Guest Post: Relocating London

This is a guest post from Douglas Coker, and absolutely rock solid Green in Enfield. A great start to the discussion on what climate change means for our cities.

London is under threat. Key parts of central London are built on a flood plain. A stretch of the South Bank, including part of Southwark, and Docklands are examples. The extent and timescale of the threat are difficult to predict exactly but at some point in the future low lying parts of London run an increasing risk of being flooded.

The North Sea flood of 1953 in which thousands of lives were lost in the Low Countries and Suffolk and Essex was a warning. This prompted the building of the Thames Barrier during the 1970s. It became operational in 1982 and has been used with increased frequency over subsequent years. Currently the Barrier protects billions of pounds of infrastructure including buildings, parts of the underground network and electricity distribution facilities. Some experts expect it to be fit-for-purpose until 2030, others say 2060 or later.

Now global warming and rising sea levels are increasing the threat. Add a repeat of the 1953 event with a storm surge bringing huge volumes of water up the Thames and the Barrier failing. In addition consider this. The Thames catchment area extends as far as Basingstoke, Swindon, Banbury and Luton. Imagine exceptionally heavy rainfall in this area and the subsequent large volumes of water travelling downriver to London just as the storm surge arrives from the sea. You don’t want to be strolling along the South Bank or travelling in a tube under the Thames when this happens! OK enough scary stuff. What do we do about this?

Big cities need big infrastructure and these projects should last for hundreds of years. Take Bazalgette’s sewer system. The combination of the Thames being used as an open sewer and an unusually hot summer in 1858 gave rise to the Great Stink so awful that members of the House of Commons considered relocating upstream to Hampton Court. Joseph Bazalgette was commissioned to build a substantial London sewer system to carry the offending effluent down river. We still depend on this today in part due to Bazalgette’s deployment of the precautionary principle. He doubled the size of the sewer tunnels to future proof them. What an example he set. His sewers will have a lifetime measured in hundreds of years.

Bazalgette could not have been expected to know about global warming back in the 1850s. But we are all too aware now. Why are we continuing to construct large civil engineering projects, including infrastructure and buildings in vulnerable areas? I question whether we should be building, the Thames Gateway project, the Olympic Games site, Crossrail and the Super Sewer. Huge amount of concrete and steel will go into these projects with all their attendant CO2 emissions and all or part of these projects are in areas of London increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Projects which should last, not mere tens of years, but hundreds of years should surely not be built in areas which within 50 or maybe 100 years will be inundated with water.

The London Thames Gateway development has the insurance industry worried. They are reluctant to insure homes and shops unless extra measures are taken to protect against flooding. Maybe the buildings should be built on stilts! The Olympic Games site is in the Lea Valley an area which has experienced flooding in recent decades. Measures have been put in place to prevent flooding of the site but will they prove to be adequate?

Crossrail is intended to transport commuters at high speed from Maidenhead in the west to Stratford and Canary Wharf and other places in the east. Putting aside the question of whether this is a good idea in principle this huge civil engineering project will run through and to parts of London vulnerable to flooding at some point in the future. Whether in tunnels or on the surface how is this to be protected?

Finally the Super Sewer, or more correctly the Thames Tunnel, is intended to extend for 20 miles from west to east to help prevent sewage entering the Thames when we have increasingly heavy rain (caused by climate change) overwhelming the Victorian sewage system (built by Bazalgette). All this diverted sewage is intended to end up in a sewage works at Beckton which, situated on the north bank of the Thames estuary, is right in the firing line of a surge of flood water heading up river for London! Surely a better plan is to remove all impervious surfaces in front gardens, car parks and similar places, install soak-aways and encourage the maximum use of water-butts and other storage containers before boring a huge tunnel under the Thames.

Global warming and climate change have received less attention than warranted as we experience an economic depression. But let’s not forget the economy is a sub-set of the environment and business-as-usual thinking needs to be challenged. We should not be pursuing developments which take little if any account of the prospect of London and the Thames estuary flooding. We need a new planning regime which sets strict criteria informed by a proper understanding of the risks to London from a rise in sea-level and large volumes of water. We need to plan to give places back to the river and sea as they are ultimately not protectable.

Relocate London? We need a plan for relocating vulnerable parts of London on a timescale which will prevent foreseeable disasters.

Banning peaceful parties - whatever next in our ‘democracy’

This a guest post from a Camden resident: Way back in January the campaigning group for an end to the British Monarchy and for ‘a democratic alternative’ started organising in earnest for a big street party for the Royal Wedding day.

It was billed as ‘providing a family friendly public space away from the hype of the Royal Wedding’ with food, games, entertainment and to celebrate democracy and people power - An alternative for those people who are not big fans of the monarchy. It seemed like a perfectly inoffensive and fun way to protest without being ‘spoil sports’

Republic supplied an event management plan to the police, and received an approval from the planning authority: Camden Council as shown here: http://bit.ly/efkqNg

And so they began publicising the event.

But there has been a very sudden and disappointing turn around as Camden Council has today withdrawn the approval.

The Cabinet Councillor for the Environment, Cllr Sue Vincent has written to those objecting and stated that local residents ‘are concerned rightly or wrongly that this event could attract people who wish to take advantage of the cover of this event’ and that the local residents bore some brunt of the recent anti-cuts anarchic bad behaviour!

This is a poor excuse and panders to the ignorant view that Republicans are Anarchists or Leftists. Many are on the left but Republic states regularly that they have members across the political spectrum and more to the point; all their demonstrations have always been legal and not disruptive in the slightest.

The Police did not consider the event to be a problem and certainly not an event with a potential to cause disorder as shown here in their emails: http://bit.ly/dTxqn3

Contact Councillor Sue Vincent at Camden Council and explain why this event should be able to take place in a street like everyone else’s street party on 29th April. Email: sue.vincent@camden.gov.uk and also Rachel Stopard, Rachel.Stopard@camden.gov.uk (Head of Camden Council Culture and Environment)

Compared to the many other ‘not the royal Wedding’ Events taking place in other parts of the country. Republic’s central event is possibly the least provocative.

Poor Camden is the odd one out. Here are some other events where celebrating republicanism is being allowed: http://yhoo.it/fwT7Qg

Republic are currently considering legal action but the event will definitely take place, if not in Covent Garden then elsewhere.


Camden Council, a Labour run Council has made a gross error of judgment, in denying a sizable community the right to hold a street party the same day that so many other street parties will be taking place. And let’s face it, the vast majority are doing it to bring people together for fun (as are Republic) rather than to celebrate a wedding of two very remote people.

The AV safe-o-meter

Someone pointed me towards the site Voter Power which purports to "demonstrate the increase in voter power that AV would bring." So I popped in the details for Lewisham Deptford, where less than year ago I spent a tough General Election.

This was the result;

Now, I'm grateful for the stats and all but I do think the the idea that my "voter power would increase by 33%" is slightly misleading as it goes from "fuck all influence" to "still fuck all influence". If you live in Lewisham Deptford your vote doesn't make any difference under either system. An increase of 33% makes it sound like there's be a meaningful change, when there hasn't.

This is the key problem with single constituency elections (and Presidential elections) in that it is a combination of winner takes all and a postcode lottery. Under both systems the votes of those who live in Lewisham Deptford simply do not give the people the same say as those who live in marginal constituencies - and even they, generally, are only getting a choice between two parties to misrepresent them.

Under proportional representation every voter's vote is of equal weight - no matter where they live. It also means that in Parliament every political position with significant minority backing has a voice. For me that's what democracy should be about, people's voices being heard - not one where only the biggest tribes are allowed to speak.

Guest Post: Natalie [1] for the London Assembly

By Matty Mitford (picture from last night's protest against the cuts in Camden): In the interests of partiality Jim's asked me to talk about why I'll be voting Natalie Bennett as my first choice for the GLA list, something I won't find hard to do.

Natalie's done some amazing work for the Green Party and in Camden at least, her diplomacy and commitment is viewed with respect even by people of opposing political views, which is no mean feat in the dogfight that is local politics.

Natalie was a excellent Parliamentary candidate in Camden and her performances at hustings were always impressive, winning her support from all sides. She can debate with the heaviest of hitters, something most definitely an essential quality in an Assembly Member who has to use Mayor's Questions to hold the London executive to account.

Her background as a respected journalist is of great benefit in engaging with the media and maximising the Green voice, which we so desperately need.

Her local campaigning is impressive and committed, one example is in Somers Town where she's lead the opposition to the UKCRMI development, using her abilities as a mediator to unify many differing political interests into an effective campaign, (again attributes of real value for City Hall, where working with other parties is so key).

She's worked all the angles for Somers Town, from late night leafletting to giving evidence in front of a Parliamentary Select Committee and has significantly raised the profile and opinion of the Green Party in the area, something I know she'd do in the wider context of a London representative.

All this and I've still not mentioned her work on the national executive, her founding of Green Party Women, formulation of much Green Party policy on women's equality and her frankly frightening levels of energy and drive.

In short, Natalie is the sort of politician I'm happy to leaflet in the rain for her because she proves time and again her commitment, the thoroughness of her research and understanding on any issue on which she speaks, her political integrity and her extreme willingness to engage with the grunt work of coordinating, leafletting, stall-ing and all the other day to day organising a local party needs.

I'm voting Natalie [1], and I'd like to encourage everyone to do the same.

Green London Mayoral Hustings: Farid Bakht

London Green Party is selecting who is to be our Mayoral candidate in 2012. There are three candidates for the job Shahrar Ali, Farid Bakht and Jenny Jones who all very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions. Here is what Farid has to say.
If you had to choose one campaigning priority for the Green Party Mayoral Campaign what would it be?

My priority is to widen our appeal to people from all communities and the working class within London. Why is it that white working class people don't generally vote for us?

We need to demolish the myth that we are a white, middle class party interested only in a narrow agenda not in tune with people's everyday lives.

We also need to reach out to the one in three people of foreign origin in London.

I would actively approach ethnic minority communities via their media to link up with leaders and organisations. We need to recruit new, active members who understand how politics works in their communities. We can attract them with our message of environmental and social justice, our support for small businesses, our humane approach to immigration and our commitment to free education & health & our programme to create jobs.


How would you use the role of the Mayoral Candidate in relation to the Assembly Campaign?

As Mayoral candidate, I would use the platform to articulate a vibrant, positive and bold vision for Londoners. Too many people still think we are a one-issue Party. We aren't but we need to talk up our Party, come out of our comfort zone and stake a claim to be a credible alternative to three very similar Parties.

We need to recover from our shattered electoral position in London, beat the Lib-Dems and attract disaffected Labour voters.

We have to be ambitious and overcome the fear that says we might lose an Assembly Member.
We should aim to increase our numbers instead.


I want to work as part of a team, listening to colleagues on setting priorities rather than 'do my own thing'.

We must speak as one with a common purpose.

I am comfortable with the battleground being the media at one level. I would also campaign across the capital to support local Green Party activists, strengthen our grass-roots and motivate neglected members.


How should we political approach the Livingstone bid to become Mayor again?

I understand, am involved in and support the idea of creating coalitions around vital issues: e.g., the permanent wars our country is embroiled in and the anti-cuts movement.

However, I want to fight a determined campaign to raise the profile of the Green Party, move second preference votes to first and rejuvenate our local parties.

“Cosying up to Ken” could be damaging as voters incorrectly think voting for Greens is a wasted vote.

Let's focus on our radical message, explain that we do support some of the initiatives before 2008 but also how we are against the failure to tame an out-of-control financial sector, the failure to build council homes and the failure to build a diversified, greener economy.

We should fight to increase Green numbers. We need to build up our base. If there are any negotiations with parties external to us, we should always do so from a position of strength and nearer the end of the cycle.


What is the most fun part of campaigning for you?

In general, I like getting on the streets & talking to people.

Last year, in Tower Hamlets, I found it shocking at first to hear people say that was the first time they had heard of the Greens.

It turned out to be the best opportunity to persuade people that we were credible.


What would be your top tip to someone who is just starting to get active in the Green Party?

Pick one or two meetings to get involved with as it can be overwhelming - keep active and doing things, that's why you joined up.

Green London Mayoral Hustings: Shahrar Ali

London Green Party is selecting who is to be our Mayoral candidate in 2012. There are three candidates for the job Shahrar Ali, Farid Bakht and Jenny Jones who all very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions. Here is what Shahrar has to say.


If you had to choose one campaigning priority for the Green Party Mayoral campaign, what would it be?

GREEN JOBS. It’s more difficult than ever for people either to find work or to keep their job. Our answer is to roll out training and employment in sustainable industries, such as decentralised renewable energy schemes, repairing stuff, and home insulation. This agenda speaks to both the climate change emergency and the creation of jobs with a social purpose, sometimes through redeployment. We can advertise the progressive policies Greens have fronted, such as Jean on work-life balance and Darren and Jenny on the London Living wage.

We are also part of the anti-cuts movement which seeks to protect jobs in the public sector, such as local library provision, without which the life chances of some of the most vulnerable and most disadvantaged in society will be unconscionably set back (see my letter, “Libraries are essential”).


How do you see the role of the Mayoral candidate in relation to the Assembly campaign?

HIGHLY CONSEQUENTIAL. Previously there’s been greater focus on the Mayoral contest than the Assembly constituency and list selections. As your mayoral candidate, I’d showcase Green campaigns and successes across the London boroughs, alongside our GLA candidates, and regularly remind voters of the need to vote in the proportional elections. Let’s get more Greens elected than ever before!


How should we politically approach Ken Livingstone bid to become Mayor again?

SELF-DISCIPLINE NOT SELF-INDULGENCE. I would advocate the approach, as your representative, that London Green party members decide upon – in terms of second preferences or none, at a time of our choosing.

There is a strategic side to this, so it’s not just a question of my declaring my personal preferences ahead of time. What I can say is that, with your mandate, I’ll hold my own in any public meeting with Ken and Boris, and won’t give an inch. Here’s a recent question to Boris at People’s Question Time on the woeful state of London’s tubes (and I challenged Ken on cronyism in public appointments, in an exchange of press letters in 2005).


What is the most fun part of campaigning for you?

Meeting new people, anticipating or vocalising their concerns and SEEING POSITIVE RESULTS. On road safety, for example, we campaigned for two years locally to get Asda to redesign their loading bay and put a stop to lorry drivers endangering pedestrians by parking on a crossing. It was very rewarding to finally get action on this and for Greens to be rightly credited for it, see “Green Party declares victory in ASDA delivery lorries row”.


What would be your top tip to someone who is just starting to get active in the Green Party?

STAND FOR THE NEXT LOCAL ELECTIONS! And help others get elected elsewhere! As campaign coordinator for last year’s local elections in Brent, I’ve already popped the question to many an aspiring Green and often received the right answer.

We stood a record 62 candidates in 2010, with good balance in terms of both gender and diversity, too, for which we got heightened publicity and credibility. See headline article “Party on a mission to Green Brent”. As local party support, I’ve also proactively supported candidates in neighbouring local parties (see Susanna Rustin’s article, “My first election as a Green Party candidate”).

We need to make sure that all those Londoners who voted for us last year and before are ready to come back for more, and then some. For that you need a mayoral candidate who understands and respects the internal democracy and accountability of the party, with a track record of promoting green politics through public speaking, electioneering and campaigns year in year out!

Green London Mayoral Hustings: Jenny Jones

London Green Party is selecting who is to be our Mayoral candidate in 2012. There are three candidates for the job Shahrar Ali, Farid Bakht and Jenny Jones who all very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions. Here is what Jenny has to say.


If you had to choose one campaigning priority for the Green Party Mayoral campaign, what would it be?

It's a tough choice between Climate Change issues and Inequality issues, but if I had to choose it would be Climate Change. Greens are usually the only party to make the link between environmental and social justice, so that's our unique political selling point.

We can promote polices that cover both areas, such as home insulation (lowers carbon emissions and fuel bills for low paid), or air pollution (cut carbon emissions from polluting vehicles and improve health for poorer Londoners who can't avoid the fumes).


How do you see the role of the Mayoral candidate in relation to the Assembly campaign?

The Mayoral candidate has to promote the Assembly list at every opportunity. A Green Mayor is a very long shot, whereas two or three AM's are quite likely, and they will be able to make real change.


How should we politically approach Ken Livingstone bid to become Mayor again?

Very very carefully. In my view, our Tory Mayor has plunged us backwards, socially and environmentally, so the Ken era is starting to look like golden times. However, we have to examine both manifestos and play a little hard to get - the Labour Party isn't any more trustworthy than the Tories.

Although I have worked fairly well with Ken, I've never let him off the hook when I think he's wrong, for example on the Thames Gateway Bridge, and he knows that.


What is the most fun part of campaigning for you?

When all the big decisions are made (strategy, manifesto, leaflets, broadcast) and there's just teams of Greens leafletting, doorknocking and drinking in the pub afterwards.


What would be your top tip to someone who is just starting to get active in the Green Party?

Work with your local party and get active on the leafletting, the stalls, etc. Avoid London Fed (too mindnumbing), but go to Party conference at least once, and accept that politics is very hard work, but what option is there?

Caroline Allen: my final top tip for the Green's Assembly List

It's selection fever in the Greens at the moment. You'll hear from this blog very soon on the London Mayoral selection but I wanted to give you my final top tip on the London Assembly race, Caroline Allen.

When I sit back and think about what I really want in an Assembly candidate, the quality I'm most looking for is that I can trust them.

I don't simply mean political integrity - although this is a quality I prize very highly, and I would not back a candidate that lacked it - but I also mean can I rely on them to be a decent, hard working candidate that's there for the party?

It means they are disciplined enough that even if he or she fancies going into a self-indulgent rant or pursuing their own agenda they remember they are representing others, not just themselves. They need to be capable of restraint at the right times. They need to be sound.

Often this means people who are making a sacrifice to run, rather than simply indulging their egos. Not that there are any of those in the Greens.

One of my first impressions of Caroline was when we were taking different sides on a particular issue. I was impressed by the professional and political way she handled the disagreement and when the issue was decided she moved on without rancour. This left a very good impression with me, and one that has been reinforced many times since then.

Caroline has a sharp analytical mind and understands policy. Not just understands what our policies are (which is useful) but also what policy is for. It's a quality rarely talked about, but absolutely invaluable.

I'm endorsing Caroline Allen because I know that if she was selected to the Assembly list she would bring cast iron self-discipline to the team. I know that we could trust her with the responsibility because she understands the need for basic competence in everything we do.

Sue Luxton for the London Assembly

Continuing my theme of who I will be voting for in the London Assembly elections (after Natalie Bennett [1]) I’d like to put in a word for Sue Luxton, or General Luxton as she is commonly called by me, if no one else.

Sue is another hard working and talented Green whose deep commitment to her area, Ladywell in Lewisham, is absolutely unquestionable. Sue came to the Greens from a place relatively alien to me – the animal rights movement – and her consistent veganism I can only admire from afar as I tuck into a chicken and bacon sandwich. Smiling.

Sue was elected as one of the Green Party’s batch of six councillors in Lewisham in 2006 and was a key organising force on that group, helping to ensure that the council passed policy on a Living Wage for all staff and contractors as well as being widely recognised as an excellent local councillor with a deep understanding of local issues.

She was the very definition of a community campaigner in that time, working with all kinds of residents to help make Lewisham a better place.

However, what gives her the edge in this selection process is her extremely strong experience of organising election campaigns. The London Assembly list needs someone like her, placed well, to give it real beef when it comes to the logistics of the campaign.

As the constituency organiser in Lewisham she helped organise a formidable and well-oiled election machine. While the electoral tide may have been against us this just proved her mettle all the more as she assembled a small army of volunteers who did not have a single wasted moment on the days they volunteered to help across our target wards.

The team of leading candidates needs those skills and that commitment, not because there are no other candidates who understand election logistics but because no other candidate understands them to the degree that she does, particularly when fighting a difficult election.

That General’s Star was earned with blood, sweat and tears born of an obsession with canvassing databases and different coloured highlighter pens.

We currently have the opportunity in the Green Party to assemble a strong team of candidates for London whose skills and politics make the perfect fit. It’s my contention that we’d be missing a trick if we did not place Sue Luxton among our leading candidates in this election.

Why Caroline Russell is one of my top picks for the Assembly

As I mentioned Natalie Bennett is getting my first preference for the London Assembly, but there are a host of other good candidates that I'd like people to consider. One of those is Islington Green Caroline Russell.

Caroline is a relatively new member of the Party, but she is by no means a new comer to street politics. As a long term environmental activist in her area she has been beavering away diligently for years to make our communities better places.

She came to the party with a wealth of experience, talent and energy and she is exactly the kind of new blood that the party needs to help it become more rooted in London's boroughs and more grounded in the actual needs of those communities rather than the wants of political activists.

Passionate about her area she has done the kind of serious work that leave many of us full of admiration. Indeed one of the reasons why I'm hoping Caroline will get on the list is that when she was thinking about running she was extremely self effacing, constantly asking whether it was presumptuous of her to stand, etc.

Any Assembly list with Caroline Russell on it would be all the stronger for it. The more decent, hard working community activists we have at the forefront of our party the better. Matt Selwood once said to me that he thought the Green Party should be the electoral wing of community campaigns. That's been a very influential thought for me, and Caroline is part of making that dream a reality.

Watch out for my further tips for the Assembly over the next few days. It's going to be a hard choice deciding what order to put people after Natalie Bennett [1].

London Assembly Candidates Selection

Well it's that time at last when London Green Partiers get to decide who to select as their candidates for the London Assembly elections next year. These are important elections for the party which, at the last two elections, elected two Assembly members to one of the most important authorities in the country.

It's going to be a difficult choice this time round with fifteen candidates to choose from, many of whom would do justice to the list, indeed I was trying to work out who the obvious four candidates to get knocked off the bottom would be and it simply wasn't possible. It's a happy position to be in but it makes deciding how to vote very difficult.

I'll be giving my first preference to Natalie Bennett (pictured left) who is a formidable Green politician and also my girlfriend. Natalie's responsible for a large chunk of the party's policies on women and equality and has been central to Green Party Women that helped the party achieve the highest proportion of female candidates in the General Election, a national executive of over 50% women and raised the profile of equality issues more generally.

Added to that she's an incredibly hard worker breaking all sorts of records for leafleting and community meeting going as well as being ruthlessly leftwing. It's the perfect package!

Over the next week or so I'll be taking a look at some of the other candidates that I'm hoping will do well in the selection process, as well as hosting an online hustings for the Mayoral candidates. It's a difficult choice to make when faced with an STV ballot paper and an array of good candidates, so I'll see if I can make that slightly easier for everyone.

nb I wont be doing any negative campaigning so I wont be hosting any attacks on any candidates, whether or not I'm supporting them at this election. Do bear that in mind when commenting!

London Mayoral Selection: Farid Bakht

I first met Farid a fair few years ago and he's always struck me as a level-headed, principled Green. Likable, thoughtful and engaging he's a talented and strong minded left-winger, without some of the bile or dogma that you sometime find on the left.

Anyway, I was delighted when I heard he was standing for selection to be London's Green Mayoral candidate. So far that means we have two excellent choices before us with Farid and Jenny. I wonder if we'll get any more? Here Farid talks about his vision for London.

The next Mayoral candidate must offer Londoners an inspiring vision for the capital. We can do this in London the way our leader did in Brighton – by offering a radical, coherent alternative to the three main parties.

We must be part of the anti-cuts movement. Many Londoners will be hit particularly hard by coalition policies - young people and students, women, and people from ethnic minorities.

Investment in free education and affordable public transport are vital for this city’s development and as candidate I would defend both.

Bringing back the Congestion Charge to the Western Extension Zone is one way we can reverse the recent fare rises.

First-time buyers are priced out of the market. Meanwhile, one in ten households are stuck on housing waiting lists.

We have to pressure local authorities to use their powers to bring empty homes back into use.

We have to set out a programme to refit homes to reduce carbon emissions, reduce heating bills and reduce unemployment.

With 15 years experience running small businesses, I want to take our message to this vital sector, talk their language and explain why our party is their natural choice.

I was recently an International Coordinator for the Party, serving on the National Executive. I am a communicator on behalf of the party at rallies, meetings and in the media.

I am currently leading a working group on ethnic minorities. We can no longer ignore the one in three Londoners who are of foreign origin.

I stood as Parliamentary candidate in Tower Hamlets and took the party into communities where we had been largely absent. This was done via ethnic TV, radio, newspapers, social media, stalls, meetings, networking and door-to-door conversations

We must engage with ethnic minorities who find our beliefs, ideas and policies are most in line with them – if only we would talk to them.

This is the strategic objective we must set ourselves.

By recruiting more ethnic minorities we will boost our electoral chances.

The Greens must reflect the city in gender, ethnicity and sexuality if its people are going to vote for us.

Regularly voting Green, I joined the Party after spending a few years in Bangladesh. There, I saw the devastating impact of floods and climate change and its connection to poverty and social injustice. I campaigned against India and China's mega-dam building projects, for the economic rights of female garments workers and for rickshaw pullers. I set up a Renewable Energy Association to promote solar power, a sector which has now taken off.

On my return, I joined the Green Party because for me it is the only one which has a coherent ideology to transform society in both rich and poor countries, for men & women, for young & the elderly.

Half-Basque, half-Bengali, born in Hackney, I was brought up in London. Married, I have a 9 year old daughter & live in West London.

Jenny Jones AM seeks Mayoral nomination

Tomorrow Jenny Jones will be announcing her intention to seek the Green Party's nomination to run for London Mayor in 2012. Jenny has been an outstanding London Assembly Member from the very beginning in 2000 and is a very capable and likable politician.

Although I've yet to make my mind up about who I'll be supporting for the role Jenny will be a strong contender for my pick.

It's no secret that I have significant political differences with Jenny around policing issues, where I think she has always been too willing to see the police's side of any question, but I've never confused this with the idea that she is unwilling to criticise the police (she is, for example when she was the instigator of reopening the investigation into Blair Peach's death) or the fact that she is an excellent and radical green politician.

I've never been one of those who expect 100% agreement with a politician in order to give them my support. If she is selected by the Green Party, I will be extremely happy to give her my first preference (and probably Ken number two, as long as he behaves).

According to the ever excellent Mayor Watch;

The party will announce its candidate in March following a ballot of all London members.

Jones will be joined her bid by fellow Assembly Member Darren Johnson who will serve as her running mate. Johnson unsuccessfully stood as Mayor in the 2000 and 2004 elections...

In a statement Jones said the capital “desperately needs the green measures that a Green Mayor would introduce for a cleaner, safer city. Whether it’s cleaning up on air pollution, investing in public transport, increasing the supply of affordable homes, or keeping the police local, Greens deliver on their promises and work for the whole of London.”

For me I'm going to wait and see who else announces their intention to run before making up my mind on who I'll be supporting for my first preference (Greens use STV in internal elections) and I'm hoping we'll have at least one or two more high quality candidates to choose from to make the race truly competitive.

Certainly one of her strengths will be that she knows exactly what is expected of a Green Party Mayoral candidate and, as a disciplined and intelligent campaigner, would be a safe pair of hands for the role in my opinion.

Brian Coleman: worst chair of fire authority ever

Further to my post earlier, as fire fighters protested outside today's London fire Authority meeting London Assembly members quizzed Brian Coleman on the violence against FBU pickets during the recent strike days.

I spoke to an FBU spokeswoman about the protest who told me that "the lobby was very successful. Around 20 women fire fighters, including Sian with her Queen's Fire Service Medal for distinguished service, leafleted Assembly Members as they went in."

I asked her about the violence on the picket line and she said that "The response was so shocking when there were two arrests for the violence, but no pickets, yet we're the ones being accused of violence. The Fire Authority has a duty of care towards its employees but doesn't seem to care that two people were injured."

When I asked about Sian's case she said that "Sain was suspended for bullying and harassment just before she was due to attend an Armistice Day memorial service in uniform. Yet there's a double standard here because normally if there are accusations like this people continue to work, although they might be moved, but they've taken Sian off duty.

"Sian has a long record of history of supporting other women fire fighters so to accuse her of harassment when she has stuck up for so many others is galling. Mind you they weren't able to suspend her before she was due to receive her medal from the Queen, because you don't mess with the monarch do you?"

Assembly Member Darren Johnson asked Brian Coleman in the meeting what action he was intending to take on the violence. Here's the verbatim report of the exchange;

"Here is Brian Coleman's response to the formal question I tabled at today's Fire Authority meeting, requesting an investigation into injuries to firefighters exercising their legal right to strike.

"(i) Question 257 from Councillor Darren Johnson AM (Green Party): Will the Chairman request the Commissioner undertakes a formal investigation, including an independent element, of the following reported incidents during industrial action on 1 November:

"a) firefighter hit by a car at Croydon Fire Station, and withholding of first aid equipment;

"b) FBU London representative and firefighter hit by fire engines at Southwark Fire Station

"And will the Chairman ensure that the findings of such an investigation are published?

"Reply from Chairman: No."

What a disgrace.

Violence against fire-fighters, at fire stations, during a perfectly legal union activity which resulted in arrests (but no suspensions) and he will neither investigate nor publish any findings on these incidents. Brian Coleman - worst chair of the Fire Authority ever?

Kentish Town: Bad Politics Watch

This week I've picked up a leaflet from the Tories which attacked Labour leader Ed Miliband for being a Manchester United supporter (yes, really) and witnessed the Lib Dems destroy the economy simultaneously with any chances of future electoral support. So when I saw the following attack leaflet in its proud blue inks I thought "bloody Tories, more personalised attacks".

Indeed it's a pretty terrible leaflet (click images to see in detail, but they're quite big files) which includes printing candidates home addresses along with a handy map to help any baying mobs in the vicinity to track them down. While it's publicly available information there's something distinctly creepy about ensuring every single member of the public gets a street map to help them find the candidates of the other parties.

The map is something the Tories had used before and coupled with the blue you immediately think you're reading a Tory leaflet which really, really goes for the throat against their coalition partners. Not nice for the Lib Dems but a miscalculation for the Tories too as the public aren't keen on this kind of attack politics - particularly when it gets personal..

Hold on though... where's the Tory logo? In fact, where's any logo of any kind? Where are the contact details? Where's the exhortation to vote for a party? Weird - there's none of that. But this is a leaflet being delivered to every home during a tight byelection... surely someone's responsible?

It's in there, but you'll have to look hard for it. Take your time... here's a clue: you might need a magnifying glass.

Here's another clue, it's not on the front page... give up?

OK. Back page, bottom left hand corner in what I estimate to be point four text size we have the words "Printed and promoted by an on behalf of Camden Labour Party, all at 110 Glouster Avenue, NW1 8HX". That is the only indication on the entire leaflet that this was produced and distributed by the Labour Party.

If I was deliberately distributing rival candidates addresses with a map marking their homes I'd be fucking ashamed as well, no wonder they don't want people to know who's responsible.

This is exactly the sort of thing that we need to see the back of in politics. I've no problem with attacking the politics or record of other parties but you should do so honestly and propose alternatives in their place. This is a deliberate attempt to deceive the public and should have no place in a democracy which relies on properly informed voters. By putting out a fake Tory leaflet of this kind Labour have shown themselves to politically bankrupt and Labour candidate Jenny Headlam-Wells should hang her head.

Tower Hamlets Mayoral election: oh my

Last night the people of Tower Hamlets shook the political establishment that's quite tired of being shaken thank you very much and elected Lutfur Rahman the expelled Labour candidate with more than fifty percent of the vote.

Results in full:

Rahman	Lutfur	Independent	23283	51.76%
Abbas	Helal Uddin	Labour	11254	25.02%
King	Neil	Conservative	5348	11.89%
Griffiths	John	Liberal Democrat	2800	6.22%
Duffell	Alan	Green Party	2300	5.11%

On a very low turnout (meaning that the elections cost four quid for every vote cast!) the Labour Party were despondent on the night even though when sorting through twitter earlier in the day you'd have found the Tower Hamlets thread clogged up with their supporters - it's almost as if twitter doesn't matter! The very thought...

Labour are blaming everyone but themselves for this defeat. Ken Livingstone for having a walkabout with Lutfur, the turnout, postal fraud, their own voters - everyone except themselves.

Having been duly selected as the Labour Party candidate Lutfur was promptly hoofed out and replaced by the third placed candidate Abbas. If the Party had a problem with Lutfur then they should never have let him stand for the role or be a leading member of their party in the area for years.

It seems they haven't learned their previous lessons about how damaging this kind of control freakery can be. Time and again Labour (and it is always Labour, no one else does this) stitch up selection processes from the centre and then the decision comes back to bite them.

Livingstone's first Mayoral run, the Welsh Party leadership, the Blaenau Gwent candidacy and in Scotland the case of Dennis Canavan are all examples where Labour's desire to control the Party have meant that they sabotaged their own party and, in the end, didn't get their way anyway either. There's a lesson for all parties there that no seat is safe, you can always fuck it up.

So far there have been expulsions from the Labour's council group as well as the candidate and it looks like Labour have managed to lose control of a borough that has been solid Labour for almost a century.

PS Well done to tower Hamlets Greens for their very positive campaign and good result, I know they're very happy today. A little more and we'd have beaten the lib Dems... next time comrades!

London Mayoral selection update: Lib Dems suspend process

It appears that the Lib Dems have suspended their process for selecting a candidate for London Mayor "for about a year" due to a lack of decent candidates. Three candidates got through the first short listing process "ex MP Lembit Opik, party stalwart Jeremy Ambache and former Richmond councillor Shas Sheehan."

I was surprised to see that Lewisham councillor Duwaine Brookes was not on the list as he had been making his intentions to stand for the post public for some time. It appears that he did not pass the selection test and his appeal failed. I'm torn on this because he's a well-liked local Lib Dem with a lot to offer, but I suspect he'd have found the race a bruising process as he lacks the experience and weight to be regarded as a serious Mayoral contender.

I also note that Ffloella Benjamin was not on the list which either means the rumours were not true or that she is reluctant and the stalls have been held to give party bigwigs time to persuade her. Speaking with my Green Party hat on it would be terrible if she was the Lib Dem candidate as she'd provide a real breath of fresh air and distance from the previous disastrous Lib Dem Mayoral campaign.

It's interesting that three candidates are not regarded as enough to choose from if they're deemed of sufficient quality to run and I wonder if this will backfire on them if they're going to select so late in the game.

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.

Tube strike a go go

There's a strike on on the London tube at the moment and, despite having a bit of a panic that I might not get home before it starts I've just about survived the horror of having to take an alternative form of transport.

I know that anything that causes mild inconvenience is always treated as a gross affront to our human rights and anyone exercising their actual human rights is to be automatically denounced as selfish and evil -but somehow I still support the strike.

Is it because I'm a godless communist? Well, yes and no. Certainly being a godless communist helps if you're going to oppose the press, the government, the Mayor of London and just downright, globally accepted, common sense. However, there is some common sense on my side too. Allow me to explain.

The rail unions RMT and TSSA (the latter of which is neither run by nor bossed about by Bob Crow) are staging another 24 hour strike against the proposal to reduce staffing levels on the tube.

Transport for London have called the strikes "pointless" because there are no proposed compulsory redundancies and no threat to staff wages. I'm sure TfL bosses don't do anything that doesn't benefit them directly but tube workers are a better class of person. They are striking for safety, not financial advancement - and frankly I'm not the only person who thinks that protecting safety on the tube is far from "pointless".

If this strike wins it will benefit Londoners in an extremely direct way. Not only will the plans to undermine staffing levels reduce customer service on the tube, making life more inconvenient permanently, not just just for one day - it will also directly cost lives. Maybe someone you know, maybe you or maybe a stranger - but lives none the less.

Once again it is the unions that are the only barrier between the interests of the public and the interests of the wealthy. Once again the press and the government will denounce the strikes, and complain that each strike costs us money... but then that's the only thing that has any point for them, and we have the choice to accept or reject those values in favour of something better.

Communique from Lewisham HQ

General Sue Luxton at Green Ladywell writes;

"You may by now have heard that Tim Shand, one of the new Labour councillors elected in May to serve Ladywell has chosen to take up a job offer in South Africa and resigned as a councillor, which means there will be a by-election. We don't know the date yet, but are assuming it will be on or around 4th November.

"While it's annoying that someone who was only elected in May, has resigned and triggered a by-election, at a cost to local taxpayers in excess of £10k, it does of course present an opportunity for Ladywell Greens to regain one of the seats we lost back in May! I am looking forward to getting back out campaigning over the next few weeks to try and get a Green candidate, who is trully committed to Ladywell ward elected.

"Our candidate selection meeting is taking place this Thursday, and we will announce on here shortly after who our candidate is. I know we have at least two excellent people who plan to put their name forward. I'm not standing myself this time - I'm rather enjoying the extra time I have now I'm not a councillor.

"I think we have a very strong chance of winning this seat back, and making sure Ladywell has a strong green voice standing up for it again, looking for alternatives to cuts to services, campaigning to keep our childrens' centres and libraries open, but we'll need your help.

"Here's how you can help:

• By-elections cost money! Help us run an effective campaign by making a donation to our campaign fund today.
  
• Put up a 'Vote Green' window poster for us. E-mail me your contact details and we'll get one over to you once the election date is declared.
  
• Can you help us deliver our election address to your street, or could you convince some of your neighbours to go out and vote Green? Again, e-mail us and let us know what you would like to do.
  
• Have you got questions/suggestions on our campaign, what you think our priorities should be? Again, get in touch.
  
• Join us! We're a small party, but a growing one. We can do so much more and be so much more representative of the local community, if more of our supporters join us.

"Thank you!"

As I live in the ward I'm very keen on the Greens retaking the seat from a Labour team who, at the last ward assembly a few weeks ago, seemed very keen to point out that they would do nothing to fight the cuts and felt the choice was simply whether we should cut services for the young or the old.

No thanks.

We'll be fighting to defend public services and protect the most vulnerable from the impact of the cuts. I'm looking forward to getting back from my break in order to help us fight and win this council seat for the Greens. Come along, it'll be fun!