A thought on the Labour Party ahead of the announcement of their new leader.

The 18th of August marked the anniversary of the Battle of Peterloo, when 60,000 people protested in Manchester in support for the vote and political reform. The struggle for a democracy which is truly representative of the people continues today. In Manchester, the latest threat to democracy is the Government’s devolution deal. Devolution in general something we support. We believe important decisions about local areas should be taken by those closest to those areas. However, the devolution deal does not offer more accountability to the people but less. For example Greater Manchester is currently represented by an unelected Mayor, former Labour MP Tony Lloyd, and this will be the case until 2017.

There seems to be an ongoing argument within the Labour Party over whether the leadership contest will cause or is causing a split. It is hard to see what the debate is about. It seems apparent that there is a split. Greens in Manchester were aware of a split long before the leadership campaign began. The gaps were apparent in the differences in views between Manchester City Council and local MPs over the devolution deal for Greater Manchester. While the Council was and is very happy to sign a deal with George Osborne, local MPs were and are much more skeptical about the long-term consequences of the deal.

If Jeremy Corbyn is elected it does appear that the gap between him and Sir Richard Leese (the leader of Manchester Council) will be a large one. For a start Mr Leese has given his backing to Yvette Cooper. The differences are the greatest when it comes to housing and tackling poverty. While Mr Corbyn agrees with the Green Party and argues for the building of new social housing, the Council prioritizes the building of private homes. It has recently unveiled plans for new projects across the City Centre. Of the thousands of new flats and houses, none of them are set to be social housing; and none of them are even to be set as ‘affordable’. This is despite the fact that there are currently 20,000 people on the social housing waiting list in Manchester. The Council sees rising rents as a positive economic indicator and recently spent over £100,000 on evicting and taking legal action against homeless protesters in the City Centre. We believe that this approach from the Council has encouraged social housing conglomerate One Manchester to come up with plans for Hulme which don’t include any social housing.

We look forward to working with the supporters of Mr Corbyn in developing and implementing plans to create more social housing and combating inequality across Manchester.

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Manchester Green Party praises Labour MPs willing to oppose damaging Welfare bill

The majority of Manchester’s Labour MPs have failed to oppose a bill this week that is expected to make life more difficult for the city’s most vulnerable people. The Manchester Green Party welcomes the decision by two MPs to rebel and is calling on other local MPs to do more to combat the city’s growing poverty.

Manchester has some of the highest levels of child poverty in the country. The Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which passed its second reading by 308 to 124 votes, has been heavily criticised by academics, charities and campaign groups who say that if the bill becomes law, it will have a detrimental affect to children and families in poverty, young people out of work, and ill and disabled people.

Rather than voting against the bill, the Labour leadership instructed its MPs to abstain on the vote. The bill passed with a majority of 184, precisely the number of Labour MPs who abstained.

Manchester Green Party welcomes the decision taken by Gorton MP Gerald Kaufman and Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer to rebel against the Labour line and oppose the bill.

Unfortunately, Manchester’s other MPs, Lucy Powell, whose constituency has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the UK, and the newly elected Jeff Smith, were among those who followed their party leadership and abstained on the vote.

Deyika Nzeribe of the Hulme Green Party said:

“If more Labour MPs had rebelled against their party and joined other opposition members in the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party, the bill would have been defeated and Manchester’s families in poverty protected from yet more government’s cuts to tax credits, welfare benefits and public services.

“It’s astounding and depressing that the majority of Manchester’s Labour MPs refused to stand up for their most vulnerable constituents. Manchester Central has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the UK and we have an opposition MP apparently afraid to oppose this toxic Tory bill.

“The Manchester Green Party calls on Manchester’s Labour MPs to listen to their constituents, to look at the evidence that these cuts are hurting our most vulnerable citizens and to join the growing opposition in parliament, which is currently being led by the smaller parties. The poor and in need should not be paying for the mistakes of past governments or the financial sector.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who voted against the bill, said:

“It's now down to MPs from all parties to look beyond the politics of today’s debate and focus instead on the devastating impact that this piece of legislation will have on people up and down the country.

"Our crumbling social security system is on the brink – now is the time to take a stand.

“George Osborne is playing politics with poverty. Failing to stand up to this regressive Welfare reform would be an utter betrayal of the principle which says that those in need deserve support.”

More than half a million people in Greater Manchester are believed to be living in poverty, with a further 1.6 million at risk. Many are working for low wages and rely on working tax credits to lift them out of fuel poverty and food poverty. The bill will make it harder still for these families to thrive and survive.

The benefit cap is to be lowered to £20,000 and the bill contains a clause that gives the government the right to lower this yet further without consulting parliament. This will plunge large families with high rent costs further into poverty.

The bill also abandons the UK’s commitment to eradicating child poverty by 2020 and goes so far as to redefine poverty so that it no longer relates to people’s ability to afford essentials such as shelter and food.

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Green Party calls for Referendum on Greater Manchester Devolution

News of the devolution deal [1] between the 10 Greater Manchester Councils and the Coalition Government took most people in the region by surprise. 

Also surprising was the news that the Devolution was conditional on the region accepting an elected Mayor as part of the deal.

Though the agreement, negotiated out of view of the public, brings some services under local control [2] there are no additional resources that would not likely come to the region anyway. In fact, Manchester Council is facing an additional £60 million in cuts. [3]

Laura Bannister, Green Party general election candidate for Manchester Gorton, said, "When Scotland voted on devolution in September, it was seen as a high water mark of democracy with 84.6% of the population voting [4]. The debate and discussion leading to the referendum took place over two years. No such process has happened in Greater Manchester."

Chair of Manchester Green Party, Deyika Nzeribe agreed, "The Green Party is in favour of devolution when done correctly. It has to be discussed and accepted at a local level. The Green Party therefore calls for a consultation of the people of Greater Manchester, followed by a referendum, to decide whether we want devolution and if so, what form it should take. This is the biggest governance change in Manchester in a generation - people have a right to decide this for themselves. We will work with others to make this happen."

Since the devolution announcement, a popular campaign has formed to get a referendum for the people of Greater Manchester. The campaign, ‘DevoManc’ is encouraging people to sign its online petition [5] and have a Day of Action on Saturday 10^th January 2015 with petition signings all over the Greater Manchester [6].

Notes

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/devolution-to-the-greater-manchester-combined-authority-and-transition-to-a-directly-elected-mayor
2. http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/News/Elected-Mayor-For-Greater-Manchester
3. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/prime-minister-david-cameron-warns-8064096#rlabs=14
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014
5. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/people-must-have-right-to-vote-on-devo-manc
6. https://www.facebook.com/events/392412037594684/

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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 the ways you can appeal) only got through Parliament with Labour assistance. The Greens opposed it.
• Tuition fees lead to an average student debt of approx £35,000 on a 3 year course.  Labour is planning a commitment to reduce fees from £9000 to £6000. Established Green Party policy is to scrap tuition fees completely. Every young person, every student should be voting Green.
• Labour Party is currently thinking over  renationalising the railways. Green Party MP Caroline Lucas presented a  bill to  Parliament do just that in 2013.
• Labour invented the bedroom tax, the government just extended it
• Labour introduced significant privatisation to the NHS, the government just extended it

Green Party positions on a whole range of issues are more in line with those of Labour party supporters than the Labour Party itself.

What I did do is point the audience to the Vote for Policies website and to make their own mind up.

Everyone should do it and vote accordingly.

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Hulme Green Party Newsletter Election Special 1 (2014)

Thanks to Amir and Leona for their input.

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Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd, must go

Following this week’s announcement of a new ‘ethics committee’ for Greater Manchester Police, Manchester Green Party has joined with other political groups to call for the resignation of the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner (GMPCC) Tony Lloyd. In the letter below, they highlight a catalogue of issues on which the people of Manchester have seen little action.

The ‘ethics committee’ was formed in response to the launch of a triple investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) following serious allegations into the force’s conduct.

The Chair of Manchester Green Party, Deyika Nzeribe, said:“The formation of an ‘ethics committee’ to oversee the Police, of all organisations, is absurd. Do we really need a panel to tell the Police the difference between right and wrong? The issue is not police ‘ethics’, its police conduct.

He continued: “The IPCC investigations are the latest in a long line of issues to confront the GMP in the time Tony Lloyd has been Crime Commissioner and frankly, he is out of his depth. As an MP for Manchester, he has had a long and notable career but under his leadership, Manchester policing has nose-dived. Greater Manchester’s Black and Asian Police Association (BAPA) is describing it as a ‘crisis in leadership’. He should do the right thing and stand down immediately.”

The letter, in full, is as follows:

We, the undersigned, are concerned about the IPCC investigations into the Greater Manchester Police force and the recent formation of an ‘ethics committee’. We note that in the past six months very little has been heard from the GMPCC, Tony Lloyd, on the following issues:

• The Crown Prosecution Service charging Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy with ‘failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act’ following the killing of 36 year old Anthony Grainger, father of two
• GMP’s internal affairs department, the ‘Professional Standards Branch’ being investigated by an external police force over allegations of racism
• The revelation that a damning 99 page report by former Superintendent Martin Harding into the force’s recruitment policy was changed to remove the conclusion that the force is ‘still a institutionally racist, sexist, homophobic and disablist organisation’.
• A new report from Government Inspectors putting GMP police ‘under fire’ for failing to protect victims of domestic violence. The force is currently facing another THREE police watchdog probes over the way they handled domestic violence complaints from three women before they were killed.
• The prolonged violence and aggression by GMP in the policing of the anti-fracking protesters at Barton Moss in Eccles. Simon Pook, solicitor for the campaigners has compiled a dossier of evidence to be submitted to the United Nations. He said: “The police appeared to be out of control. I had to go and stand in a field when I went there because I was so afraid of what was going on.”

When Tony Lloyd first took up the £100,000 pa role of Police and Crime Commissioner, he said "Where the public don’t trust and value the police, we don’t get effective policing. At the moment there are big gaps."

With all of the recent scandals, he is doing nothing to improve the situation.

The day to day management of the GMP is the responsibility of Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy and according to GMPCC’s governance document, one of the Commissioner’s key roles is to “hold the Chief Constable to account on behalf of the people of Greater Manchester”.

This is clearly failing to happen. The following people and organisations call for Tony Lloyd, the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner to resign from this position. The people of Manchester deserve better.

Deyika Nzeribe, Chair of Manchester Green Party

Colette Williams, BARAC and Respect Party candidate

Simon Pook, solicitor for the Barton Moss anti-fracking campaigners

Loz Kaye, Chair of Manchester Pirate Party

Mark Krantz, Socialist Workers Party
Northern Police Monitoring Project
Wesley Ahmed, Justice4Grainger Campaign

The following quotes can also be used:

Colette Williams, BARAC and Respect Party

'During the campaign for Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd promised that he would be an advocate for the people, that he would work tirelessly to improve the relationship and instil trust and confidence between the community and the Police. However since he has been in office there have been a number of issues which have been brought to his attention regarding police conduct and he has quite simply refused to engage in any real open discussions on these issues. It seems that his only priority is to raise funds for his office and not to fulfil the pledge of building trust and confidence between the community and the Police.'

Mark Krantz, SWP

'It is hard not to draw the conclusion that Tony Lloyd is in the pocket of Peter Fahy.' 

Loz Kaye, Pirate Party Manchester

"We have always said the Police Commissioner post was a bad idea. Now we have found out how bad it can go. When it suits Tony Lloyd can be political by campaigning for the Labour party. But he has shown no leadership on key political issues like policing at Barton Moss. It's time we were given the choice to have a commissioner who really will stand up for all people in Greater Manchester."

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Comment: 14.5 million reasons...

Recently a group, askthepeopleofmanchester formed in reaction to a news item that came out of Manchester City Council.

At a committee meeting the Council announced that its investment in Manchester Airport had yielded a windfall of 14.5 million pounds that they could spend as they like.

What are they proposing to do?

1. Put the money into the ‘Green and Clean Initiative’, the focus of which is NOT reducing climate change OR pollution levels. It is to run activities that improve the ‘perception’ of visitors and cleanliness of the city in line with Manchester aspirations to be a ‘Global City’.  
2. Put the decision on how to spend the whole £14.5 million in the hands of the Chief Executive, Howard Bernstein (in ‘consultation’ with others)

It’s nonsense.

For the last 3 years, Manchester City Council has been complainingthat the cuts to services have been forced on them by the Government and there has been no choice in decisions it had to make.

Now it HAS some money its choosing NOT to look at saving those services, services which help the people of Manchester.

What would we do? A number of things including

• Keep open the libraries and swimming pools that people have campaigned
• Create a fund for people affected by the bedroom tax to prevent evictions
• Look at pilot projects that support the employment of young people in Manchester
• Improve and extend Manchester cycle lanes
• Create a fund for small social enterprises and voluntary sector organisations offering up to 20% matched funding for grants or contracts that offers a public service to the people of the city
• Invest in proper ‘joined-up-thinking’ planning, education and activities that reduce the climate change emissions and pollution in the city.

There are also a range of things that can be done around the food banks, investing in start-up microbusinesses and child poverty.

But really, who is to blame for this proposal being considered at the full Council meeting on October 9^th?

Manchester’s Labour councillors. As a group.

They were the one’s wringing their hands saying ‘its not our fault’ when the cuts were happening and now they actually have a chance to do something about it, they are silent.

Manchester has had enough of them.

What can you do?

1. Signthe petition TODAY!!!  Askthepeopleofmanchester are a campaign worth following
2. Contact Manchester councillors, ask them why they are supporting this proposal
3. VOTE!!!

In Manchester Labour councillors only seem to react if they think their seats might be threatened. OnThursday October 10th, is the Ancoats and Clayton by-election.

Of course, we are asking people to voteGreen Party or if you can’t vote get in touch to help out.

There are 14.5 million reasons to do so.

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Manchester Greens Demand No Bedroom Tax Evictions Vote

Speaking at a cross-Party rally against the bedroom tax on Saturday, Manchester Green Party Chair Deyika Nzeribe called on the city’s Labour Council to refuse to evict any tenants because of the bedroom tax.

Deyika said  “The bedroom tax and council tax changes effectively cut benefits income by 27%.  That could affect over 12000 households in Manchester. The Green Party is against this – locally and nationally. 

“The coalition Government could have looked to make their reforms through local councils and housing organisations, instead they have made the bedroom tax the responsibility of the poor.   The Green Party and the Scottish National Party have taken a clear stance against the bedroom tax in Parliament.  Though campaigning against it, Labour has indicated that they would keep the tax in some form.  

“The same double standard is reflected in Manchester where the Council have remained silent on what they would do regarding the changes. Green-led Brighton and Hove Council have resolved that no tenant will be evicted because of the bedroom Tax.  On behalf of Manchester Green Party, I call upon the City Council to vote on a motion that no tenant will be evicted because of the tax in this city.  The Labour Council should stop making speeches and start taking action.

Manchester already has the highest level of child poverty in the country and rising levels of unemployment.  These welfare changes will make things very much worse." 

Manchester Green Party in recognising this,

• have met with and support the work of the Greater Manchester Poverty Commission and the newly formed Poverty Action Group,
• we have started a debate on how a local Green Economy can decrease the shocking levels of poverty in the city and make it less susceptible to recession, and  
• are assisting local and city wide groups providing support for and protesting the bedroom tax and cuts to local services.

During the Spring 2013, the Manchester Green Party will hold a series of open policy forums following on from our initial ‘Green Economy, Green Jobs’ seminar in March. With the aim to creating practical policy and actions to address some of Manchester’s pressing issues, areas looked at will include

• the  Economy, Employment and Poverty,
• the Environment and Climate Change,
• Infrastructure,
• Neighbourhoods and Democracy. 

Welfare, NHS, Social Services, the Economy. 

The country is going in the wrong direction with these  ‘reforms’ and by its inaction, so is this city.

The Green Party aim to change that.

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