Rupert's Read

  Media statement:   Green Party Councillors have been key figures in the several-year-struggle to stop Tesco from imposing its unsuitable store on Unthank Road, Norwich, a store that will damage local businesses and that presents real traffic safety and congestion hazards. Today, the news has broken that this struggle has been lost.   Cllr. Adrian Ramsay, local ward Councillor and Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Norwich South, said: "I'm extremely disappointed by this decision and by a planning process that allows a remote planning inspector from outside the area to overturn the democratic decision of local councillors and the wishes of the hundreds of local residents who have consistently written in to object to Tesco applications for this site. Local campaigners have managed to delay this Tesco by four years by getting the Council to repeat...

Public Meeting: Palestine Justice And The Key To Peace, Thursday, Feb. 5th 2009, 7pm, Friends Meeting House Speakers: Ian Gibson MP Joni McDougall (GMB International Officer and National PSC Committee Member) Lesley Grahame (Norfolk Jewish Peace Group) Mohammad Aburdaini (Palestinian student and survivor of Shattilah Massacre) Karen Mitchell (Thompsons Solicitors) Rupert Read ( Norwich Green Party Councillor and Prospective European Parliamentary Candidate) a National STWC speaker Chairs: Keith Rowley (Convenor, Norwich Palestine Solidarity Campaign) Frank Stone (Convenor, Norwich Stop the War Coalition) More info: contact Keith 01630 618704 or Frank 01493 664499 Arranged, supported and sponsored by Norwich PSC, Norwich STWC and GMB Norwich General Branch More information from: http://www.norwichstopwar.org.uk or email:info@norwichstopwar.org.uk

  The Court of Appeal's decision yesterday (28th January) to confirm Thurrock Development Corporation' s approval of a major development on West Thurrock Marshes leaves the insect wildlife charity Buglife with a £30,000 bill. The decision hinged on a letter effectively supporting the development from the Government's own 'conservation' agency, Natural England.   Cllr. Rupert Read, the Green Party's Prospective MEP for Eastern Region (which includes Thurrock) has for the last year, along with other Green Party members who have attended the court proceedings, been a consistent advocate of saving this refuge for insect and other wildlife.   Cllr. Read said   "This decision comes at a crucial time in the urgent struggle to help society understand better how many of its day-to-day decisions are undermining the world in which we are living, and life on Earth. Human life on Earth and its wealth-creation activities...

(Originally published in BuryFreePress) Green Party European Parliamentary candidate Rupert Read has spoken of the need for more investment in affordable housing and renewable energy in Mid Suffolk. The Eastern region lead candidate for 2009 toured the region with Green Party councillors on Friday, to discuss issues affecting the district. During the visit, he was shown affordable housing projects in Wickham Skeith, Elmswell and Barham, which Green Party district councillors have been instrumental in. He also met developer Gipping Homes to discuss the need for sustainable building. Mr Read said: "To see affordable homes going up in these rural areas, particularly eco-homes, is hugely impressive. This is absolutely the way we have to build in the future – in a way that reduces Co2 and lowers energy bills." But he said it was vital the Government continued to invest in this type of housing to prevent the economy collapsing. He said: "People involved in these developments a...

  The Eastern Region Green Party campaign team for the June European Elections will visit Southend on Saturday 31 st   January. I will be joining colleagues for the day as part of the next leg of my "listening tour" of the region which aims to listen to the views and experiences of constituents, to be able to help them more effectively when elected. We will be meeting people in Southend High Street and elsewhere in the area. Many people feel they are not being listened to by politicians. We want to show the Greens do want to listen. I hope to learn from this continuing 'tour' about the aspirations and concerns of people all over this great and diverse area from Peterborough to Southend, and from Hemel Hempstead to Great Yarmouth … especially, I hope to hear of people's experiences of the financial crisis and of the rising cost of living. The Government and Southend Council could be responding t...

Please check out some of these links to my recent euro election campaign media: Campaign videos: http://uk.youtube.com/user/rupertread Radio interview on euro elections + PR: http://tinyurl.com/btstj4 Article in a major German magazine 'Business Spotlight' on why it's time for true bank nationalisation: http://tinyurl.com/afuluq Cheers, RR

Images, clockwise from top-left: Me and Mark Ereira, our new recruit in Bury St Edmunds. With Peter Lynn, fellow Green Party Euro List Candidate. All Euro candidates at the regional meeting in Winenhoe. In Ipswich with our parliamentary candidate Tim Glover.

Keep the pressure up on Israel: join me in signing this petition! Israel shouldn't be given preferential trade by the E.U. while it illegally occupies Palestine... http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Suspend-EU-Israel-Trade-Agreement

Jim Jepps and Rupert Read say the UK needs a ‘Green New Deal’ to tackle the ’triple crunch’ of credit, oil prices and climate change.  (first appeared in  Red Pepper) In the 1930s, the world endured a grim economic depression. In the US, F D Roosevelt pioneered the way out with the New Deal, which helped stabilise the financial system and refloated the economy. We face the same kind of economic problems today but with added ecological threats. The age of cheap, plentiful oil is ending and we cannot simply invest in polluting factories, massive dams, boondoggle transport projects as FDR’s government did then. If there is to be a new New Deal, it has to be a Green New Deal, which is exactly what a distinguished group of environmentalists and economists, including Andrew Simms, of the New Economics Foundation; Tony Juniper, former director of Friends of the Earth; Larry Elliott, economics editor of the Guardian and Green party leader Caroline Lucas MEP, propose. Drawing inspiration from R...

At the next Full Council meeting of Norwich City Council tomorrow evening (Tuesday 27 Jan.), I will propose a motion asking Norwich City Council to support the campaign for a publicly owned modern Royal Mail. In 2008, Green Party City Councillors campaigned against the closures of Post Offices in Vauxhall Street , Rosary Road, North Earlham, New Costessey and Trowse.   This campaign is a campaign deserving strong support from everyone who cares about the preservation of local communities . Last year we saw how willing the government was to let Post Offices close, further abandoning communities across Norwich . I fear that a privatised Royal Mail will seek to cut costs by putting yet more pressure on local Post Offices, leading to further closures. The motion states that a publicly-owned service is the best way to serve the population of Norwich and to safeguard jobs in a time of recession. The government has a real opportunity to modernise Royal Mai...

Green Councillor Samir Jeraj will propose a motion at the 27 January meeting of Norwich City Council calling for the Council to back a campaign to bring the railways back into public ownership. This comes at the same time as the franchised rail services being provided by National Express have started to cut jobs in Norwich . Councillor Jeraj said: "It is deeply concerning that National Express are cutting jobs. It's common sense to see that the quality of service will be dramatically affected by this." "Instead of running the railways for profit, every pound of income should be reinvested to improve the service and keep fares down. Last year, National Express announced pre-tax profits of £90 million, a rise of 9%." "Rather than seeking ways to carry on with a failed system of private ownership, we should be looking to create a system of public ownership which puts tax payers and rail users in control of railway services." "Rail renati...

(From http://oneworldcolumn.blogspot.com/2009/01/hunger-for-peace.html) The recent critically-acclaimed film Hunger brought home powerfully to many of us the brutality of the regime that faced republican hunger-strikers in Northern Irish prisons back in 1981. Fast forward a generation: who in the early 1980s would have thought that Northern Ireland would now (in 2009) be at peace? I was a witness to one small part of the earliest stages of that real-life drama, the drama of the Northern Irish peace process. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, first rose to prominence as a result of the hunger-strikes recently dramatized in Hunger. He was elected an MP in 1983, but refused to take his seat in the House of Commons, because he did not accept the legitimacy of British rule over Northern Ireland. In 1984, he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by 'ultra-loyalists'. In 1987, while I was in my last year studying at Oxford, he was invited by my friend Simon Stevens, the...

With Tony Juniper (former director of Friends of the Earth), the Green Party Candidate for Cambri dge. On the campaign trail in Hitchin town centre. In Bury St. Edmonds with our latest defector from Labour, Cllr. Mark Ereira, and John Matthissen .

Radiohead star Thom Yorke backs Juniper to be "a great Green Party MP" The Green Party today announces that Tony Juniper, recent Director of Friends of the Earth, has been selected as General Election candidate for Cambridge. There will be a press launch at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, starting at 11.30am Wednesday 21st January (please see below for further details). Tony Juniper has lived in the city for 20 years and has campaigned on green issues for more than 25 years. As Campaigns Director and later Director of Friends of the Earth he led many successful initiatives on a wide range of issues from wildlife protection to organic food and from recycling to fuel poverty. He stepped down from leading Friends of the Earth in July 2008 following the success of the Big Ask campaign which led to the world's first national legislation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions - the 2008 Climate Change Act. Tony Juniper said "More and more people can see that if we want a sound ...

From the St Albans and Harpenden Review http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/news/4059101.Greens_campaign_in_St_Albans/ Green candidate Rupert Read visited St Albans today to boost his chances of election to the European Parliament on June 4. The 42-year-old university philosophy lecturer told the Review: "I have a realistic chance of getting elected - because the election uses proportional representation, I need only about one vote in ten across the East of England region. "The neighbouring regions - London and the South-East - have had Green MEPs for quite a few years. "Those MPs have helped local communities, for example by campaigning against unpopular supermarkets. "And they have pushed through some really good legislation, such as the recent pesticide ban, opposed by most other parties, which will make our food and environment safer. "The Government and the council should be responding to the economic slump by promoting 'green jobs' - jo...

Lead Green candidate backs peaceful protests at Essex University against totally disproportionate actions of Israel With the start of a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, Greens in Eastern Region are again calling for a just and permanant settlement to end the violence and deliver the two state solution that has been talked about for so long. The Green Party opposes all of the violence in the conflict, from both sides, but notes that the hugely damaging war has had a totally disproportionate impact on the Palestinian people locked into the Gaza strip, with the loss of life being around 100 times greater for Palestinians than for Israelis and with over 300 totally innocent Palestinian children killed. Many more will be vulnerable over the coming weeks, as Gaza remains under siege and the ceasefire will be incredibly fragile until Gaza's borders are opened. Lead Green Candidate for the European Elections on June 4th, Dr. Rupert Read has backed peaceful protests as a...

Cllr. Rupert Read today welcomed a report to the Norwich Highways Agency Committee (NHAC, which meets this Thursday morning at City Hall at 10 a.m.) on which he sits as a voting member. The report signals the beginning of the implementation of a blanket 20mph speed limit across residential areas of Norwich, excepting major arteries. The report recommends trialling the lower speed limit in three residential areas around Norwich and then rolling out the lower speed limit across all 'unclassified' (low-traffic) residential roads in the city should it prove successful. It is proposed that the pilot take place from March to September 2009 in areas around Jex Road, Vauxhall Street and Borrowdale Drive. Dr. Read, who is the Norwich Green Party's Transport Spokesperson and lead candidate in the Eastern Region for the European Parliamentary Elections in June 2009, has campaigned hard for the speed limit change over the last few years, and it was an amendment by him to an NHAC repor...

So, the Anglo-Irish Bank is to be nationalised: http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0116/anglo.html  . It seems clear that, denials notwithstanding, this is because of a run on the bank, a huge loss of confidence in it. But why? Why would - how can - a bank that has a 100% government guarantee of its deposits face this kind of problem? That it is poses a new moment in this vast unprecedented financial crisis, a new dilemma. If even a 100% guarantee of deposits is not enough to prevent a classic bank run, then where are we? Where we are, is with the only option left being what the Irish government is now starting to resort to - full nationalisation even of institutions that have 100% government guarantees. Private banks are a recipe for dangerous risk-taking behaviour and, ultimately, for corruption. Nationalised banks are less likely to be corrupt, and far less likely to engage in reckless behaviour of the kind that has driven this credit crunch. A 100% guarantee of deposits is of course ...

We have already gained our first significant Labour recruit, here in Eastern Region, as a result of the terrible decision over Heathrow:  See http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=IPED15%20Jan%202009%2015%3A36%3A27%3A683 Among political Parties, only we have a principled position over this. Tories and LibDems support airport expansion in places like Norwich, Carlisle, Liverpool. Only we Greens have a consistent opposition to it.

  Suffolk Labour Councillor resigns from party to join the Greens Heathrow and Stansted decisions "too much to bear"     Cllr. Mark Ereira-Guyer, long standing St Edmundsbury councillor and current leader of the Labour Group, has resigned from the Labour Party in dismay at the Government decision to give the go-ahead to another runway at Heathrow, and has applied to join the Green Party.   Mark will become the 28th principal authority Green Party Councillor in Eastern Region and his clear and principled decision gives a further boost to the Green Party campaign to win a seat at the European Elections on June 4th. Mark said "The vast environmental changes wrought by humanity now threaten us in a most profound way, and the Government's decision to go-ahead with a third runway at Heathrow does nothing to protect us all from the catastrophic impact of climate change and environmental degradation. Alongside their support for expansion at Stansted this i...

 T omorrow I begin a 10 day tour of the Region in which I am standing for election to the European Parliament. The tour is being dubbed 'the listening tour', because I will primarily be listening to the views and experiences of constituents all over the Region.  I need to hear the views of more area residents so that I can help them more effectively when elected.    I feel too many people in the Eastern Region have not been listened to by politicians. I hope to learn from this tour about the aspirations and concerns of folk all over this great and large area from Peterborough to Southend, and from Hemel Hempstead to Great Yarmouth … Especially, I hope to hear of people's experiences of the financial crisis and of the rising cost of living.    I start by visiting Diss (South Norfolk) tomorrow morning, to meet people at the market and to listen to the concerns and needs of small business-people, including those who run cafes such as Amandine's and th...

PRESS RELEASE: Green Party Councillors Stand Firm Against Israeli Aggression in Gaza   The Palestian death toll in Gaza from the latest conflict now stands at over 1000, mostly civilians, and over 300 of them children. By comparison 14 Israeli lives have been lost, the majority of whom are soldiers. Greens are deeply concerned about the loss of life on both sides; and about the gross disproportion in this conflict.   Green Party Councillors Rupert Read and Adrian Holmes are attending events this Saturday in protest against the Israeli occupation of Palestine and against this Israeli aggression in Gaza.  Whilst Holmes (Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Norwich North) will be speaking at the rally and vigil planned at the amphitheatre outside the Forum in Norwich from 11.30 am, Read will be in London taking part in the rally for Gaza planned to start at 2pm am at Trafalgar Square. ((Read will be available live on his mobile,...

'Rupert Read on the BBC welcoming the E.U. Parliament's vote banning harmful pesticides. Go to 20 minutes in, listen, and enjoy!' http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p001xhsw/Matthew_Gudgin_13_01_2009/

Try denying THIS!: http://climateprogress.org/2008/12/11/inhofe-morano-recycles-long-debunked-denier-talking-points-will-the-media-be-fooled-again/

For 18 days the Israeli Government has attempted to justify to the world their decision to unleash a massive military campaign against Gaza by claiming that it was as a direct result of Hamas' breach of the ceasefire brokered by the Egyptian Government.   Hamas has always stated the simple fact that between June 2008 and November 2008 they did not fire a single rocket into Israel.   In a recent interview given to Channel 4 News, the Israeli Government's official spokesman Mark Ragev finally more or less admitted that Hamas did not break the ceasefire. Watch the video, and see the tacit admission; implicit for instance in the admission that Israel acted first, in attacking Hamas in November:   http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SILJxPTqjAM

This 2 year delay is a valuable pause for thought, before Norwich and Norfolk commit public money that we don't have - and that will come out of taxpayers' pockets - to a road-scheme that is more out-of-date by the day. The 'Northern Development Road' would lead to uncontrolled urban sprawl, and would increase congestion on many radial roads in and out of Norwich. In an era such as ours when oil supplies are starting to run out and manmade climate change is a dire threat to our very civilisation, surely we can do better than to encourage yet more traffic onto roads... Let's stop, and think - and let's put our money into something sensible instead, such as delivering Norwich a 21st century public transport system. Now _that_ would be worth investing in.

Green Party condemns Royal Mail Privatisation Plans Eastern Region Green Party has condemned Government plans to partially privatise the Royal Mail postal services. Business secretary Lord Mandelson has supported the conclusions of a report by an independent review panel led by businessman Richard Hooper which advised selling 25% - 33% of Royal Mail to a foreign buyer. The current pension fund debt, which may deter potential investors, would first be taken on by the Government (1). The proposals have already proved highly controversial. It is estimated that up to 100 MPs would take part in a backbench rebellion if the current plans went to a vote without modification (2). Jim McGovern MP has resigned his post as Private Secretary to Postal Affairs Minister Pat McFadden in protest (3). And the Communications Workers Union has stated that it will disaffiliate from the Labour Party in the event of any form of privatisation (4). The proposal also contradicts Labour...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/forty-years-since-the-first-picture-of-earth-from-space-1297569.html An inspiring article, at this time of decision for we Earthlings...

Graham Dines, From East Anglian Daily Times Fri Jan. 9. Click to link (scroll down) WITH European Parliament elections due to take place in June, the Green Party has stolen a march on the others in the East of England, launching its first campaign video as it attempts to garner enough votes to get an MEP elected under the proportional representation system used in the UK for the Euro poll. Lead candidate Dr Rupert Read, who serves on Norwich City Council where the Greens are the main opposition party, believes he has a strong chance of being elected to Brussels and Strasbourg. He and the Greens have even been endorsed by Martin Bell, the former broadcaster for stood as an Independent in the 2004 European elections in protest at the method for electing Euro MPs. Says Dr Read: “At the time of the 1999 elections, there were just two Green Party principal authority councillors in Eastern Region. There are now 27, with the Greens on Norwich City Council becoming the official opposition in ...