Alan's Green Thoughts

Last night, in an important meeting on Brighton and Hove City Council, the Conservative and Labour groups colluded together as usual. This time, their collusion was on a vote of no confidence in Jason Kitcat's minority Green administration-even though Brighton and Hove council has made some significant improvements to Brighton, and several Brighton and Hove councillors have rightly spoke out against Eric Pickles' twisted version of localism and the callous cuts he has made to local authorities across the nation. My good friend in Dudley, Will Duckworth, wisely spoke against Dudley Council's austerity budget recently, and also against the severe cuts local councils are facing. The Labour and Conservative councillors on Dudley Council, meanwhile, together voted in favour of a cuts budget.  There are sadly many councils where Labour and Conservative groups collude together to push neoliberal agendas and misrepresent the people. Cumbria County Council gained some infamy amo

Rather interestingly, it has been revealed that neuroscientists have apparently managed to find the conscience within the brain. They believe they have found it in the neurons of the lateral frontal pole. I however do not believe this, as past psychological evidence has demonstrated that our conscience is formed by our perceptions, our cognitive abilities, our reaction to social situations, and our neurological development. Thus, most of the cerebrum is involved in forming our moral conscience, and that the lateral frontal pole is only a key part of that. Also, in neuropsychology, insecticides similar to DDT have been linked to higher incidences of Alzheimer's disease in those who use them. DDT was banned in the USA in 1972 and many other nations shortly thereafter, but as the onset of Alzheimer's dementia generally does not occur before the age of 70, it is worth mentioning here as the patients studied clearly used it long before it was banned. On Wythenshawe and Sale East

Today has been a bad day for British democracy for one very important reason- the failure of the House of Lords to reinsert important amendments to the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, otherwise referred to as the 'gagging law'. Only two minor amendments (which mean that special advisers will be included in the lobbying part and the somewhat better expenditure caps) made it through- the ConDems overturned every single initial Lords amendment, and the Lords of the ConDems narrowly stopped reinstatement of said amendments- by just 249 to 231 on one hand, and cruelly by a tied vote of 245 to 245 on the other (amendments fall on tied votes). It will now ping pong back to the Commons, but I do not expect even those minor amendments to be retained by this heartless coalition. The other dangerous bill, the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill, got its third reading in the Lords yesterday, and looms ever closer to Royal A

A lot of interesting news, for both good and bad reasons, has occurred in the past two days. First, I find it rather interesting that comedian Rufus Hound will throw his hat into the ring for this year's European elections, on behalf of the National Health Action Party. I am quite surprised he is standing against us Greens, given that NHAP's first electoral candidate was a Green Party member. However, there are likely to be many comedians/comediennes putting themselves forward in the Euro elections, particularly on protest platforms like ANO and the 5 Star Movement. Secondly, it is astonishing how pervasive the web of sex scandals has become since the relevations about the sickening abuse of children the late Jimmy Savile committed during his many years as a BBC presenter-and it is not just BBC figures being exposed,of course, but many politicians past and present too (especially Liberal Democrat politicians). I sometimes wonder who will be exposed next? Anyway, it is clear

Today, many of my fellow Young Greens came down to Brighton and Hove to help get local support for an upcoming council tax rise referendum (assuming the inconsiderate Labour and Conservative groups on Brighton, who have been colluding to undermine the Green administration, do not block it), which in my opinion will be needed to protect vital services within Brighton. (I would have joined them there but I was preoccupied with a meeting in London at the same time.) Word has it that Brent Council in London (controlled by Labour) plans to hold such a referendum as well. Since the coalition government took power in May 2010, many local councils in England and Wales have seen their budgets greatly slashed by Eric Pickles , who as Secretary for Local Communities has abusive levels of centralised power over local government finance. Many councils as a result have had to close or privatise important services, and further cuts will mean that they will be unable to perform statutory duties of c

Although we did not put forward our own candidate for the Cowdenbeath (Holyrood) by-election, I will nevertheless analyse it. In case you did not already hear, the results of it were as follows: Alex Rowley (Lab) 11,192 (55.8%), Natalie McGarry (SNP) 5,704 (28.4%), Dave Dempsey (Con) 1,893 (9.45%), Denise Baykal (UKIP) 610 (3.0%), Jade Holden (Lib Dem) 425 (2.1%), Stuart Graham (Victims' Final Right) 187 (0.9%), James Trolland (SDA) 51 (0.25%). Over the past year, much of the protest vote the SNP gained in 2011 and 2012 to bolster its existing vote base has been falling away, even though there is still strong support for Scottish Independence in many areas. It is not surprising Labour held in this by-election; it was the only Fife seat they did not lose to the SNP in 2011.  It is not all that surprising that the Liberal Democrat vote fell even further from its weak position (it almost halved!), particularly with the sexual harassment allegations about Lord Rennard and Portsmo

The Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election of February 2014, caused by the death of its MP Paul Goggins,will be called soon, and deadlines for nominations will come next week. Here are four very good reasons why my colleagues in the Green Party up in Greater Manchester need to put a candidate forward for this by-election: 1. Standing here allows us to maintain a national profile. For us to present ourselves as Britain's real alternative to not only the ConDems and Labour but also to UKIP, we need to stand in as many Westminster by-elections as possible to give voters the chance to vote Green and for us to be seen as a serious player in British politics. We have a future both inside and outside Brighton. 2. The Barton Moss fracking site is nearby. We Greens need to make sure that this important issue is heard during the short by-election campaign, and make it clear that fracking is not only not a viable solution to Britain's energy needs but also extremely harmful to people

There has been more recent news about UKIP foolishness recently, particularly when a UKIP councillor offensively and absurdly claimed that the passing of same-sex marriage legalisation was responsible for the recent floods in Britain.  Even looking through UKIP's past, before it rose to the prominence it has today, you can see that it was able to attract disgraced politicians, almost always ex-Conservative, from the party's beginnings. Here are just a few prominent examples of the disgraceful politicians that inhabit UKIP's membership list that you may not know a re part of UKIP: Jonathan William Patrick Aitken, the Conservative MP for Thanet for 23 years who later infamously launched a libel trial that failed-he was jailed for 18 months for perjury and ended up bankrupt. His contribution to UKIP seems rather unclear... John Ernest Douglas Delavalette Browne , the Conservative MP for Winchester from 1979 until 1992, when he had the whip withdrawn for failing to declar

Today, it was recently reported by Oxfam, and quoted by the Guardian and the Independent , that the richest 85 people in the world have wealth equivalent to half of the worlds' population-that is 3.5 billion people.  There is a simple explanation for how this appalling level of wealth inequality has happened- the greed of neoliberalism. During the period of the post-war consensus of 1945-1980, wealth inequality was decreasing in many developed nations at least, and after former African and Asian colonies gained independence, a few were initially able to make significant economic growth. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1972 and the oil crisis of 1973, all that changed. One of the first key steps to reverse the Keynesian consensus, as I call it, was for the CIA to help army officials overthrow socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende on 11 September 1973 and install Augusto Pinochet, whose dictatorial regime was the first instance of neoliberal economic

Ladies and gentlemen, there is still time to vote in the European Green Primary-you have until 28 January 2014. Please vote via this link: http://greenprimary.europeangreens.eu/ I viewed today's hustings in London and this is my opinion of the four contenders, who are Jose Bove, Monica Frassoni, Rebecca Harms, and Ska Keller: All four contenders did very well on the green issues front, but I must say that Ska Keller performed best here and was most consistent and sensible throughout the debate, and thus she gets my vote first. Monica Frassoni I would place second. Although like Ska, she expressed useful knowledge thanks partly to her personal experiences of environmental issues and democratic debate in Italy, she seemed somewhat too pro-EU for me to give her my vote first, although her efforts are very commendable indeed. Rebecca Harms did not seem that confident or articulate compared to Ska,Monica and Jose, although that is likely because she was unable to appear personal

Ladies and gentlemen, in case you have not heard yet, here are January's local by-election results involving Green candidates: Tonbridge and Malling DC, Borough Green and Long Mill: Ind (Mike Taylor): 692 (38.9%), Con 588 (33.0%), UKIP 349 (19.6%), Lab 84 (4.7%), Green 68 (3.8%). Trafford MBC, Broadheath: Lab 1377 (44.6%), Con 1258 (40.8%), UKIP 234 (7.6%), Lib Dem 150 (4.9%), Green 67 (2.2%). The Trafford contest has seen some of the lowest local by-election swings (and for all parties that contested as well) I have seen in over a year, particularly as the UKIP vote was squeezed (as was ours) about by the tense Labour-Conservative battle that often goes on in Trafford contests-Trafford is one of only two Conservative-controlled boroughs (the other is Solihull, where we Greens have strong support) but nonetheless has significant Labour support as well. By contrast, many metropolitan councils are Labour strongholds through and through. There are sadly no other local by-elect

Ever wondered what the truths about the so-called 'free market' are? The free market has been championed by most mainstream politicians for the last 30 years as 'good for the economy' and 'necessary' and 'efficient'. Greens and socialists like me oppose it vigorously simply because we know the truth: Not only are these myths untrue, the free market is also neither free nor fair, as its progress has shown. What the expansion of the free market across most of this world has actually done is, within market sectors, concentrated economic power into the hands of a few oligarchic corporations, who essentially share the same agenda as each other-to maximise profits at the expense of people and planet. In many markets there is no real choice-Britain's energy market is a prime example, with six energy companies controlling 99% of household energy, which is essential in our modern society. This is even more true when public services end up getting sold o

Ladies and gentlemen, it has come to my attention that former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, responsible for the deaths of thousands of Palestinians not only in Israel but also in Lebanon during his political career, has died aged 85, after spending eight years in a persistent vegatative state. Also, a dossier on the grievous abuse by UK and US forces within the illegal invasion of Iraq has now reached the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This will hopefully mean that leading British and American politicians responsible for this illegal war will finally be brought to justice...sometime,anyway. It is clear that the International Criminal Court needs to focus on all war crimes and all crimes against humanity-not just those committed by African and Asian nations but also by the wealthier nations of the Western Hemisphere, responsible in the past for the imperial colonialism that allowed sectarian conflicts to fester in many of the nations they colonised. My message to the ICC

It was reported that as a result of cuts to emergency services in London, imposed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, 10 fire stations were forced to close, including notably Clerkenwell Fire Station, which had served Londoners well for 140 years previously. Also, there have been significant cuts to the probation service in the past, and also the transferral of tagging services from public to private providers, the problems of which were highlighted last year when G4S and Serco committed fraud by tagging non-existent or dead offenders. I of course oppose the ConDems' cuts as a whole, but I feel that I need to highlight these cuts in particular because cuts to the emergency services and probation services, and/or privatisation of either, puts public safety- and people's lives- at risk. No matter how well a private provider's intentions may be, private companies cannot run public services effectively, because they are simply not designed to do so. Public services are created

Ladies and gentlemen, if you are wondering, the polar vortex in the USA is still ongoing, as are flood warnings within England.  As for political news, the first local by-election of this year concluded as follows: Salford, South Swinton: Lab 661 (45.1%), Con 298 (20.3%), UKIP 215 (14.7%), Green 196 (13.4%), English Democrats 54 (3.7%), TUSC 43 (2.9%). It is rather unfortunate that our candidate, Joe O'Neill,slipped from second place in 2012 to fourth here, partly due to the intervention of UKIP (who will still be able to hoover up anti-LibLabCon protest votes locally) and also TUSC; the latter party frequently splits our votes in metropolitan areas. Also, the Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, Paul Goggins, has sadly died, aged 60, a week after he collapsed during a run. Many have paid tributes to him for his kindness and hard work during the nearly 17 years he spent as MP. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill is being read at report stage today in th

It was reported only yesterday that the northern part of the USA was experiencing a polar vortex, causing temperatures in some places to drop as low as -50 degrees Celsius-lower than the lowest temperatures of the Arctic Ocean, and cold enough to be life threatening to humans and to generally grind much of everyday human activity to an abrupt halt. Worse still, this polar vortex is causing the floods that heavily hit much of Britain's south coast to worsen, with waves higher than 10 metres expected in the southwest of England in particular. Quite a few people have already died as a result of these floods-more could follow. Readers, did any of you see 'The Day After Tomorrow'? If not, please search for it online. If you have, you can now see in retrospect that it clearly had a good point to demonstrate to us about the potential consequences of artificial climate change. At the same time, the ConDems are failing to adequately invest in flood defence improvements and env

The Environment Secretary (or rather the anti-environment secretary), Owen Paterson, is continuing his complete disregard for Britain's natural environment by proposing 'biodiversity offsets', where ancient trees are felled for development whilst planting new trees to attempt to compensate. The HS2 project, if eventually built, will add insult to injury in this regard. This news comes at the same time of reports of southern parts of Britain facing the worst floods in more than 20 years. The felling of trees, the draining of marshlands, and damage to bogs, just for development purposes, will adversely increase the impact of these floods to urban/semi-urban areas in future. My message to Britain's worst environment secretary for decades is this: our ancient woodlands and other natural areas took centuries to develop, and thus cannot be replaced by 'biodiversity offsets'; though trees are easy to plant, many will take decades, even centuries, to grow to maturit

Phil Everly, half of the once-famous duo the Everly Brothers, has sadly died. I give my tributes to him for his great work in the early stages of the popular music era, and in particular his love song, 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', which in my opinion is one of the most romantic songs ever created in pop music. Furthermore, he and his brother Don (who is still alive) managed 19 top 40 hits during their active years and importantly proved an inspiration for many great bands of the 1960s, notably including the Beatles, Beach Boys, and the Byrds, and future pop musicians. Although the duo split up 40 years ago, their songs are still remembered today. Thus, I give my thanks and farewell to him. In memory of Phillip Everly, born 19 January 1939, blues and country musician, who departed this life 3 January 2014, aged 74 years.  

With the European elections of this year less than five months away, and with this year's Euro elections being the most important for many years, let us hear an update on how Green Parties across Europe are currently polling: (note this is based on polls for upcoming parliamentary elections for the respective nation in each case) Austrian Greens: 13% approximately (last Austrian parliamentary election was as recent as September 2013) Belgian Greens: 6.3%/4.8% (Flemish and French sections respectively) Bulgarian Greens: 1-2%. Cypriot Greens: 3%. Czech Greens: 3%. Danish Red-Green alliance:11%. Estonian Greens: 3%. Finnish Greens: 8.2%. German Greens: 10%. Ecologist Greens (Greek): 2%. Hungarian Greens (aka Politics Can Be Different):4%. Irish Greens: 2-3%. Left Ecology Freedom (includes Italian Greens): 3.1%. Union of Greens and Farmers (includes Latvian Green Party):approximately 12%. Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union (closest equivalent): 3.5%. Luxembourg Greens

Well, I hope as many of you stayed up to watch the New Year's fireworks, in case you were not in London to see them in person as many amongst the great British public were. Like many people, I am glad to leave 2013 in the past, so turbulent it was. There are many threats we all face in 2014, in Britain and elsewhere, most notable of which is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) aka the EU-US free trade agreement. If you do not already know about it by now or how dangerous it will be, please search for it on Google or another reliable search engine. We need to work together to stop this agreement ever being approved. Let us make this year the year we finally turn back the neoliberal tide, and thus work towards a better and more compassionate future. Alan.