Interview: Alan Duffell. A Green Mayor for Tower Hamlets

I've been speaking to Alan Duffell, the Green Party's Mayoral candidate for Tower Hamlets. We're asking people to give their first preference to Alan for greater democracy, for a positive vision for Tower Hamlets and for the only candidate who takes climate change and the environment seriously.

D(M): You're standing for Mayor of Tower Hamlets - how did you vote in the referendum and why?

AD: I voted against the position. As a party we weighed up all the pros and cons of the creation of a Mayor and decided that such a position would do more damage to the borough than good. That is still my opinion.

We then had two options - either to disappear into obscurity and try to make our point by heckling at events, or to stand a candidate who pledges to increase democracy and resist centralisation, thereby limiting the scope of the Mayor's position. To that end I pledge to be accountable to the elected Council and reserve my right of Veto only to oppose decisions which explicitly go against Green policy.


D(M): The cuts are set to bite pretty deep. How would you approach the economic situation?

AD: To oppose a coalition making cuts, you must have a coalition organised against those cuts. I would involve the entire Tower Hamlets population in a huge popular campaign to highlight the devastating effects of these cutbacks, and to protest and demonstrate for as long as it takes to get the message across that we are not standing for it. We would involve other boroughs in our efforts to mobilise the population.

We will not be able to save everything of course, but we will ensure that all services are looked at in terms of how we could provide them more efficiently. Norwich City Council's Green group recently pushed for some outsourced services to be brought back in-house, as outsourcing often ends up costing more and offering less flexibility than directly employing the workforce. I would promise a similar review of all of Tower Hamlets' services to identify how best to continue providing them.

I would also accept a considerably lower salary than the amount on offer, and initiate a comprehensive pay review of all the Council's top earners to ensure people are paid a fair but not excessive wage. Some of these savings will go towards ensuring everyone in the Council earns at least the Green minimum wage, and the rest will go towards helping sustain services.


D(M): If you could choose one of your Mayoral policies to get implemented which one would it be?

- To make the Right of Recall and accountability to the Council constitutionally binding. This would permanently limit the power of the Mayor, ensuring that the Council remains ultimately and rightfully in charge of the borough's governance.


D(M): You used to be a member of the Labour Party - why did you leave?

AD: I left because I realised that I was a member out of pure blind loyalty; my family has voted Labour consistently for generations, but I could not carry on supporting a party that has drifted so far from its roots. My decision to leave boiled down to the party's track record of the last 13 years. Whatever the party may now claim to stand for in opposition, the fact remains that Labour in government did not represent those most in need.


D(M): What was the last community event you went to - and what was it like?

AD: On Wednesday 6th October I attended a meeting of The East London Communities Organisation (TELCO). Rather than a hustings, this was a structured meeting where candidates responded to TELCO's wish list from the next Mayor. The wishes included a commitment to meet with TELCO at least twice a year, a promise to promote the London Living Wage (I bettered that with the Green minimum wage!!), expanding the City Safe Havens programme, providing 1,000 work placements for young people in the Council, and allowing community land trusts to acquire land under Section 106 agreements. I agreed to all of these with no reservations, as it corresponded pretty well to Green policy - the 1,000 job promise was in our policy document anyway!

The atmosphere was extremely calm and orderly - I am told this is how TELCO conducts all its business. It is good to see such organised bodies representing residents.


D(M): You work for Transport for London, so maybe you wont be able to answer this one: are the RMT and TSSA right to strike?

AD: The proposed job cuts on the front line will affect the quality of service, and will jeopardise one of the Underground's biggest selling points - staff presence. I for one do not wish us to become another Paris, where staff are very scarce and information is limited. But there is also a safety issue at stake - after the King's Cross Fire in 1987, minimum staffing levels were introduced network-wide, to ensure that all stations had sufficient staff levels to operate safely. In the face of economic pressure, these minimum staffing levels are now being reversed.

In my opinion it is only a matter of time before another accident happens, prompting another inquiry which concludes that staffing levels were inadequate to manage the incident effectively. I would support the strike on the issue of safety, but I think the public needs to be better informed of the dangers of cutting staff numbers, especially as this initial 800 may be followed by considerably more.


D(M): How would you rate this government's performance so far on climate change?

AD: This government is another in a long line that has talked the talk on climate change but done very little to address it. This recession could have been an opportunity to green our economy, just as South Korea did in its last recession, making it more efficient and sustainable whilst providing roughly a million jobs and kick-starting a recovery.

As it is, we have the ridiculous situation where millions sit unemployed whilst this important work goes undone and the country's economy grinds to a halt. No commitment to improving public transport for most of the nation, no commitment to reducing our oil dependency, no efforts to curb flying, apart from the cancellation of Heathrow's third runway (to have been built in a Tory-voting area, of course!).


D(M): You're a TSSA member, which meant you got a vote in the Labour leadership ballot. Did you vote, and if so how?

AD: I voted for Diane Abbott first and Ed Miliband second. This was somewhat tactical, involving the fairly safe assumption that Abbott would drop out in the first round and Ed would pick up her second preference votes. Whilst none of the candidates on offer could really be described as 'progressive', I believe Ed Miliband was the best out of the two front-runners to start shifting the Labour Party away from the super-rich-friendly New Establishment that flourished under Blair. He has his work cut out!

The Mayoral election is next week, and for interest people may like to read Dave Hill's interview with the independent candidate Lutfur Rahman, and Stop the City Airport's review of the Mayoral booklet.

Interview: Sarah Cope on prisons

In the second of my twitter interview experiments I spoke to Sarah Cope of Haringey greens on women, prisons and her future criminal career.

Me: Hi Sarah, I was hoping to chat to you about why you wanted to take on the Green Party's prison policy.
Me: I was surprised to see that we didn't already argue that prisoners should have the vote

Sarah: I was sure that would be there already too, but no. It is now, though! Better late than never.
Sarah: We had the bare bones of a prison policy already in the PSS, but a few of us felt it needed more details - particularly re: women prisoners.

Me: So what were the key changes you put forward at conference?

Sarah: They retain vote; only women convicted of serious & violent crime sent to prison; more support for pregnant prisoners & those with babies.
Sarah: Plus promotion of 'buddy schemes' to stop self-harming and addressing homelessness on release - a big reason why people re-offend.

Me: There was some controversy over the prisons' vote wasn't there?

Sarah: We were going to have it that a judge could deny a prisoner the vote but that was dropped. I wasn't keen on that idea anyway - so hurrah!!

Me: I was impressed by the speaker from Birth Companions who works around pregnant prisoners.

Sarah: Denise Marshall. They do great work in Holloway. There are 13 other womens' prisons - that sort of vital work should have govt support.

Me: I was shocked at the tales she had to tell on how women can end up losing contact with their kids having them taken into care

Sarah: Women are often 'phoning from prison, trying to find out where their kids are. Only 5% of kids stay in their own homes when mum is jailed.

Me: this was quite a lot higher for Dads wasn't it?

Sarah: Don't have statistic for that, though do know that a third of mothers are lone parents before imprisonment.

Me: Do you think there's a case for focusing on trying to keep people from falling into crime rather than refusing to jail them when they do?

Sarah: Obviously, yes. Our focus on creating more equal society, plus decriminalising drugs and sex work would go a long way to doing just that!

Me: Good point. There was a good fringe on sex work too. I was impressed by the way we had sex workers and ex-prisoners themselves speak

Sarah: Nothing beats the power of personal testimony - certainly not m/c academic types... though there's a place for them too! (she adds hastily).

Me: It's amazing how many discussions take place without the subject of those discussions ever being allowed to speak

Sarah: Well I generally distrust statistics, but personal testimony is a different matter. I want to get inside Holloway to see it for myself now.

Me: Any particular crime your contemplating?

Sarah: So many to choose from, hmm...No, I've volunteered to help - it's just down the road from me, I have no job...if I can help, I will.

Me: I have a criticism of your motion! It mentions renaming prisons "multi-functional custodial centres" - what's the difference?

Sarah: It's about more than punishment I think - rehab, literacy etc. The problem is, make it too good and we send people to jail access services!

Me: This was a very strong part of the message. How offenders, through losing their housing benefit etc, become destitute on leaving prison

Sarah: We'd encourage schemes like in Liverpool - prisoners were taught construction skills, & given a run-down council house to do up on release.

Me: All good work - what's next on the agenda? Where would you like to go from here?

Sarah: A green govt to implement it all would be rather nice! In the short term, better mental health provision is key - works better than jail...

Me: Well, let's work on the short and the long term! Thanks for your time :)

Sarah: Thanks for the Twinterview - hope my twanswers sufficed.

Postscript:

People might be interested in the UK's only blogging prisoner: Prison Ben
Also mentioned in this interview: Birth Companions.

Interview: Natalie Bennett via twitter

Having seen Phil's very interesting twitter interview, I thought I'd give it a try - and who should come into my twitter sights but chair of Green Party Women Natalie Bennett. I asked pretty hard questions I think considering she had only 140 characters to reply in.

Me: Hello, are you ready to discuss feminism via twitter?
Nat: Ready and waiting...

Excellent, let's start with a light one - what should the top priorities of modern feminism be?
Both local and globally, 1. Tackling women's economic disadvantage, restriction of access to food, to land, to jobs, to benefits.
2. Ensuring all women have control of their own bodies, and access to appropriate medical care.
3. Access to democratic power and influence.

What category of feminist does that make you?
A fairly unusual "radical" one: I still see the origins of patriarchy in the family, but think addressing economic disadvantage is critical.

Radical feminist? Are those the ones that hate men?
No. Just someone who thinks women promising to "obey" in marriage vows is a very, very bad idea - and all the baggage that goes with that.

So how do we get from marriage vows to economic disadvantage and access to food, land and jobs?
A good place to start is education. Ensure women are educated about their rights, and encouraged to use their abilities.
Then laws to make it possible. In the developing world that might be basic access to jobs, here for e.g. equal paternity/maternity leave.

You mentioned the word Patriarchy earlier. What does Patriarchy mean?
In short .. men having institutionalised power over women, power that's created within family structures and reinforced by society.

How do we change that?
Women individually refusing to accept that, getting together in campaigning organisations (with sympathetic men) & changing families & laws.

Serious question, although it might look trite - based on your earlier answer, should we ban marriage?
State should not prescribe what it is, allowing a wide range of contracts, some permanent, some fixed term, leaving "marriage" to religions.

Just thinking your main focus has been on legislating for a fairer society, if marriage is the root of the problem shouldn't we abolish it?
Discourage with alternatives, and educate about dangers of assuming it is "forever", when it often isn't. But you can't stop people vowing.

How does your feminism fit with other activism that's not explicitly feminist? It must inform your work but is there a tension sometimes?
Not really: my two other main areas of work are the environment & local issues. Women are disproportionately victims of climate change & ...
... many local issues, like difficulties of pedestrian access across roads, particularly affect women also.

It's my impression that a lot of grass roots or community activists are women - but the 'higher' you go in politics they start to thin out
Very much! Go to a local consultation & the people contributing time for free will be mostly women, the people paid to be there, mostly males.

You'd have to pay me to go to some of those meetings... what can we do to make sure women are represented more fairly at a higher level?
Identify the many who'd be good at it. Ask them, ask them again, badger them, put the forms in their hands, take signed forms in for them!

So your answer to gender inequality is to bully women? :)
You're beating lifetime pressures against stepping forward & like a reluctant woman rugby player I knew, they enjoy it once they've started.

We should start to wrap up... Do you think there's an obvious question that I really should have asked you but didn't?
Perhaps not obvious, but oft asked: How did you become a feminist? A. At age 5 I was told I couldn't have a bicycle because not 'ladylike'.

I should make some sort of joke about a fish with a Brompton... but can't think of one off hand. Sorry.

Last question: if you could have just one victory - what would it be?
Access to effective contraception for every woman and girl in the world, and access to safe, legal abortion for when it fails.

Thanks. I hope it wasn't too difficult fitting your answers into 140 characters!
Thank you! And sorry, still haven't worked out a Brompton line...

I quite enjoyed that format as it flowed back and forth quite quickly (particularly when you consider I was browsing the net while waiting for replies). I tell you what - these Twitter interviews might just catch on.

If you're interested you can find me on twitter at @Jim_Jepps and Natalie at @natalieben. I wonder who I'll do next?

Interview: AVPS's Phil on being a new Labour recruit

I'm becoming increasingly interested in Labour's membership surge in the wake of the new coalition government. On the spur of the moment I decided to ask Phil, long-time lefty from the blindingly delightful AVPS blog, a few questions on how he's finding his new home - Stoke Labour Party.

• Do you feel there's space for you to make an individual contribution?

It depends what you mean by contribution. In terms of an activist contribution, then yes. Our CLP has effectively been run down over a period of years and has recently undergone a split. So there is plenty of space for people with an activist conception of politics to get stuck in.

If by contribution you mean being listened to and taken seriously by other, longer standing members then the answer to that is yes as well. I haven't hidden my politics from anyone. People know until recently I was active with the Socialist Party, and some have proven curious about how we organised things there and how that experience can be applied here.

To be honest, any half decent ward branch and CLP should be able to accommodate the experience and energies of those who cut their teeth in the far left and/or other radical political traditions.

• Do you feel there's space to influence your local branch from the left?

Yes, and in a modest way I already have done. The bottom line for any socialist not involved in one of 57 varieties of party-building is to spread socialist politics the best they can and encourage "normal workers" to get involved in political activity.

At our annual general meeting just over a month ago I was elected the CLP's political education officer. Some might see this as an opportunity to lecture the membership on their hobby horses once a month, but I don't. I outline what I think can be done in the role here.

The first thing I did as PEO was to organise a monthly political discussion in my ward branch on a topic of members' choice (readers familiar with the SP and SWP will know the deal). The first discussion? 'Is socialism out of date?' In addition to this, I put together a monthly report every CLP member gets to see. This is an opportunity to plug a few hobby horses and introduce members to decent political writing they may have otherwise missed. But I am balanced and draw attention to pieces from all wings of the labour movement.

I've also been elected the trade union liaison officer. I intend to use this position to encourage the sizable number of local affiliated union branches to send representatives to our meetings and encourage them to become more involved in the political process. While it is true the upper echelons of the party have treated unions with barely-concealed contempt since Blair captured the leadership in 1994, the failure of unions to not properly use the thousands of links they have with party organisations did nothing to strengthen their hand when it came to confrontations with the previous government and local authorities. A politicised trade union movement active inside the party it founded is the best way of insuring the sorts of neoliberal excesses we saw in the Blair/Brown years are avoided in future.

• Is there an active membership to engage with?

Yes, there is. In the SP you had the inactive members, the comrades who'd infrequently attend meetings, and those who would attend and do the bulk of the work. There's a similar pattern to local Labour membership, though as you would expect the numbers are bigger for all three categories. My CLP's new executive has an activist conception of politics and are looking at ways of encouraging the bulk of the membership to become more involved in party work. Part of the PEO role is making this point of view part of the CLP's common sense too.

During the election we spoke to people who'd never been canvassed by Labour activists before, despite Stoke Central being a stronghold since the year dot. That, frankly, is a scandalous situation and one we're still in the process of rectifying.

• Do you feel membership is affecting your own political positions?

No I don't. But I cannot give a solid guarantee this will always be the case.

It's a basic truism of Marxism that social being conditions consciousness. You only have to look at the numerous examples of militants who've entered Labour and come out the other end with knighthoods and gongs to prove this. It wasn't because they lacked sufficient will power or didn't have enough Bolshevik iron in their souls: it was years of commitment to electoral politics around ever narrower definitions of 'what is possible' that did the job.

Now I'm in the Labour Party and know I will be constantly exposed to the same processes I cannot say, hand on heart, it will have no effect on me. But at least in my case there are things about my political activity that can shield me from this.

First there is my existing politics - 17 years of professing Marxist views in circumstances one could hardly describe as "germane" do not pass quickly. Second, among my closest comrades are a group of ex-SP'ers who've come to similar conclusions about Labour as I have. Third, I write left wing political stuff on an (almost) daily basis and mainly read the blogs of like-minded folk. Fourth, I do work outside the Labour party too. And lastly, I am conscious of the "moderating" influence Labour politics has had on others and could have on me.

I'd like to thank Phil for his interesting and honest responses.

Interview with David Doherty, Green candidate for Glasgow North East

I'm very happy that David Doherty, the Green candidate in the Glasgow North East by-election, has agreed to do a quick interview with The Daily (Maybe).

You mentioned in your opening statement that housing is one of the key issues in Glasgow and you're on the board of a building renovation charity. What are your top priorities when it comes to this issue that's clearly close to your heart?

Having seen many of the types of housing in Glasgow North East, I think the Green New Deal is an example of how the Government could be using public money in the time of a recession to assist those on low incomes living in sub-standard accommodation.

There are parts of Milton, Possilpark and Springburn where over 40% of households are in fuel poverty. This means almost half of residents are spending more than 10% of their income on heating their homes, and I think spending Government money on increasing energy efficiency should be a priority.

In addition, a Green New deal will support jobs in construction, and the Government should be doing a lot more to have renewable energy and building renovation at the top of energy policy. Everything from solar heating to sustainable transport will help the constituents in the area, and it is an issue which is close to my heart!

As a supporter of the Green New Deal how do you think that this kind of socially and environmentally conscious Keynesianism fits with a longer term vision for fundamentally transforming the way our economy works?

The Green New Deal is not the most radical policy in terms of what the Government could be achieving. All that is being asked for is a universal home insulation programme to retrofit Scotland's homes over the next 10 years, as well as investment in renewable energy, sustainable transport and investing in local scale projects to give long term employment to those without jobs at the moment.

We have not seen this happen with the Westminster parties, and that is one reason I am standing in the Glasgow North East by-election. Investing in renewable technology research and commercial development should be a priority for the Government rather than financing nuclear power, a next generation of nuclear weapons, constructing new motorways or subsidising the aviation industry. If we want to fundamentally transform the way our economy works, we should be planning for climate change in the future and a future where oil will be severely depleted.

That means planning the economy for 50 years rather than 50 days, and transforming our economy to be sustainable for people and the environment. The Green Party wants long-term planning for the economy, and the Westminster parties are offering nothing more than business as usual. They have failed to take up the proposed Green New Deal, and they will fail on meeting any targets for taking measures to change our economic system to be truly low carbon, or even adapt to a future of climate change and depleted natural resources.

I've just read that Glasgow City Council's Director of Childrens' Services, Margaret Doran, has been given a pay off of £278,000 when the council decided to break up her department. How do you feel about this?

Certainly I would prefer Children's services was not broken up and a Director could continue working to protect children in Glasgow, rather than children's services suffering under another departmental re-organisation. I would hope the pay-off is in accordance with protocols linking years of service and performance to such a large payment at a time when public services are facing massive cuts over the next few years.

I was interested to see you're part of the eco-congregation and I'm interested in the interaction between faith and politics. What role do you think religious belief has to play in politics today?

I have found there is a lot of overlap with religion and politics today in areas such as social justice, the environment, international aid, and the treatment of the most vulnerable in society. Politicians should have a good knowledge of the ethical and moral issues which some policies may encompass, and religious groups have a part to play in educating the decision makers.

The eco-congregation network, for example, is a network of Christian churches who have an interest in the environment. They have been very active in campaigning for a strong Climate Change Bill for Scotland, and they are now one of the largest environmental campaigning groups in Scotland.

It was great news to see that the community garden North Kelvin Meadow was recognised with a certificate of merit in the Beautiful Scotland awards, especially after all the problems they've had with Glasgow council. How do you think one Green MP could help deliver support for small, local projects like this?

Community consultation has been deteriorating in recent years, and in cases such as the North Kelvin Meadow, a Green MP could make the difference at Westminster when legislation is being drafted and implemented on planning and development.

Certainly our existing MSP and Green councillors in Glasgow are working hard to deliver support for small local projects, and the more Green MPs we have at Westminster, that means more voices to make sure Government policy supports local projects which are bringing communities together.

To get involved in the campaign click here

Interview: Salma Yaqoob

Many thanks to Salma Yaqoob for agreeing to this exclusive interview where we discuss Respect, politics in Birmingham and democratic reform.

This week has seen three major political events; demonstrations marking the anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, the BNP appearing on Question Time and the postal strike. Politics seems to be becoming increasingly confrontational. What's your approach to this?

I don’t feel the issue of Afghanistan is such a confrontational one any more. In fact, the opposite is increasingly the case. A recent Times opinion poll showed that over 65% of the electorate favoured the troops withdrawing. Of course, it was not always like that. I remember well how difficult it was to speak about Afghanistan after 9/11. For example it was not uncommon to have abuse hurled at you when doing Stop the War campaigning in Birmingham city centre around that time. Thankfully those days, and that sense of isolation over the issue of opposing the occupation of Afghanistan, are gone.

Unfortunately, the issues of industrial conflict and racism are probably going to be very much with us in the coming period. As I write the BBC News are carrying stories about the deepening nature of the recession. At a time when we need more government investment to kick-start the economy, all the mainstream parties are proposing cuts, cuts and more cuts in public spending as a solution.

This invariably will provoke reaction from trade union members wanting, quite rightly, to protect themselves and their families from a crisis not of their making. Invariably, the political consensus of the mainstream parties will be accompanied by the politics of scapegoating. I am expecting there to be an increase in racism and votes for the BNP in the coming period. All the more reason for the broadest unity left wing and progressive forces in the coming period.

Many of my readers may not know much about where you stand on specific policies. I wonder if you'd be happy to say a few words about where you stand on a few? First nuclear power, second refugees and asylum seekers and third, democratic reform.

1. I think the recent United Nations Security Council vote in favour of the need to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons is an important development. However it is only a first step. We need binding and equitable international agreements on reducing nuclear arsenals. And those holding the biggest arsenals need to be the first in showing the way. One very simple but significant step this country could take would be to scrap Trident.

2. It is over 60 years ago that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written. 
In many ways it is a remarkable and inspiring document in its commitment to uphold protects the rights, freedom, dignity, respect and equality of all people. And of course it was written in the shadow of the Holocaust. We must never forget that it was so-called civilized Europe that gave birth to fascist inspired genocide. Our attitude to those others escaping oppression and tyranny today is simply a hallmark of how civilized a society we are.

Britain has a moral responsibility to provide a safe haven to such people and it is a disgrace that tens of thousands of refused asylum seekers are currently being kept in destitution, denied the right to work in order to drive them out of the country.

The way the mainstream parties promote and pander to reactionary and racist ideas about refugees and asylum seekers is deeply worrying. It was noticeable that in the recent edition of Question Time that one quote of Nick Griffin's that nobody mentioned was his comments about boats carrying migrants from Africa to Europe should be sunk. None of the panel dared to go near the issue of asylum and immigration except to present themselves as being ‘tough’ on it. Undercutting racism and prejudice on this issue is a critical task for the left today.

3. I support the call for proportional representation. British politics is suffocating because it is so dominated by the politics of tweedle dum and tweedle dee. The implementation of PR will allow more genuinely democratic expression and enable progressive opinion to better punch its weight. It is ideas, the contest between them, and the commitment to implement them, that will really breathe life back into a political system ossified by a lack of real choice and discredited by expenses abuse.

As a local councillor what do you think the key issues are that face local residents?

I am an elected councilor for Sparkbrook ward and I hold weekly advice bureau. There are three complaints that I hear again and again: lack of local housing, jobs and school places. Birmingham has shocking levels of overcrowding and a chronic shortage of council housing. It is to Labour’s eternal shame that they presided over a halving of the council housing stock in the city.

Similarity, unemployment is critical. A recent study in Birmingham found the with the recession beginning to take its toll, 37 per cent of adults of working age in the city do not have jobs. Finally, many of these same families are having to travel across the city every morning to drop their kids off, often to differing schools, because of shortage of school places, plus we have no secondary school in my ward.

I think it's fair to say that your party, Respect, has been through some radical transformations in its short life. How would you characterise the organisation today?

Making very healthy progress! The SWP are no longer with us and one consequence has been to make it easier for Respect to adhere to the thinking behind its original conception.

I always wanted Respect to be an organisation that seeks to progress the totality of the left, and not just our bit of it. I feel, for the first time, we are actually starting to implement that concept. For example, I am proud of the position we adopted in the European elections where we openly campaigned for Green candidates in the North West and West Midlands because they were better positioned to stop the BNP. And I am proud that we unequivocally came out in support of Ken Livingstone in the last London Mayoral election.

Respect is a very young, small party of the radical left with a real electoral footprint in two key areas. If we can emerge after the next general election with our support intact or even stronger I think our future will look bright. And I am confident we are going to emerge from the General Election in such a position.

You're running a strong campaign to win a seat in Birmingham at the general election. Good luck. What contribution do you think one lone MP can make whether we end up being under a Labour or Tory government?

Thank you. The only positive contribution a single MP can make is to use the platform to advance progressive issues. And that is the single reason why I am standing.

I have taken the hard route by going outside the ‘mainstream’, despite no shortage of approaches from them. But I have chosen this road because I value my independence. I want to be able to speak my mind about the issues I feel strongly about – war, racism, and inequality - unbeholden to anyone. My hope is to help stimulate genuine debate and discussion, rather than merely re-enforcing the status quo, which has caused many of the problems in the first place.

We need more independent voices in parliament. I hope after next May myself, Caroline Lucas and others will be adding ours to the likes of George Galloway in being prepared to use the office not only to speak truth to power, but to address the democratic deficit such that the concerns of millions of people as expressed through popular social movements are no longer ignored, but genuinely represented.

Interview: Anna Minton

I recently wrote a piece for the Morning Star on 'Whose land is it anyway' on the privatisation of public space. During the course of researching the article I came across Ground Control author Anna Minton. I put some questions to her on how the places we live effect the lives we lead.

Who wouldn't want their neighbourhood regenerated? It sounds like a very positive thing to happen!

It's a question of how it's done. Transferring the ownership and control of streets and public spaces from the local authority to private developers is not at all necessary for regeneration. This is a new model which has only crept in over the last decade.

Is this a privatisation of public space?

This model transfers public places into private ownership, ensuring that they become private property in the same way that someone's house is private property.

The consequences of that is that it is up to the owner, rather than the government, to decide who is or is not allowed in and what they are allowed to do there. Hence, what we are seeing is the proliferation of rules and regulations in the new private estates, banning all types of behaviour from skateboarding and rollerblading to political demonstrations and handing out leaflets.

Do you think the recession will impact this tendency?

I see the recession as an opportunity to take stock and question whether or not this property led model of regeneration is the best way of changing our towns and cities. It's a model based on property price speculation and debt, which was one of the main drivers of the financial collapse.

One of the things I like about what you're saying is this intersection between physical space and our social psychology. How important do you think the shape of our towns and cities are in forming social cohesion and even democratic involvement?

Critical. When large parts of the city prohibit people going about their spontaneous business, let alone engaging in political activity, it goes without saying that inhibits the democratic process. It also violates the principle that places should be governed by democratically elected representatives rather than private developers whom nobody elected.

As to the relationship between our physical surroundings and our psychology, that is one of the main themes of the book. My argument is that the increasing emphasis on private security - guards, gates, CCTV - that comes with the new private places do not create safer environments but actually increase fear and paranoia.

What can we do to resist and then take back our cities?

We need to realise how important it is that streets and public spaces remain in public hands. This is very much a new trend, following American policies. It is very uncommon in the rest of continental Europe.

Interview with Judy Maciejowska

As I mentioned the Green Party conference is starting on Thursday and as part of that there are going to be a series of elections to some of the most exciting committees and governance bodies you can find. It's just a roller coaster of raves, illicit sex and fashionable cocktails, or at least so I'm told.

Anyway, we have a very important year ahead of us with a general election where there is a general expectation that the Green Party can and should be winning its first ever MPs. That means whoever our elections coordinator turns out to be they are going to have a whole weight of expectations on them and are going to be required to be cool under pressure, highly experienced and have a proven record of national level election organising.

Judy Maciejowska is standing for the post (and you can see her website here) so I thought I'd ask her a few questions to see if I could find out a little more about her;

You've got experience of national election strategy going right back to the Greens' high point of the 1989 European election, what do you feel are the key principles in getting an election strategy right?

First of all the strategy must have the support of the whole party. The election isn’t only going to be contested by GPEx and the target constituencies, but by all the local parties and every activist up and down the country.

So the election strategy needs to be addressed early in the election cycle to give activists the chance to have an input. Fortunately we already have an excellent paper produced by Sarah Birch, a former Elections Coordinator, and passed by Conference last year. Certainly it needs updating to reflect the current position, and this will be one of my priorities, but the framework is there and I’m very happy to adhere to it.

Secondly you need a good ‘nose’ for the important issues around the party, and how to get our message across to opinion formers and voters. It’s good then to be able to bounce thoughts and ideas around with colleagues and the elections team.

How do you see the role of national elections coordinator?

On a day to day basis there needs to be tight coordination of all the relevant teams and departments. It’s no good, for example, having Publications producing leaflets without liaising with Policy or External Communications. Also everybody needs to know that the fund-raising is on target, and budgets are being adhered to. So probably first and foremost the Elections Coordinator must have his or her finger on the pulse of all the campaign’s work, or you end up with a horrible mess.

But no election campaign goes according to plan. You have to expect the unexpected, and that’s where the coordinator’s role is so important, keeping in touch with the candidates, the communications teams, GPEx chair etc.

I also think the Elections Coordinator needs to be prepared to balance the expectations of the wider party with those of the outside world. Of course, that should be said of all GPEx’s externally focused coordinators, but none more so than the Elections Coordinator. Targets and messages must be challenging but realistic, and the figure work and statistics of Chris Rose, our so-dependable National Agent, will be crucial in those sorts of decisions.

How do we balance the crucial need of winning our target MPs at this election and the needs of the national party?

Of course we are putting our maximum efforts into our target constituencies. This is an exciting time for the party and we have a real chance at last, to get representation in Westminster and really start to put our agenda at the centre of policy making.

But we mustn’t forget that there are equally important elections all over the country, not least on local authorities, and these must be given as much support and validity as our target Westminster seats. The London Borough elections only come up every four years and success here is not simply a platform for Westminster, but a genuine way of making a difference in our communities, the foundation of the green agenda.

The same must be said of our candidates all across the country. I’d like to pull together a team of all the regional agents, to get advice and feedback from them, and ensure the campaign is as relevant to activists in the wider party as it is to the target constituencies.

If you're elected next week what do you think the most difficult challenges of the job are going to be, and what's going to be the most fun?

In one sense the biggest challenge comes after the election, when the excitement has died down and activists flop into exhaustion, hoping never to see another leaflet. That’s precisely when our successes and disappointments need to be managed even more carefully.

It will certainly be an exhilarating year, and I guess it will be a challenge just to keep the national election machine running smoothly without pulling my hair out, but that will also be the most fun.

Interview with Jayne Forbes

As I mentioned I'm supporting Jayne Forbes for national chair of the Green Party. Recently I conducted a quick interview with her about her GPEx candidacy which I thought you might find interesting.

What do you feel the main priorities of GPEx Chair should be?

The Chair of an organisation takes on a number of roles, the major role is that of ensuring the smooth and timely working of the organisation. For the Green Party, particularly in this important election year, this means we need to have a clear strategy for achieving the highest number of Green candidates in the 2010 General Election, thereby giving more people the opportunity to vote Green.

As Chair it would be my role to ensure that the officers on GPEx are enabled and supported to fulfill their jobs to achieve this. The previous GPEx have set up a good base from which we can operate with plans for an office move, a new database and the recruitment of a fundraiser and a Head of Media Relations . It is evident that we still have much to do to professionalise the party, such as developing a clear, long term strategic plan, with budgets, so that incoming GPEx members know what is expected, and, as Chair I would welcome any ideas to improve our ways of working.

A number of areas I know cause problems and could easily be solved, in particular, to improve communications between GPEx and members. For example, I would wish to set up a GPEx News page on the GP website, which would publish the agendas and minutes and also encourage members to contribute their views.

You've been a member of GPEx before, what did that experience teach you?

The work of GPEx officers is hard and time consuming, however it is also rewarding to know you have contributed to the success of the party. All members of GPEx do this with great commitment. Given this strength of commitment, there can be robust discussion on a diverse range of issues, in order for us to be successful, we need to treat each other with respect.

GPEx must focus on fighting a successful campaign.

You were also chair of the excellent World Development Movement, is there anything you learned there that would be worth importing into the Green Party?

The Chair needs to ensure there is clarity of vision and strategy and that everyone plays their part in contributing to meeting the strategy. All areas of the plan need to be fully discussed and agreed, details need to be attended to. It is vital that funding is sufficient and that systems are strong and fully understood by all.

This coming year could be the breakthrough year for the Greens, with the fact we've built up substantial bases in a number of areas. How do we spread that success to other parts of the country without taking the focus away from our target seats?

The more people who have the opportunity to vote for us, the greater our strength. This is a virtuous cycle as it will encourage greater success for our policies.

I have seen this at the Greater London Authority, where our success in electing Green members onto the GLA resulted in pressure on the former Mayor, who then implemented greener policies than he would otherwise have done. Therefore it is important to encourage a much bigger slate of candidates, in order to do this we need to provide more financial support to those areas which have not traditionally stood candidates, while at the same time remaining focused on our target to win strategy.

If you want to know more you can visit Jayne's campaign site here.

Blog bits: interview with Sunny Hundal

I first came across Sunny Hundal at the excellent Pickled Politics and since then he's carved out a strong niche for himself at Liberal Conspiracy, and Comment is Free as well as writing for a whole number of other publications. Sunny's focus on building a left blogging community and providing campaigning tools has made him an incredible online asset to the left.

In the fifth in my short series of interviews with fellow bloggers we discuss American blogs, political influence and the drawbacks of team work.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

I think a blogging low was when I was getting stalked by Will from DSTFW and getting called all sorts of names. But I guess it makes me develop a thicker skin. Blogging highs - when people come up to me and say they've read my articles. It's always nice to know I have an audience.

• You've very much focused on group blogging. What are the strengths and weaknesses of that approach over going it alone?

I think going it alone means you can be a bit more flexible because it's very personality based. So your own personal stories can be shared too.

The problem with group blogging sometimes is that people feel a bit official and that they can't do small, off-handed posts because they have to maintain a certain standard. That ends up making those blogs less personal than they should be.

The strength is obviously that you have more content and more energy in a group blog.

• How politically influential do you think blogging has become?

Depends how you measure influence. It would be naive to think blogging is or will ever affect a significantly large portion of the population to make an impact at the ballot box. In other words - I doubt we'll ever be at a stage where blogs can tell people to vote a certain way for strategic reasons and affect the election.

Saying that though, blogs are read by people within the Westminster circle - so there's more potential to influence the decision makers and influential people with ideas and narratives. Right now though, I don't think we're at that stage of maturity and consolidation yet. I see even more consolidation amongst blogs as absolutely essential before they start making an impact.

• There seems to be a very clear separation between the A List blogs and even the best of the rest. In your opinion what's key to becoming a top political blogger?

Have a big enough niche that you'll blog constantly about. Have access to something different (people, perspective, technology)... blog often. Don't blog long pieces because people barely read them. Focus on current affairs issues so people feel the need to get involved. Don't use obtuse or confusing language. Get involved in your own comments section.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

A mix between the vibrancy of Huffington Post, writing at Talking Points Memo, the community focus of Daily Kos and the design of FireDogLake. Yes, I'm obsessed by American blogs.

Quick fire round:

1. History or economics? Economics.
   
   
2. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Hot
   
   
3. Guardian online or hard copy? I'm an online child.
   
   
4. Afghanistan - troops out now? Nope - need to stabilise the country.
   
   
5. Action movie or comedy? Comedy.
   
   
6. Coffee or beer? Beer.
   
   
7. Opera or Oprah? Neither.
   
   
8. Benazir Bhutto or Yasser Arafat? That's like a rock or a hard place! Probably Bhutto.
   
   
9. Liberal or Left? Left more than liberal.
   
   
10. There's a free ticket on the next space shuttle - do you go or do you send your enemies? I'm off! I've always been fascinated by space.

Blog Bits: interview with Kate Smurthwaite

Kate Smurthwaite is a brilliant stand up comic who writes over at Cruella blog, among other numerous places. She's even been on breakfast TV roasting some sexist creep - wooo!

In the fourth in my short series of interviews with fellow bloggers we discuss Michael Jackson (his first mention on this blog), grammar and how much money Germaine Greer has cost her.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

The biggest high is always when I blog about someone in the public eye and they notice and respond. I've had that from MPs, authors and also newspaper columnists. If they agree with my points great but even more satisfying when I can tell I've really gotten under their skin. For instance a Sunday Times columnist (who shall remain nameless) who wrote on her own blog that I was "probably too intellectual to brush her own hair".

The only low really, aside from days when I don't feel like blogging, is when someone who is supposed to be (in my head) a good guy/gal suddenly turns to the dark side. Robin Ince (super left-wing comic) agreed to appear in FHM recently and I cried. If "good" people behave like that what hope is there for "bad" people?

• How does blogging fit into your politics, comedy and life generally?

I blog about all of the above. I blog my opinions, I find out about others experiences through my blog, I publicise my comedy and political activism on my blog and I use it to tell stories from my own life. I also understand politics in the context of my own life and tell stories from my own life in my comedy.

My comedy is very political and my political campaigning is full of comedy. Scientists have shown that jokes affect political opinion more than serious statements do. The revolution starts here.

• How long does it take you to write a post?

Longer than I think. I assume it will take ten minutes (like this interview) and then once I've started writing I end up taking hours and being late for whatever else I'm supposed to be doing.

• How does writing a Cruella blog post compare to writing elsewhere?

When I write for my blog I write about whatever I feel like writing. Anywhere else I write they're going to have pre-emptively pigeon-holed me (and maybe themselves) so I'll already be there as an expert on whatever they think I should be an expert on.

I write much more about "mainstream" politics and rationalism on my blog but when I go elsewhere the first consideration is usually "has a vagina, is only entitled to write about sex or issues specifically affecting only women". But hell, I'll take the work, at least I'm getting work. Also I don't really bother double-checking spelling and grammar on my blog, my readers are smart enough to figure it out.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

It would look like a newspaper that divided coverage up based on a strict set of rules - so one sentence per person killed, etc. So several pages a week about Iraq and Afghanistan, several pages about male violence against women every week and then a single line "Popular singer Michael Jackson died this week at his home."

And proposed law changes would be discussed based on rational scientific basis of lives saved or dramatically ameliorated. If I had time I would write this myself but I never will, it would take a big team.

Quick fire round:

1. Jo Brand or Shappi Khorsandi? Both - how could you choose?
   
   
2. History or economics? History. Economics is a bunch of theories and most of them don't work.
   
   
3. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? It's hot. I'm still watching.
   
   
4. Guardian online or hard copy? Online, I buy The Independent in paper copy.
   
   
5. Afghanistan - troops out now? Of course - our prescence so far has boosted Taliban numbers to the point where they're now capable of invading parts of Pakistan. Why continue driving people to them?
   
   
6. Action movie or comedy? Comedy. Good one though, there's a lot of rubbish on the market these days.
   
   
7. Coffee or beer? I don't drink coffee.
   
   
8. Opera or Oprah? Opera
   
   
9. Greer or Dworkin? Dworkin. I don't even consider Greer a feminist any more plus she publically said women weren't funny and it's affecting my income. Dworkin was great.
   
   
10. There's a free ticket on the next space shuttle - do you go or do you send your enemies? I'm on it. I think humans should have started colonising space decades ago. Not instead of solving problems here but instead of causing them (see above under Afghanistan).

Blog Bits: interview with Sue Luxton

I've been a great fan of Cllr Sue Luxton's blog for sometime now. Whilst parking permits and planning applications are not necessarily the stuff revolutions are made of I think Sue has really worked out how to fit blogging with her work as a community activist and Green councillor.

In the third in this short series of interviews Sue bigs up the Lewisham blogging massive and comes out in favour of David Cameron... that's piqued your interest!

• How do you think blogging as a councillor differs from other types of blogging? How careful do you have to be?

Hmm, that depends on what kind of councillor you are (community activist, climbing the greasy pole, electoral geek), and what you're aiming to do with your blog. I'm sure no non-councillor blogger in their right mind (and possibly a large number of cllr bloggers, or at least those wishing to retain the interest of their readership) would spend as much time as I do talking about controlled parking zones, pot holes and dog shit, but these do tend to rank pretty highly in the topics residents raise with us!

I'm very aware that whatever I say on my blog can be twisted, misconstrued and taken as the 'official view' of the Green Party and try to bear this in mind when posting. I've written the odd throw away remark I've regretted, but generally I opt for cautious and boring over exciting and risky, and fairly parochial rather than trying to deal with international politics and lots of Green Party national stuff.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

Highs: when a resident tells me they found something useful/came to an event having read about it on my blog, or when some constructive discussion takes place in the comments. I also hope that another high at some point will be to be able to look back through the blog and remember some of the things we've managed to achieve as councillors.

Lows: trolls - I've had petrolheads making quite personal remarks because I had the audacity to support 20mph speed limits, someone accusing me of supporting the Tamil Tigers and others who try to turn any topic into a discussion on their pet issue. Also writing post after post after post, not getting any comments, and wondering if anyone is reading it (happens less often now). Occasionally feeling a slave to the blog or guilty when I haven't posted after a busy week.

• How does blogging fit into your wider political activity?

I try to use it to give an overview of the work we're doing on the Council. I don't tend to use it much for national party politics, unless something has really annoyed me, or there is a clear local angle. I try to remember that it's only hitting a certain demographic and that the readership is not reflective of the ward as whole.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

I think both Mrs Normal and Sian Berry are well-designed sites. The perfect blog would of course also have to have impeccably-behaved readers and commenters!

• Lewisham seems to have a very healthy online community - how come?

It's true, that Lewisham (with a few Greenwich interlopers such as 853.com and Tory Troll) has a pretty lively blogosphere. Even Time Out acknowledged this recently and they normally ignore south of the river entirely, unless they want to do smthg on gangs or a feature on where the next Dalston/Shoreditch is.

Maybe it is some kind of gritty south-east London determination in the face of snide remarks from north Londoners and sectors of the media that spurs us on to prove there's more to south-east London than not having many tube lines!

Back in March 2006, when I started Green Ladywell, the number of local bloggers was fairly small, with Transpontine, (former) Labour councillor Andrew Brown, Bob from Brockley, Lib Dem councillor Andrew Milton and the Man from Catford being the stalwarts of the (male-dominated) blogosphere. Things definitely took off when Brockley Central joined the foray in February 2007 and it seemed to develop a huge online community around it within a few weeks. A few other women bloggers such as Deptford Dame and Brockley Kate (part of the Brockley Central team) came along, although women are still notably in the minority amongst bloggers.

The other thing that was good were the occasional Lewisham bloggers meet ups (initiated by Andrew Brown) and then the Brockley Central drinks, which were a great opportunity to put faces and names to previously anonymous bloggers.

Quick fire round:

1. Tory government better, worse or same as Labour? Marginally worse, but more expensively spun.
2. Chumbawamba or Blur? Hmm, that's a toughy as I was a big fan of both, saw Chumbawamba a few times at uni (whatever ever happened to Credit to the Nation?), but would have to say Blur, having revisited their back catalogue recently at their Hyde Park gig.
3. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Yeah, nice idea, Deptford Dame was knitting with friends there today. Got to be better than all the generals on the other plinths, surely?
4. Clegg or Cameron? Cameron is the more convincing.
5. Action movie or comedy? Comedy
6. Mark Thomas or Jo Brand? Mark Thomas
7. Opera or Oprah? Neither!
8. Livingstone or Monbiot? Probably Livingstone, but perhaps we could splice the best bits of them together somehow?
9. Obama: super smooth or mad dog imperialist? Super smooth.
10. Newspapers or magazines? Newspapers (unless it's the Ecologist/New Internationalist)

Blog bits: Interview with A Very Public Sociologist

Phil, whose been blogging away at AVPS for some time now, is one of those old school socialists that show you can have a good theoretical grounding and talk like a human being at the same time. He writes on a wide range of subjects from sci-fi to wild cat strikes, he can entertain on them all.

In the second of a short series of interviews with fellow bloggers we discuss trolls, George Galloway and the Committee for a Workers' International.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

Highs: Occasionally managing to bash out a post that gets very appreciative comments and plugs from across the blogosphere - it reminds you why blogging can be very worthwhile. It also gives me a platform to foist my music taste on the world.

Lows: Trolls can be incredibly annoying if you let them get under your skin. And then there's blogger's block which can be frustrating - back in 2007 I remember it lasting for half a year.

• How does blogging fit into your general political activity?

I suppose in one sense it doesn't. It appears to have very little impact on my trade union activities or the other work I do as a Socialist Party activist. If I wasn't a blogger I'd still be doing the same political work as I am now.

But on the other hand it does effect my activity, or rather how I reflect on that activity. For me blogging is more than mouthing off. Among other things, it's an opportunity to test arguments, clarify my thoughts about political and theoretical issues and think through what me and my comrades do. So blogging is an extension of my activism.

For example I often blog about the discussions that take place in my local party branch and regional get togethers, and nine times out of ten I attend a demo or a meeting with an eye to writing about it later on. A number of readers have told me this gives them a different view of the SP than what they can expect from our publications and website - so I've inadvertently fell into another way of plugging my organisation, but this wouldn't be possible if I was an inactive member. My blogging then is parasitic on my activism.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

That's a tough one! I don't know if I can answer it! To be honest it would probably be an amalgam of all my favourite left blogs plus a shit hot lay out.

• Traditionally hard left organisations have liked to keep quite a tight control over their propaganda... has your blogging ever got you into trouble?

No, not trouble. The only time there was an issue was last year when I wrote a piece about the Committee for a Workers' International's strategy in Germany and Greece. One of our comrades talked about the strategic debates taking place in those respective groups, which I blogged about in perhaps too much detail. A comrade asked if I could amend it so it was treated in more general terms, which I did.

There's been other times when comrades - and not just SP comrades - have asked me not to mention something.. But that's very rare now. Everyone I work with knows I don't mention sensitive things such as membership figures, financial details, the specifics of what we're planning locally, behind the scenes talks with other organisations and what have you.

I do think some might wonder why I churn out loads for my blog but very little for party publications. But on the other hand I think most comrades can see the positives of having a number of CWI-aligned blogs.

• The print media seems to have a wary relationship with online publications - do you think they're right to be scared of us?

I think this is overhyped. The press know they'll be able to buy in popular bloggers as columnists if needs be, so the Telegraph has nothing real to fear from the scores of identikit Tory bloggers out there. But as for *left* bloggers, print will only start fearing us when our movement starts meaning something.

Quick fire round:

1. Tory government better, worse or same as Labour? Marginally worse
2. George Galloway or John Rees? Galloway
3. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Hot
4. Lenin or Taafe? Taaffe (never shared a urinal with Lenin)
5. Opera or Oprah? Jerry
6. Caroline Lucas or John McDonnell? McDonnell
7. Buffy or firefly? Buffy - not keen on Westerns in space!
8. Max Weber: marks out of ten? Eight
9. Obama: super smooth or mad dog imperialist? Ever so smooth
10. Newspaper or magazine? Blog

Blog bits: interview with Cath Elliott

Cath Elliott is one of those people who's always interesting and provocative. In the first of a short series of interviews with fellow bloggers I thought I'd have a quick chat with Cath about blogging, politics and space travel. You can find Cath on Comment is Free and Too Much To Say For Myself.

• Why do you blog?

More than anything else I think I blog because I love writing, and blogging is a format that really suits the way I write. Plus of course blogging is a way of getting information out there and helping to raise awareness of issues, which is a huge advantage for anyone’s who’s involved in political activism.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

The highs and lows are both the same really, because my favourite thing about blogging apart from the actual writing is interacting with the people who read my stuff. But the comments I sometimes get, especially on my Comment is Free pieces, also represent to me some of the lowest/worst aspects of blogging too…

The highest points for me have been the emails I’ve received from people, especially from women who don’t want to comment on some of the more robust threads, who want me to know that they appreciate me speaking out about certain issues. Sometimes when I’ve just read through a thread that just seems full of hateful comments, I won’t deny that I’ve wondered what the point is of it all. But then I’ll get an email, or meet someone who recognises me from my CiF photo, and who says something really positive, and that just makes it all worthwhile.

• How does blogging fit into the rest of your political activity?

As I said at the start, I think blogging is one of the best and fastest ways now to get information out there, and it also gives you a much wider audience than more conventional methods of communication. Because of this I think it’s a vital component to any political activist’s arsenal, and I’m always surprised to find activists, or trade unionists, who still aren’t using any of the new media.

Blogging compliments and fits alongside my political activism, but I’m also wary of letting blogging take over that activity completely. I’d hate to become just another Internet warrior, spouting off on the net but doing nothing concrete to effect change out in the real world.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

Charlotte Gore’s. Seriously, I love the look of her site, but unfortunately I’m not a techie so I haven’t got the first idea of how to go about creating something so sublime.

• What's the big differences between blogging at somewhere like Comment is Free and the blogging you do elsewhere?

The blogging I do on my own site is a lot more personal than any of the stuff I write elsewhere and I think it gives people a much better picture of who the real Cath Elliott is. Having my own site also allows me to really let rip when I feel the need, without having to worry about what the editors are going to think.

Obviously Comment is Free and Liberal Conspiracy where I also write don’t want the more personal stuff, and I also tend to have to be a bit more measured about what I say or at least how I say it when I’m writing pieces for them (I realise some people might find that a bit hard to believe).

Quick fire round:

1. History or philosophy? History
   
   
2. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Lukewarm
   
   
3. Dworkin or Greer? Dworkin, obviously.
   
   
4. Afghanistan - troops out now? Yes, the sooner the better
   
   
5. Action movie or comedy? Action movie
   
   
6. Coffee or beer? Coffee (or wine), I hate beer
   
   
7. Opera or Oprah? Oprah
   
   
8. Lenin or Keir Hardy? Lenin
   
   
9. Obama: super smooth or mad dog imperialist? Super smooth
   
   
10. There's a free ticket on the next space shuttle - do you go or do you send your kids! Neither. I hate flying, and it’s bad enough waving them off on a plane, I don’t think I could bear waving them off into space.

Interview: Colin Fox

Today is the launch of the Scottish Socialist Party's Euro campaign Make Greed History. I thought this would be a good moment to interview their lead candidate, Colin Fox.

1. What do you think are the main problems facing Scotland today?

Like everyone else Scotland faces a very severe economic collapse given the dominance of the financial sector up here. Edinburgh for example is Europe's fifth biggest financial centre after London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan when measured by equity under management. The collapse of RBS and HBOS is obviously a hammer blow to the Scottish economy and there is a sense that when the full impact is finally felt tens of thousands of jobs will go.

So the main issues are economic and social - unemployment, severe cuts in public expenditure, industrial turbulence poverty and inequality. Labour's proposed privatisation of Royal Mail is hugely here. Public ownership is still popular and fiercely defended.

2. Could you explain a little more about the SSP's current slogan Make Greed History?

In contesting the European Parliament elections we looked at the worst recession in 80 years and its causes. We recognised a remarkably widespread mood of anger at the bankers and the bankers parties seeking to make working families pay for their crisis via job losses, public spending cuts and higher taxes.

There is widespread belief that the economic collapse has been precipitated by a greedy banking elite with its huge profits, obscene bonus culture and outlandish pensions who passed on 'toxic debts'.

We wanted a slogan and campaign which encapsulated the attitude and the assurance this could not happen again. Mindful of the huge Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh in 2005 which galvanised that developing political mood we have put this demand at the centre of our Euro campaign and established a website and plan of attack on the essence of neo liberalism.

3. The SSP is for Scottish Independence. Why do you feel this is an important issue?

The SSP has been in favour of an independent socialist Scotland since our inception ten years ago. We believe that working people in Scotland will be economically, socially, politically and culturally better off if able to control all our revenues and all our own decision making. It is clear to us that if this were the case then Scotland would be a radically different country from the one we live in today. There is no doubt whatsoever that an Independent Scotland would not have sent troops to Iraq or Afghanistan, would not have nuclear weapons stationed on the Clyde, would not have entertained the privatisation of our hospitals and schools and, since a majority here are in favour of a modern democratic republic, we would not have the Queen as our head of state either.

The desire for independence will take on added impetus if, as seems likely, the Tories win the next Westminster election. It was a similar 'democratic deficit' in the 1980's with Scotland ruled by a Tory party all but wiped out up here that led to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

The Parliament is now universally seen to have insufficient powers - even the Tories here agreed with that - and the mood here will react badly to a Cameron victory.
At the same time the neo liberal SNP are set to drop their promise of a referendum on the issue next year fearing it would be defeated. They are probably right but the truth is they have done nothing to promote independence and persuade a majority of working people they would be better off. In fact the SNP's problem goes deeper still as they have been rather undermined by the banking crisis and their years of cheerleading for the greedy reckless Scottish bankers who have near wrecked the economy.

4. Specifically what role can members of the European Parliament play on these issues?

Members of the European Parliament can use the platform the elected position affords them to speak up for working people on many, many issues. Scotland has had no one to do so at this level for an awful long time, if ever.

There has been an interesting debate here in the past few weeks on the European Working Time Directive. One of our two Scots Labour MEP's broke ranks with his party's dreadful line that upholds the British opt out 'protecting workers rights to work more than a maximum 48 hours a week'. David Martin MEP said he agrees with the Directive and workers in Britain should be afforded its protection.

Even die hard political activists would be hard pushed to name Scotland's current 7 MEP's. On June 4th that reduces to six 'invisibles'. If the SSP won an MEP on June 4th the whole world would know about it and we'd ensure they'd not forget it for 5 years!

5. From your experience as a Member of the Scottish Parliament what is the main lesson you've learned about representative democracy?

The SSP has learned the hard way that it is extremely difficult to get your political opinion heard effectively when you do not have elected representatives.

In 2003 we got 6 MSP's elected and we used the positions to establish the party as a household name. Since 2007 we have had to work very hard to assure people we still exist such has been the lack of coverage we get in the mainstream media.

I learned as an MSP that you have to judge very carefully how much time is spent in Parliament, in Committee and in the 'belly of the beast' as it were. You are just as effective outside building up political strength and influence in the streets, communities and workplaces. That is after all where your vote comes from at election time.

I also learned the importance of the body of work you leave behind. The SSP received many reluctant complements from the new SNP administration at Holyrood. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The SNP picked up all our Bills in 2007; the abolition of the Council tax, abolition of NHS prescription charges and the introduction of free school meals.

Finally, in the current febrile atmosphere over Westminster MP's expense abuses, it is especially important the SSP can point to an honourable and unique record - Members of Parliament who gave money back! The SSP's 'Workers MSP's lived on Workers Wages' for ten years. I gave back £1,300 every month from of my wages for 4 years.

6. If you could achieve one thing through your current campaign (other than getting elected!) what would it be?

One thing I hope to see emerge from our campaign is an emboldened spirit of resistance to neo liberalism.

It has been heart warming to see factory occupations in Belfast, Waterford and Dundee. It has been equally inspiring to hear parents in Glasgow tell how they occupied their children's schools to prevent the Labour local authority from closing them. And I was engrossed by the speech Mark Lyon, the Unite convener at Grangemouth oil refinery, gave at this years Edinburgh May day rally about the Lindsey dispute and the wildcat action which spread throughout out Britain's engineering construction industry earlier this year in defence of jobs and conditions. We saw power stations, oil refineries and several other powerful, industrial sites come to a standstill through trades union militancy.

And lets not forget the resistance to privatisation. I am working closely with the postal workers in Edinburgh combating Labours sell off of Royal Mail and I look forward to its defeat.

So I hope the SSP campaign emboldens that developing spirit of resistance still further after all it has been a long time coming.

Thanks very much for for that Colin!

Readers might also be interested in reading an earlier interview with the Green candidate Elaine Morrison, and I should also point out that there is a new Euro election 09 tag.

Interview: Elaine Morrison

Elaine Morrison is the lead European Parliamentary candidate for the Greens in the Scotland. We've had a super quick chat about Europe, Scotland and climate change;

What do you think the key problems facing Scotland are at the moment?

Scotland has one of the least healthy populations in the world. This is directly related to our high levels of urban poverty. The economic crisis will only exacerbate these twin problems.

In the battle against climate change where do you see the principle challenges for the Green movement, and how do we best effect those changes?

We need to stop making people feel guilty and start making them feel hopeful. Climate change won't be solved by moaning at people about their light bulbs. It will be solved when communities, and countries, come together, with the help of their governments, and build a low carbon economy.

Specifically, What role do members of the European Parliament have to play in these issues?

The EU is crucial. In particular, it has a huge role in reining in corporate power, and ending the 'race to the bottom' both in Europe and around the world. It also negotiates for us at global climate summits. It's crucial that we have MEPs keeping up the pressure to ensure we get the deal that the world needs.

What is the Green approach to the economic crisis?

The economic crisis highlights what's wrong with unfettered capitalist. A green approach is about two key things - investment and democratisation. We need to invest in re-building an economy fit for the 21st century. This means stimulating things we need - green energy, insulation, education and jobs, while recognising that this green growth is not the same as crude GDP growth, which includes financial speculation, illness, and pollution.

It also means that we need to reclaim our economy. The government shouldn't have allowed bankers to gamble away people's investments. We need to rebuild democratically controlled mutuals and building societies, so that we have a say over what money is spent on, and we can make sure it is invested in the services our communities need, not squandered on the currency exchange.

It seems unlikely that this time round there will be a strong socialist vote in Scotland (which I'd guess will largely go to the SNP and the Greens). Are you optimistic about the Green vote in June?

There are loads of reasons to be optimistic about the Green vote in June. We are the only party with sensible things to say about the credit crunch. While Labour, the SNP, and the Tories argue about the details of regulations, they have been in bed with bankers for decades. We just need to get our message across.

You can join her facebook group here, view her website here, or visit the Scottish Greens here.

Interview: Jose Sagaz on coca

With the war on drugs much in the news over the last couple of days I thought this would be a good opportunity to have a chat with my friend Jose Sagaz on coca and Bolivia.

i) Why do people in Bolivia chew coca? Are they drug addicts?

Basically is part of our culture and tradition as it is the English culture to drink tea, chewing coca is much older tradition and has much deeper role in the society. About if we are drug addicts because we chew coca the answer is no, and I should emphasis that coca is not cocaine.

ii) President Morales quite often talks about the cultural significance of coca, could you explain a little bit more about that?

In the Aymara and Quechua culture we use coca in our sacred ceremonies, we chew the leafs to suppress hunger and for altitude sickness. The coca leave is rich in minerals and vitamins, much needed in our diet.

iii) There has been talk of an increase in cocaine production from Latin America, primarily from Peru and Bolivia. Is the MAS government's position on coca responsible for this?

Yes there was an increase of coca crops and that was a 5% in Bolivia* and 26% in Colombia. The MAS government had been punish by the USA administration, cancelling the trade preferences agreement with the potential result of loosing 20,000 jobs and around $150 million, while Uribes’ government is the second biggest recipient of help from USA after Israel.

iv) In your opinion, why has the US led war on drugs been unable to reduce drug production?

The bottom line is that the US government used the war on drugs as a pretext for repression, violence and to control countries. That is why Bolivia has been punished, because they act as a sovereign country and Colombia with state crimes and terror has been rewarded.

v) How do you think the issue of drugs production should be dealt with?

We should learn from the past strategies that didn’t work which are bullying, killing poor peasants, using the “Drug Wars” to eliminate political opponents, violating humans rights, interfering in affairs of other countries, making illegal chewing coca, not recognizing traditions and customs of indigenous people with policies like “coca cero”.

I strongly believe that each country should fight against drugs. Bolivia is doing it through social control that is the coca growers themselves unionize, which will control and make sure only legal plantations of coca exists, that means the production is controlled and there is not overproduction. The US should reduce the demand of cocaine; US politicians shouldn’t use the illegal trade of cocaine to finance cover-up operations.

*The Election, Economy, War, and Peace (November 25, 2008 By Noam Chomsky)