Hulme Greens Campaign Action Day Sunday November 23rd

Its just under 6 months to the Local and General Election. Although the Greens are increasing in profile and going up in the polls, it’s the campaign on the ground, in the streets that will make the difference come the Elections. The work to get an elected councillor continues in Hulme. This Sunday November 23rd is the Hulme Campaign Action Day. We will be meeting at Kim-by-the-Sea, 12pm midday and be out until 4pm latest. We are pleased to have with us Green Party Regional Development Officer Pat Cleary. There will be some training, doing surveys, and elections strategy. Come down, meet other Greens, take the campaign...

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Green Party urges Manchester MPs to Vote for Palestine in Parliamentary Debate

2014 has been notable for turmoil in the Middle East. The Syrian War continued to kill thousands of people [1], the Iraqi government continued to appear unstable [2] and the new common factor in both is the emergence of the Islam State (IS) group [3]. The IS murder of Western captives and large scale killings of peoples in Syria and Iraq have drawn Western nations back into a war likely to last years. [4] The other great source of conflict in the year was in Gaza between Israel and Palestine [5]. Over the summer there were over 2000 casualties before a ceasefire was negotiated [6]. This ongoing battle between Israel and Palestine...

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Manchester City Council - The Apartheid Moment 2014

In 1994, the elections held in South Africa ended apartheid and elected Nelson Mandela as President. In England, Manchester City Council and its councillors played a prominent role in the anti-apartheid movement. They enacted sports and cultural boycotts, they actively divested any South Africa related assets and investments. When it came, Manchester, along with the rest of the world, celebrated the end of apartheid. 20 years later, in England 100s of thousands of people have been moved to march and protest. Shocking scenes of death and injury on television over the past few months have showed the world the effect of the Israeli...

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Manchester Green Party Public Meeting Thursday August 14th - Israel and Palestine: What is to be done?

In the 6 weeks since the beginning of July, very nearly 2000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli assault on Gaza. Though the deaths of three innocent Israeli teenagers, initially blamed on Hamas, was reported as the tipping point for the latest spike in violence, this cycle has been going on for years. In late 2008/ early 2009, approximately 1500 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli action and in November 2010, 170 died. The latest bombardment has led to pressure on Israel for a permanent ceasefire and although short cessations in the fighting has occurred, the death toll still rises, the images of the dead and injured both heart-breaking...

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Manchester #BringBackOurGirls Event Thursday July 17th 7pm

It is nearly 100 days since the 267 Nigerian school girls were kidnapped from their school dormitories. They now live with the threat of being sold into slavery. Except for the recent visit to Nigeria by Malala Yousafzai in support of the girls, recent press coverage of the situation has decreased. Local groups however, have continued to raise awareness. Manchester #BringBackOurGirls are holding a public event on Thursday July 17th from 7pm to 9pm. This will be #Day94. Colette Williams one of the organisers of Bring Back Our Girls Manchester said “It seems as the whole world has forgotten that these girls are still at the hands...

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Comment: Manchester, Cottonopolis and Slavery – Lets have a Parade…

'Going Global' for Manchester? (This is a personal comment and not representative of the views of Hulme or Manchester Green Parties.) Sunday June 22nd 2014 is the annual Manchester Day Parade. The theme this year is ‘Going Global’, looking at Manchester  ‘from Roman fort to Cottonopolis to world class 21C digital city… the original modern city Going Global!’ ‘Cottonopolis’ was the period of time when Manchester became a wealthy and powerful city on the back of the cotton industry. The same cotton industry that was built on the backs of slaves and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. While Manchester is proud of many things that can...

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Comment: You only think you are a Labour Party supporter (but you’re not)

Its easy to have a go at a rival party just before an election but  an interesting thing happened at a ‘Europe and Immigration’ hustings event yesterday. On Twitter, the prospective Labour MEP candidate was criticised by a Labour Party supporter in the audience. I was a little embarrassed for him given the twitter feed was on the big screen. After speaking very receptive members of the audience, there were several  things I should have said, like The government’s latest Immigration Bill (which asks landlords to check the status of immigrants, cuts back on the right to migrate to join family and drastically cuts down...

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#BringBackOurGirls Vigil Tuesday May 6th Manchester

A ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ Vigil being held tonight  Tuesday May 6th, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester from 5pm – 7pm. The Manchester Green Party fully supports this campaign. For more information visit the Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/events/402072226600264/ A Liverpool vigil is organised for Saturday May 10th  1pm, St Lukes Bombed Out Church.  For more details visit  http://sqmbizmaguk.wix.com/liverpoolbringback. To sign the petition visit https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/over-200-girls-are-missing-in-nigeria-please-help-find-them-bringbackourgir...

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REGISTER TO VOTE by Tuesday May 6th 2014

The deadline for voting in the European and Local Elections 2014 is registration is Tuesday May 6th. If you are planning to vote in Manchester, download the form from here. If you live outside of Manchester, you can get more information here. If you want to do a comparison of the various parties policies visit Vote for Policies. ITS YOUR VOT...

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Hulme Green Party Newsletter Election Special 1 (2014)

Thanks to Amir and Leona for their inpu...

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MGP Public Event: Civil Liberties vs Terrorism - Thursday May 8th 7pm

Green Party policy says ‘In a complex, modern society, it will be a long time before we can eradicate the root causes of ‘terrorism’. Any measures to protect society should not undermine the fundamental values that shape a green society: inclusion, justice, equality. Police and intelligence activity need to be well-resourced, and given sufficient freedom to ensure their safety and efficacy. They must, though be carried out in a transparent and accountable way, and remain within the law’ PD – Peace and Defense Policy Document (2008) But over time the law has evolved to include pre-charge detention, ‘control orders’, ‘Section 7’ as well...

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Comment: Corporate Social Responsibility and Climate Change

With the recent release of the IPCC report on top of the many, many warnings on Climate Change and the effects it will have on the planet, its hard to fathom the lack of response from the business and corporate communities. The lack of an adequate response from government. Sometimes an honest response is better than none. ...

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A Sense of History and Responsibility: Manchester and Climate Change

Its not uncommon for Manchester’s Leaders to evoke the city’s industrial heritage and spirit of innovation. Manchester is the home of The (Manchester) Guardian, the first computer with memory, the first ‘nuclear-free’ city. It has a history of ‘firsts’. Manchester is also arguably known as the first industrial city, with the advent of the cotton industry, mechanical innovation, the building of factories and a huge increase in population transforming the conurbation and the country. Of the many things written about Manchester at the time it was described as a ‘great city rising before us as the very symbol of civilization, foremost...

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