Smog babies - using my photo

 

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cross-party peers alive during Great Smog mark anniversary – and the need for a new Clean Air Act 

Green Party Baroness Jenny Jones and Labour Lord Alf Dubs were among a cross-party group of venerable peers – all born before the 1952 Great Smog of London – who gathered today in Westminster to mark the 70^th anniversary of the Great Smog, which killed some 12,000 people and led to the passing of the first Clean Air Act in 1956. 

The peers had something to celebrate as well as something to remember: on Friday, Baroness Jones' Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, also known as Ella's Law, passed its third reading in the House of Lords with strong cross-party support. 

Baroness Jones said:  

"It's easy to forget just what an impact the Great Smog had in terms of people's awareness of the dangers of air pollution. It led directly to the passing of the first Clean Air Act, which stopped the widespread burning of coal in our towns and cities. 

"Air pollution now is less visible, but it's still taking a terrible toll in lives and ill health. The Royal College of Physicians has estimated that it kills around 40,000 people a year, and it causes serious long-term health damage for millions more. 

"The Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill aims to make the right to breathe clean air a human right, and to bring air quality up to minimum World Health Organization standards in our towns and cities. 

"It's been incredibly heartening to see so many peers, from all sides of the House of Lords, speak in support of the Bill, some drawing on personal experience of people in their own families whose health has been badly affected.  

"The Bill moves on to the House of Commons this week, and we know there are many there who feel just as strongly that the government needs to take much stronger action on air quality." 

The Bill is also being called Ella's Law in in memory of nine-year-old Ella Roberta Adoo Kissi-Debrah, the first person to have air pollution listed by a coroner as a cause of death. Since Ella's death in 2013, her mother Rosamund Kissi-Debrah has campaigned tirelessly for stronger legislation on air quality. 

Lord Dubs was exactly 20 years old on 5 December 1952, the first day of the Great Smog, and celebrates his 90^th birthday today. Lord Dubs said:  

"For someone in their teens at the time, the first day of the Great Smog was almost fun, but as the days went by it became a horrible experience – shocking, filthy and deadly. 

"Despite the measures taken after the Great Smog, we still have a long way to go to clean up London's air. We've taken the lead out of petrol, but London's air is still not good enough, which is why the Mayor's extension of the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ )is a helpful step in the right direction". 

Liberal Democrat peer Lady Bakewell said: 

"In 1952 the only method of heating homes was coal fires.  Coupled with dank winter weather, smogs became common in many cities.  The recent huge hike in energy costs is seeing many households installing open fireplaces in order to keep warm.  If we are not careful this could increase the risk of poor air quality similar to that of post-war years."   

Conservative peer Lord Balfe of said: 

"The London Smogs exacted a dreadful toll on human health and life. This is not a Party issue and the first Clean Air Act was a Conservative initiative pioneered by Sir Gerald Nabarro MP. That is why today we continue to campaign across all political parties for cleaner forms of transport and heating. Clean air makes for a longer healthier life." 

Baroness Jones was approaching her third birthday as the Great Smog descended on London and six years old when the first Clean Air Act was passed. She said:  

"There are many people alive today who would not be if not for that landmark piece of legislation. At the time, some politicians claimed that it would be far too expensive to stop burning coal in our cities. But then, as now, the costs of inaction far outweighed the costs of action.  

"We know the damage that air pollution is doing, and we know how to prevent it. Seventy years on from the Great Smog, it's past time for a new Clean Air Act." 

ENDS 

Notes for editors 

1)    Photo caption from left to right: Richard Balfe (Baron Balfe of Dulwich, Conservative); Cathy Bakewell (Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, Liberal Democrat); Susan Garden (Baroness Garden of Frognal, Liberal Democrat); Jenny Jones (Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, Green Party); Alf Dubs (Baron Dubs of Battersea, Labour); David Hunt (Baron Hunt of Wirral McHale, Conservative); Ruth Lister (Baroness Lister of Burtersett, Labour); Mike Watson (Baron Watson of Invergowrie, Labour)

 

2)    Air pollution is the biggest environmental health hazard facing people in Britain. with disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted. Government figures estimate that over 5% of all deaths in England are attributable to air pollution – around 30,000 people annually. The Royal College of Physicians puts the figure for the UK as whole at around 40,000 deaths a year. It states that: "The health problems resulting from exposure to air pollution have a high cost to people who suffer from illness and premature death, to our health services and to business. In the UK, these costs add up to more than £20 billion every year."

See 'Every Breath We  Take: The Lifelong Impact of Air Pollution', Royal College of Physicians, 2016: https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/every-breath-we-take-lifelong-impact-air-pollution  

 

3)    Baroness Jenny Jones' Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill passed its 3^rd reading in the House of Lords on 2 December and now moves on to the House of Commons. The Bill:  

• Would enshrine the human right to clean air precisely and explicitly in law. 
• Follows a 'One Air' approach that encompasses the health and environmental impacts of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and sets limits and targets for each aspect based on the best international standards and scientific advice. 
• Would require the Government and local authorities to bring air quality up to minimum WHO standards within five years (or seek postponements subject to strict conditions). 
• Would require the national government to give local authorities the support they need to do this. 
• Would establish a Citizens' Commission for Clean Air ("CCCA") and require it and the Committee on Climate Change to review pollutants and limits annually and advise the Secretary of State if they need tightening. 
• Would require the CCCA to annually review the Secretary of State's compliance with the law 
  
  
   For more information on the Bill and the impacts of air pollution on health, see https://ellaslaw.uk/
   

4)    The first Clean Air Act of 1956 was enacted by a Conservative government after Sir Gerald Nabarro, a Conservative MP, introduced a Clean Air Bill as a Private Member's Bill. It mandated "smoke control areas" in high-population areas to reduce smoke pollution and sulphur dioxide from household coal fires, as well as measures to cut emissions of gases, grit, and dust from chimneys and smoke-stacks.  

 

Introducing the Bill in the House of Commons in 1955, Sir Gerald said: "The conscience of the country was shocked by the loss of 4,000 lives in December 1952. Doctors tell me that those deaths were very largely caused by asphyxia, by people literally being choked to death by the impurities in the atmosphere and the contraction of the human air passages due to intense irritants in the atmosphere, such as sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide. [...] Not only are innumerable lives lost as a result of intense smoke pollution of the atmosphere year by year, but equally serious is the steady erosion or shortening of life caused by the heavy air pollution of industrial and urban areas." The figure of 4000 lives lost refers to people who died in the month of the Great Smog. It is estimated that another 8000 people died from its effects in the months thereafter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Office

 

The Green Party of England and Wales

p: 0203 691 9401

 

The Battle of Barnet

 Today Labour members in Chipping Barnet will vote between a party short-list of 2 candidates.

My handy guide to who these people are

Tweedle-dum	Tweedle-dee
Lawyer	Lawyer
Has never worked a proper job except as a lawyer in the labour movement	Has never worked a proper job except as a lawyer in the labour movement
Young and ambitious	Young and ambitious
Claims to have union backing	Claims to have union backing
Likes to re tweet photos of canvassing	Likes to re tweet photos of canvassing
Claims to be a local lad	Claims to be a local lass
Did not visit picket line or support their union	Did not visit picket line or support their union

 

 

My advice to anyone not suspended and still a member of Labour is to spoil your ballot paper tonight.

GREENS MAKE STEADY PROGRESS IN COUNCIL ELECTIONS

 05/05/02


Despite a couple of unexpected upsets, the Green Party continued its political comeback in the English local elections of 2 May 2002.

The Green vote grew to 7% where the Greens stood, compared with 5% in 2000. The party fielded almost 1,100 candidates, more than in any year since 1991.

In NORWICH the Greens got their first 2 councillors elected with 41% of the vote, up 18%, in the constituency of Labour Party chair Charles Clarke MP - a reflection of dissatisfaction with New Labour and the perceptible tendency of Labour voters to switch to Green.

LEEDS Green Party got their third councillor elected, with a 1,100 vote majority.

In BRADFORD, the Greens elected their second councillor with 42% and a 600 majority.

Results mixed but positive

Overall the Greens ended the night with 4 fewer councillors nationally - though still represented on 22 principal authorities.

OLDHAM Green Party lost a seat (where a councillor had been elected as Labour, and had crossed the floor to the Greens mid-term) - but borough-wide the Greens almost tripled their vote, in the party's best-ever Oldham result. Other northern boroughs showed similar progress:

MANCHESTER Greens narrowly missed getting their first councillor elected - just 83 votes behind Labour in a ward where Labour were sufficiently worried that they drafted in foreign office minister Tony Lloyd MP to help campaign.

SHEFFIELD Greens almost doubled their vote, and TAMESIDE Greens got their best ever result, with a top vote of 20%.

On OXFORD city council the Green Group was reduced from 7 councillors to 3. They had been in a ruling coalition with the LibDems, but Labour swept back into control of the council. Cllr Mike Woodin comments: "When we took over after 20 years of Labour rule, the council was in a dreadful state. We have had to spend the last two years clearing up their mess. It was all to easy for Labour to cease on one or two relatively minor decisions and blow them out of all proportion and enough of the electorate fell for it for them to get back in. But we will be back."

The Greens point out that their steady increase in vote-share bodes well for gains in next year's local elections and the 2004 European elections.

Executive Elections Coordinator Geoff Forse comments: "We're disadvantaged both by the archaic first-past-the-post electoral system and by the media's reluctance to provide the public with adequate information about the Green Party and its policies.

"Our 7% vote would have been high enough to have won a large number of seats in a proportional system like those of most EU countries. When Britain eventually gets electoral reform, we can expect the Greens here to gain as much representation as our colleagues in other European Union countries.

"In the meantime, with the ongoing increase in our membership, and the growing popularity of our policy, we'll continue to make steady progress."

White Rage book review

 Yesterday I had to go to my local library after an email demanding action regarding the books I had borrowed.  Logging into my online account I discovered that library fines are back and it is impossible to renew online.  In person I had even worse luck being unable to re issue books without paying the fine I owe, but the unstaffed library had a machine that was unable to receive payments at the moment, being partially out of order.  So White Rage had to go back on the return shelf after I had not even completed the introduction.

The book is about the issues of racism in relation to white people and analysing the white rage and how that shapes history.  

However I found the book difficult to read because it contains a lot of detail about USA based history which I am unfamiliar with.

I would like to return to this book when I can.

Edgware Library has a whole bunch of books on display for Black History Month.  It includes childrens, fiction, and non-fiction.  It includes local London history and Black British Lives matter, a compilation edited to show the recent movement, presented in shiny black hardback.  There is also my favourite genre for campaigns, the auto-biography.

 I was sad to have to return Tom Daley (a Gold shiny hardback) but I had a good attempt getting through the majority of it.  He is not just a diver but also an able communicator.

 I returned we fight fascists.  The title is a recently published history.  It is sympathetic to the CST and charts the continuous story between the non-Zionist East End and the Hendon based CST. 

I would recommend that the Green Party England & Wales looks at itself and educated itself as a white dominated group, to tackle racism and be anti-racism allies.

Black History Month 2022 is something but will return much bigger and better in Barnet in 2023.

Trans book review

(not really a trans book.  as it is pride month, the library has a heap of good books on display including one about unicorns) 

 I was in my local library and while I know that the title and the whole selection of Trans readers was available, was terribly biased and right-wing, after picking up this book "Trans: when ideology meets reality" the conclusion reads "Trans rights are human rights" so it can't be all that bad can it?

The book really is that bad and I give it 1 *.

At the end of the book the author, who is not trans herself, thanks a slew of organisations such as Women's Place, even Guardian opinion former Nick Cohen unless there is another one.

I didn't learn very much.  It goes through the pre Nazi Germany experiments that I already knew about but that was mostly destroyed in a book burning: I think that was comprehensively covered by Jewdas twitter.  Then there's the story of the first trans woman in history, that was covered nicely by Pride a film on Disney+

She makes the assumption that men who use the term TERF are against women whereas I know that nowadays men can be radical feminists too: For instance the Green Party's Shahrar Ali.  Though the book prefers to use the politically correct term "gender critical"  The bias is in the books language, rubbishing the other side of the argument and trying to systematically refute the arguments, calling us liars.

The book calls itself a contribution to the "debate".  But the fact is there is no debate.  The fact is that there have been trans people in society in all countries for generations and they've never caused a problem.

The arguments in the book are deeply regressive:  What about sport, what about prisons and criminals.

And the defence it makes of lead tweeter JK Rowling is really something.  In my activist circles JK is definitely not on the recommended reading list.  A billionaire doesn't need defending especially if she gives most her wealth to charity.  Any charity that takes her money is now tainted by the ideology and strings of that movement.

I wish Barnet Libraries would give a platform to organisations like "all about trans" that really explain the trans revolution from an actual trans person's perspective.  Even a cookery book by "a girl called Jack" would go a long way to contributing to a modern public library that doesn't go on a rant about how "I'm not transphobic but".

Looking forward to next Thursday's training organised by true trans allies Carla Denyer and Bristol Green Party's LGBTIQA+ group.  There's no such thing as a stupid question.

PS

The book renders itself out of date pretty quickly.  It doesn't mention the Matrix 4 sequel, and claims there are no anti trans laws in the USA which there are now loads of.

Utilities

 A lot of people have been writing negative reviews about their utilities.

As a monopoly, the only recourse you probably have to them, is to write them a review.  here is thames water:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.thameswater.co.uk

On lying politicians

 Boris Johnson lied to parliament.  He lied to the Queen.  He was fired from his job for fabricating a quote in a newspaper.  We all know that.

Labour pop up before the local elections and point to Conservatives broken promises.

But are Labour any better?  I have only lived in Burnt Oak for 4 years now and I am shocked at the dodgy graphs and false promises of change that their candidate has pushed through my door since he was selected.  Do they think we're all stupid?  Really?  I challenged him on the graph, claiming that the next election will be close in Burnt Oak, and that voting green or libdem may lead to Conservative councillors; and he said that Boris Johnson is unlikely to go, due to Ukraine.  I texted him on whatsapp to point out this repeated deliberate lie, with no response so far.  They are using this as a stepping stone for the Labour Party to unseat Matthew Offord MP at the next General Election as well as the other 2 Barnet MPs.

But the local picture is important too.  The truth is however we vote in Burnt Oak ward we will not change who controls the council, even after the boundary changes that take in the bit of Mill Hill up to Bunns Lane, the area near the Meads, and Edgware Primary School and get rid of the bit south of Montrose and Blundell Roads.

Is there no way to hold our Councillors who will go on to rule Barnet Council, to account?  I invited the candidate to the Environment Hustings with no response.  I did not see them take part; just saw one Councillor at JCoSS and Edgware United Synagogue but they didn't ask any questions and didn't stop very long to chat.   We've had community meetings like the sustainability consultation that I attended, or the leader's question time, which Councillors say they were banned from.  Not one Jewish hustings focussed on Burnt Oak because it's not local to where they were held.

The literature Labour are creating doesn't clearly show an understanding of what powers and competencies local government has or national and regional government.  Many people do not understand what a ward is.  Some can not name their councillors.

Too many have become sick and tired of Labour's games and refuse to vote for a party that just lies to them (about who is likely to win in Burnt Oak) and doesn't deal with the issues.

People say that they don't want to live in this country anymore, that they can't be proud any more to be English (Look - I don't agree with him) because mainly that social media has divided our community.  People are rightly fed up with mainstream political parties and mainstream media (Since 9/11 - again I don't agree with him).  People say that they haven't received any leaflets from the Conservatives only Labour.  People say that the Labour leaflets go straight in the bin and they don't even notice them.  People are in grief.  People have to work and don't have time to think about politics.  People assume that Labour and local politicians are just there to get their votes and will say anything to get the job of councillor - and then totally fail to be community leaders.  People say that the government and council are fraudsters and that Trump should be locked up for his crimes.  And after Capita, who is to say that Capita still don't control key functions which govern our local area?

I know from this campaign that they will win based on these lies and by alienating their own electorate; just as they lost the last general election, with an insurgent centrist authoritarian faction.  It will come back to bite them, the distrust they are sowing.  That is a great shame.

Burnt Oak residents say that's how it always is, politicians are going to do what liars do.  I believe politics can be better than that.  That it can serve our community.  The first step is for their election agent over in East Finchley whoever he is to apologise for lying and pledge a clean campaign that does not lie, or spread fear among those vulnerable to their message.  Burnt Oak residents are mostly not engaged in politics, but they know that whoever they ask, rubbish continues to be dumped, mature trees are not well maintained near their gutters and lawns, and the area is in managed decline.  Our neighbourhood is being run down.

These lies will not work any more, it's incredibly short term and out of date thinking.  Nowadays people have access to the internet, and can look up basic information like, who are my councillors, how can I write to them, do they hold surgeries?  People can see the track record and the fact that most people in the area don't vote in these elections.

Burnt Oak is a working class area or mixed area.  It has voted returned Labour Councillors x3 my whole life and probably yours too.

This Thursday, there is no risk of the Conservatives winning here.  So you can vote with your conscience.  Or like many: you can stay away from this toxic tangled culture built on lies, and put the leaflets in the recycling bin along with the rest of the junk mail where they belong.

I say this not promoting any candidate, but as a neighbour - who is concerned about what is being done to us by the Labour Party.  I just want to correct the misinformation and encourage them to tell us what they have been doing the last 4-8 years to serve their corner of Barnet.

Who wins Barnet

 

Back in 2017, fresh out of Barnet General hospital intensive care unit, I saw a poster in my local Kosher butchers on Brent Street about a Jewish Hustings that the Green Party had not been invited to.

I was quite upset.

I had always taken the trouble to drop by there for services.

 I phoned the office to tell them.  They apologised and said they were unaware that the party were taking part in the election.  They denied organising it saying it was a charity and they were simply a venue.

I heard that UKIP showed up and made a fuss and were added to the panel last minute.

The Watling Estate being run down by successive governments

 

Greens are showing leadership, demonstrating how we can do things differently, by implementing a ground-up approach, where local councils in an area work collaboratively together to insulate social housing. For too long successive governments have ignored the urgency of addressing our leaky homes and any attempts they have made, for example through the Green Homes Grant, have failed. 

 

It is such a shame that Burnt Oak local people don't vote Green in numbers sufficient to shake up this rotten borough.

Stop the War coalition

 A few thoughts after following A LOT of stuff on the BBC and twitter.  No doubt half of it misinformation.

2003:  US and coalition of the willing had invaded Afghanistan and were about to attack Iraq.  Some concern over Palestine.  Various left wing parties and political groups got together for one of the biggest marches ever:

-Some marchers were not aligned with the stop the war coalition.  Some did join however.  Many did not reach the rally point or hear the speeches.  

Groups included Muslim communities and their representatives such as MCB

Without the protest it may have been a lot worse.  They may have gone ahead and attacked Iran.

At the time, a Labour government was in power as well as a Labour Mayor of London. George Bush Jr in USA very much leading the war having exhausted diplomatic channels.

2022: On 28 February, the war had already started.  Right now Ukraine is being invaded on 3 fronts: Belarus, Russia, and the South.  Locals are seen peacefully blocking the tanks.  Social media exists.

Street protests are most visible in Moscow, St Petersburg and across Belarus. 

Black and Asian students complain of discrimination.  Jewish Community and Christians rally, pray, and organise humanitarian support.

At the time, a Conservative government is in power alongside a centre left Joe Biden/ Kamala Harris in the USA, leading with rhetoric and economic sanctions.

United Nations General Assembly passes a motion with a few abstentions and Russia against and blocking a Security Council motion.

The European union plenary welcomes the Ukraine president.

Labour is in opposition and controls City Hall and some councils.

It is unclear whether a mass demonstration will work against a government that won't listen, a UK and Russian billionaire class that lies and buys influence.  Does Ukrainian civil society even want a cease-fire?  Who has the power to end this war?  What about other wars?   With the cost of living and covid, is a big, weekend, march going to be big enough to bring change?  Will it be hijacked by narrow political operators like the SWP?  Can the left bring together its warring factions and Western orientated interests in an age of social media bubbles, cyber?