The Green Party is currently selecting who to nominate from within our ranks for House of Lords. Unlike other Parties, we do this democratically.
Greens! Here's a few reasons why you might want to vote RUPERT READ (that's me! ;-) for the House of Lords selection:
Experience:
- An elected Councillor living in my own mostly working-class ward.
- One of the top Green bloggers: The only Green in the Top 10 ‘Total Politics’ Councillor blogs: www.rupertsread.blogspot.com .
- A key player in the team that has seen Norwich Greens reach such heights of success over the last decade.
- Green Party’s candidate in 2009 Norwich North byelection. We achieved the highest-ever Green byelection result.
- Green Party’s candidate in 2009 Euro-elections: we in Eastern-Region achieved the highest vote-increase anywhere in the country outside SE, and came within 1% of getting me elected.
- Hugely-experienced media performer; many times on national TV and radio.
- Effective communicator – look for instance at my supporting statement in the candidates’ booklet. I know how to reach people.
- Reader in Philosophy at University of East Anglia, where I work closely with the world’s leading environmental scientists.
- Eight published books, including the popular Philosophy for life.
Experience directly relevant to the Lords:
- Familiar with Parliamentary procedures, having submitted expert evidence to Select Committees (see e.g. http://rupertsread.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-protect-future-now-that.html ).
- Worked directly with the late Lord Beaumont (the previous Green peer), including succeeding in bringing his bill on reducing aviation levels onto the floor of the Commons.
- Learned much about the House of Lords while successfully ‘prosecuting’ Hugo Charlton (in a Green Party tribunal) for his attempt to bypass Party procedures and seize a peerage for himself, the last time the Party was offered one…
As a Green Lord, I would prioritise:
- Working closely with our MP, Caroline Lucas, as I have already for some years, looking to exploit opportunities to achieve legislative change (and pro-Green publicity) in the interests of the country and the Party.
- Transport: I was ultimately responsible (as the Greens’ voting rep. on the ‘Joint Highways Committee’) for the introduction of 20mph speed-limits in significant areas of Norwich, and would work hard to push genuinely sustainable transport policy in the upper house.
- Constitutional reform: I would actively campaign for the abolition of the Lords, and for a reformed upper house to have a direct responsibility for the well-being of future generations.
- I would be a full-time working peer.
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2 comments:
I don't care how democratic the Green Party's internal selection process is, we shouldn't really be having anything to do with a chamber elected by, and accountable to, no one.
But think of it this way: unless there are Lords who are strongly advocating the abolition of the Lords (as I would, as I make clear in my statement), isn't it hard to see how the Lords will ever be abolished? For any Lords-reform has to be voted on by the Lords themselves.
This is what Lloyd-George recognised a century ago. We are now on the brink of radically reforming / abolishing the Lords. Greens could help make this happen. I would like to be there, to help make this happen.
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