Alan's Green Thoughts

The Article 50 Bill, aka the 'Brexit bill', is being voted on as we speak, and what is notable is that within the Green Party Caroline Lucas MP will vote 'No' but Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb will vote 'Aye': http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-green-party-split-article-50-caroline-lucas-jenny-jones-back-brexit-2017-1  and that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's decision is to unfairly and unethically impose a three-line whip for Labour MPs to vote 'Aye': https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/corbyn-to-impose-three-line-whip-on-labour-mps-to-trigger-article-50-brexit Like such moral issues as abortion, the subject of Brexit is one where the vote should automatically be free to all members of both Houses of Parliament, given the division over the issue and how to handle it during negotiations and after negotiations finish. The fact that some Labour frontbenchers (Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead & Kilburn and Jo Stevens, MP for Cardiff Centra

Lincolnshire has just become the next English county to propose 'unitarisation' (abolition of existing districts and creating one or more unitary authorities in its place, also being proposed by Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, and possibly other counties as well). This is mainly being done for financial reasons, however (some county councils are losing all central government funding), rather than ease of governance, and is part of a growing trend that could see the end of the two-tier system of local governance England has had since 1974. I nevertheless believe the remaining county councils in Britain (including the one where I live, Hertfordshire) should be abolished, irrespective of funding or lack thereof. Why? Increasing suburbanisation of Britain and the corresponding expansion of many urban areas means that many cities and towns have boundaries that are 20 years out of date at this time of writing, and have effectively absorbed large parts of their existing coun

The two parliamentary by-elections of Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central are now set to take place as early as 23rd February, just five weeks from now. I am certain the attention both have been receiving in the media will attract many by-election hopefuls (although Stoke-on-Trent Central, being inner-city, will undoubtedly attract more candidates). One local by-election took place this week in the Norton ward of Bromsgrove DC, on the same subject, and this was the result: Bromsgrove DC, Norton: Conservative 219 (43.2%, -16.6%), Labour 182 (36.7%, +7,1%), UKIP 82 (16.6%), Green 20 (3.9%, -6.6%). Labour came surprisingly close, a point exacerbated by the low turnout of ~15% and the lack of a Liberal Democrat candidate. This should have helped the Green Party but sadly it did not, as our vote share dropped by more than half even though UKIP was the only party in this by-election that had not stood last time and Norton is a safely Conservative ward covering a village near Bromsgrove

Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the type of Brexit she wanted would be a 'hard Brexit'-meaning that her plan is for Britain to completely sever all ties with the European Union, even its single market which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland amongst European nations who are not part of the EU. Alongside calling for Britain to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights, whose convention it helped create, this is one of the biggest mistakes Britain can ever make in this matter. Britain needs proper access to international markets without having to pay excessive tariffs in order to make the investments into green technology and infrastructure it needs to make sure it can prosper outside the EU. Given the economic output of the single market, combined with fundamental freedoms (including free movement of workers, importantly) that it provides to all p$articipating states, I believe it is imperative that Britain only goes for a soft Brexit all

The power-sharing deal in Northern Ireland between the DUP and Sinn Fein, the largest unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland respectively, has collapsed, paving the way for fresh Stormont Assembly elections to come as early as 2nd March-only seven weeks away at this time of writing. The collapse was down to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal which prompted the resignation of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein. These snap elections will take place with only 90 Assembly seats available instead of the previous 108 following legislation to reduce the number of seats per Assembly constituency from six to five, which puts many prominent MLAs in danger of losing even if results stay relatively static in percentage terms compared to May 2016. However, given that many of the internal divisions in Northern Ireland stem from the fundamental fact that Ireland was split into two in the first place back in 1922 (due to religious differences between Catholi

Readers, the results from local by-elections that featured Green Party candidates this week (both of them) were as follows: Sunderland MBC, Sandhill: Liberal Democrats 824 (45.0%, +41.5%), :Labour 458 (25.0%, -29.9%), UKIP 343 (18.7%, -7.2%), Conservative 184 (10.0%, -5.7%), Green 23 (1.3%). Three Rivers DC, Gade Valley: Lib Dem 626 (60.9%, +24.0%), Con 196 (19.1%, -22.9%), Lab 119 (11.6%, -9.6%), UKIP 69 (6.7%), Green 18 (1.8%). In the context of local by-elections, the Liberal Democrats' win of Sandhill, a traditionally Labour ward in Sunderland where the main competitor was briefly UKIP, and from last place, will go down as one of the biggest surprises, especially when the Liberal Democrats are still not faring that well in national opinion polls. It cannot merely be blamed on the fact that this local by-election happened when the previous Labour councillor was disqualified for lack of attendance (a councillor must attend at least one meeting every six months or lose their

We are now in the year 2017 Anno Domini, everyone, and with it begins what can be termed as a new chapter in the history of human civilisation-one which overall will be dominated by substantial progress in virtual intelligence and electronic, online communications and transactions becoming the norm rather than the exception, and the consequences of such progress. This year, general elections will take place in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Norway, and New Zealand, and many other nations. The first three of these, as well as the French Presidential election, will be particularly important to watch because of the rise of hardline nationalist parties (FN, AfD, and PVV), a revival of alternative progressive politics (the Dutch Green Party, GroenLinks, is set to receive its best ever results this year having fallen to a low of 4 seats in 2012; it could even finish as high as third), and the continuing failures of the triad of traditional centrist parties (which in