RR Speaks at Small Business Event, 7th May

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Regional letter: Keeping eggs free-range

Dear Editor,

It is outrageous that the EU may scrap legislation that requires eggs and egg boxes to be labeled according to farming methods. All eggs ought to be free-range - and this proposal would restrict consumers ability to know what they are buying.

Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) has recently reported that the EU Commission is discussing the possibility of repealing the current law. This requires battery eggs to be labeled as "eggs from caged hens" - legislation that CiWF and many supporters of higher welfare standards fought so hard to bring about.

As a lifelong campaigner for better treatment for animals, I am concerned that this excellent law, which has been an important contributing factor in the decline in demand for 'battery' eggs, is under threat. It is a disgrace that international agribusiness wants to scrap this law just so that it is easier for them to profit from animal suffering.

I pledge that if I am elected to the European Parliament here in the East of England I will oppose this threat to EU labeling law - law that is essential in providing the consumer with the necessary information needed to make a considered, moral choice. I will also support the proposed ban on battery cages due to come into force in 2012 - there should be no delay in implementation.

A vote for the Green Party on 4th June 2009 is a vote against the greed of industry lobbyists in Brussels, and a vote for legislation which benefits animals and consumers alike.

Yours sincerely

Cllr. Rupert Read

Jonathon Porritt and Tony Juniper endorse the Green Party and Rupert Read

Tony Juniper and Jonathan Porritt on voting Green: Video

Tony Juniper and Sir Jonathan Porritt talk about the value of voting Green
in the local and European elections.
They were attending the official launch of the Green party's election
campaign in the East of England region. Our lead candidate in the East of
England is Rupert Read, the party's spokesperson on public services, and a
councillor in Norwich.
Tony Juniper, former director of Friends of the Earth, and now the Green
Party's candidate for Cambridge in the next general election, said: "We
cannot continue with the high-consumption, high-pollution, resource-wasting
economy that Europe has gotten used to. We need Greens in the European
Parliament to make that happen."
Sir Jonathan Porritt is founder of Forum for the Future, a former director
of FoE, and chair of the Sustainable Development Commission. Sir Jonathan
said: "The Green Party is the only party that has consistently told the
truth about the state of the Earth, and our relationship with it, over the
last 35 years. The party's ideas remain as relevant and as radical as all
those years ago."
URL:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/29-04-2009-juniper-porritt-vote-Green.html

Greens pledge clean European election campaign

With nominations for the European Elections now open (from 28th April), all seven of the Green candidates for Eastern region have signed a pledge to run a clean campaign. The Greens are inviting candidates from other parties to sign up to the Pledge.

 

There is growing cynicism about politicians, which the Greens want to help reverse. Elected Greens have a good track record of sticking to their policies and pledges, working hard for their constituents and maintaining high standards in office.

 

A key Green policy for the elections here in Eastern Region is reform of the EU to make it more accountable and more transparent to public scrutiny.    

 

Rupert Read, prospective Green Party MEP, said:

 

 

"Green politics is clean politics, and by signing up to this pledge we are inviting the public to hold us to these high standards. We will now be asking the candidates from the other political parties to sign up to the same pledge: their choice as to whether or not to do this will reveal how serious they are about cleaning up politics."

 

 

THE CLEAN CAMPAIGN PLEDGE

 

We, the undersigned, pledge, in this European election campaign:

 

 

To show by our actions that politics need not be a dirty game, but can be a clean and positive activity, engaged in genuinely for the good of all

 

To tell the truth about what we stand for and have achieved, and about what others stand for and have achieved

 

To give credit to other Parties where credit is due

 

When asked, to tell the truth to the best of our ability about who is doing well and about who is likely to win in these elections

 

To promise only what we can deliver

 

To fight a clean, positive and honest campaign around the issues that concern the people of this region

 

To take money only from organisations and individuals whose motives in giving us money we do not have reason to suspect

 

And any Party member / candidate found to be evading or breaking this pledge will be subject to our Party's disciplinary procedures.

 

Finally, we encourage voters:

 

To expect from us the very highest standards of behaviour, as candidates and as their elected representatives

 

To ask Parties operating in this region whether they have signed up to the Pledge or not, and, if not, to encourage them to do so

 

And to help us enforce this Pledge, by reporting truthfully to us and to the media any apparent breaches of it

 

We hope by this pledge to serve as a positive example for this region and for this nation.

 

 

Rupert Read, Peter Lynn, James Abbott, Marc Scheimann, Angela Thomson, Andrew Stringer & Amy Drayson, the 7 Green Party candidates for Eastern England in the European elections.

East England ex-UKIP MEP in court

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8020577.stm

 

I wonder how the court chose the remand date, June 8th !

Rupert Read deates government minister Chris Mole!

Go 39 minutes in to see Rupert Read debating government minister Chris Mole live on Sunday's BBC Politics Show (link expires May 3rd).

RR vs Chris Mole

Mark Thomas Visits Norwich, Endorses Green Party in Eastern Region

Rupert Read Pledges Support for The Consumer Pact

http://www.consumerpact.eu/en/rupertread

Vote Green Posters!

Please print out one of these posters and display it for the next 40 days!

Colour Poster

B&W Poster

RR at Sizewell Anti-Nuclear Demo

PACKED MEETING AT LAUNCH OF GREENS’ EURO ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Up to 200 people attended a meeting on Thursday night in central Cambridge, with two of the country’s best known green campaigners, who helped to launch the Green Party’s Eastern Region Euro Election campaign.

Sir Jonathan Porritt, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission and Tony Juniper (1), recent Executive Director of Friends of the Earth were speaking in Cambridge and joined Lead Eastern Region candidate Dr. Rupert Read and local members and supporters for the launch (attached images - please use with copyright credited to Ronald Eva).

Jonathon Porritt and Tony Juniper talked about the need to change the whole way we operate and look at the world. Both backed Rupert Read for the European elections on June 4th and encouraged people to get actively involved with Green politics whatever their background.

Tony Juniper stressed the need for those who are involved with NGO's or communities groups to take the batton to the polling stations and VOTE GREEN. Juniper stressed that social justice was a key part of the policy towards a Greener economy. He gave the example of the the Green breakthrough in Cambridge in 2008 in Abbey ward, when Margaret Wright was elected and where voters turned to the Greens for change and improvement, both social and environmental.

Jonathon Porritt described his view that western society was trapped in an unending cycle of work and consummerism. He went on to comment on the Budget, doubting the economy would grow again in 2010. He urged voters to break this trap, and said that by Voting Green people could vote for a happier and cleaner world.


Nominations for the European elections open on 28th April. The Green Party will be fielding a full slate of seven candidates. Full details can be found at www.eastern.greenparty.org.uk

Green Party Prospective MEP to speak at Sizewell Saturday 25th April

 

PRESS NOTICE

from

Eastern Region Green Party

 

Friday 24th April 2009

 

Green Prospective MEP to speak at Sizewell Saturday 25th April against new nuclear and for renewables

 

Green Party Prospective MEP for Eastern England Rupert Read will be joining campaigners at the Sizewell nuclear power site tomorrow (25th April) to call for investment in renewable energy and to oppose £ billions being sunk into more nuclear stations in East Anglia.

 

The Green Party has consistently opposed nuclear power due to its cost, the unsolved issues of how to deal with radioactive wastes and the risks of catastrophic releases of radiation, due to accidents or terrorism.

 

More recently, concerns have grown about flooding risks to coastal nuclear power stations as sea levels rise due to climate change. Scientists believe that sea level rise could exceed previous forecasts.

 

Two sites have been earmarked for possible new nuclear stations in East Anglia - Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex.

 

Campaigners will gather at Sizewell A and B on Saturday 25th April at 12 noon. Rupert Read is one of the speakers on the day.

 

There will also be a camp overnight, in preparation for a vigil on the morning of 26th April, Chernobyl Day, to remember all those who have been affected by the 1986 disaster.

 

BNP Eastern Region candidate arrested

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/8016752.stm

Green Party Campaign Launch - Juniper, Read & Porritt!

The Budget - more missed opportunities say Greens

 

The Labour government today missed a golden opportunity to create huge numbers of jobs in emerging industries, says the Green Party.

 

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, the Green Party's leader, told Radio 4's The World at One today that the government is throwing away the potential to create hundreds of thousands of extra jobs by failing to invest adequately in insulating buildings, in solar energy and other renewables, in upgrading the electricity grid, in public transport and in new skills training.

 

Britain is lagging behind other countries in the "greenness" of its so-called "green stimulus" plan, she said - against the advice of its own advisors. Dr Lucas pointed out that the government's own watchdog, the Sustainable Development Commission, (SDC) had proposed a £30bn package very similar to the Green Party's Budget proposals - and which SDC calculated would create 800,000 jobs.

 

She described the chancellor's "green stimulus" as "one-tenth or less of what it should be" if the UK were to meet serious emissions targets and maximise the job-creation potential of sectors like energy, where renewables sustain far more jobs per megawatt than either nuclear or coal.

 

On scrappage, Caroline Lucas disagreed that this would create significant numbers of jobs, but proposed a better way forward. She said the way to go was to build cars to last, and refit and improve them over time - which would reduce the associated energy while significantly increasing the amount of labour involved, by comparison with new manufacture.

 

Rupert Read, Prospective MEP for Eastern Region said

 

"The Chancellor talked bravely about low carbon technologies, but as usual, the detail of his proposals dont square up. More money for "clean coal" means less money for renewable energy investment here in Eastern England. The money allocated for offshore wind is welcome, but totally insufficient. This budget therefore involves another mis-allocation of resources, missing the huge open goal that the Greens keep pointing to: the chance to generate lots of sustainable jobs - and particularly right here in our part of the country."

 

James Abbott, Green Party Eastern Region European Election candidate said

 

"The breath-taking levels of borrowing and debt announced by the Chancellor come about of course as a direct result of the abject faulure to regulate the financial industry which for many years binged on dodgy deals and encouraged unrestrained credit. The danger in the next few years is that the level of government debt and borrowing is so high, that economic policies become focussed only on tackling that debt, leading to swinging cuts in essential public servcies and cuts in much needed green investment. 

 

"On June 4th, voters have an opportunity to send a strong message to the politicians who have got us into this mess, and we would encourage them to exercise this by voting Green."  

ENDS

 

Notes: Budget proposals and Green Party response

 

Proposal	Green Party response
£1bn on climate change including £435m energy efficiency, £525m offshore wind	Far too little, needs to be 10 to 15 times as much.
A year ago borrowing this year would be £38 billion, by the autumn it was £118 billion, and today £175 billion is needed	Shows folly of building public finances to rely on growth. Need to get to a stable economy.
£9bn to come from Gershon type public sector efficiency savings by 2014.	NAO has cast considerable doubt on how real previous attempts have been.  Actually a way to hide real cuts in services.
£500m on new homes.	Not enough.  And only £100m on council houses.
£2000 subsidy for a new car if car over ten years old is scrapped.	Doesn't help environment, much of carbon cost of car is in manufacture.  We need cars to last longer.  Relatively few jobs. Far cheaper and more effective way to cut carbon and help everyone is public transport.
Cut public sector pensions.	Average public sector pension is only £3000, reflecting poor pay. We want to see better pensions for all, and the foundation is a better state pension which the Green Party would set at £165 a week.
Budgeting carbon emissions.	Greens did this in 2007!  And we need 10% annual cuts, not 1-2%.
Money for Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects.	Untried technology, will arrive too late. We need things that work now like insulation, wind, solar.
Higher rate tax relief on pensions removed for those above £150,000.	Welcome - this is existing Green Party policy.
50% tax rate for incomes above £150,000.	Welcome, but only a start.
£1.7bn extra help for jobseekers.	But only £250m for training. Help with finding a job no good if there are no jobs to find. Training though is a useful way for unemployed people to spend time when jobs are short.
Incentives to get more oil from the North Sea.	Bizarre when we want to cut carbon.

 

 

Green New Deal vs. Brown

A Green New Deal means that you can pay off a big government debt, because in years to come you are systematically saving money as well as carbon emissions, as you reap the rewards of your investments in public transport, energy efficiency, renewable energy, etc...

How on Earth does this government intend to pay off its debt, given that it has now missed its chance to implement a real Green New Deal??

 

Yes to Leighton Buzzard's cycling schemes [News release]

Rupert Read, the lead Green Party for MEP in the Eastern Region in the 4 June 2009 Euro-elections, undertook a tour of Bedfordshire earlier this month, and will be doing the same early next month. Having visited Leighton Buzzard as part of this tour, Read has praised the efforts of Bedfordshire County Council and the Town Council in their successful bid to secure over £1 million of funding for Leighton Linslade to become Bedfordshire's first cycling town.

The Leighton-Linslade Cycling Team will focus on the challenging target of an overall doubling of cycling.  They plan to increase the number of children regularly cycling to school from 1.2% to 3.5%, increase the number of commuters regularly cycling to the train station from 50 to 150, double the number of people who cycle to the town centre and double the number of cyclists using key routes, measured across eight key locations.

Read said;

 

"This project really is a fine example of good transport policy.  Cycling is good not only for the environment, but for our health too.  If this scheme achieves its target of doubling cycling in the area, the quality of people's lives in the area will improve.  We know that the health benefits outweigh the dangers of cycling tenfold, and that cycling regularly reduces the risk of heart disease, strokes and increases the length of people's lives.  And schemes like this will dramatically reduce the dangers of cycling so everyone's a winner!"

 

Read, an avid cyclist himself, is a transport expert.  He continued;

 

"If elected as MEP for the Eastern Region, I will promote policies that will create more localised schemes like the Leighton-Linslade model here.  I would oppose new road building schemes and mass-continent crossing proposals, and instead push for massive investment in walking and cycling (nad public transport) schemes that can be maintained over the long-term".  

My visit to a care home, tomorrow [News release]

Rupert Read, the lead Green Party candidate for MEP in the Eastern Region in
the 4 June 2009 Euro-elections, is visiting Burgh House Residential Home, in
Burgh Castle (near Great Yarmouth) on the morning of Thursday 23 April.

Read is interested in hearing the ideas and views of the home's manager
Joseph Greiner regarding care for the elderly in the UK today.  Read said;

 "This is a fantastic opportunity for me to see first-hand how Mr Greiner
runs his home, and to understand what ethical considerations he feels should
be taken into account when someone considers placing a relative or loved one
into his care.  I am very much looking forward to meeting him and his
residents."

 Mr Greiner is working closely with Yarmouth College on their 'enrichment
programme', which provides his residents with the opportunity to work with
students from the college doing different activities like art classes.
Another recent initiative under this programme will enabled residents to
help build and plant up six large raised flower beds with students of Great
Yarmouth College.  Mr Greiner said:

"Burgh Castle Residential Home is about providing the elderly not only with
a good quality of life, but also about offering them a wide range of
creative and fun activities in which they can engage.  The Yarmouth College
initiative is an excellent scheme where my residents can realise their
artistic potentials, and get involved in good outdoor activities, such as
building the raised flower beds. There has also been a circus in Burgh Castle this last
week and some of my residents attended and had a wonderful time.  One 82
year old even had a camel ride and I have the photographs to prove it!  She
was perfectly safe with support all around her and it really did uplift
everyone's spirits, including my own! Thus proving you're never to old to ride
a camel."

 Mr Greiner will show Rupert Read an exhibition of his residents' artwork and
Read has been asked to judge the winning picture.  Read will then present a
prize to the winner. 

"Voters losing faith in UKIP"

Rupert Read, the Lead European Election candidate for the Green Party in Eastern Region has today raised his concerns about the performance and behaviour of UKIP since the election of their MEPs in the region in 2004.

 

Former Bedfordshire based UKIP MEP Tom Wise and a researcher have both been charged with one count of false accounting and one count of money laundering (1) from the period when Wise was a UKIP MEP. He now sits as an Independent MEP.

 

Rupert Read has also raised questions as to the effectiveness of UKIP since the last elections in 2004 in representing their constituents.

 

Rupert Read said

 

"UKIP got two MEPs elected in 2004 here in Eastern Region on a platform that included preventing abuses of taxpayers' money in the E.U.

 

The matter for which Mr. Wise has now being charged is abusing E.U. taxpayers' money while a UKIP MEP.

 

According to an article in THE TIMES newspaper (2), Mr. Wise has already admitted embezzling money and using it to buy himself a new car".

 

Rupert Read continued

 

"I have been touring the region now for several months as part of the campaign for this year's elections and the message I am hearing from voters is that they have lost faith in UKIP.

 

The Green Party offers a much more positive alternative to voters in this region who dont want to vote for the establishment parties. Green MEPs have been shown to be consistently hard working and committed to the policies they were elected on. If elected I am determined to uphold high standards in office and to be effective as a representative."

 

ENDS

 

Notes:

 

(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8008994.stm

 

 

(2) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1454811.ece?token=null&offset=0

The 'Green Snowball' Event!

"Green Snowball" - low carbon campaigning in action - Monday 20th

Green Party European election candidates and supporters took trains to London on Monday 20th April to campaign right across the six counties of Eastern Region.

Starting at first from Norwich, Clacton and Peterborough, the Greens headed for London, taking the train to key stations on the network and stopping for an hour or so to deliver leaflets and canvass local residents. 

Along the way, candidates and supporters joined at many more towns including Luton, St. Albans, Bedford, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Witham and Chelmsford. The plan was to visit up to 50 stations on 7 routes, with supporters joining up along the way - a "snowball" effect as more and more supporters joined in the fun on the way to London.

Launch of our Euro campaign! [Media release]

GREENS' EURO ELECTION CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF!

 

Two of the country's best known green campaigners will help to launch the Green Party's Eastern Region Euro Election campaign in Cambridge on Thursday 23rd April at 7pm outside the Senate House in central Cambridge.

 

Sir Jonathan Porritt, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission and Tony Juniper (1), recent Executive Director of Friends of the Earth will be heading up the endorsement of Dr. Rupert Read and the six other candidates on the Green Party's list for the Euro Elections on June 4^th.

 

Rupert Read said

 

"All the parties seem to be trying to paint themselves with a green gloss, but its a thin veneer to try and cover their unsustainable business-as-usual policies. The Green Party has consistently put forward a vision of a genuinely sustainable future over many decades. It is welcome, and significant, that two of the most respected green spokespersons in the country see in the Greens a party that has both the vision and the policies to deliver a green economy, to actually improve the environment and the quality of life for people."

 

Tony Juniper added

 

"I have been heavily involved in putting together the Green New Deal programme. If we are to have a vibrant, fair and environmentally economy to take the country forward we have to have politicians, in Brussels, in Westminster, in local councils who look beyond the next opinion poll, think of more than their own personal prospects and see that public office makes one responsible for the future of our children and our childrens' children. That's why Jonathon and I are here today."

 

The launch and associated activity starts at 7pm outside the Senate House in central Cambridge on Thursday 23^rd April. There will be an important announcement made about the nature of the Green Party's campaign in Eastern Region, at this time.

British MEP is charged with fraud

Comment is superluous...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8008994.stm British MEP is charged with fraud

A British member of the European Parliament has been charged with false accounting and money laundering. Tom Wise, 60, from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, was elected for UKIP in 2004 but is now sitting as an Independent MEP for East Anglia. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the UK police inquiry followed a news report in 2005 concerning Mr Wise's use of allowances. The MEP has been charged along with his then researcher Lindsay Jenkins. News article Both are accused of one count of false accounting and one count of money laundering. The offences are alleged to have taken place between October 2004 and September 2005. Derek Frame, from the CPS, said: "Following the publication of a news article in October 2005 relating to Mr Wise and Ms Jenkins, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) began an investigation into Mr Wise's use of allowances. "OLAF subsequently passed the investigation to Bedfordshire Police Economic Crime Unit for investigation. " Mr Wise, who represents Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, is one of seven MEPs who cover the eastern region. He was unavailable to comment on the matter. Mr Wise and Ms Jenkins are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 27 April.

Greens vow to step up campaign against new nuclear plants in East Anglia [News release]

As expected, list of sites for possible deployment by 2025 includes Bradwell and Sizewell

 

The list of potential sites for new nuclear power stations announced recently (1) includes both Bradwell in Essex and Sizewell in Suffolk, as was widely expected.

 

Public consultation lasts just 1 month, and there is bound to be widespread concern as to whether any level of public response will change any decisions, compounded by the new national planning regime which will take decision making away from local communities and hand it over to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC)  (2).

 

Following the assessment period, sites that are "found to be suitable for the development of new nuclear power stations" will be listed in a draft Nuclear National Policy statement.

The Green Party has long campaigned against nuclear power due to its high cost and the unsolved problems with radioactive waste and risks of radioactive discharges. There also remains a small, but real risk of a catastrophic accident or terrorist attack, which could cause huge loss of life and result in large areas of East Anglia becoming uninhabitable.

 

Only recently, the operators of the Bradwell nuclear power station were found guilty of having allowed discharges of radioactive material over long periods into the estuary of the River Blackwater. Coastal nuclear sites are more vulnerable to flooding as sea-levels rise faster than IPCC predictions, combined with an increase in extreme weather conditions.

The Greens are also dismayed that concentration on nuclear power by the Labour Government will take available investment and infrastructure away from renewables. A new generation of nuclear power stations would use valuable coastal high-capacity connectors to the grid, connectors which would otherwise be used for offshore wind, wave and tidal, making it more likely that the UK will miss legal commitments on renewables for 2020. Eastern Region Green Party is dismayed that the huge opportunity for jobs in renewables in this Region, especially in coastal areas, will be squandered, if the money goes to nuclear instead and the party will be writing to object to the proposed sites and encouraging many others to do the same.

The full list of nominated sites is:

 

1. Bradwell, Essex, NDA
2. Braystones, Cumbria, RWE Npower
3. Dungeness, Kent, EDF Energy
4. Hartlepool, EDF Energy
5. Heysham, Lancashire, EDF Energy
6. Hinkley Point, Somerset, EDF Energy
7. Kirksanton, Cumbria, RWE Npower
8. Oldbury, Gloucestershire, the NDA and Eon
9. Sellafield, Cumbria, NDA
10. Sizewell, Suffolk, EDF Energy
11. Wylfa, North Wales, RWE Npower and the NDA

ENDS 

Notes:

(1) Details http://www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk/
Nominated sites are http://www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk/nominations/

How to respond by 14th May http://www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk/yoursay/

(2) www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/29/climatechange-greenbuilding