The Green Party announced today plans to field over 300 candidates in the forthcoming general election (1) - more than in any previous UK general election.

The London Greens look set for a historic first-ever full slate. The South West will field the largest number of candidates of any region outside the capital, contesting about 70 per cent of the constituencies.

This year, the Green Party is pursuing the same targeting strategy that has seen the party treble its number of council seats in a decade. The three target seats, selected as having the best prospects of a breakthrough, are:

* Brighton Pavilion - Caroline Lucas, the party leader and the area's MEP since 1999, was favoured by 35% in an ICM poll in December 2009 by voters in the constituency, 8 points ahead of the Conservatives, with Labour trailing a poor third. The YouGov/PoliticsHome survey of marginal constituencies in October last year also predicted a Green win in Brighton Pavilion, where the Greens hold a majority of the local council seats and have outpolled all other parties in every election since 2005

* Norwich South - Adrian Ramsay, the party's deputy leader, has built his local party into a powerful electoral machine (2). From 7 councillors in Norwich in 2005, they now have 20 councillors (13 on the city council, where they are the only Green Party group to be in official opposition; 7 on the county council). The Greens have outpolled all other parties in the last three rounds of elections in the whole city of Norwich, and finished 3,000 votes ahead of second-placed Labour in last year's Euro-elections - increasing their number of county council seats in Norwich on the same day from 2 to 7.

* Lewisham Deptford - Darren Johnson, the party's trade and industry spokesperson, is the current chair of the London Assembly. Johnson has been elected to the London Assembly three times in a row. He has twice been elected to Lewisham Borough Council, securing the highest vote of all 54 Lewisham councillors. Lewisham is the strongest local party in London for the Greens, who now hold 6 local council seats where in 2005 they held 1.

A party spokesperson commented today:

"There's a greater need for the Green Party challenge than ever before, with the big three parties increasingly similar in their policies and none of them offering the requisite action on issues like jobs, the NHS, public transport and pensions."

 

Notes to editors:

1. The Green Party of England and Wales has selected 279 candidates already but a number of selection processes are yet to be completed. The Scottish Green Party has selected 19 candidates, and the Northern Ireland Greens have so far selected two candidates and expect to contest a third constituency.

2. See (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU88pRJwiQA).

 

19 March 2010 - 12:00pm - 20 March 2010 - 12:00pm Winchester School of Art, Park Avenue, Wincheste Conceived by the Solent Centre for Architecture + Design, 24 Hours to Save ….. Winchester is a 24 hour long design event to help generate ideas to make Winchester a sustainable city for the future. Hosted by Winchester School of Art, the event will bring together multi-disciplinary teams of architects, engineers, planners, artists and design students who will explore and analyse ideas and data to put together their design for a sustainable city by the year 2020.   The event will start at midday on 19 March when teams will have 24 hours to come up with a plan for the future city. Teams will be invited to attend a series of relevant talks, then, working through the night, sustained with fairtrade coffee and energy foods, they will present their ideas to an audience comprising other teams, local dignitaries and decision makers and public at midday on Saturday 20 March.    Part competition, part workshop, part action debate and part exhibition, 24 Hours to Save ….. Winchester aims to bring fresh thinking and challenging ideas into the public debate about how we will need to live in the city of the future if we are to attempt to redress the current pressure we place on ‘spaceship earth’.    HOW CAN YOU JOIN IN?  Members of the public are welcome to attend the talks on the afternoon of 19 March and the presentation of ideas at noon on 20 March. If you would like to attend a talk, please pre-book your place using the details below.   TALKS 4.15 pm          Designing the sustainable city 5.00 pm          Transport in the city 6.15 pm          Balancing heritage and the needs of the sustainable city 7.00 pm          Energy in the sustainable city   To book a place, please email : val@solentcentre.org.uk giving your full name or ring 023 8028 3053.

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9 April 2010 - 6:30pm - 11 April 2010 - 3:30pm Earnley Concourse, near Chichester, West Sussex

This topical and stimulating course will feature expert speakers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and from Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC). Topics covered will include past climate change, the Earth’s climate today and in the future, the likely effects of global warming, energy sources, global mitigation and adaptation policies and, finally, how individuals, countries and the international community can and should respond to the challenges ahead.

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9 April 2010 - 6:00pm - 11 April 2010 - 12:00am Earnley Concourse, near Chichester, West Sussex

This topical and stimulating course will feature expert speakers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and from Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC). Topics covered will include past climate change, the Earth’s climate today and in the future, the likely effects of global warming, energy sources, global mitigation and adaptation policies and, finally, how individuals, countries and the international community can and should respond to the challenges ahead.

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Rob Veck of the Colden Common Greening Campaign explains what promped him to give up a well-paid career at IBM to concentrate on climate change at http://www.facebook.com/notes/act-on-co2/greening-colden-common-and-rob-vecks-three-levels-of-carbon-reduction/377572867462

 

E-books aren’t going to replace books. E-books are books, merely with a different form. More and more often, that form is ePub, a format powered by standard XHTML. As such, ePub can benefit from our nearly ten years’ experience building standards-compliant websites. That's great news for publishers and standards-aware web designers. Great news for readers, too. Our favorite genius, Joe Clark, explains the simple why and how.

You’ve probably heard that Apple recently announced the iPad. The absence of Flash Player on the device seems to have awakened the HTML5 vs. Flash debate. Apparently, it’s the final nail in the coffin for Flash. Either that, or the HTML5 community is overhyping its still nascent markup language update. The arguments run wide, strong, and legitimate on both sides. Yet both sides might also be wrong. Designer/developer Dan Mall is equally adept at web standards and Flash; what matters, he says, isn't technology, but people.

On the weekend of 27/28 February 2010, the normally peaceful streets of Fulflood were bustling with people moving from house to house to find out how their neighbours saved money and fuel, and reduced their carbon footprint. Altogether there were just under two hundred visits to eight open homes. 

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Today, International Women's Day, the Green Party laid out its concerns about the disadvantages that still face women in 21st century Britain - and the party's proposals for addressing the problem.

The Greens pointed out: 

• British women working full-time on average earn 17% less than men working full-time; for part-time workers the gap is 36% an hour
• Retired women's incomes are on average 40% less than men's
• Fewer than 20% of Westminster MPs are female; less than 11% of board members on major British companies are female
• Women still carry out the majority of unpaid work in the home, and in total on average work considerably more hours than men
• One in four women is subjected to domestic violence in her lifetime, and rape and sexual assault are a societal blight, with significant under-reporting of cases, and only six out of 100 cases that are reported to police resulting in a conviction. Violence against women costs our society £40bn a year, and the psychological and personal costs are enormous

The Green Party's proposals for the general election will include:

• Women (and men) who take time out of paid work for family or caring responsibilities make an essential contribution to our society, and they should not be penalised for this.
• All jobs should be arranged, so every worker maintains a decent work-life balance and has time for family, social and community life. Full-time UK employees work the longest average hours in Europe, 43.5 hours as against 38.2 in France, and 39.9 in Germany. The Green Party wants a 35-hour working week, to help improve people’s work/life balance and help to share out work.
• A non-means-tested citizen’s pension set at 60% of the median national income, currently £170 a week, which would immediately lift pensioners, particularly women, out of poverty.
• Major improvements in maternity services. A full range of birth options must be available to all women, and all women should be entitled to the care of a single midwife throughout their maternity experience and post-natally.
• Breastfeeding rates in the UK are currently well below WHO recommendations, with just 42% of babies being breastfed at 6 weeks, 29% at 4 months and just 22% at 6 months of age. Greens would insist on excellent support for all mothers who choose to breastfeed, and significant penalties to ensure they are not harassed when feeding their children in public, similar to the law already in effect in Scotland.
• Supporting and enhancing Sure Start centres, which help many women and men with parenting. Our proposed citizens' income scheme would replace the current child benefit, but in the meantime Greens argue for a higher rate of child benefit, to more closely reflect the cost of rearing a child.

A Green Party spokeperson said today that: "The Green Party have the policies to make changes happen that will mean a real and positive difference for women everywhere. Greens have long supported boardroom quotas to improve the representation of women, and to address the discriminatory and insulting pay gap that still exists in 2010. Along with improved child care facilities, and access to these, we will recognizing the input of both parents from a child's birth. Today is International Women's Day. 70% of the world's poor are women, and 75% of the civilians killed in war are women and children. Greens recognize that we've got work to do."

You can read the entire report - "Fairness, equity and opportunity: Green Party policies of particular concern to women" - here.

 

 

Major organisations in the Winchester District have pledged to reduce their carbon footprints in a pioneering local declaration on climate change.
Winchester District Strategic Partnership (WDSP) has been working with Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC) on 20:12, the campaign to cut the carbon footprint of Winchester by 20% by the end of 2012.

The first wave of organisations to sign up include the University of Winchester, Winchester Area Community Action, Winchester City Council and Winchester College. Winchester and Eastleigh HealthCare Trust is already working to a NHS scheme for carbon footprint reduction, but as a local public service organisation it has the same goals as the Winchester Declaration and has also signed. Since the launch, DC Leisure has also signed up. DC Leisure is the Council's partner which runs the River Park Leisure Centre.
The Winchester Declaration on Climate Change gives organisations of all types, including businesses, charities and the public sector, the opportunity to pledge to reduce their carbon emissions by 20% between 2009 and 2012. For more information about climate change, how you can make changes, or to pledge to reduce your emissions, click HERE.

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WinACC’s third low carbon champion programme  is now taking place on the evenings of 4, 11, 18 and 25 March. The programme is now full.

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Jean Lambert, London's Green MEP since 1999, and the European Parliament's youngest MEP, Emilie Turunen, will make three joint appearances in London today.

They will meet with the Young Mayor of Lewisham, Jacob Sakil, at the Civic Suite at Lewisham Town Hall.

Jean and Emilie will then travel to Deptford, where there will be joined by Darren Johnson, the Green parliamentary candidate for Lewisham Deptford, to discuss youth unemployment, with representatives from The Albany arts venue.

Finally, they will travel to Westminster to discuss Emilie's draft report on youth unemployment in the EU with a group of experts on the issue.

Over 5.5 million young people in the EU under 25 were unemployed in December 2009, the equivalent to 21.4% of all young people.

Turunen's draft report calls for a promotion of youth access to the labour market and a strengthening of trainee, internship and apprenticeship status.

Jean Lambert said: "Youth unemployment is one of the most acute problems facing Europe today, and Lewisham has one of the highest rates of unemployed under 25s in inner London. I welcome the opportunity to draw attention to this worrying trend by backing Emilie's comprehensive draft report."

"This chronic problem has far-reaching consequences, from the increase in welfare costs to the erosion of the tax system, with young victims of the recession more at risk of long-term social exclusion and health problems."

"In response to this challenge, I strongly support Emilie's call for Member States to work together to produce a coherent strategy of educational, financial, and social policies."

Turunen, 25, who represents the Danish Socialist People's Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) in the European Parliament, added: "Let's put youth at the top of the political agenda. Let's take up this challenge. Let's turn Generation Lost to Generation Hope."

 

Caroline Lucas, Green Party general election candidate for Brighton Pavilion, will join a police response unit on a late night tour of the city's streets tonight (Fri 5 March) at 9pm.

Lucas, who is currently MEP for the South East Region including Brighton and Hove, said: "The evening represents an excellent opportunity to gain first hand experience of the kinds of challenges Brighton and Hove police have to deal with, especially at the weekend. Brighton and Hove has great nightlife and fantastic community pubs. But West Street can be chaotic on a Friday night, and residents across the city suffer noise and disturbance every night of the week. I believe licensing regulation in the city is to blame."

"Regulation on licensing continues to be a controversial matter in the city. Brighton has one off license per every 84 households, many believe that this high ratio contributes heavily to the problems of late night noise and drink related violence."

Lucas continued:

"The current government must take responsibility for causing some of these problems. Their Licensing Act of 2003 has not reduced alcohol related problems, including violence, as promised but has contributed largely to the proliferation of off licenses throughout our city. Binge drinking places an unnecessary burden on local police and health services. Excessive alcohol consumption, leads to over 2,000 hospital admissions per year in Brighton and Hove."

"It's clear if we want a healthier, safer city, we need to wise up when it comes to licensing and put the regulation in place that encourages people to drink responsibly."

Councillor Rachel Fryer, who recently proposed a successful council motion on licensing had these further words:

"We know that 50% of all domestic violence is committed under the influence of alcohol. In 2008, Sussex police were called out 44 times a day - 10 times a day in Brighton and Hove alone."

"Green councillors are working closely with Sussex Police to find a solution to the licensing situation."

"Plus, the ease with which under 18's are able to get hold of alcohol (through adults buying alcohol for children) is concerning, especially as recent figures tell us that five children a week, on average, are hospitalized in Brighton and Hove owing to alcohol abuse."

"I've strongly urged the Licensing Committee to look into ways of publicly recognising and rewarding responsible licensees who follow a code of 'best practice', thereby damaging the reputation and commercial viability of irresponsible traders who perpetuate the problems of underage alcohol consumption and drink related violence."

 

Peter Tatchell - "The Green Party is the first and only political party that is committed to ending the ban on same-sex marriage and ending the ban on straight civil partnerships ... the Green agenda, equality for all"

 

 

 

 

 

Today, The Green Party launches a dental health policy which the Greens believe will enjoy widespread public support and boost the party's hopes of a general election breakthrough.

The Greens are committed to the founding principles of the NHS - including free dental healthcare, which they say could be provided for an extra £1.8 billion a year.

A party spokesperson said, "£1.8 billion a year is a trifling sum for a huge improvement in Britain's dental health service. Everyone who wants one should have access to an NHS dentist, and we must end the scandal of British children in the twenty-first century suffering the pain and misery that come with poor teeth."

The Greens dismiss water fluoridation as a "cheap, tacky, sticking plaster solution with side-effects." They say that "mass medication of doubtful efficacy and potential side-effects is no substitute for a proper dental healthcare strategy. We need to be teaching new parents how to look after their toddlers' teeth, and teaching young children from nursery onwards all about how to look after their own teeth properly.

"And in addition, we need everyone to have access to the right professional support, which means guaranteeing free access to an NHS dentist for everyone who wants it."

Full copies of the briefing are now available at www.greenparty.org.uk/reports

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Summary of Fair, free and effective: Green Party proposals for the dental health service

1. Currently, only half the UK population is provided with free dental healthcare. NHS dentistry charges are a regressive tax: they hit the poor hardest and prevent many from accessing dental care.

2. Access to dentists should not depend on where you live. But getting access to an NHS dentist is difficult and there is wide variation across the country:

Between 55% and 60% of NHS practices are not taking new NHS patients. Some Primary Care Trusts have no NHS dentists taking on new patients. Most areas have around 55 dentists per 100,000 people. But some have as few as 25, while others have over 100.

3. Less than half of the UK adult population and only around two thirds of children are visiting NHS dentists. The percentage of children who have visited NHS dentists within the previous 24 months has fallen in recent years - a worrying sign.

4. Some areas have opted for the addition of fluoridation chemicals to tap water in a bid improve dental health. The Green Party says:

· The use of fluoridated water to improve dental health is not a viable solution - it's more like "sticking plaster with side effects".

· Any (slight) benefit from fluoride in drinking water has to be weighed against the increased risk of osteosarcoma and dental fluorosis.

· Mass medication may breach the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine - it's unethical to medicate people without their consent.

· The use of fluoridation demonstrates a failure to tackle the underlying problems of dental health provision.

5. The Green Party wants:

· Free basic dental care available to all.

· Everyone to have access to an NHS dentist if they want one.

· An end to fluoridation of our tap water.

· A comprehensive dental health strategy including proper education for children and their parents.

6. Assuming that some people will wish to remain private, to provide free dental care to 75% of the population would only cost the NHS an extra £1.8 billion a year.

 

The snowy weather is good for spotting who's insulated the roof - see the contrast between neigbouring roofs in our pictures of Winchester on 6 January.  If you still haven't got round to topping up your roof insulation, the Energy Saving Trust explains what to do and how to get a grant.

 In case you're wondering: insulating the roof means that the heat stays indoors, instead of leaking out and melting the snow.

 

Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC) is launching a new programme to help faith communities in Winchester tackle carbon emission and take up the climate challenge. The first course of Carbon Conversations started on 22nd February, running every Monday for 2 hours for six weeks. New courses starting throughout the spring - email faith@winacc.org.uk for details.

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As David Cameron began his speech to the Conservative conference in Brighton today, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas – the candidate tipped by bookmakers and pollsters to take the constituency where Cameron delivered his speech – warned that Britain would face a deteriorating future under a Conservative government.

The Green Party leader commented that Britain would get worse leadership than under Labour – but, ironically, that the "poisonous cocktail of Tory policies would come laced with a Blairite smile.”

Caroline Lucas said:

“Cameron’s brand of Conservatism means taking the worst of Labour and pulling it down to new depths.

“But instead of Gordon the Thug we have Nice Guy Dave to front it.

“Cameron won't be outdone in pampering the rich. That's why he's slashing inheritance tax for the richest.

“And he won't be outdone in savagely cutting services - even if he's a little quieter on it now, until after the election.

“Cameron might be able to airbrush his photograph for the billboards, but he can't airbrush our memories of the misery and waste of 18 years of Tory rule.”

 

Don’t make assumptions about marginal constituencies, Greens warn 

The Greens warned against any assumptions about the Conservative lead in the national opinion polls. Matt Follett, chair of Brighton and Hove Green Party, commented:

“Just because the Conservatives are favourites to form the next government doesn’t mean they will win all the marginal seats. For instance, most recent opinion polls have shown Caroline Lucas winning the Brighton Pavilion seat for the Greens.

“In fact in Brighton and Hove, the most recent council by-election saw the Greens leapfrog both Labour and the Conservatives to win. In the Pavilion constituency, where the Conservatives are holding this conference, the Greens hold a majority of the local council seats. In fact the Greens have come first in every election in Brighton and Hove since 2005.

Matt Follett added: “This is the second consecutive Tory conference to be held in a city where the Conservatives were beaten by the Greens in last year’s elections (1).”

 

Notes:

1.    The Conservatives held their 2009 autumn conference in Manchester, one of the cities where they finished behind Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens in the 2009 European Parliament elections. And in the same elections the Greens came first in the city of Brighton and Hove.

2.    A poll by ICM* (December 2009) has predicted a Green Party win in Brighton Pavilion, with the Greens polling at 35%, the Conservatives at 27%, Labour at 25% and the Lib Dems at 11%. This follows a YouGov poll (October 2009) which predicted the Greens would take their first seat in Brighton Pavilion.

3.    In the 2009 European election, in Brighton and Hove the Greens took 31% of the vote, ahead of the Conservatives (22%) and Labour (15%).

*ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 533 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 16-21st December 2009. Interviews were conducted across the political constituency of Brighton Pavilion and the results have been weighted to the profile of all Brighton Pavilion adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

 

A new £5000 Plug-in Car Grant will be distributed directly to the consumer at the point of purchase and will be available across the UK from January 2011. To support this, the Government will roll out a £30m trial network of electric vehicle charging points, called Plugged in Places. 

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The Channel 4 Political Slot today (19.55, Thursday 25 February) will set out the Green Party's stall ahead of the general election.

The film, to be broadcast after the Channel 4 evening news, will feature party leader Caroline Lucas, the Green MEP for South East England.

The three-minute film, made by McDougall Craig North for Channel 4 and directed by Daisy Leitch, was filmed in Brighton, where Caroline Lucas has been tipped by bookmakers and opinion pollsters ICM and YouGov to be on course to win the Pavilion seat in the coming general election.

The film starts with Caroline Lucas asking the question: "What do you want your MP to fight for?" and surveys the responses of a number of members of the public, highlighting concerns about jobs, pensions and the NHS - and the Green Party's response in its general election campaign under the banner Fair is worth fighting for.