This is an excellent time to hide bad news

As an unelected Prime Minister takes up residence in 10 Downing Street without any democratic direction on the nature of post-referendum negotiations and the country watches the dramatic Labour leadership battle, the government is relying on us being so distracted that we don’t notice anything else.

The UN has found the Conservative government’s austerity measures and social security reform to be in breach of international human rights obligations.

Key areas of concern include

• persistent discrimination against migrant workers
• unemployment, which continues to disproportionately affect people with disabilities
• young people and minorities
• lack of corporate regulation
• the use of zero hour contracts
• the new Trade Union Act, which limits the right of workers to undertake industrial action
• the national minimum wage has been found to be insufficient to ensure a decent standard of living
• there has been a significant rise in homelessness
• the Human Rights Act is still being scrapped
• the number of children living in poverty has jumped by 200,000 in the last year. This means 3.9 million children are now living below the breadline in this country

Yesterday’s report by the Committee on Climate Change found that the government is unprepared to deal with the effects of climate change. It is predicted that global warming will hit UK with deadly heatwaves, more flooding and water shortages. Meanwhile we're still filling the oceans with plastic, and employing disasterous farming methods that are destroying our soils and wildlife.

The country is burning. We are in a state of crisis.

This is all being buried under Brexit headlines. As the increasingly farcical spectacle that is modern day British politics continues to unfold, we cannot forget that there are still injustices to be fought. Right now. Today.

In these times of uncertainty, the Green Party remains united. Whoever is in charge, we know what we stand for. We will continue to fight for social justice, migrants’ rights and weaning our country off its addiction to fossil fuels. Help us do this. Become a member or renew your membership today.

Natalie Bennett
Leader
Green Party of England & Wales

Thank you to the 124 progressives

The bill which will see disgraceful cuts to welfare has been passed in its first reading in the House of Commons.

Yesterday I wrote about the need for progressives to work together and the simmering resistance against neoliberal, austerity is building. Unfortunately, we have now discovered that the parliamentary Labour Party on the whole are not progressive and are not prepared to stand up for the young, poor or vulnerable. Having said that, the 48 Labour MPs who boldly opposed the party whip are to commended for doing so.

Of particular note was the Labour MP, John McDonnell who explained;

"I would swim through vomit to vote against this bill and listening to some of the nauseating speeches tonight I think we might have to. Poverty in my constituency is not a lifestyle choice, it is imposed upon people.We hear lots about how high the welfare bill is, let's understand why that's the case.The housing benefit bill is so high because for generations we've failed to build council houses, we've failed to control rents, we've done nothing about the 300,000 properties that stand empty in this country."

I wanted to write this quick post for my part to say thank you to the 124 MPs who agree with Mr McDonnell and did oppose this atrocious bill. We now have a clear idea of who the progressives are in parliament and can see from which ranks we could see productive, positive alliances growing.

Who was in the 124 progressive MPs yesterday?

48 Labour MPs

55 SNP

8 Liberal Democrats

6 DUP

3 Plaid Cymru

3 SDLP

1 Green

1 UUP

You can find out how your MP voted at http://www.theyworkforyou.com/

A simmering resistance, a building movement

What a couple of weeks it has been. Even by Tory standards the weather of late has been very Tory. First we had the budget designed to make poor people poorer and rich people richer. Then we had the attempt to repeal the fox hunting ban by the back door; fox hunting is a blood sport which is the reserve of deranged elitists. Finally we have had the announcement of legislation to permanently alter the way trade unions operate and set back workers rights by around 100 years.

In addition to this George Osborne decided to basically ignore the issue of climate change in his budget, gave greater fiscal support oil companies and sort to incentivise ‘fracking’ whilst at the same time hampering the green energy movement by absurdly removing the Climate Change Levy exemption from renewable electricity.

To get a flavour of what our own local Tory is fighting for on some of the points briefly mentioned above;

In our Stroud District -   Neil Carmichael MP has voted;

 against paying higher benefits for people unable to work through illness or disability,

in favour of bedroom tax,

against benefits rising to meet cost of living,

 in favour of a reduction in welfare spending,

against a scheme to create guaranteed jobs for young people who been long term unemployed,

against a tax on bankers bonuses

against a mansion tax

in favour of reducing corporation tax

Neil Carmichael MP has stated that he will vote in favour of fox hunting.

                                 Neil Carmichael MP has a poor voting record when it comes to the environment.

                                               

When I sit down to write these blogs I want to be positive and constructive. But I am, like many of you I am sure, finding it hard to be positive right now. My MP is essentially the very antithesis of what I believe in and my government even more so.

Every morning when I come down to my kitchen and make a cup of tea, I switch on the radio as my preferred method of getting the news as I get my baby ready for the day or get ready for work. Increasingly though I am finding that my finger hovers over the preset button for Radio 4 and is tending to tap the Planet Rock preset as I say to myself ‘do you know what? I just don’t want to know today’. Of course this could just be that I am getting fed up with the today programme!

Progressives must work together

Before the budget was announced I attended a meeting of Stroud Against the Cuts. Stroud Against the Cuts brings together progressive groups from across Stroud and Gloucestershire who, despite whatever other differences, are united in their opposition to austerity.

When the election result was announced in May Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavillion, said the following;

“…we must move forward today. While the campaign for electoral reform gathers momentum, those of us wanting to see a fairer, more compassionate and progressive politics must find new ways of working together, a new way to do politics – and put that in to practice now”

Caroline Lucas MP

This is the thing that gives me hope now; the simmering resistance that is turning in to a movement. It is a movement that questions this neoliberal austerity ideology and outright calls for something different, something more hopeful, something less damning.

It is no longer just a utopian fantasy but something eminent economists such Tim Jackson have put in to sound theory. We can create a world in which we redefine prosperity away from our ability to consume goods and amass economic wealth. We can redefine prosperity in terms of happiness, wellbeing and living within the means of this planet that we call home. We don’t have another one to fall back on after all.

The Labour Party

Following Osborne’s despicable budget it is time for the Labour Party to stand up and truly be the main opposition party. Not just opposition for the sake of it no; but because the very fabric of what makes our society great is at risk. Childhoods, retirements, working lives, already desperate lives are at risk.

I hope that the Labour Party will reach out and grasp the hand of Caroline Lucas, and will also stand up to the offer put forward by the 20 year SNP MP, Mhairi Black (youngest MP in 300 years) in her, already very famous, inspirational maiden speech;

“Now, yes we will have political differences, yes in other parliaments we may be opposing parties, but within this chamber we are not. No matter how much I may wish it, the SNP is not the sole opposition to this Government, but nor is the Labour party. It is together with all the parties on these benches that we must form an opposition, and in order to be affective we must oppose not abstain. So I reach out a genuine hand of friendship which I can only hope will be taken. Let us come together, let us be that opposition, let us be that signpost of a better society. Ultimately people are needing a voice, people are needing help, let’s give them it.”

Read the transcript here

See the speech in full here

It appears now that scores of Labour MPs are set to join Caroline Lucas in opposing the welfare cuts proposed by the Tories. It is shame that Labour MPs have to do this in defiance of the Labour leadership, but it their true opposition and defence of those who need it most is very welcome all the same.

Progressives must work together, form an opposition both locally and nationally and not allow this government to continue to ideologically dismantle all that makes our country great. The situation is already so very desperate and there has only been a Conservative majority government in power for 2 months. Imagine the horror of a Tory party unopposed for 5 years… if you dare.

by Young Green activist Sahaya James.

On Saturday 21st June I joined an amazing 50,000+ other demonstrators at the #NoMoreAusterity National Demonstration organised by The People's Assembly Against Austerity ‘to demand the alternative’. A wide variety of people, including disabled people, teachers, nurses, care workers, firemen, students, journalists, Franciscan monks, anti-war campaigners (from CND and Stop The War Coalition), Trade Union leaders, MPs (Caroline Lucas, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott) and various comedians, all joined together to protest against the ideologically-driven austerity imposed on this country by the Con-Dem coalition with the tacit support of Labour, which is punishing the poor and disabled, making them still poorer and more insecure, denying opportunities to the young, while at the same time allowing the rich to grow richer and to siphon our national wealth off to their overseas tax havens. It was always clear that whether someone was there because they were feeling the injustice of an increasingly inexcusable education system or because they lost their job due to a economic climate they did not cause, everyone there supported each other's fight and marched in solidarity with every person and their cause. It was so inspiring to see such a united and impassioned movement and it felt amazing to be a part of it. 

During a number of the talks, we were reminded that the 50,000+ there were only a small proportion of a far wider movement, and that this movement is made up of local groups and campaigners, whether a trade or student union, a local People's Assembly group or a branch of a party providing a progressive, genuine alternative. 

The protest, which began with a march from BBC HQ to Parliament Square, and ended with many inspiring speeches, was a great success, but was studiously ignored by most of the mainstream media. Apparently the BBC failed to notice that 50,000 protesters with banners, huge balloons and loudspeakers gathered on their doorstep, so they reported nothing about it until people started to complain, after which on an obscure corner of their website they gave this pathetic three-sentence report with a 24-second video. Most national newspapers did not give even this much coverage, except for this article in the Guardian and this one in the Independent. Other than on social media, the best coverage was given here by RT.

This media blackout clearly demonstrates that we have to fight for justice against not only the three main parties in Parliament, but also the entire national media.

All photographs in this blog post c. William Pinkney-Baird.(Young Green)