 6 question response form on the Department for Business Innovation and Skills website. Please do submit a response even if you do not wish to answer all 6 questions as the more representations made, the louder the voice of Gloucestershire's communities. Go to: www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page53848.html

Are our Post Offices under threat?

I've taken the liberty of adapting some of this from an Officers email from Stroud District Council....After the Post Office ‘National Network Change programme’ in 2008, we were assured that all branches that survived closure would be protected under the Governments commitment until 2011.

Photo: PO on Cainscross roundabout opposite Tricorn House

This meant that if a branch faced difficulties such as with its branch management or premises, then Post Office Ltd would do what they could to find an alternative solution to Post Office provision in that area.

However recently we have seen a couple of local Post Offices in the Stroud District struggle to remain viable for various reasons and there have been a couple of temporary closures. True to their word, Post Office Ltd has worked to find alternative solutions; some have been successful and some are pending further agreement. Profit levels at most individual branches nationally are at best marginal with many operating at a loss, being very heavily subsidised by Post Office Ltd and the Government with an annual network subsidy payment of £150 million being made.

‘2011’ sounded a long way off, but now it is just around the corner. We cannot predict what the impact on the network subsidy payment will be, but thinking on the cautious side, we may in a year or so’s time be looking at another ‘National Network Change’ (closure) programme. Should this be the case, it would be wise for our communities in the Stroud District to be proactively looking at what can be done now to ensure their local branch clearly is not on the marginal or loss making hit list.

I've already raised this issue with Parish Councils who are looking at whether to raise with subpostmasters. In my view we could still be doing more to support our local POs - I've asked if the Warbler can encourage folk to use our local PO near the Tesco Express. What other thoughts do folk have??

See previous post office blogs by clicking on label - like letter re privatisation here, march in Stroud here and indeed lots more re Paganhill PO and the closure of Whiteshill PO.

Is the Stroud Pound working?

That was the title of this last Friday's monthly Green party sponsored Coffee House Discussion. About 30 people joined the debate that started off with three presentations about the pound including one from Nick Allen, from Star Anise Arts Cafe, giving the view of a local business who uses the Stroud pound (see my blog re the launch of the Stroud Pound here, a guide to the currency here and why we need it here).

Photos: various pics from the evening plus a Brixton pound

Nick (pictured) expressed his support for the project and noted how, he would be using the Stroud pounds he had gained from customers, in local shops like Kane's and the Bookshop to buy Christmas presents for staff. However John Marjoram, who chaired the evening noted that some businesses were still cautious or could not see the advantage. Indeed you can read here in The Guardian comments from concerned traders in Brixton before their pound was launched (see pic below of their pound).

Molly Scott-Cato (pictured), an economist who helped launch the pound, gave a presentation that answered many of the questions businesses might have had. She said: "This recession has been caused by a financial crisis and having our own resilient local currency can help us to weather the storm. If we work together as a community of traders, consumers and charities - as the design of the Stroud pound encourages - then we will be able to support each other in these difficult times."

Indeed where similar projects have been launched overseas I learnt that they have a slow start before really taking off. However Stroud already has over £3600 in circulation in just over two months and only £150 returned so far. The Pound is starting to change the way local people shop and the way local traders think. Certainly having Stroud pounds in my pocket makes me think first about those businesses that take the pound.

There are now over 30 businesses signed up with more interested. The more businesses that sign up the more the Stroud pound can really achieve what economists call the 'local multiplier effect' - that is increasing the number of times money is circulated within a community. Keeping money circulating close to where you spend it is well known to have a significant impact on the local economy. Stroud Pounds are never going to be the whole answer but are part of the shift that can strengthen our local economy.

It is also worth noting that for every Stroud Pound purchased by an individual, 3% of its value is allocated to a local charitable organisation of the individual’s choice provided that it is a member of Stroud Pound Co-op Ltd.

Stroud Pound folk are outside Stroud Valleys Project every Saturday morning 10am to 1pm and now have a few post offices selling the pounds too. Plus the Stroud Pound will have a stall at the Goodwill evening. You can find out more at:
http://www.stroudpound.org.uk/

There will be no Coffee House discussion in December. Lastly I've used some of this blog to send to press to hopefully give the pound some more publicity - hopefully also soon news of two exciting new businesses that are considering joining.

CRB checks: have they gone too far?

CRBs have been in the news recently. We have seen Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo and Anne Fine all announce they will not visit schools in protest against the "insulting" criminal records bureau (CRB) vetting system. Why do they object to a measure that surely is ensuring the safety of children?

As folk will know the newly created Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) introduced rules that say any adult who works or volunteers with children or vulnerable adults will first have to be vetted and given the all-clear as a trustworthy adult. The scheme was introduced following the terrible case of the Soham schoolgirls murders by the school caretaker in 2002. At the time the Manifesto Club challenged the Home Office on this new law - the Home Office said that if someone didn't want to be vetted then "there must be suspicious reasons for that."

I already have three mandatory CRB checks in connection with work and running a local youth group - in fact tonight at the Woodcraft Folk group there will be over a 100 of us and a bonfire and 'scary' walk - most of the adults will have had to have been CRB'd to enable them to lead the groups - but I digress... I've heard it suggested that maybe even councillors need to have a CRB check, so perhaps that will make it four CRBs? There is no system that allows you to get one CRB - you have to get one for each activity/job.

However at last there are noises from politicians like Ed Balls, Christopher Grayling and others questioning the system. But where were they in 2006? Even the author of the post-Soham report, Sir Michael Bichard said that this law was not his intention.

As Catherine Bennett notes in a recent article in The Observer, Sir Roger Singleton, chairman of the ISA has pointed out that members of Parliament did not, back in 2006, appear to have any great problem with this law. She goes onto ask where was the scrutiny of this law? In answer she explains some of the reluctance being due to Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda, the Minister responsible for the Bill, who suggested that 'such critics wanted to make life cushier for paedophiles'.

Indeed she goes on to say: "As Parmjit Dhanda made clear, the more vetting the merrier. Whatever its lamentable vaguenesses about scope, definitions, enforcement and so forth, no one would ever fault his bill for inclusiveness. 'There are between 7.5 million and 9 million people involved in work with children or with vulnerable adults in one way or another, so it will not be possible to legislate to cover all those people in one fell swoop', he said. 'It will take time.'"

Additions to the list now include Saturday job supervisors, driving instructors and others, bringing the total of those likely to be affected to an impressive 11.3 million of the adult population. Even newsagents may not escape the need for a check.

It is claimed that since 2004 the CRB has stopped 98,000 unsuitable people working with vulnerable groups. This is impressive. However this is not the whole picture. The Home Office in May 2006 revealed that about 2,700 people were mislabeled as criminals during checks and further examples in following years.

It is also suggested by campaigners that many have been rejected for jobs on hearsay - just rejected from the job - it doesn't go anywhere near a courtroom or jury? See for an example Manchester Councillor Richard Baum's comments here about cases he has come across. Indeed there has been increasing concern particularly that the Enhanced Disclosure was reproducing trivial gossip, with the CRB labelled the "Criminal Gossip Bureau". At the very least these needs tightening up seriously to avoid abuses of civil liberties.

There is also the monstrous amount of paperwork - nearly a quarter of a million forms were returned as they were wrongly filled out by organisations. Plus Nacro report thousands of applicants have been subjected to illegal checks for jobs that do not require CRB. Costs are also spiraling and have reached an astonishing £600 million.

Indeed this scheme proceeds from the assumption that none of us can be trusted with children and vulnerable people. Every adult who engages, even fleetingly, with children now has to prove they are not a pervert, and to pay for this privilege where possible No one is presumed innocent. As James Panton writing in the Big Issue South West in August this year, said: "We are assumed to be potential paedophiles until proven otherwise."

Registering a third of working adults will do little to protect children from the small number of individuals who would do them harm. A CRB check may reveal what you have or have not done, but it does not reveal what you have not been caught doing nor what you might do. A CRB is no cast-iron guarantee.

A child's safety is not best guaranteed by subjecting us all to a state-sponsored certification scheme. This surely only adds to the corrosion of the informal relationships of trust and support that are so crucial to communities? Indeed children are becoming “no-go” areas: local sports teams and youth groups are struggling to find volunteers and some teachers are running scared to even put a plaster on a child’s knee.

Some key children's charities like the NSPCC have welcomed the CRB but even they are now questioning whether it has gone too far.

This current scheme is out of control. It needs serious attention. Of course we need to strengthen measures to protect children from potential sex offenders, but there are better ways to protect the vulnerable in our communities. We need to invest much more in teaching adults and children how to recognise warnings rather than relying on a piece of paper.

Peak Oil: Stroud starting to get it but where are the actions?

Over the last six weeks I've had a dozen meetings in various guises for Scrutiny - I'm now involved in two scrutiny inquiries which I think I've mentioned on this blog - domestic energy efficiency and planning delegation plus the usual work of scrutiny and the quarterly meetings with two Heads of Service. More of all that in future blogs but for this post I wanted to cover peak oil...

Photo: Planning Delegation Scrutiny meeting interrupted on pink day by staff raising money - very welcomed scone, cream and jam!

You see at last within Stroud District Council at some of those scrutiny meetings and in conversation with officers there seems to be a shift occurring and a move to more understanding there is a threat posed by Peak Oil - it is a long while since Prof Richard Heinberg talked to Stroud District Council's Cabinet in 2007 about Peak Oil - I still think we have a long way to go to translate it into policy but there is a shift and the latest news items on oil reserves can only help...

The Guardian for example had an article, "Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower" - see here and graph below - basically the news is that a "senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves." This is seriously serious stuff.



The IEA has repeatedly reduced it's predictions - in 2005 they say oil supplies could rise as high as 120m barrels a day by 2030 then it was 116m and then 105m last year. The claim is that in reality "Many inside the organisation believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90m to 95m barrels a day would be impossible but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further."

The trouble is that the British government, among others, always uses the IEA statistics so argue that there is little threat to long-term oil supplies. John Hemming, the MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on peak oil and gas, said in the article that the revelations confirmed his suspicions that the IEA underplayed how quickly the world was running out and this had profound implications for British government energy policy.

Meanwhile as far back as 2004 people like Colin Campbell, a former executive with Total of France have warned: "If the real [oil reserve] figures were to come out there would be panic on the stock markets … in the end that would suit no one."

Another report last month also argued that Peak oil before 2020 was a 'significant risk' - see Ecologist article here. experts. The report, entitled 'Global Oil Depletion: An assessment of the evidence for a near-term peak in global oil production', comes from the UK Energy Research Centre, an independent group funded by the Research Councils, whose mission is to resolve contentious technical issues and deliver clear guidance for policymakers.

The report puts the excitement over recent ‘giant’ oil discoveries into perspective and directly contradicts the British government’s position. It also warns that failure to recognise the threat of peak oil could undermine efforts to combat climate change.

The key discovery for example last month was BG’s Guara field, containing 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil and was lauded as a ‘supergiant’, prompting some pundits to claim such finds would banish peak oil for decades. However, the UKERC argues that each additional 1 billion barrels delays peak oil by less than a week. To postpone the peak by a year would take 7 times what was discovered in 2007. We’re unlikely to explore our way out of this.

The Government and indeed local authorities need to wake up to oil depletion and start planning, because it’s going to mean major changes infrastructure, investment and lifestyles. Stroud may have started to wake up but we are a long way from the policies needed.

Christopher Patey, chairman of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, and a former executive with Mobil, said of the report: "This excellent report exposes the British Government’s position on peak oil for what it really is – obstinate denial in the face of the growing evidence, and a reckless gamble on all our futures".

Sign petition of concern about Red Cross expulsion from West Papua

Once upon a time many, many moons ago I was a Youth Officer in the British Red Cross and had many wonderful opportunities including representing British Youth at a youth camp in Sweden and a cahance to go to their HQ in Geneva. I have since then continued an interest in that organisation and it's important work.

A while back I was concerned to learn that the Red Cross had to close their office in West Papua in May and have as yet been unable to reopen.

Photo: West Papua flag flown in Stroud - see below for links to previous posts

A new petition has just been launched regarding the expulsion - I would ask you to consider signing it:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/international-red-cross-access-to-west-papua.html

Here is what the petition says: West Papua is one of the poorest areas in Indonesia where most of the people live at subsistence level with appalling health, welfare and education problems. This despite its vast reserves of copper, gold, oil, gas, and virgin hardwood forests. None of the profit from plundering these resources goes to the people of West Papua. We support the West Papuans in their right to self determination to decide their own future. However, there is an excessively high number of Indonesian troops and military style police (estimates range between 12,000 - 30,000; we are unable to confirm these numbers due to lack of transparency) stationed in this region. There is no open and free access to the country.

The Red Cross is an impartial independent organisation with an exclusive humanitarian mission. Since 1949 the Red Cross has had an international mandate conferred on it by the Geneva Conventions, which task the ICRC with visiting prisoners, organising relief operations, re-uniting separated families and similar humanitarian activities during armed conflicts. The Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement encourage these organisations to undertake similar work in situations of internal violence, where the Geneva Conventions do not apply.

As I said on the petition site "that an impartial and independent organisation like the Red Cross should be forced to shut is a deeply worrying development and a move that deserves widespread outrage from the international community."

Also of interest is John Pilger's recent comment on West Papua in the New Statesman, which finishes with mention of the annual demonstration on December 1st at the Indonesian embassy in London, what should be West Papua's anniversary of independence:
http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2009/11/west-papua-pilger-indonesia

See West Papua campaign in Stroud here, here and Independence Leader in Stroud here.

From the Free West Papua site:

Previously a Dutch colony along with the islands that now make up Indonesia, West Papua remained under Dutch control when the Republic of Indonesia became an independent nation state in 1949. The Dutch government began preparing West Papua for independence throughout the 1950s. At the end of 1961, West Papua held a Congress at which its people declared independence, and raised their new flag - the Morning Star.

Within months the dream was dead: the Indonesian military invaded West Papua and conflict broke out between the Netherlands, Indonesia and the indigenous population regarding control of the country. The US intervened and engineered an agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands, which in 1962 gave control of West Papua to the United Nations and one year later transferred control to Indonesia. The Papuans were never consulted. However, the agreement did promise them their right to self determination - a right which is guaranteed by the UN to everyone on Earth.
http://www.freewestpapua.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Help Issy get to Copenhagen

Here's another post for blog action day - Issy Ellis-Cockcroft, 18 (see photo below) from Stroud is trying to raise enough money to be one of 21 young people traveling to the Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009 as part of the UK Youth Delegation, on behalf of the UKYCC (UK Youth Climate Coalition).

Issy's letter is below but I should also mention that Stroud Greens were out on the street last weekend (see my photo below) helping to increase the pressure on our government to negotiate for an ambitious, fair and binding climate deal in Copenhagen. Greens had the petition which Issy will take and present to the UK negotiators in Copenhagen. Here's stuff from the local Green party leaflet:

Urgent decisions need to be made at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December that will affect not only us here in Stroud, but much more acutely many of the world's poorest people and the very life support systems of our planet.

Increasing the pressure on our government will help them negotiating for an ambitious, fair and binding climate deal in Copenhagen.

We can all do things in the next few weeks that will help make a difference:

1. Gloucester Climate Change March and Lobby of MPs and MEP – Sat 17th Oct 11.30-12.30 Gloucester – starting at Council Offices and going to the Cross. find out more...
   
2. Donate to support the UK Youth Delegation and the Kenyan Youth Delegation who are attending the conference to give voice to the world's young people and generations to come. Stroud teenager Issy Ellis-Cockcroft is part of the UK delegation – find out how to support them on her blog at www.livingonsunshine.org.uk
3. Sign the Stroud-Copenhagen petition which Issy will take to Copenhagen – and get your family, neighbours and work colleagues to sign too. Download a copy for use at your school, club or social group: click here to download the Copenhagen Petition - please return to John Marjoram (address on the petition) by December 1st.
4. Support Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Milliband on his pledge to fight for a “climate deal that's ambitious, effective and fair”. www.edspledge.com
5. Keep the pressure on Gordon Brown for an ambitious global climate deal by signing to “Back the Bid” at www.actoncopenhagen.gov.uk
6. Support www.350.org international day of action on October 24th and other campaigns for on this issue – see www.tcktcktck.org
7. Get stuck in to a carbon reduction of 10% during 2010 – join Stroud District Council, your Green Party District Councillors and many more individuals, businesses and organisations who have already taken the 10:10 pledge – www.1010uk.org
8. Join the National Climate Demo in London on 5th Dec – www.stopclimatechaos.org
   Watch out for information about coaches from Stroud to London for this big demo on the eve of the Copenhagen Conference.
   

Here's Issy's letter:

If a global deal on climate change is to be in place by 2012 when the Kyoto protocol expires, it must be agreed in Copenhagen, otherwise it will not be ratified in time.

Why is a global deal so important? I’m sure many of you have your own answers to this. My answer is that with each passing year the fact that climate change is not a future possibility but a present reality becomes clearer. From the millions now facing starvation in East Africa to the 22,000 who died in Europe in the 2003 heatwave. And every time, events are shown to be moving faster and happening sooner than the science expected.

The prediction for ice-free Arctic summers has fallen from 2080, to 2050, to 2013. I had the chance to visit the High Arctic in July 2007, as sea-ice coverage hit a record low. I stood on the edge of the polar ice-cap and watched the rain. This shouldn’t happen; it’s like seeing snow in the desert. All of human history has taken place during a phase of relative climate stability. We have never experienced the kind of changes we are setting in motion, yet we play with fire as if we can’t get burnt.

Under Agenda 21 the UN must involve young people in decisions that will affect their future as part of “intergenerational equity”. As a delegation we therefore have seats at the Copenhagen Conference and can speak in the Plenary Hall in front of hundreds of world leaders and decision makers. So if we can get to Copenhagen, we can make ourselves heard. But to get there we need to raise £1500 each to cover travel, accommodation and food. And perhaps more important than getting ourselves there, we also need to raise enough to fund the Kenyan Youth Delegation to get to the conference. Without our help they will not be able to attend. For the Kenyan Delegation climate change is now a daily reality. As they described in their last email to us “over 10 million Kenyans are presently starving as drought continues to ravage virtually every corner of our nation.” Global warming is a global problem; it therefore requires a global solution. But this will not be achieved in an equitable way, if at all, without the strong presence of developing nations.

Between now and December we will all be working hard to spread the message, in our local community and across the UK, that we have to act now to call for a global agreement that will deliver what the science demands. It is 17 years since the Earth Summit in Rio. After 17 years of UNFCCC conferences, endless discussions, and empty promises to cut emissions we have finally run out of time. It has to be now because we won’t get another shot.

On Mon 7th of Sept 10 of us from the UKYCC delegation met with some of the UK’s core team of UN negotiators at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). They spoke about how the actions of UKYCC delegations at previous climate conferences had made a dramatic impact and really served to remind decision makers that this is not just another conference to get through before Christmas, or a stepping-stone in their career. But that the lives and livelihoods of billions of peoples hang on these decisions.

One of UKYCC’s most powerful questions at previous conferences was “How old will you be in 2050?” I will be 59. Most negotiators won’t have to see the state of the world in 2050. Help us raise the funds to get to Copenhagen so that when our futures are on the line, we can remind decision makers that we all have to live in this world and whatever state they leave it in, they are leaving it to us.

And to donate please go to http://act.ukycc.org/copenhagen
Or post a cheque, made out to ‘UK Youth Climate Coalition', to 4 Modbury Gardens, London, NW5 3QE. Please include a note saying you are donating on my behalf. All donations will be split between the UK and Kenyan Delegations.

Find out more and support the Youth Delegation on her blog.

Global Wake-Up Call on climate

Copenhagen is drawing nearer - already Climate Rush visited Stroud Friday and Saturday - although were held up on Saturday getting to the framers Market (see local Green party comment here and here for their website re their tour). I saw them on route to Stroud in Fairford last week when I was there for work - just before (or was it after?) they dumped manure at Jeremy Clarkson's home (see report on that below).

Photo: Green District councillors sign up to 10:10 - see here - more on that locally coming soon

Today is Sept 21 and the Global Climate Wake-Up - the local event will be at sub-rooms in Stroud at 7pm prompt - see here.

Avaaz, who are organising the day are suggesting we phone our own governments - already activists are flooding the media and government office phone lines worldwide with wake up calls for leaders to act - I've just tried on 5 of these numbers and can't get through on any!!!! I will try again....

Prime Minister Gordon Brown
(+44) 020 8144 7459 / 0300 060 4000
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband
(+44) (0)207 979 7777 / 0300 060 4000
Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband
(+44) (0)20 7008 1500
First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills Peter Mandelson
(+44) (0)20 7215 5000 or (0)20 7215 6740 (Minicom)

What Avaaz are asking is that we ask leaders to commit to go to the Copenhagen climate meeting in December and agree on a global climate deal that is FAIR, AMBITIOUS and BINDING (“FAB”), and ask them to register your call and convey the message to the decision-maker. Once you’ve made your call, visit the Wake-Up Hub and post a short update on how it went in the live-blog on the [right] of the page:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub/

In recent weeks, Avaaz have surprised national governments, heads of state and political parties with sudden barrages of thousands of calls. These phonecalls tie up staff and shut down phone lines - but they are never missed, and time after time, we're finding, they work. 14,000 calls reversed the Brazilian President's position on a new climate protection law, 3,000 calls persuaded the German Chancellor's party to engage with climate groups, just a few hundred calls got the attention of top advisors to French President Sarkozy. We have less than three months left until the final UN meeting in Copenhagen, where we'll succeed or fail to get an historic global treaty to place binding global limits on carbon pollution, stop a climate catastrophe and unleash a new clean and green economy. Our leaders are nowhere near success, they're not even planning on going to Copenhagen. We must try and change that!

Other local actions

Also in the run up to Copenhagen locally there is a march and rally in Gloucester on 17th October 11.30 to 12.30 - starting at Gloucester City Council Offices. Then 'International day of climate action' on Oct 24th with the environmental campaigning group 350.org - two local projects at the moment that I'm helping - to build 350 beehouses by 24th Oct and hopefully, if funding comes through, to plant 350 trees at Thistledown near Nailsworth with Woodcraft groups.

Climate Rush in Chipping Norton

Dressed as Suffragettes, seven activists from the environmental group Climate Rush, unloaded two bags of manure, plus a banner bearing the message "This is what you're landing us in", in his front lawn.

Group spokeswoman Millie Forrester, 19, said to the press: "I love Jeremy, I love fast cars, I love progress, but I learnt some things and those things terrify me. I learnt that climate change will make my future unrecognisable. I know that I'll not have the same choices that Jeremy has now. If we keep on loving the fossil-fuelled lifestyle then by the time I hit 49 the world will be too busy coping with the impact of climate change to bother about how big an engine is possible. I'm the biggest libertarian of them all – I'm dumping dung at Clarkson's gates so he might understand that his attitude will land us all in manure."

The group claims to have targeted Mr Clarkson because of his "blasé attitude towards climate change" and have made reference to his recent drive to the Arctic, which they say emitted an estimated 1.7 tonnes of carbon.

Fi helps launch 10:10

Fi Macmillan, Leader of the Green Group on Stroud District Council (pictured left at the Tate) invited Stroud District Council to join public figures and businesses to sign up to 10:10 climate campaign (i). Last Tuesday 1st September Fi represented Stroud District Council at the huge national launch at London's Tate Modern as one of the first 10 councils to sign up nationally.

At our Green party meeting last week and todays Green party District councillors meeting we heard more about 10:10. It is great that Stroud is signed up and we now need to look at how we can roll it out across the District and reach the most people possible. Here are some of the quotes from our local Green party website - plus photos from last Wednesdays meeting when we passed around the Guardian article.

Fi Macmillan said: "The 1010 launch was energised and well-supported. It was very encouraging to see such wide spectrum of people - apart from the politicains I met Tottenham Hotspurs director and a Logica director, there were actors and personalities like Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox, chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Delia Smith, plus Samantha Morton, Pete Postlethwaite, Colin Firth and loads of individuals and representatives of groups who are all working hard to cut carbon emissions (ii). This 10:10 campaign is about bolstering grassroots support for tough action against global warming ahead of the key global summit in Copenhagen in December. Those signing up for the campaign pledge to make efforts to reduce their carbon footprints by 10% during the year 2010."

The campaign organisers, led by Franny Armstrong, the film-maker behind The Age of Stupid, hope 10:10 could replicate the way the 2005 Make Poverty History (MPH) movement captured the public imagination and helped to drive political change on debt relief. The 10:10 campaigners distributed signature metal tags made from melted-down aircraft.

Fi Macmillan said: "We are hoping to convince Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, to commit Britain to slash its emissions by as close to 10% as possible by the end of next year. It is vital we take a lead and do more action rather than talk. Copenhagen is a successor to the Kyoto protocol and has widely been seen by many scientists and commentators as the last chance for humanity to get to grips with soaring greenhouse gas emissions."

Fi Macmillan: "I hope many individuals and groups will join Stroud in signing up to this campaign. 10:10 gives us all including Stroud District Council a great opportunity to work seriously on carbon reduction. I hope many will consider signing up: www.1010uk.org"

Fi MacMillan added: "Kevin McCloud wrapped-up the launch saying: 'If you all go out and get 10 people to sign up to 10:10 and get them to sign up another 10 people on Friday, then by next Tuesday the whole planet will have signed up and we will have won.' I think Kevin could be onto something."

Caroline Lucas MEP and Green Party Leader commenting said: "Congratulations to everyone involved in launching the 10:10 initiative, which looks set to become one of the biggest ever civil society campaigns between now and the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. Given that the Copenhagen talks seem currently unlikely to yield cuts of sufficient ambition to prevent the worst of climate change, it's crucial that we step up the pressure on the key decision makers in the coming months. That means we need ever more grassroots mobilisation like that embodied in 10:10. But commitment and engagement at the civil society level must be matched with real political will in Parliament to ensure a policy framework is urgently put in place to make ambitious carbon reduction an overwhelming objective of every government department. The Green Party has long demanded a firm commitment to year-on-year targets for cuts in emissions, to prevent politicians from making a "NIMTO" response (Not In My Term of Office) - in other words, setting targets and timetables so far in advance that they avoid having to take serious action now. When I spoke at Climate Camp in London on Saturday, it was clear that the determination of civil society to tackle climate change head on is stronger then ever. What we need now are the right politicians to ensure that the positive changes we are calling for truly materialise."

Notes:

(i) Read more and sign up for 10:10: http://www.1010uk.org/ See Guardian coverage and video of launch: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/10-10 Read George Monbiot comment here. (ii) 10:10 Sign-Ups, as of midday Thurs 3rd Sept Individuals: 9,182 Businesses: 352 Schools: 53 Organisations: 157 Politicians: All the cabinet, all the Tory frontbench, Ed Miliband (Climate Change Minister), Nick Clegg (leader of Lib Dems) Actors: Samantha Morton, Jason Isaacs, Pete Postlethwaite, Colin Firth, Tamsin Greig, James Purefoy, Alan Rickman Fashion Designers: Vivienne Westwood, Nicole Farhi, Stella McCartney Artists: Anish Kapoor, Anthony Gormley, Gillian Wearing Footballers: Graeme Le Soux Chefs: Delia Smith, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall Authors: Ian McEwan, Sarah Waters, Irvine Welsh, Anthony Horowitz, Antony Beevor, Ali Smith, Carol Ann Duffy, Andrew Motion Lords: Lord Giddens, Lord Stern (author of Stern Review) Film Directors: Mike Figgis, Richard Curtis Impressionists: Rory Bremner Musicians: Stornoway, Reverend & The Makers, Bloc Party (Russell only), Mark Ronson Energy Companies: Eon, British Gas, EDF, Scottish & Southern Football Teams: Spurs FC Organisations: Science Museum, Tate, Spurs Football Club, Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Women's Institute (NFWI), British Fashion Council, Business in the Community, Mumsnet, Sage Gateshead, Julies Bicycle, Arcola Theatre Universities/ Colleges: Edinburgh Uni, Westminster Uni, King's College, Liverpool Uni, South Thames College, Newcastle Students Union, National Union of Students (NUS) nationally, Birmingham Students Union, UEA Students Union, Leicester Students Union Councils: Hackney, Islington, Richmond, Oxford, Slough, West Sussex, Stroud, Eastleigh, Kirklees Schools: Fox Primary, St Martin Primary, Petchey Academy, Crispin School, Ashley Primary, Rosemary Musker High, Ambler Primar, Kings College School, Whitby Community, Winton Primary Charities: Comic Relief, ActionAid, ), Global Action Plan, Women's Environmental Network, Campaign for Greener Healthcare, Operation Noah, Envision, OneClimate, Fauna & Flora Intl, Green Thing

Anger at Bristol Tory Leader's outburst re project to tackle homophobic bullying

First I wanted to mention that I finally got around to seeing Milk last week - a great film that reminds us of Harvey Milk - a sort of Martin Luther King of LGBT - People told him no openly gay man could win political office. Fortunately, he ignored them - anyway it is well worth getting out on DVD....but let's get to this blog and why we still need to campaign on social justice....

Photos: Milk and below the recent Glos pride in The Citizen.

Greens have been surprised and angered by an attack by conservative city councilor leader on a Bristol-based project to provide support for a five year project across the Bristol, Bath, South Glos and beyond to support young members of the LGBT community who suffer from homophobic bullying (See Evening Post article here).

A National Lottery Grant of £391,668, has been awarded to Reach who have been set up by charity 'Educational Action Challenging Homophobia' for a 5 year project. However Cllr Richard Eddy has claimed the award as a waste of money.

Here is my comment to the press: "The reality is that homophobic bulling continues in many of our schools. We must not underestimate the impact such bullying can have on children. There are numerous cases where disrupted education has led to unfulfilled academic potential and worse where victims have been driven to despair with lasting consequences for their health. Funding for this five year project across the whole Bristol, Bath, South Glos area will be of enormous value in helping to challenge such prejudice and much more. I am very surprised and indeed angered that Cllr Eddy should choose to make such an extraordinary outburst claiming this is an 'outrageous' waste of money rather than giving it a warm welcome. This should have been a chance to celebrate a project that will help to build community cohesion and combat ignorance."

Ryan Cleminson, South West Green Parties spokesperson for LGBT issues, who has spoken to Each's executive director, Jonathan Charlesworth, said: "The comments by Councillor Eddy in the Evening post have caused such a storm that a Facebook group has already been started. It seems the Tories in Bristol still have a long way to go before everyone is valued as equal human beings. I can't think this outburst will do Cllr Eddy any favours."

Ryan also criticised the Evening Post saying: "Equally disappointing is the attitude of the Bristol Evening Post, which seems to be openly supporting the conservative councillor who made these misguided and homophobic comments."

Bristol Green Party's press officer Peter Goodwin also commented saying: "Once again we're seeing Richard Eddy picking on minority groups for the sake of a cheap headline, willingly provided by the Evening Post. If the local Tories have any ambition to be seen as decent and tolerant, it's high time they found a new leader."

See the Facebook group; http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123781553250

Take action on Vestas

The protest at Vestas continues today - Vestas Blades was making enormous profits but has decided to move to the USA. This demonstrates how our government – despite big legally binding commitments to carbon reductions, and Miliband’s recent promise of 40,000 green jobs – is failing to push through sustainable energy in practice.

Photo: Turbines in Denmark

It is ludicrous that Vestas should be leaving at this time: we must resist this move or we will have no credibility internationally as part of the urgent de-carbonisation of the global economy. Green energy benefits the poorest people worldwide first, because they are the first to feel the effects of climate change. Below there is more info and actions you could take...

The national news are reporting the protestors inside and outside the Vestas plant. Climate change activists, workers and others are all protesting at this closure. See Indymedia here. The Green party have understandably supported the campaign from the start and joined the demonstrations (see one of Caroline Lucas statements here). It is complete madness that this plant is threatened with closure.

Even The Times are laying into the cops on this - one protester was even arrested for being 'armed' with a sausage roll. Here is some of what was said....a senior criminal lawyer has accused police of acting unlawfully by blocking food deliveries. Robert Brown, a member of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said: “Since when has it been the function of police officers to starve out protesters? And since when has it been a crime to carry sandwiches to protesters? It never has been. It is scandalous that the police refused to allow the food through. Giving the protesters food would help keep them calm and be more likely to prevent a breach of the peace. There is no law in this country that says that protest is unlawful. There does not appear to be any evidence that a breach of the peace is taking place at the factory.” His custody sheet, seen by The Times, accused him of being “armed with supplies of food”. Greens object to police tactics at Vestas occupation: see here.

Take action

1. Don't forget petition just launched:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveVestas/
2. Take a photo or video and send a message proclaiming “SAVE VESTAS”:
The images will give the workers much-needed encouragement at a highly distressing time for the friends and families of the people inside. They will also be collected on Facebook (Save Vestas) and at www.savevestas.wordpress.com.
4 steps:
1. Download a sample poster here.
2. Get inspiration from an example photo here: http://bit.ly/n2x4I
3. Take some photos at a public stall, at your workplace, at a party meeting or just of yourself!
4. Send your photos in ASAP to savevestas@googlemail.com and copy if you wish to
press@greenparty.org.uk
3. Write to or Email Milliband (ps.ed.miliband@decc.gsi.gov.uk):
I sent a quick note calling for their intervention.

Ecotherapy: Slowing Down to Nature's Pace

Linda Buzzell sent this piece which appeared in the Huffington Post - Ecopsychology does not get enough discussion amongst Greens so I have copied it here - there is nothing that hasn't already been discussed on this blog but it is pulled together very nicely - also see Linda's blog here.

Photo: Randwick Woods

Ecotherapy: Slowing Down to Nature's Pace

Not so very long ago, humans -- like the rest of the animals and plants on earth -- moved through our natural cycles at nature's pace. Time was marked by the passing of the seasons, the life cycles of human, animal and plant life and the yet grander cycles of the moon and the other celestial bodies.

Homo sapiens, a late-appearing species in the long history of our unimaginably ancient planet and universe, evolved during the recent (as the universe views these things!) Pleistocene era, adapted for a life intimately connected with and expressive of our natural surroundings on the African savannah and beyond.

And this is how we lived for millennia.

In the last 150 years, however, the human relationship with time has radically changed. Some say the problems started earlier, with the development of agriculture or writing, but it was really the Industrial Revolution -- the rise of the Machine -- that put humans in thrall to mechanical processes and machine time. And the recent exponential speeding up into Cybertime has accelerated the process still further. Industrial time was bad enough (Charlie Chaplin did a wonderful job of visualizing that "cog in the wheel" feeling in his film "Modern Times") but Cybertime can be dizzyingly discombobulating for a Pleistocene primate.

And that's how many modern people feel -- completely frazzled and out of sync with our deepest selves.

The results of this disconnection from nature and nature's pace show up in therapists' and doctors' offices every day. Living under unnatural time pressures causes a myriad of psychological, social and physical ailments. De-linked from the natural rhythms of our bodies and the rest of the planet, we struggle with diminishing success to adapt to the strange mechanical and disembodied world we have created.

As a practicing psychotherapist and ecotherapist, when I see patients who are suffering from depression or anxiety I ask them to keep a time-journal in which they record the hours and minutes spent each day outside, as well as the hours spent inside in front of a screen. My clients are often shocked to realize how disassociated they have become from nature and our species' natural ways of living, and the effect this disconnection is having on their psyche. In fact, a 2007 study from the University of Essex shows that a daily "dose" of walking outside in nature can be as effective at treating mild to moderate depression as expensive antidepressant medications that can sometimes have negative side-effects.

Time poverty is now a recognized psychological and social stressor. In a sped-up, highly complex society, there just isn't enough time for everything: our demanding jobs, our interlocking bureaucratic responsibilities (taxes, insurance, legal issues), our loved one, kids, our community (including the rest of nature), plus commuting and keeping up with traditional media and endless 24/7 online communications. Constantly rushing to keep up as we inevitably fall further behind, we find ourselves destroying not only our own health, but our habitat and the habitat of the people, plants and animals with whom we share the planet.

In my recently published book, Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind (Sierra Club Books, 2009) therapists and experts from many backgrounds discuss some of the ways that nature can help to heal problems like stress and anxiety. What suggestions can ecotherapists offer to help us slow down to a more natural pace of living? Here are a few simple things that can make a difference:

* Reconnect with place. We can learn to resist the constant rushing around and settle into and tend a beloved location, taking time to learn its secrets and hear its whisperings.

* Reconnect with companion and wild animals. Animals slow us down to our natural animal rhythms, which is why animal-assisted therapy works so well at lowering blood pressure and healing psychological ills of many kinds. The simple act of petting a cat or watching the birds flit through the trees is profoundly healing.

* Reconnect with plants. A simple pot on a windowsill slows us down to the pace of a seed, a seedling, a leaf and a flower. A tree on the street, if contemplated and touched, offers its blessings during a busy day.

* Reconnect with the cycles of human life. Instead of demanding that we remain in perpetual-teenager mode (the preferred state in our society, it seems), allowing ourselves to become true initiated adults and then elders honors the natural pace of human life rather than fighting it. Nature teaches us that seeds emerge, plants flourish, bloom, fruit and then wither and slip away -- valuable wisdom for our own lives when we encounter the inevitable transitions in our own and others' lives.

* Reconnect with our wild bodies. Untamed nature is to be found not only in far-away wilderness but in the wilds of our bloodstream, our digestive processes, our breath. Any practice that brings our attention back to our bodies is wilderness ecotherapy. Yoga and ecstatic dance offer release from the controlling modern ego and access to what ecopsychologists call "the ecological self." And once we reach peace with our animal bodies, our souls naturally open up to the larger Spirit in which we are embedded.

* Spend more time outdoors in wild nature. Most of us are indoors most of the time. Our bodies and souls cry out for long walks on a beach, contemplation in a forest or a few minutes in a nearby vacant lot near a stream. These times slow life down to a healing, natural pace.

Making just a few of these simple changes can radically shift how we feel. Ecopsychological research is now proving that reconnecting with nature and more natural living performs a host of psychological miracles, including lowering depression, improving our sense of well being, calming our anxieties, raising self-esteem and giving us a sense of belonging to the great whole of which we are a part.

Linda Buzzell, M.A., MFT is the co-editor with Craig Chalquist of the new anthology Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, just released by Sierra Club Books (May 2009). She is a psychotherapist and ecotherapist in Santa Barbara, where she specializes in helping clients with career issues, financial challenges and the transition to a simpler, more sustainable and nature-connected lifestyle.

Register to vote before 19th May: but not if you are a prisoner

Are you registered? If not, you don't have long left to register in time to ensure that you can vote in the local and European elections on 4th June 2009. The 19th May registration deadline is fast approaching and Stroud District Council has made a final call for those eligible to vote to ensure they are on the electoral roll. Completed applications for postal votes must also be received by this date. Anyone not registered by 19th May will not be able to vote in the local or European elections.

Registering is particularly important for anyone who has recently moved home - if they do not register at their new address they risk falling off the electoral register. Not signing up could also seriously harm residents financial as well as democratic status. Companies offering credit all refer to the electoral register. Anyone not on it is likely to find their application refused. You won't be automatically registered even if you pay council tax.

* If you are not sure you are registered to vote, call the electoral services team on 01453 754383 or email elections@stroud.gov.uk
* If you haven't already received and returned a registration or postal voting form, call 01453 754 383, email elections@stroud.gov.uk or download one from the council website at www.stroud.gov.uk/voting

Interestingly the ministry of justice has published a consultation on voting rights for prisoners. It sets out several options which could see some prisoners, depending on the length of their sentence, getting the right to vote. Submissions should be sent to the ministry of justice by 29 September. The government has decided to hold a separate consultation exploring questions relating those detained under mental health legislation.

At the moment only a small number of prisoners currently have the right to vote. The right to vote is basically restricted to the following categories of prisoner:
* Unconvicted prisoners
* Convicted but unsentenced prisoners
* Persons imprisoned for contempt of court and other prisoners classified under Prison Rule 7
* Those serving a term of imprisonment in default of payment of a sum of money, adjudged to be paid on conviction

The vast majority of prisoners held in UK jails or other places of detention in the UK are barred from voting and the UK has a tradition of removing voting rights from prisoners dating back 140 years. The UK is at odds with many other European member states. At present, sixteen European nations permit all prisoners to vote without restriction, including Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Most other countries allow prisoners to vote with some restrictions. Seven other European countries have a total bar, these are: Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Romania.

At last thing slook set to change - the European Court of Human Rights judges found that the UK has been breach of its treaty obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights in applying an absolute bar for all prisoners.

Our prison population has large numbers of people with levels of mental distress far higher than in the general population. In a recent large-scale survey of prisons carried out by the Office of National Statistics in 2005, it was found that over one-third of men serving prison sentences had a significant mental health problem (such as anxiety or depression), nearly one in ten had experienced psychosis and one in four had attempted suicide in prison. Over three-quarters of men on remand and nearly two-thirds of male inmates met the diagnosis of having a personality disorder.

I find it extraordinary that prisoners have been excluded for so long. Let yus hope the changes come soon - it might even make MPs more interested in penal policy, and reducing re-offending?

Age of Stupid comes to Stroud

The film Age of Stupid is coming to The Space in Stroud on 3rd May. You would be stupid to miss it. Box Office: 07973 225 694. By all accounts this is a great film.

Instead of the conventional ‘red carpet’ at the Age of Stupid premiere, there was a green one, made from recycled materials. See Ed Miliband squirm there when he is challenged by director Franny Armstrong (also director of McLibel) and the movie's star, Pete Postlethwaite - the latter pledges his support to the Not Stupid campaign by vowing to return his OBE if the UK government fail to stop Kingsnorth - see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5RCHXLW93E

Amazingly the finance for the movie’s £450,000 budget came from many dozens of individual or group subscriptions. The crew gave their labours freely or for very basic pay. The film also must be one of the first for including in the final credits a ‘carbon budget’, detailing its contribution from its making to global warming. Apparently it came to 94 tonnes of CO2 which is equal to that generated by four average Americans or 185 patio heaters in one month.

A number of Greens saw the film previously at a Green party conference before the premiere and those I spoke to have been delighted with it - although one said in parts he was not always sure of what the film is saying. Nevertheless this film apparently 'knocks spots off An Inconvenient Truth' which Al Gore won an Oscar for....

Keep an eye on the www.ageofstupid.net website for details of other screenings and how to organise your own screening. See also Gillian Anderson discusses airport expansion and coal power stations here.