Green Socialist 46 Posted Wed 1 Jul 2009, 10:46am GMT Read the Late Autumn 2008 issue. The chaos surrounding National Express' loss of the East Coast line renders Bob Crow's article on rail privatisation even more relevant. Additional articles on greedy bankers, green spaces under threat and the future of voluntary action. Plus Bryn Glover's environmental soundbites, our advice to Barack Obama and much more.
Link: Green Socialist
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Spotlight on Menwith Hill Posted Sun 14 Jun 2009, 4:43pm GMT
Link: CAAB web site
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Open letter to Jeremy Corbyn MP Posted Tue 9 Jun 2009, 11:06am GMT Dear Jeremy,
You have rightly established a reputation as one of the few socialist Members of Parliament. You are seen as someone who hasn't succumbed to the lure of ambition and allowances. That is why it is all the more remarkable and disappointing that you have echoed the idiot refrain that Dianne Abbot and others have given vent to over recent days.
I refer to your interview for BBC News today in which you stated that the attempt to be rid of Gordon Brown was a Blairite plot. Now it may well be that some Blairites want to be rid of Brown, just as some are his arch defenders (e.g. Mandelson). What matters is what, if anything, socialists have to say and judging by what you said yourself today, that is not much.
I realise that political memories on the Labour Left are particularly short but maybe you can tell me how Brown differs from Blair on ID cards, imprisonment without trial, torture, civil liberties, privatisation etc. etc. If anything Brown determined on becoming Prime Minister to be seen as more Blairite than the Blairites. He brought Digby Jones into office alongside Lord Myners. He promoted Blairites like the ghastly corrupt Jacqui Smith. He even stretched out a hand of friendship to the Prince of Darkness himself and of course pursued the privatisation of the Post Office until reality stopped him in the tracks.
Just what do you see in the above which is at all different from what Tony Blair would have done? What is there that is in any way progressive about Brown?
As the BNP now reaps the whirlwind that New Labour has sown, is it too much to expect you and what is left of the Campaign Group to take an independent socialist position on the need to junk New Labour - Brown, Mandelson and Milliband - rather than imagining and pretending that they represent an advance on Blairism?
I suggest you read my letter in yesterday's Independent and the article on my blog.
Yours for socialism
Tony Greenstein
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-labour-troubles-1699233.html
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No2EU, Yes to Democracy England and Wales Election results Posted Mon 8 Jun 2009, 9:15am GMT The Alliance for Green Socialism was part of the No2EU, Yes to Democracy Campaign in the European Elections. We polled 143,543 votes over England and Wales. The results for Scotland are not out until later and we did not stand in Northern Ireland.
In Yorkshire and Humber N2EU, Yes to Democracy polled 15,614 votes.
Our thanks to Mike and Malcolm and other AGS members who pulled together with the RMT, the Socialist Party and the other allies to mount the campaign with only a few weeks notice.
The Socialist Labour Party (Arthur Scargill) gained 150,590 votes over England and Wales. They do not seem to have distributed their election address very widely but traded on Arthur's militant trade union history.
Juliet Boddington, on behalf of the Alliance for Green Socialism, gained a creditable 89 votes in the North Yorkshire County Council elections in Whitby.
The Independent - Jan Jananayagam in London polled 50,014 votes campaigning on Tamil rights and against racism. Her web site at http://vote4jan.org/beta/ is worth looking at.
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no2eu, Yes to Democracy Posted Fri 5 Jun 2009, 8:49am GMT Thanks to all those who voted for the no2eu, Yes to Democracy.
The Alliance for Green Socialism took part in the campaign with some doubts. However working with a major trade union, the RMT and winning over such Labour stalwarts as Alice Mahon showed the positive.
The election platform was the only one committed to internationalism beyond Europe's boundaries.
"No to racism and fascism, yes to the international solidarity of working people"
No one else was clearer.
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Alice Mahon Declares Support for No2EU - Yes to Democracy Posted Tue 26 May 2009, 6:28pm GMT Election broadcasts roll out this week
Link: Read full press release
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Bob Crow to Address Rally in Hull on 30 May 2009 Posted Tue 26 May 2009, 6:20pm GMT A No2EU - Yes to Democracy election event
Link: Read full press release
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Climate change could be the biggest threat to global health Posted Tue 19 May 2009, 2:11pm GMT Managing the health effects of climate change
Launched in London, UK, May 13, 2009
A collaboration between The Lancet and University College London, UK, resulting in the first UCL Lancet Commission report, setting out how climate change over the coming decades could have a disastrous effect on health across the globe. The report examines practical measures that can be taken now and in the short and medium term to control its effects.
Executive summary
Climate change could be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Effects on health of climate change will be felt by most populations in the next decades and put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increased risk. During this century, the earth’s average surface temperature rises are likely to exceed the safe threshold of 2°C above pre-industrial average temperature.
Full report at link.
Link: http://www.thelancet.com/climate-change
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The banks are made of marble, with a guard on every door Posted Sat 9 May 2009, 6:43pm GMT Pete Seeger performs an apposite song from the new CD box set The Little Red Box of Protest Songs. The set celebrates the 100th anniversary of The Little Red Song Book, the first American collection of protest songs. Listen to the track here.
Link: The Banks Are Made of Marble
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Read the Book They're All Talking About Posted Wed 6 May 2009, 8:30am GMT "The amount of energy saved by switching off the phone charger, 0.01 kWh, is exactly the same as the energy used by driving an average car for one second."
Download Sustainable Energy - without the hot air by David J.C. MacKay for free; save £45, tons of carbon dioxide and possibly the planet.
Link: Sustainable Energy - without the hot air
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Lindis Percy is released Posted Mon 4 May 2009, 11:16am GMT The peace campaigner has now been released from prison.
She thanks all those who sent messages of support.
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Kelso Cochrane Memorial Event Posted Mon 4 May 2009, 11:03am GMT A ceremony to commemorate a victim of racism
Link: Read full press release
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Lindis Percy jailed for 45 days Posted Mon 27 Apr 2009, 3:08pm GMT Lindis is a politcal prisoner jailed for her campaigning for peace.
Lindis Percy
KP5753,
Low Newton Women's Prison
Brasside
Durham
DH1 5YA
Tel; 0191 3764000
Please send messages of support if you are able- she will appreciate them. Her sentence is for 45 days but the actual time she will spend there is unknown at the moment.
Link: BBC news
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London Eye and 1968 Posted Sat 14 Mar 2009, 6:02pm GMT London Eye has been updated and check out Hugo Radice's piece on 1968
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British Medical Association calls for free prescriptions Posted Wed 11 Mar 2009, 9:39am GMT The BMA calls for England to follow the example of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and abolish all prescription charges.
At the moment the Department of Health is currently reviewing the list of long-term conditions that are exempt from prescription charges such as diabetes. The BMA calls on the government o go further and get rid of all charges.
The BMA believes that the current system is “outdated, iniquitous, and detrimental to the health of many patients”. It questions the value of expanding the list of exemptions, given the complexities involved, and the fact that only 11% of prescriptions currently attract a charge – a figure which will soon drop further with the abolition of charges for cancer patients.
The BMA has managed to make New Labour retreat on sharing medical information on patients but the government still intends to put up charges.
“Abolishing prescription charges altogether is the fairest and the simplest option.”
Link: BMA full submission to Government
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Creeping out of the mortuary Posted Wed 4 Mar 2009, 10:43am GMT New Labour under the disguise of reforming the Coroners’ courts is introducing legislation that will massively increase its ability to spy on us. Not only will government bodies will use the information the law will allow its big business pay masters to use our private data unbeknown to us. For instance your employer will be able to check on your doctors records to check whether you really are, in their opinion, ill.
This gross attack on patient confidentiality has resulted in a joint letter from eight organisations, including the BMA, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Surgeons, and the Royal College of Nursing, raising their concerns with Justice Secretary Jack Straw about proposals in the Coroners and Justice Bill.
The letter expresses “grave concerns” about Clause 152 of the Bill which, in its current form, appears to grant the government unprecedented powers to access people’s confidential medical records, and share them with third parties.
The organisations warn that this would “undermine the presumption of confidentiality, corrode trust in the doctor-patient relationship and could have a disastrous impact on both the health of individuals and the public.”
Link: BMA Press Release
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Heathrow third runway says it all Posted Fri 16 Jan 2009, 4:38pm GMT New Labour's announcement that they will build a third runway at Heathrow sums up their attitude to the devastating threat of climate change. They will produce an unlimited number of words about climate change and the targets they will set to reduce it - but their actual decisions ignore the threat and increase our emission of greenhouse gases.
Mike Davies pointed out on Question Time on 15 January 2009 that aviation already accounts for over 5% of UK greenhouse gas emissions; if the government were to meet its 2050 targets then flying would account for between 25% and 50% of our emissions!
As Mike said on Question Time: "If someone from Mars lands on Earth in a hundred years time and talks to the few survivors living on the hilltops above the flooded plains they will ask: 'Didn't you know about climate change? Were you mad?'"
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The Great CAM Scam Posted Sun 7 Dec 2008, 12:09pm GMT In our Features section, Dr Mike Eslea examines the madness of complementary and alternative medicine, from herbalism to acupuncture to homeopathy.
Link: The Great CAM Scam
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THE CHAGOS ISLANDERS Posted Sun 23 Nov 2008, 10:27pm GMT Let them go home.
Link: Read full press release
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A SEPTEMBER WALK IN KENSAL GREEN Posted Sun 5 Oct 2008, 12:36pm GMT Twenty five people joined the Alliance for Green Socialism sponsored walk in Kensal Green Cemetery. The walk based on the book "Grave Matters" by Eddie Adams enjoyed a very pleasant sunny day. The 11/2 hour walk conducted by Eddie visited some notable people's graves including important progressives such as Fergus O'Connor the Chartist leader. The hearse was followed by 50,000 people to Kensal Green and his monument in the form of a gothic spire was erected by subscription, mainly from the working classes.
The Pathfinders monument erected by Joseph Corfield in 1885 lists 80 people including the Webbs, William Morris and Thomas Paine who fought for progressive change. Beside it is the obelisk to Robert Owen who was a pioneer for cooperative socialism and secured the reduction of the hours of labour in factories for women and children.
Eddie spoke at the grave of Kelso Cochrane who, following the Notting Hill Race Riots in 1958, was murdered in May 1959 by a group of white thugs in Golborne Road W.10. His funeral from St Michaels church Ladbroke Grove was followed by over 1,000 people drawn from the progressive and West Indian communities and was one of the spurs in the development of the anti fascist and anti racialist movements. The AGS is organising to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
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42 Days - Davis Is Not Serious Posted Fri 27 Jun 2008, 9:35pm GMT Tories outflank New Labour on the left for their own reasons
Link: Read full press release
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Nuclear Power - Still No Thanks Posted Fri 30 May 2008, 2:49pm GMT Plans for a new nuclear reactor casts doubts on the government's environmental committment
Link: Read full press release
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Leeds Local Election Address 2008 Posted Wed 9 Apr 2008, 4:14pm GMT The Leeds Local Election Address 2008 has now been posted on the resources page.
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Green Socialist 43 Posted Wed 9 Apr 2008, 4:12pm GMT Green Socialist 43 has now been posted.
Please see the resources page.
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AGS Annual Conference Posted Wed 26 Mar 2008, 12:07am GMT New officers and a new way forward
Link: Read full press release
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Heathrow climate costs fiddled Posted Thu 13 Dec 2007, 9:10am GMT The Friends of the Earth have accused the Government of rigging the figures over the effects on climate made by the building of a third runway at Heathrow.
The government used the year 2000 as their base costing for their figures so claiming the climate change cost would be £4.8 billion. If they had used the more up to date figures from the Stern report the figure would be £13.4 billion.
Brown version of spin is fast spiralling away from any resemblance to reality.
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UK Wind power Posted Thu 13 Dec 2007, 9:03am GMT In a surprising U turn New Labour has announced thousands of new offshore wind turbines which could power every home in Britain by 2020
John Hutton, a Government Minister, wants private companies to invest in large-scale wind farm development over the next 12 years. This would mean around 7,000 turbines.
The Minister told BBC radio that "tough choices" would have to be made if the UK wanted to respond to climate change and become more self-sufficient. What he probably means that given the UK disastrous record over building new nuclear reactors, the rising price of uranium and the failure to solve the nuclear waste issues the Government is being forced to try green energy production.
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Green Fair Posted Thu 13 Dec 2007, 8:56am GMT The Leeds Alliance for Green Socialism thanks all those who supported our Green Fair. It was a wonderful success raising around £300 for our local election finds.
Thanks Again
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The Tropics get bigger Posted Thu 13 Dec 2007, 8:52am GMT The Topics are expanding north and south. This will have a severe effect over large area. The climate could be come morestormy plus there would be an increase desertification.
Scientists writing in the new journal Nature Geosciences say the effects of the larger Tropics could be disastrous for millions. Their research shows that the expansion is proceeding at a much faster rate than previously predicted but it is in line with current predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Link: http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ngeo.2007.38.html
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No to the third runway at Heathrow Posted Wed 5 Dec 2007, 11:30am GMT A response to Gordon Brown's CBI speech giving big business the go-ahead for Heathrow expansion
Link: Read full press release
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Carbon Dioxide levels accelerating Posted Fri 26 Oct 2007, 7:26am GMT Global carbon output is rising faster than previous predictions.
The results have been put down to three main factors. The growth of the world economy, the massive increases in the use of coal in China and the increasing inability of forests, oceans and soil to absorb carbon dioxide. This last factor could result in even faster rises in carbon dioxide levels in the future.
The results of a survey by the Global Carbon Project have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
The Guardian website has a good summary at guardian.co.uk.climatechange
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/oct/23/climatec
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Heat wave in the Arctic Posted Thu 4 Oct 2007, 7:34am GMT A heat wave has swept through the Arctic this year. The Canadian High Arctic research station on Melville Island has recorded temperatures above 20C, about 15C higher than the long-term average. Arctic sea ice in September sunk to the lowest levels ever recorded
The high temperatures on the island caused catastrophic mudslides as the permafrost on hillsides melted altering the courses of rivers.
Other parts of the Arctic also experienced higher-than-normal temperatures, which indicate that the wider polar region may have experienced its hottest summer on record, according to Walt Meir of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.
Link: environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article3021309
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Arctic ice cap melting even faster Posted Mon 24 Sep 2007, 7:32am GMT The latest figures for the melting of the Arctic ice cap seem to indicate it is melting faster than previous estimates.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center’s data show:
“The minimum for 2007 shatters the previous five-day minimum set on September 20–21, 2005, by 1.19 million square kilometers (460,000 square miles), roughly the size of Texas and California combined, or nearly five United Kingdoms.”
These figures confirm earlier reports from NASA and the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
Link: The National Snow and Ice Data Center
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