My priority campaigns

The Green Party needs to make decisions about what it's priorities for campaigns are. My view is that next year we should focus on three areas, and those areas would be in order of priority:

1. The economy - alternatives to austerity - promoting the Green message for economic change including the Green New Deal, one million climate jobs, the Citizens pension and protection of public services - especially the NHS. We need show the important role that public services can make in re-vitalising the economy. We also have to make the case for the low-carbon green economy, reforming the banks and stooping the tax dodgers

2. Energy - we need to make the connection with the economy and the fight against climate change. Searches for new sources of energy such as fracking are only avoiding the inevitable changes we will have to make to lower carbon emissions and create jobs

3. Local food - this is perhaps not so obvious but there are important links with 1 and 2. Firstly climate change is threatening food production - there is a drought crisis in the USA which is still the 'breadbasket' of the world. Encouraging local food production not only reduces carbon emissions it also stimulates local economies and creates jobs. In the longer term we will have to move to more localised economies

Do you agree with my priorities? Please let me know what your priorities are. You can comment here or contact me via email.

West Cheshire GP fundraising event on Sunday - the sun came out to join us - a really good afternoon

Why I am standing for the post of Campaigns Coordinator

We are living through a time of environmental and economic crises. Reckless casino capitalism has resulted in a massive debt bubble, which has bust the banks and is causing real long-term damage to our economy. The changing global climate is causing chaos, and further economic damage. We cannot continue with 'business as usual', we need real, and lasting change. That is why I and many other people have joined the Green Party. I believe the Green Party, is the only mainstream political party, which has the policies that can make the changes we need happen. I've been a member since the late 1990s, when I realised I had to 'get out of my armchair', get active, and fight to protect the environment and the public services on which most of us rely.

The Green Party has worked hard at the grassroots to get people elected. We have had an excellent leader in our MP Caroline Lucas. As a minority party we have a mountain to climb to form a Green government, and at our current rate of electoral success that would take over a century. What we need is a breakthrough of the kind Respect achieved in Bradford West. We need to lift our vote nationally and really get our message across. That is why it is so crucial we have an active, committed Campaigns Coordinator in the party, who will promote the Party as a campaigning party and help to promote our policies to millions of disillusioned voters. That is why I sought election to the Campaigns Committee in February and that is why I am standing for the post of Campaigns coordinator.

We are a small party with limited resources and If elected I would want to use the Internet and digital media to the full to get our policies across to as many people as possible. I have a decade of experience as a blogger and tweeter and I know the power of online media. As well as using our blogging power, Twitter, and Facebook better, we need to use our website and members site as a repository of campaigning materials. We need to bring together all the excellent campaigns resources we have developed so that they are easily available for all our activists to adapt and use, locally and nationally. I would also like to see a re-invigorated campaigns committee bringing together regional campaigns coordinators by holding some meetings outside London to involve our activists in the regions, and holding meetings by telecon to save costs and travel.

If you like my ideas I hope you will support my campaign and encourage other members in your local party to vote for me in the GPEx elections in August. You can contact me at howard.thorp@btinternet.com. If you are on Facebook please 'like' my FB page.

Yes to a referendum on the EU!

According to Paul Cotterill on the Liberal Conspiracy blog Caroline Lucas, the leader of the Green Party,  has outflanked Labour on the issue of a referendum on the EU. He is right. Outflanking a gauche and leaden-footed Labour leadership isn't difficult these days. Labour is completely hamstrung by its New Labour legacy, and because of its complicity in privatisation and austerity it is incapable of challenging the most dangerously reactionary government in a century.

Caroline said: "I support a referendum on our membership of the EU because I am pro-democracy, not because I'm anti-EU - and because I want to see a radical reform of the way Europe operates. The EU has the potential to spread peace and make our economies more sustainable, and to promote democracy and human rights, at home and throughout the world. But it must urgently change direction, away from an obsessive focus on competition and free trade and towards placing genuine co-operation and environmental sustainability at its heart."

Caroline has called this exactly right. We need to challenge the lack of democratic accountability and neoliberalism of the EU. Most people don't want us to leave, but this is a Europe of austerity, dominated by the ECB. The way the Greeks and Irish have been humiliated is appalling, and all to bail out French and German banks. That is unacceptable. We need start a movement to liberate the EU from the dead hand of neoliberal failure, and make sure that the Green Party is at the forefront of that movement.

Green Party make further gains in local elections

Locally we had a good series of results in the four wards in which we stood, coming second in Gowy from nowhere. We still have a lot of work to do and we need to build up a stronger local campaigning party.

In the wider North West, Hilary Robinson was elected to Alsager Town Council; our first Green Councillor in Cheshire, and John Coyne retained his seat in Liverpool which had seemed vulnerable to a resurgent Labour. In Lancaster we had a disappointing result losing 4 councillors to Labour who had a good result in the north of England - totally underserved given the cuts they had planned in public services and the privatisation of the NHS which they had already started upon before the general election last year.

Nationally, we went into our election campaign with 116 councillors on 42 councils and have come out of it with 130 on 43 councils, a gain of 14 seats.

Norwich fought off Labour in two wards, as well as gaining an additional seat in Thorpe Hamlet, to bring their total seats on the council to 15 - adding to its tally of city councillors at every election since 2002. We also gained seats in Bolsover, Bristol, Herefordshire, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Malvern Hills, Mid Suffolk, Reigate, Solihull, South Hams, Stafford and St Albans! The outstanding Brighton results were also a real highlight: we gained 10 more seats, taking our total to 23 and making the Greens the largest party on the council.

Greens fighting hard in West Cheshire elections

Members of the Green Party in Cheshire West and Chester have been working hard in our target wards of Gowy and Davenham and Moulton. We have been busy talking to voters and delivering election flyers over the past week and the weather has been very kind to us. By the 5th of May we will have delivered over 7500 flyers in the two wards.

Our campaign is focussed on fighting the cuts imposed in Cheshire by the Coalition government. George Osborne's £81 Billion cuts package is totally unjustified and genuine threat to the welfare state which will cause suffering to the weakest members of our society, including the poor, disabled and unemployed.

We have seen the effect that cuts have had in Ireland where the economy has been devastated. You can't cut your way out of a recession - that is what happened in the 1930s and it lead to a decade of economic stagnation and conflict which cost millions of lives.

The Green Party has a fully costed economic programme which will protect public services and create jobs, lifting us out of economic stagnation and building a future for a sustainable economy which will help us deal with the consequences of climate change. A couple of Green councillors in West Cheshire would make all the difference - wherever you are vote Green on 5th May!

SAY YES to AV!

For the record - I don't agree with Nick. Like many people in this country I'm appalled by the role the Liberal Democrats (LDs) have played in propping up a reactionary, class war Tory government which is seeking to return us to the inequality and public squalor of the 19th century. £81 billion pounds worth of cuts which will hit the poor, low paid, unemployed, disabled and women hardest would be bad enough in itself but what accompanies it makes it much, much worse - the privatisation of the NHS, the bogus 'Big Society', the sell off of forests, student loans at £9,000 a year, the scrapping of environmental bodies, the attack on the public sector and pensions, the support for bankers who created the economic crash, nepotism for neighbours by Cameron, and the absurdity of calling environmental protection legislation 'red tape' all add up to a nightmare for the British people. Those of us who lived through the Thatcher era never thought we could be shafted to such an extent again - but that is what is happening as I type this.

We should never have been so surprised at LD support for this Tory government and its cuts agenda. In 2004, prominent LDs including Clegg, Laws and Cable contributed to the 'Orange Book' which was essentially a neoliberal manifesto. The reactionary take-over of the LDs had begun. Just as with New Labour The LDs swung to the right abandoning the social democratic approach the LDs had been found on.

So what has this got to do with the referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV)? Given the above - its not surprising then that many on the left now want to punish Clegg and the LDs by voting down AV. The theory is that if the referendum is lost the Coalition government will split, forcing an election in which Labour and Ed Milliband will ride to the rescue of the nation. In my view this is very short-sighted for several reasons; firstly, there is no guarantee that the Coalition will split. The LDs are in a very vulnerable position at the moment and they don't want an election. Not only do they fear meltdown but they have no funds to fight a campaign; secondly, even if the Coalition does split there is no guarantee that Labour will win or the Ed will ride to the rescue if they do. New Labour may be dead but it certainly hasn't been buried; finally, and most importantly the AV referendum offers us something very rare in British politics - a chance to bring about progressive electoral reform.

AV isn't perfect, its not as good as proportional representation (PR), but it's a hell of a lot better than what we have at the moment - a rotten voting system well past its sell by date. If the referendum is lost it will put back electoral reform for a generation. The beauty of AV is that it increases voter power and makes MPs more accountable to their electorate - so what if it slightly benefits the LDS? - that is the popular view based on previous voting patterns, but it assumes that many will put the LDs down as a second preference - now that is much less likely. Neither will it benefit the BNP as has been suggested - it will benefit you the voter by putting more power in your hands. Don't believe the outrageous lies put about by the No campaign. Vote YES on May 5th and help to break the mould of British politics. AV now PR later!

Green Party Local Election Broadcast

Green Councillors working for you

Cuts where they are needed, not where they hurt

The greenest government ever - huh?

So, this is the greenest government ever? I guess quite a few of us are scratching our heads on this one. As the Tory (nasty) Party went thorough it's re-branding with Blairite poster boy and PR man David Cameron, we saw Dave cycling to work, followed by a car carrying his suit and briefcase, installing a wind turbine on his house, and cuddling polar bears at the North Pole (OK, not quite be he would if he could have - no doubt).

Of course, this was all a PR con, or as these things are known these days - greenwash. Lets get down to the facts. The Tory-led government is in thrall to the corporations, and if there is one thing corporations hate its environmental regulation which prevents them dumping costs onto the environment in the form of pollution. It's not difficult to work out that we are going to see a weakening of environmental regulation and a knock down sale of our environmental assets.

So what is the "greenest government ever" doing? Well, its scrapped the Sustainable Development Commission and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution for a start. It's downsizing the public bodies which protect the environment like the Environment Agency and Natural England. It's planning to sell off our forests, its scrapped the fleet of emergency tugs which are there to protect the marine environment, and it wants to start building new uneconomic and unsustainable nuclear power stations - like the Olkilouto plant in Finland which has been an outrageously expensive botched cock-up.

Behind much of this is the disaster of The Public Bodies Bill which gives the government powers to scrap public bodies at will. The bill is audacious, mendacious and dangerous for the environment. These bodies were created by parliament but parliament will have no say in their merger or removal.

The reality is that this is likely to be the least green government ever with falling environmental standards and failure to tackle our greatest problem - climate change. This won't be a surprise to anyone in the Green Party. It's exactly what we expected. We had the right policies to create a green economy whilst providing a million new jobs and protecting public services. We now have to face five years of going backwards environmentally with nothing being done to deal with the most serious issues that face us.

Green Party Benefit Gig! - 9th January

There will be a benefit gig for the Party at Alexander's in Chester on Sunday 9th January. All very welcome. Try and come along if you can and pass this on to all your friends!

Can't pay won't pay

Caroline Lucas speaks out against the cuts.

The Green Queen's Speech

This is what we could have had if we'd elected a Green government - a positive programme which would have created hope for the future, and an alternative to the mire which we are in. Well done Channel 4.

Green MP's alternative Queen's Speech

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 25 May 2010

As the Queen prepares to travel to Westminster to make her first speech setting out the coalition's planned laws, the country's first ever Green MP Caroline Lucas writes for Channel 4 News to describe what her alternative Queen's Speech would look like.

My government's overriding priority is to modernise the British economy for a low-carbon future, to create an economy more balanced between manufacturing and services, more resilient in the face of financial crises, where wealth is more equitably distributed and the more vulnerable in society are offered greater protection.

My government will bring forward a bill to initiate an emergency investment package, to cost £44bn, which will be intended to create over one million new jobs and training places.

This investment programme will result in significant improvements to public transport, including fare reductions of up to ten per cent. It will provide free insulation for all British homes. It will transform Britain's renewable energy sector into a world leader, which in turn will support the restoration of domestic manufacturing industry. It will also set our country firmly on the road to a zero waste economy.

In parallel with this bill, my government will continue the previous government's efforts to tackle Britain's budget deficit by 2014, but with greater emphasis on raising tax levels on the wealthiest thirteen per cent of earners.

The redistributive tax measures will ensure that a non-means-tested citizen's pension may be introduced at the level of £170 for individual pensioners and £300 for couples. This will ensure that no British pensioner is living below the poverty line.

My government will cancel new road building plans and transfer £30bn from the road building budget towards public transport and measures to promote and facilitate cycling and walking, including safe routes to school programmes.

Other fiscal measures my government will bring forward will include measures to ensure that the costs of high-carbon modes of transport better reflect their costs to society.

My government will introduce a bill to prevent any further private finance initiatives, and to keep the Royal Mail in public ownership, as the first step towards reversing the privatisation of public services.

My government will seek effective global and European collaboration to combat climate change, in a globally equitable manner, which will involve 90 per cent cut in UK CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, starting with a ten per cent cut in the coming year and following with successive year-on-year cuts to ensure the overall target is met.

My government will complete the reform of regulation of the financial services industry to ensure greater protection for savers and taxpayers, but will bring forward further legislation for the establishment of a nationwide network of not-for-profit community banks, and to separate retail from investment banking. Those banks which are wholly or partly state-owned will pay no bonuses above £25,000, and a permanent tax on bonuses will be introduced. A "Robin Hood tax", a tax on financial transactions, will also be established.

Recognising the international nature of the problems in financial services, my government will actively pursue with our European partners regulation at an EU level.

My government will introduce legislation to bring about wide-ranging political and electoral reform, including a fair and inclusive voting system which will be extended to a fully-elected second chamber.

My government is committed to making Britain a fairer and more inclusive society, and to this end will bring forward legislation to promote this. This will include a requirement for all companies to have at least 40 per cent of their boards of directors made up of women, and to penalise employers who implement unequal pay. The same legislation will strengthen the protection of disabled people and those with mental health problems against discrimination.

My government will bring forward plans for a very early withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan. At the same time it will seek international support for the establishment of a peace conference involving all Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, and measures to enhance economic and political stability in Afghanistan.

Legislation will be brought forward to decommission Britain's nuclear weapons.

Other measures will be laid before you.

I pray that the blessing of almighty God may rest upon your counsels.

A great night for the Greens!

Election night was a very long night in the Memorial Hall but well worth staying up for in the end. Caroline Lucas was elected as MP for Brighton Pavilion - a historic moment for the Green Party and one which we have been waiting for far too long.

I'd like to thank the friends and party members who helped me throughout my campaign and the people in Weaver Vale who voted for a radical progressive programme based on hope not fear. I'd also like to thank the returning officer, the people who worked so hard to count the votes, and the other candidates and agents who were all helpful, friendly and considerate.

One of the outcomes of this election is that it has become clear to all that we can no longer continue with an eighteenth century electoral system in a modern democracy. There is an urgent need for electoral reform including fixed term parliaments, proportional representation and an elected second chamber. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats must now seize the historic opportunity to make this happen.

10 good reasons to vote Green tomorrow

The Green Party has policies that are distinctive from the other parties. We would protect social services and create 1,000,000 jobs in energy conservation, renewable energy and social care to fight climate change and save you money. Here are ten good reasons to vote Green tomorrow:

1. Stabilising the economy

Regulate the financial sector, permanently tax bankers’ bonuses and introduce the Robin Hood tax on international financial transactions, while reducing corporation tax for small firms.

2. Creating jobs

Create one million jobs in areas such as local manufacturing and food production, public transport, renewable energy, home insulation and repairing and recycling goods.

3. Education

Abolish formalised SATs testing for 11 year olds and reduce the huge paperwork burden on teachers. Protect schools and universities from cuts and privatisation, and abolish university fees.

4. Protecting public services

Protect public services from cuts and privatisation: keep the NHS public, protect Sure Start nurseries, re-open Post Offices, abolish charges for prescriptions and dentistry.

5. Pensions and care for the elderly

Introduce free social care for the elderly as in Scotland and raise the basic state pension to £170 a week.

6. Affordable housing

Take action to ensure that the million empty homes nationwide are brought back into use; introduce free home insulation for all homes within 5 years; and enable local councils to build new council housing again.

7. Transport

Redirect transport funding towards public transport, regulate the buses and renationalise the railways to ensure we have affordable and reliable public transport in the future. Improve cycle routes and pedestrian safety measures.

8. Youth facilities

Double spending on out of school services for young people to give them something to do and somewhere to go and introduce a national youth volunteering programme for the under 18s.

9. Climate change and energy security

The UK should lead the world by example in tackling climate change: energy efficiency measures in buildings, reducing travel miles by providing services like Post Offices locally and localising the economy, investment in renewable energy rather than nuclear power.

10. Democracy and Parliamentary reform

Replace the House of Lords with a fully elected second chamber; decentralise power to local councils and communities; restrict the lobbying power of big business over MPs; prevent MPs from holding directorships and consultancies that stop them being full-time MPs and may result in conflicts of interest.

VOTE GREEN PARTY ON 6TH MAY FOR WEAVER VALE!

Weaver Vale campaign update

Last week things really began to feel like they were speeding up and I had an unexpected disaster when my WiFi packed up causing me to miss a couple of important emails but now I'm back campaigning online. I've been answering as many emails as I can and tramping the streets of Northwich delivering about 750 election flyers - mainly in Kingsmead. The biggest disappointment and frustration of this election for me has been not being able to spend much time talking to constituents. If I had done this, as I would have liked to, I wouldn't have been able to get my flyers delivered.

The big event of the week was the candidate's debate at Mid Cheshire College. All the candidates - Tory, Lib Dem, Labour, UKIP, Green and 3 independents - except the BNP - turned up. For such an important election the turnout was disappointing with the venue being about half full. Although advertised as a debate - it really consisted of us answering a series of questions in turn. Given that there were eight of us this was quite a cumbersome process. I missed the email with the questions and was probably less prepared than the others although I thought I made a reasonable job of it given that it was my first hustings. I managed to ask the Tory candidate Graeme Evans why the Tories were planning to give away £7 billion in tax cuts to the rich at a time when they are planning to cut public services but predictably I didn't get an answer!

The election is getting really close and I'm hoping this will be a real breakthrough for us. If things go well we could get 3 0r 4 MPs elected. After the huge let down of the European elections I'm not building my hopes too high because there is a danger that now, as then, our candidates will get squeezed out because people who would like to vote for us know we can't form a government. You should vote for the party you believe in and whose policies you find best. That is the only way we'll get real change in the UK.

The Green Party is the only party that is offering a economic alternative to the failed policies supported by the main parties. We want to get people back to work and give the economy a real boost at the time of recession. Our plan to create 1 million jobs and protect public services is far more ambitious than anything the other parties have to offer and would be good for the people of Weaver Vale. We have plans for a Citizens Pension that would end pensioner poverty and overall our policies are the best according to the 226,000 people who have visited http://www.voteforpolicies.org.uk. Why not take a look at this site yourself. You may be surprised to find out you are a Green voter after all.

As the General Election approaches

The Green Party campaign in Weaver Vale

I must have been one of the first candidates to arrive at the Forum in Chester to get my nomination papers confirmed. This is an anxious time for candidates because a mistake on the forms could mean that you have to re-submit. That would be no fun for me as I live 20 miles away and had to take a day off work to get there, plus the window - just 4 days between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm - is ridiculously short. I met up with Tom Barker the Green PPC for City of Chester. Our nominations went OK and we retired to a nearby pub for a celebratory drink. Our campaigns had begun in earnest.

So what do you do if you are a GP candidate in a constituency where there has never been a GP candidate before and you have no well oiled party machine to give you support? You make the most of the resources you have. I have had help from the few members we have here and some good local friends and supporters all of whom have made a great contribution by tramping the streets delivering our flyers. But we have only 3000 flyers for a constituency where we could have done with at least 30,000!

My employer has helped by allowing me to take unpaid leave which I will have to make the most of in the coming days until the election. Part of the deal is that I have to resign if elected! Well, I think that is unlikely. So far I have delivered the best part of 1000 flyers myself - thank goodness the weather has been fine - although the barmy June-like weather we are having is only another reminder of climate change. Most of my campaigning has been through the web. Is this the best approach? Should I be spending my time knocking on doors or replying to the many emails I've received ? The simple answer is I don't know. The target I'm setting myself is 1000 votes. Depending on turnout that probably won't be enough to save my deposit but it would be a respectable start.

This is a potentially a momentous election and it's a privilege to be taking part. I joined the Green Party because I believe in its policies and principles. Like many others I used to be a Labour supporter. But when they abandoned their core beliefs - I abandoned them. Ultimately you have to vote for what you believe in. If you want change for the better you have to engage in the political process. Apathy only benefits the ruling elite who have been exploiting the British people for far too long. The Green Party has policies which are fair and just and it is the only party which has the policies to tackle social injustice and climate change.

Green Party Election Broadcast

My priorities for Weaver Vale

David Cameron is asking the electorate to vote for change but if voters back him, New Labour or the Liberal Democrats, they will get more of the same – business as usual. The same failed economic policies that have lead to the current economic crisis and the banker’s bonus bonanza will be followed. The Green Party has policies that will create jobs, protect vital public services and tackle the current economic crisis in a way that is fair to everyone. That’s real change

My priorities are jobs and public services. We are still in an economic crisis and there will be savage cuts and job losses in public services if New Labour or the Tories come to power. The Green Party policies include the protection of public services and the creation of one million jobs in insulating homes and renewable energy. These jobs will help the one million young people who are unemployed find meaningful work and learn new jobs and skills, as well as saving families money on their energy bills and reducing our carbon outputs.

We would also intoduce a living wage of £8.10 per hour to replace the minimum wage and a citizens pension of £170 pw for single people and £300 pw for couples to end pensioner poverty.

This programme is fully costed and will be paid for by fairer taxation including the removal of the ceiling on national insurance contributions and scrapping Trident and ID cards. It would be wrong, when our economy is so fragile, to introduce the kind of savage cuts proposed by the other parties.

If you want to find out more about our policies take a look at the previous post on this blog.