Vote for Real Change on 7 May

GreenNews
North
Devon
E l e c t i o n Ne w s f r o m N o r t h D e v o n G r ee n P a r t y Sp r i n g 2 0 1 5
Green Party
Vote for Real Change on 7 May
A Green Knight for Westminster
North Devon Green Party Parliamentary and District Council Candidates
launch their 2015 Election Campaign at Tapeley Park, Instow
On 7 May (or before if you’re a postal
voter – more than 33% of North Devon
voters are – and postal voters vote!),
there is the opportunity to vote for a
significant change in the landscape
of British politics; to vote to alter the
monopoly of the red-blue pendulum
and bring new workable, genuinely
alternative policies and initiatives to
the heart of government.
No one in North Devon can say there
is no choice, that the six candidates
are ‘all the same’ (although sadly
we are all older white males). You
will hear the same old tired phrases:
‘only the LDs/Tories can win here’;
‘it’s a two-horse race’; ‘a Green vote
will let the Tories in’; not forgetting
the classic ‘this will be the greenest
government ever’. The cherrypicking will begin and the truth will
be the first casualty.
What an insult it is to the voting
public to be reminded that only a
few dozen ‘swing seats’ nationally
will decide the outcome of the
election, to be told ‘Vote Purple, Get
Grey’. But this is the reality of the
mess our electoral system is in. You
often end up voting for the Party you
least dislike.
This is a watershed election: voting
with your head, voting tactically, no
longer works; especially since there
is now so little difference between
the major parties. Once elected,
parties veer to the short-term, to
evasion and soundbites. They
shamelessly break their promises,
as with the systematic privatisation
of the NHS, the implementation
of maximum tuition fees and that
absurd pledge to be’ the greenest
government ever’.
In this newspaper, which we are
hand-delivering to 45,000 people
throughout North Devon (no
corporate or party assistance with
printing and postage for us), there
are articles on many vital issues. You
www.northdevon.greenparty.org.uk
@greenknight49
facebook.com/NorthDevonGreenParty
may have read the series of articles
in the Journal and the Gazette. Many
of you will unfortunately bin this
after (or even before!) a quick glance
at the photos – you’ve either already
decided for whom you’re going to
vote or you’re not intending to vote.
You’re in the majority. Indeed, 31% of
North Devonians eligible to vote in
2010 didn’t.
But, despite the articulate and
challenging comments of Russell
Brand, not voting is not going to
change much – nor, clearly, is voting
tactically.
If you’ve got this far and you’re
still undecided as to what to do,
don’t take my word for it – I’m
(passionately) biased! Have a go
instead with the on-line ‘blind’ Vote
For Policies questionnaire:
https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/. This
can be a fascinating revelation for
some!
The Austerity Con
The Coalition Government claims
that it is economically competent
and must be allowed to finish the
job – paying off the deficit. It has
been anything but competent and
more of the same unnecessary
austerity would finish off the
Britain we love.
The 2008 crash was caused by
irresponsible bankers here and in
the US. The government of the day
had to shore up the banking system
before it collapsed, threatening
catastrophe for all of us. It then
suffered a huge reduction in tax
income because of the economic
downturn. Despite that, the Labour
Government was nurturing the
economy back into growth in 2010.
The Coalition Government stopped
growth in its tracks with a series of
misjudged policies including the rise
in VAT and the axing of public sector
jobs. This was branded ‘economic
illiteracy’ by the Green Party and
leading economists. Professor
Simon Wren-Lewis of Oxford
University describes the Coalition
Government’s austerity policy as a
con and disaster. His analysis shows
that resources worth around 5 per
cent of GDP will have been lost
forever by the Coalition delaying the
recovery. That’s about £100 billion,
or £1500 for each adult and child in
the country. We advocate instead
the Green New Deal.
Ricky Knight
Published and promoted by Mark Haworth-Booth on behalf of Ricky Knight and
North Devon Green Party, all at 1 Taw View Terrace, Bishops Tawton, Barnstaple EX32 0AW
Designed by Guy Forster. Printed by Newsquest Printing Ltd, Hampshire Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 9XD
When ‘local’ means Embrace the
renewable revolution
‘further away’
Communities across Devon were
shocked when local hospital beds
were closed ‘temporarily’. It is
an outrage that our coalition-led
‘Commissioning Group’ (CCG) has
decided some closures should be
permanent without evidence of a
working alternative.
The CCG talks of Care Closer to Home
but for many, care will be further
from home. When beds were closed,
some patients were moved miles
away, such that visiting became
difficult for friends and family.
If patient care were truly at the heart
of the change, then why rush? Surely
better to gain evidence that the new
system works before whipping away
existing provision from the frail and
vulnerable?
Instead, costcutting and the internal
market appear to be at the heart of
the change. Care closer to home is
what many people want but is that
what they will get? Is the CCG simply
blurring the lines between NHS
Health Care and Social Care: one free
at the point of delivery, the other
means-tested, so they can charge for
what was free?
When both North Devon and
Torridge District Councillors voted
against the Atlantic Array, the
message was effectively ‘North
Devon closed for business’, as,
subsequently, a multi-billion pound
regional investment collapsed. With
the three ‘leading’ local parties so
clearly set against renewables and
singing from the same hymnsheet
on nuclear, fracking and oil, it is
only the Green Party with clear
unequivocal policies on tackling the
way in which we abuse our planet’s
finite resources. Only the Green
Party is committed to reducing our
reliance upon fossil fuels, to attain a
‘Zero Carbon Britain’ by 2050.
Given the political will and by
ridding the corrupted political
The Green Party is committed
to reinstating the universal,
comprehensive, free-at-the-point-ofdelivery NHS.
system of cronyism and the
influence of the powerful oil-lobby,
this nation, this region and in
particular this county, could become
a net exporter of renewable energy.
In the spirit of 10:10, the North
Devon Green Party has successfully
supported the Fullabrook and
Batsworthy applications and many
appropriate community-owned
renewable energy initiatives. The
NDGP supports the whole raft
of renewable options, within
the obvious constraints of the
environmental impact. On-shore
wind is serving its interim purpose:
the future lies in technological
improvements in wave, solar and offshore wind power and on continued
research into carbon-capture,
thorium and fusion.
Photovoltaic cells on the
NDC building, Barnstaple
North Devon Greens will fight for
care that really is closer to home,
ensuring access to local hospital
beds where needed.
Crisis? What a crisis!
In 2010 Government slashed the
affordable housing subsidy by 63%
– so the National Housing Federation
can’t keep up.
Then they introduced the ‘New Homes
Bonus’ for councils – cash for every
new home built. Naturally councils
like North Devon, with huge cuts to
basic funding by the same government,
are finding it difficult to refuse
planning applications which bring in
much needed cash. Also, if councils
refuse permission, developers can
appeal with devastating consequences
for local authority finances.
Furthermore, The National Planning
Policy Framework, with its devious
use of the word ‘sustainability’ and
of commercial confidentiality, allows
developers to conceal true building
costs and profits and thereby drive
down the number of affordable
homes they should provide. The
Coalition changes to our planning
regulations are not fit for purpose.
The Green Party will introduce a Land
Value Tax – an affordable and feasible
way of addressing severe inequalities
in our property market and the wider
economy. We will also change letting
and renting agreements, to combat
harassment and exploitation.
We back Community Land Trusts
– community-led housing schemes
based on local need, not government
directive, giving local people a real
say and affordable homes – that stay
that way for the future.
Supporting local farmers
Farming is a vital part of the economy
and landscape of North Devon. The
people who live and work on farms,
especially livestock farms, are one of
the greatest assets of the region.
Farmers have had a hard struggle in
recent years – squeezed out by a tax
and subsidy system, which favours
large scale systems, with all the risks
that go with that: too much monocropping, especially maize, too much
erosion and run-off, too much road
haulage.
We could actually produce more food
from the same area of land, with less
risk to the environment, with more
mixed farming. We need to urgently
deal with bovine TB and ruinous
dairy prices: Europe cannot compete
in a global market where prices
are driven down by produce from
countries which protect neither the
environment nor their workforce.
The Green Party wants much more
sustainable approaches from Europe
and the Common Agricultural
Policy. NO to GM foods, which
move control of food production to
corporate monopolies. YES to R&D
on technologies which increase
the efficiency of ecologically
and environmentally beneficial
agriculture. YES to diversity to
increase resilience to climate change
and market fluctuations and reduce
susceptibility to pest and disease
outbreaks and pandemics.
The future for local
public transport
Decent, low cost public transport is key
to a fairer society and cutting carbon
emissions. In 1993, the Tories franchised
the railways to private firms such as
Virgin, Arriva and Stagecoach. Since
then, the cost of running the railways
has more than doubled – Britain has
some of the highest rail fares in Europe
but services have deteriorated and 90%
of profits still go to corporate investors,
often overseas.
The Green Party will push for
new infrastructure including the
reopening of lines closed under
Beeching. That could mean lines
operating again between Barnstaple,
Bideford, Ilfracombe and Lynton.
Our aim is to reduce pressure on
congested, dangerous, polluting
roads and offer a real alternative to
car travel. New lines would be for
freight as well as passengers, to cut
pollution even further.
Reclaiming rail into public ownership
would save around £1bn currently
NDGP members campaign at Barnstaple
railway station
spent on private bidding for new
franchises, which basically amounts
to taxpayers’ subsidising private
shareholders.
We also need joined-up thinking to
improve our bus services, including
integrated connections for all new
housing developments, rail and
bicycle use.
The East Coast Line proved without
a doubt that public ownership can
deliver both low fares and high
passenger satisfaction. We want to
have that across the whole country.
Bringing back North Devon’s
fishing rights
The last 25 years or so have seen a
rapid decline in fish stocks around
the world. At the same time there
has been huge damage to the
seabed by destructive fishing
techniques. The Green Party want
fishing rights be allocated on the
basis of sustainability and social
criteria, so the least environmentally
destructive operators and those
contributing most to coastal
communities, both here in Britain
and in developing countries
across the world, would be given
preferential access to offshore and
inshore waters.
Thus, North Devon fishermen who
are part of the 80% of British fishing
fleet with boats smaller than 10
metres long, but currently with
only 4% of the quota between them,
would be able to carry on fishing in
the waters which they have hitherto
carefully managed. But monstrous
trawlers like the Cornelis Vrolijk (its
fishing is registered in British waters
but its profits go to Holland) which
currently has a whopping 23% of
the total British quota, would be
outlawed.
We will press the European
Commission to ban destructive deepsea fishing and high seas bottom
trawling. We’ll press for proper
implementation and enforcement
under relevant international
legislation in EU waters, either by EU
or international fleets.
Photo: Rob Durrant
Green jobs, fair business,
sustainable industry
The Green Party wants to move
toward a steady state economy, no
longer producing and consuming
far more than we need in a system
depending upon a fast depleting
natural environment.
In the transition to sustainable
industries and business, we would
retain skills and employment and
guarantee alternative employment
and/or training for all workers
affected. Such moves would include
housing provision and protection of
employee rights – no Zero Hours, no
loss of wages. Citizen’s Income would
alleviate problems of cost to industry
and, until CI is in place, minimum
wage would be guaranteed.
Corporate governance has to
reflect the interests of different
stakeholders who contribute to
the success of businesses and are
affected by their actions. This
includes employees, customers,
suppliers and wider society, not just
the tiny constituencies of wealthy
executives and cosseted fund
management institutions – acting
on behalf of shareholders – who
currently exert a disproportionate
and often pernicious influence over
major UK corporations. Meanwhile,
some industries and services must
be returned to public ownership
including the NHS, public transport
Ricky with Green MP, Caroline Lucas
and utilities (excepting small-scale
renewable energy initiatives).
We will focus on urban regeneration,
reversing the current trend to convert
rural sites to industrial and urban
areas. This would protect valuable local
industries like tourism and farming.
Land Value Tax would redress the
problem of unsustainable industrial
activity in inappropriate locations.
Our national spatial strategy will
replace the current failed market
mechanisms with a planning system
that is accountable, not to banks or
speculative financial institutions but
locally and democratically.
Marine Conservation Zones
The Marine and Coastal Access Act
2009 allowed for the creation of
Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).
MCZs protect a range of nationally
important marine wildlife, habitats,
geology and geomorphology, and
can be designated anywhere in
English and Welsh territorial and
UK offshore waters. Lundy Island,
a former Marine Nature Reserve,
became the UK’s first MCZ in January
2010. This has not only safeguarded
the rich diversity of marine life but
had a very beneficial effect on the
recovery of crab and lobster stocks.
Experts nominated 127 sites for
approval as MCZs. DEFRA designated
a niggardly 27 sites in 2013. Three
new MCZs could be designated by
DEFRA for North Devon this year. We
need all 127 of them. Furthermore,
there are good scientific reasons for
the one embracing Bideford to North
Foreland to be extended westwards
by four kilometres to include
Greencliff.
The Coalition Government has been
tone-deaf to most arguments on
conservation and environmental
issues, but we fully support the
campaign by the Devon Wildlife
Trust to secure these MCZs, working
closely with those whose livelihoods
depend on them. Our oceans are
uniquely important to us – we must
prevent over-fishing destroying fish
stocks for generations.
Photo by Rob Durrant: rare anemone
discovered off ND coast
The EU – in need of some TLC?
The founders of the European
Communities sought to remove
the threat of another war between
European states and foster cooperation
between the nations. This aspiration
has been distorted by vested interests
into a union dominated by economic
and financial groups, which promote
the goals of tax-evading multinational
corporations. It lacks true democratic
control, puts profit before people and
runs counter to its professed core values.
We in North Devon are, like it or not,
affected by what happens in a factory
in France or a farm in Spain. We should
therefore have a powerful voice in
how we can safeguard each other and
cooperate to build a sustainable society,
which benefits everyone.
We believe that the ecological
challenges and stark inequalities the
world faces present a potential new
role for the EU as part of wider global
cooperation.
Foie Gras – the import and sale of
this product (which involves the
cruel force-feeding of geese) should
be banned. It is already illegal to
produce Foie Gras in the UK.
Ricky confronts European Commission
President Juncker in Brussels over TTIP
The Green Party is willing to hold
a referendum on our continued
membership. We believe we should
stay in the EU and fight to change
it from within, replacing the
unsustainable economics of so-called
‘free trade’ and unrestricted growth
with the sustainable alternatives of
local self-reliance and conservation
and delivering social justice, equality
and economic democracy for all for
the Common Good.
The Green Party’s stance
on immigration
Immigration is a complex issue.
When thinking about it we must
consider how many British people
there are currently living abroad who
might come back here if migration
laws were changed and the effects
that might have on the NHS, Social
Care or housing. The NHS was
forced to recruit from Portugal this
year because there are not enough
recruits coming forward from the
British population. How much are we
harming progress in other countries
by attracting their most talented
professionals to work here?
Crowded schools, the NHS under
great pressure, a housing shortage
and unemployment are not the
fault of immigrants but the fault of
Greens support animal rights
bad government decisions and an
unequal economic system.
The Green Party’s highest priority is the
creation of a just and ecological world
in which environmental devastation
is minimized and needs can be met
without recourse to migration.
The Green Party’s global vision is
of an international economic order
where the relationship between
regions is non-exploitative and
promotes self-reliance and economic
self-sufficiency. One where our
systems of trade and cooperation
support each other to ensure the
quality of life (social, political,
environmental, cultural and
economic) is such that there is less
urge to migrate.
2010 Hunting Act – We should
strengthen and plug the loopholes
in this well-intentioned but deeply
flawed Act which has allowed
illegal hunting to continue, largely
unenforced by our police and courts.
Badger Cull – We need an
immediate end to the slaughter
of this ‘Protected’ species. The
science is unequivocal – culling is
ineffective against Bovine TB and
indeed may well be causing further
spread by perturbation. We must
follow the proven Welsh example
and concentrate on Bio-Security
and Badger vaccination whilst
working to swiftly introduce the
only effective ‘cure’ at source – Btb
vaccination of all our cattle, pigs, etc.
Local anti-cull activist Nick White with
Queen guitarist Brian May
Beavers – a success story at last, the
wild Beavers on the River Otter are
now safe, thanks to public pressure
and the hard work of the Devon
Wildlife Trust.
Finally, in just the last 200 years
humanity has overseen the
extinction of half – yes, half – of
the known species on this, our one
shared planet. We cannot survive in
isolation. There is no Planet B.
Tuition fees: a heavy price
not worth paying?
We all remember the run up to the
last election, when the Lib Dems
promised there would be no raising
of tuition fees. And we all remember
how they broke that pledge at the
drop of a hat. It just goes to show
that you can’t trust the pre-election
promises of professional politicians.
It is estimated that the average student
now finishes university with a debt of
more than £44,000. This means that
the new generation of graduates will
face the burden of a huge debt, before
they have even found a secure job. The
story of graduates, who study for 4
years and indebt themselves for life,
only to find a job stacking shelves at
Tesco, is becoming far too common.
Most students never manage to pay
off their debt, so large parts of it end
up written off. Free money seems
great, but who pays for this? The
Government borrows the money from
the banks, which create it out of thin
air; and the tax payers (in many cases
including the students themselves)
foot the bill. It’s a win-win for the
banks and lose-lose for the State, as
well as for most students, the less welloff and less well-connected of whom
will opt not to pursue higher education
accordingly. Was that always the plan?.
How can you help North Devon Green Party?
You can help by:
l voting Green in the May 2015 general election and in local elections
l displaying a window poster (or something larger!) at election time
l delivering leaflets in your area
l making a donation; joining the Green Party.
To join the Green Party or to help with the campaign:
www.greenparty.org.uk/getinvolved
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 07986 941026
Write to: North Devon Green Party, 1 Taw View Terrace, Bishops Tawton,
Barnstaple, Devon EX32 0AW
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