"The Green Party Trade Union Group expresses its solidarity with Stalin Bermudez, the SOAS Unison Branch Chair, who has been sacked by management at SOAS. GPTU also fully supports the industrial action in response to his sacking that is being taken by SOAS Unison members on 28th May, 2009. The Green Party has been active in Living Wage campaigns across London, and supported the May Day demonstration for the Bloomsbury Living Wage Campaign which Stalin Bermudez addressed. GPTU reaffirms its support for this campaign, and for all campaigns to institute a Living Wage across the whole of London; for justice, respect and a decent standard of pay and conditions to be afforded to all workers.
GPTU commends Stalin Bermudez for the work he and his comrades have done in progressing the Living Wage campaign in SOAS and demands his immediate reinstatement in order that his work will be allowed to continue."
Friday, 29 May 2009
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Countering the Crisis, Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross Station) at 7pm on Wednesday, 27 May
Countering the Crisis, an ecosocialist response to the global recession and the threat of climate change.
Green Left, the anti-capitalist current in the Green Party, has just published a new pamphlet, which is to be launched at Housemans Bookshop in London at on Wednesday 27 May. Entitled Countering the Crisis, the pamphlet gives an ecosocialist response to the global recession and the threat of climate change.
The pamphlet has two main sections; the first provides an analysis of the current crisis and shows how it is the inherent instability of the financial system that is the prime mover of the credit crunch rather than just the sleight of hand of a relatively tiny number of spivs and hucksters. It points to the phenomena of the financialisation of capitalism - the shift in gravity from production to finance – and suggests that this has been the key factor in the development of asset bubbles and the growth of the increasingly more arcane and risky financial schemes which have triggered the collapse of markets throughout the world.
The second part sets out some proposals for dealing with the twin crises – financial and environmental – that confront us. Central to these is the demand for a massive redistribution of wealth and power. One of the key factors in advancing the financialisation of the economy has been the dramatic redistribution of wealth away from wages as a percentage of the GDP. Therefore, there is an urgent need to redistribute wealth away from corporate profits and towards wages and income; not only because justice demands it but also because it makes sound economic sense.
The pamphlet points out that many of the points it makes have been made elsewhere on the left and that and a number of manifestos round which to organise have been issued, most importantly The People’s Charter. It is vital that we start to draw together these strands of opposition to the current system in order to enable the development of a genuinely grass roots movement. Realignment of the left (and that includes the Green Party as well) now becomes an urgent necessity for its existence and an essential precondition for the development of a new mass party of and for working people.
The pamphlet will be launched with a talk by its author, Sean Thompson, at Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross Station) at 7pm on Wednesday, 27 May.
Green Left, the anti-capitalist current in the Green Party, has just published a new pamphlet, which is to be launched at Housemans Bookshop in London at on Wednesday 27 May. Entitled Countering the Crisis, the pamphlet gives an ecosocialist response to the global recession and the threat of climate change.
The pamphlet has two main sections; the first provides an analysis of the current crisis and shows how it is the inherent instability of the financial system that is the prime mover of the credit crunch rather than just the sleight of hand of a relatively tiny number of spivs and hucksters. It points to the phenomena of the financialisation of capitalism - the shift in gravity from production to finance – and suggests that this has been the key factor in the development of asset bubbles and the growth of the increasingly more arcane and risky financial schemes which have triggered the collapse of markets throughout the world.
The second part sets out some proposals for dealing with the twin crises – financial and environmental – that confront us. Central to these is the demand for a massive redistribution of wealth and power. One of the key factors in advancing the financialisation of the economy has been the dramatic redistribution of wealth away from wages as a percentage of the GDP. Therefore, there is an urgent need to redistribute wealth away from corporate profits and towards wages and income; not only because justice demands it but also because it makes sound economic sense.
The pamphlet points out that many of the points it makes have been made elsewhere on the left and that and a number of manifestos round which to organise have been issued, most importantly The People’s Charter. It is vital that we start to draw together these strands of opposition to the current system in order to enable the development of a genuinely grass roots movement. Realignment of the left (and that includes the Green Party as well) now becomes an urgent necessity for its existence and an essential precondition for the development of a new mass party of and for working people.
The pamphlet will be launched with a talk by its author, Sean Thompson, at Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross Station) at 7pm on Wednesday, 27 May.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
London European Election Launch for Green Party Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Joseph Healy Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Vauxhall at the next general election - the green, socialist alternative writes
Yesterday was the launch of the Green Party's European election campaign in the London region and I was there with Jean Lambert MEP and six of the other candidates. We appeared last night for probably a little over a minutes on the BBC London television news, which is in stark contrast to the publicity given to the BNP etc.
We were positioned beside an air quality monitoring station on Marylebone Road to make the point that it is EU Directives on air quality which are pushing the UK and London authorities to clear up their act in what is Europe's most polluted city. Mayor Johnson has done little so far to address the issue and the UK could be receiving a massive fine soon from the EU for not doing something about it. Latest figures show that several thousand people die every year in London as a direct result of this air pollution. I am the one holding X marks the spot.
Several of our candidates were also interviewed for Radio 4's 'PM' programme and we were told that it would be broadcast on Friday week, but why so late in the campaign seems a mystery to me. Perhaps it will be broadcast this Friday instead. AP News were also there.
It's off to hustings in Lambeth for me tonight and tomorrow night I will be appearing at a hustings in the Students Union Bar at Goldsmith's College, New Cross at 6.30pm, at the invitation of the Battersea & Wandsworth Trade Union Council, South London Anti-Fascist Group and the PSC Union, where issues around employment, trade union rights, etc will be discussed as well as how best to combat racism and Fascism.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
REV BILLY
Dear Green Left Saints,
How are you? I'm Michael O'Neil and I work with Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping...we're going to tour the UK from May 19th to the 31st and on the evening of May 31 we're performing at the Limehouse Town Hall in London. That day we would love to make a street action happen along with local radical saints such as yourself.
Reverend Billy is the Green Party candidate for Mayor of New York City in this year's election, and Reverend Billy is a personal friend and supporter of Joel Kovel. The support of the Green Left community during this tour would mean a great deal to us!
Some points of action that have been suggested to us include the 3rd runway at Heathrowe, Westfield Mall, or making an appearance at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. We want to celebrate the activist community in London as well as engage in some real community defense.
Can we talk with you about ways to make that happen as well as ways to reach out to communities (online and off) in London? Amen! Thanks so much for your work -Michael O'Neil
How are you? I'm Michael O'Neil and I work with Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping...we're going to tour the UK from May 19th to the 31st and on the evening of May 31 we're performing at the Limehouse Town Hall in London. That day we would love to make a street action happen along with local radical saints such as yourself.
Reverend Billy is the Green Party candidate for Mayor of New York City in this year's election, and Reverend Billy is a personal friend and supporter of Joel Kovel. The support of the Green Left community during this tour would mean a great deal to us!
Some points of action that have been suggested to us include the 3rd runway at Heathrowe, Westfield Mall, or making an appearance at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. We want to celebrate the activist community in London as well as engage in some real community defense.
Can we talk with you about ways to make that happen as well as ways to reach out to communities (online and off) in London? Amen! Thanks so much for your work -Michael O'Neil
Cllr Salma Yaqoob, a leading voice in the Respect coalition, endorses West Midlands Green candidate Felicity Norman.
Prominent Birmingham Councillor and Leader of the RESPECT Party, Salma Yaqoob is calling for progressive West Midlands voters to go Green and vote for Felicity Norman at the European Elections on 4th June.Salma Yaqoob, who is a Sparkbrook Councillor and Westminster Candidate for Birmingham Hall Green constituency is endorsing Felicity for her commitment to fight the BNP at the European election and for the Greens’ progressive policies on job creation in new industries.
Councillor Yaqoob said:
“With the country facing the deepest recession in generations, Labour and the Tories offer us nothing but rising unemployment and cuts in services. Those of us who want a new politics based on social justice need to work together. The candidate closest to my own views on the environment, anti-racism and foreign affairs is Felicity Norman and I hope my supporters will back her on 4 June.”
At the last European election, the Greens secured 5.2% of the vote in the region. Respect got 2.4% of the votes. When combined, the 7.6% vote share is just greater than the BNP’s 7.5% [1]. Only around 10% of the vote is needed to gain a seat at the European election next month and with the Greens, RESPECT and the BNP all having grown in the past five years, it is a tight race to the finish line on 4th June.
The Green Party is running its strongest ever campaign to elect a Euro-MP in the region to join the two other UK Green Party MEPs already elected.
Salma Yaqoob commented:
“The racist British National Party is hoping to make a breakthrough in these elections. Under the system of proportional representation it is essential that everyone who opposes the BNP uses their vote. The higher the turnout, the lower the chance of the BNP being elected. Whatever you do please use your vote against the BNP. But if you care about peace, justice, equality, anti-racism and the environment, vote Green in the European elections”.
Felicity Norman, the top Green Party Euro-MP candidate said “A Green vote at these elections says yes to positive politics and no to racism and it says yes to investing in jobs-rich industries to tackle recession and climate change.
The Green Party is running a serious campaign to fight the BNP. In this proportional voting system, it’s normally a small party that takes the final seat, which could mean the BNP or the Greens. We know that if a Green is elected, there is no room for the BNP. The battle for fourth place at the European election is more important than ever and with Salma’s endorsement, our combined support ensures we’re in the game”.
Salma’s endorsement of Felicity is the second boost for the Greens in a week after news that Green Party candidate numbers for the County Council elections this year are treble the figure of the last County elections in 2005 [2].
Monday, 11 May 2009
Lewisham Bridge Primary School; Draft statement by Andy Hewett (GPTU& GL Committee member)
As the capitalist economy continues to collapse in its current period of global crisis, the only solution proposed by the government is to pump billions of pounds into the failing system, effectively privatising the profit and nationalising the debts accrued by the unregulated banks.
Yet the same profit-driven neoliberal ideology of the domination of market forces which has so spectacularly failed is being increasingly applied to what remains of our public services. State funding which has been lavished upon the private banks is not so forthcoming where it is so desperately needed for example in education. Instead private finance is being used to fund schools, leading to effective privatisation in the guise of Academy Schools and Foundation Trusts. What's good enough for the banks is evidently not good enough for the rest of us.
Schools funded by private capital and taken out of the control of Local Education Authorities are undemocratic and accountable only to themselves. These projects serve primarily to make money, not to provide the best possible education for all children. Green Party policy regarding this is unequivocal:
"The Green Party opposes City Academies and Trust Schools as we believe that schools should be governed in the interests of children and their parents, not through private individuals or businesses."
Currently there are plans in Lewisham to knock down an old primary school and build a privately funded Trust school. Despite the lack of planning permission, the pupils from the Lewisham Bridge Primary School are being bussed to another site instead of being allowed to use the perfectly good school building that exists, this is extending their school day to up to 8 hours. The education and well-being of these children and their families is being affected. Capitalism is creating a legacy of environmental devastation for their generation to inherit, it is also failing them in putting the interests of private capital ahead of their education.
For these reasons Green Left fully supports the "Hands Off Lewisham Bridge" campaign, which has occupied the school and is making a stand against the imposition of the interests of private capital over the education of their children. Green Left similarly supports all other campaigns which are standing up and taking action to oppose the privatisation of our education system, and to demand a publicly funded state education system for the benefit of all.
Yet the same profit-driven neoliberal ideology of the domination of market forces which has so spectacularly failed is being increasingly applied to what remains of our public services. State funding which has been lavished upon the private banks is not so forthcoming where it is so desperately needed for example in education. Instead private finance is being used to fund schools, leading to effective privatisation in the guise of Academy Schools and Foundation Trusts. What's good enough for the banks is evidently not good enough for the rest of us.
Schools funded by private capital and taken out of the control of Local Education Authorities are undemocratic and accountable only to themselves. These projects serve primarily to make money, not to provide the best possible education for all children. Green Party policy regarding this is unequivocal:
"The Green Party opposes City Academies and Trust Schools as we believe that schools should be governed in the interests of children and their parents, not through private individuals or businesses."
Currently there are plans in Lewisham to knock down an old primary school and build a privately funded Trust school. Despite the lack of planning permission, the pupils from the Lewisham Bridge Primary School are being bussed to another site instead of being allowed to use the perfectly good school building that exists, this is extending their school day to up to 8 hours. The education and well-being of these children and their families is being affected. Capitalism is creating a legacy of environmental devastation for their generation to inherit, it is also failing them in putting the interests of private capital ahead of their education.
For these reasons Green Left fully supports the "Hands Off Lewisham Bridge" campaign, which has occupied the school and is making a stand against the imposition of the interests of private capital over the education of their children. Green Left similarly supports all other campaigns which are standing up and taking action to oppose the privatisation of our education system, and to demand a publicly funded state education system for the benefit of all.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
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