Alan's Green Thoughts

Readers, the results from yesterday's local by-elections that featured Green Party candidates were as follows: Aberdeen UA, Hilton/Woodside/Stockethill: SNP 1690 (55.1%), Labour 771 (25.15%), Conservative and Unionist 350 (11.4%), Green 130 (4.25%), Liberal Democrats 125 (4.1%). SNP elected at first count. Aberdeen UA, Kincorth/Nigg/Cove: SNP 1939 (61%), Lab 606 (19.1%), Con 313 (9.8%), Lib Dem 207 (6.5%), Green 114 (3.6%). SNP elected at first count. North Kesteven DC, North Hykeham Mill: Con 286 (40.1%, -19.2%), North Hykeham Ind 180 (25.2%), Lab 161 (22.6%), Green 64 (9%), Lib Dem 22 (3.1%). Conservative gain from Lincolnshire Independent. Given that we often struggle to find candidates in large rural counties such as Lincolnshire (we did not even have a parliamentary candidate for Sleaford & North Hykeham last time around) we have made a good start in North Hykeham, where the Liberal Democrats used to have substantial local strength. Rural areas and coastal towns ar...

Sadly, I have heard that two of my Green Party colleagues, Sarah Cope and Claire Phipps, earlier today lost their High Court bid to bring a judicial review of a returning officer's decision to reject their application to stand as job-share MPs in Basingstoke in the 2015 general election. (A similar attempt by Independents at a job-share in Weston-Super-Mare was rejected by the returning officer there as well, on a related note.) Sarah is a single mother with two young children to look after and Claire has hypersomnia, causing her to sleep for 12 hours per day (most adults sleep for 7-8 hours per day) meaning neither of them can be full-time MPs in practice. Parliament still needs substantially better representation of women and people with disabilities than it does at present, so job-sharing will be useful in moving forwards in this regard. I believe, however, that electoral reform will be a fundamentally more important step in achieving this and breaking up two-pa...

Readers, the results of recent local by-elections from yesterday featuring Green Party candidates were as follows: Elmbridge DC, Long Ditton: Liberal Democrat 770 (50.6%, +4.4%), Conservative 611 (40.2%, -4.7%), Green 79 (5.2%), UKIP 61 (4.0%, -4.9%). North East Lincolnshire UA, Croft Baker: Lab 768 (37.0%, -3.0%), Con 513 (24.7%, -1.9%), Lib Dem 323 (15.6%, +11.3%), UKIP 318 (15.3%, -8.1%), TUSC 85 (4.1%, +2.3%), Green 66 (3.2%, -0.7%). Given that it has been 12 years since we last contested the Long Ditton ward of Elmbridge Council, I am pleased that we were able to beat UKIP, who even in the most affluent parts of Surrey can post respectable results. I must also state that the Liberal Democrat recovery in the Croft Baker local by-election, which partly explains why our vote share dropped slightly there, is not that surprising-they won that ward in the few years after the illegal invasion of Iraq under Labour, and given the Liberal Democrats' then opposition to the Ir...

Readers, the results from the by-elections of yesterday that featured Green Party candidates were as follows: Kingston-upon-Thames LBC, Grove: Liberal Democrat 1577 (59.9%, +26.4%), Conservative 688 (26.1%, -4.8%), Labour 223 (8.5%, -14.0%), Green 88 (3.3%, -9.7%), UKIP 58 (2.2%). All changes are since 2014. Norfolk CC, Gorlston St. Andrews (in Great Yarmouth): Con 876 (42.7%, +15.3%), Lab 773 (37.7%, +1.8%), UKIP 285 (13.9%, -22.8%), Lib Dem 66 (3.2%), Green 51 (2.5%). Norfolk CC, Mile Cross (in Norwich): Lab 749 (51.8%, +7.2%), Con 279 (19.3%, +8.7% ), Green 209 (14.4%, -6.8% ), UKIP 148 (10.2%, -9.6%), Lib Dem 62 (4.3%, +0.1%). Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats, surely invigorated by newly elected leader Tim Farron, managed to win the Battle Town by-election in Rother and amazingly, Llay in Wrexham. We sadly once again felt a heavy squeeze, particularly in Kingston-upon-Thames where it seems the Lib Dems are determined to restore their status there (and elsewhere in ...

The Conservative government's proposed Trade Union Bill, which will make it almost impossible for legal strike action to take place due to the unfairly high strike thresholds it sets (50% turnout, without recourse to online ballots for all types of strikes, with an additional threshold of 40% of all eligible union members for people working in 'essential public services') if it is passed, will receive its first reading next week, and the more important readings (second and third) soon after. Therefore, we need to state clearly, and now, why the right to strike matters so much to us. The right to strike (and thus withdraw labour) is important when the capitalist system fundamentally creates substantial inequalities between the majority of us who work for an employer in some capacity, and the often very wealthy employers themselves, and also creates enough unemployment to make switching employers difficult. By being able to strike, we can make sure we are paid fairly and ...

I give special thanks to my friend Emma Dalmayne, who spoke on 'Autism Kom Unity' yesterday (which I co-host on Kensal to Kilburn radio every month), for inspiring me to write this particular post. If you live in Britain, Ireland (where Fiona O'Leary has been covering this topic: http://www.eveningecho.ie/cork-news/quack-treatments-for-autism-are-abuse/) , or the USA in particular, you may recently have come across con artists trying to sell 'cures' for autism (and other conditions for that matter) to you, your family or your friends. It is important to remember that because autism has a neurological basis, there is no cure-and also, autism needs to be appreciated and respected anyway. False cures such as Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) are illegal in the UK for a reason-they are dangerous and can kill. It is important that we continue to expose these fake cures and stop them being proliferated anywhere. If you see any seller trying to market a chemical compoun...

Readers, the results from yesterday's by-elections which featured Green Party candidates (all except the local by-election in Gwynedd that was contested only by Plaid Cymru and a splinter group known as Llais Gwynedd), were as follows: East Sussex CC, Old Hastings & Tressall: Labour 961 (56.5%, +7.4%), Conservative 368 (21.6%, +6.0%), UKIP 174 (10.2%, -12.2%), Green 149 (8.8%, +0.5%), Liberal Democrat 48 (2.8%, -1.6%). Hastings BC, Central St Leonards : Lab 481 (44.0%, -9.1%), Con 259 (23.7%, +10.9%), Independent 184 (16.8%, +9.5%), UKIP 77 (7.0%, -8.8%), Green 75 (6.9%, -0.9%), Lib Dem 17 (1.6%, -1.5%). Hastings BC, St Helens: Con 663 (43.5%, +3.6%), Lab 557 (36.5%, +2.1%), Lib Dem 136 (8.9%, -5.1%), UKIP 120 (7.9%, -13.9%), Green 48 (3.1%). Hounslow LBC, Brentford: Lab 1292 (54.0%, +7.9%), Con 664 (27.7%, +13.2%), Green 209 (8.7%, -4.8%), Lib Dem 116 (4.8%, -1.3%), UKIP 113 (4.7%, -7.4%) Hyndburn DC, Spring Hill: Lab 778 (55.3%, +5.4%), Con 475 (33.8%, -0....

Today, George Osborne announced the first budget of this Parliament, the first announced by a Conservative majority government for 19 years. Here are just five reasons why this budget is so bad for many people in Britain: 1. Cuts to tax credits which so many families in work rely on. In London and other affluent areas where living costs are high, many people living on low wages cannot meet their basic needs without relying on tax credits. 2. The freezing of benefits and public sector pay will drive more and more people to desperation. There has been a below-inflation public sector pay for years now, and large numbers of public sector jobs have disappeared or have been outsourced to infamous private contractors like CAPITA or G4S. Other benefits, especially disability and out of work benefits, will be hit hard to the point where there will be even more needless deaths of vulnerable people under this government. 3. The compulsory national minimum wage increase will be almost wort...

Yesterday, Greek voters decisively rejected the bailout terms offered by creditors, by a margin of 61% to 39%, which is also a rejection of any further austerity in Greece. Currently, critical supplies of food and medicine are about to run out and Greek citizens are only able to withdraw up to 60 Euros per day (approximately £45) from ATMs. I am very pleased with this result, but what are its potential implications elsewhere within Europe and particularly the Eurozone, where unemployment rates are much higher than in non-Eurozone European nations? 1. Greece could be forced to exit from the Euro, and other nations could then follow. There could be negative economic effects from reintroducing pre-Euro currencies, but this may be a small price to pay, in my opinion, from freeing one's nation from the shackles of the European Central Bank by leaving the Euro. I believe the situation would be much easier if the Euro had not been introduced in the first place. However, Greeks are sti...

Readers, the results from this week's local by-elections (one on 30th June, one on 2nd July) featuring Green Party candidates were as follows: Cardiff UA, Pentyrch: Conservative 561 (37.8%, -16.8%), Plaid Cymru 543 (36.6%, +24.5%), Labour 324 (21.8%, -7.9%), Independent 24 (1.6%), Green 22 (1.5%, -1.3%) , Liberal Democrat 10 (0.7%, -0.9%). Richmond-upon-Thames LBC, Hampton Wick: Lib Dem 1189 (43.0%, +25.0%), Con 1081 (39.1%, -10.6%), Green 237 (8.6%, -9.9%), Lab 185 (6.7%, -7.2%), UKIP 69 (2.5%), Ind L 7 (0.3%). Lib Dem gain from Conservative. The result in Pentyrch, where Plaid Cymru came just 18 votes short of winning the seat, shows that a revival of the Green Party-Plaid Cymru pact that occurred in 1992 would be very useful in Cardiff in particular. After all, we finished ahead of PC in Cardiff Central in the most recent general election, but PC performed well in Cardiff West when we did not (Pentyrch is in Cardiff West). Had we helped obtain a joint Green Party-Plai...

Readers, last night you may have watched a programme entitled 'Kids In Crisis' on Channel Four. This programme has highlighted the severe lack of local provision for children needing psychiatric treatment in many parts of Britain, especially in Cornwall and Northern Ireland. Relocating children hundreds of kilometres away from their parents so they can get the treatment they need can actually harm their recovery in the long-term, as can shifting them multiple times when the money spent on the moves and of housing children so far from home could easily be spent on more localised units. Here is what I believe needs to be done to help tackle mental health issues within childhood and adolescence in Britain (remember, many mental health conditions have a childhood cause): 1. The creation of a young adult mental health services division (for people aged 16-25). The automatic transferral of a patient as soon as they turn 18 from adolescent to adult mental health services is prob...