The Green Party Trade Union group opposes all redundancies as currently they punish workers for the criminal folly of capitalist speculators. We are particularly opposed to redundancies in those sectors , such as public transport, where there should actually be more investment and more jobs being created in order to bring about the just transition to a low carbon economy that is needed to combat the ecologocial and economic crises which we face.
GPTU is therefore saddened to hear that 1000 redundancies on London Underground were announced today (29/1/2009). All redundancies are evil but these are markedly in the wrong sector and at precisely the wrong time. We support all Unions in resisting this retrograde step and trust all elected Green Party representatives in London (Councillors, Greater London Assembly members and our London MEP)will join us in taking this stance.
ENDS
Pages
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Thursday, 29 January 2009
Campaign Against Climate Change Conference:March 7 2009 Kings College London
Flyer for the Campaign Against Climate Change Conference March 7 2009 Kings College London at http://gptu.net/gleft/ccctuflyer.pdf.
2nd Trade Union Conference
The huge social and economic changes that are needed to dramatically reduce carbon
emissions are of vital interest to trade unionists, as are the methods by which they can be achieved. This conference is a chance to engage and debate with each other on these crucial issues. Campaigners and researchers from the trade union movement will address a series of workshops on a variety of related issues.
We are also hosting three forums to examine crucial debates for those concerned about the environment. The discussions around the future for nuclear power, coal and aviation are controversial ones within our movement. We hope that these debates will help clarify the issues for delegates.
As the world looks forward to the signing of the Kyoto Treaty’s replacement later this year, our closing plenary will look at proposals for a new treaty and how trade unionists can support and join the international protests calling on world governments to sign a climate treaty that will have social justice at its heart.
Speakers include
Chris Baugh (PCS), Tony Kearns (CWU), Jean Lambert MEP, Ian Lavery (NUM),
Mark Lynas, John McClean (GMB), John McDonnell MP, Caroline Molloy,
Ann Pettifor, Dave Prentis (UNISON), Phil Thornhill (CCC), Matt Wrack (FBU)
Affiliated unions include
CWU, Connect, FBU, PCS, RMT and UCU
Admission £10 (£5 concessions)
King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Stamford Street, London SE1
2nd Trade Union Conference
The huge social and economic changes that are needed to dramatically reduce carbon
emissions are of vital interest to trade unionists, as are the methods by which they can be achieved. This conference is a chance to engage and debate with each other on these crucial issues. Campaigners and researchers from the trade union movement will address a series of workshops on a variety of related issues.
We are also hosting three forums to examine crucial debates for those concerned about the environment. The discussions around the future for nuclear power, coal and aviation are controversial ones within our movement. We hope that these debates will help clarify the issues for delegates.
As the world looks forward to the signing of the Kyoto Treaty’s replacement later this year, our closing plenary will look at proposals for a new treaty and how trade unionists can support and join the international protests calling on world governments to sign a climate treaty that will have social justice at its heart.
Speakers include
Chris Baugh (PCS), Tony Kearns (CWU), Jean Lambert MEP, Ian Lavery (NUM),
Mark Lynas, John McClean (GMB), John McDonnell MP, Caroline Molloy,
Ann Pettifor, Dave Prentis (UNISON), Phil Thornhill (CCC), Matt Wrack (FBU)
Affiliated unions include
CWU, Connect, FBU, PCS, RMT and UCU
Admission £10 (£5 concessions)
King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Stamford Street, London SE1
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Trade unions and the environment: A TUC Education short course for reps 2009
Treasurer, Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group
GREEN UNISON
January 2009
A TUC Education short course for reps 2009
Trade unions and the environment
A trade union environmental course - but why and who for?
Trade unions are responding to the challenge of climate change by actively promoting sustainable policies at work. Workplaces burn energy, consume resources and generate waste - they are the most obvious starting point to tackle climate change and sustainable development issues.
Download the full course details
This summer, the South West TUC is launching a Green Workplaces project funded by the South West RDA, aimed at building our regional capacity to tackle environmental and climate change issues at work.
So how can we work more efficiently, get more from less, and re-use resources? Where will the new, apparently cleaner renewable energy come from 10 years from now? What can workers, unions and employers do together to change how we work, and to work sustainably, now?
This TUC course aims to answer these questions. It is for existing workplace representatives (shop stewards, health and safety reps or ULRs) and also aims to develop new reps interested in a union role as an environmental champion or 'green' rep. It is for unions across all sectors - including power generation, energy supply (coal, oil, gas), renewable energy operators, energy-intensive sectors such as iron and steel and cement, and energy and resource-intensive sectors from retail and office to local government and the wider public sector.
The course has been developed by the TUC with the support of the Trade Unions Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC), a joint TUC/DEFRA body promoting sustainable workplaces. The TUSDAC report, "Greening the Workplace", includes a wide range of examples of union policies and practice at work (www.tuc.org.uk - search under "environment"). The South West Green Workplaces Project Leader is Lu White. Lu can be contacted at the South West TUC office on 0117 947 0521 or email:
lwhite@tuc.org.uk.
GREEN UNISON
January 2009
A TUC Education short course for reps 2009
Trade unions and the environment
A trade union environmental course - but why and who for?
Trade unions are responding to the challenge of climate change by actively promoting sustainable policies at work. Workplaces burn energy, consume resources and generate waste - they are the most obvious starting point to tackle climate change and sustainable development issues.
Download the full course details
This summer, the South West TUC is launching a Green Workplaces project funded by the South West RDA, aimed at building our regional capacity to tackle environmental and climate change issues at work.
So how can we work more efficiently, get more from less, and re-use resources? Where will the new, apparently cleaner renewable energy come from 10 years from now? What can workers, unions and employers do together to change how we work, and to work sustainably, now?
This TUC course aims to answer these questions. It is for existing workplace representatives (shop stewards, health and safety reps or ULRs) and also aims to develop new reps interested in a union role as an environmental champion or 'green' rep. It is for unions across all sectors - including power generation, energy supply (coal, oil, gas), renewable energy operators, energy-intensive sectors such as iron and steel and cement, and energy and resource-intensive sectors from retail and office to local government and the wider public sector.
The course has been developed by the TUC with the support of the Trade Unions Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC), a joint TUC/DEFRA body promoting sustainable workplaces. The TUSDAC report, "Greening the Workplace", includes a wide range of examples of union policies and practice at work (www.tuc.org.uk - search under "environment"). The South West Green Workplaces Project Leader is Lu White. Lu can be contacted at the South West TUC office on 0117 947 0521 or email:
lwhite@tuc.org.uk.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
London Socialist Film Co-op
Welcome to the London Socialist Film Co-op
SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2009 SICKO
Michael Moore US 2007 123 mins
Discussion led by Dr Stephen Amiel and Kevin O’Brien
Michael Moore, US 2007, 123 mins, EST, [12A]
America’s most incendiary filmmaker, Michael Moore, returns with this hard-hitting expose of the crisis at the heart of US health-care. SICKO tackles material as controversial as the topics explored in Moore’s other films, yet does so in a way that places the focus on ordinary Americans affected. After detailing just how the system got into such a mess (the short answer: profits and Nixon), he visits Canada, Great Britain and France to see how their health care services differ. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes – and takes them to a most unexpected place, where they finally receive the care they have been denied and also engage in some unexpected
diplomacy.
Discussion led by Bronwen Handyside, Campaign Manager, Keep our NHS Public, GP Dr Stephen Amiel, Kevin O’Brien, Trades Council Secretary and UNISON delegate,and retired midwife Frances Hook.
Bronwen, Stephen, Kevin and Frances are local campaigners in Hackney, Camden, Sutton and Lewisham, respectively.
SUNDAY 8 MARCH 2009 UK PREMIÈRE OF MADRID BEFORE HANITA
Eran Torbiner Israel/Spain/France/Germany 2006, 58 mins, EST
Eran Torbiner reflects on the segment of the Jewish population that baffled the Zionist community and the Palestinian Communist Party by travelling to Spain to counter the Fascist forces of the Spanish Civil War. Torbiner couples interviews with the handful of surviving olunteers — who reflect on the vicissitudes of their experiences in Spain — with recitations from letters and journal entries of the day and period archival footage.
This screening is dedicated to the memory of Patience Darton
THE GUERNICA CHILDREN
Steve Bowles UK 2007, 62 mins
In the wake of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, four thousand Basque refugee children were evacuated to Britain: the largest single contingent of refugees ever to arrive in this country. Seventy years on, we hear their extraordinary story and of the conflict between humanitarian need and political convenience that ensued.
Discussion led by Eran Torbiner and Steve Bowles
SUNDAY 5 APRIL 2009 TAKING LIBERTIES
Chris Atkins, UK 2007, 101 mins
Right to Protest, Right to Freedom of Speech. Right to Privacy. Right not to be detained without charge, Innocent Until Proven Guilty. Prohibition from Torture. Taking Liberties reveals how these six central pillars of liberty have been systematically destroyed by New Labour, and the freedoms of the British people stolen from under their noses amidst a climate of fear created by the media and government itself. Irreverent but revelatory, outrageous but true, the film combines these real stories of liberty loss with never-seen before footage, cheeky stunts and comment from Mark Thomas, Tony Benn, leading politicians, celebrities, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers.
THE GREAT GRUNWICK STRIKE 1976-1978: A HISTORY (extract)
Chris Thomas, UK 2007, c20 mins, [tbc]
The Grunwick dispute erupted at a photo processing plant in Willesden, London, in the summer of 1976 and lasted two years. A predominately East African and South Asian female workforce went on strike over appalling working conditions and the issue of trade union recognition. The dispute is remembered as one of the most significant and bitter in the history of the British labour movement. Together with footage of the strike taken at the time, this new film contains interviews with key participants 30 years on, recounting their experiences and what they now think of the strike and its lessons.
Discussion led by Tony Benn
10 MAY 2009 WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN
Steven Okazaki US/Japan 2007 86 min
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs vaporised 210,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those who survived are called ‘hibakusha’ — people exposed to the bomb — and there are an estimated 200,000 living today. Today, with the threat of nuclear weapons of mass destruction frighteningly real and the world’s arsenal capable of repeating the destruction at Hiroshima 400,000 times over, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki looks at the reality of nuclear warfare with first-hand accounts from those who survived and whose lives were forever changed by the atomic bomb.
ON THE VERGE (extract)
SchNews, UK 2008,c35 mins, [tbc]In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pots and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust at their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK. On The Verge tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK’s anti-war movement and direct action scene.
Discussion led by CND Chair Bruce Kent and SchNews
SUNDAY 14 JUNE 2009 THOSE WHO DANCE
Mayyasa al-Malazi and Camilla Cancantata UK 2006, 49 mins
Those Who Dance tells the story of members of a small community in Rossport, Co. Mayo, Ireland, who have resisted Shell’s attempts to construct a high pressure gas pipeline and refinery across their land, which would have potentially devastating environmental and social consequences. The film compares their situation to that of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta, where Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine others were murdered in 1996 because of their non-violent opposition to Shell’s oil extraction operations and gas flaring. The film offers a powerful critique of corporate practice and philosophy, and challenges viewers to consider the impacts of the oil industry throughout the world, now that the reality of climate change is widely accepted.
THE POWER OF COMMUNITY:HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL
Faith Morgan, US 2006, 53 mins, EST, [tbc]
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanised, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.
Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Booking information:
Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2009 SICKO
Michael Moore US 2007 123 mins
Discussion led by Dr Stephen Amiel and Kevin O’Brien
Michael Moore, US 2007, 123 mins, EST, [12A]
America’s most incendiary filmmaker, Michael Moore, returns with this hard-hitting expose of the crisis at the heart of US health-care. SICKO tackles material as controversial as the topics explored in Moore’s other films, yet does so in a way that places the focus on ordinary Americans affected. After detailing just how the system got into such a mess (the short answer: profits and Nixon), he visits Canada, Great Britain and France to see how their health care services differ. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes – and takes them to a most unexpected place, where they finally receive the care they have been denied and also engage in some unexpected
diplomacy.
Discussion led by Bronwen Handyside, Campaign Manager, Keep our NHS Public, GP Dr Stephen Amiel, Kevin O’Brien, Trades Council Secretary and UNISON delegate,and retired midwife Frances Hook.
Bronwen, Stephen, Kevin and Frances are local campaigners in Hackney, Camden, Sutton and Lewisham, respectively.
SUNDAY 8 MARCH 2009 UK PREMIÈRE OF MADRID BEFORE HANITA
Eran Torbiner Israel/Spain/France/Germany 2006, 58 mins, EST
Eran Torbiner reflects on the segment of the Jewish population that baffled the Zionist community and the Palestinian Communist Party by travelling to Spain to counter the Fascist forces of the Spanish Civil War. Torbiner couples interviews with the handful of surviving olunteers — who reflect on the vicissitudes of their experiences in Spain — with recitations from letters and journal entries of the day and period archival footage.
This screening is dedicated to the memory of Patience Darton
THE GUERNICA CHILDREN
Steve Bowles UK 2007, 62 mins
In the wake of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, four thousand Basque refugee children were evacuated to Britain: the largest single contingent of refugees ever to arrive in this country. Seventy years on, we hear their extraordinary story and of the conflict between humanitarian need and political convenience that ensued.
Discussion led by Eran Torbiner and Steve Bowles
SUNDAY 5 APRIL 2009 TAKING LIBERTIES
Chris Atkins, UK 2007, 101 mins
Right to Protest, Right to Freedom of Speech. Right to Privacy. Right not to be detained without charge, Innocent Until Proven Guilty. Prohibition from Torture. Taking Liberties reveals how these six central pillars of liberty have been systematically destroyed by New Labour, and the freedoms of the British people stolen from under their noses amidst a climate of fear created by the media and government itself. Irreverent but revelatory, outrageous but true, the film combines these real stories of liberty loss with never-seen before footage, cheeky stunts and comment from Mark Thomas, Tony Benn, leading politicians, celebrities, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers.
THE GREAT GRUNWICK STRIKE 1976-1978: A HISTORY (extract)
Chris Thomas, UK 2007, c20 mins, [tbc]
The Grunwick dispute erupted at a photo processing plant in Willesden, London, in the summer of 1976 and lasted two years. A predominately East African and South Asian female workforce went on strike over appalling working conditions and the issue of trade union recognition. The dispute is remembered as one of the most significant and bitter in the history of the British labour movement. Together with footage of the strike taken at the time, this new film contains interviews with key participants 30 years on, recounting their experiences and what they now think of the strike and its lessons.
Discussion led by Tony Benn
10 MAY 2009 WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN
Steven Okazaki US/Japan 2007 86 min
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs vaporised 210,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those who survived are called ‘hibakusha’ — people exposed to the bomb — and there are an estimated 200,000 living today. Today, with the threat of nuclear weapons of mass destruction frighteningly real and the world’s arsenal capable of repeating the destruction at Hiroshima 400,000 times over, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki looks at the reality of nuclear warfare with first-hand accounts from those who survived and whose lives were forever changed by the atomic bomb.
ON THE VERGE (extract)
SchNews, UK 2008,c35 mins, [tbc]In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pots and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust at their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK. On The Verge tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK’s anti-war movement and direct action scene.
Discussion led by CND Chair Bruce Kent and SchNews
SUNDAY 14 JUNE 2009 THOSE WHO DANCE
Mayyasa al-Malazi and Camilla Cancantata UK 2006, 49 mins
Those Who Dance tells the story of members of a small community in Rossport, Co. Mayo, Ireland, who have resisted Shell’s attempts to construct a high pressure gas pipeline and refinery across their land, which would have potentially devastating environmental and social consequences. The film compares their situation to that of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta, where Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine others were murdered in 1996 because of their non-violent opposition to Shell’s oil extraction operations and gas flaring. The film offers a powerful critique of corporate practice and philosophy, and challenges viewers to consider the impacts of the oil industry throughout the world, now that the reality of climate change is widely accepted.
THE POWER OF COMMUNITY:HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL
Faith Morgan, US 2006, 53 mins, EST, [tbc]
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanised, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.
Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Booking information:
Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Monday, 26 January 2009
Green Party Councillor Proposes Living Wage For Lambeth
At a full Lambeth Council Meeting on Wed 28 Jan at 7 pm, Cllr Becca Thackeray, Lambeth's Green Party Councillor, is proposing a motion to make Lambeth Council a "Living Wage" employer. Currently through national pay bargaining rules, every direct employee is paid a Living Wage, but the hundreds of staff who work for the Council via contractors are often not and forced to endure poverty pay.
The motion commits the Council to paying all staff, including sub-contracted staff, the London Living Wage and to use local strategic partnerships and other private sector engagements to promote the living wage more widely.
In November, Green Councillor Jenny Jones successfully passed a motion to make Southwark Council a Living Wage employer. Southwark was only the second Borough to adopt official policy backing a Living Wage, with Lewisham being the other where there are 6 Green Party Councillors.
The Living Wage is the real minimum rate of pay that enables a worker to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their family. In London, the Living Wage currently stands at £7.45 per hour. The background to this figure can be found in the document, A Fairer London: The Living Wage in London (GLA 2008). Many service sector workers - including cleaners, security guards and catering staff - experience low pay and difficult, sometimes exploitative working conditions. It is estimated that in London alone 400,000 people fall into this working poverty trap.
It remains to be seen if the New Labour Council will support the resolution in Lambeth. The Living Wage is supported by trade unions across London. Whilst New Labour Councillors cross picket lines and force more job cuts, the Green Party continues to campaign in the interests of Lambeth's workers.
The motion commits the Council to paying all staff, including sub-contracted staff, the London Living Wage and to use local strategic partnerships and other private sector engagements to promote the living wage more widely.
In November, Green Councillor Jenny Jones successfully passed a motion to make Southwark Council a Living Wage employer. Southwark was only the second Borough to adopt official policy backing a Living Wage, with Lewisham being the other where there are 6 Green Party Councillors.
The Living Wage is the real minimum rate of pay that enables a worker to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their family. In London, the Living Wage currently stands at £7.45 per hour. The background to this figure can be found in the document, A Fairer London: The Living Wage in London (GLA 2008). Many service sector workers - including cleaners, security guards and catering staff - experience low pay and difficult, sometimes exploitative working conditions. It is estimated that in London alone 400,000 people fall into this working poverty trap.
It remains to be seen if the New Labour Council will support the resolution in Lambeth. The Living Wage is supported by trade unions across London. Whilst New Labour Councillors cross picket lines and force more job cuts, the Green Party continues to campaign in the interests of Lambeth's workers.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Re-elect Jean Lambert as London's Green MEP
by Matt Sellwood
Too often, the impact of the UK’s 87 Members of the European Parliament is ignored. To be fair, some of the time it is easy to see why – they are either mediocre nobodies, unable to get a seat in Westminster, or oddball right-wing xenophobes. Or even worse, properly nasty pieces of work like Kilroy-Silk or Ashley Mote, who spend their time in jungle-based celebrity TV shows or prison. However, a large portion of the UK’s social, environmental and human rights legislation is now discussed, voted on and ratified in Europe. The UK left needs to be much smarter in understanding Europe, and what is going on there.
A good start would be to appreciate the work of the few progressive representatives we currently have at Strasbourg. Specifically, we have two of the most radical Greens in Europe representing UK voters in London and the South-East, in Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas respectively. Both have been doing the job with real distinction for almost ten years - and bothrepresent Euro regions that are losing a Parliamentary seat as a result of European-wide redistricting, and are therefore becoming tougher to get elected in. In this brief article, I’m going to focus on Jean, simply because as the recently elected Leader of the Green Party, Caroline has had more media exposure.
It would be impossible to discuss all of the issues that Jean has been involved in over the last ten years - so a brief sample of her most recent work will have to serve as an indication of her consistently radical record as an elected representative.
- Working Time Directive
Jean has been an opponent of the UK opt-out to the Working Time Directive since it was introduced, and has campaigned for years to see it abolished. In December 2008 she helped lead the Parliamentary moves to remove the opt-out, which were successful, and have forced the UK government to contemplate new restrictions on corporate power.
- Gaza
Jean has been at the forefront of the efforts over recent weeks by the European Green Group to pass a radical and far-reaching resolution about the atrocities in Gaza….efforts that were successful this week, despite a more anodyne resolution put forward by the Socialist Group (including Labour) in the Parliament. Perhaps Jean’s words will illustrate her views better than mine could, in a press statement just before the massive demonstration on the 10th, at which she was a speaker.
“This weekend a massive demonstration will be taking place in London to call for an immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza. There is no way to justify this continued devastating assault and granting only three hours of respite a day is simply shameful.
“When I was in Gaza almost a year ago, I witnessed the terrible suffering of the Palestinians as a result of the blockade. They lacked the most basic supplies, including food and essential medical equipment. With many hundreds dead and thousands injured the present situation must be truly horrendous.
“The blockade has totally failed in its stated purpose. It has instead consolidated the power of those parts of Hamas that don’t want a political settlement and weakened the possibility of peaceful, democratic progress.
“As well as the emergency humanitarian response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the shattered lives and communities.
“The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides. The European Parliament has voted for EU Governments, including the UK, to halt any upgrading of relations with Israel in light of on-going human rights abuses. It is also time forMember States to take responsibility and end the exports of arms which are being used against civilians. This brutality must not go on.”
- Immigration
Jean is the European Green Group’s lead MEP on asylum and immigration issues, and as such she has taken a prime role in both person-specific struggles and legislative eforts towards a more just and tolerant regime. She was a prominent supporter of an effort in the Parliament to stop EU countries from deporting asylum seekers back to Iraq, and has campaigned vigorously against any deportation of children.
- Human rights
Jean was named the Human Rights and Justice MEP of 2005, and so you would expect her record to be excellent on this issue. Most notably, she has been an outspoken and persistent opponent of the travesty of justice at Guantanamo Bay, and was an active member of the Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry on CIA flights and temporary rendition. She has also campaigned on the issue of rape as a weapon of war, and has testified in front of UN committees on that topic.
Further details of Jean’s human rights work can be found here
- Public Services
Jean has been one of the strongest voices in the European Parliament against privatisation of services, which has included a strong stance against GATs and for the European Trade Union Confederation’s public services campaign. She has marched in support of the NHS, chaired debates on health inequality and poverty in London, and even authored a report that passed through the European Parliament, kickstarting a process whereby it will be made easier for migrants to access social service provision.
These few examples are just a small snapshot of Jean’s work in the European Parliament, which has established her as one of the most progressive MEPs in Europe throughout her decade representing Londoners.
I would argue that the British left should be getting behind MEPs like Jean Lambert, and aiming to ensure their re-election on June 4th. Particularly in the absence of any coherent and unified socialist effort to contest the European elections, we need to do everything within our power to ensure that those progressive politicians we *do* have on a European level, remain there for another term.
If you’re interested in more information on Jean’s views and activities,please visit her MEP site at www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk or her campaignblog at http://re-electjean.blogspot.com
Matt Sellwood is former Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council Green Group, and a former member of the Green Party National Executive.
Too often, the impact of the UK’s 87 Members of the European Parliament is ignored. To be fair, some of the time it is easy to see why – they are either mediocre nobodies, unable to get a seat in Westminster, or oddball right-wing xenophobes. Or even worse, properly nasty pieces of work like Kilroy-Silk or Ashley Mote, who spend their time in jungle-based celebrity TV shows or prison. However, a large portion of the UK’s social, environmental and human rights legislation is now discussed, voted on and ratified in Europe. The UK left needs to be much smarter in understanding Europe, and what is going on there.
A good start would be to appreciate the work of the few progressive representatives we currently have at Strasbourg. Specifically, we have two of the most radical Greens in Europe representing UK voters in London and the South-East, in Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas respectively. Both have been doing the job with real distinction for almost ten years - and bothrepresent Euro regions that are losing a Parliamentary seat as a result of European-wide redistricting, and are therefore becoming tougher to get elected in. In this brief article, I’m going to focus on Jean, simply because as the recently elected Leader of the Green Party, Caroline has had more media exposure.
It would be impossible to discuss all of the issues that Jean has been involved in over the last ten years - so a brief sample of her most recent work will have to serve as an indication of her consistently radical record as an elected representative.
- Working Time Directive
Jean has been an opponent of the UK opt-out to the Working Time Directive since it was introduced, and has campaigned for years to see it abolished. In December 2008 she helped lead the Parliamentary moves to remove the opt-out, which were successful, and have forced the UK government to contemplate new restrictions on corporate power.
- Gaza
Jean has been at the forefront of the efforts over recent weeks by the European Green Group to pass a radical and far-reaching resolution about the atrocities in Gaza….efforts that were successful this week, despite a more anodyne resolution put forward by the Socialist Group (including Labour) in the Parliament. Perhaps Jean’s words will illustrate her views better than mine could, in a press statement just before the massive demonstration on the 10th, at which she was a speaker.
“This weekend a massive demonstration will be taking place in London to call for an immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza. There is no way to justify this continued devastating assault and granting only three hours of respite a day is simply shameful.
“When I was in Gaza almost a year ago, I witnessed the terrible suffering of the Palestinians as a result of the blockade. They lacked the most basic supplies, including food and essential medical equipment. With many hundreds dead and thousands injured the present situation must be truly horrendous.
“The blockade has totally failed in its stated purpose. It has instead consolidated the power of those parts of Hamas that don’t want a political settlement and weakened the possibility of peaceful, democratic progress.
“As well as the emergency humanitarian response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the shattered lives and communities.
“The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides. The European Parliament has voted for EU Governments, including the UK, to halt any upgrading of relations with Israel in light of on-going human rights abuses. It is also time forMember States to take responsibility and end the exports of arms which are being used against civilians. This brutality must not go on.”
- Immigration
Jean is the European Green Group’s lead MEP on asylum and immigration issues, and as such she has taken a prime role in both person-specific struggles and legislative eforts towards a more just and tolerant regime. She was a prominent supporter of an effort in the Parliament to stop EU countries from deporting asylum seekers back to Iraq, and has campaigned vigorously against any deportation of children.
- Human rights
Jean was named the Human Rights and Justice MEP of 2005, and so you would expect her record to be excellent on this issue. Most notably, she has been an outspoken and persistent opponent of the travesty of justice at Guantanamo Bay, and was an active member of the Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry on CIA flights and temporary rendition. She has also campaigned on the issue of rape as a weapon of war, and has testified in front of UN committees on that topic.
Further details of Jean’s human rights work can be found here
- Public Services
Jean has been one of the strongest voices in the European Parliament against privatisation of services, which has included a strong stance against GATs and for the European Trade Union Confederation’s public services campaign. She has marched in support of the NHS, chaired debates on health inequality and poverty in London, and even authored a report that passed through the European Parliament, kickstarting a process whereby it will be made easier for migrants to access social service provision.
These few examples are just a small snapshot of Jean’s work in the European Parliament, which has established her as one of the most progressive MEPs in Europe throughout her decade representing Londoners.
I would argue that the British left should be getting behind MEPs like Jean Lambert, and aiming to ensure their re-election on June 4th. Particularly in the absence of any coherent and unified socialist effort to contest the European elections, we need to do everything within our power to ensure that those progressive politicians we *do* have on a European level, remain there for another term.
If you’re interested in more information on Jean’s views and activities,please visit her MEP site at www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk or her campaignblog at http://re-electjean.blogspot.com
Matt Sellwood is former Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council Green Group, and a former member of the Green Party National Executive.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
The Future Of Work Public Meeting 21 FEB
GREEN PARTY TRADE UNION GROUP & London Federation of Green Parties
PUBLIC MEETING: ALL WELCOME
'WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND THE GREENING OF WORK - THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS'.
The world plunges headlong into Recession, but could this provide the opportunity for a ‘NEW GREEN DEAL’ or a ‘JUST TRANSITION’ from our current economic arrangements which cause economic & ecological disaster? What will this new economy be like? How can workers’ rights be defended as it is built?
Speakers:
PUBLIC MEETING: ALL WELCOME
'WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND THE GREENING OF WORK - THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS'.
The world plunges headlong into Recession, but could this provide the opportunity for a ‘NEW GREEN DEAL’ or a ‘JUST TRANSITION’ from our current economic arrangements which cause economic & ecological disaster? What will this new economy be like? How can workers’ rights be defended as it is built?
Speakers:
Jean Lambert
Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London
Tony Kearns
(CWU Senior Deputy General Secretary)
Chris Baugh,
PCS Assistant General Secretary.
TUC & CALL (Campaigning Alliance for Lifelong Learning) speakers – invited
2.00pm Saturday 21 February 2009
St Pancras Church Hall , Euston Road, London, NW1 2BA,
020 7388 1461, office@stpancraschurch.org
(opposite Euston BR, tube and bus station)
Contact: P. Murry, Secretary GPTU at: yrrumuk@yahoo.co.uk
SUPPORT London Met Uni UCU
UCU London Metropolitan are likely to campaign to get the University governors to remove the current management of the University. At present, according to studies presented in the THES, London Metropolitan is in the bottom 10 for student satisfaction and staff satisfaction amongst Universities in the UK. Management continues to issue pronouncements which do not address these realities - which are primarily the result of actions by the ever-expanding managerial tier.
The Union may also approach the Higher Education Funding Council which could, in theory, demand the Governors sack the management of the University - who already have the distinction of creating the longest ever industrial dispute in the history
of HE in the UK.
The financial difficulties faced by London Met are replicated at the University of Westminster, De Montfort, Middlesex etc. So far, the Government has not taken the obvious step - taken by Thatcher governments in the 1980s - of expanding HE as one of its responses to unemployment.
Instead, it is cutting HE funding in many areas, leading London Met - for example - to raise its entry requirements to try to increase its pass rates. This is very much contrary to the widening access/participation mission of the University and is bound to be replicated by other HE institutions whose places are primarily filled through Clearing rather than direct student choice.
The University is now targetting Amanda Sachur, key UCU organiser at the University on a risible allegation of using University time for UCU activities, thus increasing animosity from staff whose confidence in management has never seemed lower.
Steve Dawe, London Met UCU
At 00:18 21/01/2009 +0000, Phelim Mac Cafferty wrote: signed. please support.
All London Metropolitan University management are attempting to sack 330+ members of staff across the university in the next few months. In addition, they are currently
victimising one of the leading UCU officers at the university. Please visit the London Met UCU website at www.lmuucu.org.uk for some background information on these disputes and to sign our petitions. In solidarity
>Mark... Mark Campbell London Met UCU and NEC
The Union may also approach the Higher Education Funding Council which could, in theory, demand the Governors sack the management of the University - who already have the distinction of creating the longest ever industrial dispute in the history
of HE in the UK.
The financial difficulties faced by London Met are replicated at the University of Westminster, De Montfort, Middlesex etc. So far, the Government has not taken the obvious step - taken by Thatcher governments in the 1980s - of expanding HE as one of its responses to unemployment.
Instead, it is cutting HE funding in many areas, leading London Met - for example - to raise its entry requirements to try to increase its pass rates. This is very much contrary to the widening access/participation mission of the University and is bound to be replicated by other HE institutions whose places are primarily filled through Clearing rather than direct student choice.
The University is now targetting Amanda Sachur, key UCU organiser at the University on a risible allegation of using University time for UCU activities, thus increasing animosity from staff whose confidence in management has never seemed lower.
Steve Dawe, London Met UCU
At 00:18 21/01/2009 +0000, Phelim Mac Cafferty wrote: signed. please support.
All London Metropolitan University management are attempting to sack 330+ members of staff across the university in the next few months. In addition, they are currently
victimising one of the leading UCU officers at the university. Please visit the London Met UCU website at www.lmuucu.org.uk for some background information on these disputes and to sign our petitions. In solidarity
>Mark... Mark Campbell London Met UCU and NEC
AMICUS elections, Should GPTU support Jerry Hicks?
Jerry Hicks is now the only left challenger to Derek Simpson (depending on whether you believed Faircloth to be left wing or not, he has now withdrawn) and perhaps there should be discussion about the GP-TU endorsing him? I've just sent him a small donation, as I think it's very important to support challenges from the left to the UNITE bureaucracy wherever possible.
>>
>> Just a thought!
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Matt Sellwood
>>
>> Just a thought!
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Matt Sellwood
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Green Left General Meeting on Sunday 25th January @ 11.30am in Manchester
Green Left General Meeting on Sunday 25th January @ 11.30am in Manchester
Kro Bar, 325 Oxford Rd, Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester M13 9PG
AGENDA
· The Reawakened Evils – Poverty and Unemployment. A discussion on employment and welfare in the 21st century with Sean Thompson (Green Left) and John Hilary (War on Want) followed by
· Minutes of the last general meeting
· Fare pooling scheme for the AGM
· Conference motions and fringes
· Green Left Newsletter
· Financial Report/Membership Report
· Convention of the Left Feedback
· Trade Union Climate Change Report
· Demonstrations and campaigns
· Iceland – report back
· Date of next meeting
· Any Other Business
The meeting is due to finish at 2.30pm. The venue is in Oxford Road, within walking distance of the city centre. Details here
http://www.kro.co.uk/control.php?_command=/DISPLAY/67/1
We particularly hope that GL supporters from Manchester, the North West and Yorkshire are able to attend. A number of GL supporters from London, including myself, will be present but we are hopeful that this meeting can generate some interest in GL in Manchester. Please inform any Green Party members in the North West, North Midlands or Yorkshire regions who may be interested. The first part of the meeting is a public meeting and is open to all Green Party members or others who may wish to attend. The public meeting will end at approximately 1pm.
Kro Bar, 325 Oxford Rd, Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester M13 9PG
AGENDA
· The Reawakened Evils – Poverty and Unemployment. A discussion on employment and welfare in the 21st century with Sean Thompson (Green Left) and John Hilary (War on Want) followed by
· Minutes of the last general meeting
· Fare pooling scheme for the AGM
· Conference motions and fringes
· Green Left Newsletter
· Financial Report/Membership Report
· Convention of the Left Feedback
· Trade Union Climate Change Report
· Demonstrations and campaigns
· Iceland – report back
· Date of next meeting
· Any Other Business
The meeting is due to finish at 2.30pm. The venue is in Oxford Road, within walking distance of the city centre. Details here
http://www.kro.co.uk/control.php?_command=/DISPLAY/67/1
We particularly hope that GL supporters from Manchester, the North West and Yorkshire are able to attend. A number of GL supporters from London, including myself, will be present but we are hopeful that this meeting can generate some interest in GL in Manchester. Please inform any Green Party members in the North West, North Midlands or Yorkshire regions who may be interested. The first part of the meeting is a public meeting and is open to all Green Party members or others who may wish to attend. The public meeting will end at approximately 1pm.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Socialist Candidates Challenge Lambeth UNISON Bureaucracy
A group of socialist activists in Lambeth have produced a manifesto which they hope will politicise UNISON members and provide the platform on which to build a "fighting, member-led branch" based on clear socialist politics. The manifesto was the basis for candidates to contest elections at the Lambeth UNISON AGM on a "Lambeth Activists" platform.
The platform currently comprises independent socialists, members of Permanent Revolution, the Alliance for Workers Liberty, Workers Power and Green Left, the ecosocialist platform within the Green Party.
Policies include fighting against all redundancies and job losses, maximising participation and control of the union by ordinary members and ending automatic and uncritical UNISON support for Labour in building a left alternative.
For more information, visit: http://lambethmilitants.blogspot.com/2009/01/lambeth-activists-for-fighting-member.html
James Caspell, a member of Green Left, won the post of Publicity Officer after making a speech in which he outlined a plan to "give members the confidence to fight the Council, fight the Government and ultimately fight capitalism". Rekha Khurana of Permanent Revolution took the posts of International Officer and Assistant Publicity Officer. Dan Jeffery, also of Permanent Revolution, was elected as a National Conference Delegate and Regional Council Delegate.
In his speech for the election of Membership Officer, which was lost by just three votes, Dan outlined that “we need to provide socialist answers to pay and job cuts”. He also highlighted the case of a colleague who because of privatisation had had her pay slashed and now had to work over 50 hours a week, while consultants for Lambeth in the same building get £1000 a day.
After the AGM, Rekha Khurana emphasised that far from being an electoralist front, the activists’ aim was to work with and engage all those who share a socialist political perspective and work towards rebuilding the union movement at the grassroots: “We need to coordinate our struggles with other local trade unions as well as with workers in other countries to win better rights for all”.
Other contested elections were narrowly won by the incumbent branch bureaucracy, though both the speeches and polices of candidates standing on the Lambeth Activists platform were widely supported amongst members, who welcomed the first set of seriously contested branch elections in a generation.
Notes to Editors
To see full platform, election results and list of candidates, please visit: http://lambethmilitants.blogspot.com/
The platform currently comprises independent socialists, members of Permanent Revolution, the Alliance for Workers Liberty, Workers Power and Green Left, the ecosocialist platform within the Green Party.
Policies include fighting against all redundancies and job losses, maximising participation and control of the union by ordinary members and ending automatic and uncritical UNISON support for Labour in building a left alternative.
For more information, visit: http://lambethmilitants.blogspot.com/2009/01/lambeth-activists-for-fighting-member.html
James Caspell, a member of Green Left, won the post of Publicity Officer after making a speech in which he outlined a plan to "give members the confidence to fight the Council, fight the Government and ultimately fight capitalism". Rekha Khurana of Permanent Revolution took the posts of International Officer and Assistant Publicity Officer. Dan Jeffery, also of Permanent Revolution, was elected as a National Conference Delegate and Regional Council Delegate.
In his speech for the election of Membership Officer, which was lost by just three votes, Dan outlined that “we need to provide socialist answers to pay and job cuts”. He also highlighted the case of a colleague who because of privatisation had had her pay slashed and now had to work over 50 hours a week, while consultants for Lambeth in the same building get £1000 a day.
After the AGM, Rekha Khurana emphasised that far from being an electoralist front, the activists’ aim was to work with and engage all those who share a socialist political perspective and work towards rebuilding the union movement at the grassroots: “We need to coordinate our struggles with other local trade unions as well as with workers in other countries to win better rights for all”.
Other contested elections were narrowly won by the incumbent branch bureaucracy, though both the speeches and polices of candidates standing on the Lambeth Activists platform were widely supported amongst members, who welcomed the first set of seriously contested branch elections in a generation.
Notes to Editors
To see full platform, election results and list of candidates, please visit: http://lambethmilitants.blogspot.com/
Friday, 16 January 2009
3RD NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION FOR GAZA
STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER
No. 1073 16 January 2009
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
3RD NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION FOR GAZA
SATURDAY 24 JANUARY
ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA NOW: LIFT THE BLOCKADE
ASSEMBLE BBC BROADCASTING HOUSE
PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON, W1A 1AA
(Nearest tube Oxford Circus)
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE
With over 1100 killed, 350 of them children, and over 5500
injured, the suffering in Gaza is beyond catastrophic. Israel
is ignoring the worldwide clamour for it to stop now and is
escalating its attacks.
A third national demonstration against Israel's barbarity and
war crimes has been called for Saturday 24 January in London
by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
British Muslim Association and many other organisations.
The demonstration will assemble at BBC Broadcasting House,
Portland Place, London, as a response to the BBC's largely
one-sided coverage of the Gaza massacre, allowing Israeli
spokespeople endless opportunities to propagate lies and
deception without challenge.
We will march from the BBC to Trafalgar Square. Further
details, including timings and route, will be available
shortly.
Stop the War calls on all its local groups and supporters to
start building now for what we need to make an even bigger
demonstration than the 100,000 who protested on 10 January.
Israel must be made to stop its carnage and we must show our
solidarity with the people of Gaza suffering unimaginable
atrocities.
Stop the War will publicise further details and updates by
email and on our website, as we get them.
NEWSLETTER
No. 1073 16 January 2009
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
3RD NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION FOR GAZA
SATURDAY 24 JANUARY
ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA NOW: LIFT THE BLOCKADE
ASSEMBLE BBC BROADCASTING HOUSE
PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON, W1A 1AA
(Nearest tube Oxford Circus)
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE
With over 1100 killed, 350 of them children, and over 5500
injured, the suffering in Gaza is beyond catastrophic. Israel
is ignoring the worldwide clamour for it to stop now and is
escalating its attacks.
A third national demonstration against Israel's barbarity and
war crimes has been called for Saturday 24 January in London
by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
British Muslim Association and many other organisations.
The demonstration will assemble at BBC Broadcasting House,
Portland Place, London, as a response to the BBC's largely
one-sided coverage of the Gaza massacre, allowing Israeli
spokespeople endless opportunities to propagate lies and
deception without challenge.
We will march from the BBC to Trafalgar Square. Further
details, including timings and route, will be available
shortly.
Stop the War calls on all its local groups and supporters to
start building now for what we need to make an even bigger
demonstration than the 100,000 who protested on 10 January.
Israel must be made to stop its carnage and we must show our
solidarity with the people of Gaza suffering unimaginable
atrocities.
Stop the War will publicise further details and updates by
email and on our website, as we get them.
Monday, 12 January 2009
GREEN PARTY CONFERENCE Motions to support
Green Party Spring conference 2009 20th – 23rd March, Blackpool Winter Gardens
Please support the following motions
C21 Migration motion (asks GPEW to support European GP migration policy)
C24 Campaigning for an alternative economic strategy (calls for a New Green
Deal broadened and reinforced in order to transform fundamentally, rather than simply to try to stabilise and regulate, the current financial and industrial system.)
Also remember
Deal broadened and reinforced in order to transform fundamentally, rather than simply to try to stabilise and regulate, the current financial and industrial system.)
Also remember
- Look out for amendments to C28 on Maternity Services which critics argue could introduce privatization
- Attend the SOC report (usually the first item of conference) for a challenge to disallowing the motion to afiiliate GPEW to the Convention of the Left
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
GAZA; Statement by Joseph Healy and fallback leaflet
We are calling on all Green Left supporters and riends to support as a priority the demonstrations taking place on Saturday against the war crimes and atrocities being inflicted by the Israelis on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza. The latest tonight is that a UN school clearly earmarked by the UN has been attacked and a large number of civilians sheltering inside, including many children, massacred. The UN has described it as a violation of international law.
The main demonstration called by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and CND will be in London. It will march from Hyde Park Corner (gather at 12.30pm) to the Israeli embassy in Kensington. Speakers, including Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, will address the rally.
Leaflets and placards will be distributed by Green Left and Green Party members at the demo and Romayne Phoenix and others will send details of that later.
As the party's delegate to the Stop the War Coalition, I have found them more than willing to have a Green Party speaker on the platform. Contrary to what was stated on Derek Wall's blog, the reason why STWC had no party speaker last week at the demo in Trafalgar Square was because the party's national officers did not reach them in time. It is important to state this, as the impression could otherwise be given that STWC is somehow hostile, and this would strengthen the hands of those in our party who want to end our > involvement in this important campaigning organisation.
I am sure that there may be other local protests taking place across the country, such as the one in Brighton outside Lloyds Bank, at which Caroline Lucas is speaking. However, if possible, we are asking people to attend the large national demonstration in London - details of transport etc from local Stop the War groups.
It is vital that the Green Party's presence is clearly visible on this demo and that Green Left takes the lead in ensuring that it is. We have to send a clear signal from here that Israel's war crimes,
aided and abetted by Bush and Brown (whose UN ambassador has blocked the ceasefire moves at the UN) must be stopped.
Joseph Healy
Co-Convenor and Stop the War Coalition Delegate
(Joseph is also GPTU Treasurer but is not making the above statement in that capacity)
National Demonstration: Saturday 10 January: Stop the Massacre : Israel Out of Gaza Assemble 12.30pm Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, March to Israeli Embassy, London W8
• London Rally: Stop The Gaza Massacre, Thursday 8 January 7.30pm Friends Meeting House, Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ
Speakers include Tony Benn, Tariq Ali, George Galloway MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP Organised by Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign Leaflet... Nearest tube: Euston
• Daily protests: Israeli Embassy 5 - 9 January, 5.30pm-7.00 pm, , High St, Kensington,W8
The following is Text for a fallback leaflet adapted from GPEW website, just in case the leaflet currently in preparation by head office is not available to all members.
GREEN PARTY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE
06 JANUARY 2009
MEPs from the Green Party and other parties have demanded an emergency debate in the European Parliament on the Gaza crisis - and have been rebuffed.
Jean Lambert, London's Green Euro-MP, issued the following statement today:
"An immediate ceasefire is vital to prevent the further loss of innocent lives. Israel cannot justify this continued assault and the devastation it is bringing to the people of Gaza. The Greens called for an exceptional statement from the Council and Commission and an urgent debate on the crisis in the Parliament this week. It has been confirmed that the plenary debate will not take place, but an exceptional meeting of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee will be held tomorrow.
"Certainly this is not the time for the EU to be upgrading relations with Israel, indeed there is a case for examining the existing agreements. The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides, since Hamas, too, bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians."
Jean, who was named Justice and Human Rights MEP of the year in 2005, added,
"Being in Gaza almost a year ago I witnessed the severe suffering of Palestinians as a result of the siege, and a lack of medical equipment and other essential supplies. The situation now must be unbearable, with many hundreds dead and thousands injured as a result of the air strikes and ground offensive.
"It is imperative that the provision of humanitarian aid takes into account the deficit of goods and services which existed prior to these latest attacks. As well as the emergency response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the lives and communities of those affected."
Contact the Green Party 1A Waterlow Road London N19 5NJ Enquiries: 020 7272 4474
office@greenparty.org.uk Press office:020 7561 0282
The main demonstration called by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and CND will be in London. It will march from Hyde Park Corner (gather at 12.30pm) to the Israeli embassy in Kensington. Speakers, including Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, will address the rally.
Leaflets and placards will be distributed by Green Left and Green Party members at the demo and Romayne Phoenix and others will send details of that later.
As the party's delegate to the Stop the War Coalition, I have found them more than willing to have a Green Party speaker on the platform. Contrary to what was stated on Derek Wall's blog, the reason why STWC had no party speaker last week at the demo in Trafalgar Square was because the party's national officers did not reach them in time. It is important to state this, as the impression could otherwise be given that STWC is somehow hostile, and this would strengthen the hands of those in our party who want to end our > involvement in this important campaigning organisation.
I am sure that there may be other local protests taking place across the country, such as the one in Brighton outside Lloyds Bank, at which Caroline Lucas is speaking. However, if possible, we are asking people to attend the large national demonstration in London - details of transport etc from local Stop the War groups.
It is vital that the Green Party's presence is clearly visible on this demo and that Green Left takes the lead in ensuring that it is. We have to send a clear signal from here that Israel's war crimes,
aided and abetted by Bush and Brown (whose UN ambassador has blocked the ceasefire moves at the UN) must be stopped.
Joseph Healy
Co-Convenor and Stop the War Coalition Delegate
(Joseph is also GPTU Treasurer but is not making the above statement in that capacity)
National Demonstration: Saturday 10 January: Stop the Massacre : Israel Out of Gaza Assemble 12.30pm Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, March to Israeli Embassy, London W8
• London Rally: Stop The Gaza Massacre, Thursday 8 January 7.30pm Friends Meeting House, Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ
Speakers include Tony Benn, Tariq Ali, George Galloway MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP Organised by Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign Leaflet... Nearest tube: Euston
• Daily protests: Israeli Embassy 5 - 9 January, 5.30pm-7.00 pm, , High St, Kensington,W8
The following is Text for a fallback leaflet adapted from GPEW website, just in case the leaflet currently in preparation by head office is not available to all members.
GREEN PARTY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE
06 JANUARY 2009
MEPs from the Green Party and other parties have demanded an emergency debate in the European Parliament on the Gaza crisis - and have been rebuffed.
Jean Lambert, London's Green Euro-MP, issued the following statement today:
"An immediate ceasefire is vital to prevent the further loss of innocent lives. Israel cannot justify this continued assault and the devastation it is bringing to the people of Gaza. The Greens called for an exceptional statement from the Council and Commission and an urgent debate on the crisis in the Parliament this week. It has been confirmed that the plenary debate will not take place, but an exceptional meeting of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee will be held tomorrow.
"Certainly this is not the time for the EU to be upgrading relations with Israel, indeed there is a case for examining the existing agreements. The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides, since Hamas, too, bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians."
Jean, who was named Justice and Human Rights MEP of the year in 2005, added,
"Being in Gaza almost a year ago I witnessed the severe suffering of Palestinians as a result of the siege, and a lack of medical equipment and other essential supplies. The situation now must be unbearable, with many hundreds dead and thousands injured as a result of the air strikes and ground offensive.
"It is imperative that the provision of humanitarian aid takes into account the deficit of goods and services which existed prior to these latest attacks. As well as the emergency response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the lives and communities of those affected."
Contact the Green Party 1A Waterlow Road London N19 5NJ Enquiries: 020 7272 4474
office@greenparty.org.uk Press office:020 7561 0282