REGISTER TO VOTE by Tuesday May 6th 2014

The deadline for voting in the European and Local Elections 2014 is registration is Tuesday May 6^th.

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 VOTE.

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Hulme Green Party Newsletter Election Special 1 (2014)

Thanks to Amir and Leona for their input.

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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 as changes to Immigration and Communication Law. The inception of private communications outside of the law has been well documented.

These changes are only part of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST (the main threads of which are Prevent, Pursue, Protect, Prepare) which aims "to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence."

But strategy has been criticised for many reasons including 

• The underlying analysis and theory has been described as flawed.
• Legal and other bodies have pointed to the erosion of Civil Liberties of British citizens
• The focus on the mainstream Muslim community.

What is the justification for the anti-terrorism strategy as its current written? How effective is it? Should we expect to lose some of our rights in exchange for safety? Whats the balance between fighting Terrorism and Civil Liberties?

What is it like to be caught in the middle of this?

We are pleased to announce our speakers for the event:

Alex Davidson, Secretary of Manchester and Trafford Socialist Party

and

Harris and Zulaikha Ahmed from the SAVE THE FAMILY HOME campaign

Thursday May 8^th 2014 at 7pm – 9pm

Venue: Friends Meeting House. 6 Mount Street, M2 5NS Manchester

For more information contact chair@manchestergreenparty.org.uk or go to

https://www.facebook.com/events/287719961387695/

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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 in the march of improvement, a grand incarnation of progress.’ [Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, 1858; quoted by Briggs, Victorian Cities, 88]

But at the same time it was described ‘Earth and air seem impregnated with fog and soot. The factories extend their flanks of fouler brick one after another, bare, with shutterless windows, like economical and colossal prisons’ [Girouard, Cities and People, 257-258]

In describing Manchester as that first industrial city which influenced the world, so it can be argued that the origins of man-made Climate Change also began in this city.

This city, as much as any, needs to take ‘Climate Change’ and its effects as seriously as the global threat it is. In the same way that Manchester has historically been a technological and cultural leader, today it needs to be an environmental one.

The recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report's focus was to look at ways of reducing the effects of climate change. Its message is that catastrophic climate change can be averted without sacrificing living standards. It suggests that the transformation required to a world of clean energy is eminently affordable. The implication of this statement is that action is ‘doable’, it’s possible, if action is taken quickly.

As a central and influential organisation in the region, Manchester City Council has been notable for

• Aggressive expansion of its airport interests (Manchester Airport Group)
• Fiddling of its own carbon emission reports
• Being fined by the European Union for breaking pollution laws
• Under-resourcing of its own Manchester: A Certain Future climate change organisation

Manchester Green Party has been critical of the Council for this particularly as its actions or inaction are ultimately political decisions.

We call upon Manchester City Council to

• take IPCC report seriously
• properly resource and focus carbon and pollution reduction emission actions and environmental improvement actions so that they maximise climate improvement not economic growth
• engage fully with long-term advocates of climate change actions such as The Tyndall Centre, Dr Kevin Anderson, Manchester ClimateMonthly, Steady State Manchester, MERCi, Friends of the Earth amongst others.

 Manchester was also home of Emmeline Pankhurst the leading Suffragette. Their motto was ‘Deeds not Words’.

That is the spirit the City’s Leaders need to evoke.

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Comment: A Long Way from Shore

It was disappointing to discover that former Green party colleague Joe O’Neill has joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and will stand for them at the forthcoming local elections.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News it is clear that his decision was based on politics not principle, wanting ‘to have a final crack at Labour’ and that ‘by joining UKIP I might be electable’.

On policy, Joe is going try and be an anti-fracking councillor for a pro-fracking UKIP. Joe is going to try talk about immigration ‘openly’ for UKIP but starts by saying ‘I’m not a racist…’.

The Green Party strongly believe Europe is a good thing for Britain and we have an excellent chance of electing our first NorthWest MEP in Peter Cranie.

Personally, I think Joe is a good man, I wish him all the best for the future.

Politically, he is a long way from shore.

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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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Response to Coalition Budget 2014: Turning the Screw

Listening to the Coalition Chancellor talk about the economy, you would think that all is well, unemployment falling, growth on the rise, the sun is shining on England.

In that context, his Budget Statement 2014 is ‘More of the Same’.

People doing well under this government will do better.

But for those not doing well, the screw will really turn.

The Budget 2014 does nothing for the working poor and given the continuing rise in the cost of living, will make things worse for those families.

In addition, the announced National Welfare Benefits Cap will be a nightmare for those people dependant on benefits. The proposed Cap for the country (119 billion) will be about the same as the amount the government paid in 2013 ALONE in CASH (115 billion) to the support the banks 5 YEARS after the financial crisis, it cannot practically be implemented without causing severe problems.

And the question is ‘how will it work and what will it mean for Manchester residents’? For a city that had the highest level of Child Poverty in the country in 2013, this policy will be a disaster. Manchester City Council will have to plan accordingly for the next few years because to its shame the national Labour Party are supporting and are planning to vote for the Welfare Cap proposal.

The North West Green Party's lead European election candidate, Peter Cranie, asked “Why is it always the least well-off who lose the most? At the moment, people with incomes above £150k pay only marginally higher tax rates than teachers and nurses.”

Manchester Green Party Chair Deyika Nzeribe said “The high levels of poverty and stories of hardship the people of Manchester have endured over the past few years have been well documented. Manchester Green Party condemns this budget as part of the continuing assault on the most vulnerable in society and if reports are true, it’s a disgrace that the Labour Party is even thinking of supporting it in Parliament.”

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Comment: Manchester City Council's Climate Change planning failure

News that Manchester City Council is to miss its carbon emission target again  is unacceptable state of affairs especially after it was caught out for producing misleading carbon reduction figures last year.

The Council over the past few years has made great play of its plans to reduce climate emissions over the past few years with its

• 17 Principles for Tackling Climate Change
• Climate Change Call To Action Plan
• Climate Change Action Plan - 'Manchester: A Certain Future'
• Greater Manchester Climate Change Strategy

It seems with all of its work producing Action Plans and Strategy documents, it has no time to do any actual work on actually reducing carbon emissions.

Given the serious effects climate change has begun to have on the country, this is dangerous behaviour.

Manchester Green Party calls for the Council to take seriously its responsibility to reduce carbon emissions as part of its duty of care for the lives and well-being of its citizens.

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Transport Report for the North West launched by Green Party

Yesterday saw the release of the "Transport for the common good: a better deal for the North West" report by the North West Green Party.

The document, launched at Manchester Piccadilly train station, outlines a transport plan for the North West. It begins "Our region needs and deserves a transport system that is efficient, reliable, clean and green – one that works for the common good by reducing congestion and emissions while creating opportunities for the many.” 

North West Green Party’s lead European election candidate, Peter Cranie, added:

“We desperately need less crowded trains, cheaper and more reliable buses and better, safer cycling routes. An improved regional transport system would effectively support local businesses, commuters, families and visitors to the region. With the right investment we can deliver what people want from their transport system: a reliable, comfortable service with cheaper fares.”

The report’s vision for transport in the North West is summarized below

1. Public ownership of the railways.
2. Investment in the region’s railways: electrification of all lines; re-opening disused lines to improve connectivity; and improvements to networks and stations.
3. A new, North West regional ‘Otter card’, like London’s popular ‘Oyster card’.
4. Improved, re-regulated local bus services.
5. Investment in local sustainable transport initiatives: integrated cycling and walking routes; community car clubs.

The full report can be found here.

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Hulme Greens Meeting Thursday February 20th 7pm

The next meeting of the Hulme Greens this Thursday February 20^th, 7pm at the Z-arts Café.

Though some issues are very ward specific, there are some that affect surrounding areas  (Moss Side, Whalley Range and the City Centre).

• How are the cuts affecting local services?
• How will the new MMU campus affect the local area?
• Why isn’t there a tram service to Moss Side and Hulme? Whats being done to make the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists?
• With Birley Fields built on and trees cut down in Alexandra Park, what can we do to protect the local environment?
• Is there a demand for more local allotments? If so, what can we do about it?
• How can we get better policing?
• How can we support more community activity?
• What can we do locally to support campaigns in city like bedroom tax, anti-fracking and climate change?

What is the best way of affecting change?

If you can make it, great. If you would like more information, please get in touch.

Email: hulmegreen@gmail.com   

Twitter:  @HulmeGreenParty

Website: http://hulmegreenparty.blogspot.co.uk/

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An Open Letter to Voters in Wythenshawe and Sale East

An Open Letter to Voters in Wythenshawe and Sale East

Floods and Climate Change – your vote is the wake up call

In 1989 the Green Party was supported by 15% of the British population. The worries over the ozone layer and what we then called “Global Warming” were commonly understood. Scientist predicted that if carbon dioxide levels continued to rise, there would be devastating consequences for our environment. As a result, every other political party said they were committed to doing something about it.

The current floods in Berkshire, Surrey and Somerset are entirely commensurate with climate change caused by global warming. It is what we – and climate scientists – have been expecting and predicting for years. And now the shocking reality is upon us. This isn’t just happening in the UK. Australia has just had its hottest year ever with appalling bushfires. Other parts of the world have seen the same. 10 out of the 16 years since 1998 are ranked as the hottest years ever recorded globally. [1]

Now that the flooding threatens the home counties and fields of Eton, David Cameron has said that “money is no object”, but this is a problem that is the result of a failure by the Conservatives and Labour to decisions taken years ago. In government they failed to agree strict cuts in carbon emissions at an international level, they failed to invest in renewable power technology on an industrial scale, and continued to support our addiction to fossil fuels.  

What we need now is a promise to rule out fracking, which threatens to poison our water supplies, wreak havoc in our countryside, and pump more greenhouses gases into our atmosphere. That is before we mention yesterday’s explosion in the United States at a fracking well which has caused the loss of at least one life.

We need a promise of investment in energy efficiency, insulation and warmer homes for the least well off, rather than tinkering with the price freezes and expecting privatised companies to sell less energy. We need brave policies like a re-nationalisation of the energy market.

The people of Wythenshawe & Sale East know that they will wake up on Friday morning with a Labour MP. UKIP have thrown the kitchen sink at this campaign, but a candidate that took money from the EU and whose bankrupt business owed you and I (via the taxman) £22,000 was never going to seriously challenge here.

So on Thursday you can either vote for business as usual or you might seize the opportunity to vote for us. The Green Party has consistently raised the alarm on climate change and our need to tackle this in a way that ensures social justice. Nigel Woodcock has been the only candidate willing to oppose fracking, as he did again at the hustings on Monday, at St. Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe. When he asked the other candidates to comment on the link between climate change and the floods, they all chose to remain silent.

You can vote Green tomorrow for the Common Good. You can vote knowing that a Green vote is the best way to make the others realise you are worried and want something done, before Wythenshawe and Sale East are flooded or covered with fracking wells. Voting Green is the right thing to do because we are the party you can trust on Climate Change, flooding and the future.

Yours Faithfully

Nigel Woodcock

[1] https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/

VOTE NIGEL WOODCOCK    X

Find out more about the Green Party and join us for the Common Good

Nationally                     www.greenparty.org.uk

Regionally                              www.northwestgreenparty.org.uk

Locally                          www.traffordgreenparty.org.uk

                                      www.manchestergreenparty.org.uk

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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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Comment: Manchester Council Carbon Reduction Report ‘untruth’

There has been some reaction to the Manchester Green Party response to reports that Manchester City Council had lied about the results of its Carbon Reduction Report, spinning an increase in carbon emissions into a 7% reduction. One local councillor described it as ‘petulant’ while conceding it as accurate.

The report, presented at the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee on July 16^th, under pressure from ‘Friends of the Earth’, other environmental groups and attending councillors forced the committee to alter the report to accurately reflect the facts.

What this means is that the Council’s target of reaching an interim 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2013/14 is in disarray and assumption of trust in the council’s reporting of progress, gone.

It’s a depressing state of affairs.

You could say ‘It’s a local council sleight-of-hand, what does it matter?’

In 1992 the historic Rio Earth Summit was held where global issues of climate and environment were discussed in a meaningful way for the first time by a significant number of countries.

Following that rousing event Manchester, in 1994, organised and hosted the follow up event, the Global Forum. Though it had its problems, it was aspirational.

Next year will be that event’s 20 year anniversary.

And in that time the Council leadership has gone from Global Forum to major airport investor and ‘misrepresenting’ its Carbon Reduction Reports.

It has fallen a long way.

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